Getting Ready

 

Oh boy, Thanksgiving is right around the corner--that means that David, Brenda, Alex and Birdie will be visiting.

They are getting so big.  David changed jobs, he went back to Mercury Insurance where he was for a good 10 years.  The other job was too much travel and he is glad to be back.  Brenda, still on the bench, is going to be handling more complex cases in 2025, and I am sure she will do very well.

I got some crafts for the girls to do while they are here. I enjoy having them here, but I hate cleaning up for the visit.  I swear, I had enough dust in this house to make 4 new people!!  But, we are almost finished and it will be well worth it. 

Things remain the same for Tony and me.  He is still working at the golf course on Thursday (Ladies Day, they just love him,) and I am still writing and working at Carolina Dunes every other weekend. 

Dixie is still a pain in the butt, but she is ours and we wouldn't know what to do without her.  She will be 12 in January. 

Tony sleeps in the spare room on Wednesday so he doesn't wake me when he gets up to go to work.  Dixie has decided that's where she wants to be when Tony is in there and has been mounting a campaign to sleep there with him several days a week.  She gets under the bed and barks and won't come out.  Tony tried to pull her out the other day and she bit him.  It's really annoying when your dog is as stubborn as you are!

Tony is baking pies right now and getting the Thanksgiving food ready.  

So, back to cleaning I go.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Early Voting, Bread and a Lava Lamp

 

Tony and I went to early voting this past week.  We stood in line for an hour and a half but it's done.  The line went all the way across the street but moved at a good rate, it was just that crowded.

It was interesting listening to the conversations going on around us.  A man behind us was chatting to a woman in line about working in Washington DC and how he "covered" several elections.  He proudly said that he did not vote in the elections he was covering because he didn't think it was fair to the public.  His rationale was that if he selected a candidate, his bias toward that candidate would somehow slip into his reporting.  He went on to talk about the 4 books he wrote and how much time he spent researching a phrase he heard used at Walmart about security.  The woman with whom he was speaking was duly impressed.  I, however, could not get the words, "ego maniac" out of my mind.  Go figure!

Tony did a low country boil last week that was really good.  It is, however, very work intensive, so I am hoping to convince him to serve chips and salsa for upcoming games.  This Sunday, I'm going to try my hand at Tarsitano Bread.  I hope it works out. 

I am back in Leland Middle School every other Wednesday.  We've done an exercise in Pod Casting and this week, I'm going descriptive phrases, where they have to write detailed instructions on how to do something.  Their grade will depend on how well I perform the task depending on their instructions.  Last year, one of the things they had to explain to me was how to tie a shoe.  That was funny.  This year, I am taking our Lava Lamp and I'm going to ask them to describe how it works.  

David, Brenda and the girls will be in for Thanksgiving...another fun year of watching them help Papa put up the tree on Friday.  I can't wait to see them. 

Clam Bake

 

We had our first clam bake of the season yesterday and it was really good. 

We were watching the storm activity--it went west of us, Tony Jr. and family were without power for almost a full day due to high winds and rain.  We got heavy rain  but there were patches of clear weather at times, so the rain wasn't accumulating. 

Tony spent some time in the hospital earlier in the month.  He is on new meds and they wanted to watch him.  It was a long 3 days, but Dixie and I got through it.  

Tony's sister, Rose, just came back from a trip to Iceland.  She sent some really nice pictures and said she had a good time.  It was good for her to get away and put some distance between her and the funeral. 

We will be hosting our niece Katie and her husband Rob in February for Tony's birthday.  They live in California.  Rose will be in as well and Donna and Bob will be in Sunset Beach for January and February.  If Tony Jr and David come in, that will be 9 of us.  A good time, I'm sure. 

David, Brenda, Alex and Birdie will be in for Thanksgiving again this year.  I'm glad.  The clam bake was a lot for Tony  to do, so Thanksgiving dinner in David's hands is a good thing.  

Our niece, Sarah is due in February and is having her gender reveal party in October.  Fritz is going to patch us in via phone so we get to see the party.  They adopted another dog so that Ollie will have someone to play with once the baby arrives.   So two puppies and a baby.  Thank goodness they are young!!

And so, I am going to the  125th Anniversary of the VFW dinner tonight.  I'm covering it for the paper.  Should be fun.  Tony is staying home, so I will be back early. 

I hope everyone has a great October.  Thank goodness it's getting cooler here!

Just When You Think....

 

It seems like just when you think all is well, everything comes apart.  

About a year ago, Tony had a pacemaker installed.  The batteries are supposed to last for 12 years and I was feeling good about that.  I thought we would have 12 years of no worries. 

Well, that was wrong.  This week, I had to take Tony into the hospital to have his pacemaker zapped to get his heart back in rhythm.  Now, he is on a stronger medication and will have to be hospitalized for 3 days for observation.  

I guess there is always something to worry about.

Changes

 

How quickly things change.  We were in Cleveland the week of July 16, to see Jenna's kids and had a great time. 

Now, we are going back for Joe's funeral.  I flip back and forth with my feelings about this.  I am angry at him at some level.  He beat cancer 3 times and kept right on smoking.  Right up until the end.  On the other hand, I feel so bad for my sister in law, Rose.  She dedicated her life to him from the moment they got married and especially in his last days.  She must be exhausted and yet, she goes on.  I know she has to.  I remember well, but it has been a long struggle for her.  

And so, the first of the six of us is gone.  Bob and Donna have been married for 52 years, Rose and Joe for 37 and Tony and I for 35.  I know the remaining four of us are hoping to get several more years in with our spouse, but only time will tell.  For now, we are a group of 5--an odd number for restaurants and parties; but five we will be. I don't want Rose to be left out of activities.  She deserves better than that. 

As Time Goes By...

 

Time seems to be one of the most talked about subjects in my emails, blogs and Facebook.  It goes so quickly by.  You are here one day and the next time you thing about what you were talking about, it's months since you posted.  I plead guilty.

Recently, we have had Sarah and Steven visiting from Cleveland.  They are a joy to have.  Sarah is the daughter of my sister, Fritz, and her husband, Steven.  Sarah and her husband, Steven, have been together for 13 years of their lives (or one third) and know each other very well.  They are so well suited.  

It was fun having them here.  Sarah and I got our nails done and we went out to dinner on a restaurant on the Cape Fear River.  When we go to Cleveland in July, we will stay with them in North Royalton.  

It was fun having young people here.  They helped us with our  computer issues and laughed at our systemic inabilities, in a good way, of course.

Watching Sarah reminded me of when I took her shopping for the day.  She was 5 or 6 and told me very plainly, "My mother said to make sure you spend lots of money one me."  And so, I did.  I bought her a slip to go under a dress I bought her and she thought it was another dress.  We tried on all kinds of styles and I remember her twirling around saying, "I like this one, it makes me look beautiful."

Sarah has always been beautiful...as a child and as an adult.  

As time goes by, I hope we can continue to shop together and have fun.  

She is a wonderful young lady. 

Vacation

 Tony and I spent several days last week checking out wineries in the Yadkin River Valley area.  We had a blast.  The wineries were remote, quiet and historical.  We met some nice people and tried some good wine.

We started the trip in Ashville--a city we  have been to but did not recognize.  We decided it would be our last time in Ashville due to all of the construction, traffic and narrow streets. It was difficult to get around in the city, beautiful as it was. 

I don't go back to work until May 25th and I am enjoying my time off.  The weather has been up and down.  Rainy one day and beautiful the next.  We did "property walk" before we left and the yard looks great.  Not as good as in Strongsville when Tony took care of it, but nice, anyway.  Our hummingbirds are back and we enjoy watching them in the evening.  

Dixie enjoyed her time with Uncle Stu and Aunt Jan.....we can tell because when she comes home after being there, she ignores us.  We don't serve her Costco chicken like Aunt Jan does, just stuff from the grocery store.  She can tell, believe me.

Our niece, Sarah and her husband, Steven are coming for a visit in June.  We are repaying the favor by staying with them in July when we come to Cleveland.  Our dates are not nailed down yet, but will be soon. 

We are looking forward to seeing everyone! 

 

The Big Event

 

Well, the 4th Annual Writer's Award Banquet is history.  We had a great crowd, good food and entertainment and tons of fun!!

The Teen Scene kids had a blast getting their trophies and pictures taken for the paper.  We had several teachers and principals there to celebrate along with them.  

There were some odd things that happened, however.  One of our sponsors paid for her ticket ($75.00) and one for a teen (another $75.00) and made a $250 tax deductible donation.    After the event, she walked over to the silent auction table and picked up some luggage that was up for auction ($400.00) value.  As she was dragging it to her car, she called out to Gerald (the publisher) that "they were even."  What she didn't know was that there was another auction item in the luggage (to keep it from blowing away) which was a golf package for over $300.00.  She called Gerald this morning and ask for our tax ID number so she could claim her $400.00.  When Gerald called her on stealing the luggage and told her about the golf package, she said she would mail the golf stuff back but was keeping the luggage.  And, she is a very highly respected member of the community.  Go figure. 

Tony and I were beat and glad the event is over for another year.  I couldn't have done it without  him.  I always get the praise for putting on a nice event, but he is the one who drives me to the trophy store (I couldn't find it if my life depended on it,)  helps set up, moves the heavy stuff (yes, at 77 and with a pacemaker,) takes photos of the event and does so much more.  If I can't figure it out, fix it, hoist it, center it or make it happen, Tony is always there to get it done and de-stress me.  Yesterday was husband appreciation day, and I truly did. 

I am still working a ton of hours.  We hired someone for the open spot, but she took a different job instead, so I'm into May hours.  We are taking a week off for our 35th wedding anniversary.  Dixie will be with her Godparents, so we will all be happy.  Can't wait.  

Still trying to plan our July trip to Cleveland....waiting for Jenna again.  

At any rate, things are calm right now and I am wasting the day away, playing on the computer and wearing my jammies all day.  

Life is good. 

To Retire or Not to Retire, That is the Question

I can't remember how many times I have retired since I left my job at Novant (at age 67.)   You know, retiring, that phase where you have all kinds of money and time to do whatever you want?  I always said that I wanted what Tony had in retirement--5 years of doing whatever he wanted.  I joked about having a stack of unread books that I was going to tackle in retirement.  I thought I might even take a few writing courses at a local college.   Well, it didn't turn out that way.  

In my quest to get the house paid off, I went back to work, but only part time.  I'm still not sure why it didn't dawn on me at the time we took out our mortgage, but by the time the house is paid off, Tony will be 92 and I will be 87-- that is, of course, if we live that long.  

One job led to another and here I am.  We recently had an employee at Carolina Dunes who quit.  She was full time on day shift.  That left us with one full time night person, four every other weekend people (of which I am one) and an "as needed" person who is in training.  Unfortunately,  I am the oldest one there and all but me and the "as needed" person have other jobs during the work week.  So instead of my 4 day a month schedule, I am working 12 days in April and it could go into May.

I am not looking forward to getting up at 5:00 a.m. that many days, but, we just had our furnace overhauled with a power surge protector installed, which is going to cost almost $1,000.  Not to mention the termite infestation we had to fix and the car needing maintenance.  All important things and all unplanned.  We are going on a mini vacation in May to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary, so I am picking up shifts and Tony is as well, so we still have that to look forward to.

In other news, my right hip is starting to heal from the fall I had in January and I am very glad.  I can actually get in the car now without moaning and groaning and dragging in my right leg.  It still twinges a bit, but it is so much better. 

I have taken on another writing assignment.  Our neighbor, Christal, was born in Germany in 1938.  She wanted to send her grandson a document about her life so she asked me to help her write it.  She is a very interesting woman and I have learned a lot about life in pre and post World War II.  

Today is Easter and we have perfect weather--a high of 82 degrees and a slight wind.  We are having a ham dinner and then, hopefully, playing bocce in the yard.  Not being able to move around very much because of my hip had added unnecessary weight (not to mention food and wine) and I need to get moving to get rid of it. 

The Cape Fear/Teen Scene Award Dinner is April 20 and as always, I will be glad when it is over.  

Not much else going on.  I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter holiday. 

As Time Goes By

Well, here we are in March.  We have "sprung" forward and are slowly warming up--although much faster that our Cleveland families.  

The Cape Fear Voices/Teen Scene banquet is set for April 20.  I don't seem to be working as hard on this one as I have in the past.  Maybe after doing 3 of them, I'm finally getting the hang of planning.  

In house news, we had some yucky visitors--flying termites.  They have destroyed the window sill in my office and there are holes in the floor in the kitchen and in front of the front door.  They are just ruthless, not to mention ugly.  Anyway, we had a bug service come out years ago and kept them on a retainer.  Good thing, as they came out yesterday, took care of the creepy bugs and are having the floors repaired at no cost to us.  I hate bugs. 

Looks like we will be going to Cleveland in July to see the grandkids.  I am happy about that, as it will be two years since we last saw them.  

 I am still working at Carolina Dunes and still writing.  Some things don't change.  I am also still working through the aftermath of the fall I took in January.  My right hip is still painful, although I can at least get in the car now.  Old people should never fall.  

We had our taxes done today and, Thank God, we get a refund from both Federal and the State--not a big one, but, hey, green is green.  We also stopped by Fibber McGee's for lunch, one of our favorite places.  So, all in all, it was a good day. 

Not much else is going on.  Dixie is well and so is Tony.  All things considered, it is a good time in life for us.

Valentines Day

 

What a bleak day.  I woke up at 8:30 only to find that I had a 9:00 meeting.  I made it to the meeting by 9:07, but like I told Gerald, my hair was still wet, I think I only brushed 4 of my teeth and I wasn't sure if I was wearing underwear, but I got there.  It was a 2 and a half hour meeting.  I am still very stiff from falling so by the time the meeting was over, I could barely walk. 

From that meeting, I went home and spent the rest of the day in the office writing.  Well, writing and waiting.  Tony wanted chocolate last night, so I gave him his card and candy then.   It was a long day.  I'm tired.  But it was Valentine's Day.  I always get a nice card on Valentine's Day.  

And, for the first time in 37 years, there was no card.  I'm struggling with that.  

I'm bummed.  And, I guess I'm bummed that it is bothering me so much.  

Anyway, I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day.  It's a day of love.  

A Southern Kind of Cold

 

It's been a few weeks since I posted.  Dixie had a great birthday, and soon it will be Tony's turn.  For whatever reason, the month of January seems very long to me.  Could be because I'm working on the February issue of Cape Fear Voices and the March issue of the company newsletter.  

Covid has reared its ugly head again.  Three people at work tested positive for it.  Dawn, our weekday receptionist has a cruise planned starting tomorrow and she is still going, Covid or not.  She said her doctor gave her steroids and said she should be OK by Thursday.  I don't know....seems risky to me. 

I have been called into work once so far because of people being sick and I am working this weekend and the following Monday.  I have plenty of alcohol wipes and the first thing I do when I arrive is to wipe off the phone receiver, the number keys and the computer keyboard.  

We have only seen Donna and Bob a few times since they arrived from Cleveland.  The weather has been really cold so golfing was out of the question.  It was not Cleveland cold, but for sure, not southern cold.  "Cold" to people from the south is around 45 degrees.  We have had below freezing temps and Tony has been covering the plants outside.  Today should be better--in the upper 60's, I hope.  Tony and Bob are playing golf and Donna and I are doing lunch and then going to the Sandlewood shops to look around. 

Tony and I are doing what I refer to as "end of life" stuff.  We've been going through boxes that have been in our attic for 13 years and getting rid of stuff.  A few days ago, the box he brought down for me was full of memories.  I found two love letters from my late husband, Bill, that I actually forgot I had.  I have a ton of pictures of Jenna when she was a baby and a young child.  She looked happy then.  I hope she is happy now.  

Not much else going on.  I actually felt "written out," the other day.  Try as I might, I could not think of a topic for my Cape Fear Voices February issue.  I tried a few times to write something and nothing came out.  I hope this isn't a trend.  

That's all for now.  I hope all of you in the snowy weather get relief soon.  

Another Year Older

Today is Dixie's 11th birthday!  We are having a small party for her with just us and her Godparents.  Actually, as of February 24, Tony and Dixie will be the same age, 77!

She is just as goofy as when we brought her home.  She still sits with us on the lanai everyday and barks at 5:00 for her treat.  It's only fair, we meet out there for a glass of wine, she figures she should get a treat too.  

Donna and Bob got in a few days ago and are coming to our house to watch the Browns game tomorrow.  Tony has been in the kitchen cooking for both events and I think he is getting tired of it.  I don't blame him.  When it comes to cooking or cleaning toilets, I'll take the toilets!

We published the first issue of the newsletter at work on January 1, and I got a lot of nice comments about it.  I'm working on February right now and am having fun getting to meet people at work that I normally don't interact with.  

We are planning a Cleveland trip this year, but we will be smarter than last year and go during the summer so the kids aren't in school activities.  Jenna did send the yearly calendar, starring all of them and I can't believe how tall they are now.  Ben has his hair dyed black....not a fan!  And Sam looks exactly like Jenna.  Ellie and Zach are also getting bigger and it looks like they are having fun in school.  The pictures I have in my office are of them when they are any where from 18 months to 8 years old, so seeing Ben at age 17 was a shocker!  He has to be at least 6 foot 2 inches tall.  

It is cold and rainy today, but I shouldn't complain, at least it isn't snowing.  Leland is a lot like Cleveland, it can be cold and gloomy one day and the next, it's in the low 70's with plenty of sun.  It's just the summers I can take.  When it's 95 degrees at 9 in the morning, there just isn't any relief.  

Tony got me the Cher Show tickets for Christmas.  There are three singers that portray her at various stages of her career.  I can't wait.  The show is in February.  Our first venture to the theatre down here was to the opera and that was a hoot.  "Carmen" was a 50 year old heavy set woman and her lover was even worse.  It was the first time that I had seen people going to the opera in shorts and white socks. Anyway, this show should be much better. 

I am looking forward to the party this evening and singing to Dixie.  We don't know what we would do without her.  Happy Birthday, Goofy Dog!