O Happy Day!!!

Well....I wrote this on my birthday but apparently I never clicked on the publish button. DUH!! Pretend it's August 23rd still. At the rate time is rushing along it was just yesterday anyway!! 8^)

Today I am officially 58 years old. Thanks to Facebook I can now have good wishes from tons of people all around the world. In fact, as I have gone through all the entries on my FB page it has been kind of like going through a condensation of quite a few years. How wonderful to be able to connect with so many people who have touched my life in some way!

And since this _is_ Pic of the Day...okay Pic of the Occasional Day....here is a photo sent especially for my birthday from my son-in-law David and his dad Tommy. They are in Tommy's back yard in Partille, Sweden. That's the very spot where Karyn and David married a little over a year ago!

Tommy and David

Also, what would a birthday be without flowers? My wonderful husband, who could have gone down to Wal-mart or a local nursery, instead did what he loves most.....Internet shopping! This box came today.....






I guess I knew you could ship live plants but truthfully I have never given it much thought. The box is very well designed to safely hold the plant in place.















The pot fits inside that inner little box that is held in place by the little folded in pieces of cardboard. This also makes holes to allow air to circulate in the box. Clever!

And ta da.....the plant itself!

Phalaenopsis

I will forever be connected to purple orchids due to a certain incident which happened just before the change of command when Bob was made Commanding Officer of US Naval Hospital Guam in February 2001. The outgoing spouse declared that she would be the ONLY one wearing purple orchids. My gut reaction was along the lines of "Watch me" but cooler thoughts prevailed and really, who cares anyway?! I wore white orchids with just a touch of purple in the center. It went great with my light purple dress. HER purple orchids didn't even show on her vivid pink dress. So there! 

Folks showed support by gifting me with several purple orchid plants at the time and several in the years following. And when Bob was selected for promotion to Admiral he received this gorgeous arrangement with a note saying "Nice guys do finish first!"

Nice Guys DO Finish First!

And there you have it....purple orchids and me.

Blessings today,

gk

Where To Begin Today???

Clearly I have been a miserable blogger lately. I worked dead out for so long, then the retirement stuff and then more travel and then I was just totally zonkoed and unmotivated to do ANYTHING at all!! Now I am in a quandary as to where to go now. I guess I'll just do the chronological thing and go back to the retirement stuff since that was next after our move. Yes....I've made a decision! Whew!

On June 14th we had practice for the next day's ceremony and then that night we had our retirement dinner which was held at Randolph Air Force Base Officer's Club. Pretty appropriate since we have been in a joint assignment so we involved all the services around.

Hmmm....what's he thinking?!

Karyn

 Bob was clearly pensive about the coming ceremony and then I looked over at Karyn. She had burst into tears as soon as she looked around at the whole proceeding and this was just the practice. Oh my! That's Ellen giving me the stink eye for taking photos of  Karyn's tears.

Jennifer and Bob

Lots of folks had a hand in making this all happen. Here is Bob with his Aide, ENS Jennifer Nestor. Now when does an Ensign ever get to tell an Admiral what to do? Well, it turns out she gets to do that a lot when she is the Admiral's Aide. It's a tricky position to be in but is really essential for the Admiral in getting their job done. Thank you Jennifer!!

Jennifer standing in for Bob

Participation in these ceremonies is voluntary and look at the mix of uniforms involved. How nice to have so many METC folks step up to make it a great day. With the ceremony worked out pretty well we moved on to welcome more folks from out of town and get ready for the dinner. We had to go in two cars and one had to swing by the airport to pick up our SIL, David, who arrived just in the nick of time to get to the dinner! So, who came to join us?

Patti, Jaime, Ken, Don

Erika, Lori, Robin

Patti and Jaime (friends from church) are from San Antonio, Ken (Our minister in FL) is from Jacksonville, FL  and Don (A colleague at A&M College of Medicine) from College Station, TX. Erika (A nurse with us in Guam) lives in Dallas, Lori (A nurse with the Navy component at METC) in San Antonio and Robin (A psychologist we met in Guam) in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.

Genaro, Bob

Geraldine, Gail, Bob

Genaro (A civilian at COMPACFLT in Hawaii) came all the way from Hawaii and Gail just moved from Hawaii to San Antonio. She's now living in 'our' house on Fort Sam Houston! Genaro brought the leis from Hawaii at Gail's request.

Gino, Geraldine

Karen

Karen (Bob's boss at BUMED) came from Philly (I think!) and Gino (Bob's deputy at METC) lives in San Antonio.

Kelly, Lori

Clifford, Judy

Kelly (Bob's first Aide after he became an Admiral in Portsmouth, VA) came from North Carolina, Lori (works at METC) lives in San Antonio. Clifford and Judy (My brother and SIL) live in Bullard, TX near Tyler.

Keith, Fran

 Keith and Fran (Bob's BIL and sister) just moved to Colorado Springs with the Air Force. There were lots more folks but these were some of the best pics. We were certainly overwhelmed at the efforts of so many to come so far just for Bob's retirement. It was also lots of fun to see people we have known from so many different places and times to all come together and meet each other as well. Wow!

Grand entrance

Jennifer (Remember, the Aide gets to order us all around!) arranged for us to make a grand entrance by walking in on a red carpet. It was a fun way to start things off. During the night folks got a chance to tell stories, offer good wishes, extend gifts and generally have a good time. Mitch Seal, a good Navy friend we first met on Guam, brought his local band along to provide live music. A big highlight for us was having Katie Skype from Lahore, Pakistan! Katie, Ellen, and Karyn each chose one of the Navy core values (Honor, Courage, Commitment) and told how their dad exemplified that core value. Here's Katie giving her thoughts on her dad and Honor....

Katie on Skype

Steve was Emcee

Steve worked with Bob at COMPACFLT in Hawaii and has since been promoted to Captain. Way to go Steve! One of his gifts was a letter from Popeye's corporate office to Bob in honor of Bob's years of service. He also managed to wrangle a Popeye's box with a real Popeye's employee uniform! Certainly Bob has eaten enough Popeye's to earn those things!!

Bob, Karyn, Ellen

Bob, Geraldine

The girls got certificates and so did I. And flowers! Woo hoo!

Chief Berry and Gino

One really special gift was this METC logo in stained glass. It was made by one of the METC people as well as the frame which is a piece of an old banister from the Army hospital. More wow!!

More fun photos of folks at our celebration:

 And no military-related event is complete without a cake!

KODB's cake (Kindly Old Doctor Bob)

And flowers sent by someone who could not make it to the dinner.....

Cyndi asked for something tropical!

Many, many thanks to everyone who came, sent cards and letters, worked tirelessly to get this all arranged and who have remained wonderful friends over the years. We love you all. Please stay in touch!!

Many blessings,

gk

An American 4th

Happy 4th of July

Okay....I confess I started celebrating a couple of days ago. Karyn took one look at our bathroom and the huge tub and wanted a bubble bath. We went shopping and got some handy dandy bubble stuff and just for fun grabbed several little packets of face mask. Mine was hot clay. It got hot for about 10 seconds and then slid around on my face like honey. I grabbed the only headband I could find which was the one Karyn found to wear when greeting Katie at the airport after her year in Pakistan. Voila!! A blog photo for the 4th!

Karyn is back home now and Bob is about to head to Wales for another silent retreat. He likes that stuff a lot. I get to enjoy a few more days with Katie before she heads off to DC and her new assignment, which is much less worrisome than her year in Pakistan. Hallelujah! There are always worries but some places are just inherently MORE worrisome.

Just for the record I highly recommend bubble baths. It was great fun and we should all relax this way much more often. The world might be much more peaceful!

Blessings,
gk

BUSY Time For Me!

I know that I have been a really terrible blogger lately. All I can say is that I was so into getting stuff arranged in the house, retirement stuff, friends and family coming and going, more travels, worries about my sick sister, etc. that my energy for ANY thing was totally sapped. Now it's really hard to get back into the swing of things! So....here goes....

Karyn came!

First of all, right after we moved it was Bob's birthday. Karyn surprised him by arriving in San Antonio and spending a few days with us. It was so nice to have her here in the new place! She got to suffer through the finishing of the floors.....

Dining room and entry before

New wood floors

Almost all of the carpet and tile were removed on the first floor and replaced with new wood floors or tile. Here's what the wood looks like now.

Kitchen with tile removed

Dining area

New kitchen tile

The kitchen had the pink tile seen in the above entry photo. We chose a larger 16" tile with black grout. The sales lady did all she could to talk me out of the black grout. I'm so glad I didn't listen because I think it is just the right color for the space. 8^) Later we plan to redo the whole kitchen with new appliances, counter tops, and back splash but that's a project for another day!

New master bath tile

  The bathroom had the same beige carpet as the dining room above. Carpet in a bathroom just does not make sense to me. It also does not go well with kitties' litter boxes so out it came. Yes, it's a giant bath and we love it. The huge closet is through the barely visible door in the center rear of the room. We have managed to have ALL our clothes in that closet so no more dresser in the bedroom! It has really worked out great and we love getting dressed all in the bath and closet area, and we can both get dressed at the same time unlike our former 1880s house. Yea!!!

While the wood floors were being finished and the tile was being installed I was working dead out the get EVERY thing into place and all the art work hung on the walls. We moved in May 11th and retirement was on June 15 with a party the night before on June 14th. I had one month to reach my goal before people started arriving from out of town. That is why the blog has been silent! Meanwhile, in the midst of all this madness Mother's Day came along and this arrived from my daughter, Ellen.

Lilies and Roses for Mother's Day

Many blessings till the next post,
gk

We're Still Alive.....

I promise! I've just been working dead out to get things done before everyone showed up for the retirement gig. We have a new roof and new floors downstairs too.

The retirement party was last Thursday and was just fantastic. We were able to skype Katie from Pakistan and folks came from all over the US even Hawaii! Then on the way home we were in a pile-up on the highway. We were #2 in a line of 5 cars and a sixth car left the scene. None of us was badly hurt and no one there got a ticket. I got to bed at 1:30 AM and then we had the ceremony on Friday at 9 AM. The rest of the day was spent visiting with friends and family. Saturday we went to the zoo and then had the Hospital Corps Ball that night. Sunday it was up at 4 AM to get all the kids to the airport for 6:30 flights. Monday we left Bob's little car at the shop for repairs and spent much of the day catching up on stuff. Then today we are off to Muleshoe to take care of some pressing business with my sister who is still in the nursing home there.

So.....I promise there will be photos and such soon. I know I have been a dismal failure at blogging lately but I do have tons of stuff to share if I can just get the uninterrupted time to do it! We'll be back in a few days and home for a week then we go to Jacksonville, FL for 3 days. Bob's a featured speaker there. Retirement is not so retiring so far!!! 8^)

Thanks so much for all your concern!

Blessings,
gk

Coming Up For Air

Oh my, oh my! I have indeed been buried in boxes. And I pretty much feel like I've been chewed up, spit out and stomped on. When I hear 'move' I always react with 'Ugh, I hate moving' but it's just a general feeling. I forget the particulars like how much my hands hurt from constantly gripping things, my back from leaning over so much and lifting way more than usual and my feet from standing ALL day! I am SO GRATEFUL for movers who do the heavy lifting and who I had unpack most of the boxes.

Every move has a story and this one is no different. On May 10 the movers loaded everything onto the truck. It rained all day but mostly a light drizzle so it wasn't too much of a problem. The problem for me was that they did not finish until after 8 PM. Bob arrived from the new house where flooring was being installed (that's another post!),  brought sandwiches for dinner and helped load up the kitties and all the last minute stuff like everything in the refrigerator, cleaning supplies that could not be packed, etc., etc. It was after 9 PM when all this got done and meanwhile the skies opened up big time. We headed out in the pouring rain to travel the 15 miles to the new house. By the time we got to our subdivision my low tire pressure light was on. I was trying to ignore it but when it got down to a thump, thump, thump I new I was in trouble. I called Bob who was ahead of me and he came back to my car. Thank goodness we were off major roads by then!!! Yep. That tire was flat as flat could be. I rode to the house with Bob and we unloaded his car. I stayed and started cleaning in anticipation of moving in the next day and Bob, my hero, headed back in the rain to my car. He had to unload my car into his so he could get to the spare. By this time it was getting close to 10 PM, still no dinner and reeling on our feet. Bob says it was raining, really dark and cars were whizzing by so he finally thought to make use of USAA roadside assistance. LOVE USAA!!!! They came and changed the tire. Bob came back, got me and we got my car to the house. We grabbed clothes and headed to the hotel. By the time we got there with pants, shirts and underwear over our arms it was after 11 PM. I have never before been so tired I could not eat but we skipped the food  and just laid down and went to sleep! The next day I realized I had no toothbrush, no hairbrush, just clothes. Who cares?!!  We had to get  back to the house and meet the crew for unloading. They arrived at 8 AM and bless them every one they were done by 1:30 PM. That was May 11 and I have been unpacking and sorting and cleaning construction dust from the flooring installation ever since!!!

So....where's the pic in this blog? Well, yesterday the neighbors from across the street, Marsha and Marshall I kid you not, came over and brought cat toys for the girls and a cake for Bob and me. What a great welcome!!!

Neighborly welcome gift

Okay, they used our first names and we go by our middle names but hey, cake is cake! And it is a yummy one too.

Hand made sugar flowers, taste awful but really pretty!

We  also had friends come over to go out for dinner. We met Dennis and Gail in Hawaii and they just transferred to San Antonio. Dennis is retired Navy and Gail will be at METC. Yea! I'm telling you I could not make this stuff up!!! None of us ever dreamed when we said good-bye in 2007 that we'd be together again in San Antonio, TX in 2012! Not the greatest pic but who can sit still for a photo when there is cake to consume?!!

Gail and Dennis

Me in the yet to be utilized kitchen

So.....I'm still alive enough to eat things better left alone and I am actually down to the last few boxes. Soon I'll be hanging art and photos and then I'll know we really live here!

Blessings abound,
gk

My New Best Friends

Lydia, Alejandra & Jo Ann

Really, they were happy to be at my house! It's just that this was taken at the end of the first day of packing. They have been just wonderful and have even asked the company to be the ones to come and help me unpack stuff next week. Yea!!! No new names to learn. 8^)

I am so very grateful that we are provided a moving company. I cannot imagine the task ahead of me otherwise. I'm very hopeful that we don't have to do this again. Notice I said hopeful. I am married to Bob after all. He's never stayed anywhere more than seven years in his whole life. Back then he was asking to move to a house down the street to my resounding NO. Then he wanted to at least rearrange the furniture. That didn't fly either. We shall see.

Tomorrow the truck gets loaded and then Friday is delivery day. Saturday will be a nightmare of boxes and trying to clean up the dust from having the new floors installed, which is now going quite well according to Bob. I have not been over there to see.

Pray it rains AT NIGHT and stays dry during loading and unloading!!!! Given the drought I really can't ask for prayers for no rain. It's just too desperately needed right now.

Blessings around,
gk