Great Staycation with sister Gale - visit to the Ashby Inn in Paris (Virginia:-( ), swung by Narmada for wine, then out to Eastern Shore to Awful Arthurs for oysters.  And then tour of the best monuments in DC: WWII, Vietnam, FDR and MLK.  Nice little interlude and it's amazing what can be squeezed in to a few days. Must do this more often.

Spring is here! Exciting to see Maxie celebrate his 7th birthday, Karolina's 13th is coming up, just about the time baby Lisa/Josh Kearns arrives.  Looking forward to celebrating all of this! Then in June it's my 50th college reunion. Yikes.

catching up

September 2016, time continues to roll in like the shore in a hurricane.  Catching up, I went to Santa Rose for Isaac's birthday, haven't seen the Georgia Kearns since March - they've got a busy schedule but seem to being having fun.

Bathroom leak caused new plaster and paint, floor repair, etc. Next up the kitchen. Then it's to sell or not to sell, das ist hier die frage....  that's Hamlet in German paraphrased.

I will try to keep up this blog - but no one reads it but me so maybe not!  Never have caught onto the ways to spread your blog and everyone is fixated on instagram and stuff that takes 30 seconds or 147 characters or less...

Life is racing by

Wow. I can't believe it's been several years since I posted on this blog. Technical difficulties, broken camera then the acquisition of both an iPad and an iPhone derailed me.

Well, still trying to figure out how to send photos from my iPhone to this blog.  What has happened since I last posted?

Laszlo turned 5!
Maxie II is about to turn 4!
Isaac was born August 23 2012!
Josh and Lisa will move to California in June.
I am beginning a new blog at the end of march called count down to December 31 2014. The countdown focuses on my decision to retire at the end of the year, whether I can afford it or not, why, and how it feels to sell my house after 42 years! What does one do after making these life hanging decisions?

Retirement

Be careful what you wish for! There are way too many hours in the day if you don't have a serious hobby. Reading and going to the gym only take a fraction of that time - and housework isn't all that appealing, which is why I spent the last 46 years working :-).

Spent a lot of time trolling for jobs only to dismiss them as 1. Too much work2. Not interested 3. Not qualified. I guess I'd better figure something out. In the meantime, getting to house ready for sale should take up both time and money, compelling me to, in fact, get a job!

Vicious circle. Vicious cycle. Whatever.

This is a test. Haven't been here since march 2010

Maximilian James Patrick Kearns Second Birthday

I don't get to see the Georgia Kearns' as much as I'd like but it was great to be at Max's second birthday (and Sophie Lindsey's) and see the whole gang, too. Of course, Jasper is papered in RED for David Lindsey's campaign so time was taken out for strategizing. We went to Target (3 times) and Karolina's soccer game - she scored 4 goals and they won, then birthday party time.

Let's see...I take a left at Tokyo, a right at Paris...

Big Max at the BBQ with the mountains as scenic backdrop

My dad's my best Bud

Hey look at all this good stuff I get to eat on my birthday :-)

Max's cake courtesy grandma Mimi. Sophie wanted Elmo!

Big sister gave Max his favorite present!

The dynamic duo and pizza

Lil Maxie climbs the playset Karolina got from the grandparents six years ago - it's reassembled and ready to rock.

Monday breakfast - the party's over. Back to work:-(

Max stalls by taking a final spin before preschool

and walks Ben. Bye Bye. See you soon.

Laszlo Visits Falls Church

Great Sunday visit from Laszlo. We headed to the park where he was disturbed to see the two giant tractors were no longer there.

then home for lunch, a little of Uncle Neil's keyboard action, a nap and afterwards:

Laszlo heads down the road to his favorite gazebo for a little "spin."

Laszlo, just like his grandma Rose, loves his hot chocolate - or at least the marshmallow part! After a hard day of play, nothing like a cuppa cocoa.

This gazebo thing of his, he loves to get dizzy running around, now riding around. Once again I can only hope this video works.

But then, it's off to the golf course. I tried to put together a makeshift "hole" for him to putt in but that wouldn't do at all. So we dug a cup. He's telling his dad "no, dad, I'll show you how to do it." He also insisted we have a flag at the hole so I took a curtain rod and hung a potholder on it. That seemed to satisfy him. Then he and dad headed home to see Mom. A good time was had by all.