So…it’s been a while eh? I just realized you’ve not heard from me since the newsletter in November. Here it is February already:( Bad me.
I’ll start with bits of Camp news. Gruper and I are still the owners of Tall Pines Camp. We have no active lookers at this time (thank God, ’cause that would be a long drive for us to do a showing). As I said in the newsletter, we do not anticipate an immediate sale. Some of you have inquired if it’s still “us” up there; rest assured it is.
We have offered a dockhand position to Frank from Newfoundland. He has accepted and seems excited to try his hand at Camp life. Murray was a great find for us: staying four seasons, digging in and taking ownership of some big projects. We appreciated his loyalty and dependability. Toward season’s end it became apparent that our relationship was winding down. Four years was longer than Murray had stayed with any camp, and he was growing restless. Also, we knew we wanted someone more guest oriented, e.g., available to clean fish, chatting with guests in the evening, etc. We wish Murray the best and greet Frank with open arms! We hope you will do the same:)
Hmmmm. That’s about all I know regarding Camp right now. You can stop reading here unless you’d like some Gruper and Andrea updates.
Gruper returned home in time to have two surgeries: an umbilical hernia repair and a more aggressive decompression laminectomy on his lower back. Both procedures went very well and he is pretty much recovered! He had been experiencing nearly constant numbness in his left leg, often requiring him to have to sit down quickly (or fall down). He was in no pain–for which we were both grateful–but the numbness had been happening for a couple of years. He survived our first sports show with flying colors and has been walking regularly. The doc has been impressed with his recovery and released him nearly two weeks ago. I was impressed with what an easy patient he was!
I’ve been substitute teaching a bit. I continue to have the same complaints: too many students per class, very little “teaching” and more babysitting, poor pay, etc. I’ve gone full circle: I used to enjoy younger students, then preferred older elementary for a while, and have returned to primary grades! My preference is still special education.
There’s been a bit o’ travel already;) Me, my gal Sal, Jenny and Karen spent a perfectly perfect week in Cancun in late October. We had a ball (I figured we would)! Gruper and I just returned from a week in the Sarasota area–Lido Beach to be exact. We had a couple of shaky days weather-wise but quickly warmed up and rested up!
Best bed-art EVER:
Crashing surf at Isla Mujeres:
Isla’s gorgeous coastline:
Please pardon the sideways and upside-down nature of some of these photos. It shows them loading correctly, then skews them(?) I “edit” and unskew/skew them hoping a change will “stick,” but alas.
A great find on a morning walk in Florida:
A pretty night:
Bird of Paradise:
Reflective sunset (not as good as you-know-where, though):
Happy couple trying to recharge their solar batteries:
Enjoying my view:
Great-baby #9 (boy #5) is in the hopper out in Washington state. He will join our Navy nephew and niece and big brother Jack in April! I’ve still not held #’s 7 & 8 who will be 1 soon; however, I plan to fly down to Florida just to meet them before heading back to Camp.
Kay turned 10 in January. She and Gavin (almost 3) enjoyed pizza and cake at her party:
On our annual fall trip to the pumpkin patch we were able to get five greats in one chair. Alysha (left) and Mya (right) are both six and in 1st grade! Emma is 3.
Jack (almost 5) visited his grandparents in Springfield, IL, so Rebeccca and I went to visit him. He is excited about a baby brother because there won’t be a lot of girl toys in the way.
Michael and Joshua (almost 1) are rumored to be amazing!
Ms. Freya continues to hang around. I took an old sofa cushion’s guts and carved a hole in it for her. She knew what to do when it got cold…poor thing.
Catch ya’ later!