Just Us: Home Again

Well, once again, we went to Cleveland early in December to see the grandchildren, family and go to our Financial Planner's Christmas party. The weather cooperated for once and we enjoyed brisk but mild weather.

We stayed with Rose and Joe in Macedonia and were glad to see that Joe is almost finished with his medical treatments and is doing well. Rose made everything perfect. Like Donna and Bob, they are fantastic hosts.

We tried not to cram a bunch of activities in this time, as we were going to stay with Tony, Marie and family on the way back and I had to work the very next day.

I just couldn't wait to see Ben, Sam, Ellie and Zach. We took Lynn with us to see them and their new house and we had a nice visit. We bought some games and played them after we got a tour of the house from Ben and Sam and then looked at the ornaments on the Christmas tree. Ben is getting so tall, I couldn't believe it. Sam is the same--a short, loud, little bullet. Ellie opened up to us a bit more than she did last year and I felt like I made some progress with Zach. He talked to me about the game we were playing (Operation) and said the noise the game made scared him. We worked on it for awhile and he got used to the noise enough to laugh when it happened. As always, Jon was a great host. He played a word game with Tony, Lynn, Ben and Sam and they did really well. It was a fill in the blank kind of game and they really got into it. As always, the kids were very into Papa and he took turns playing the games with them.

All too soon it was time to leave until next year and head to TGI Fridays to see our niece, Sarah and her significant other, Steven. It seems like we spent a lot of time in Cleveland just eating--and all of the food was great!!

We went to a new restaurant that Rose and Joe recommended, Jekyl's Kitchen in Chagrin Falls. We got a great table overlooking the falls and met some people from Oklahoma at the next table. We watched a young couple get engaged and checked out the ring as they left the restaurant. What a fun time we had.

And the next day was Sunday--football day, so we watched the Browns. I was going to say that we watched the Browns play, but that's not exactly how to describe what they did. It was one of those games where I wished we had a cheerleading team because I was sure if we put them in instead of the Browns, we may have had a chance to win. Or, maybe the announcers, maybe even the old people in the front row--I think anyone could have out played the Browns that day. Tony always says that being a true Browns fan isn't easy, but you have to stick with your team. I guess we're true Browns fans! Oddly enough, when we went back home, we went to the Front Street Brewery to see the game with San Fransisco at the Browns Backer Club. Geez, what a difference--the Browns actually played like a football team. AND THEY WON. Go figure, they won.

We saw Coleton and Anthony....oh, Tony and Marie, too, on the way back to Leland. Coleton sang, "Rudolph the Red Nose Raindeer," to us and Anthony is walking. All we have to do is blink and so much time has gone by.

We are getting ready for Christmas and, of course, work. I work Christmas Day from 3:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., and Christmas Eve too. I had oral surgery on Tuesday and am glad it's over.

Here are some Cleveland highlights: