TeamReedBlog.2020

 No one tells you when you buy a house of all the things that come with it. Sure, you're living the American Dream, and you can run around naked in all the rooms if you want. You get to decorate and clean it (or not) as you see fit, you can plant flowers and landscape to your heart (and budget's) content, and it can be a haven for when you need a break from the big, bad world. But they don't really talk about how much a new roof or appliances or furniture can cost.  And they for sure don't tell you that after 70 years of water running through galvanized pipes, this is what the inside of said pipe looks like. 🠊🠊🠊🠊🠊 I DID warn you. Gross right? Made me super grateful for the water filter we use to create drinking water.  We learned about it when we thought we were getting our water heaters inspected but ended up getting new pipes, a water softener and a tankless water heater.  It's part of our spring of super un-fun home improvement. Or, as James put it, "Na...

There's nothing like hearing a 6-foot-five-inch tall guy asking your daughter: "Can I get in your room so I can get my dress?" Ali and her roommate, Kevin, are in town for  PopCon , which is at the Indiana Convention Center - a venue I was at for a  decidedly different event  last week for work. Today is day two and a new costume change that entails wigs for both of them. Ali does the makeup for both of them. My niece, Becca, is getting in on the action, too, though her pharmacy rotation/work kept her from going the cosplay route.  The three of them came home last night loaded down with merch that one day they'll look at, shake their heads and laugh. But it'll be a good laugh with a flood of memories when they were carefree and able to be silly. Yesterday, at the event, people were asking if they could get their photos taken with Ali and Kevin - something a younger Ali and did at this same conference when she was deep into Dr. Who. Yesterday, Ali was dressed as ...

I started this blog as a weekly email to my mother-in law, so her Portland, Maine, residency would not keep her from keeping up with her granddaughter.  Marian adored getting the weekly photos of the rapidly growing redhead. She kept photos on rotation on her laptop and never failed to tell the latest story to whoever would listen.  We always knew Gary - Jeff, Jennifer and James' dad and Alison's grandpa -  liked the missives, too. But it wasn't until his passing that I realized he was as gabby about her and the rest of his family as she was. We said goodbye to Gary last week. Not the final goodbye, because that will come later when Jennifer and Peter, James and David, Jeff, Ali and I go back to Turks and Caicos to scatter a portion of his ashes in the place where he was the happiest (next perhaps to the horse track) after Marian's passing. Jeff gave a eulogy that any father would be proud to receive.  Together with other family members and many friends, we laughed. ...

A year ago, my sister, Donna, called. She was in tears. Which, if you know Donna, is a big-assed deal.  She had taken my sister, Diane (they are Nos. 1 and 2 in the hierarchy of my childhood) to the doctor. A self-described hypochondriac, Diane hadn't been feeling well for a while. It had gotten to the point where she stopped diagnosing herself and actually asked for professional help. Which, if you know Diana, is a big-assed deal.  After a short time in a doctor's office, she was routed to emergency surgery. The prognosis was terminal. Cancer. Ignored too long to fix. Once we heard, my sisters and a good portion of our nieces, gathered in the parking lot of Union Hospital. It was deep into COVID and only Donna could go inside. It was cold. But we were together, even if separated by by some brick and mortar. Yesterday, we celebrated a year of still having Diane with us. She's not running marathons or dancing on tables, but then again, she'd never run a marathon or dance...

It's been a while since I visited this page. A record break for me. No reason, really. Just occupied with other things. I'll try to catch us up. Hope you had a wonderful holiday, a great start to the new year and have found joy in the bleakness of February if you're in a cold weather state. If you're in a warm weather state, well, I will still like you but I'll like you better when the thaw comes here. Since our last confab via the blogosphere:  The Captain, Ali and I resumed our Christmas tradition of going home to Maine for the holidays but added a new twist of starting off with a day for just the three of us in downtown Portland. We had potato donuts, an amazing meal at a famous place on the water whose name I have since forgotten.  It was terrific to be in Maine, as always, but disappointing in that Gary was in the hospital and off-limits to visitors. He's better now and in a new care facility, and we'll likely see him this summer.  Auntie Jen broke out ...

It's been a while since I posted. No reason, really. It's been busy, but I've also been lazy. Not a ton to report as we're all still slogging through this pandemic as best as we can.  We've been careful, as you must be when you live in one of the most unvaccinated states in the country, and I think I've been so happy to be with friends and family when that occurred that I forgot to record some of the moments.  Despite the state of the world and my lack of chronicling Team Reed activities, I'm feeling grateful for so many things: Purely by happenstance, I put a new ornament on the tree - a stack of books I came home with from Christmas Book Club where, yes, I stole it under the rules of our gift swapping. It's between ornaments from Jeff's grandfather's house. Each a precious reminder of the best things in my life, and maybe yours: friends and family. I'm fortunate to have friends and family who don't always agree with me and don't hol...

When I moved away from my rural childhood home, some friends and family were worried that I was giving up a lot and getting very little in return. Down home, when there's a death or trouble in a family, the church ladies get together and make a big meal or series of meals for the survivors. Small towns will band together an have fundraisers for other issues, or just send the kids over to mow the yard, bale the hay or do whatever needs doing but can't be done due to said trouble. And family, of course, is always around and available to help you out. I'm not even IN trouble (not really) and I have all of the above and more thanks to wonderful friends who have become family. I've already mentioned the gifts and flowers, food and drink and treats that have come my way since my hip surgery - for which I'll be eternally grateful.  Last week, Jeff was contemplating bailing on an overnight work thing that had been scheduled for months.  But after three weeks of taking care ...