Best Life

 Happy 27th Kevin!  I am so proud of the man you have become.  Your love of life, generosity, silliness ability to make friends easily are all pieces that make me smile.  This year will be full of major changes and I have confidence your love and strength will only grow stronger.                                                                       Neighborhood drive                                        Ready for a party                                              Dressed for the weather?      ...

 Today's walk occurred late in the afternoon.  Okay with me.  It was worth the wait.                                                        Looking at the house from across the street was a little eerie.  This was where Ben and Sophie's house was located.  They were super kind to our kids.  I even have a coat rack in Maine shaped like a moose that Ben made.  The house may no longer exist but Ben and Sophie, I will always remember. The Amica complex across the street provides a perfect place to walk with minimal cars late on a Friday afternoon. We had a nice visit from Kevin.  Isis, we hope you feel better soon!  And tonight we visited with Megan,. TJ, Brianna, Scott and Rebecca.  A nice way to spend our last night in RI.  Playing Operation by the rules was a first! ...

 A great Thanksgiving Day!                                              Karen set a beautiful table.  All the food was scrumptious.                                                            Alan smoked a delicious turkey.                                                            This guy came knocking at the back door just                                             ...

 Who is cuter than Brianna?  Check her out at the Thanksgiving "concert" at her school.  Too cute hearing her sing about eating mac and cheese instead of turkey! Megan asked if I missed "it".  I enjoyed being insanely busy and watching each child "perform".  Whether at gymnastics, ice skating, guitar, softball or baseball, I looked forward to watching them and supporting them as they grew.   I do not miss it but look forward to the next generation doing the same.  Although I love having adult children who can hold intelligent conversations, kids provide the "wonder".   They provide the comic relief needed after a busy and "adult" day.  Slow down and pay attention.  Time moves quickly. Paul and I wound up taking a late afternoon walk in the "old" neighborhood.  Annie was happy to come with us.                                 ...

 Today we chose to walk on the Monastery grounds.  There are 12 different trails to choose from and so peaceful.  There were few people and the ground was dry.  A perfect morning for almost 3 miles.                                                                 The quarry site where the monks harvested                                                                        the stone for their buildings.                                         ...

 Because they (whoever makes up all this silly holidays) must have run out of ideas, Blase Day came in to fruition.  For me, this does pretty much describe my day.  The after party quiet and clean up.  A quick trip to Goodwill donations.  The mall for a last gift.  (How can it be sooo empty of people and stores.  Even the stores that are open have limited quantities.)  It has been years since I roamed the mall.  Now I have even less desire and more blase about returning. Feeling blase about this cold weather and gloomy skies.  Waking from my afternoon nap and having the sun already setting - blase.  But, a big but, we had an email from Lars at Thunderbolt Marina.  Our boat FLOATS again!  The fiberglass repair is the next step and should be completed when we return to Savannah Saturday.  Finally! Tonight we saw Wicked, the movie.  My takeaway - what is "good" has a darker side and what is "bad" has a good side....

 Today went by super fast.  With everyone pitching in there was plenty of yummy food and clean up went fast (no dishwasher  is painful).  I sent Layla (3 years old) and Brianna (6 years old) to get everyone to smile for the camera.  The thought if they let them hold "baby" that would be a perfect ploy for getting everyone to smile!  Good plan girls!                                             Nick holding "baby", Linda holding Fenway and Layla                                                       Brianna holding "baby". Kim and Layla                                    ...