We started off
January 2018 by celebrating Christmas at Casey's house for a long
weekend. We had extra guests join us including my sister Joni. Once
Christmas was over she went with us to Temple to check out the housing market.
We had been researching for a spot to retire and Temple kept topping the list.
Before we returned home we had signed contracts to build new houses.
Joni and Micky convinced me that we probably won't need to do any remodeling or
upgrading before we are "finished" with the houses. I insisted Joni build next door.
This gives us both extra guest rooms and means we buy and store one lawnmower.
AND there is a Dead Fish Grill that serves amazing
shrimp and grits. Temple would be home.
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We left
Arlington, Virginia on October 9th and were unpacking the truck
in Temple, Texas two days later. We had neither one ever owned a
new home and contrary to what you hear on HGTV -
perfection is not available - after all the workers and
the builder are all human and supplies are provided -
that's right - by humans. Albeit we are thrilled with our new home
and are excited about putting in an outdoor kitchen and
building a deck and . . . yes - it is a good thing Micky is retired.
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2018 |
We took advantage
of being in the big city. One of our favorite
things was watching a movie where the music was
provided by the national symphony orchestra. We enjoyed
having a sports bar within walking distance and
spent numerous hours taking in the history of the
area. We loved having visitors and showing off our
absorbed knowledge of the big city, My
sarcastic, baseball loving Aunt Deal passed
away. Her beloved Atlanta Braves managed to be
in first place for her final season.
My last uncle on my mom's side, Uncle Duane
passed away after a hard year. His
daughter Kathleen lost her battle with cancer
after years of fighting. My cousin Lexie (only 2 days younger than me) died
suddenly and unexpectedly in the fall.
My sister is a
great grandmother, meaning my folks would have
been great greats. Yes, little Rex is a
daddy. The baby was born while they were
homeless thanks to Hurricane Michael.
Weeks later Joni's kids are still dealing with
downed trees, insurance and the shell shock of
witnessing the power of a cat 5 hurricane.
Thankfully there were no injuries. They
all say if the word tropical storm and Florida
are in the same sentence - they are leaving
town. |
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Visitors |
We had GCamp in DC
and it was a treat. Riley and Grandma Joni
joined us for a few days. We visited museums,
road the metro, swam, walked many miles and played some mean Wii games. Seeing the Panda's at the
zoo, watching the blacksmith at Mt Vernon and
blowing bubbles off the balcony were memories
enjoyed by all.
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My friend Nancy came for the Cherry Blossom
festival. It was cold but we put on our
scarves and gloves and walked the mall.
The cherry trees were gorgeous, they lived up to
all the hype. I DROVE us to Mt. Vernon.
The one and only time I ventured out driving
around the area without Micky as my co-pilot.
Nancy subbed in the co pilot seat and we made it
back in time to have a margarita.
My cousin Gary
and his wife Maggie were in town on business. We
spent two evening showing them around our
neighborhood and taking the metro into the city.
Maggie took some amazing photos of the sunset
over the river.
Jody, Katherine, Wes and Kyle Woodard dropped by
for a few days in the city. I suspect they
walked an average of seven miles a
day. I think they did more walking than any
visitors we had. The boys enjoyed the pool and
they completed a massive checklist of things to
see and do.
A few days later
Colby, Margine and Grace Self spent a week with us.
They walked many miles and rode the metro many more.
Grace swam the pool dry and made friends with
everyone she encountered.
In September George
and Tamara (the Buleks) came for a week. Even
with a slower pace they still clocked a lot of
miles. George made a comment at the Vietnam
wall that was profound.. He said, "Each name
is someone's child." Such a simple,
true and sad statement, but we looked at the Wall
with different eyes after that.
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Voni came for a
week. Micky (bravely) left us by ourselves in
DC while he went to Texas. She and I went to
a National's baseball game, watched football at
the sports bar, spent a full hour laughing at
the pandas and like all other visitors - we
walked.
Vonaceil (Voni)
is and has been my best friend for many years.
We met at the ASCS office before they had
computers. In other words - our friendship
is older than dirt! BTW Gary - thank
you for letting her come! |
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Our Travels |
We made our annual
trek to Vegas for the NCAA tournament. The
games were amazing and Tech made us proud reaching
the Elite Eight.
Travel to and from Virginia was a little different.
We admit it was only one more time zone but it felt
like a lot more. |
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We cruised out of
Port Canaveral Florida with the Buleks in April.
We met George and
Tamara in Mexico in 2005 and the friendship, love
and laughter continues. Originally this was planned as Mick's retirement
cruise but it was turned into a retirement eligible
cruise. We paid for a fancy cabin with a big
window and at the end of the cruise said - "Cool,
but never again". We felt obligated to spend
time in the cabin looking out our big full length
window when we really wanted to be out dancing,
playing trivia or watching the weirdos (other
passengers :)) which is a fun game to play on any
cruise ship. We stopped in Bonaire and
Grand Turks for the first time and returned to
Aruba.
This picture was
taken in Aruba, known as one happy island and
it is one of our favorite islands. The Buleks
and Woodards do travel well together :-)
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In September we
left Baltimore Harbor with James and Mendy.
This became Mick's official retirement cruise and we traveled
North this time. First stop was Boston where
we saw a Red Sox vs Yankee game at Fenway Park.
Bucket list check mark for all of us as well as
photos with "The Green Monster." Cruising
north meant long pants, rain coats, umbrellas,
gloves and fresh Maine lobster. We
found there is a real difference between Rock and
Maine lob-stah. They have such an accent when they
talk. We visited Bar Harbor and Portland Maine as
well as St. John and Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Micky and James met
while they were students at Texas Tech, "Ag boys".
We have photos of "guns up" on many adventures.
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In October
we took a sibling cruise with my sister, brother and
sister in law. This was Marvin and Linda's
first cruise. Joni had cruised once - with the
grandkids so we called this her first cruise. We took dance lessons, towel
folding classes (ok Linda did), played trivia and
spent a lot of time relaxing and of course eating as
well as "Shhhhow Tiiiiime".
We discovered
cruising on Halloween greatly increases the
possibility of watching weirdoes.
This concluded
our trifecta of cruises for 2018 with visits
to Mexico, Belize and Honduras.
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2019 Travels |
We swore never
again to book 3 cruises in one year. That
lasted . . . well . . . not too long. Gary called
with a great idea of taking the Alaskan cruise for Voni's
62nd birthday in August 2019. Since we had
always wanted to make the trip we signed up.
Big plans are being made for a road trip to and from
Seattle.
A few months after we booked Alaska, Gary (yes
I'm blaming him) called and a cruise that we were
planning for April 2020 needed to be moved to
2019. So why not, it is only a 6 day
trip.
Once we got back
from the sibling cruise and (this time I'm not
blaming Gary, I'm blaming Marvin), Marvin 1) enjoyed
the pace of cruising and 2) is frugal like us and he
suggested we not lose but use our "just got back"
cruise discount. We had already found a dream
cruise so after further discussions the decision was made
to stop dreaming and book it. We are booked on a 2
week trip out of Galveston that includes a partial
transit of the Panama Canal, Cartegena, Colombia,
Aruba, Curacao and Costa Rico. Dreaming has paid
off!
And of course there
will be Vegas in March. With the law changes
regarding sports betting expanding the locations we may be able to enjoy the
tournament (and lose a few dollars) closer to home
in the future. But for 2019, Vegas here we
come.
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2020 Spoiler
Alert |
Just a warning
folks - the first week of November 2020 is the next
presidential election and there will be Protest Cruise
II.
We don't care who is on the ballot, we protest the
media coverage, the fake news, the total BS or
whatever you want to call it. We demonstrate our
protest by not being here. The 2016 election
found us in Montego Bay, Jamaica. (And yes
some in our group were dancing on tables but it
wasn't me - ok, it was a stage at a local
establishment but there was dancing.) All
religions and political parties are welcome.
However to abide with the commitment of
participation in the protest; politics, religion
and your sex life will NOT be discussed! Mark
your calendars. |
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Our Kiddos
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In March Michael was
offered a promotion and he, Bethany and Gatlin relocated
to Pleasanton. They closed on the sale of their
house one morning and bought their new house that same
afternoon. We weren't there but I understand there
was a bit of stress involved - yikes. Michael is a
district manager for NOW and Bethany is in payroll and
accounts payable for Will-Call Services. Bethany is also a
certified proof reader. Her dream is to have
enough business to work from home (in other words - QUIT
her job and be her own boss).
Check it out at
bethanyland.com.
Gatlin is all boy (3
this year) and always busy. He is
a talker and I swear you can see the wheels turning inside
his head. He counts past 10 in both English and
Spanish. Like his mom he enjoys singing and
tv, while he looks exactly like his dad. He's cute, he knows
it and so do we. |
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Casey and Katy run and
play so much it is hard to keep up with them.
Casey's business, Capitol Environmental has
outgrown its office space and he spent a good deal of
the year shopping for a larger space and continues to
search. They enjoy their country living with
a golf cart, a cat named Bruiser and a few
wild animals. Katy has decided multiplication
tables are far worse than spelling words. She was
10 in May, is a
5th grader and has her first "man" teacher this year and
is liking the change. Casey, Mary, Kira and Katy
are headed to Utah skiing for Xmas.
This is Katy posing in a
jacket (for sale at the Smithsonian) from her dad's favorite movie (when he was 12),
Top Gun. She had zero interest in owning it but
was willing to pose for a photo. Katy spent the
entire year telling anyone and everyone that she needs a
dog. So far her hints have been ignored.
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Jamie and
Luchi have built a home in Weatherford and officially
moved in the weekend after Thanksgiving. Luchi has
began work on her citizenship paperwork and is part
of the ESL program at Weatherford ISD. Jamie
continues to work as a rigger for a crane company in Odessa.
Natalie will be
12 in January. She was selected as "Outstanding
Student of the Year" as a 5th grader. She moved to Intermediate School this year as a 6th
grader. She continues to play volleyball, but
plays in a competition league. She is still enrolled in
her dance classes and is taking choir in school. DramaQT
is her email handle and boy is it fitting.
Martin just turned 9 in
December. He is our 3rd grader with a mind that keeps us
guessing. The girls had the song "Oh Mickey"
playing this summer and Martin asked, "Gramps is
the singer your old girlfriend and she wants you back?"
Gramps replied, "I will never tell." Gramps' head
swelled so big it would hardly fit through the door.
Martin loves basketball and playing
with friends. (PS - he hates girls with big
bows in their hair...go figure).
Here is Natalie at the
Capital building in Washington. Martin is at the
Ford Theater sitting in the chair reserved for POTUS.
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What's Ahead? |
We hope to
continue traveling as long as these old bodies hold
out. We don't enjoy the airline "hassle" these
days. We have found our bucket list changes as
we age. Crowds, traffic, long lines and
stressful days take a lot of the joy out of a trip
(getting old sucks). We plan to do some
road trips and will definitely be back in Palm
Springs. Nothing like floating in the pool in the
middle of winter. Joni has begun to lobby for
an Amtrak trip. What can we do? So many
options, so little time!
We hope to have our backyard up and running in time
for Gcamp 2019. We are enjoying reading,
basketball (college) and plan to do some serious
grandkid spoiling. Micky plans to break
out his fiddle and guitar and I have committed to
using up all of the craft supplies in my possession
and get serious about writing.
I can promise you
this, we do not have any plans to shop on Black
Friday, attend an NBA game or go night clubbing in
Vegas. Other than that, life look out! |
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We wish you a
Merry Christmas and a 2019 filled with good
health, great memories and warm hugs. |
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