Beach Party - Week 4 - Wind down with Family

Frank, Sharon and Matthew arrived Saturday mid-afternoon and everyone retired early tonight! Frank had been en route to the beach from Iraq for about 4 days when he got here, so to say that his "time" was messed up was an understatement! We enjoyed the beach on Sunday morning, Frank and Matthew did a little grocery shopping,

returning with flowers for Sharon and me for Mother's Day (a treat!) and I left to pick up my honey from the Pensacola airport!

Frank began the day on Monday by firing up the grill about 5 a.m. (Didn't I tell you that his time was off a little?) We spent a lazy day at home, relaxing on the beach.


Alice, Sharon and Annie


We invited Ann, cousin Alice, and friend, Regina, for a delicious steak dinner that evening, with homemade ice cream for dessert. It was one lazy day after another this week.




Sharon and Sophie taking a turn in the hammock!

until Wednesday when the guys decided to go deep-sea fishing and Sharon and I traveled over to Fairhope for a day of shopping.



Sharon and I enjoyed a lovely lunch here at the Fairhope Inn!

Let's just say that Sharon and I were the winners of this day -- Jim and Frank got extremely sea sick and were unable to fish -- Matthew had a great time and caught a load of fish but the day was a total wipeout for the brothers :-(

I began the beach wind down by starting the packing process on Thursday, in between beach time. I think I had reached my sand saturation point, since it was in and on everything I owned at this point! And I had brought many of my comfort items from home, so this packing wasn't going to happen with a snap of the finger...it took careful assessment of the situation. Whenever there was a lull in activity, I was packing something away for the trip home. By Friday lunch, Jim and I had made a pretty good dent in our things and headed into town for a final lunch somewhere (Sharon and Matthew had taken Frank to the airport), then home for naps, before packing some final things that evening.

The trip ended with a bang! Sharon misplaced her keys in the packing process and we thought we were going to have to call a locksmith, but alas, we found them and everyone headed out the door after the fourth and final week of the Great Retirement Beach Party!

This trip was much anticipated, as I had begun the planning process long before I actually retired, and I must say, I was NOT disappointed. It was everything that I wanted, and needed, it to be and it was further enhanced by the friends and family that shared this time with me. Thanks, gang, for helping make this a time to remember! And a really special thank you to the greatest husband in the world -- a husband that supported my efforts to make this all possible!


I love you, Jim!!!

Beach Party - Week 3 - "Girls of '74"

This Saturday began with Aunt Margie and Burt starting their trek home after her Friday discharge from the hospital. Jane and I spent a very relaxing day on the beach, followed by a late lunch and some grocery shopping in preparation for the others to begin their arrivals to paradise. Mendy and Amy got here after dark -- and had to dip their toes in the water before going to bed!




We enjoyed lovely weather most of this week -- the first rain of the entire time on Monday morning -- not to worry, when it rains at the beach, there's always shopping! I took them to Cosmo's for lunch, then we continued with our shopping.



This week was truly the ultimate beach week -- most of every day was spent just worshipping in the sun, or under the great umbrella, collecting shells, and relaxing. This group enjoyed dining at home more than traveling into town -- it truly worked both ways for me -- I was content with whatever the group wanted to do! We did have dinner at Tacky Jack's 2 on Wednesday evening, and enjoyed an incredible sunset! (I have to say that the food is just OK here, but the proximity to our beach house made it much more palatable!)



Mendy, Jane and Amy left on Thursday morning. Susan and I enjoyed another glorious beach day on Thursday, followed by a dinner of dip and chips, with ice cream for dessert. It doesn't get any better than that! In our pajamas, I might add...After another fabulous beach day, we headed down the road to dine with an old friend, Max Osborn, and his family at their weekend home on the lagoon.

Susan pulled away from the beach on Saturday morning, and I headed down to the Beach Club to the pool with Ann and her cousin, Alice. Frank, Sharon and Matthew arrived mid-afternoon and as the third week is ending, the fourth and final week is just beginning!

Beach Party - Week 2 - Book Club Week

This week began with one of my great friends, Terrye Northcutt, picking me up from the hospital after Burt arrived there. We headed straight to the beach house to wait for the others to arrive. It gets a little fuzzy here ( remember, I am functioning on very little sleep at this point)-- the others, Rhonda, Teresa, Janet and Felicia, came across the ferry and maybe got to the area before we got back from the hospital. So, they stopped at Tacky Jack 2 for appetizers while waiting for us to arrive with the key. Once we all made it to the house, the fun began and it did NOT end for the entire time they were there. If the old adage of "Laughter is the best medicine" is true, then this bunch should be well for a while...I really can't remember when I had laughed so hard, or so much.



On Monday, we looked out to see the waves really crashing up onto the beach and our "cabana" area. We had to retrieve all of our chairs and gear and move closer to the house. The water really created a little beach river which caused a little concern for me -- I hadn't seen anything like this at all the first week, and was hoping that things were not going to go south in the weather department. (It had been raining at home the entire time I had been at the beach, so far).

Everyday for me included some beach time, a trip into the hospital to check on Aunt Margie (and Burt), and evening fun with the girls. We went to Lulu's on Monday evening -- good food but great atmosphere!


Terrye, Teresa, Phyllis, Janet, Rhonda, Felicia

Pretty sure we left out mark there...only to return to the house for our first of many game nights -- we played either Scrabble or Sequence or both every evening! Good food, good drinks, good friends AND we were challenging our brains! The girls traveled to Fairhope on Wednesday for a day of shopping -- I visited at the hospital, then came home to the hammock to await their return. We wound down this week with the last great beach day on Thursday, followed by a lovely dinner at Cosmo's (it came with high marks from Rhonda) and we were not disappointed!





The week ended with this group leaving on Friday morning. Sophie and I spent a lazy day at home, doing some laundry, and enjoying the hammock -- there is a common theme here -- for the ultimate relaxation, this was the place to be! There was a wonderful breeze, always, that would literally rock you like a baby, with the sound of the surf to further enhance this experience. As this week wound down with the book club girls, the third week was just getting started when "bestie" Jane arrived on Friday evening around eight. (There is a reason that she was so late, but I believe it would be lost in translation so just suffice it to say that her GPS, better known as the B*@ch in the Box, led her astray!)

Where, o Where, to Start :-)

I realize that it has been a LONG time since I last blogged, and I am now making an attempt to rectify that. As we all know, we traveled to Gulf Shores, AL on April 18 for the much-awaited Beach Retirement Trip! It was everything that I hoped it would be and more (including some hospital excitement that I will get to later in the post!)

Jim, nephew Matthew, Sophie dearest and myself arrived at our lovely beach home late at night on Saturday, April 18. We were pleasantly surprised when we arrived at our home away from home. It was literally only about 100 steps from the deck steps to the water's edge. Just what I had hoped for!

(2nd from front - NOT the yellow one!)
It was really pretty cool when we arrived but we had to walk on the beach just to take it in. On April 19, I had walked the beach twice before 11 a.m. -- I really seem to thrive with beach life! My cousin-sister, Karen, her husband, Dana, and Aunt Margie arrived about 4 p.m. this day.


We went into town to get groceries and what a load of stuff we got! Got home, unloaded the grub, then went just about 1/2 mile down the road to Tacky Jack's 2 for our first seafood of the trip. (I really hate to do this day by day, but there is something to tell about each and every day so bear with me -- I am also going to attempt to get the pictures in the right places but who knows how I will do with that -- I am totally out of practice!)

We had our first full Beach Day, with great sun on Monday, and thoroughly enjoyed the time together.

nephew, Matthew, holding Sophie "like a purse" in her doggie life jacket!


Dined at LuLu's in town this night -- Jimmy Buffett's sister's restaurant -- pretty good food with GREAT atmosphere!

And on Tuesday, Patrick, Amy & Deacon arrived -- what a joy to see them drive up! Deacon had grown so much since we last saw him for his birthday in January, and the grown-ups ( I still want to refer to them as the "kids") looked great.



We cooked a wonderful dinner at home that night and everyone just enjoyed being together, watching Deacon play and roam around, and the guys (+Amy) played a rousing game of Texas Holdem. The next day brought more beach time (Deacon was not a fan early on) and that evening, Amy's family joined us for a few days (Bob, Regina and Jared). We cooked another fabulous dinner at home and again, thoroughly enjoyed our time together. After beach time on Thursday,

we headed into town to do a little shopping at The Wharf,


then out to dinner at Bahama Bob's on West Beach Blvd.





The ultimate beach day was on Friday -- Deacon really decided to enjoy it this day -- and we grilled burgers for dinner, while trying to clean out the leftovers from the dinners at home.






We also took lots of family beach pictures for all to share! And we were also joined by Karen and Dana's daughter, Laura and her sweet husband, Nick, for the night. They were en route to Florida to board their cruise ship. We really enjoyed our dinner and visit with them -- everyone just enjoyed being together and it was apparent -- we had a great time!








Saturday, I was sad to see EVERYONE leave. Everybody got away fairly early and Aunt Marg and I took Jim to the airport in Pensacola, and this is where things started getting a little hairy!

After a quick bite of lunch on the way home from the airport, Aunt Marg started having severe abdominal pain. We were planning a nap anyway, so we headed back out to the house (Keep in mind, we are about 20 minutes down the Ft. Morgan road) and at least 20 minutes from the restaurant -- one way to the beach house at this time is 40 minutes. She was in extreme pain on the way to the house, but just wanted to lie down so there we go...this situation did not get better and after about 1 1/2 hours, I made an executive decision to head to the ER (our house had many steps and I was afraid I would not be able to get her out of the house by myself!) It was a LONG journey to the ER in Foley, AL (not many miles, but it was Saturday afternoon with lots of traffic and A.M. was in severe pain, so it seemed to take FOREVER!) After many, many hours in the ER, with MANY tests being performed to ascertain the problem, we were finally admitted to a room at about 4 A.M. on Sunday. The surgeon came in shortly afterwards and determined that surgery was necessary to find and fix the problem.(That is another story for another day -- he thinks I am a loon!) She would up having a small intestine obstruction that had to be removed (not cancerous, thanks be to God) and had another kink caused by an adhesion. Pretty scary stuff!!! Burt was able to catch a ride on a friend's private plane and arrived mid-afternoon to take over at the hospital. (remember, the doctor still thinks I am a loon!) And that was just the first week!!!

Busy,,,Busy,,,Busy

Things have been busy around our household...it's really funny how fast the time is passing by! And as titled, things are busy, busy, busy...

We helped to host an engagement party for Taylor Hoskyn and his bride-to-be, Sarah Earnhardt on March 21. It was a great party and a lot of fun. Taylor's mom, Mendy, is my lifelong friend -- we became buddies in the first grade at Northside Elementary, a few years ago :)

I have also been busy with church and activities surrounding that -- parish council meeting, helping Lori make fruit trays to be taken to the confirmation dinner (guess I should have posted a picture of those -- they really were pretty!) and Easter. I've had my teeth cleaned, Jim has been fishing a time or two, I've been to Little Rock getting a few things done before our beach trip, and most recently, I've been to a couple of Easter egg hunts.


Maddox Jessup
I went to an Easter egg hunt last weekend at Laura Kale Taylor's home. It was so cute to see the lawn full of little kiddos hunting eggs. Laura has quite the menagerie of animals out there -- goats, small horses, sheep, new puppies that were the prize if you won the prize egg (all parents were telling their children NOT to get the prize egg, but the puppies were darling) and a fenced area full of chickens, with the cutest little chicken house.

Steve, Lee Ann and Liam

Great-Nephew Liam Scott Stinson, 9 1/2 weeks old

annual Easter Stinson Family photo -- missing a few "key" Stinsons
Chris and Lynne brought baby Liam to Brinkley for his first visit and everyone got to love on him during this Easter weekend. He is growing so fast and is such a sweet baby. It was a treat for all of us to have a baby at Nana and Pa's house again. Maybe we can get he and Deacon there together for Christmas. Hint, hint :-)

Niece, Sara, and great-nephew, Julius at Clarendon Easter Egg Hunt
April 11 at the Clarendon Elementary School

Julius at the Easter Egg Hunt
On Saturday, there was a town Easter Egg Hunt. My sweet niece, Sara, brought my great-nephew, Julius, over from Stuttgart and we took him out to the hunt. He is 22 months old, but he knew that eggs were supposed to go in that basket. He didn't run to find them; he just methodically walked around and dropped them in the basket. He only found five eggs, but one was a prize egg, so he got a chocolate easter bunny (that his mommy hid in the trunk until after lunch) He LOVES candy!

This plaque says it all --and that is what I am doing this week -- getting things ready to head to the Beach! Praying for wonderful weather and making memories...can't wait to see my kiddos there! it will be Deacon's first trip to the beach -- sure hope he enjoys it as much as his Mimi does :)

Settling In ...

For the past two weeks, I have been getting settled in to this new way of life for me -- with no full-time job. I have to say that it is harder than I expected but I am enjoying the time at home. Anyone who really knows me KNOWS that I am queen of the lists! I work better from a list and feel great accomplishment when I can check something off the list. Well, that's how it's supposed to work anyway. I have been making the list, and I do get a few check marks every day but I am still not getting the many things accomplished in the time that I have "allowed".

I went to book club in the past two weeks at the home of Felicia Sands. I have gone to church with Felicia for the past 30+ years but she just recently (in the past 6 months) joined our book club. She has built a lovely home outside of Brinkley and we had a great time. Our next book, or in this case, selection is just to read some poetry and bring our favorite poem next month when we meet at Ann's. I'm not much of a poetry reader, but I have enjoyed looking, reading, and thinning out my choices. Again, book club is broadening my horizons.

I've had a hair appointment, and a business appointment. I met some friends for a movie and dinner in Little Rock last Saturday, had the dog spayed, finally got my Christmas dishes moved and stored away, bought groceries and planned nightly menus (we're trying WW AGAIN!), picked up a "surprise" table with Rhonda in Little Rock, and had lunch yesterday with Aunt Margie. I think I see a pattern here and it isn't getting many check marks by "things to do at home"!

That is the list that is endless: you know, you probably have some of the same on your home list. Laundry (even tho there are only two of us here, there is always laundry). Cooking (trying to cook good nutritional meals that taste good while we change our eating habits) Cleaning -- enough about that one! But then, there are the things like working on taxes that I seem to be putting off daily, organizing my home office so that I can see the top of my desk and actually get to work there, getting into the boxes and boxes of pictures and organizing them in some fashion (any ideas about that one?), finding time to help Jim out at the store so he can have a little break. As I write this, I just know how very far I've come since Whitney's death. I remember when just getting out of bed and getting clothes on was enough -- that was the only box I had to check for that day. So, I am going to tell myself today the same thing I've been trying to get through my thick skull for the past few days...if it doesn't get done today, there's always tomorrow. And if not tomorrow, oh well! I like that concept -- and maybe if I say it enough, it will finally sink in and I will finally be settled in...to my new "retirement" mode of life.


P.S. And by the way, does anyone know how much time you can waste checking out the blogs that I follow, getting on the Weight Watchers site, putting in points, reading a few message boards, and last my not least, my newest addiction, FACEBOOK. That is the most addictive with all of its games and such -- who knew that I would fall into that trap? I have my sister to thank for that, so Thanks, Gayle for getting me hooked on Computer Crack...LOL!

TAG! I'm it! (thanks, amy)

Here are the rules.
1. Choose the 4th folder where you store pictures on your computer.
2. Select the 4th picture in the folder, and post it on your blog.
3. Explain the picture.
4. Tag four people to do the same.
5. No cheating (cropping, editing, etc.)

Believe it or not, this really is the 4th picture in the 4th folder. Taken at Libby Kerksieck and Chris Atkinson's wedding reception last October at Holy Rosary Church Parish Hall in Stuttgart. We clean up pretty good :)

I tag Patrick&Amy, Laura, Jackie and Sharon! Have fun...