sweet surprises

I know that I have been a bit negative on my  blog here, but sometimes just writing out sad words helps for a few minutes. So I thought I would write a more positive thing for once.

I just got my mail and a friend of mine who I last saw almost a year ago at my retirement party sent me little thoughtful gift in the mail.  I am not positive but maybe they read this??  the last few angsty posts I have done I have not put on the social media.  Because they are mostly just for me.  But anyway, it was so nice and I am touched.  I have a few cards I need to write anyway, and now I have another.  but that is just fine.  what a sweet surpise.

Then I set my camera up with my long lens and tripod and was taking a few bird pictures.  and while I went in to get a coat on because jeez its cold here still, the little assholes flew away and didnt come back.  Lol.  fine.

so amongst all that commotion the Mad-youngest son Mikey came over and he made me a table top easel!  how cool is that?  I had talked about it with him at one point, so that is super.   

I do have 2 others who send me random things that make me smile and sometimes giggle at the crazy.  Seems like they always come at just the right time lately.  I have needed the laughter again.

So  yeah, while yesterday was pretty horrible, today has definitely been a turn for now.  Just getting outside and seeing the snow has mostly melted does make things seem better.  

Thank you to my people.  you know who you are.  and to random acts of kindness  because we all need it.

You may notice that I often don't have a capital letter where one belongs...  and random comment explained:  about a year ago I sloshed wine on my laptop (I was not sloshed, slosh is a verb here, not an adjective!) and my right hand shift key has never quite recovered.  lol  It works but it still sticks....  oy.  

Tribute to my friend--- Cathy

I first met Cathy a few years after I married and moved to Park Falls.  Interestingly, I had first met her hubby, Ed, as he was a teacher at the High School and was teaching a photography class I took sponsored by the local tech school- the developing end of photography that is. Shortly after I had my oldest son, I needed a person to care for him -as I began teaching preschool.  Someone suggested Cathy, and the rest- as they say- is history.

So many pictures of our kids, so few of us

Cathy and I turned out to be pretty compatible and we spent a lot of time together.  As a new mom and someone who was uprooted from her own mom, I needed someone to be sort of my mommy mentor-someone who could coach me through that first little guy and subsequent babies.  This was not a deliberate thought, but is indeed was what happened. She was that and became so so so much more.  Cathy was generous with her home, her time, her tea and her heart.  For many many years we were inseparable.

Our spot to survey the action on Schnurs Lake

The young Busby and Oswald families spent a lot of time together.  Her younger girls, Erin and Brittany, are the same ages as my older 2 boys Jon and Greg.  Cathy, as I said, was Jon's caregiver during the 1.5 year that I taught Pooh Corner Preschool.  My boys loved going over to their house, because Cathy was always arranging for  the kids to have the very best experiences even in the simplest things.  Her dedication to this showed in the passion she gave to the kids she tutored after school, the children she watched while moms were teaching full time, even the daily life that she gave to her girls and then eventually the children that she taught.  We spent time with occasional pony cart rides, lots of time swimming at the lake house, trick or treating,  sledding down their various hills in the winter and on and on and on.

Cathy assisting Erin 

So many many stories come flooding back to me.  Cathy was a person who always expected the best out of others and herself.  She truly was one of the most intelligent people that I ever met and - she had the most college credits ever to boot.  Lol.  It took persistence as life seemed to interrupt her as she was getting that teaching degree.  But she did it!  I can not begin to imagine how much of my knowledge of a whole range of things is because I was around while she was studying.

And this happened :)

She was in the library at school for many years (at first to her dismay) and she made it the very best that she could.  She began teaching the little kids to keyboard, she did computer troubleshooting, she ferreted out books that would be of the most use to teachers, she helped kids find the books that she thought they would enjoy.  When she finally became that classroom teacher, I know for a fact that she did everything in her power to help those kids succeed.  She was always positive, she only worked to find a way to teach them in a different/better/innovative way.  She took her class on as if they were her own children.  Her abilities to teach were absolutely the best.  She had the highest expectations for the kids but mostly for herself.  She gave of her time, energy and love to our school district and to our kids.

Giving rides at the land - Greg is up and probably jon behind?  Maybe Erin

It is very very hard to describe all that she did with me, for me and I for her during those family years here in Park Falls, but  she was a huge part of my life.  I spent a lot of time at her kitchen table with the tea cups in front of us, talking and talking for hours.  I miss that chocolate tea we used to drink.  We walked together for hours, we spent time in the car driving the kids to various places and to the horses.....  Cathy was 10 years older than me, but I never felt the difference.  She was so welcoming to me in her life and I am so  so grateful.

Intense discussion apparently

We shared many interests and definitely one of them was horses.  And she is the person who helped me find Jacpot.  I loved going out to "the land" and helping care for and ride the horses.  It was such a treat and somewhere along the line we decided I could get one!  Talk about a childhood dream.  We started looking in the newspapers for horses and we looked at one or two, neither one of those horses would have been a good fit for me or for their little herd.  My horse would stay at their place until we could get things together at our house.

We found Jac at a riding stable in Mercer- he was 14 years old, calm and had a really good little canter.  We brought him back to Cathy and Ed's place and got everyone all settled in- and we headed over to Busby's house. So, within an hour we got a phone call that the horses were out and we spent a long LONG time finding them- the lead mare had driven Jac through the fence and off he went with the others apparently merrily following.

Cathy took this picture, but this is exactly the sort of thing she easily orchestrated  all . the. time.

Jacpot came into our life when the kids were a little older and so I spent a lot of time with Cathy in their old truck heading down to Fifield to feed the horses.  I learned lessons in patience, persistence and I acquired so much information about riding, horse nutrition, bridling and saddling, and life.  We had each other to sound off to, to listen to and to comfort and console over the big things and the small.

Jon and Erin on Breezer

How does a person sum up a relationship that is over 30 years in the making?  The stories that I have are so rich in detail but are too hard to explain.  The experiences that we had together were the things that made life deep and multifaceted.  She was at both of my boys' weddings, I was there for a few scary health moments with her hubby.  I came to see new horse arrivals, attended the county fair where they spent so much time, and was introduced to the joys of butt warmers in the Volvo after the cold of feeding the horses during real Wisconsin winters.  I pray that I gave back to her even a fraction of all that I got from my friend.

I believe this was the day Jon figured out he was allergic to horses. Nice job of driving, Miss Erin!

Oddly enough, we didn't see each other as much after we both got full time jobs at the same school.  And then when I started working in the high school as well as the elementary, my life really became separated from hers.  But when we crossed paths, there was always time for a few words- which in our case was hard to keep it to a few most of the time.   Her first bout of breast cancer was within a year of getting that job at school and I was astonished how she never missed a day of work to being sick from that chemo.  She attacked that disease by research.  Research during a time when there was no easily accessible internet, that resulted in her finding the best doctors she could, going far away for the best reconstruction that she could find and she did everything that she could to succeed at recovering.

At Cathy's retirement party

I just sat at that kitchen table a few weeks ago.....  it felt like old times.  As fate would have it I had to drive by their in-town house to get to the post office because of road construction.  I saw Cath out on the porch talking with someone and I knew that I would be stopping on my way back through.  We went into the house and had tea for what would be the very last time. We talked about all sorts of things, some related to her cancer, much of it not.  I was a few days out from my trip and when she talked it sounded like she still had lots of time.  She was anticipating the girls being home in August and was figuring out who she should get to come and do some repairs to the lake house...   We had laughs over some private jokes we shared and some quiet moments over the unknown.  We exchanged several hugs as I was leaving and made tentative plans for when I returned.

Hold your friends and family close- they are the true joys of life.

Christmas songs

Singing Christmas music is one of the biggest joys of my life at this time of the year.  Thank you to my music teachers, my Sunday school teachers, my mom who played the radio, and eventually the Madrigal singers that I've listened to for giving me the lyrics to a HUGE range of music types.  Now I listen to Pandora at the appropriate time of the year, which will always begin the day AFTER Thanksgiving- thank you very much. I really don't appreciate the season jumping that goes on.

I'd been enjoying my singing (by myself, as I am not positive that this voice should be heard- I don't think I suck at it, but I am not sure it is the best at all) and then the virus from hell hit, and within 3 days I had lost my voice for the most part, and hence there is no singing.  Unless I want to sing the bass parts, which does not fit into the whole scene that plays in my head, believe me.  You guys, this has been one nasty virus.  People don't want to have conversations with me (I think the sound of my voice makes their throat hurt) and if they do they ask if I am feeling any better at all, and if maybe I shouldn't go to the doctor.  Which are totally legit questions, actually.  The answer for all of us is, yes, today I feel better.  The quality of this cough has finally changed and now it is just going to be annoying.  Taking a half day off yesterday was the best thing I could have done for myself.  Le sigh.

Christmas music though, has it's issues.  First of all, some of it is freaking HARD to play on the piano.  Now that was a random  wild veering off topic, I know, but I do like to work through the Christmas music books that are sitting atop my piano right now.  2/3 of my children used to be able to play most of that music pretty well.  I can plink through some of it well, and some of it I want to be able to play so so bad, but NO.  AND there is no way I can play and sing at the same time, as the very unChristmas like words that come out of my mouth sometimes do not lend themselves to Christmas caroling.  So no voice = no sullying of lovely seasonal lyrics with nastiness.  :)

But the real problem I have with Christmas music is it's ability to make me feel sad.  First of all, not the religious Christmas music.  That has so much ingrained history in my upbringing, that all that does is make me want to sing, thanks to numerous Christmas programs at school and church.   Not the fun stuff like Frosty the Snowman and the 12 Days of Christmas, which again just make me want to sing.  No I am referring to other music that plays on Pandora or the radio, the kind that are sort of older sounding, the ones the are songs of loss or longing or other notes of longing that are hard to identify.  It sort of drives me insane.  A perfectly innocuous song begins and it's sung by someone in that nice sort of jazzy style, and then suddenly I am feeling sad and lonely and like I am missing something or someone.  It makes me want to crawl under a blanket with a glass of Baileys and hide.  

Christmas is a real emotional trigger for many of us.  I have worked through a lot of my Christmas issues, but they do lie a bit dormant and cause me issues sometimes. I get caught in feelings of not being good enough, not feeling loved enough.  This season that has  been heralded as a time of great joy and love and jolliness and all should be the best time of all.  Well, I tell you, though I do enjoy Christmas quite a bit, I really like Thanksgiving better- all that's expected of you is food and family.  There is no pressure to be perfect: to have the perfect presents, make your house look festive, keep changing the f***ing  Christmas lights all over the house as they go out, send letters in cards,  send things to the best people ever and feel that your gifts are woefully inadequate.  Then there is the immediate family and considering if you have treated them evenly, if they will be happy, is there anything else I can do to try and make anyone else's life a little bit easier....  I know we all go through this to an extent. No - give me Thanksgiving and all people want is the house to smell like turkey and dinner rolls.  Low pressure and high possibility of total satisfaction.  Christmas seems amazing on the outside, but has that deeply sad undercurrent that crops up occasionally.   I think childhood and the people that are gone from your life are the things that drive these feelings, but I do not want to dwell on it.  I'm done with that.

So, while I have been whining about feeling occasionally blue (thanks Elvis for singing Blue Christmas, you jerk) I've been holding one little thing in reserve here to tell you.  I do not dislike Christmas at all- there are so many fun parts to it, and of course presents.  Sorry  but I like to give and receive.  :)  It is part of my charm- HAHA!!  Anyway, I hear from people once a year who are very special to me.  I am so grateful for these Christmas cards and letters.  I got a letter this year from one of my college housemates, and it blew me out of the water.  This letter basically told me how special I was to her as we were going through our college years together and she saw me in ways I certainly did not see myself.  She saw me as a confident person at a time when I felt far from it, she saw me as a good dancer, which I never imagined myself to be, she told me how she felt about living with me at a time when she was having a very hard time with life.  I wish I would have known.  I loved being with her, but she had some deeply painful times she was going through and it was hard to know what she was thinking.  This letter blew me out of the water.  I never imagined myself to be that important to her, but boy was I apparently wrong. 

I think this year the thing I will do as I write out a few late Christmas cards is remember that the gift of myself is always the best gift.  The gift of listening, the gift of time, the gift of a smile that is just for one of the special people in your life is the best of all.  KNOWING that they are special to you just may be the best gift you could give or get the entire year.  Sometimes you just need to tell them outright and obviously how important they are to you, because they seriously might not know.  I did not know.  And I do now.  And I am going to pick up this gift and carry it with me as I go.

Enjoy these next few days - we all now the anticipation of an event is just as important as the actual one.  And while you are out there, find some joy and spread it around.

Summer Memories: Scene 3- It's the People, people!

You know, the thing that really was spectacular about this summer,

Bayfielding with my friends

besides the activities that I ADORED doing, was all the company that I got and the places that I visited.  There are a few of my favorite peeps that I missed out on this summer, but I have great hopes for another time soon.  My friend ,Callen, pops to mind almost first.  I try to get together with him, one of my oldest (as in longest in duration, or years I've known him...... um, yeah, I will stop here while I am ahead) friends once a summer since I hunted him down on Facebook.  I'm still thinking it could happen this fall!

Pedis with Rose and Emily!

And final product!  

Aunties Linda and Ruth, plus uncle Dave.  All my dads siblings- aunt Cathy is off to the side in blue

A few cousins I haven't seen in forever! Rose, Debi, Kurt, Theresa and Karla

I started my summer with some awesome stuff.  Of course the required Bayfield kick off with the Mad Science teacher and the Mad English teacher, followed closely by a visit to my seester-Rose's house.  I invited myself there, since we were planning a lil visit to the south to hangout with my aunties and uncle and cousins.  Not to mention my Jon, Sarah Grace and Ella!!

One of my favorite pix of the summer, and a sad moment for both of us

A quick coffee and visit with Bonnie at Caribou Coffee

Next, I did my fantastic trip to Denver with the Mad-English teacher, where I managed to meet one of my internet friends totally by accident and got to walk and talk and hug my dear dear friend Lori and her adorable girlies.

On the plane

My lovelies - Lori, Bridgid and Brianna.

Hanging out with Leland on my last day in Denver- I seriously covet his selfie stick!  :)

Then there was the best EVER visit up HERE from my friend Cheri in July- SO awesome!!  And in there was a stop at Jon's house again, with a stop at my sister's on the other end of that visit.  And a second Ella encounter in one week.  It was SO amazing.

Stayed the night with Jon and Sarah after picking up Cheri!

Cheri and Debi at the Pixley Dam

Kayaking with Cheri and Adam

In this period of time we were absolutely BLESSED to have the second Mad-Son and our Sarah-Jane and Greggy move up to the great north!  This has been an amazing addition to our lives!

Greggy and Gramma

Sarah and Greggy resting for a moment

The last section of the summer involved a lot of the Mad-English teacher and our quest to kayak all over the north, my sister visited me up here, Jon and Sarah were up here again as well, plus I got to see my former coworker, Jen for the first time in over a year.

Not sure, but I think a certain Jennifer is mocking me!!!  Lol

My sweet friend Jen, who I finally got to see after a year!

School friends, past and present!! Jess, Sheila, Paula, Adam and Jen

Vibrant!  No actual pic of my new friend Keith- sorry!

There were other miscellaneous kayaks with friends, and weddings and bike rides as well, which just added up to a whole lot of good summery times.  My birthday week was chock full of guests and visits and kayaking, which about did me in, but I had a GREAT time!

Rose and Emily at Houghton Falls

Birthday Dinner- the elusive Mike and the equally camera shy MA

I got to see Karen this summer!

Never see this lady enough! Love hanging out with my dear friend Cat.

Kayaking with Annette and Carol- didn't get good shots of them- they are elusive!

Connecting with my friends and family is surely the most joyful part of all... 

Late August sighs

I have discovered that somewhere along the way here, it is still dark at 5 am now!  When the heck did this happen??  Oh yeah, that would be during the almost 3 weeks of semi wasted summer due to that stupid tick bite.  Sigh

Wild waves on the big Lake

I am in the process of transitioning myself to school hours, so that involves getting up at 5 instead of 6.  I don't really use an alarm, since I wake up frequently at night anyway, so it is pretty easy just to get up when it is time.  I have not been sleeping particularly well, either, a combination of a somewhat warm bedroom (been a little humid lately), snoring (it is allergy season in the northwoods for the MA), a jumpy brain (lack of good exercise and school thoughts) and heaven knows what else is going on there. So I just get up and get myself moving.  I am hoping that by shifting my day's schedule I will be desperately tired at night and will be able to fall asleep BEFORE 11:30 or 12.  AND I feel well enough now to hit the gym harder and get out for walks and bike rides again.  Now if only the rain would cooperate.

So the north is turning towards fall- some of the weaker trees are beginning to turn a little, there is fog in the mornings, the skunks are out digging around in the yard (oh goodie), and the subtle smells and sounds of the outside are changing. And of course I am visiting my tomatoes daily, willing them to hurry up and ripen. My inservices begin next week and then the day after Labor Day, school will begin.

It is always exciting to have the beginning of a  brand new school session, especially against the contrast of nature heading towards the end of its current life cycle.  It is a good way to go into the fall.  I am energized this year by the  really good class that I sort of half missed. But enough filtered through for me to have a mind set of positivity and keeping the eye on the REAL prize.  Which is teaching my students through art, encouraging their growth as people by expressing themselves with pictures and other media.  Not with the incredibly intrusive, and irrelevant in many cases, over load of educational pedagogy that is being thrust on all teachers in our state.  When did the methods become more important than the students?  I am not sure.  sigh

But that is what it is, and I will do my best to fulfill the true needs of the students and the wants of those who are "in charge" at many levels.  Therefore, of course, instead of spending the last week at school busily preparing for the school year ahead, I have been indulging in last minute summer immersion. (No one said I was logical!!  :) ) I returned Monday from visiting the kids in southern WI.  Tuesday, I was fortunate enough to spend a late birthday journey with my sweet friend Jane up to the Lake Superior shores of Wisconsin and Michigan.  Wednesday, I did some necessary errands and then had a fabulous birthday massage (finally), and then yesterday, I spent a lovely afternoon with my dear friend Cat- again a late birthday event- up in Ashland.  AHHHHHH  it has been a lovely week.  

It was a beautiful day- no, really!

Today is involving my last summer Bayfielding for the year.  I am sure we will be getting up there again during the fall, because, you know- apples.  (It was a tough winter for the apple trees here) AND I am seeing another Book Across the Bay happen, because that was just fabulous.  I foresee a day of  berry picking in some form, lunch, coffee,  standing on the dock and weeping er, admiring the view, no matter what the weather, and hopefully some hiking about the area.  Yes, summer is awesome.  sigh.

And I would  imagine that pictures will follow!  I have a lot of editing to do and frankly, my photo taking has let up a little because I am trying to take everything in and truly be present with my friends.  Connecting with people, enjoying the sights, taking a few photos, eating some truly fine food and dipping my feet in the lake- these are the things that refresh, satisfy and bring true joy!

Don't forget to share some joy today!  

Headed to Missouri

At the end of June I packed up the car and headed to Missouri to visit a wonderful and awesome friend, via Janesville and then ending via Milwaukee!  It is a HIKE down there- a 5 hour drive to Janesville and then a 6 hour trip down to her house WAAAAYYYY to the southern part of Missouri.  I had never been to that fine state before, so after a little discussion, I decided I would drive there this summer.

The silver tree on the grounds of the St. Louis Art Museum

Missouri is just beautiful and I very much enjoyed seeing the countryside, as I had an hour of driving after crossing over the Mississippi River south of St. Louis.  I was anxious to get there and am glad that we headed back to St. Louis twice and I got to really see the land as I was riding.

My dear friend Cheri lives to the southwest of St. Louis and she and her wonderful husband were such gracious hosts.  I had a marvelous time visiting- we spent 2 days traveling all over the city and then spent one day hanging bopping around her neck of the proverbial woods.

Botanical Gardens

Chihuly Gate at the Missouri Botanical Gardens

I loved all the touring and driving and eating and  seeing that I did, but the best part I think was relaxing at her house in the mornings, drinking coffee and enjoying ourselves in a leisurely way.  It was a great way to start off each day.  I was treated like a princess and I felt totally spoiled and certainly didn't want to leave!!

The funky eye sculpture at the Sculpture Park

The "Womb" sculpture

Butterflies from the Butterfly house

Butterfly

Monday we spent time going to some lovely outdoor venues- the St. Louis Sculpture Garden, the Butterfly House,  The Botanical Gardens, trying to see the Basilica which closed at 5, and then had my first sushi at the Drunken Fish!  I met Cheri's super nice son and his gf, who joined us for dinner. The Sculpture Garden was fun, as was the Butterfly house, but the Gardens were outstanding!!  And then the sushi was super- we had such a sweet waiter, he was so patient and attentive!!  Later we walked around that area and then did some gawking at really awesome houses, plus scoped out somethings for the next day and had a grand time driving back home to her house.  It was a long and energizing day and I got some great shots.  I will say, I tried to take lots of photos, but I ended up taking many with my phone, because sometimes I just didn't want to interrupt what I was seeing by being hidden behind the camera.  Weird, but true.

Botanical Gardens

Botanical Gardens

Chihuly installation at the Botanical Gardens

Veggie sushi with Mango  

Tuesday, we headed up to the city again, armed with a plan and a lot of coffee and water, and went straight to the Basilica of St. Louis.  It is an absolutely astounding piece of architecture and the mosaic that decorate the entirety of the interior is beyond words.  When you look at the size of the pieces of the mosaic, they must be 1/2 - 3/4 inch, it is mind-boggling.  Amazing place to visit, no matter what your beliefs.

Basilica of St. Louis

Basilica interior

Unedited details (oops)

A better example of the brilliant color of the mosaic

After a lovely lunch at the Boathouse (another of several yummy meals!!) we headed over to the St. Louis zoo for a walk.  We went around the whole thing, but because it was so hot, not a lot of animals were too active.  It is a really nice place, but we needed to get OUT of the heat and so we walked up the hill to the St. Louis Art Museum!  There was an Impressionism show there plus the work of Mark Rothko was on special exhibit as well.  It was a really good time!  Dinner that night was a HUGE concrete shake at Ted Drewes, and then we went on to see the ARCH!  Now, I will say that many people thought I was crazy for not going up in the arch since I was there, but my own son told me not to.  I have a serious issue with claustrophobia, which was exacerbated by being stuck in a small bathroom once many years ago when a lock on a door failed.  So, he knew that I would not do well jammed into a small place like that.  I have no problem not having gone up in it, and I think Cheri was fine with that too!  (on a weird side note, heights sort of bother me too, but that wouldn't keep me from going on a hot air balloon ride or helicopter ride- just sayin').  The Arch was a lot of fun to see, we went underneath of it and saw the little "town" that is there, with food, information and even a movie theater (and some really nice bathrooms- lol!)  We went and sat on the steps looking over the Mississippi and Cheri told me some stories about her growing up in the area.  Before we got to the arch (and it was interesting getting there, too, between Cheri, Siri and I, we managed to find a free place to park and get in a several mile walk too.)  Before we got to the arch we visited the park where the Worlds Fair was and BallPark Village and just looked at the beautiful buildings and views of this old part of St. Louis.  We did a lot of walking around and looking at things....

Lovely heron hanging out on the dock at the Boat House

I don't even remember what this crazy guy is called- St. Louis Zoo animal

I am a fan of flamingos for some reason.  Lol

The arch is beautiful

A Modigliano and a  fuzzy shot of a Picasso at the St. Louis Art Museum 

Throughout the time we were in St. Louis, we saw LOTS of these fun birthday cakes.  St. Louis is 250 years old and along the lines of the painted cows and the like seen in other cities, here there were birthday cakes that artists decorated- 250 of them apparently.  We must have seen 15 of them around the city where we were.  It was entertaining to see and I just read that there is an app to find all 250 of them.  I think it was more fun to discover them!

One of 250 birthday cakes to celebrate St. Louis Birthday

After all of this, we swung by Cheri's daughter's house where I met their little family!  What a lovely day that was- we got back late again and planned the next day's events.

It was great to be in the city, but we wanted to stay closer to her home Wednesday, so we took our time getting ready and we went into her favorite coffee shop for an early lunch and I met one of her lovely friends.  We did some shopping and then went to the little farmers market and went to look at some of the BEAUTIFUL wineries in southern Missouri - the one we stopped at was the Chaumette winery 

Lol this is a bit of an awkward shot at the winery- why I am standing half on a stone I am not sure

Beautiful land around the winery.

We had a lot of coffee!  YUM!

But the wine was VERY enjoyable! To think we went to yoga after this!

View of the lovely Missouri countryside

We finished off the last full day of my visit with a lovely dinner with Cheri and her hubby.  It was a perfect end to a perfect trip..... oh wait, there was one more thing we did that night.

Wine in a hot tub??  why yes, thank you

I left the next day with a lump in my throat and a mind swirling with wonderful memories.  I had the best time enjoying the company of my dear friend and really love the state of Missouri.  It is just beautiful.

I had such a good time with Cheri and Mike and Coach!!  

This certainly is one of the best trips I have taken!  Cheri is one of the best joy-givers I know.  I hope your life is full of them too!

From the Botanical Gardens

Debi and Cheri at the Butterfly Garden

Looking at the arch through the park and fountain

I left out soooo many little things that we shared but that is ok, those are the things that we will remember and make sense to us, probably not to others who were not there.  The walking and seeing and laughing and getting almost lost in the city and driving and eating and relaxing added up to a wonderful adventure for me.  Bookended on the weekends with seeing my boys and my Sarahs and my grandkiddos made it on more layer of rich and complete.

Thank you doesn't even begin to cover it!  But, thank you Cheri for a most wonderful stay.