Where to start?

 It's been an extraordinarily busy summer for the two semi-retired Reeds on Castle Row. Before Ali and Beau drop in for a few days, let's catch up a bit.

1. We are still married and I still am battling weeds in the yard.

2. I went on my first cruise with Tracy, Elizabeth and new friend Breanna Stark. It was a Virgin Voyage to Cozumel and Bimini, and it was amazing. I worried about sea sickness, but you could barely feel the boat move. I worried about the crush of crowds, but it wasn't crowded, except at parties and that was fun. I didn't lose all my money at the casino, and I came away a deeper tan rather than sunburn. All told, a terrific experience, more so due to Tracy's incredible travel hacking.

3. I've started hot yoga and Pilates with Karin and Kaitlyn Ogden, who are veterans of the sweaty sport. I can't do all the things, and I once puked a little in my mouth, but made it through the class. Once, I had to take a breather and get a snack before I trusted myself to get home safely. But it seems to be helping me move better. Well, once I'm done and recovered. And medicated. I'm giving it a three-month trial. If I can avoid a second hip surgery, it'll all be worth it.

4. The Captain has fallen in with a group of pickleball players who are helping him up his game. Good news for him; bad news for my game. Until, I got invited to the day when it's not super competitive. The whole way over, I worried I'd embarrass myself. These players might be actual longtime retirees, but they play almost every day. I survived. Even got invited back. We'll see if I can continue to not embarrass myself.

5. We had a great time meeting Miss Ruby's daughter Beverly and son-in-law Jack when they came to visit Kenny, Miss Ruby's son and our dear neighbor, who's always ready to lend a hand when anyone on Castle Row needs it. We didn't have much time with Miss Ruby, who passed away a few years after we moved in, but she was wonderful. It's easy to see her influence in Kenny and Bev.

6. We were also honored to be at what may become the Shahs' annual Raksha Banhan celebration. It focuses on siblings' familial bonds. Super cool.

7. Labor Day weekend will have the Captain and me heading off to different cities to spend time with friends. It's going to be awesome. Not because we're going separate places, but because the friends in question are wonderful, and we'll have blasts. 

8. Oh! How could I forget this? I cooked recently, and it was awesome. I might have to do it again.

Now, I have to clean the house and get some food in it if we are to have a decent visit. Hope your summer is just as awesome. Just for fun, here's a throwback photo FaceBook gifted me today.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A long goodbye

Image
I’ve been toying with the idea of retiring from my professional PR career for a while now and have been cutting back for more than a year. It’s remarkably hard to step away when you have clients who you love, who you trust, who work to make the world a better place and who seem to hold you in the same high regard.  It was a different century when I made my first two hard work-related decisions. The first was to leave the newspaper that had welcomed me into journalism long before I had any right to be there to go to another. The second was to leave journalism for the “dark side” of the notebook and try my hand at public relations. Each transition led to many wonderful things and made me a believer that change is usually good. I was 15 when I officially joined the workforce, which meant I had to get some sort of waiver to avoid child labor laws. I don’t count babysitting or the three days I earned a paycheck detasseling corn (a rite of passage in rural Indiana but not good for shor...
Read more

An unusual Valentine's Day

Image
  Jeff and I are celebrating our 27th wedding anniversary today about 1,000 miles apart.  He gets 75-degree-Orlando. I get 23 degrees in Indy. We’re not fighting or separated on purpose. For the first time in the nearly six years she’s been a college student (4 at Purdue and 1.5/5 at UCF) she called asking if one of us could come down because she was “feeling like death.” It came at a good time for Jeff. He’d been helping her with her project to add an ACLU chapter to the university and he currently doesn’t have a consulting contract. I have a busy work month with a client event that should be my swan song. So, it was he who caught a flight down. Instead of death (thank goodness) Alison has mono and the ‘flu. She is medicated and recovering. Day One, her father ordered her to bed, started in on her mountain of laundry and made her Ramen soup. Day Two, she got into the doctor and got sent back to bed while he got her meds. Then, he got (undiagnosed) flu. Day Three, he was ...
Read more

Blast from the past

Image
Today's offering comes from the desk of Amy Tokash, who was spring cleaning and came across some photos that have been gathering dust there for more than 20 years. She shared them with the Captain and me. It elicited this gem:  " I was looking at those pictures Amer sent. Man. That one of you on the top of that car? I see what I saw in you." I totally remember the chicken limo and the fun we had with that. It started with us -  Amy, Lynda, Annmarie and I  - taking turns  driving around town in the Chicken Limo .  Back then, you drove the car. In the current iteration, they apparently have a driver, which to be fair is probably less of a liability risk. When we hired it, the car was already ancient with sagging seats that we had to put pillows in for some of us to see over the dash. We had the windows down, probably to overcome the stench of vomit that was surely deep in the seats and upholstery.   The car was unwieldy and the bushes between the our house an...
Read more