We're Back!

I last updated this blog on Christmas. Of 2018. It was just after the last time I saw my mother alive, and just a couple of months before she could no longer manage to get on her computer to see the pictures on our website. I did manage to send pictures, the old-fashioned way, but it didn't seem worth the effort to update the blog and site, since Mom was the only one looking at them.

Mom is gone now, since the first month of that horrible year we all just finished. But there have been highlights, not the least of which is that my beautiful granddaughter Lyria is now living with us, which means that I get to see her every day.

But not everyone does, and so I felt it was time to revive the website, and the blog, so that family members who live somewhere else can enjoy the highlights without having to be on Facebook Messenger, hoping that someone finds the time to post.

I'm not going to try to catch up on the events of 2020, because then I would have to relive more of it than I really want to. Suffice to mention that all my children are now living under my roof again, and that while we would pretty much all prefer something different than what's happening, we've all managed to stay healthy and safe. One key event from 2020 that I will mention is that I've retired from The Windrifter and will now be working on projects at home.

And so I will take it from here, a brand new year, off to a shaky start but filled with promise. Hope you'll hang in, follow along, and stay safe.

Low-Key Christmas

Our big Christmas celebration was actually on Christmas Eve, and early on Christmas Eve because I had to work from three until ten last night. Just part of the job.

We're open 365 days a year, 15 hours a day, and someone needs to be there for our guests, so the desk crew works out who needs which days off so we can cover for each other. It was a bit trickier this year because one of my co-workers is recovering from hip surgery and the manager, who often covers morning hours, is on a well-deserved vacation. But we made it happen.

So for Christmas Eve, Thomas and Erin came over with their roommate Tammy and her Boyfriend Paul. There was a brunch buffet and a Yankee gift swap, and lots of time to talk and visit, even if I did have to leave early.

But for the actual day of Christmas, we took it easy. Thomas and Erin were visiting Erin's parents. Most of the gifts at our house weren't even wrapped, breakfast was done in stages and kept simple. There was a lot of TV watching, some video game playing, and some fun playing around with gifts, like a great little lens that Karen got for my phone camera which takes wide-angle pictures, and Karen's new tablet, which we're going to use to watch movies on the bus.

Daniel got money toward a game console he really wants, and William got art supplies. As I said, pretty laid back.

And we're kind of stretching out the family celebration, with a trip to Tom and Erin's apartment planned for tomorrow.

Of course, there was one very, very exciting even on this Christmas day: Tom and Erin officially announced their engagement. We're brimming over with delight to hear that.