Proper Introduction

Dale Richard Leuer Ramus

Our newest nephew and cousin!

Flying...then & now

Growing up, travelling, flying was surely exciting. It started with my parents announcing vacation plans and became more real when Papi brought "the tickets" home. Remember those? Paper tickets? Going to the airport, remembering "the tickets"! Waiting in lines, checking the baggage, watching the monitor of the x-ray machine to see what's in my carry-on, have someone pat me down briefly, keeping my shoes on. Then at the Gate there were these little plastic goodie bags that you could fill with fruits, sandwiches etc. Newspaper available.
And now? Buy tickets online, receiving an e-mail confirmation, check in online, print boarding passes on regular paper, go to the airport, drop off the bags curbside, go through security, THEN buy something to drink while waiting for boarding time.

I just checked in online for tomorrows flights.

My best friend:

Paul.
I just got off the phone with my very best friend. It is so nice to be married to him. Since he has been away from his unit and serving with the Air Force (as the Army Liaison) we have been able to chat (yahoo messenger) a lot, but phonecalls were in 15 minute increments. And it rarely ever failed, just as we got on a subject that required some time to talk about...our 15 minutes were up.
Now he is back with his unit and today he called and we got to talk for over 2 hrs. Intentional conversations. Not smalltalk but good coonversations.
He has been gone for little over 6 months, in 2 months he will be home for 18 days. Can't wait. But certainly time is going to fly by. Wednesday we are going to California, after that, Cheerleading starts for the Girls (yes, both of them are cheering) and Christmas. My Mom is coming on the 26th and only a few days after she leaves Paul will be home.

Dear Georgia

Dear Georgia-

It is the middle of November, can I have Sweater weather please?

Seriously, I have lots of cute sweaters, I look cute in sweaters, and I'll even give up the flip flops I've been wearing for 9 or so months.

It's practically Christmas, it should not be 27 degrees (celsius).

Please get that taken care of.

Thanks,

me

Gateway

Today I walked into church after dropping off Emma-Louise and Christel-Ann in their youth groups, and felt needy. I got myself a hot cup of cider and looked for familiar faces. Steph, Kira,....saw them, both husbands home on R&R. 4 chairs in a row, I sat behind them and while singing I just felt lonely.
We are in a sermon series called "Life 360"
I am just going to write some words down:

Friendship
Patience
Speaking into one's life
Vulnerability
Intentional Conversations
Lifting each other up
Common action & hospitality

I will make a point to write something on those subjects in the next few days.

And after church I got to ride a bike again! Since our neighbor sold his bike early this year I have not been riding. Kirk handed me the keys to his, too large for me, cruiser (Yamaha Road Star), and I took it around the parking lot. He promised he will be looking out for a bike for me. Of course a Harley would be nice....but as a starter bike a Honda Shadow or Yamaha Virago would work.

A Saturday in November

I wake up because the phone is ringing. Paul. I inform him that I am still asleep but encourage him to talk. I like his voice. 5 minutes later he gets tired of talking while I sleep. He asks me to go to the messenger and we chat. We chat until I am awake and he is.....asleep. I bundle up and go running. It is COLD! Temperatures around 7-9 (Celsius!) and I run.
We eat breakfast together and get ready. Typical week-end: laundry, housecleaning and a friend and I thought about going shopping downtown. We text back and forth in the morning and decide 11:30 would be a good time. I call a babysitter, maybe I can get some christmas shopping done?
Kat and I drive downtown and find a parking spot. Should I play the lottery? We walk around and we find some goodies. Down on river street there is some music and we stop in a Restaurant and eat. The entire time: sunglasses on, sunglasses off. In the shade they are too dark, in the sun: necessary. By now it's perfect T-shirt weather. We sit and eat southern: fried green tomatoes and a good salad. Sweet tea.
We walk around some more, went into a few stores, I made some mental notes for Santa
and just enjoyed the beautiful weather and company.

Only a naughty sister would....

...buy her sister a T-shirt saying "I am the naughty sister"

Haircut!

Is she not adorable? Such a joy, full of fun, life and very, very silly!

Fall has arrived!

We are wearing jackets now! No sillies, not all day just in the mornings....
It is November, over a months since I have updated this Blog. I have received plenty of scolding.
In October my sister & family came to visit with us. We had 2 great weeks with each other. They left 2 weeks ago and exactly 2 months before my Mom will come for her second visit this year.
But between two visits, I will be vactioning.
California, here we come!
One of the reasons we have got to go to California: we have a new nephew! And Thanksgiving is just the perfect time to do so. I am very excited. I am looking forward to being with family, especially Rich, Jen, Clay & Dale. Being with them is like having a little bit more of Paul around.