This story is really yesterday's news, I want to get you caught up to the present, so I'm about to venture into the Cliff's Notes version of the past year...ready?
I said YOU BET YOUR BIPPY to the question he asked (while on one knee) and he slipped this little gem on my finger...
I know! It's a beauty, isn't it? I liked it so much, and it sparkled so beautifully, that while I was driving, I kept staring at it with my hand on the wheel. Trust me, diamonds are much more dangerous than texting...at least in my case!
It was November and even though it was short notice, we began to make arrangements for late February. We talked about clothes, food, the who-what-how stuff...It was kinda cool!
Enter those joy stealers: Health and Kids...
We were told in October that Ron needed to have his left knee replaced. He looked frantic and I assured him I'd help him, that he had lots of support...
The surgery date was set for December 9. We figured that would give him time to heal before the big day. It would also give us time to find a new place to live. I was living in my house with Tony, he was living in an apartment 40 miles away. We wanted to be closer....
The announcement of our engagement was not taken well by his family, from his former in laws to two of his kids. They were real joy stealers, absolute poop heads, so what was supposed to be a joyous occasion, joining the two families, ended up being a very private (as in NO family) ceremony only a few days before the knee replacement surgery. A honeymoon was planned for a few weeks after that.
Again, long story short, the surgeon (who was adorably cute AND younger than the socks I was wearing) told us that roughly 1% of the people who had knee replacements experienced complications. My husband, the over achiever, had not one, not two but THREE complications! I tell people we spent our honeymoon on the 10th floor of Allegheny General Hospital.
After two separate hospitalizations and three surgeries, I'm thrilled to say he's fine...even better than fine.
We bought a huge house in a wonderful plan of homes about 2 miles from Andy and Tony (who bought the house we were living in). Linda is here with us, Winnie, the Basset Hound, is with Tony and with sadness, I'll tell you that we lost Bill about six weeks ago from Osteosarcoma.
My kids are happy that we are close by, we have room to have everyone get together, including room for the ping pong table in the basement. Just last Sunday we celebrated Taco Night here with a house full of friends and family.
Is ANY of this making sense? Can you, as the boys say, pick up what I'm putting down? If you are more confused than ever now, please shoot me an email ( redsockmama at g mail dot com) and tell me I'm babbling. I want to get you caught up to today 'cause I have so much to tell you, and I can't wait!
Soooooooo, without further fuss and fidgets, I'm going to bed, to dream of all kinds of silly things (Ron says I sometimes giggle in my sleep). I'll mention all of you in my prayers...and will see you soon.
Now, get yourself to sleep.
God bless you,
Jan
After we got our chores done...what am I talking about? There is no end to the chores!
Next they had to put it in the water and tow it to the dock with the jet ski. For some reason, Mark let Andy do it.
But May was not all play! When you live in a very old house, chances are, you have some very old trees around. I know we do. In the six years we've been here, we lost three of them. It breaks my heart every time. Here is number 3. 
Two years ago they told me it was in sad shape. This year it was obvious that it had to go. We hired a man to bring it down, but the clean up was left to us.
All they had to do was lift those logs and bring them to where my brother was running the splitter.
And do it all over again...
Andy thought he could train Bill to carry logs...
Bill said no!
Linda doesn't talk much...but made her opinion to yard work known...
I think the guys felt the same way after two days of hauling wood.
After five or six or twenty of these...
Winnie put on her life jacket and said it was time to head for the river!
When we got there, the sky was blue and there wasn't a cloud in the sky...but there was...
But that didn't stop my family...no way! Soon there was a crowd on the dock...
Including, Max, my grand-dog...who very quickly...
So my son-in-law had to...
But...
Yes, all was well!
She wasn't the only one who thought it was cold...
But some braved the late spring frigid temperatures, like Andy...
And Michael...
And Kailyn. You can't keep her out. She was ready to knee board on Christmas Day. I was afraid we'd have to cut a hole in the ice to let her try her new 'board!
But it was much warmer and almost as much fun hitting those golf balls off the dock!
When your dog is as big as a small pony, you don't pick them up and put them in the bath tub, even if it makes the dog unhappy...
Tony went to a baseball game on fireworks night...
We decided it was time to let the Honda go...
After 6 years and 218,000 miles, it's now living across town, a first car for a young high school boy. The buyer's mechanic, who gave the car a once over, told Mark it was pretty much a 'brand new car with 200,000 miles on it.' Mark hated to see it go!
