TeamReedBlog.2020

In the annals of our friendship history, John Vielee will no doubt have his own chapter. A couple weeks ago, he announced that we are not going to let cold weather stop us from safely socializing as we work through what we hope is the tail end of the coronavirus pandemic. "We'll be doing this in the snow," he declared a couple weeks ago as we gathered around their firepit. Lisa and I, layered, blanketed and huddled around the fire, debated how long we'd last as the mercury drops. "I think we'll acclimate," Lisa claimed.  I'm a chronic complainer in the winter because I really hate being cold, but I nodded along in solidarity but also drew so close to the fire that I may have scorched my knock-off  Uggs. We have a chimenea, which is great for maybe three people, but won't allow bigger, safe gatherings, so Jeff and I went firepit shopping. He was already planning a beer share as the weekend was unseasonably warm, but I thought we should act before

 If I were a bear, I'd be in great shape for a long winter. But sadly, I am not a bear, and the last couple of weeks have seen me at perhaps my dietary worst in a very long while. Pizza. Pumpkin roll. Pie. Those are just the "p" examples of my culinary excess.  And it has all been delicious. Perhaps the best was yesterday's trip to Zionsville to redeem "Duchess Tea for Four" from the Serenity Cafe & Tea Room .  I'd won the treat in a charity raffle for New Hope of Indiana , which helps people with disabilities live productive lives. Kate Shepherd had told us about the charitable opportunity, so I invited her, Niki Lohrmann (who gets photo credit) and Jen Dunlap, two other longtime friends who live kind of on the way to Zionsville. We'd tried to go earlier, but it was cold and rainy, and we wanted to sit outside for safety's sake. It did get a little chilly, but it was also lovely and I've never had anything but a great time with those lad