New Things

Wow - what a lot has happened over the last couple of weeks!! You have read my other posts, so I won't go back there. We went down to Mom's house yesterday - she is 1 amazing lady! Of course she misses my dad a lot, but she is staying busy and is not afraid to tackle anything! She has a list of things to accomplish every day, and she is doing them!

She has a group of friends who walk the park every morning, and on Tuesday nights they all meet there for a picnic and a walk around the lake. She invited us to go last night, and it was great. There were 14 of us, and while we were visiting around a circle, they "lifted a cup" to daddy and talked about what a wonderful man he was and how they will miss him. It was just a couple of minutes and not emotional - more a "kiss and a wave" sort of. It fit the situation and opened the door to speak his name frequently with good memories. We visited a while, then adjourned to the picnic tables for dinner. It was a beautiful warm evening and the walk around the small lake was just right too. What a neat bunch of friends she has!

While we were there, she and one of her friends who has been widowed for several years, told us that they want to go on our Panama Canal cruise next March together!! They do both love to travel, and since they can share a room they are really excited about doing it. Both are so youthful and active it will be great fun to have them along! Mom had wanted to go, and she and dad were talking about going when he was diagnosed. She sort of kept it in the back of her mind just in case. I'm so glad they want to do it - it will really give her something to look forward to!!

We talked about the possibility of flying up to my brother's house in the Sacramento area for Thanksgiving, and mom was delighted!! I talked to my brother today, and he was equally excited, so I got right on line and made our reservations!! Good old Southwest - they do have great fares!! This will be perfect, because since we have moved to the apartment we don't have room for hubby's big family, and since our gathering was always so big, mom and dad didn't come up - they just had their own day with a couple of friends, then drove up to Bro's house the next weekend. Breaking the old tradition was perfect for us and her this year! Since Bro and his kids all work in retail it has never been an option for them to come to us on Thanksgiving weekend. Oh - I'm sooo jazzed!!!

Christmas will also be different this year - we have always had the day at Mom and Dads, with Computer Guy and Darling Wife making the 100-mile drive between her folks and us. Last year, since Miss C is growing up, CG & DW told us they would not be making the treck this coming year on Christmas. We totally understood, since 100 miles - no 200 miles with the round trip - is HUGE with a toddler who just wants to play with her toys!! We haven't talked about the logistics yet, but I'm thinking that we would love to drive down on Christmas eve and spend the night and fit in with their holiday celebration! We will see them in a couple of weeks, and we will see if that will work - that would be super, since without them coming up to mom's house, Christmas day would just be mom and hubby and me!! - A.Bit.Bleak!!

Well, It's time to leave, and I am outta here! Bye!