It's a mystery...

...where the heck I've been for the last week! Sorry for the complete lack of blogs. So what have I been up to?

This past weekend, I participated in a "Murder Mystery" party/event. It was quite fun, even though I was also working (serving food, drinks, etc.) during the evening. My character got to find the evidence which led everyone to figure out who the "murderer" was, and I enjoyed that. The participants were completely into it, with fabulous period (1823) costumes, and well developed characters. The guys completely stole the show, mostly because they were much louder than the ladies. Everyone seemed to have a great time. I definitely would recommend doing something like this.

Last Wednesday, I attended the Ocracoke Preservation Society annual fall membership meeting and potluck. The speakers presented some very interesting information about tax credits for historic rehabilitation of old homes, and showed slides with pictures of many lovely restored buildings and villages around eastern North Carolina. During the potluck part of the evening, while we were all immensely enjoying the mounds of wonderful food, my friend Jamie floated the suggestion of a frequent (weekly?) potluck during the winter months, especially this year when things are expected to be quieter than usual during the bridge replacement project. I think potlucks are always a fabulous idea, and will certainly attend all I can (i.e. if I'm on the island, I'll be there!)

On Sunday night, I shared dinner with a few friends (leftovers from the murder mystery weekend). I enjoyed their company mightily, as we chatted and laughed about a wide variety of things. And I learned a "life in a small town" lesson when I completely opened my mouth and inserted my foot because I didn't know the status of something. I'll not go into details here, but I really need to get someone to keep me up to date on things, so I won't say stupid things which might hurt someone's feelings because I'm clueless.

Last night, I went to my friend Sundae's house and took dinner (yes, more leftovers from the murder mystery meal) for her and the kids (her husband is off the island, helping sail a boat to the Bahamas for the winter). After dinner, all of us (Sundae, her son Emmett and daughter Caroline and I) played a game. Sundae's youngest, Mariah Daisy, is still too young to participate, but we enjoyed her giggles and antics. The game was fun and thought provoking: each player is given a few cards with things on them for which one might wish (some are actual things, while others are experiences like "go to a spa with Mom", others are family things like "watch old movies with your Grandma", and others are successes, like "win an award for..."). Your task is to give the cards to others in the game, the goal being to give them the ones you think they will like the most. You then look at the cards you've been given, and rank them in order from most favorite to least. That, for me, was the thought provoking part: since most of the activities and items were positive and enjoyable to me, it was interesting to ask myself "which of these would I like better?" I kept joking that "house on Ocracoke" would really be my ultimate card, and why wasn't that one in the deck? I often selected things which entailed money ("be a movie actress"), as they were possible vehicles to "house on Ocracoke". Yes, currently my mind is a bit one tracked.

Oh, that's the other thing I've been doing: looking at houses for sale on the island. I'm currently torn between 3, but I haven't yet visited 2 more that I am interested in, so I'm undecided. Guess that's a good problem to have. Wish me luck!