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| Bride-to-be Lauren with proud parents |
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| Ron wearing his favourite head protection |
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| When the baby looks small in Cynthia's arm, she is indeed small |
29 Feb: Happy Leap Year! A huuuugggggge smile appeared on Ron’s face riding on that big blue motorcycle this morning. We dropped a dozen boxes into the storage unit helter-skelter, dropped another solitary box (to be shipped to Sedona) at Jon’s house, returned the rental car, ate a meal at the Magnolia Diner, and then returned to the storage unit to reduce the helter-skelter reorganization somewhat. Ron aired up the motorcycle tires at WallyWorld, granddaughter Lauren and her parents picked up her wedding gown, and Cynthia is still smiling over her joy at holding the newborn.
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| One very HAPPY grandmother |
28 Feb: was a busy day. We delivered a trunk full of recycling to the center at Spring, TX, drove all the way to Westheimer for new hair cuts la la Sasha, ate a huge lunch at the nearby Jason’s Deli, and we really enjoyed a visit with our new great-granddaughter, Blaire. As her smile testifies, Cynthia LOVED holding her new great-grandbaby Blaire. Ron sat across the room for safety's sake. We arrived home just in time for Cynthia to have dinner with Tina and Jon. Ron walked over to the Yacht Club to greet them then returned to the condo to organize stuffs to go into the storage locker tomorrow.
27 Feb: Aaauuuggghhhh! We are in the throes of packing, recycling, and cleaning. But, we managed a seven mile walk in two sessions.
26 Feb: Another day closer to departure from Lake Conroe, Texas towards Sedona - and Ron has not even looked for possible routes as yet. He is still trying to dig through the limited number of boxes he brought out of the storage locker when we arrived in January with the admirable goal of putting significantly less back into storage than came out. Friday is the first "deadline" day when we drop off recycling en route to see Sasha, Cynthia's hairdresser of 35 years. Today dawned cloudy and windy although we are promised sunshine in the afternoon and calm, sunny weather tomorrow. The big question is whether we will run into rain Sunday and Monday as we travel towards West Texas. stay tuned.
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| Baby Blair of the strong lungs |
24 Feb. “Up! Get up! I don’t want to. I am tired,” complained our brains when we had to arise and leave by 8:20 for the pharmacy and physical therapy. But the laundry list of errands didn’t stop there. Cynthia deposited a check reimbursement from Last Syllable, mailed the GOPro to the new owner, raced to the allergist, the ENT for an ear exam, had breakfast at Magnolia Diner, dropped off boxes at tge storage unit, and shopped at Walmart. Good news: Cynthia is happy she fits her size four skinny jeans. It was a great day for a walk. Granddaughter Rachel was admitted into the hospital with early labor. We will have a new great granddaughter tomorrow.
23 Feb, Sunday: LakeConroe for one last week. Departure for church after exercise, oatmeal, and recycling organization soon, by 9:30. Worship was marvelous. We enjoyed lunch with grandson Steven followed by a five mile walk.
22 Feb: Another less memorable day at Lake Conroe. After hunting through the last couple of dozen of Uncle Lawrence's matches on GEDmatch, Ron spent the remainder of the day working on his silly perfectionistic approach to keeping accounts. We managed a walk together to the lake about noon, and Ron went to the lake twice more at sunset and at 9:00 PM. Now it is time for bed. Goodnight.
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| The Smooches |
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| Jon and Tina |
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| Jim, Cynthia, Ron, Jan, Jon. Tina is hiding behind the lens. |
21 Feb: Exercise, oatmeal and fruit, physical therapy and home to a four-mile walk were followed by electronics. Cynthia completed the revision of an article that will be published in the Virginia Genealogist in 2020. YAY. And now we are off to dinner at the Yacht Club with Jon, Tina and Jan & Jim (from Iowa.)
19 Feb: Montgomery, TX, condo rental on Lake Conroe, a tiny bit of rain today although we did manage a complete to-the-lake walk just before noon. And the carpet cleaner showed up immediately after we returned, so now we have CLEAN CARPETs (emphasis added to impress me weefee.) Cynthia did have a good physical therapy session. Ron was still able to get in a good walk to the Lake at 9:30 but didn't get to bed until close to midnight. We have to stop staying up so late; it makes us tired in the morning.
18 Feb: Today's doctoring began with allergy testing at 9 AM. Gosh, it is hard to get out of bed, exercised, and breakfasted before an 8:40 departure from the condo. In the afternoon Cynthia saw Dr. Davis for stem cell treatment. Ron found himself waiting in a girlie centric waiting room there, Ugh. In between, we enjoyed lunch at Jason’s Deli. We had a major shock returning to the condo discovering someone had entered. Yikes! The condo is a frightful mess. Management entered to allow pest control to spray. I hope it doesn't affect the hubsand variety of pests.
17 Feb: Cynthia’s follow up appointment with spinal specialist went well. Upon request, he administered a steroid injection for Cynthia's bothersome bursitis in her hip. Lunch at Jason’s Deli left us too much over full. Another day has vanished without a trace.
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| Ron and Jon |
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| Cynthia, Jon, Paul, Julie, and Roxanne |
16 Feb: Surprising that a luncheon at 10:30 can make Ron so rushed that he neglected his breakfast. We slept a LOT last night after Ron snacked on fat-free pretzels (5 hours until first awakening.) We enjoyed a lovely birthday luncheon with Cynthia's children. In the afternoon Ron walked to the lake and worked on James Lea projects. Cynthia's foot has begun giving sudden piercing pains from the sole. We don't know what the issue is, but Cynthia is taking a break from daily walks to see if it improves.
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| Julie, Cynthia, and Roxanne |
14 Feb: Cynthia had PT in the AM. And another day vanished before we knew it. But it was a wonderful Valentine's Day for this Smooch family.
13 Feb: A lucky Thursday for us. We both woke up. Now we are back to usual electronics for an hour before considering our morning walk and then errands.
12 Feb: Exercised, fed and ready to walk when the drizzle started, so Ron decided to wash the motorcycle wheels quickly. Then he spent a couple of hours rearranging things in the spare bedroom, looking for postcards to mail Richard - no success. After dark he allowed himself to resume work on James Lea. (This discipline is necessary if we are going to be ready to roll on March 1st. Ron will need to clear out the spare bedroom and deliver everything possible to recycling.) Granddaughter Rachel is 37 weeks pregnant. She and Ryan (with help from her aunt Roxanne and the rest of the family, Thanks Y'all) have created a lovely nursery for soon-to-be-new-baby Blaire.
11 Feb: Tuesday already ?? !! Lake Conroe, morning exercises, oatmeal with berries, and electronic devices are the consistent staples of our life until the end of the month. Ron is still listening to the same Grateful Dead concert and still working on James Lea documentation, but today his plan is to switch modes and start getting things ready for departure on March 1th. Our walk this afternoon took us into a light drizzle, so we got damp without dampening our mood. Life is good. Cynthia has been garnering many kudos for her photos on Facebook. (Cynthia interjects: photos of Ron are garnering the attention.)
10 Feb: Cynthia drove to her ENT to have ears, nose and hearing aids examined. We will nose about the nose after the culture comes back, the ears get goo applied for a week. (Let's hope they don't fall off.) And the hearing aids now have a stadium program and a music program - but Cynthia is now single-sided due to the goo in the other ear. Ron continues to work on James Lea, eat frozen pineapple and mango, and listen to the Grateful Dead. He forces himself to change diet after lunch to eat lots of veggies because veggies seem to cure the sores that form in the corners of his mouth.
9 Feb: Up early and off to church. (Cynthia skipped out on exercises; Ron did his in record time, half an hour.) This is the big day of the granddaughter's baby shower. Excitement runs high in the female half of the family. Ron has decided to spend his "free" time cleaning and straightening house and recycling. (Yes, it is about time - - - long past due is more accurate.) Well !! Cynthia was indeed surprised to return home and find the house CLEAN !! And she was also surprised to find roses arranged by the bed. It is rare that we are apart for five hours.
Cynthia's FB Post - Sunday Offering
Life-enriching moments make memories. Today we made memories. I marveled at the women in my family, two daughters, three daughters-in-law, seven granddaughters, and two great-granddaughters gathered at a baby shower for an expected great-granddaughter. Strong women; creative women, from the oldest to the youngest, kind, loving, thoughtful women. And I am so proud, so very proud. I marvel at our hostess, daughter-in-law Karen, Scott’s wife, who raised their two babies alone after Scott died from Leukemia. Our hearts melted when my daughter-in-law Jill, soon-to-be grandma, gifted heirlooms: quilts from her grandmother and great-grandmother, plus tiny dresses I gave Rachel thirty-two years ago. And these women are makers. They make things. Granddaughter Corrie and her two little ones crocheted a soft, cuddly pink and white blanket. Granddaughter Fyn, five-years-old, received accolades with hand-made cards, a blanket, and a hat she sewed herself (perhaps with some help from my daughter-in-law Cheryl, her mother – designer and maker). Yes, this was a memorable moment, strong women in a family welcoming a new life with gifts from our hearts and our hands, children of the heavenly father. These life-enriching memories made another day wonderfully rich. Thank you, God.
Children of the Heavenly Father
Children of the heavenly Father
Safely in His bosom gather
Nestling bird nor star in Heaven
Such a refuge e’er was given
God, His own doth tend and nourish
In His holy courts, they flourish
From all evil things, He spares them
In His mighty arms, He bears them
Neither life nor death shall ever
From the Lord, His children sever
Unto them His grace He showeth
And their sorrows all He knoweth
Though He giveth or He taketh
God His children ne’er forsaketh
His, the loving purpose solely
To preserve them, pure and holy
Lo, their very hairs He numbers
And no daily care encumbers
Them that share His every blessing
Safely in His bosom gather
Nestling bird nor star in Heaven
Such a refuge e’er was given
God, His own doth tend and nourish
In His holy courts, they flourish
From all evil things, He spares them
In His mighty arms, He bears them
Neither life nor death shall ever
From the Lord, His children sever
Unto them His grace He showeth
And their sorrows all He knoweth
Though He giveth or He taketh
God His children ne’er forsaketh
His, the loving purpose solely
To preserve them, pure and holy
Lo, their very hairs He numbers
And no daily care encumbers
Them that share His every blessing
Source: Lyric find
8 Feb: Another day vanished without a trace. Ron is finally beginning to be interested in hearing something besides the Grateful Dead concert .. but not quite enough to "change channels."
7 Feb: We were off to physical therapy by 9:45 AM, followed by a trip to the storage unit to retrieve a new pair of khaki cargo pants for Ron; they have been waiting around until he wore out the ones he is wearing. Cynthia had 22” zippers sewn into the lower outside seams to fully open, making it easy to remove dirty hiking shoes. We loaded up on groceries at Walmart; Cynthia got her second and final shingles vaccine. And Ron received his Valentine gift, an MIT basketball cap. Ron is making excellent progress on SCS projects.
6 Feb: Another blessed morning without appointments. Ron is of the opinion that the worst part about staying in one place is either the inevitable appointments that interfere with life or the housecleaning. The sun finally rose above the clouds about 8:30, even lazier than we are.
5 Feb: The Smooch Family arose at 4:20 AM, well before the sunrise. That's what happens without alarm clocks when our minds have programmed we must get up early. And we did just that. We were out the door and en route by 7:40. Houston traffic is tough during rush hour, but we successfully arrived at Sasha's hair salon by 9:32. Yes, it is a two-hour drive from the lake. Ron looks even more gorgeous with a new hair-cut. Peggy H. from the ELCA Gulf Coast Synod Leadership program joined us for lunch at Pappadeaux to discuss her new ministry kick-off. She is a fun person, newly married (11 years) to a very successful techie civil engineer who is now on the brink of retirement.
4 Feb: Sunrise this morning was nothing special except that we thank God for every day. And we feel well-rested. With no appointments, we were able to enjoy a leisurely morning exercise routine, breakfast and then Cynthia rushed off to a pedicure and manicure, so Ron took the motorcycle out for a ride around the block - - and into the Sam Houston National Forest.
3 Feb: Sunrise was brilliant with flaming red early. We rushed through morning exercises and breakfast to get to physical therapy at 9 AM - only to discover that this one appointment was changed to 11 AM. Life is still good. Then we ate at Magnolia Diner, egg white veggie omelets, and baked potatoes. Ron decided to finish the leftover salmon (since it doesn't smell bad yet) and the squash that Cynthia cooked last night. Ron has started working on the Cox package for the Swedish Colonial Society. It was ordered on August 30th.
2 Feb, Sunday: Up early, exercised, breakfasted and out the door to the church. The pastor asked who has a charmed life. Ron spent too much time thinking and missed the opportunity to raise his hand. We ate brunch at the yacht club, followed by electronics and a four-mile walk. By late evening, Ron had finished Volume 7 and dispatched it back to Ken. Since his cell phone reported only 4% battery, Ron had to charge it before his late evening walk and used the time to do the dishes. YAY! YAY! Clean! Oh, that charmed life has more to do with attitude than with facts. His recent life has been so free from trauma and trouble that it seems that he has always been lucky and lived a charmed life - not to say that it is always free from trauma and trouble.
1 Feb: Out the door early to drive all the way to Georgetown, TX to see granddaughter Zoe at college. She is finishing up her freshman year and has had a great time. We treated her to lunch at Jason's Deli, our favorite. Ron worked on James Lea on the way out and on Volume 7 on the way back. Where did Friday disappear? How can it be Saturday already? Is tomorrow Sunday so soon? Ahh well, it is a joy to be alive.
