Showing posts with label Clyde. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Clyde. Show all posts

Friday, January 8, 2016

New Year's in Clyde

We loaded up and drove to Clyde on New Year's Eve to spend a few days with Susan, Corey and kids.  Susan and Corey had previously made plans to get together with friends so we were going to keep the grandkids. When we arrived, Corey said they weren't going out after all because he was going to have to work, but he had time to go to dinner with all of us and Karen first.

 Karen and me
 Susan and Aidan
 Corey and Susan
Ally and Grandpa

As it turned out, Corey's job got cancelled so the kids went out after dinner and we went back to the house with the grandkids to enjoy reading books out loud, playing many games of "Sorry," "Jenga," and "Connect Four" and chatting about life. Rich also found a cool puzzle game for his iPad called "Monument Valley" and the kids loved working on it.  Aidan and Ally are both super sweet and fun to be with, and  they still don't mind hanging out with their grandparents, thankfully!  We managed to stay up for the ball drop in NYC and just like that, it's 2016!

 "Sorry!"
"Monument Valley"

The next day we hung out at the house for the most part and then drove into Abilene in the early evening to take the kids to see the Chipmunk movie, not my first choice, but there weren't too many kid friendly movies showing. Imagine our surprise when we arrived and found it to be sold out!  Aidan and Ally weren't that upset but, oh my goodness, you should have seen the other little kids sobbing when their parents told them they wouldn't be able to go!  It was sad and funny all at the same time.  :)

So we went to get something to eat, wandered the mall briefly, and on the way out stopped at Books a Million to see if we could find a different board game.  I'd meant to bring our "Mexican Train" game with us but had forgotten it at Sarah's so I was going to look for it but the store didn't have any.  We settled on one called "Rack-o," which I'd never heard of, but the box said it was "family fun for the last 50 years!" and Rich recalled that they had the game when he was a kid.  Stopped at the store for ice cream and made our way back home for a fun night of snacks and "Rack-o," which the kids ended up loving and wanting to play over and over.  Oh, yeah, while we were at the theater we'd gone ahead and bought tickets for the following morning's showing of the Chipmunk movie.

"Rack-o"
 Ally and me
Susan bundled up!

Susan had to work Saturday morning so we took the kids and met her at the theater after her shift.  I can't say I was especially enthralled with the Chipmunks but the kids seemed to enjoy it and laughed throughout, so that made it worthwhile.  Plus I got to have popcorn.

At the movie

As we were getting into the car, my friend Jim texted to see what we were up to and said he'd just made a pitcher of tea if we wanted to come by.  Susan and Corey ran some errands and went home while we took  Aidan and Ally with us to visit Jim.  I failed to get a pic but we had a nice visit getting filled in on the latest news.

Back home for more games, then out to dinner with Karen.  We had a full weekend and a very quick trip, leaving Sunday morning to drive back to Dallas.  I'm glad we now live close enough that we can pop in and visit when we want!

 Early morning snuggles before we went home.  Love and miss these sweeties!




Friday, September 18, 2015

Goodbye to these little sweeties....but not for long!

Rich and I have been talking about retiring and moving to Texas next summer.  We bought a house in Dallas a little over a  year ago and have been renting it out.  Although I have been antsy to move closer to the kids and grandkids for awhile, Rich is the reasonable one and always wants to make sure we will have enough money for retirement so we don't "outlive our money" or become destitute and dependent upon others.  :)  I think he would have stayed here in Unalaska a lot longer if it had not been for my desire to be closer to family, but he has also come to look forward to the day when we would begin the next chapter of our lives. 

When we get a little frustrated, we've talked about leaving sooner than next summer, but he has always maintained that we needed to at least wait till after the first of the year.  Imagine my surprise when he called me very early one morning when I was in Texas to say he'd been thinking a lot about it and was planning to go into work and give his notice!  Why not leave now?!  What's keeping us from going?  Now these are the things that I usually say, so it was a shock to hear them from him all of a sudden!  I said, "I won't believe it till you call me back and tell me you've done it!"  Sure enough, a few hours later, he called back and said it was done.  Wowie!  I have a big radio pledge drive coming up October 9 so I told him I could not leave till after that was finalized.  Suddenly we are planning a big change!

I am crazy excited and also a little anxious about the fact that we now have about a month to take care of a major move from remote Alaska to Texas, all the while both of us are very busy at work. But we can do it, right?!  More on all that later!

I am usually pretty sad to leave the kids behind but this time it didn't feel like such a big deal. We'll be back soon! 

 They're still sweet enough to let Gigi kiss on them, though I did promise Aidan I wouldn't embarrass him when I dropped him off at 6th grade!

 Love these little darlings so much!


 Susan and her kids
Poor Corey was working a lot so we didn't get to see him too much.  I think the only photo I have of him is one of his back at the motocross track! Sorry, Corey!  Next time!

Just hanging out

We made some brownies.



Pretty good!

 We went to the arcade at Mr. Gatti's.

 Second day of school--so far, so good!
Is that the mom or a teenager?

Motocross

No trip to Clyde is complete without watching Aidan out on the motocross track! That boy loves to ride and has continuously improved over the years.  It was only a practice day but we still had fun watching, despite the heat!
 Riding in the car

 Aidan and his big eyes!
 Ally making faces
 Showing his stuff


 Getting a little advice from  Daddy and Papa
 It's hot out here!
 Can we leave yet??!! 

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Reuniting with Friends

Besides spending time with my kids and grandkids, one of the best parts of coming back to Texas is seeing some of my dearest friends.  They've been with me through thick and thin and I love them lots!
 Diana, Karen and Ally
 Aidan, me and Sherri
 Ally and Jim
 Susan, Aidan and Sherri
 Diana, Sherri, Jane and Karen
 Susan and her sweet kids
 Kelly with her daughter Audra and sweet grandbaby Blaise.  He's so cute!
Trying to do a group selfie.  No, no we are not very good at it!
 Okay, that's a little better!  Connie, Jane, Kelly and Karen
 Connie and Karen
 Jane and Kelly
Another day, I met my friend Angela for lunch.  Angela was my student when I taught social work classes as an adjunct at Hardin-Simmons U; she went on to be a coworker at West Texas Rehab. We had a nice time catching up about life and work.  We made this sign for our friend Kirk, who'd been another coworker and who was battling cancer at the time.  Unfortunately, he passed away not long after this.  He was only 39 and leaves behind his wife and three small children. So very sad.  We will miss him and his sense of humor, as well as his caring heart.