A Few Updates

It's days like today that make me realize why we moved down here. There's a cold front that has been sitting just west of us for the past week, which means we're getting warm weather. Yesterday, it got up to 76 degrees, today, it's 72 with beautiful blue skies. We played cornhole today and I felt retired. I had laundry going, I had just finished cleaning the office and walked up and got the mail earlier in the day. Both windows in my office are open and there is a nice breeze coming in. Oh, I was still on the boards, but playing cornhole in the middle of the day just seemed so retired! I ENJOYED IT!! In other news, I went back to the hospital on Monday to have my TB test checked and I am negative. I have to have one more test on Friday and I should be volunteering by Wednesday. It's going to be great to get out of the house for a bit each week. Tomorrow, I'm going to an open employment call at Red Ventures. They are hiring phone reps, but hopefully, I will be able to drop off my Call Center resume and meet some people. On Friday, Tony leaves for Cleveland to attend Dave Henderson's retirement party (on Saturday night.) He'll be seeing Chris and Shannon and, of course, the grandbabies, so he is really looking forward to the trip. We will be back in Cleveland around March 9 to have our taxes done. We're going to call Lori, our breeder, to see if we can visit Dixie before we leave. She should really be big by that point. When we come back, we'lll take her home for good. Tonight, we're going to the City Club for the Networking Event and tomorrow, I'm going to the Compass Pointe Birthday Club dinner with 33 other people. We've talked about going to the driving range this week, but with everything else going on, I think that will have to wait until Tony gets back. At least we're not sitting around listening to our arteries harden! It will be odd here with Tony in Cleveland, but it's only for a few days, so I'm sure I will find stuff to do. He is packing warm clothes to take with him and checking the Cleveland weather on a regular basis. I hope it's somewhat warm for him. His system has totally adapted to the South, which means he'll be sneezing if the temperature hits 50 degrees!! I hope you all are enjoying the New Year as we are. Stay tuned for more Dixie news.

Introducing Dixie

Well, the computer is going nuts. I still can't upload photos like I used to, but somehow I stumbled on another way to do it. BUT....when I upload, the photo comes up with all of the "computer talk" like 5YQfcZuokgu.....but when you view the blog, the photos are there. Whatever, as long as I can post pictures, I'll do it any way I can. The first picture is Dixie laying on Tony. The second one is my showing off her cute face. The third is me showing the difference between her size and a tennis ball. Next is her snuggling inside my collar. The next one is Tony holding Dixie and "Leo." I couldn't decide between a female or male. The next one is Tony and our breeder, Lori with Dixie's mother, Sing Sing (Wildwood's Bai-Daiya Sing Fantasy.)

And They Called It Puppy Love...

AARP Magazine says that one of the things that retired people should do for good health is to have a pet. 

After looking around for French Bulldogs and finding them very expensive, we decided to just look for a small dog from a good breeder.   We figured that by June we should have one.  Friday, we went to two shelters, but didn't find anything.  There were plenty of big dogs pleading with us to take them  home, but they just weren't what we were looking for.  

Well, God works in mysterious ways.  It was so nice today we decided to go to the beach--and so did half of Wilmington.  After sitting in a traffic jam forever, we decided to bag the beach and do something else.   I told Tony that before we went home, I would like to do one dog hunt related activity.  We ended up at Petco, where a pet adoption was going on. 

Unfortunately, only large dogs were available there too, but I did see exactly the kind of dog I wanted.  A customer was carrying the cutest little black and white dog around with her.  It was a 10  week old Shih Tzu puppy, named Dexter.   Dexter was calm, cute, well behaved and I didn't so much as have a sniffle while I was holding him.  We talked to the young lady who owned him and she gave us her breeder's name--Lori Hopper.    

I called Lori when we got home and found that she had 9 dogs available and we could see them today.  15 minutes later, I was holding our new baby, Dixie.  I'm still having trouble posting pictures on the blog, so go to Lori's website....www.lorispups.com and take a look.  Dixie is currently # 5 on the breeder blog, but Lori was going to take her picture down soon since she is no longer available.  Dog #3, looks a bit like Dixie.  She is white with gold patches on her back and has a stripe on her tail.    We should have her right after we get back from Cleveland in March. 

Lori has 12 dogs and currently 11 puppies (two were sold before we got there) and she was a wealth of knowledge about the breed.  Needless to say, I took 50 pictures of Dixie and some of her brothers and sisters and can't wait until she gets home.

Shih Tzu dogs have a life span of 14 to 18 years, so to say that Dixie is our last dog is a statement in itself.   She was born on January 6 at 3:14 p.m., and weighed 5.45 ounces.  Her mother is Wildwood's Bai-Daihya Sing Fantasy and her father is Lowrider Rex of the City.   Dixie's official name is:  Wildwood's Lowrider Dixie Arian Sing Sierra--which makes her not only a member of her "official" family, but connects her to Jack and us with the name of Sierra (the letter S in the aviation alphabet, which we use for Swegle)...Jack was Lierlines Jack Samson (his father) Sierra.   

So here we go again...parents to a puppy.  It will not fill the void of children, but it will make us smile.    

Around Town

January  has provided us with some warm (ish) days and cool evenings.  It was warm enough  on Friday to go downtown and walk around.   During the course of our walk, we met a young couple who recently  moved to Raleigh from New York.  They had a white French Bulldog with them.  She was really cute.  We talked to them about her care and health issues. Based  on their input, when it's time to get a  puppy, we may consider that breed.  They have a "Jack" face, which, of course I love.    They are a bit pricey, so we may also look at rescue dogs.  

 

In the meantime, I'm enjoying my camera and the telephoto lens that Tony got me for Christmas.   When we were downtown, we went to an outdoor cafe and I took pictures of things that Tony said were 3/4 of a mile away.  It was amazing.   I tried to post some pictures, but I'm having trouble with the upload feature, so I will post them at another time.  

 

We are also getting back into "un-holiday" mode.  I am on the job boards again everyday and Tony is painting again.   We had a really great day yesterday.  We watched the Colts and the Ravens play and were really rooting for the Colts (of course, we root for anyone who is playing against the Ravens!)  I tell Tony all the time that when I lived in Indianapolis with Bill, he really wanted a football team in that city.  He would be so pleased to see the Colts play now.  After the Browns and the Saints, the Colts are my favorite.

 

After the game, we turned on some easy listening music and played Scrabble.  We've gotten into different board games since we were in Florida when David rented the house down there.  They turned us on to Taboo and Lynn got us the Logo game for Christmas.  It sound like two old married people, but we have fun!

 

I am back at Weight Watchers after a long absence.  They say that WW is a life style change.  I think I wasn't ready for that when I was going before.  There was too much change in my life already at that point.  But, now, I am committed to going and cutting back on fatty food and wine (yes, children, I said wine.)

 

And so, it's time to get back on the boards.  Happy New Year to all!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How Quiet The House

So often after we have visitors over, especially, the grandchildren, I write about how quiet the house is.  There is no childish laughter, no goofy games, no running after Papa--just the noise of the house.  The heat clicking on, the dishwasher, the washing machine.

 

Today we took down the remnants of Christmas and re-wound time to start the new year.  It was a quiet day--some football, TV and computer time, laundry and food, but most of all the day was quiet. 

 

Tomorrow, I start job hunting again with a vengeance.  It will be a year, mid January since I had a job and I hate that.   I feel like I am too old to be hired and too young to retire.  I feel like there is no place for me.  Re-invent yourself, is the advice on the job boards.  If I could do that, I would re-invent myself as a 30 year old white male with a masters degree. 

 

I spent some time on the computer today, deleting old photos and re-living the lives of our grandchildren through pictures over time.   It was a fun, yet sad exercise.  Like all parents and grandparents, I wish I could bottle up their youth and enjoy them forever as they learned to walk and talk.  "Don't grow," I tell Ben, but it is in vain.   He grows. 

 

I look forward to 2013.  All of the grandchildren will advance to the next year in their life and they will welcome that.  They will be "bigger."  Ben will lose his baby teeth, Sam will start to read.  Cole will start to crawl and then walk.   I don't look forward to being a year older, but to having a new beginning.  To mending fences, to working,  to enjoying the weather.  To enjoying the quiet of the house as peaceful and not as empty. 

 

How quiet the house?   Terribly.  

 

Our Christmas

 

 

We had a nice Christmas.  We didn't go big on presents, but we did have a few things for the "kids" and a few more for Coleton.  From a weather perspective, it was warm enough to play some cornhole and take a walk. 

 

Tony got me a 300mm telephoto lens for my camera, which means I can be really obnoxious with picture taking, but I'll be further away!  It's really cool.  Not only can you get the picture from a distance, but it's clear as well.  I also got Christmas ornaments from Ben, Sam, Ellie and Zach--handmade primarily by Ben and Sam.  I hung them on the fireplace with the stockings so they could share some of our Christmas.  Getting to Skype with them was a highlight of the season.  Even through the computer we could see how big they are getting.  Ben and Sam went on and on about their Christmas presents.  Ellie looked at the computer screen and said, "Papa," which was a high.  Zach just smiled his big smile.  Wow, does he look like Ben with those big, blue eyes. 

 

It was wonderful having a baby in the house.  We all enjoyed Coleton's visit.  He was charming, funny and getting so big.   He reminds me alot of Ben.  When Ben was a baby he was fascinated with lights.  He would look up at the ceiling and just stare at them.  When he could talk, he called them "ites."  Coleton is a ceiling fan baby.  He spent a lot of time checking out the ceiling fan in the living room as it rotated around and around.  He also enjoyed the Christmas tree lights.  See, they're cousins!

 

We ate way too much, played a board game, watched the Christmas Story and White Christmas on TV and talked and talked and talked.  The only thing that would have made the holiday better would be to have Jenna, Jon and the kids with us. 

 

Here are the highlights:

 

Like I said before, "Geez, I'm cute!"

I love my Daddy

Chatting with Papa

Learning important stuff from my Daddy

I didn't know elephants could fly!

 

So, let me see if I get this....you're my Uncle AND my Godfather?

Hanging with the follically challenged

 

 

Bernie and Tyson spent alot of time outside.  I spent alot of time taking allergy pills!

 

Our sweet boys!

Ellie and Zach on the mantle, looking so cute!

 

 

Christmas Eve

What fun we had today.  After a wonderful lunch at Elijah's downtown, we went to Christmas Eve mass at Tony's church, St. Mary's.  It's a beautiful, 100 year old church with stained glass windows all around.  There were two Christmas trees on the altar that had blue and red lights on them.  The choir sang before and after the service and it was very nice.

 

After that, we came home and decorated our Christmas tree on the patio in our "jammies."   It's only 3 feet tall, so it didn't take long, but it looks really good.     David and Joanna got us the "Taboo" game  for Christmas that we played at the beach house they rented in June.  I love that game.  You have to get your partner to say a word, but there are a list of words you can't say.  It's a real mind twister and we had fun playing it. 

 

After that, Tony made sea scallops wrapped in bacon, like we really needed more food.  But it was a wonderful day and we had fun times.

 

Take a look at our beautiful tree:

 

 

David and Joanna start the decorations

 

Tony starts his own decorations and realizes he decorated the "wrong" ear

Here is Tony confirming his "manhood" by moving the ear ring to the "right" ear!!

David puts on the finishing touches

 

David, Bernie and Joanna in front of a beautiful tree

 

Tony joins the group

And then, me

Tony, our grand-puppy Bernie and me

 

The "old folks"

Our reaction when David started taking pictures and imitated us when we used to take pictures of our kids...."you stand there, you look this way, you bend down, you look up...."  We were relentless.

This is what happens when someone who lives in Florida, comes up north to the cold weather in Leland, North Carolina (um.....58 degrees!!)

 

 

Bernie says...."why am I wearing this hat?"