On the UP side... This summer, we went to Cedar Point. It was fun for the guys! They love those crazy roller coasters! I was disappointed they didn't have a T-shirt that said, "I survived the Tram!" Dennis and Laura drove to Florida. Dennis flew back. I flew down to drive back with Laura. What a great ride! Rus and I took some day trips on our summer weekends too. We took a trip up to Cuyahoga Valley National Park, rode the Cuyohoga Valley Scenic Railroad which stopped in Peninsula, Ohio for their annual Python Festival (who knew?), visited the magnificent Schnormeier Gardens in Gambier, Ohio, played golf, paddled around in our kayaks locally, went to a local county fair and, of course, our annual visit to the Dublin Irish Festival (Always a fun time) We had company from NJ when the Suleski family brought their son, Henry, out for orientation at OSU. It was a great weekend with them. Kathy Suleski came back in September to help Henry settle in on campus, and they all returned for Thanksgiving.
Rus and I were lucky enough to get tickets to an OSU game in September! That is always a thrill, but this year was particularly poignant with Urban Meyer at the helm of this undefeated team! My favorite parts of the entire day are the Skull Session where the band plays before the game, then watching the band march in to do Script Ohio... it is great on TV but in person....unbelievable!
October brought the annual Halloween party. Rus went all out on his Pirate themed party. I think the majority of the month, I had massive treasure map, a ship complete with mast, sail, and crow's nest, and pirates just hanging around!
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| This is the view from our lanai. |
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| THIS is the reason our aloe isn't growing! |
Rus and I spent another long weekend in Florida. This time we reached our goal of setting up everything for our vacation home. It looks marvelous if I do say so myself!
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| The entire Thanksgiving Crew at the Columbus Zoo's Wildlights! |
For Thanksgiving we had a full house with everyone home and the Suleski family. The grandchildren came for 4 fun-filled, non-stop days of laughter, pictures, and lots of hugs and kisses! We were sad to see everyone leave on Saturday...
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| Aunt Laura and Brady |
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| Jocelyn and Uncle Dennis |
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| Taking to the trail with Daddy! |
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| A fashion maven is ALWAYS dressed for the paparazzi! |
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| THIS is what a home should look like! Clean enough to be healthy! Messy enough to be loved! |
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| Tradition: Making pancakes with Grandpa! |
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| Our Christmas Tree |
We had so much planned December, we were eternally thankful that the Mayans were, in fact, wrong about the end of the world. We were one of the hosts for the neighborhood's annual Munch and Mingle progressive cocktail party, Christmas parties abounded this year culminating with my very sweet husband being Santa again for the neighborhood Christmas Party bringing cheer to all the little ones. I don't know who gets a bigger kick out of it - him or the kids! Christmas itself was a quiet affair spent with our own household. We laughed and cried watching old home movies on VHS. It always leaves me with a sense of wonder on how the time has obviously passed us by, but it feels like yesterday.
I continue to nanny for Brayden 4 days a week. He has developed quite a personality! He is talking up a storm, playing puzzles, building with blocks, throwing balls with his hands and his lacrosse stick, running, jumping, seemingly with no break in energy - Definitely all boy! He is still not a sleeper, so my days are very physically exhausting. We still watch Sesame Street but have also graduated to Thomas the Engine and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I always come home with a good story to share at dinner. He has become infatuated with Laura after she went to the Wildlights with his family and us in December. She has come over to play a few times too. Many days he will grab my phone and ask if we can call her out of the blue. He is the master at the iPad. He can find exactly what he wants on there faster than me! We have lots of fun educational games and videos that we play daily. He is my daily dose of joy!
Rus' job continues with periodic threats of downsizing. There was a huge reorganization, downsizing, and "tweeking" of departments recently. The company laid off hundreds of folks, but so far, knock wood, he seems to be safe. More rounds coming in the spring so we wait with bated breath every time the word circulates through the office. One can never catch a full breath like this. It get wearing. However, we are ever thankful that he remains employed. Still living with the hope that he will be changed to employee status... not that this will count for anything if there are layoffs in that arena, but the security he would feel, paid vacation and sick days, benefits, would be a huge bonus!
Laura had another run of bad luck...the bottom line is that after spending 3 months with yet another health issue, she is taking a leave from school. She moved home in early October, continues to work at the hospital, and is taking a lab course at OSU in the spring, pushing back her graduation yet again. She continues to persevere!
Dennis' life remains the same. He continues at Sarcom as a Team Lead. He has recently gotten more employees for his department. He had hoped to get into AEP, but with the layoffs.... He applies to positions as he hears of them. So far nothing, but we remain ever-hopeful. He broke up with his girlfriend in the fall. He is presently back on eHarmony scoping out the sights, as it were. Being the guy he is, he He took a trip east to Massachusetts in the summer to be with Brian for his move.
After seven years of marriage, Brian and Megan are presently separated and getting divorced. This was a big blow to us all. There are just not words for the devastating loss. Megan has the children in Massachusetts. We hope and pray every night for our grandchildren. Brian is living in NJ at a friend's home that is for sale and not moving on the market. He is taking classes at the local community college he had attended 10 years ago, hoping to finish is Associate's degree soon. Brian flew out for Thanksgiving weekend with the children. It was so much fun to see them! We know it will be a while before we can do that again, so we savored every single moment. We had family portraits taken so Jocelyn and Brady would always have a picture of our family in their room. This has been a very difficult time for our family. Please say a prayer that things settle down in that quadrant soon.
As the New Year began, our 13.5-year old Pepper wasn't feeling well. After a vet's visit, it was determined that he had an infection for which he was given antibiotics that helped perk him up considerably. However an X-ray revealed he has a growth the size of a grapefruit encompassing his spleen that was not there during his September checkup. We decided, after hearing the diagnosis, that we would let him have quality of life. After the initial infection We are enjoying every day we have with him until the day comes when he will be gone. We will keep you updated as things progress...
2013.... here we are... ready to move forward... with heavy hearts...
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