Tony wading down our street
Well, it's been exactly 1 month since I set up this blog and as you see, I haven't been very disciplined in keeping it up to date. I get distracted...things to do...places to go...people to see - time just gets away.
We had our second annual celebration at Camp Getaway on August 9th and many of our friends and family came down to enjoy the day with us.
Little did we know that less than a month later we would be glued to the tv ... nervously waiting to see in what direction hurricaine Gustov would unleash his fury. We sighed in relief when we had some assurance that we would not bear the full brunt as we did on August 29th three years ago when Katrina unleashed her still unfathomable fury on us.
This past weekend was spent cleaning up after Mr Gustov left his nasty footprints on the beautiful face of Bay St. Louis. We sweated it for a while, not knowing exactly what damage we'd find at Camp Getaway. When we saw the inch layer of mud left in the downstairs we almost cried with joy! Compared to Katrina it was a cakewalk to get it cleaned up. We spent all day Tuesday shoveling, squeegeeing, hosing and washing down everything...including two tiny mud covered frogs. We didn't squeegee them but did wash them gently with the hose and place them in the flower bed. I also rescued a quarter sized hermit crab that I spotted struggling to climb out of the neighbors' outside sink. He obviously pegged me as a foe because he immediatey went into the fighting mode and was determined to pinch me with those miniature claws. I guess he saw himself as being much larger than he really was. I did finally manage to snag him in the minnow net and release his ungrateful little behind into the water. At the end of the day we were whipped but felt a real sense of accomplishment that we were basically "back to normal" in one day compared to the almost three years that we toiled to rebuild post that bitch Katrina.
I am taking two classes at USM in the fall .... one is a practicum in writing your life story and the other is faux painting. Should be a lot of fun.
About a year ago, my friend Sue invited me to join a bookclub called "Reading Between the Wines". The name should have been a clue. It includes a very interesting and diverse group of about 16 women. We've read some good books and some not so good books and sometimes we don't read the book at all. I learned quite early that the "reading" is not the key goal for this group. It is mostly about the wine and socializing and if we get around to discussing the book ... fine...if not...fine.
It's almost surreal to think that I've been retired for two years. I can't tell you where the time has gone or how I've filled the days. I can only tell you that they have flown by. My house is dirtier than ever and I can't seem to muster up enough concern to do anything about it. Oh, it's not a complete pig sty but my standards are far below what they once were. I just seem to find more interesting things to fill my time with. I'm focusing again on my photography and am enjoying playing with the Adobe Photoshop program that Tony got me. I'm still not very good but I'm having fun.
Speaking of time flying by....on September 29th, Tony and I will celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary. I'm still as gah gah over him as I was when we were 18 and as far as I can tell he's still pretty fond of me too. Back in May he planned a complete surprise vacation and didn't tell me where we were going until we were on our way to the airport. We went to the San Juan Islands in Washington and had a wonderful, romantic, relaxing week.
I think I'll renew the vows...
I am taking two classes at USM in the fall .... one is a practicum in writing your life story and the other is faux painting. Should be a lot of fun.
About a year ago, my friend Sue invited me to join a bookclub called "Reading Between the Wines". The name should have been a clue. It includes a very interesting and diverse group of about 16 women. We've read some good books and some not so good books and sometimes we don't read the book at all. I learned quite early that the "reading" is not the key goal for this group. It is mostly about the wine and socializing and if we get around to discussing the book ... fine...if not...fine.
It's almost surreal to think that I've been retired for two years. I can't tell you where the time has gone or how I've filled the days. I can only tell you that they have flown by. My house is dirtier than ever and I can't seem to muster up enough concern to do anything about it. Oh, it's not a complete pig sty but my standards are far below what they once were. I just seem to find more interesting things to fill my time with. I'm focusing again on my photography and am enjoying playing with the Adobe Photoshop program that Tony got me. I'm still not very good but I'm having fun.
Speaking of time flying by....on September 29th, Tony and I will celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary. I'm still as gah gah over him as I was when we were 18 and as far as I can tell he's still pretty fond of me too. Back in May he planned a complete surprise vacation and didn't tell me where we were going until we were on our way to the airport. We went to the San Juan Islands in Washington and had a wonderful, romantic, relaxing week.
I think I'll renew the vows...
