New Jersey Thanksgiving 2012

Before we got ready to head to New Jersey I dipped some pretzels for a women's group meeting so I wouldn't have to do them when I got back, then also roasted some pumpkin seeds for us to snack on during our little road trip.

We avoided most the traffic by getting away Wed. morning and had arrived by mid-afternoon.  Did some meal prep, had the traditional sub sandwiches for dinner,  then spent a good portion of the evening downloading music into Marie's computer.

Got up and took a drive through the storm hit areas of South Jersey to see Sandy's damage.

The boardwalk was pretty quiet, as were the beaches.

 A lot of the beach area in Atlantic City had built up dunes to protect it from storms.  There was quite a bit of discussion about it as people didn't want to lose their views of the ocean.  Normally when walking on the boardwalk you can see the water, but now you have to walk around the dunes to get there.  However, the dunes saved the boardwalk and other areas from getting hit as hard as the places in town where they refused to put in dunes.

Here in Margate, the water and sand came up over the walls and into the homes.  You can see the sand on the roads but they've already done a really good job of cleaning up.  However, the restaurant where we had Thanksgiving dinner last year was damaged and is still closed.

We got back to Marie's about noon and just in time for Joe's arrival with their mom.  Marie hates her front loader washing machine so based on You Tube videos Tom convinced Joe to help him adjust the water level in her machine.  They spent several hours working on this while Marie and I worked on dinner and visited with Eleanor.

Eleanor will be 89 next month and is starting to really struggle with aging issues.  She's basically very healthy but her memory is very bad and she has a hard time getting around.  She has a live-in caretaker but Joe and Marie take shifts Friday morning through Sunday afternoon .  It's a lot of work to get her up, bathed, fed and settled for the day.  She's unable to get up on her own.

Marie and Joe running Eleanor through her exercises.

Joe's wife, Karen and her father, Fred arrived mid afternoon and we had a great dinner around 6-ish.  Enjoyed football, great conversation and by the end of the evening....a washing machine with a water level that made Marie giddy!

This is Marie's backyard that looks out onto a golf course.  The cart trail runs right along the edge of her yard. It's beautiful.

This is her grumpy next door neighbor's yard.  He apparently doesn't want golfers stepping into his woods to retrieve lost balls.  There are EIGHT no trespassing signs.

If the signs aren't enough he's included posts and heavy duty string just to make sure.

Apparently THIS is what the golfers think of him!

Friday Tom spent more time tutoring Marie on how to use her iTunes then he and I headed to his mom's to spend the afternoon with her.  We fed her lunch then got her settled in to watch some television.  It was too cold to take her out so we just visited inside.

The storm took out this large tree that Tom used to play in when he was a kid.  It crashed through the fence at his mom's but didn't hit any cars or the house.

We spent several hours there.  I went through a photo album with her of our family.  She doesn't really remember any of my family and when I point to photos of Tom's dad she'll say, "That's my husband".  She used to say her kid's names but now when I point to them she'll just say, "That's my son," or "That's my daughter".  My picture was always "That's his wife" if I was standing next to Tom.  It is sad to get old.  After we fed her dinner and got her in her pj's we turned on Mary Poppins for her, snuggled her in her chair with her cat, "Bows" and headed back to Marie's.  Had leftovers then went to see LINCOLN.  One theatre was sold out so we drove to another one where we were early enough to get good seats.  It ended up being sold out too.  After the movie we went back to Eleanor's to get her into bed but she was already in there.  Karen, her live-in caretaker must have gotten her in so we only stayed a few minutes.

Marie and I went back in the morning to get her up and do the morning routine. She did bathing while I did laundry and breakfast.  Tom and I had planned to get away by noon to miss the traffic but Marie had discovered that the washing machine now had no cold water for the delicate cycle so Tom had spent the morning working on that.  No, by the way he doesn't know anything about repairing washers! I ran to get pizza for our lunch then we loaded up Thanksgiving leftovers, got the washer and dryer back in place (still no cold water though) and after we ate, we headed home.  Marie was going to take some pizza back over to her mom's and finish the laundry.  She and Joey really put in many hours over there weekly in addition to their weekend duties.  Wish we could be of more help.

Glad we planned to come home Saturday rather than Sunday so we could avoid all the holiday traffic.

Washington Wizards

 I slept in Saturday morning (there's a two hour time change to adjust to!) and when I got up Tom had left me a plethora of post it notes before he went in to do some Coast Guard work.  Apparently he was concerned that I hadn't seen fit to actually put all my stuff away when I got home Friday night.  The one on the mirror does say "Welcome Home" however.

 Saturday night we jumped on the Metro and actually stayed on the Green Line (that doesn't happen that often!) to go to the Verizon Center.

 I had purchased discount tickets pre-season for the Utah Jazz game so we met my cute friend Shannon out front and had a great time.  Lots of empty seats but of course ours were 5 rows from the top of the building!  Didn't matter.  We still had a lot of fun and the Jazz beat the Wizards 83-76.  The Wizards are winless this season but they came out strong and we thought we might witness their first win.  Fortunately, it didn't happen and we came out on top.  Frankly, neither team looked that great!

Quick Trip to Utah

 Took a quick trip to Utah last week to get a few things in order.  Paige and Sue picked me up at the airport and we headed to Shay & Nic's where mom and dad were waiting with dinner (my plane was late!), watching the Utah Jazz in triple overtime and of course, playing with Nixon!  He's gotten so big since I left and after that Skype visit he just needed to be held....by ME!  Sara and Robyn were there too and I can't believe how tall they are getting!

 The next day we went to our storage shed to move things around to make more room, stopped by our house to take photos (our renter moved out), then headed to Nic's apartment to move his stuff out and into our storage shed. Fortunately it was mostly just bedroom furniture and clothes so between Mom & Dad, Taylor and yours truly we got it mostly out the first day.  Jess and I went back the following day to finish up and clean.

 Jessica's boss rewards his employees once a year with a paid family day so we hit Cafe Rio and then he treated us to pedicures!  Isn't that a great way to treat your employees?

 That night the whole family met at Golden Corral for lots of good food and fun. Mom had reserved a private room so we got to spread out and hang out at our leisure.

Ryan & Jen

Taylor, Jess and her friend, Nic.

Sara, Robyn, Denise, Craig and Paige

Nic, Shay, Jeff and Karen

Taylor is lovin' that fondue!

They still had their Veteran's Day stuff up so had to get a shot of the  Coast Guard flag!

 Since we got everything done so quickly I had a day to just play.  I went to a Bikram Yoga class with a friend that totally kicked my butt!  Tom and I had really loved hot yoga in Alabama but this was totally different.  I made it through 30 minutes of a 90 minute class!  I couldn't breathe, was a tad sick to my stomach and thought hmmmmm, guess I can sit here on the mat for an hour or get out of here!  Embarrassing!  Did some running around with mom and dad, visited some friends, got a great haircut from my usual gal Ruth, hooked up with Taylor and his friend for dinner then went to visit Nicholas.  He's going to do 5 months of treatment in the RSAT (Residential Substance Abuse Treatment) program before continuing more treatment out in the community.  It is trying, but I still feel a real sense of peace about where he is and his continued safety.  I get upset when I think of him spending the holidays there, but he's warm, safe and most importantly...clean, and that's what is important.  We just continue to pray for his healing.  I also have to say, Nic's landlord was just such a blessing to us.  He did everything in his power to offer this kid a second chance by providing a place to live where he could keep his dog and he even battled the HOA on Nic's behalf.  He didn't know us from Adam, but I found his condo on Craigslist and told him the truth about Nic's situation.  He didn't hesitate and has bent over backwards to work with us.  We truly have thanked God for him everyday.

 Flew out Friday afternoon and had this little guy in front of me.  Two year old who was very verbal and VERY excited about the airplanes as we waited to take off.  He kept peeking back through the seat and talking to me about the planes.  Later when we were in the air he stood and keep peeking over the top of the seat to tell me and my other seat mates "Hi!".  He was darling.

Always love to get above the clouds for this gorgeous view.........

The Great Banquet

Driving down the road and saw this.  Had to stop and snap.  Those old cemeteries, I tell ya....just gorgeous.

My friend Dalliss who lives in Oakton, VA invited me to a non-denominational retreat at her church.  We arrived Thursday evening and stayed through Sunday evening.  She shared very little about what to expect. Just encouraged me to be open, authentic (hence the no make-up look) and to stay in the moment.  Now, for those of us who perhaps have control issues this can prove difficult.  But I went with the attitude that I would try my hardest to do all those thing.

 We stayed inside except for a couple of breaks where we could walk outside in the perfectly stunning weather.  We gave up watches, cell phones and anything else that would connect us with the outside world.  Each day consisted of prayer, worship, music, much laughter, wonderful talks & discussion and food! Oh my gosh, the food was just crazy.  Every time we walked into the dining area they had completely outdone themselves from the time before.

We were put in a group of six who we shared a table with for the talks, we shared a bedroom with 4 other women then we were encouraged to sit with people we didn't know for meals so eventually you spent time with almost everyone.

                                 We sang these before and after meals to the tune of Edelweiss.

 My sleeping area.  We each had a blow-up bed.  Dallis had made mine very cozy!

This is a small chapel we used but the church itself is huge having been remodeled.

Me, with my table mates...J.L., Erin, Lolita and Dawn

Good fun with the ladies!

Everyone's stuff getting ready to wrap up our awesome weekend.  We felt completely spoiled, completely loved and had a total blast. Think girl's camp with no dirt, but with all the fun and the spiritual renewal of a 72 hour testimony meeting.  Everyone left feeling completely enveloped in God's love as well as strengthened & renewed and supported by all these incredible women.  The peace of the weekend is something I always want to keep with me.

Out and About

 So they have these studios throughout DC where you pay a certain price and just show up.  You get all your supplies, 2 glasses of wine if you want, and after 2 hours you leave with your painting in hand.  Everyone does the same painting so you go their online calendar and see what painting they're doing what night so you know when to sign up.  A friend and I got a bargain on Groupon so we opted for the "DC At Night" painting at Merlot's Masterpiece.

 You get this mini version taped to your easel and then the teacher walks you through the process. Frankly, wasn't crazy about this teacher....she was WAY more interested in her own painting than in helping us but it was still fun.  We used acrylics, had 2 brushes and had as much freedom to personalize our work as we wanted.

 Stephanie and the teacher opted to eliminate the other memorial on the end.  Plus, we threw in a moon.

Stephanie's finished product.

  I wish I had all my acrylics from Utah with me because I would have done some more work on this when I got home.....but for first attempt, it was okay.

The U Metro station on the way home....a long line of colorful murals highlighting musicians.  I hear there are a lot of great live music venues in that area.

When Tom isn't working on the weekend (He has had gigs several weekends either for Coast Guard or for his regular job...ex: The Army Ten-Miler) we try to go take advantage of some of the wonderful things to see in the city.

 Tom thought he'd never been here before but as soon as we walked in the front door he remembered he had.  I have been a couple of times.....once with Taylor when he was still a little kid and frankly it's not really for the kidlets, then another time by myself (which is really how I prefer to see museums).  No photos are allowed inside but I did get one of this wall along the glass bridge.

 We were there several hours and still didn't read everything in every exhibition.  It frankly becomes overwhelming and very emotional to read about and see the atrocities.  It's a powerful reminder though to not take our freedoms for granted.

 Lastly, got a chance to see Shaylee and Nic's little Nixon in action last night via Skype.  He was very confused by the whole thing and I don't look familiar to him so he was doubly mystified!  He is such a little doll at 6 months....can't wait to see him and hold him in person!