Happy Mother's Day 2009

What a beautiful Mother's Day! The weather was sunny, a little cool , but better than the rain we've been having.

We all met at J Liu's in Worthington at 10:00 AM for a Mother's Day buffet. If you went away hungry, it was your fault. Lots of breakfast items, lunch items, salads, roast beef and ham and, of course, desserts.

We hadn't gone out for Lori's or Charles' birthdays, so we celebrated the birthdays and Mother's Day together. After the buffet, everyone came back to our house and opened presents and shared a large chocolate chip cookie (as if we needed anything else).

Andrew had a final soccer game so they left for the game, but Lori and the kids stayed and chatted for a while. That evening, we went to a "Broadway Across America" production of "The Color Purple".

Hope all of you had a great Mother's Day. I certainly did!

Columbus-style Ships in Stuart, Florida

Today, we went to see two Columbus-style ships anchored for a week in Stuart. David told us about them when he called earlier this week. Laurel , David, John and Rose are visiting Laurel's aunt and uncle in Vero Beach, which is only about 35 miles from where we are on Hutchinson Island.

As we were walking toward the ships on the walkways, David had started to say to John, "You'd better hold onto your ... " when the wind plucked John's hat off his head and into the water. Since there was no way to retrieve it, we continued on to see the ships. John was very good about losing his hat and didn't whine or cry at all.

One guide told Charles that the ships really don't have a permanent dock, but sail around to different cities (although on one of them it said "Nina - Wilmington, DL"). The crew slept below in small bunks and the captain had an area with two bunks and a small desk. Ceiling height was only about 5 feet. Guess men must have been shorter then or had lots of backaches.

On our way back to land, we all kept looking for John's hat -- especially John. David spied it among some rocks on the shore. (See blue hat by the rocks.) There was an open spot at the end of the railing, and David climbed down. He removed his shoes and crawled along the rocks and finally reached the hat.

After throwing it up to Laurel, he then proceeded back the way he came and with a little help climbed back up to the walkway. John was really glad to get his hat back, but I'm surprised that we

didn't get caught.

After all that work, it was time for lunch. We went to a place in Stuart where we've eaten before. It's on the waterfront and you can watch the boats and seagulls. John tried some calamari and shrimp. Rose seemed to think the calamari was really good. After lunch, we went back to the condo and Rose napped while David and John hit the pool.

It was good to see the Derry's, but it's funny we have to go to Florida to do it. I think all of us will sleep well tonight after being out in the sunshine and wind most of the day.

Lordy, Lordy, Lori's Forty!

April 9th was Lori's 40th birthday! It never seems possible when you bring those precious little bundles home from the hospital that someday they'll be as old as you think you are!! Lori's had a rough year healthwise, and we think being out of her 30's might just might be good for her. We all wish her a Happy Birthday and a healthy and prosperous year ahead.

HAPPY 40TH!!

AN INTERESTING DAY

On our way to Florida, we had a rather interesting day. We were on I-77 just north of the I-85 exchange in Charlotte when there was something in our lane that we couldn't miss. It looked like boards, but something became wedged underneath the Tahoe and we had to pull over. It turned out to be a rod of metal about 4 ft. long and it wedged between the left front tire, over the axel and on out towards my door. We finally got it out and started to pull ahead when he thought he'd better check the tire pressure. It was 16 pounds and going down fast. We got OnStar on the line and they were arranging for someone to come and check on us, when a yellow truck pulled up behind us. It was a NC highway truck that had been dispatched to check out what was in the road and the driver offered to help us. He put the spare on, but suggested that we stop by Tire Kingdom and see what the damage was. Long story short -- they could not plug the tire -- hole was too big. So, we had to purchase a new one and have it put on and the spare back underneath the truck. Just getting the spare off the truck and back on was an interesting adventure in itself. We arrived in Port Wentworth, Georgia, two hours late, but safe and sound!!

ETC., ETC

It's Sunday, March 15th, and we're on our way to Connecticut for the week. We usually go here once or twice a year. We used to go out to dinner with some friends of ours while in New London, but Pat, the wife and the person Charles worked with at Millstone, passed away a year ago last December. Really miss seeing both of them. We'll be home for a couple of weeks and then go to Florida April 6th through the 27th. So, we'll miss Lori's birthday, Easter, and Charles' birthday. Have to celebrate when we get home.

Lori has steroid injections scheduled for March 16th and 30th. The back is healing fine, but the sacroillac became inflammed as a result of the way she walked when she had the back problems. Will it ever end?? She's been having problems since a year ago January. The surgeon feels these injections will take of this newest problem.

Hope all of you have a nice Easter with your families and that Spring comes soon. We're all ready for it!!!!

Sunshine and Warmer

We're on our way to Dothan, AL after staying in Athens, AL last night. Although the south has been chilly lately, today it's sunny and warm and with promises of high 60's and low 70's for the rest of the week. I was having a sick-of-gray-skies February and this trip should do the trick. I'll try to bring some of it home with us, but can't make any promises. Meanwhile, you can find me out by the pool!

John and Rose

This last Thursday and Friday, I helped babysit John and Rose for an hour or so each day. Rose wasn't feeling well on Thursday and slept most of the time. John and I played checkers (with instructions on how to let him win, if I wanted to), put a puzzle together and drew pictures. He sent the picture home with me, but asked Pubaa (sp?) if he could use his copier to make a copy for mommy and daddy.

On Friday, Rose was feeling better, but was still a bit tired from the day before. We snuggled in to watch Stuart Little and Rose crawled up on my lap and quickly fell asleep. Mom-mo (sp?) had said she didn't want her to take a long nap because she wouldn't sleep that night. So, after about 20 minutes I woke her up gradually. She is such a sweet little girl and rarely gets upset (at least the times I've been around her) and is generally laid back.

John is always entertaining and really seems to think about things and sort them out in his head. When I got ready to leave, I asked him to tell me how the movie ended when he saw me the next time. To which he replied, "But that might not be for a long time, and I won't remember by then." Out of the mouths of babes...

We hope David and Laurel had a good time in Savannah. We had a good time in Columbus!