March 2013 - CATCH UP!!

March 13, 2013 I have been reminded by some blogging/traveling friends that I have sadly neglected our blog! So, this is a catch up post that will very briefly touch on our 2012 year. It’s been a very big year! January thru end of March, 2012 we spent in Key West, in our favorite camping spot, Trumbo Point. We did all the usual fun things, sunsets galore, many happy hours at the local watering holes, kayaking, sailing, attending church on Sunday, biking all over the island. Fun in the sun, plenty of relaxing. For the first time, we took our dog, Megan, and she was the hit of the park. Turns out she’s a great traveler, loves the sun as much as we do. We had decided to get married, settling on the date of June 2, we figured, gave us plenty of time to put together our ‘small, simple’ wedding. Even though we only had about 50 people invited, it did turn out to be anything BUT small and simple! We had folks from Seattle, San Diego, Davis (CA), Ohio, Dene ver, Georgia traveling here. We managed to get inexpensive hotel rooms for everyone, planned an outdoor, catered dinner on the night before the wedding, plus other less-planned events as people arrived for the special day. Once all planning was done, it turned out to be wonderful. My Dad (89) and his wife were able to come, and he sang “The Lord’s Prayer” at the wedding. He got to enjoy all the festivities, see most of his grandchildren and all his great grandchildren. He was so happy for us! In late June, he started having a series of events that put him in the hospital multiple times over a 2-3 week period. He passed away on July 8, on my mom’s birthday! He had arranged to have his body donated to the medical school, so there was no funeral. A memorial service was held in late August. Dan and I drove his grandson, Eric, to a 2-week camp west of St. Louis late in June. We actually were able to stop by the hospital to see my dad, as it turns out, one more time. He was in good spirits and very glad to see us. In July, Dan and I drove to Virginia Beach for the annual reunion of his SEAL team, always a fun event. In August, as I mentioned, we had a lovely memorial service in Waverly, Ohio, attended by Dan and me, my sister and her husband, all four of our children and their spouses, and all five great-grandchildren! We all stayed in the same hotel in the little town, and had a nice reunion of our own before and after the service. We don’t often get together, so that was a blessing in itself! In October, we bought a ‘hoarder’s’ home. The owner, who actually lived across the street from us, died. He had another home, a 4 bedroom Colonial, about a mile from our home – it was CRAMMED with stuff. When I say ‘stuff’, I mean everything from many new, in the box items, to literally 3 TONS of books (new), more clothes (all sized for a large man) than anyone could wear in a lifetime, collectibles, furniture, and about 150 cubic yards of trash! In about six weeks, with the help of three full-time laborers, we cleaned out the 4 bedrooms, living room, family room, dining room, 2-1/2 baths, basement, attic. Phew! We are left with some nice pieces of furniture (uncovered in the excavation exercise), and two two-car garages full of useable items. While all this was going on, just for grins and giggles, we remodeled the kitchen where we live, ripped out the ruined cabinets and appliances at the ‘hoarder house’, installed new heating systems at both the house where we live and the ‘hoarder home’ OK, now we are pretty much up to date. I’ll put some pictures and more verbage about the wedding and the hoarder house project. We decided to take a shorter break this winter and drove to Key West for just under a month. As I write this, we’re barreling down the road north, as we head towards our friends’ home in Orlando for the night.