FALL 2022
Well, here we are almost through 2022 and I haven't blogged for a long time. I'm not sure what happened except that we moved and at the same time our little dog, Keke became dangerously sick. It was a very stressful period. The lockdown ended, but things are not the same. The Happy Hour Group, after months of zooming started going out again...at first very tentatively...but after all the shots and boosters, we became bolder and are pretty much back to normal. Joe and I took a Viking River Cruise down the Seine. Our children gave us a 60th Wedding Anniversary Party. But, most exciting of all, we became great grandparents with the birth in October 2021 of Addison August Woodward O'Neill!
Other noteworthy events: granddaughter Ellie became engaged, as did granddaughter Maggie. Granddaughter Emily graduated from high school and was accepted at Syracuse University, where she is now attending.
Other noteworthy events: granddaughter Ellie became engaged, as did granddaughter Maggie. Granddaughter Emily graduated from high school and was accepted at Syracuse University, where she is now attending.
Kutztown
It was all my idea. “Let’s go to Kutztown,” I said brightly to Joe, who was relaxing in his lazyboy. “We really should go see one of Lulu’s games! She’s a junior now and we haven’t been to one game yet. We can stay overnight, take Keke and it will be fun!” I said. Joe, to his regret later, said “Sure”.
And so on a lovely Wednesday, we packed an overnight case, fired up the GPS and left mid afternoon for a 7 o’clock field hockey game. Lulu is a talented and fierce athlete and has a scholarship for hockey at Kutztown University.
We drove up the Garden state Parkway and as we passed the Columbus Market, we resolved to stop there on our way home. We would get a pumpkin! We had plans! We would go to the College Shop and buy hats to wear to the game. Then we would find a motel, have dinner and then go to the game. We had time!
We got lost about 10 miles from the college. We got lost on windy back roads because we missed an important turn. We stayed lost for quite a while. The GpS was unclear at a fork in the road. Naturally we picked the wrong fork. There was no place to turn around. The GPS rerouted several times and obviously got confused itself. We were wasting time! We still had no place to stay over night.
When we finally found the college, we gave up on the College Shop. No time! We found a hotel. Joe went in to register and I walked Keke. Joe came stomping out after a few minutes, not at all happy because they charged us $50 extra for Keke. He said he wanted a drink! So into the hotel we went, Keke clearly unhappy, and Joe scowling. His scowl deepened when our floor had no ice machine. Keke hated the hotel, the room, even the bed. She cried and cried. We would have to take her with us to the game! Fortified by our cocktails and a few snacks I’d brought, we made new plans. We would take Keke to the game and then stop at the diner afterwards. And so off we went to the stadium.
We put on her leash and walked up to the gate, where we were greeted by a large “No animals of any kind!" Wanting to be good grandparents, we went back to the car and put Keke in her crate in the back seat. Lowered the windows. She cried pitifully. Feeling like terrible dog owners, we returned to the stadium.
The starting lineup was called and did not include Lulu. We were shocked. Was she injured? We waited for her to play, but it never happened. This was unheard of! What was wrong? After the game, we ran into Nancy, Lulu’s Mother, and her best friend Tara. They had been looking for us. They were upset and didn’t know why Lulu didn’t play. Together, we all waited for Lulu to come off the field. Oh no! Her grandparents drove 3 hours to see her play and she didn’t! We could see how upset she was, so after giving her a big hug, we left so she could talk to her Mom. By, the way, Tara was holding Lulu’s dog and said no one paid any attention to the “No Animals” sign.
We left the stadium and then the real fun began. When we got to the parking lot, our car was weakly flashing every light. The door opener did not work. We could not get in the car. Keke was now barking excitedly. Joe finally reached in the open window and opened the car door. He tried to start the car, but the battery was dead. We despaired. I took Keke for a walk. Fortunately, we had jumpers with us and a kind man used his car and our jumpers to start up the engine. It was late and dark, but we made plans. We would go to the diner. We would not turn off the engine. Joe would get us some food to take back to the hotel. All would be well.
So off to the diner we went. We theorized that someone, attracted to our car by Keke’s mournful crying, had put their hand through the window, thus setting off the alarm, which went off and never stopped until the battery was dead.
We reached the diner. Joe went in, but he returned immediately. The diner had just closed. We would not get food to enjoy as we relaxed in our room.
But Joe had an idea! He had spotted a grocery store behind the hotel. He would buy frozen dinners and we would heat them up in the microwave in our room. Al would be well! And so that is what we did. The dinners were god-awful but Joe had also bought a small ice cream carton and we sat in bed and ate it all.
The next day, with our hearts in our mouths, we approached our car. Would it start? It did. We drove home by a better route, Keke, exhausted by her ordeal, fast asleep on my lap. We did stop at the Columbus Market, but there was a “No dogs” sign so we only stayed long enough for me to buy some pots of mums.
Thus ended our Kuztown adventure.
PS Lulu did not play because the coach wanted to try out a new player in her position. The coach actually apologized to Lulu for not putting her in at all. Lulu has played every game since.
10/10/22
It was all my idea. “Let’s go to Kutztown,” I said brightly to Joe, who was relaxing in his lazyboy. “We really should go see one of Lulu’s games! She’s a junior now and we haven’t been to one game yet. We can stay overnight, take Keke and it will be fun!” I said. Joe, to his regret later, said “Sure”.
And so on a lovely Wednesday, we packed an overnight case, fired up the GPS and left mid afternoon for a 7 o’clock field hockey game. Lulu is a talented and fierce athlete and has a scholarship for hockey at Kutztown University.
We drove up the Garden state Parkway and as we passed the Columbus Market, we resolved to stop there on our way home. We would get a pumpkin! We had plans! We would go to the College Shop and buy hats to wear to the game. Then we would find a motel, have dinner and then go to the game. We had time!
We got lost about 10 miles from the college. We got lost on windy back roads because we missed an important turn. We stayed lost for quite a while. The GpS was unclear at a fork in the road. Naturally we picked the wrong fork. There was no place to turn around. The GPS rerouted several times and obviously got confused itself. We were wasting time! We still had no place to stay over night.
When we finally found the college, we gave up on the College Shop. No time! We found a hotel. Joe went in to register and I walked Keke. Joe came stomping out after a few minutes, not at all happy because they charged us $50 extra for Keke. He said he wanted a drink! So into the hotel we went, Keke clearly unhappy, and Joe scowling. His scowl deepened when our floor had no ice machine. Keke hated the hotel, the room, even the bed. She cried and cried. We would have to take her with us to the game! Fortified by our cocktails and a few snacks I’d brought, we made new plans. We would take Keke to the game and then stop at the diner afterwards. And so off we went to the stadium.
We put on her leash and walked up to the gate, where we were greeted by a large “No animals of any kind!" Wanting to be good grandparents, we went back to the car and put Keke in her crate in the back seat. Lowered the windows. She cried pitifully. Feeling like terrible dog owners, we returned to the stadium.
The starting lineup was called and did not include Lulu. We were shocked. Was she injured? We waited for her to play, but it never happened. This was unheard of! What was wrong? After the game, we ran into Nancy, Lulu’s Mother, and her best friend Tara. They had been looking for us. They were upset and didn’t know why Lulu didn’t play. Together, we all waited for Lulu to come off the field. Oh no! Her grandparents drove 3 hours to see her play and she didn’t! We could see how upset she was, so after giving her a big hug, we left so she could talk to her Mom. By, the way, Tara was holding Lulu’s dog and said no one paid any attention to the “No Animals” sign.
We left the stadium and then the real fun began. When we got to the parking lot, our car was weakly flashing every light. The door opener did not work. We could not get in the car. Keke was now barking excitedly. Joe finally reached in the open window and opened the car door. He tried to start the car, but the battery was dead. We despaired. I took Keke for a walk. Fortunately, we had jumpers with us and a kind man used his car and our jumpers to start up the engine. It was late and dark, but we made plans. We would go to the diner. We would not turn off the engine. Joe would get us some food to take back to the hotel. All would be well.
So off to the diner we went. We theorized that someone, attracted to our car by Keke’s mournful crying, had put their hand through the window, thus setting off the alarm, which went off and never stopped until the battery was dead.
We reached the diner. Joe went in, but he returned immediately. The diner had just closed. We would not get food to enjoy as we relaxed in our room.
But Joe had an idea! He had spotted a grocery store behind the hotel. He would buy frozen dinners and we would heat them up in the microwave in our room. Al would be well! And so that is what we did. The dinners were god-awful but Joe had also bought a small ice cream carton and we sat in bed and ate it all.
The next day, with our hearts in our mouths, we approached our car. Would it start? It did. We drove home by a better route, Keke, exhausted by her ordeal, fast asleep on my lap. We did stop at the Columbus Market, but there was a “No dogs” sign so we only stayed long enough for me to buy some pots of mums.
Thus ended our Kuztown adventure.
PS Lulu did not play because the coach wanted to try out a new player in her position. The coach actually apologized to Lulu for not putting her in at all. Lulu has played every game since.
10/10/22
In June, our children gave us a 60th wedding anniversary party. It was a wonderful day; in fact, after we got home, Joe remarked that we had definitely hit the high point of our life together! Above are our three children saying nice things about us!
First Row: Joe and I with our children, Jody and Jenn, Alex, Beth, Sander and Emily. Second row: Alice and Mario, Joe and I with old friends, Joe and I with the grandchildren and great grandchild. Third row: The whole family; Ellie, Drew, Molly Charlie and Abby.
VIKING CRUISE/CHUNNEL TO LONDON |
France and Scotland June 2022
|
The trip to France was wonderful. Viking provides a lovely cruise, great food and excursions. The highlights were Monets gardens and house and the Normandy Beaches and American Cemetary. Our last night, we had champagne. The next morning, I woke up feeling nauseous and attributed it to the celebration the previous night. Joe also was feeling a bit off. We had a car coming for us to take us to the train station at 8am, so we rushed down with our luggage and were dropped off in time to catch the Eurostar train to London. By then, I was really feeling quite ill, and although I had been looking forward to taking the Chunnel, I fell asleep and experienced nothing. We arrived in London and were able to walk to the station where we were to catch the train to Edinborough. We were feeling awful; tired and just sick.
When we finally reached Edinborough and got to our hotel we collapsed in our room. I looked for the tea kettle/coffeemaker but there wasn't one. There was no room service either. The hotel was very modern with a bar but no restaurant. The bed was adjustable to all sorts of positions. Everything was glass and steel. We hated it.
We were not able to enjoy the city at all. I had been beforee, but I was eager for Joe to see Edinborough. We finally took a hop on, hop off bus and of course, we had to go out for lunch and dinner, so we did some good restaurants. We were exhausted and dragging ourselves around. What a disappointment.
After two or three days we caught our plane for NY. Our plan was to take a cab to my sister's apartment in Chelsea, stay overnight, and then take the bus home the next day. After a few hours on the plane, we decided to get a car service home to our door in Manahawkin and not expose Alice and Mario to whatever we had.
Once in JFK, the moving sidewalks were endless. We were sick, unbelievably tired and thought we would never make it to luggage. At long last, we were able to collect our suitcases and meet our driver. I called my sister and explained why we weren't coming.
When we finally got home, we sank into our lounge chairs. The next day, we tested ourselves for covid and of course, we were positive. I was surprised, because my symptoms were mostly nausea. Also, everyone on the ship had passed a covid test before we left the dock in Paris. We wore masks on our excursions. We did take off the masks on the bus home from Normandy, and we think that it where we got covid. I guess the exhaustion should have been a tip off!
In spite of being sick an additional week after getting home and several more weeks of exhaustion, we are so glad we were able to have this wonderful adventure!
When we finally reached Edinborough and got to our hotel we collapsed in our room. I looked for the tea kettle/coffeemaker but there wasn't one. There was no room service either. The hotel was very modern with a bar but no restaurant. The bed was adjustable to all sorts of positions. Everything was glass and steel. We hated it.
We were not able to enjoy the city at all. I had been beforee, but I was eager for Joe to see Edinborough. We finally took a hop on, hop off bus and of course, we had to go out for lunch and dinner, so we did some good restaurants. We were exhausted and dragging ourselves around. What a disappointment.
After two or three days we caught our plane for NY. Our plan was to take a cab to my sister's apartment in Chelsea, stay overnight, and then take the bus home the next day. After a few hours on the plane, we decided to get a car service home to our door in Manahawkin and not expose Alice and Mario to whatever we had.
Once in JFK, the moving sidewalks were endless. We were sick, unbelievably tired and thought we would never make it to luggage. At long last, we were able to collect our suitcases and meet our driver. I called my sister and explained why we weren't coming.
When we finally got home, we sank into our lounge chairs. The next day, we tested ourselves for covid and of course, we were positive. I was surprised, because my symptoms were mostly nausea. Also, everyone on the ship had passed a covid test before we left the dock in Paris. We wore masks on our excursions. We did take off the masks on the bus home from Normandy, and we think that it where we got covid. I guess the exhaustion should have been a tip off!
In spite of being sick an additional week after getting home and several more weeks of exhaustion, we are so glad we were able to have this wonderful adventure!