And then it was two years later...!

Wow, I just came across this site again after all this time!

This year there is no NJEA Convention because of the terrribly destructive Hurricane Sandy.

We are in Myrtle Beach, having come down for Doug Brewin's wedding to the lovely Jo-Anne Rooney and hanging out in the cold weather here until week's end.

Much has happened in the last two years! Most recently, President Obama was re-elected after a seemingly endless campaign period. (I have to say how disappointed I was in some of my Facebook friends' handling of their opinions during the campaign....aside from the fact that I was floored that so many of them did not share my convictions.)

My brother Jeff, who had recently moved to the Washington, D. C. area with his English family (via Pellham, NY), died suddenly and unexpectedly in February. In April, as we were preparing to leave for CA for a second memorial service for Jeff, we learned that Tom's mother had passed away.
They held up her funeral until after we returned from CA and drove out to AR for her burial, and then on to TX for her memorial service with the Goffs. When we got home, Tom had a follow-up appointment with a urologist who informed us that Tom had bladder cancer. We decided to forego our two weeks vacation in Myrtle Beach to deal with the diagnosis as soon as possible. Tom had the prescribed treatments for the cancer, and by the summer was decared free of any signs of malignancy. He is continuing follow-up/preventive treatments for the next year.

Meanwhile, just when we were considering whether or not Tom could handle the driving and walking for our planned CMA Fest trip in June, I got a phone call telling me that we had won a sweepstakes and would be flown there and bussed to and from the hotel! Perfect!

We have a trip to Florida planned before tax season starts (although my hiring for HR Block is currently in limbo due to the drastic hourly pay rate they offered me. I hope things work out because I studied for months to take (and I passed!) the new IRS required test for professional tax preparers...and I passed two certification level tests, too!)

Zoe graduated from college and moved to NYC with a job as a nanny, although we haven't had an opportunity to visit with her on the E. coast yet. Sue is coming in on the 16th so we are hoping we can head to NYC after her visit with us en route from Washington and the Kayes to Zoe in the city on her whirlwind trip.

Thanks to Sue I am learning to actually understand wordpress website creation and maintenance. I made a practice site in her honor!