My Friend, My Sister...

"the sistas"

Bob, Troy (Candee and Bob's
son), and Haime

If you are lucky enough to have a friend who touches your soul, you are truly blessed. I am extremely blessed, because I have about four such friends. These are the people that you choose to be a part of your family. You may not see them much, or often, but you know that you can count on them to "just be there" for you, or to provide some much needed help, (or bail money...just saying), and when you do see or speak to them after some time, you just pick up where you left off, as if no time has passed. As you probably surmised, Candee is one of those friends for me and getting to see her, and her hubby, Bob, really feels like getting to spend time with beloved family.

Candee retired after nearly 40 years of teaching the children of California, and Bob was throwing her a "retirement bash." That "bash" was the impetus for our trip west. It was great seeing old friends and coworkers and getting to know some of the "non-education" people who are important to Candee.

It's funny, when you don't see people for an extended period of time, their image is frozen in your brain from your last encounter. To be honest, most of the attendees, that I knew, hadn't changed much AT ALL!

Oh, sure, there were, in some cases a few more, or fewer pounds that had "taken residence;" or a couple of additional "silver threads." Of course, as is normal, the ones that had changed the most were the younger attendees. The children of some coworkers who came to wish Candee well as she starts this next phase of her life. These "kids" were definitely no longer kids! They were married, one with a CUTIE little girl and the other, with "one on the way."  

It was so much fun getting to reconnect and catch up with what is happening in each other's lives. Thanks, Bob for organizing this "affair-to-remember!" I can't wait to spend parts of the "next chapter" with both of you.

BOB

TTFN

Lois

"Sitting on the Dock of the Bay..."

Day 3: Actually, we weren't sitting on a dock, nor were we in the bay, we were in Laguna Beach and on Balboa Island. But, I'm getting ahead of myself...

While Haime were living in California, we were located in a part of southern California, known as the "High Desert." Specifically, Spring Valley Lake in the Victorville area. Now, this will mean nothing to most of you so let me try and give you a picture...Obviously, the map only illustrates Victorville's proximity to major cities so let me go for a "mental image" based on actual events. Haime and I moved to Victorville as a result of his receiving a promotion through his work. When we went out there for a "meet and greet" and for us to find a house/school for the boys/and a potential job for me, Haime did the "meeting and greeting" and I did the rest. On the first day of my search, I found myself stopped in the middle of a pretty major road because a tumbleweed, the size of a Volkswagen beetle was blowing across the road...I do not lie! Some of you might remember the controversy surrounding the Apollo moon landing whereby some "naysayers" argued that the landing did not take place on the moon, rather it was some place in the desert southwest on which the "Giant leap for mankind" was taken. Well, after spending a day in Victorville/Hesperia/Apple Valley, I was thinking they might have had it right!

Spring Valley Lake

Apple Valley Sundevils

Fortunately, we discovered a little piece of paradise and called Spring Valley Lake home. I got a job with Apple Valley High School as an assistant principal then later took the reins as principal of the Sundevils. I have to admit that our time in California was among the best years of my life, I miss it still.

Now, back to our story, on day 3 of our "California Dreaming" vacation, Haime and I had breakfast together then parted ways. Oh stop, it wasn't a permanent parting, the plan was for Haime to spend a couple of days visiting his sons and grandchildren and I would spend more time with my "sista," Candee and her hubby-extraordinaire, Bob. When I met Candee, she was an amazing math teacher at Apple Valley High School and when I became principal, she agreed to step back into administration and became one of my assistant principals...I would have been lost without her!

Laguna Beach

Candee and Bob drove to Newport Beach and the three of us set off for two of my favorite places...Laguna Beach and Balboa Island. Even though Balboa Island is actually part of Newport Beach, we decided to head south to Laguna, first. We got about halfway there when traffic stopped on the Pacific Coast Highway because 4-5 navy helicopters were doing a practice landing near Crystal Cove. Fortunately, we were only stopped for about 20 minutes and it gave us an opportunity to visit and begin to catch up with each others lives.

Bob and Candee

This is the point where we found the
"wish rock" and the location of
the pic of Bob and Candee

Some of you may know, Laguna Beach is well know for its GAZILLION art galleries and studios. It is also a beautiful example of the Southern California coastline. While we were doing a bit of exploring, we came across the rock in the left pic. Notice the striations? According to Bob, a noted rock-hound, this is called a "wish rock." The story goes that if you find a "wish rock," you can keep it only until your wish comes true, then you have to pass it along to someone who then makes a wish and passes it on to another person. Bob actually gave me a much smaller "wish rock" and told me that I could only keep it until my "realistic" wish came true...I'm still trying to come up with a wish.

After walking around Laguna and visiting some shops/galleries/etc, we decided to head back to Balboa Island. If I could have a perfect place to live, in retirement, Balboa Island would be a top runner. I say, in retirement, because getting on and off the island during "rush hours" would be a HUGE pain! Once on the island, however, there is really no need for a car. There is a market, a Catholic church, restaurants, bars, shops, library, fire department, etc. It epitomizes a village. Unfortunately, it is CRAZY EXPENSIVE! However, Haime and I love to visit, whenever we get an opportunity. Dad's, pictured above, is a Balboa Island landmark and home of the Balboa Bar and the monkey tail...I won't spoil it for you but I will say these are two must haves that should be on everyone's bucket list!

Finally after spending sometime on the island, it was time to head back to my home-away-from-home, the high desert. I am so incredibly blessed to have these wonderful people as friends. There just aren't a lot of people who would drive 11/2 to 2 hours, each way to come get a "visitor" to their home. They are special people and I love them both!

TTFN

 Lois

Let the Partying BEGIN! Day 2...

You'll remember that our "westward ho" road trip had an "interesting" start...we had some "issues" with our ride. Well, we arrived at O'Rielly (yes I know, they spell it wierdly but it's their name so I guess they can spell it however they'd like) Chevrolet's service department at 6:30 and waited; and waited; and waited; and waited; and waited...fortunately, I spent the first two hours finishing a book. Unfortunately, with each tic of the clock, after finishing my book, I grew increasingly agitated. (I don't do sit and wait well, in fact, I don't do anything and wait well, mostly, I don't do wait well at all). I kept pestering Haime to go talk to the service manager to get status updates...he wouldn't do it. He actually tried convincing me that the mechanics were artists and that you just couldn't rush an artist...silly Haime! Then, just as I was about to lose what little control I had, and start smashing things with a chair, the manager told us that our car was ready...after we paid our bill, that is.

FINALLY, at about 11:30, we were back on the interstate, heading west once more. We were only about 8 hours behind schedule but we were in one piece, (no run ins with gypsy-terrorist-outlaws), the car was working perfectly and we were each still content to have the other in the car.

When we got past Phoenix, we phoned Haime's high school buddies to inform them that our arrival was delayed. I told Haime that I thought we'd be at our hotel in Newport Beach at about 7:00 PM, he said he thought it would be closer to 11...(I think he was planning to drive to San Diego, have dinner at Seaport village then drive up the coast...whatever). Anyway, we planned to call them once we reached Orange County so they could decide for themselves whether they wanted to join us for dinner of if they thought it was going to be too late. With each passing mile, Haime became more convinced that he was not going to get to see his old buddies and he became more morose, the more he thought about it. We parked our car at the hotel at 6:54 (I was a little off).
As is usual for worriers, Haime was wrong to worry. Literally, as we walked into the lobby, Kent, one of Haime's friends called to say that he and his wife, Kay were in the bar and that they'd just wait for us there...silly Haime! Ralph and his wife Annie arrived soon afterwards and joined us for drinks and we all walked across the street for a wonderful dinner. They are AWESOME people and we thoroughly enjoyed their visit. OMG, the stories they share of the "adventures" they had as younger men and women are hysterical! (Of course, after hearing some of them, it's truly a wonder that they are all still breathing...no more details can be shared here due to possible statutes of limitation still in effect). Thanks for an incredible evening to a very LONG day, we love you guys!

los tres amigos and their ladies

TTFN

Lois

Beginnings: Road Kill. NO, REALLY!

Beginnings: Road Kill. NO, REALLY!: I should have known that this vacation would be "interesting." Haime is with me. As you might remember, Haime likes his ruts, ...

Road Kill. NO, REALLY!

I should have known that this vacation would be "interesting."

Haime is with me. As you might remember, Haime likes his ruts, (he prefers "routines" but let's be honest, they are ruts). He is a happy camper when he is able to follow the same schedule for the same day of the week, every week. I, on the other hand, prefer spontaneity. If I have something planned and something more fun/interesting comes along, I'm there. Anyway, Haime and I are on a vacation.

Let' s start at the beginning. In about February, I learned that Bob, Candee's hubby, was hosting a party to commemorate and celebrate Candee's retirement after 39 years in education in California. I didn't hesitate and told them that I would be there! Well, knowing how Haime likes his ruts, I decided he needed to have plenty of time to process this information, since I wanted him to travel with me. Finally after several months of prodding, he agreed...(uh, oh).

We planned our itinerary, which included visits with some of his high school buddies, time visiting his sons and his grandchildren, lunch with some of his other relatives and, of course, my getting to spend time with my "sista-from-another-mista" and her hubby for a few days before her party.

 Our plan, which we successfully carried out, included leaving the house at 4:00 AM in Haime's corvette. We were determined to drive to Phoenix where we had a hotel reserved, then we'd get an early start and drive to our next hotel in Newport Beach. Well, you know the saying, "the best laid men of mice and men sometimes go array." Our trip was going along very well. We were making great time and luckily, neither of us felt the need to leave the other buried somewhere in the desert...this is NO SMALL MATTER!

Just as we were getting ready to cross from New Mexico into Arizona, Haime decided that he needed an ice cream cone. So, like a good chauffeur should, I pulled over at a McDonald's so he could get his cone. Then, Haime decided that he needed to get back into the driver's seat. Soon after we left the Micky-D's lot, the "check engine" light came on...uh-oh. Then, the cruise-control wouldn't work. As we were basically in the middle of no where, we decided to wait until we got to the "rest stop/welcome to Arizona" center before stopping. We were hopeful that the by turning off the engine, letting it "rest" for a few minutes, then restarting it, the computer would "reset" itself and we'd be on our way...no such luck!

When we restarted the Vette and were going to pull away from the curb, the car would not cooperate...it did not recognize reverse...#@#$%!@#**!!! Fortunately, Haime had not pulled so close to the curb that he could not "drive" around and pull away. So, we were soon on the way west again. While he was driving, (and sweating and panicking and worrying we'd be stranded in the desert where a band of gypsy-terrorist-outlaws would find us and stake us to ant mounds after they poured honey all over us...or something like that); I was on my phone looking for the nearest Chevrolet dealership so we could utilize their service department. Suddenly, Haime exclaimed: THE LIGHT WENT OFF! (I nearly dropped my phone!)

Well, we decided that the prudent thing to do would be to have the car checked out anyway, so we drove to the advertised dealership in Willcox. What a joke! The "dealership" was actually only a used car lot with a building that was more of a "shed" than a sales office and of course, no service department. We hit the road again, this time to Tucson. On the way, I phoned the service department, explained our dilemma and told them that we'd be there in about an hour.

When we arrived, we were greeted by the wonderful service manager with whom we had spoken on the phone. He took time to explain the process of diagnosing, repairing (as needed) and the time line for getting us started then on our way. He directed us to a hotel "right around the corner" and told us that he'd see us in the morning. We went to our hotel, "freshened up" and walked across the street to a restaurant. While the name of the restaurant wasn't actually the "Roadkill Café," they did have "Roadkill" as a menu choice, no, I'm not kidding. Yes, of course, I ordered it, RARE! As I told Haime, today, the road tried it's best to get us but we came out victorious! After dinner, (and a couple of well-deserved martinis), we went back to our hotel and set the alarm for 5:30 so we could be back at the dealership by 6:30.

As we looked back on our day, we had to agree that it was certainly not a dull, boring road trip to that point. Yep, travelling with Haime is ALWAYS interesting.

Stay tuned for more of our adventure west...
TTFN,

Lois

Beginnings: Now, Color OUTSIDE the Lines...

Beginnings: Now, Color OUTSIDE the Lines...: Most of you know that I retired a couple of years ago...(WHOOO-HOOO!!!) Well, today is my sister, Karen's last day in the office (so,...

Now, Color OUTSIDE the Lines...

Most of you know that I retired a couple of years ago...(WHOOO-HOOO!!!) Well, today is my sister, Karen's last day in the office (so, I'm not sure how much actual "work" she is doing today). Mom and I attended her "official retirement reception" yesterday and were touched by the number of people that shared stories of how Karen went above and beyond in her duties for the State of Texas, and what she meant to them personally. Karen has risen to a pretty "high" level in her career and works with some very "brainy" and "high-placed" people. Well, I could brag about that and tell you how impressed I am and how proud I am of her but, you really don't care about that and she knows it, (I hope). Instead, I want to tell you about my contribution to her retirement "reception."

It will probably come as no surprise to any of you that I am not shy about speaking to large groups, in fact, I really like to do so. Well, after hearing all about how wonderful Karen is from some brainy-muckity-mucks, I approached the microphone. Actually, I took it from Karen before she had a chance to speak. I explained that as the older, (wiser?--probably not), sister, I had retired first, just to test the waters for Karen. In so doing, I had done a bit of prep-work or research in anticipation of Karen's retirement and her possible desires to join me in some of my travels etc. The research was illustrated by various "props" and gifts for Karen to use in doing her own "research." Of course, most of the "props" were actually various wines from representative countries around the globe. There were some other equally-clever (I told you I'm not shy around large groups) gadgets and toys. However, the one serious gift in her "retirement survival kit" was a set of pencil colors made from twigs. The message I had for her with these is that it is now officially time to "Color OUTSIDE the Lines." 

In retirement, the biggest, and possibly the hardest, lesson I have learned is that there are few rules that must be followed. Deadlines are mostly suggestions; alarms need not be set, unless you have to catch a plane; if you don't get everything, (anything) done on your "list of things to do today," then tomorrow or next week or whenever, works just as well. Retirement, is freeing. If you wake up and decide to stay in your pajamas until the next day, do it. If you want to go bra-less, do it, (this is a bigger thing for some of us and I suggest that for those of us for whom this is a big deal, bra-lessness should only be done in certain situations and places. For example, bra-lessness for some should never be a condition you try when out for a jog. Take it from me, the resulting black eyes are PAINFUL!) OK, I didn't share this paragraph with the crowd, I do still have a few filters...just saying.

OK, so maybe there should be some general guidelines to this retirement thing. The most important things are to spend time with your loved ones, enjoy yourself, give back to your church/community/charity etc, find new interests, use the "good china," burn the "special candles," develop and begin working on completing things on your "bucket list" and mostly, Color OUTSIDE the Lines! 

TTFN

Lois