New Year's Eve / Reunion

Happy New Year 2010! Our friends from Toronto, Laurie & Wendy, came to visit over New Year's. Bilbo was visiting family in NJ with his brother Jack, and decided to stop by on their way home to Florida. Soon, one friend after another heard that Bill would be in town, and wanted to know how we could all meet up. Lon was adamant that we not host a party at our place, so of course that's exactly what happened! Ralph, Mandy and the girls came by; Kevin Wykoff and his oldest daughter; Charlie & Ruth arrived unencumbered; and the shock of the evening -- Steve Linscott drove in from Southern Maryland! We hadn't seen Steve in about 10 years, and were amazed that he didn't look a day over 30, whereas the rest of us...well we do. Kevin brought a couple old photo albums which we all exclaimed and laughed over. There was one picture of me in a bikini that brought back memories....sigh. It was great having everyone together like that, and we made plans to do it again soon.

Christmas - 2009

Our first Christmas in our new house... It was fun decorating the mantle, which we didn't have in the old townhouse, and making a wreath for the front door. We put the Christmas tree in the foyer, since we never use the front door. It was a perfect fit. Jason, Robbie & Jarrett drove down from Connecticut to spend the holiday with us, and we had a wonderful time. Opening gifts in front of a cozy fire on Christmas morning with family around us... it couldn't have been more perfect!

Snowstorm!

We had heard it was going to be a harsh winter, and it started early in the season for us. On December 19th it started snowing and didn't stop until we had 16 inches here. So pretty! So much shoveling! I cleared a path from my car in the carport to Lon's car across the way. Then I started shoveling us out, down the driveway. Luckily a neighbor came by with a plow and plowed one side of the driveway for us! Otherwise it would have taken me 2 days to do it by hand... Lon got out there with the leaf blower, but it mostly blew snow all over him! He came in looking like the abominable snowman, ha ha. It was fun watching Blizzard leap around in it, but soon there were yellow spots all over the place :( Now it's so cold that it's taking forever to melt.

Catching Up a Bit

Since my last post, which actually occurred in September but wasn't posted until November, I've neglected my blog in favor of Facebook. But Facebook has its limitations, and I've decided to keep up the blog more faithfully from now on.In November, my older brother Malcolm stopped by on his tractor-trailer travels and spent an evening with us. Later that month we had a quiet first Thanksgiving in our new house, broke out (bad choice of words, ha ha) the Lennox china and good silver. When no one was looking, Lon grabbed a gnome from one of my flowerpots and posed him with the turkey for a photo shoot. Should have seen my face when I looked through the pictures and this came up...

Deal Island

My friend Lynne & I decided we deserved a girls' weekend away. We spent hours researching vacation rentals until finally she found this one and booked it for a weekend in mid-September. The price was right, and Lynne said it was not far from Annapolis, maybe 90 minutes away. She invited her friends Lisa and Trish, researched the area and made plans for us to hit the bars, and even got us invited to a catered party. The night before we left, she Googled the directions and discovered it wasn't in Deal, Maryland after all. It was in Deal Island, Maryland... three and a half hours away!

Obviously we had to go anyway, though we were disappointed that the place was at the end of nowhere, not even close to the parties and clubs we had imagined. When we got there, the cottage wasn't quite what the photos led us to believe, either! It was way smaller than it looked in the internet pictures. But we figured, what the heck, we'll only be here 2 days anyway. How big a space do we really need?

We asked Arby, the caretaker and guru of the island, where the swinging hot spots were, and he directed us to Lucky's, the local general store/bar. We made friends with the bartender there, who looked like Britney Spears might look in 10 years, and a couple of the 3 or 4 locals who popped in, and told them the story of how we ended up there. Before we knew it, the whole town had heard of us and was coming by to meet us. When we showed up the next night, because there truly was nothing else to do anywhere remotely close by, the whole town was there. Strangers were coming up and asking us, "So are you the Lost Girls? I heard about you!" It was so funny. The locals were friendly and real sweet. One of the crab men got us a whole basket of crabs for free, and I swear we didn't pay for one drink the whole time we were there.

We joked for a long time about being the Lost Girls of Deal Island, and Lisa & Trish actually talked about going back again, ha ha. But next time I get the chance for a girls' weekend away, I'm saving up and renting a beach house somewhere near civilization!

Housewarming

We waited till after school started so everyone would be back from vacations, and to give us plenty of time to get the house set up as much as possible. The party was lots of fun; the weather was perfect, and everyone enjoyed mingling on the deck. We cooked out under the carport so as not to take up space on the deck, which was a great idea. Everyone's kids played in the woods, and only came up for more soda, and when we made them come eat. They found a rope swing that I didn't even know was there, and cleared out an area to swing in. One of our friends went to test the solidity of the lean-to, and when he shook it, it fell down! Better that way than while someone's kid was sitting under it!

More Beach ...

We can't get enough of Wrightsville Beach... It was awesome having Jesse and Colleen there with us this year. The plan is to get us all together, Jill & Jeremy and their kids too, in the next couple years. Get a big beach house and all spend a fun and relaxing week on the beach!

Here we see Colleen and Jesse getting ready to do some boogie boarding; Marla, Charles and Jesse taking a break from the waves; and Bailey, Kip and Colleen playing in the surf. What a fun time!