Where Have I Been?

It's been a long, cold winter. NOT. I think this was our warmest winter on record. When last I blogged it was autumn, and now we are two days in to spring. Although winter was the same number of months as usual, in retrospect it does seem like it was longer than usual.

There were things to celebrate, such as...

j's husband retired October 31, and
My husband retired December 3
Elletu's granddaughter Abby arrived safely in December 14, and
My granddaughter Clara was born February 20.
Cool's son came from California for the holidays.
Our whole family came for Thanksgiving (ten of us in this house),
And then we went to California for Christmas at our daughter's house.

There were setbacks and things to mourn...

The back door of our son's house was bashed in and he was robbed of all of his electronics the night  he flew from North Carolina to California to spend Christmas with our family.

My husband's best friend of 54 years, John Fuller, was in the hospital in November through January,
And then on January 25 he passed away. We will miss him forever. He was such a joyful part of our life and certainly our parties. He knew (and loved) the BVG's for almost as long as we have known each other, and Cool, j and I and our husbands were at his memorial on January 31.

And less than three months after the first break-in, my son again lost all of his electronics (the replacements--thank you, insurance company!) in another bash-the-back-door-in burglary which this time around included complete ransacking of his house. I'm not sure how his insurance company is taking this the second time around, but I know he has a $1,000 deductible clause in his policy. As hard as all of this has been, he is grateful they didn't steal his horns, which are his 'bread and butter'--he's a jazz musician and teacher.

And not to complain, but I came down with asthmatic bronchitis four weeks ago and it knocked my socks off for the first three weeks. Now I'm in slow recovery mode, way too slow for me. If one more person tells me, "Well, you know, at your age, you just don't bounce back the way you used to," I'm going to, well, not scream, because that takes too much energy and lung power, but I might be forced to tell them off. It's not like I'm old or something. I was so sick ("How sick were you?") that I actually had to cancel a planned BVG night at the Clubhouse at McCormick Woods. You know if I cancel with the BVG's, it's serious. Seriously, I've been sick. But I'm not complaining, just reporting.

It's going to take me some time, but I will get caught up with the blog, and none too soon because it is travel time for the BVGs! Cool is cruising Tahiti and French Polynesia, and j and her husband are cruising (in their brand new car) Arizona and Texas and parts unknown for as long they darn well please, because retirement is like that. Cool and her husband, the truly luxurious ones, are limited to just two weeks.

Elletu and I are not be outdone. We are going to Bali!!!!! Let the packing begin. Don't miss my reports, which will start coming in fairly soon. You'll want to know what we girls are up to. I've wanted to go to Bali since seeing "South Pacific" with its haunting song, "Bali Ha'i" with these lyrics:

If you try, you'll find me
Where the sky meets the sea
Here I am, your special island
Come to me, come to me

Bali Ha'i, Bali Ha'i, Bali Ha'i

We only have a week for our travels, but we will make the most of it, and I'll be making some blog posts of it. Elletu is out right now doing some last minute shopping--she still needs a few more sundresses and sandals--and tanning (in the salon, because it's raining here today). I need to get my pedicure and manicure.

If Bali doesn't bring me back to good health, nothing will. Bon Voyage!