|
|
Wednesday, January 30th, Annapolis,
Maryland, USA
|
As you can tell from
the length of time that has passed since my last update,
the Zia crew is back in full swing here in Annapolis.
The kids are in school, we've settled into our wonderful
new rental home and we are all taking full advantage of
the abundance of space in our lives. We
seem to be doing a fine job of filling it with all the
people and things that we have missed in the last two
and a half years. I wonder how difficult it will
be to "downsize" again when it comes time to head back
to Zia.
I have to backtrack to
our family holidays in December and early January.
It was fantastically rewarding to have so much space in
our schedule to allocate towards visits with both the
Boyle and the Fisher clans. Although we have
always lived thousands of miles away from our relatives,
rendezvous were generally much easier to orchestrate and
thence more frequent. We all feel the increased
distance between us and that makes our time together all
the more precious and appreciated.
Dan and Candyce were
wonderful hosts, accommodating their children,
grandchildren and even the Heidenreich's dog, Maggie, in
style. It was six years ago that we all spent
Christmas together and this year's celebration will be a treasured memory for
many years to come. I've added a
photo page so we can share some of those memories
with you.
Our time with the Boyle
family came in two doses: the first, a five
day trip to New Mexico without the girls, and the
second, a family reunion at Juliana and Michael's house
in Martinez. It was another phenomenal reunion
full of laughter and love. Piper's graduation was
a great excuse to celebrate in fine New Mexico style.
The Lobo graduation brought back many memories for Joe
as we sat in "The Pit" stadium to witness the ceremony.
(Photos)
No one was happy,
however, without seeing the two little girls, so we
followed up the impromptu visit to New Mexico with the
main event New Year's celebration in Martinez,
California. Michael and Juliana pulled out all the
stops, hosting a party to introduce her family and
friends on the 28th, organizing a wine tasting and many
fabulous meals. Michael had taken a week's course
at the Culinary Institute of America so we went to their
restaurant "Greystones" for a wonderful lunch.
Then he shared some of his culinary talent with us by
cooking a first rate gourmet meal on New Year's Day.
Yum, yum.
As you might have
guessed, back in Annapolis, we have tried to cut down on
the over-the-top meals a little bit, or at least
restrict them to the weekends. After the initial
wave of festivities, we have
settled into our new routine here. The transition
into our new spacious digs was surprisingly easy.
Our landlord, Betsy, has moved to Florida for the winter
and left her place furnished for us to rent for the
three months we are here. It comes complete with a
car that we get to share with our former nanny, Andrea,
who is also living here. And, as if that wasn't
enough, Bruce and Alison have loaned us their 1991
Porsche 911 to use as a spare vehicle! How sweet
is that? The only condition attached to the deal
is that we sell the car before we leave. Anyone
interested in buying a Porsche?
Part of the theory
behind these winter breaks in cruising that we have
taken over the last two years is to give ourselves a
little hiatus from the constant togetherness that we
alternately enjoy and endure while traveling on Zia.
Our girls are growing up fast and they need a little
space of their own, out of their parent's earshot.
Luckily, getting them enrolled into their old elementary
school was no problem. We arrived back in
Annapolis on Friday night, met with the school board's
home schooling coordinator on Monday, and the kids were
at school in their new classrooms on Tuesday.
Aside from the 6:45 wake up call in the mornings, they
are thrilled and have easily integrated into their peer
groups. Naturally, it isn't easy being the "new
kid" but it is a price they are more than willing to pay
for the benefits received. We haven't heard any
complaints yet, at least!
As for Joe and myself,
it seems we always have something to do to fill in our
days. I've been cooking up a storm in my new big
kitchen, shopping at Sam's Club and socializing with
friends as much as possible. Joe has a couple of
business ideas that he is exploring that keep him pretty
busy between squash games and other chores and errands.
Compared to our usual tales that we relate to you via
this website, our lives are immensely boring. We
will spare you from too frequent updates, but will try
to touch base every month or so just to keep in good
practice! In the meantime, we would certainly love
to hear from you!
Next Entry >>>>>>>>>
Many thanks to our friend Craig Homenko for his assistance in setting up the website.
We also would like
to thank our buddy Scott Brunner who has been kind
enough to host the website on his server.
|
|
|
|
