Thanksgiving 2025

This morning started with a Church service.  Being sat in a pew in the high ceilinged CS church in Goleta ignites the childish, immature tendancies that otherwise lay dormant in my being.  All the old pain of trying not to laugh at inappropriate moments came flooding back to me.  But in all seriousness, it was really nice to see familiar faces and speak out loud about what I'm grateful for, though I wasn't able to get through my words without tears.

Then we all converged on 585 VL at Eric and Kristin's house for the main event. 

 

 

Here are: Kristin, Michael (friend from church), Billy, Rhiannon, Evan, Eric, Mom, Bob and me

It was every bit of good as I hoped it would be, and I don't mean just the food.  Thanksgiving is the best holiday in the world, and I'm so grateful to be here.

Beautiful moments

I'm just so incredibly grateful to have been able to get out to Santa Barbara to be with my family. I'm absolutely buzzing with love and happiness and gratitude.  Here are some photos...

This is Rhiannon walking to work at K.Frank in Montecito. Can you spot her?

Now here is Mom, Eric and me

And here is Denise, Polly and me when we met for breakfast at Jeannine's

And around the house at 601 VL, with Earl Grey the cat in front of the Very Old (and hollow) Sycamore tree, which is still very much alive, and a view of the backside of the house from the old veg patch and gingko trees.

Mom and the EKG family and I all went for dinner to Woodstocks in Isla Vista, which was quite a treat.

And of course tomorrow is the big day for Thanksgiving! Look forward to that.

UCSB campus

and Goleta Beach!  Kristin and I went for a run together around the UCSB campus. It has been a lonnnnnggg time since I've been poking around here! So much has changed, but the coastline and mountains have not.  Its so beautiful here.

The original BBQ built ins that inspired the same in Chelwood Gate and Danehill!

More Santa Barbara

It was fun and interesting to stay in Rhiannon's flat and share her bed with her.  I treasure these moments!  In the morning we walked down to a coffee shop for coffee and breakfast, in the bright sunshine and warm temperatures. I was in heaven walking down Chapala Street with my girl and I hope I remember this feeling for the rest of my days. 

Later Rhiannon went to work at the gym, and I hung around for a bit then went elsewhere. It was great to see her "in action" although she didn't like me taking her photo...

Later on Saturday eve, I went out to dinner with Polly and Amy, which was a real treat.  Polly had quite a narrow window she was available so we made the most of that, then Amy and I went on to another place for 'afters'.

When I got back to Rhiannon's flat, her housemates were in full party mode as they were hosting "Friendsgiving".  I joined in the fun for a bit and then headed to sleep.  It was great to meet some of her friends in person.  Sunday morning we went out to breakfast at a place where one of her housemates (Kate) works.  They had amazing food, and we sat outside in the sunshine to enjoy breakfast together.

We walked up and down Cabrillo Blvd for the Sunday Arts Market

And later went back to chill for a bit before I moved over to the 585/ 601 VL compound.  Here are some photos from Rhiannon's cute flat which includes an outside terrace.

 

We had dinner with Eric, Kristin, Billy and Evan over at Mom/ Grandmas house.

Its so wonderful to be with family.

Santa Barbara, at last

What a treat it was to fly into Santa Barbara! It was a beautiful sunrise in Seattle, followed by a lovely flight down the west coast and into SB.  Rhiannon picked me up at the curb, and it was so amazing and special to reunite with her!  

We drove around and ran some errands, then met up with Mom/ Grandma Debi for lunch in Camino Real.  I had thought to make my arrival a surprise for her, but she found out ahead of time, and that was fine too.  I am just so grateful to be able to be here surrounded my these extremely precious and special people in my life.

Then we went to Rhiannon's house and hung out for a bit before getting ready to go out on the town with Ellie and her mom Anne.

We had a brilliant night which was really fun and memorable, and all too quickly the evening came to an end.  I would so love to spend more time with Ellie and Anne, and obviously with Rhiannon too!  

West coast, here I come!

It was such an incredible feeling to take the bus this morning to Haywards Heath station, then the train to Gatwick Airport, then the bus to Heathrow T5 to board the flight to Seattle.  I'm so, so excited to be out in the wide world on my own, using up my vacation days to go be with my family in the place of my birth and childhood.  I'm especially excited to stay with Rhiannon in her apartment downtown and meet her friends.  Yaaay

But first, Seattle! I landed around 4:30 pm local time and Will came straight from work to meet me in the airport, then we took a taxi to his house.  We had a delicious dinner, then went in the sauna that he had recently finished building, then he went out for the evening on a pre-arranged commitment so I hung out with Rebecca, Phoebe and Ingrid.
And then I had to go to sleep because it is a really early morning tomorrow to fly down to Santa Barbara. 

Big news and what I did next

On Monday (17 Nov) I received some big news at work: I was being offered a "Settlement Agreement" to leave the company with an effective date of 2 Dec 2025, but I wasn't allowed to talk about it with anyone except for my spouse and my solicitor.  This came as a surprise but I was delighted with the offer and immediately began thinking of all the implications of this new arrangement!  On Tuesday morning when I was out for my morning forest walk with Annie, I had the thought that perhaps I could find a flight that would get me from London to Santa Barbara, and that I could actually be there with my girl and other important members of my family for Thanksgiving!  I jumped straight onto the computer after the dog walk and found a perfect flight that not only got me to SB, but also included a one-night layover in Seattle so I could visit Will and family as well.  

This was amazing to discover, so I booked it right there and then.  Today was my birthday, which probably wasn't my favorite birthday ever since I was sorting out quite a few important things today and then also packing to depart on Thursday morning (tomorrow) first thing.  I'm soooooo excited.  The only bad thing is that I need to frame this trip as a slightly more urgent family emergency than it really is since I can't tell anyone what is really happening.  So I'll just get the heck out of town for the rest of the month and then come into the office on Mon 1 Dec and hand in my company badge etc.  Anyway, first things first! Time to finish packing.

Pink hats brigade

Look at us bathing beauties!   We had a nice gaggle of mermadams today on the beach. In the sun!

Meeting new baby cousin

What a treat to go visit Rhodri's and my newest niece "Erwain"!  She is ridiculously cute and chilled out

The only bummer is that Annie dog, in her excitement to be with Sioned and family, accidentally scratched E's face with her paw, and that led to a trip to A&E, which wasn't a great start.  But she turned out to be fine, and hopefully the scratch will quickly fade.  Spending quality time with Sions and JJ and Gwyds was fabulous though, and we felt so happy to be able to spend the weekend here with them.

Meanwhile, in SB

 Our girl looks like she has been having a fun time during the Santa Barbara Halloween period.  I have no clue who all these people are, except for Ellie and maybe a couple of her housemates, but looks like she is having a great time!