On The Road Again - Part 1

Tony and I have been travelling this past week and had a great time.  There were three parts to our journey, so I'm going to devote one blog post per part.  The first one is about our dinner with Joyce.

People who have true connections don't have to see each other everyday to stay connected.  A strong bond with another person transcends time and distance and that's how I feel about Joyce.   When I first  met Joyce, I was the "new Swegle wife."  Joyce had "seniority" and more important to me, she contributed Swegle children, something I could never do.  We were the Alpha and Omega--she was a talented and caring person who provided a loving home to her family and took on challenges around the house that I left for Tony to do.  Intimidated?  Oh yeah.  Joyce fit better into the family than I did.  I didn't cook.  I didn't grocery shop.  I didn't do all of the wonderful things that she did.  I worked outside of the home and that's about it. 

But over time, I got to know Joyce and realized that we had more in common than I thought.  We both have a goofy sense of humor and we both tend to tell it like it is (or in my case, how I see it.)  We both love wonderful Swegle men and we both have terrific and talented children.  Joyce taught  me that I didn't have to change who I was to "fit in," I just had to acknowledge the differences and stay true to myself.  Joyce gave me the power to say, "ouch" if something hurt and not keep it inside.  She became my lifeline and sounding board and most important--my sister-in-law.  Marriage didn't do that, we did, just by talking to each other openly and honestly. Joyce and I developed a closer relationship than I have with my own sisters. 

As you are reading this, I'm sure you can tell that I was thrilled to get together with Joyce.  We had a wonderful evening as evidenced by the pictures I've included.  We talked, we laughed and we were goofy--who can ask for anything more?

My sister-in-law and me!

OK, you wanna talk, "goofy???"   Joyce told me that the best way to hide a double chin in pictures was to do this....not only can you see my "other" chin, you can see my fat arm.  Didn't work, Joyce!

Did I mention that we laughed?!!!

Two of my favorite Swegles!!

It was the end of the evening, but we will do this again.

Busy Weekend

Compass Pointe has started a "happy hour" every other Friday at the pool.  Tony and I went for the first time, this past Friday.   We had fun--met new people and hung out with friends.

On Saturday, we drove to Charlotte to drop off stuff that we had in storage the belonged to Tony Jr.  We had a great lunch and then drove to their house to see the nursery--a work in progress at this point.  We also got to see the newest ultrasound pictures.  I think we have a Tony Jr. double (boy or girl), as we saw alot of his features in the pictures.  Our baby is also very flexible, as we saw a picture where his or her feet were up near his or her head. 

When we were packing the car here at the storage place in Leland, one of Tony's (Jr) shelves had to be partly in the front seat because it was so long.  It effectively cut off our ability to see each other.   All the way home Tony was making wise cracks about this being a good invention for husbands and wives.....I didn't think so!

Today I was motivated to walk--mostly because when I weighed myself this morning, I was up 1.5 pounds from yesterday.  Too much food, too much sitting in the car driving and way too much wine.  I have declared today Wineless Sunday (at least for me) and walked for a half hour this morning when it was cool and breezy.  I felt like the walk was worth it, when our friend, Jim Chinni, drove past me, rolled down his window and said, "Hey, good looking!!!" 

We are gearing up for more travel.  Marie's shower in Charlotte is next week and then the following week, we are driving to Orlando to see our sister-in-law, Joyce.  After that, we are spending some time at the house that David and Joanna rented on the beach in Siesta Keys. 

The job search remains a challenge.  I continue to network and check the job boards everyday.  I know something will come up, but not know when is frustrating.  

In house news, we no longer own 19652 Jamestown Circle--the new owners, the Wagners (I think) took ownership on Friday.   It's kind of sad, but since we have all started new chapters in our lives, this is a good thing.   Tony and I will always remember Ben and Sam rolling a ball down the railing of the steps, hitting Papa in the head or butt and laughing about it.  We will remember all of the prom pictures taken in front of the Azalea bushes and the many Christmas's we had there.   When we come up to see Jenna, Jon and the kids, I'm sure we will drive by and see what the new owners have done to make it their house. 

We heard from Donna today that Shannon may be induced soon.  The baby is due in about two weeks, but it could be better for both Emma and Shannon if she is born earlier.  We're keeping our fingers crossed that everything goes well. 

Loading up the car for the Charlotte trip!

I think Tony called this the noise barrier--ha ha ha...it's Tony Jr's shelf.

Rhoda Chinni and I with my newly "re-blonded" hair!

Tony (who was the best lookging guy there!!) with our friend, Jim Chinni.

He loads...he unloads. 

Our baby's crib!!!

Tony and the first baby--who knows something is going on, but is not sure what!

23

Yesterday, Tony and I celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary.  We went to a new restaurant called Boca Bay, which was great.  We had an appetizer called Ceviche (seh-BEE-chay) that had shrimp, scallops, avocado, mango, red and green pepper, red onion and spinach.  It produced it's own dressing that had a citrus flavor.     It was really good.

We had a nice dinner and then came home and watched our wedding video.  Oh LORD, was I thin and young with big, permed dark hair!!!  Tony hasn't changed much....still thin and handsome!!!!  We got such a kick out of seeing the kids in video--Tony Jr was six and David was just weeks away from turning 8.  Jenna, looked great and I couldn't believe that she was just 12!  I want all of the spouses to see that video!  Seeing your husband/wife in their early days is something you will enjoy. 

Today is Mother's Day and I got all kinds of very nice thoughts in the way of cards, flowers and a message from Jenna, Ben and Sam.  It's going to be a nice, slow day--going to the pool, maybe some cornhole and Kentucky fried chicken!   I hope all of the Mom's, Mother's to be and Mother's in waiting have a wonderful day today.  Happy Mother's Day to all.

Here we are at dinner (ignore the couple behind us, they aren't nearly as "cute" as we are!):

Happy 23rd, DB, I'm looking forward to at least 23 more!

Relax!

For as long as I can remember, Saturday has been a "work day" for Tony.  Not working for Parker, but working in the yard, on the house, washing the cars,  putting chemicals in the hot tub, edging the grass--all kinds of things.   He would be up early and work until he was ready to come in and start cooking.   Finally, at around 8:30 in the evening, he would start to "wind down" and relax.

I grabbed this picture at around 1:30 this afternoon.   It's so rare to see Tony sitting down and relaxing I thought I'd publish it on the blog!

Now that's what I call retirement!

Life Update

Well, I didn't stay Cornhole Champion for long.  After my stunning 2 out of 3 victories, I have faced terrible loses at the hands of Mr. Swegle--losing 9 out of 9 games recently.  But it was fun. 

I thought it was time to post a life update so here goes....I'm getting tan, my golf game is getting better and I'M NOT WORKING.    Same ole, same ole....I continue to network, but not much results.  Next week, I'm having lunch with the marketing person of my friend, Peter Starr, the financial advisor we met at the City Club.  I don't hold out alot of hope, but I continue to try and find "unpublished" jobs through networking. 

We are also getting ready for a visit from Rose and Joe.  It will be good to see them, and as with Donna and Bob, we will do everything we can to convince them that Wilmington is the place to be and they should move down here. 

Compass Pointe is doing alot of building--they had a new buyers event this past weekend, so it's nice to see new "welcome" signs going up on different lots and the sounds of houses being built.

We had our neighbor, Dick Zeno, over for dinner last night.  His wife will retire in June and join him down here full time.  He is a nice man.  And, as always, Tony did a great dinner.  I still think it's fun to be the youngest person in our circle of friends, even though I will be 60 OMG in August. 

It's getting hot down here.  It was 90 degrees yesterday and really close to that today.    I look out my window from the office while I am job searching and I see butterflies and birds in the yard.  Each looking for something cooling to take the heat off of the moment.  We have such an array of birds here...we get Tony's "bird book" out and see who is in our backyard.  It's fun.....yes, I know....it's "old" fun, but we enjoy it. 

Marie's baby shower is just around the corner in Cleveland and then she will have one in Charlotte.  We are going to the one in Charlotte, so I will be looking forward to seeing pictures from the one in Cleveland.  Just think....in 60 days or so, we will have our fifth grandchild....just as beautiful as Ben, Sam, Ellie and Zach, but different too.  It's a wonderful time. 

On the "selling the house" front, we go from issue to issue.  The potential buyers are going
FHA, so that means a mountain of paperwork and inspections.    We are one step closer to selling the house, but also one step closer to not having a deal.   That is stressful. 

Tony is making sure our yard is the best one on the street and is taking care of me.  He continues to get me out when he thinks I am "house-bound" and encourages me in my job search. 

I have been in Wilmington for 4 months and three weeks.  I enjoy it here.  I wish the kids and grandchildren were closer, but Tony and I have a wonderful house and a wonderful life here...it doesn't get much better than that.

On The Road Again

Tony and I headed up to Cleveland so I could attend Shannon and Chris' baby shower.  We had a good time and the shower was tons of fun.  We got to see the kids, of course, and spent some time with Donna and Bob and Rose and Joe. 

Chris was great at the shower!!  I so enjoyed when he called a baby bottle brush a "toilet brush!!"    He and Shannon were touched and  surprised by all of the gifts people gave them.

We stayed at the house, which of course, has no furniture; but we slept on the air mattress and brought up a small TV so we could watch movies (no cable anymore!)

We're not sure when we will be back up, but we took alot of good memories back to Leland with us.

Highlights:

The Azalea's followed us up from Leland!!  Tony always made sure the yard looked good. 

A tree on our tree lawn getting ready to "go green!"

At the shower.  See, real men do attend showers!!!

The best Mom I know with me and Zack.

A "few" gifts....trust me, there were SO MANY more!!

Donna bought a great cake.

My beautiful daughter, with a sleepy little boy!

He was pretty much out after this. 

Shannon and Chris start to open gifts.

 Chris, sharing gifts with the group.

They got a teddy bear that will be bigger than Emma until she's 25!

Everyone commented on Zach's beautiful eyes.

Chris, working hard on unwrapping!

A "lamb" picture painted by Aunt Rose.

And, on to see the grand-kids!!

Ellie, getting her first "Papa piggyback ride!"

My sweet, Sam!

Ben eating dinner.

Sammy in "time out."  For some reason, Mommy and Daddy had a problem with Sam laying on his back on the couch, kicking his feet in the air and waving his hot dog over his head, over and over again.  Go figure!

The swim suit and robe that Tony and Marie got Emma.  She's going to be the prettiest baby on the beach!

Fun With Tony and Marie

Tony and Marie came down to spend Easter with us.  It was fun to show them what we've done in the house since they were here in December. 

And, it wouldn't be a Swegle visit without Cornhole!   The "old" Swegles went down in flames as the "young" Swegles beat us in 5 straight games. 

Tony, Tony and Marie were going to go to Easter mass on Saturday and then meet me at the City Club after for dinner...well, turns out there was no mass, so we spent some time talking to Greg at the City Club, whose is expecting their first child in two weeks.  We also met Holt, one of the bartenders and talked about the tradition in the south of taking the mother's maiden name as the child's first name.  His middle name is Evans, another maiden name.  Could we have a "Phillips" Swegle in the works????

Since Tony and Marie don't know what sex the baby is, I have "predicted" that we're having a girl, whom I have "named" Maude Sally (I know Jenna and Jon are laughing at that one!!)  I'm guessing that won't be the final result, but as I explained to Marie, offering obnoxious names during pregnancy is my forte!!!

Tony and Marie left early on Sunday, so we had Easter brunch--with fillets, mashed potatoes and asparagus.  It was a wonderful meal. 

We are keeping Tyson for a few days so Tony can do some painting in the nursery.  Tyson has been really good.  He slept on Marie's sweater and took Tony for a walk today.  He's also spending alot of time finding the sun on the floor and stretching out to enjoy it.   It's been fun to have a dog around again.