Odds and Ends and Catching Up!

Well the first term of the 2016-17 school year is just 3 days and exams from being finished and SOOOOOO much has happened since I last wrote!

The last 4 months have flown by...really flown! In that time we have elected a new President. Not going to go all political on here. Let's just say my candidate didn't win. Nuff said.

I have organized my next travel trip with students and we are headed to London and Paris with pop over to Normandy in early June of 2017. Should be a blast! Our school's librarian and her husband are going along so we will all have a splendid time checking on the sites and seeing that part of the world.

We put our vineyard on the market and are hoping to sell it before the end of the year. Time to try new things and free ourselves up on weekends. we did it for 17 years.... and enjoyed it. Ready for new adventures.

Recently we have found ourselves praying a lot for our eldest daughter who was diagnosed with breast cancer in early December. She is having surgery on the 23rd, and the prognosis is very good. We are hopeful a lumpectomy with followup treatment and frequent rechecks will see her into the New Year cancer free. Have to say having the "c" word come up in relationship with your child is a real life-reckoning moment. Don't want to ever have that happen again if I can help it. Thanking God for doctors, health care, regular exams and 3-D mammography which made catching and treating Gret's cancer possible!

Beyond all of the above, I have spent my fall being what I do best, a teacher. Had some great classes to teach this year. Feel myself going slower as I work, and figure that being 61 is all about pacing yourself as you go along. Feel blessed to work with great people and mostly great students. Life is good and I am taking it at a pace I can manage. Will write more in the new year!

Adjusting to the Emptier Nest- Part Deux

It has been over a year since I last posted. Seems life and circumstances found ways to always keep me just one step behind my to-do list and teaching demands, and I simply let my writing go to pot. However SO much has changed since May of 2013 that I scarcely know where to start!

First, in August of 2013, we got the news that Concordia University Wisconsin had sighted Gretchen in their "headhunter radar" and that a move could be in the works. We held our breath, hoping against all hope that nothing would come of it, but it did.... And in February of 2014 she began working as a Vice-President of  something there... Her complete title is something I never have memorized, but she found the chance of this opportunity something irresistible. At the same time Leon was called to serve as a pastor at Hale's Corners Lutheran church just outside of Milwaukee.  All the stars conjoined to make this all happen with almost eerie perfection. Their house sold, within 2 weeks... They found a place to live there that they both love and are going to build a gorgeous new home that will be finished by fall. Everything worked out perfectly.... Except that we had to say goodbye on May 18th and watch them drive away with pieces of our hearts in the backseat- Sydney and Rielle.

To say that I am "handling" all this change would be hyperbole. I have never felt so blue as I have these last five months. The one bright spot is that we consoled ourselves by taking Gabriel, our oldest  grandchild to Italy with us for two weeks in early June. Oh what a joy that was! Kate and Nate very generously entrusted us with him and off we went. Seeing the wonders of Rome with a 12 year old to share it with was amazing! I will never forget his face as he sat in his airplane seat on our very first take-off of the trip!

So life has its ups and downs, small compensations replace huge losses, and we go on. We work longer than we should these days, largely to keep ourselves busy, and we have a more open calendar. Ed goes to the vineyard more, and I do more reading. We have seen Syd and Ree three times since the big move- once we went there and they have been here for visits twice. Ree is changing so fast and Syd has become a first grader. I miss them so much.... All five grandchildren are such precious people to us.

And now it is October. The leaves are starting to turn, the grapes are harvested, and the year is winding down. I find myself feeling very introspective these days and a bit anxious about what the future holds for us old timers left in MO. In a little over six months I will turn 60, so I guess it's as good a time as any to be reflective. I don't see the path ahead clearly right now, but I am willing to explore where it leads once it is revealed. It feels like a new chapter in our life is just beginning, and though it is late in the novel, the Author of it all is keeping us in tight suspense. We will just have to read on to find out where it goes next.

The Day of the Impending Jack-Hammer!

Today was NOT a good day on Norwich Street! We were getting ready to leave when Ed noticed a wet spot at the base of one of the kitchen cabinets. We were certain our dishwasher had done the inevitable and blown a fill valve. So on the way to work we called our favorite appliance guys to come and check on it. I zipped home to make the 1pm appointment only to have the REAL news hit us square in the wallet!
To make a long story short; a troublesome drainpipe that runs UNDER the concrete that is UNDER our ceramic tiled kitchen floor is a goner and is going to have to be replaced! This means a 24 ft run of pipe and tomorrow at 8am a plumber and his crew will be here to attack my only 3 yr. old floor with a jack-hammer!!! I am beyond upset about this. The stupid drain has been an albatross around our necks for 25 years beginning in the first month we lived here back in 1985! But this exceeds all money-pit behavior up until this point. No rescue rooter, no draino... JUST rip the dang thing out! I am SO bummed. So for one more night, our floor looks like it did in 2007 when we got off our knees from laying it... here's a link to a happier time. So good-bye pretty floor, and maybe even my kitchen cabinets! (that's another story to be revealed tomorrow when we find out how much seeping water the things absorbed underneath that we CAN't see!)
 AHHHH the joys of home-ownership! They just keep coming!

St.Patrick's Day Run - 2009

Will she make it? Only time will tell?

Today I did something for only the second time in my life; I ran in a race. This time it was to celebrate the almost 30#'s I've lost since Sept. 17th of 2008. Kate and Nate joined Ed and I, and we ran in the St. Patrick's Day Run. It's a 5 mile jaunt through downtown St. Louis, quite scenic and very silly with a large percentage of bizarrely-dressed people running in everything from green tights to leprechaun suits! I am happy to report I survived it and managed to finish the whole thing. Kate, Nate, and Ed completed it some 22 minutes ahead of me; but all in all, I feel really good about getting out there. (It's not a bad thing to discover that you can still go 5 miles at 53!)
We had a gorgeous morning to run with temps in the 40's and nice sunshine. It was Kate's first-ever attempt at running in a race and I think she had a good enough time to do it again in the future.
When we finished, we celebrated with pastrami sandwiches from Carl's Deli and frosty cold Fitz's root beer! It was a great morning!

Nate and Kate sign up and get their numbers!

A shot ahead of some of the more than 9,000 people who ran today.

Well, I didn't come in last.... actual time 1hr.16min. for 5 miles.

The happy finishers! Let's go eat and celebrate!