My new reality

Greg and I met with some lake friends in NYC recently and I was promptly admonished for not updating this blog.  First, let me say, I am honored that anyone reads this blog at all (so thank YOU very much) and second, I am surprised that anyone would come back and ask for more!  It is true that I have not posted in a while; in fact, it’s been more than a month.  Maybe I am settling into this new life and nothing is worth reporting or perhaps I’ve been too busy being retired.  Read on and decide for youself.

We celebrated Thanksgiving at my Mom’s in Buffalo with our kids Dan and Christina, various brothers and sisters of mine, my Mom, and my cousin Tom in attendance.  My sisters’ Christine and Terry prepared the bulk of the meal and my brothers’ Ed and David obliged with after dinner cleanup.  I provide comic relief?  Christina and I performed the obligatory Black Friday shopping tradition, even going so far as to visit Kohl’s and Target at midnight, a first for us because why not?  We also toured a number of micro-breweries that weekend, family bonding at it’s best. Buffalo is staging an edgy industrial-vibe comeback which you should see for yourself.  Some sites worth mentioning: the multi-story grain mills painted to look like a six-pack of Labatt’s Blue, the outdoor skating rink on the site of an Erie Canal lock, and the former psychiatric hospital reincarnated as a posh, artsy hotel.  I love combining a family visit with seeing new things.

Early in December we returned to the Boston area for a highly scheduled visit with so many of our friends, tossing in a few doctor appointments for good measure.  If I missed seeing you on this trip, I will certainly try to visit next time!  We also attended the wedding of Jenna and her now-husband, Jim.  If you ever meet Jenna, you will instantly fall in love with her.  She was my hairdresser, became my kindred spirit, and is now a dear friend.

We stayed home here on Upper Saranac Lake for Christmas with the aforementioned offspring.  Greg and I hiked about the property to find a tree to harvest and drag back home.  It looked great in the living room despite some comments mentioning Helen Keller’s involvement in the tree selection.  This was  our first Christmas as a family staying in our own home.  We had always travelled to visit with our families in Western NY, or more recently, to some lovely Caribbean islands for Christmas (I know, boo hoo, no one feels sorry and I agree) so it was nice to spend the day together and relax.  We also had some company with Serge, my brother-in-law and a friend, Carroll, who were hiking nearby that weekend. (More on winter hiking, later.  In brief, it’s crazy!)  I prepared the traditional Polish Christmas Eve Vigil meal, we opened gifts the next morning and spent the rest of the next few days together enjoying each other’s company, snowshoeing, ice skating, playing games, sleeping in, eating and drinking too much.

For the New Year the kids returned to their lives, Christina to grad school in NYC, Dan to work in Vermont and Greg and I went to Rochester to visit his family.  Seems like there’s always a party when we visit or maybe we just time the visits well.  Greg’s niece Cheryl and husband Charlie, of hops growing fame (see previous blog), host a wonderful holiday party in their lovely home which allows us to spend time with Greg’s family, brothers, wives and all the nieces and nephews.  We stayed with Greg’s brother Bob and Tina, my adopted sister (actually my sister-in-law upgraded to sister status; you can’t have too many sisters!) where we spent one whole day working a puzzle.  Greg’s family is awesome and Greg enjoys spending time with his brothers, Richie who is the go-to fix-it mechanic extraordinaire and Bob, Greg’s Home Depot/Lowe’s shopping buddy.  They both have been reliable, hardworking anchors for us as we navigated our various house-building projects. Tina and I went snow shoeing in a nearby park and nearly froze to death but luckily we persevered through the brush and made it back to the Community Center and home in time for dinner.  We spent New Year’s Eve dinner with Bob and Tina and Tina’s dad Denny in Rochester at Nosh and then home to watch Stranger Things til it was time to turn off Ryan Seacrest and go to bed.  After a quick trip to see my Mom, we returned home in a snow storm to continue enjoying the North Country winter.  Betwixt our various jaunts and visits, I have started taking pottery classes, am working on reupholstering a chair (photos forthcoming) and have played some volleyball.  Greg and I have gone on a few local snowshoeing and cross country skiing expeditions because the weather has been so amenable (well, it’s downright frickin’ freezing right now…) and the snow has been amazing.  We’ve dined with so many neighbors and friends this season with our social calendar (and now our waistlines) expanding.

January 2018.  I think you’ll find this boring blog will have a few interesting posts in the near future.  We’ve made plans for travel, we’ve made quite a lot of new friends living on this dirt road in the middle of the woods, we’ve got some goals to accomplish and we’re spending time on creative projects.  I hope to share some of these things with you, if I keep posting. and you keep reading.  Thank you!  Happy New Year!