What a month November turned out to be. Starting with the arrival of a new family member, to a family visit, and a super sick Thanksgiving week, November had a little bit of everything.

RECAP OF THE MONTH

What better way to start the month than with the arrival of our nephew, Camden. He arrived into the world on November 5, with both he and Amy doing great. It’s one of those moments that makes me miss living close to family because I have to wait another month to meet the newest member of the Nordbeck clan. Luckily he’s got plenty of aunts and uncles there to spoil him rotten, and a big sister to look out for him. We cannot wait to meet him!

The day after Camden joined the world, we had our now annual Christmas photos taken. Jenn found a new photographer who took us to a few different spots in Central Park to take our photos for our Christmas cards. It was absolutely freezing at 9 AM on Saturday the 6th, even with our Uniqlo Heat Tech undergarments we were still battling the cold the best we could. The good news is it was worth the cold because the photos turned out beautifully and will make for our best Christmas cards yet.

That evening we went and saw our first of three Broadway shows of the month, Caroline or Change at Studio 54. We saw three shows in all in November with Diana and Trouble in Mind coming later in the month. It’s so good to be back at the theater.

For a lot of the rest of November, it was really focused on our careers and what was next. We will have more on that in the December post, but updates will be coming for both Jenn and me. Because it’s November though we tried our best to get out and enjoy the fall foliage as much as possible. Some of my favorite memories of the month were taking Frasier for long walks at both Riverside and Central Park. For me, those are the most peaceful and mindful moments of my day. Even when it’s freezing outside seeing his smiling face look up at me as we walk are some of the best moments.

The weekend before Thanksgiving Jenn’s Dad and Joan came to visit us here in the city. We spent three days traveling throughout Manhattan and even a trip to a local winery an hour and a half outside the city, City Winery Hudson Valley. We had a great time showing them around the city enjoying great meals at restaurants like Craft & Bluebird London. We even went to see a great jazz performance at Dizzy’s in Columbus Circle. It was a great visit and it’s always nice to take the family around the city that we’ve now called home for the last four years.

Tagliatelle with Calabrian Chili & Uni Butter @ Craft

When they left it was Thanksgiving week which meant work was light and we were ramping up for what we expected to be a jam-packed week with Broadway performances, Operas, and a great Michelin star Thanksgiving dinner. We kicked off the festivities by going out to the St. Regis Bar (something we did on the same week two years ago) and really enjoyed it. I had two bloody mary’s and Jenn had a French 75. We walked around the nearby area, saw some of the early Christmas decorations, and even sat in for a few minutes of a church service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

The next evening (Tuesday before Thanksgiving) which we were supposed to go see Morning Sun a play with Jenn’s friend Dottie I started to feel terrible. I ended up canceling and going to bed early, shivering with a fever. What transpired over the next week was a terrible bout of what my doctor thinks was food poisoning. I had a fever for a few days and by Thanksgiving, I started a five-day bout of diarrhea. Jenn took such incredible care of me, keeping me hydrated, letting me rest, and being an incredible partner after I literally ruined all of our plans. I didn’t start feeling better until almost a week after it all began and even now as of this writing I am just starting to get all of my energy back and slowly inch back to 100%. Jenn was such an angel the entire time and I’ll never forget watching her sit by our dining room table on Thanksgiving watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade out our window shouting which float was passing by.

It wasn’t the way I had hoped the month would end but it did make me grateful for the amazing wife I have and the health I am back to having. What a month it turned out to be though, a new nephew, a great family visit, and some new career opportunities coming. I am truly the luckiest man alive.

TV WE WATCHED

It was a fun month of television with a few of our favorite shows back on the air. Succession continues to be one of the best shows ever with superb writing and acting that makes it appointment viewing every Sunday. We haven’t had a show like that since Game of Thrones. The Great returned with its second season and it is just as bombastic, witty, and hilarious as ever. And in probably the biggest surprise, Dexter is back with a new series and somehow it works?

BOOKS I READ (OR LISTENED TO)

I didn’t get nearly as much reading in this month as I wanted to. In fact, it means that I am going to be coming in quite close to making my 45 book goal. I did read Katie Couric’s new book, Going There which after listening to her on Fresh Air and a few other podcasts convinced me it would be an interesting read, which it was. The biggest letdown of the month was The City of Brass a very interesting albeit slow fantasy novel that I wanted to love but just didn’t enjoy.

The best book of the month easily goes to Project Hail Mary the third book by Any Weir (who wrote The Martian) and he continues the very hard science fiction writing with another gem that I enjoyed from start to finish.

MOVIES WE WATCHED

I can’t think of many months that we’ve watched this number of movies but with me being sick and some extra free time this month we did enjoy quite a few good flicks. Let’s go through the highlights. The Harder They Fall an all-black cast western was one of the most entertaining movies I watched this month. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to watch Stallone’s director’s cut of Rocky IV which was interesting, different from the original but not crazy.

One of the other highlights was King Richard starring Will Smith that told the story of Richard Williams and I thought for that type of sports movie it was quite good. We rounded the month out with the very entertaining Tick Tick Boom on Netflix as well.

THEATER WE SAW

It feels so good to be back. It’s amazing how quickly we’ve turned from “when will we return to Broadway” to “how many shows do you think we can see?” For November that total was three, but the best we saved for last. Trouble in Mind may go down as the best show we’ve seen in 2021. It was such a beautiful, poignant, funny, and engaging show that I never wanted it to end.

We also saw Diana with Jenn’s friend Dottie which I’m glad we got discounted tickets for it because although I thought it was super enjoyable, it was also very forgettable. What wasn’t forgettable was Caroline or Change which although not a perfect show had some of the absolute best vocals I’ve ever heard on stage.

GAMES I'VE BEEN PLAYING

Although I was home for a lot of November, I actually didn’t sink a ton of time into video games this month. It’s not for lack of want/desire I just haven’t found a game lately that’s really sunk its teeth into me.