Rapp Strategies Rundown – November
Here’s what we did, read, watched and thought about this month.
Todd R.: On Thanksgiving, a Traeger is the only way to cook! All five kids were home, along with grandchildren and S.O.’s. Lots of football and games and tag-teaming Ashton, who has fast feet and a motor-mouth. As the weekend continued, we finished our streaming of Shrinking and The Diplomat, and had time to start Slow Horses. The ladies saw Wicked Part 1 on Saturday and loved it! Okay … it wasn’t all sitting on the couch, as the holiday decorations also were set up by the family. Went to our first Gopher Volleyball game – big win over Iowa! Lots of dinners in November with friends, and even more coming during the holidays. My word, it feels like the election was months ago.
Rich: November was a month focused on family, in particular on our first Grandchild, Elin. We are also excited about the announced arrival of a second Grandchild in April. Hoping everyone has a December filled with family.
Todd S.: I was never that interested in “Wicked,” but the family wanted to check out the new movie. I must say, I thought it was very entertaining, and while it was a bit long, it rarely dragged. The two leads were phenomenal – dynamic, engaging and wow, could they hit the notes. Beyond that, we made the bold call to decorate for the holidays the weekend BEFORE Thanksgiving. That normally would have been a controversial move in our household, but we agreed that the late date for Thanksgiving warranted the move. Our tree is up, and the cat couldn’t be more pleased.
Jodi: A long weekend in New York was the month’s highlight. We spend our time quite literally walking – dozens of miles each day exploring new neighborhoods at all hours of the day and night. We enjoyed Central Park in the fall, touring the Museum of the City of New York and The Intrepid Museum, seeing The Counter, taking a quick stroll through Times Square at night, enjoying Janie’s pie crust cookies and – of course - spending time with our daughter and son-in-law. I closed out the month shutting down the cabin, celebrating Thanksgiving, watching the latest season of Only Murders in the Building, and figuring out how to pass the weeks until Spring arrives.
Sean: We crammed enough activities into Thanksgiving weekend that it feels appropriate to take up my entire November rundown (not to mention, it’s easier to skip over the whole election thing…). It was a wild weekend for the Oyaas team:
Thursday:
8am – Thanksgiving football: Flushers took down the Plungers on a freezing cold morning (getting old, but I still got it)
10am – Food prep and Thanksgiving Day Parade watching
1pm – Thanksgiving “Dinner” #1 with the in-laws
4pm – Thanksgiving Dinner #2 with the O’Rourke family
9pm – Gladiator 2 (Thankful to the grandparents for watching James overnight so mom and dad could get their Denzel fix.)
Friday:
12:30am – Bedtime
10am – Hosted brunch with friends and their kids
3pm – Organized a party for our best friend’s birthday
7pm – Gopher Hockey Game Suite (BFF B-Day continued)
Saturday:
8am – House cleaning and holiday decorations
12pm – “Hmmm, does James seem to be coughing a lot?”
2pm – Visit to out-of-town friends
7pm – Watched “How The Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)” with James
Sunday:
2pm – Emergency Room visit
5pm – Losing patience at the ER
8pm – RSV confirmed and finally admitted back to see the doctor
Monday:
2am – Home from the hospital
Anna: This month tested my perseverance as a solo parent while Ike was away at military training. Thankfully, my family, friends and colleagues are sources of support and encouragement – and my husband, who sent a gorgeous bouquet straight to the office. Owen and I missed Ike very much but found fun ways to pass the time, such as visiting the park, where Owen requested to swing in the big kid swing for the first time (a bittersweet moment). I also marked a milestone I’ve been waiting my whole life for – taking Owen to the polls with me on Election Day! Proud to be raising a future voter.
Meredith: The Mitts household felt overflowing at times this November. Between numerous friends and family coming to meet Tasha, hosting Thanksgiving for my immediate family, and having our house rewired, we have truly had a revolving door of people. A few highlights included seeing my siblings hold my baby, having a giant pajama party and scone-making contest, and getting the sauna up and running! Unfortunately, we also had a bit of a mishap with the fireplace – the screen and glass fell off the wall in the middle of us having a fire! Needless to say, we will avoid that fireplace for the immediate future while we get that fixed.
Cullen: Lots to celebrate in November! We spent the Thanksgiving holiday down in Winston-Salem, North Carolina with Lauren’s sister and brother-in-law. I discovered that a big perk of doing a small Thanksgiving is making as many dishes as you want and hardly having to share leftovers. We had slow-smoked turkey, hot chicken sandwiches, steamed mussels, mac & cheese, and balsamic brussels sprouts, while enjoying the novelty of being able to toss the football around in 60-degree weather. Back home, my family celebrated my sister’s engagement with an incredible dinner at the Lake Elmo Inn. It’s been a blast sharing the excitement of being engaged at the same time.
While on the road and in the sky, I’ve been devouring the Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin, which is equal parts creative and captivating and has the best world-building of any series I’ve read since The Arc of a Scythe. I also watched The Boys in the Boat, which I’m confident would have served the book far better as a mini-series, but was worth viewing for Alexandre Desplat’s score alone. I’m hopeful that I can convince Lauren to watch the original Gladiator with me before we head to the theaters for its controversial sequel.
Julia: What a whirlwind November! We began the month with an election (as if you’ve forgotten, though it feels like a long time ago). Voters approved $241.9 million in public projects for our clients who had local initiatives on the ballot!
I went right from election week to Madison, WI, where I saw a special 20th-anniversary screening of Napoleon Dynamite at the Barrymore Theater. Not only did I see the movie, but I got to meet the actors who played Napoleon, Pedro and Uncle Rico—I highly encourage you to find the picture below! It was probably the best day of my life, or as Napoleon would say, “frickin’ sweet”.
Later in the month, I spent a long weekend in New York City and had an incredible time seeing Oh, Mary on Broadway. My uncle, a docent at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, treated me to a lovely behind-the-scenes tour.
After battling a fall cold, I wrapped up the month with a great Thanksgiving with family, starting with a 10k Turkey Trot. It was super chilly, but nothing gets you ready for turkey like an early morning slog along the Mississippi. We ate good food, sipped Manhattans, played charades, and watched a Thanksgiving episode of Bob’s Burgers. Bliss!
Wishing you all a wonderful December with lots of rest and good company!
Alida: This was my first November working at Rapp Strategies, so it was exciting and rewarding to watch the election results come in for our referenda clients (not to mention a welcome respite from watching the general election). I'm excited to see the tangible results for communities and schools across the state. Other than that, I spent a lot of time with my cat this month, who loves laying goofily by the radiator in the winter months. We spent Thanksgiving with family and friends, and it was great as always to have my brother home. Looking forward to the holidays ahead!
