2012 – The year we celebrated our 20th anniversary, Mick completed his 25th year with USDA and the last full year that I work. 

Travels:  We made our usual trek to Vegas in March and were joined by Marvin, Linda and Colby.  Linda and I zip lined above Freemont Street and Mick celebrated his 50th birthday.  Mick and I took the red eye home and swore we would stay home before we did that again.  In the past it hasn’t hurt nearly as bad – but wow – we both thought we would die.

We made a couple of trips to Kinder with Gary and Voni during the year and I enjoyed eating alligator and gumbo, I still can't talk the others into admitting that eating reptile is pretty amazing.  We also spent a great Saturday in the Hill Country looking at bluebonnets, eating wonderful food and browsing the antique stores.

In May we spent a week on the beach in Florida with James, Mendy, Cheney and Brantley (Cheney's friend) .  (James is Mick’s college friend.)   The girls came to the room one night in a frenzy looking for a flashlight.  A sea turtle was on the beach digging a nest to lay her eggs.   I was amazed at the size of the turtle and how quickly the beach patrol erased all signs of the nest (to protect the eggs from idiots).

In early August we went to Silverton to attend the all school reunion at SHS.  The school celebrated 100 years of graduating classes.  I enjoyed seeing old school friends and visiting with my siblings who both made the trip. 

In August we went back to Vegas – just the two of us to celebrate our 20th anniversary.  We had never been to Vegas in the summer and we can honestly say  - - it was plenty hot.  

We took an early retirement celebration trip in November – 15 days in Mexico with our friends the Buleks.  We stayed a few days in a condo in Cancun – just because we’ve never been there other than the airport.  We took the ferry to Isla (Isle of Mujeres) where we had the penthouse suite on the beach.  I will admit it – sunsets from a penthouse hot tub are just a tad more impressive.  We then moved to a resort just outside of Playa del Carmen.  Each trip with the Buleks seem to result in at least one amazing conversation. This trip found Micky explaining to Tamara the delicacy calf fries.  Tamara refuses to believe that even Texans actually EAT those things. We had martinis in Cancun, watched football on Isla and ate sushi in Mexico. And sad to say after 15 days– other than missing my dogs – I was not ready to come home.

Kiddos: 

Jamie made an epic move back to the states in July.  By August he was driving a rock truck for an oil company out of Oklahoma and between relatives and hotels he was getting settled in.  Nati pulled her first tooth shortly after he left and he realized the time table for Luchi and the kids to join him needed to be moved up.  He made a trip back in October to see the kids and celebrate Luchi’s birthday.  Martin continues to think Mickey Mouse is the most amazing “thing” in the world. Nati made the mistake of commenting that “Mickey Mouse was a sissy.”   She found herself flat on the floor with a little brother on top of her.  Natalie will be six in January and Martin just turned three.

Casey and Lori stay busy with work, friends and of course Ms. Katy.  They went to Mexico (Isla) in the spring to celebrate their anniversary and then their business took them to Vegas in September.  Lori gets to take exciting trips to Milwaukee for her job :-)  Katy will be five in May and will start to school this year.   Katy has an amazing vocabulary and a fairly strong independent streak.  Micky says she is a miniature Kathy.  Hmmmmm.  Casey and Katy are regulars at the Home Depot kids workshops.  She hammers, nails and paints - all left handed.

Bethany also made an epic move this year – all of the way to Crystal City, Texas (south of Uvalde).  Finding a job in a small town was difficult but she managed to get on with HEB.  She got a new(er) vehicle and a puppy  . . . quite an introduction to maturity -  car payments and vet bills.  Michael is still the man in her life and he is working for an oil company in the same area.  Mojo the wonder dog came to visit and immediately put a "dog door" on his Xmas list. 
 

Parents:  Julie is still able to maintain her independence with a lot of help from her friend Bitsy. For a woman her age that lives alone Julie does amazingly well and maintains her positive attitude.

My folks had a hit and miss year as far as health and other problems.  They continue to deal with them with minimal complaints. Faye remains an NBA fanatic and J.L. loves baseball - they are thankful for many things but their 2nd television is high on the list.

News:

Just in case you haven’t heard me say it – I am retiring!!   Paulette and Sharon told me this last year would fly by but they failed to mention the flight would be at supersonic speed.    My mind races so fast when I try to explain what my plans are.  I do want to spend more time with our parents, our kids, our grandkids and our dogs.  I want to clean house while Mick is at work and have more time for patio sitting.  I want to get back in the habit of planning meals instead of “making do.”  But most of all – I want to do my laundry at 8:00 am instead of 8:00 pm.   

Micky has at least 5 years till he can join me in retirement, but he has started his countdown.  He doesn't know how many months and days but he does know the date and he is looking forward to it.  He had training in Kansas City the end of November and has one more trip up there - KC in the winter - lovely  government planning.  January and February he will be criss-crossing the state training the Texas folks.  One of his specialists has been in Afghanistan with the reserves for a good while and will be gone all of 2013.  Mick just smiles and says he'd rather cover for him than go in his place. 

Wow  what a difference a day makes from (yawn) another year of - well you know who - to hope and change Texas Tech style (with sunglasses).  And if you don't understand this - you just aren't into college football. 

We made the West Virginia football game, courtesy of James and Mendy’s extra tickets.  It was a great game - and Mendy and I made it to half time before the sun and heat sent us packing to Buffalo Wild Wings.   Margaritas with chips and salsa made the second half of the game even better.  James and Micky were true fans they were enjoying the game so much they missed the streaker.

Our frustration level has reached the max over the move to a new house.  We are trying to get into a one story house with a smaller yard and more laidback neighborhood.  The house was found, loan approved, closing scheduled and then   . . .  ifs, ands and buts.  We are still attempting to work the kinks out and save the contract.  We've heard almost more excuses on this contract than we've heard from Washington on the budget. Both situations make us feel helpless and wonder why we tolerate such incompetence?

Plans:

I will work till the end of January and then – wow – where to start?  

Fingers crossed - moving.  

We will make our March Madness trip to Vegas.  We are going to Aruba in September and in November we will meet the Bulek's at their condo in Palm Springs. 

I plan to take my folks on a road trip to Florida to see their granddaughters and visit a few slot machines on the way.  Katy will stay a few days while her folks go skiing.  

I want to learn to do stained glass and work on my novel which is still in my dreams.  I want to enjoy the gorgeous spring weather in this area - working in the yard and walking the dogs. 

Micky, poor thing, will continue to go to work each day.  But he does hope to get back to playing more golf and spend more time with his mom. 

We both want to stress less, live healthier and win the lotto.  Hey - dream big or go home!

We wish each of you a wonderful holiday season and a happy 2013.