Christmas card for 2013: Dublin, Austin, Manistee, Ypsilanti

I am repurposing the Christmas card messages I've written since 2001. From old Christmas cards to new blog posts. One a day. Merry Christmas.

The 2013 card from Tom and me took a photojournalism approach.

Ireland

We went to Ireland for vacation at the end of August, but our plans for driving around the island changed after I broke my arm on the second day. 

Here I am, at the River Liffey, about an hour before falling in a movie theater. So young, so carefree.

. 
Here I am, still young, still carefree, a couple of days later. Tom, not so much. It's always harder on the caregiver. But we had a great time for the five days in Dublin before coming home--and we'll definitely go back. 

Later, back home, I had to have this ingenious plate installed to keep my bones together and aligned. Cool. Bet you’re jealous.
















Michigan

I took a couple trips to Michigan. The first was a business trip in April. I tacked on a couple days to visit my sister Dianne and her family. It was near Easter and I made sure everyone had bunny ears.

In August we vacationed in Manistee before I went to my 50th high school reunion in Ionia. The photo below shows a freighter, carrying salt, coming into the Manistee River. It called for two drawbridges to be raised. Lots of fun to watch.


Austin
On a visit to see Rachel in Austin, she and I focused focused mostly on gardening. Here she is chopping the onions we harvested.




   

At home
Our old garden was trampled and largely lost during the 2011 kitchen construction. Creating the new garden was a labor of love and has brought us such joy. Hmmm. More emphasis needed on the labor part. Tom designed (and built) the planters and deck, and I designed the plantings. We had to lug in tons of new dirt (which I now call “soil,” per the garden club). Below is an "aerial" shot of the finished garden.

We had our traditional Halloween with champagne and neighbors on the front steps. Joyce wanted to be a panda but turned out to be a cat. And yes, that is Tom in in the middle.

Tom and I joined the garden club on a day trip to Mt. Cuba, a garden estate in Delaware. We had a great time with our friend Doris and about 40 other jolly people, enjoying box lunches and wine on the bus and touring through some great gardens that are focused on native plants. The trip, $105. The experience, priceless.

We enjoyed having family members visit during Thanksgiving week. Here I am in the kitchen with my sister Joanne.

Love to all, and Merry Christmas.

Christmas card from 2006: Barcelona and Halloween tradition

I am repurposing the Christmas card messages I've written since 2001. From old Christmas cards to new blog posts. One a day. Merry Christmas.

For about four Halloweens now we have donned costumes and invited neighbors to sit on the steps with us, with champagne and other adult goodies. Tom sets up his air compressor and we blow up those long skinny balloons that clever people use to make animals. The trick-or-treaters get the choice: balloon or candy. The cool kids take a balloon. (The really cool ones con us for two balloons.)

This year was the most fun ever. More neighbors and guests than usual joined us, and some of them got pretty good at that balloon animal stuff! Tom wore pirate accessories (an earring, a hat, and a cuff from which protruded a nasty- looking hook) and said “arrggh” a lot. I wore a coolie hat I bought at a garage sale last summer and Chinese lounging paja­mas I bought in San Francisco in 1983. Oh, yes, and I had dark, straight hair with bangs, courtesy of Rachel’s wig.

I have realized, at a very profound level, that life is a costume.

In other news, Rachel took the plunge and started a PhD program at SUNY-Albany. Living my dream (the PhD part, not the Albany part). I bipped up to New York City and drove with her to Albany to help her unpack.

I love that aspect of working for myself. I refer, of course, to the bipping part. In March I bipped down to Florida for a few days to see Judy. In August I bipped up to Detroit, and thence to Chicago for Gene’s retirement party. Actually, I’m not sure that counts as bipping, because it was just for Saturday and Sunday. Trips with Tom definitely do not count, because bipping is a perk that accrues only to those who work for themselves. I’m glad to clear that up for you.

I keep saying being a free-lancer gives me the freedom to work anywhere—I can just take my laptop and my cell phone and, voila! I could be in New York City or in a cabin on Glen Lake. But that hasn’t really worked, at least not so far. I can’t even get anything done at Port City Java, which is six blocks away.

I’ve done some strategic planning for Wiseman Communications, and here are my goals for next year: More costumes. More bipping.

Love to all.

Holger's first Halloween

At the Barcelona art museum