Flowers and Other Stuff

What a nice Easter we had.   The day was beautiful, the food was good and I wasn't working.  We took a walk and played cornhole.  Being semi-retired has been good for me.  My ankles aren't as big as bowling balls most of the time, my resting heart rate has gone down and it's good to get out of the house for a day or two each week.  

As I have said in many blogs, spring is so pretty down here.  The azaleas are blooming and things are waking up.  The sunsets are beautiful and the temperature has finally climbed to the high 60's and low 70's.  Our yard is starting to take shape and I helped it today.

As adults, we remember things our parents told us when we were growing up.  For us, it was, "nice girls don't get their hands dirty...." which meant that my father had to do all of the yard work (I helped sometimes, but often suffered the wrath of my mother!)  Well, today, I was a dirty girl and I really enjoyed it.  

I have said many times that Tony always made our yard in Strongsville look great.  It was the best yard in the neighborhood and he worked for it.  Tall grasses, hanging pots, beautiful flowers throughout.  It was wonderful to drive up in the driveway and just look at all of the colors.  

We have scaled back now to flowers in planters and in various parts of the yard.  In recent years, I have put a flower or two in a pot and called it an accomplishment, but this year was different. 

Many years ago, Tony bought me a fire pit.  I love it.  Recently, however, we decided to make it a big planter and Tony let me pick out what I wanted to put in it.  We went yesterday and I found some really nice plants to put in it.  I'm not sure what they are called (hey, I've just started getting my hands dirty!) but I like them.  

Well, after planting for almost an hour, I now know why I didn't go into landscaping as a career.  Holy cow, it was hard on my body.  I couldn't get the plants out of their containers (I had to water them out...)   my back hurt from digging and I was sweating so bad, water was dripping in my eyes.  Dixie helped me--actually, she just watched me and kind of said with her eyes..."Mommy, what the hell are you doing?"  I took my second shower of the day after I planted and I had to peel off my clothes.  They were so sweaty, they wouldn't come off easily.  

But in the end, I think it turned out OK.  It's not as symmetrical as I wanted and I think something was chewing on one of my white plants last night, but we'll see.  

Take a look at our sunsets and our colors...oh, and the newly "spa-d" Dixie!

The palm tree with new growth

Color!!!

New Plants...

...The Challenge!

My Supervisor

The finished product...we'll see if it grows!

Our sunset...

A beautiful evening...

Tony, Dixie and the light up leash!!  Love it!!

Growing

With every passing minute,  the year ticks by.  We have "sprung forward" and soon it will be time to make the backyard beautiful again.  

The weather has swept in rain and cold temperatures in the past few weeks, but today, it's all about the sun shining down on dormant plants; waking them up and making them stretch.

I took a walk today and saw the progress of the new indoor swimming pool that is being built next to the fitness center.  As with everything our developer does this will be a fantastic facility. As our community grows, so do our amenities.   The Lazy River is next where we  can try our kayaking skills.  

Tony was in Charlotte for a couple days while Tony Jr., went to Florida on business.  He spent some quality time with Owen, who looks more like his brothers everyday.  He is growing and working on getting his sleep pattern aligned with evening instead of daytime. 

My therapy sessions are going well. It's hard doing an autopsy on your life to determine what killed your spirit, but it is necessary.  As with most people, I have baggage that carries pain.  When that baggage is too heavy to carry inside, the pain slips out and I go into protection mode that can manifest itself through my actions in many different ways.  How's that for  "therapy speak!?" My goal is to grow past the pain and learn how it handle it more effectively.  

Speaking of growth:

"What are you looking at?  I just got up"

"Day or night, I need my beauty sleep!"

The Swegle Men

It's Spring!!

My spruce tree, planted by Tony

Last Picnic

Donna and Bob left for Cleveland Friday morning.  It was windy and a bit chilly here, but Cleveland has manufactured more winter weather, so back they went to brave the cold.

Each of us indicated that this was their best visit ever and we hope they will extend their visit next year to staying through March instead of February.

To celebrate the event, we did one last picnic and dinner out.  We did "snacky" food on the lanai and then went to "Fat Tony's," no relation (!) for dinner.  I think that Donna and I should have fit in one last shopping trip just to ensure that the North and South Carolina economies can last until she comes back next year.  

We have a busy calendar this year--in  April, we go to Florida for Alex's baptism, in June, we go to Hilton Head, again, with Donna and Bob and their family.  Sarah's bridal shower is also in June in Cleveland and then the wedding is in August. We hope to see Jenna and Jon's kids while we are there in August.   Somewhere in all of this we will be going to the Outer Banks for a weekend(ish) get-a-way (yes, even retired people need to get away!!) and we need to get back to Charlotte so I can meet Owen. 

Locally, Tony and I will be going to "Wine and Design," the fun, new thing to do.  You take a bottle of wine and some appetizers and go to a studio where a professional artist teaches you how to paint a predetermined picture.  I'm thinking that we should go in and have Tony say he's never painted a picture before and then WOW, he turns out one of his masterpieces!

Spring remains one of my favorite times of the year down here.  Our yard is starting to wake up.  I spent some of yesterday just snapping pictures of our trees, plants and flowers.  The colors were bright and beautiful. 

After that, we shared memories via DVD that Tony had made from our old videos.  We saw "the kids" when they were 8, 9 and 14 decorating our Christmas tree.  There was one of Jenna and I dancing in the kitchen, footage of the boys playing soccer and David playing basketball, lots of birthdays and lots of laughing.  It was fun to watch "the kids" grow up in minutes instead of years.  And, OMG, were Tony and I young, not to mention thin.  I saw pictures of  my skin, unmarked by the psoriasis, great hair and big glasses.  Tony looked (still does) fantastic!  Brown hair, great smile, cute butt!  It was also a lot of fun to compare Tony Jr's boys to him when he was that small.  We're thinking that Anthony looks the most like him.  

So, here are pictures of our picnic and our yard.  Please excuse the "flip flops" in the back of one of the picnic photos, I still haven't mastered my photo content yet.  Miss you, Bob and Donna--come back soon!

Our last lanai picnic

Bob, Donna and Tony...ready to eat!

Bob and the shoppers!

After picnic nap!

Our backyard tree and humming bird feeder

Looking at Tony's palm tree

Pretty in pink 

Red berries at the back of the house

Pretty yellow flowers  on the side, outside of our lanai

Enjoying the sun

All spread out...

And even on the roof

  

Delicate white flowers....

Against a beautiful blue sky

I love spring!

I'm Married To An "Old" Guy

This past weekend was Tony's birthday; he turned 71.   That sounds so much older than Tony really is.  A few days before his birthday, he was up on an 8 foot ladder, cutting dead branches from his favorite 18 foot palm tree.  He drives from Wilmington to Fayetteville, NC taking disabled vets to their doctor's appointments at the Fayetteville VA.  On a monthly basis, he is running around Compass Pointe refilling doggie doo doo bags for the community and one day  a week, he works at our golf course. He went to Charlotte to take care of Coleton and Anthony while Tony and Marie were at the hospital for Owen's birth and managed to take care of their dog, Tyson, too.    He can beat me at cornhole any day of the week and he golfs whenever he gets the chance.  I'm going to be 66 and I'm tired just reading about what he does.   

We shared Tony's birthday celebration with his sister, Donna and brother-in-law, Bob and had a great time.  We went to one of our favorite Italian restaurants for dinner and then to the Blind Elephant for drinks.  The next day, it was cornhole and  birthday cake.

Happy Birthday, old guy--you are loved by many and deserve all of the good wishes you received!

Raising a glass to the birthday "boy!"

Getting ready for cake

The cake wouldn't hold 71 candles, so we just put on the musical candle we have had for years...and remembered how our son-in-law, Jon, couldn't stand the sound of it...

...Plus, I wanted to make sure Tony didn't pass out from lack of oxygen

 from blowing out 71 candles!!

Goofing around the cornhole board...Owen and Alex will be

 permanent members of the board soon!

Getting ready for the tournament of the ages...or is it aged?

My shoes after cornhole....our yard is always messy during the early spring!

A beautiful day to celebrate

Clouds in the distance

Dixie was annoyed that she didn't get cake!

She settled for her chicken toy, instead\

New Life

OH BOY!!  Baby Swegle Number 3 has finally arrived.  Owen Matthew Swegle was born on February 10, a big, healthy boy who is absolutely beautiful.  

Tony (Sr) and Marie's mother, Mona, went to Charlotte to take care of Coleton and Anthony while Tony (Jr) and Marie went to the hospital to be induced.  

Tony, of course, had a great time with the kids.  They played games, they read books and just hung out with Papa.  

So, we add one more beautiful baby to our family.  

HHHHHEEEEEERRRRRREEEEEEE'S OWEN!

Happy Face...

Scrunchy Face....

Beautiful Baby

At Home With Papa

The Look Of Love...

Talking Things Over...

Brudder Love!

Marie, Tony and Owen 

Three Generations

Well, a baby is born, but a guy still has to eat....

Airplanes are in the Swegle Blood...

Papa has to leave Owen and come home to Dixie.....hard choice!!

What's Next?

Well, my retirement clock went to zero yesterday and so did working full time for me.  Retirement Day!  Finally.

It was a busy day, but a nice one.  I got flowers from the ED team and cards from family.  I also got artwork from Coleton and Anthony....something I always enjoy.  Oddly enough, it was a fast day.  I thought the last one would just drag on, but it didn't.  We are still fighting flu and pneumonia at the hospital, but I think yesterday was the turning point.  We actually had more "other stuff" than people fighting the flu. 

Now, I am planning what I want to do.  My list looks something like this:

• Sleep late
• Sleep later
• Enjoy listening to the birds in the morning
• Watch Dixie chase the birds
• Have coffee with Tony in our "jammies"
• Walk outside
• Run outside
• Go to the beach
• Try to ride my bike 
• Take pictures
• Write again
• Really listen to music
• Take Yoga classes
• Take an art class
• Find a church
• Explore North Carolina
• Do whatever I want when the moment strikes me

These might not be the most exciting activities around, but I am truly looking forward to each one. 

Retirement, what a great concept!

On The Downside...

It's been three weeks since Christmas and it's been a whirlwind of activity for me.    I announced my retirement at work and will officially "retire" on January 31.  I will, however, be working very reduced hours going forward for some length of time.  

In conjunction with my working schedule and getting ready to retire, I have had several doctor's appointments.  My primary care doctor ordered a stress test for me and told me that my "efficiency fraction (EF)," or the way my heart is pumping blood in and out is at 30%.  It should be at 50% (low) to 75% (normal.)  He sent me to a cardiologist and I had my first appointment yesterday.  He is  not so sure that the EF from the stress test is correct, so he has ordered another echo cardiogram and a test that measures my heart calcium level.  My primary care doctor wants me to have a 3D mammo and I am doing that on January 26.  Finally, I have been seeing a therapist for a few weeks, mainly to gain some behavioral self insight and address my depression,  and have my next appointment on February 22.  So, as I said, it's been doctor, doctor, doctor, work, work, work, stress, stress, stress.

In the middle of all of this, yesterday, I found out that I don't have Part B Medicare, which I need to have before I retire. I have spent a few days on hold with Medicare/Social Security ("your estimated wait time is one hour and fifteen minutes....") trying to get everything nailed down before January 31.      

I think I am finally on the downside and have my ducks in a row so that in February, I will start drawing my social security benefits and will have supplemental and drug insurance in place.  At any rate, come January 31, I will not work full time any longer.  That statement is both exciting and scary for me.  Ever since Bill died, I knew I would have to work full time and for the most part, I have.  Now, I can think about yoga, reading books, hanging out with Tony or whatever I want to do.  There are days when I'm not sure what that is, but I will find out. 

On a happy note, Donna and Bob are down from Cleveland and will be here through February.  Donna and I had our first shopping trip last week and had a blast.  We will again, be celebrating Tony's birthday in February, but this time, his other sister, Rose and her husband, Joe will be down, too.  The older he gets, the bigger the celebration is!!

Tony and Marie's third son is due February 3, so I'm guessing that a trip to Charlotte is also on the horizon.  Brenda went back to work recently, which means that she and David will soon be enjoying the germs of an entire day care class. 

Dixie is the same--funny, cute and entirely in charge!  Tony got her a set of steps for Christmas.  Actually, they are more for us than they are for her.  We can put them up against whatever chair she wants to be in and she can climb up instead of us having to bend down and pick her up.  She sleeps contently in my office chair as I write and every once in a while, I get the impression that my typing is getting in the way of her "nap!"  From time to time, she gets locked in my closet.  She likes to go in the back corner where my wedding dress is and sleep on the lace.  She blends right in, so I don't see her and I shut the door and turn out the light.  After a while, Tony will hear her barking and set her free.   Actually, now that I think of it, he is setting my wedding dress free!

And so, I end on a hopeful note...hopeful that my Medicare/Social Security mess will be cleaned up by February 1, hopeful that all of my doctor's make me well and whole again and hopeful that it gets warm down here soon.  We didn't move south to have northeast weather!

Sleep well, Dixie!

"Excuse me, a little piece and quiet would be appreciated here..."