Happy Anniversary to Us

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Lou surprised me with roses ❤️

Hard to believe it has been 46 years, since we marched down the aisle at The Little Chapel of the West in Las Vegas. And no, we weren’t married by Elvis. The ceremony was so short, one of my uncles missed it because they got caught by a stoplight. The other noticeable event occurred when the Not-Elvis Chaplain asked for the rings. We had no rings. My Dad, Buster, was heard muttering – “What the Hell kind of wedding is this … no rings!”

That set the stage for the next 46 years! We have had quite an adventure. We started out in California, then I moved to Florida. We were bicoastal for a few years, then I took an assignment in Australia. Lou wrapped up his career and joined me in Sydney. After a few fun years, we came back to Florida before moving to Arizona. We bounced back to Florida before cruising the Intracoastal Waterway to Maine. As you know, we ended up in Maine full time before recently relocating to Arizona. Whew, I’m tired just thinking about all those moves.

We held our wedding reception at Aunt Jeanne’s and one of my other relatives volunteered to be the photographer. She must have been short, because the top of Lou’s head is cut off in most of the photos 😂. It was a fun time. My Aunt Arlene comped a suite for us at The Landmark, where she worked. This was very nice, but we have wiped the memory from our minds. I was deadly ill for two days ☠️.

Sadly, this is the first year we don’t have a nice handwritten card from Jeannette commemorating our anniversary, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she already had it ready to go in the mail.

Here are a few snapshots from that day, 46 years ago:


Thanks for following along on our adventures. We hope to have many more! I am thankful for all 46 years, and I believe Lou would say the same. I am also grateful for Lou bringing Catherine and Beth into my life.

Stay Safe!

Festival of Meat

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Happy Thanksgiving weekend to all. We are continuing our celebration of meat this weekend. We started yesterday, with our pre-Thanksgiving meal of baby back ribs. Making sure we mix up our pork and beef.

Lou started the ribs in the oven, and Beth finished them on the grill. They were delicious.

We chose to have our main Holiday meal today, Friday, because Beth and Todd drove over from California yesterday.

Lou had pre-ordered a standing rib roast from a local butcher. It had three bones and was quite large. He and Beth worked together in the kitchen and they seared it at 500 degrees, then cooked it slowly. We ate at 6:30 (a recent record), and had mashed potatoes, gravy, peas and carrots. Beth made a salad, but we are saving it until tomorrow. Dinner was delicious!

It was a simple meal, with fewer ingredients than most previous years, but it was perfect. Everyone ate their fill, and we have leftovers for days. We have fresh baked apple pie and pumpkin pie for dessert. Life is good.

We are thankful for all of our family and friends, and especially appreciative of Beth and Todd brightening our weekend by visiting.

Tune back in tomorrow when we will have more to share.

Stay Safe!

Happy Birthday, Natasha!

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Natasha turns twelve today. She is expecting a big party, but I imagine it will be just like any other day around here – pretty chill.

It has been a ride with this dog … we aren’t sure she matches Maggie (our first cocker) for stubbornness and bossiness, but she is pretty darned close. We have had our ups and downs with health issues, but she is doing well now. Her recent knee surgery was a success so we are hoping to stay on the positive track. She is mostly deaf now, due to ongoing ear issues, but she never misses a chance to bark – once Stitch alerts her with his sharp baby wolf screech.

Natasha is independent, but she still likes to snuggle, and she generally insists on smashing right up against one of us when it is time to sleep.

Happy Birthday, Tasha 🎂

And, Happy Birthday to Hannah, Natasha’s sister. Hannah sent a birthday greeting (which reminded me today was the day!). Here is Hannah:


Update: Sally (Hannah’s Mom) just sent this. This is Ava, who is another sister. Ava lives in Wisconsin and was the runt of the litter – she is small like Natasha:

Happy Birthday, Girls!

Stay Safe!

Something Strange

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Woke up to a weird noise outside. Wait … could it be … rain!!! It rained off and on for a couple of hours. Very nice.

In other news, there is none! All is calm, boring and relaxing. Let’s keep it that way.

Stay Safe!

Survived the Dentist

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If you have been following the blog for years, you may remember that I have a phobia about going to the dentist. When I went to the new dentist here (the same office where Lou had his emergency work done), I had x-rays and cleaning done. On my next quarterly hygiene visit, I saw the actual dentist (he was out of town on my first visit). He was not happy at all and immediately began making plans to replace some crowns. This did NOT sound good to me at all. I mean, I am 70 years old, how much longer do things have to hold up?

Excuse the weird reflection line down my face.

I started a series of “reconstruction” appointments, and just finished up the second major effort today. Two more to go next year.

This story isn’t really all that blog-worthy, except for the comments Dr. P made. When we finished up today, he jokingly asked if I wanted the old bridge. I said, “No, but I will take a photo.” So he arranged it on the table for my shot:

Those teeth look perfectly fine to me. Apparently the problem was underneath the bridge. As the dentist laughed at me taking a photo, he said, “We should have taken a picture of you lying down with your mouth open.” I said, “No problem, I got one of those last visit.”

He shook his head, and said it was usually 14 year old boys who wanted selfies in the dentist chair. I said, “And your point is?”

That was my exciting day. I was wiped out this afternoon, probably from being so tense during the whole procedure, and I had enough anesthetic in my lower jaw to last for 3 days, or so Dr. Humor said. It has finally mostly worn off, 6 hours later.

At least I have the satisfaction of knowing the dentist and technician don’t look forward to my next visit anymore than I do – they don’t care for my legendary tongue action that tries to protect me from the pain they are about to inflict – real or imaginary.

I hope no one was triggered by my story today 😉. Be Safe!

It’s a New Dawn

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Couldn’t get that song lyric out of my head when I saw Lou’s latest Amazon arrival …

This past week was much better than the last few. No major issues. Our pool controls are working again, and they are working to fix the fence from the cactus attack.

Stitch had an ultrasound which didn’t show any bad surprises. He has “angry” intestines which are symptomatic of IBS. He is on special food and a steroid regime for a few weeks. So far so good.

Catherine and Ziggy got released to ride again and that makes them both happy.

More positive news – Lou has a date to fix his knee. This is the one he had replaced in Maine last summer (not the one with the wound). Normally this would not be good news, but he needs to get it fixed and it is good to have a doctor take him seriously. He was never happy with the original surgery results but the doctor just ignored his concerns. We are hoping for just a revision surgery, but the doctor won’t know how much has to be done til he is doing the surgery.

We are looking forward to Thanksgiving with Beth, Todd, Ace, and Bunny.

Stay Safe!