Last day of January 2017

Grandpa and Audrey

 It is hard to believe that tomorrow will be February 1st.  January has gone too fast.
We finally got in our first winter tennis match and came home with 2 court wins of the 3 played.  It would have been nice to get 3 but 2 is fine.  I played with my bum right leg on court 3 and we came away on top 6-0 and 6-4.  I played today and my leg felt kind of good but I would say I was playing at about 80% as I was careful not to injury it more.  We were scheduled to do a make up tomorrow but I received a call and the other team could not come up with 6 players so it will be another reschedule--when I have no idea.
As I rode to the courts this morning on my bike the temp was 41, a bit chilly but it did not take long to warm up on the court.
Enough for January and as it is now PM my FP is long gone.

Sunday, January 29th

Many little girls!

Well the birthday wishes and gifts are about to come to an end--maybe they have reached their end!  Perhaps it is a good time to reflect on life--a bit later here.
Terry and I went to Home Depot yesterday and ordered some things for the house here.  We would like to do some small upgrades and updates.  When I say small, that means small in work not small in cost as one would know!  Now I need to install some new door knobs etc but that is for another day, not on Sunday.
When we arrived home I decided to pick the oranges from our tree outside the den window.  I juiced several and the juice is sweet and yummy!
It seems that the time flies and I do not get a lot done yet most of the time I am busy I think.
I am excited for tomorrow as I have high hopes that we will get our first league tennis match in.  With a bye and a rain out our season has not started.  My right calf is a bit sore so it will be court #3 for me as I think I will not have to run as much.  I have not played #3 in the last 3 seasons so it will be different.  The match is away and we will leave at 11:45.
As I type I see rain on the window but I think it is supposed to let up and be nice today.
Our neighbor John is arriving today.  It will be very different without Diane.  I think John plans to stay a month or so.  His daughter Beth is coming too and I suppose she will take care of her mother's things.
What is it like to be 70?  Well I have 3 days of experience but here is a bit of contrasts:

• At 40 I turned down the volume on the radio, now I put my hearing aids in
• At 40 I may take some vitamins for energy now I take pills for high BP and cholesterol 
• At 40 I may wear long pants to keep warm, now I put a compression sleeve on to keep my sore calf warm
• At 40 I would wake up, wash my face and get ready for work but now I wake up, clean my trifocals and am kind of ready for the day
• At 40 I would be out the door by 7:00 for work and now I am out the door by 7:00 for tennis
• At 40 I would worry about my hair in the morning as it may stick up in the back, now at 70 that hair in the back has turned into a bare spot 
• At 30 my hair was too thick and now it is too thin
• Some how it seems that with older age the aches and pains grow MUCH
• At 50 I would read the sports page, the front page and be finished, now at 70 I often include the obituary in my reading to see if anyone who died was 100 or more
• At 40 my kids were on my mind a lot, now their kids are on my mind a lot
• At 50 I thought about calling Mom and Dad on the weekends and now at 70 I think about all the questions I should have asked them before they died
• At 40 I may think about my siblings once in a while, now at 70 I so enjoy the calls I make to them even though it is not often enough
• At 40 it seemed like life would be endless, now at 70 not so much!
• At 30 all I could think of was what the future might bring, now at 70 the future seems to be shorter and the past often comes to mind
• At 20 I was so happy to be on my own, away from Mom, Dad and the farm, now at 70 I think about growing up and would not trade it for anything
• At 30 brother Ronald and sister Janet seldom entered my mind, now at 70 I find myself often wondering what they would have done had they lived to old age
• At 30 special education IEP's (individual educational plans) come into my life, now IEP means Important Essential People!
• At 20 I thought the worst thing that could happen to me was if I became bald, now people with hair shave their head
• At 20 my world was the farm, college and that was it.  Now I remember airplane rides, the great wall in China, the endless landscape in Alaska and more
• At 20 old people were 70, now at 70 old people are 90
• At 30 a car was worthless if it had a 6 cylinder engine, at 70 a 4 cylinder car has get up and go
• At 20 I filled my motorcycle with gas for a dollar, now I fill my car for $50
• At 30 an average house where I lived may have cost $25,000.  Today an average house where I live may cost $400,00.

The list could go on and on and on but the bottom line is times change, lives change, cultures change and what is today may not be tomorrow so live, love, serve and enjoy.

Running out of pictures but then running out of January too!

That's it, a picture and a word that the world is pretty much the same today as yesterday!

More picture

Elspeth facing and Veronica with her back to the camera

Just a normal day where I will post a picture and not much else.

January is counting down

Travis who has never been married but usually has nephews and nieces hanging around him 

I have not taken the time to make FP yet but I am going to make it soon with Kona as that coffee is the best and I celebrate the start of our winter tennis season.  Our match is at home and it is at 1:30 when the winds are supposed to be 25+ mph and the temp is supposed to be a bit cool.
I hope many people read the blog today as it is refreshing after reading through so many tiring comments on Facebook about Trump and/or the women's march yesterday.  It was extremely interesting to see who was out for the march.  Even though I am not inclined to protest or march I understand why people do it.  Not so sure everyone who I saw ,that I knew, were marching for the right reason.  If more people would try harder to do what is right and think less about how unhappy they are with others I feel it would be a better world.  I would be quick to say that President Trump often says and then thinks BUT I am excited that it seems we can experience a new fresh approach to our country and I think he will do very good things.  It appears to me that finally we may experience some good for the "people".
Wait, my FP is now ready so I will drink to a good day.

Tomorrow could be a challenge!

Here they are the South Bend group!

I think tomorrow's tennis could be a real challenge.  I am not talking about the opposition as they will be tough too but I am talking about the weather.  I just looked at the forecast and by the time we get on the courts tomorrow for our first winter match it is supposed to be 65 with winds at 27 mph, yikes!  I would say that there should be NO lobs and never count a ball wide until it lands.
The home front remains pretty much the same.  Terry--a tiny bit better and me--still struggling some as to how I should use my time.  Not sure that is a problem but I have not been using my time well and there are many things to do so I need to get on my high horse.
After we attended the memorial for our neighbor Diane I have found myself missing family who are no longer here.  My mind wanders to the farm with Mom and Dad, to Ronald who was so full of life when he died, to Janet who was the ultimate homemaker.  Of course when cancer comes up, and it has in friends, I think of Gail and the suffering she went through.  Then Helen, in our phone conversation recently talking about Joan's Ron who was near death.  Ron has been good for a long time now but there was a time when we thought he would die.  As I woke up this morning I felt I should refocus and think about positive things like siblings Joan, Helen and Dave and be thankful for Terry and of course those 12 grand children.
Aaron and Amy had a little episode with Leo this last week and I thought back to SOME of the little episodes we had with Cynthia, Aaron, Travis and John!  Sometimes parenting is good for the soul and sometimes it tries the very fabric of one's being AND of course there are times when it provides material for that mountain top experience.
Enough, I have enjoyed my eggs with sausage and ripe olives, my FP coffee and it seems that writing this morning has given me a sense of where I need to go.

Home again

Amy, Aaron, Ruby and Leo--Bucky Badger fans

A whirlwind trip of 48+ hours to Toronto came to an end yesterday about 3:00.  We had a very very easy and quick trip home yesterday as we left the hotel about 6:00 AM, filled gas in (Grandpa Lee would say we put gas on), checked the rental car in, went through TSA and customs all by 7:00 AM.  Coming into Canada we had to do the cattle herding thing (on the farm we herded the cattle up the shuttle as they headed towards market) as perhaps 200 people were in line at customs but yesterday there was NO line and we zipped right through.  Our first leg was to Cincinnati where we had a 50 minute layover.  As we entered the terminal we had about a 50 foot walk to the next gate!  On our way up to Toronto our layover was in Atlanta and we had to take the train to our next gate.  We left from there early and arrived in Fort Myers about 30 minutes early.  On our way home we stopped at an outlet mall as I needed some white undies to go with my white tennis team shorts.  Some guys on the team thought maybe pink and even worse someone suggested we go commando (I learned what that was a couple of years ago!) but of course nobody was serious.  I had better be careful or this blog will go beyond "G".
It was the right decision to journey to Toronto for Diane's memorial service.  Her husband, John, was very surprised and pleased that we came.  He shared at the memorial.  He talked about how they decided to move into a larger home on the lake just before Diane got sick.  It was difficult and stressful and John wished they had not made the move but they did and on December 12th they moved in.  They had a beautiful view of Lake Ontario (they had lived near the water often) and as they walked through the house Diane said, "WE did good".
We stayed at a Best Western Hotel and our first room had a leaky toilet so we moved.  In the morning the breakfast had sausage, eggs (powder of course) and pork/beans!  If one would rate this hotel on a scale of 1-10 I would have given it maybe a 1 or even a 0.5.  I am sure if Terry or I had tripped on the hall floor and fell we would have contacted a terrible disease and maybe died on the spot!  The room we ended up in maybe would have rated a 4 at best.
Anyway we arrived home and we have no plans to go anyplace the rest of the winter.  I will get on the tennis courts today after a 6 day layoff and that may have been good for my back and foot.  As to my game, we will see.
I missed our team practice with the pros on Monday so I will have to talk to them before I make up pairings for next Monday.  We play 3 courts of double but maybe the pros, Myke and Phil, will suggest I play court #4!
Terry was a trooper on the trip.  She was able to lie down in the airports during layovers so that helped.
Enough for now.  I need to get dressed, sip the last half of my FP and be on the bike to the tennis court soon.

heading out tomorrow

The Adkins family, a fun and exciting group!

Terry and I are flying to Toronto Canada tomorrow to be with neighbor John Richardson as family and friends celebrate the life of Diane, John's wife.  It will be a short trip as we fly out around noon Monday and return early afternoon on Wednesday.  We will miss Diane here in Naples.
In my life time I have received few honors or trophies and that is just fine with me.  But this summer I received a letter from the copyright office for my book.  That is kind of special so I had it laminated and mounted on board.  I will have to fine a place to put it.
Not much news.  I will get things ready today for the trip.  I will wear a set of clothes and then take some nicer things for the memorial.  That will be it.  Not even sure if I will take a suitcase or just a brief case with thing in it.  As I have stated in the past flying is not one of the things I enjoy but there are times when a person puts aside what they like or enjoy and does what is right.  Sometimes they are the SAME but other times they are not.
My FP was gone a long time ago.

Those grand daughters sure are cuties!

Veronica-2, Elspeth-3, Agatha-3, Ruby-6, Audrey-8 and Faustina-8

Terry and I made a big decision yesterday.  Our neighbor and friend Diane, died on Wednesday.  Husband John sent a note yesterday giving details of her memorial which will be near their home outside of Toronto, Canada.  We decided we wanted and needed to go so we booked a flight and a room yesterday.  We will fly out Monday and return Wednesday.  A quick trip for sure but we know it is the right thing to do.  John and Diane were wonderful neighbors and special people.

Well if I do not reflect back on 2016 we will be looking at 2018 soon!!!
Some of the highlights/lowlights of the year.

• My winter tennis team was decimated by vacations and injuries and the results were less than great but there is always another time.
• We took a 3 week trip to get home to St. Paul and it was a fun fun time.  Some of the trip highlights were Carter, FDR, Kennedy, Heady Topper, Acadia, graduation, more states, camping and more.
• A low light was me getting very sick and dealing with it for months.  
• A low light was Terry falling and going through a long rehab.
• Leo Adkins came on the scene in November and made the Lee side grand children even at 6 girls and 6 boys.
• The Lee side gathering over New Years was a great time
• Finally, actually a first in my life,  I was able to tackle a major project on the house at 2094 Niles.  Our new second floor bathroom is beautiful and I actually think all the work that went into it was worth it.  It did however reveal a truth.  I did a lot of the work and still the cost of the redo was more than my first house--am I old?
• A summer trip to ND to visit brother Dave and have lunch with Grandma Saunders was fun.
• Terry's daughter Kim visited.
• We took in our 56th national park which was part of my first ever cruise.  We begun our journey of presidential  libraries by visiting 3.
• On our way to MN in the spring/summer we were able to visit John/Mary and Aaron/Amy.
• An e-mail informed us that a friend and fellow tennis player, Bruce, died suddenly in the summer.  We had talked to him while in MA on our spring trip.  His wife, Linda, came down in December to spent some time with friends.
• Actually a low light was leaving the camper in St. Paul for the season.  We needed to get to Naples in a hurry as Terry's back was hurting.  I miss the camper BUT it is nice to have more space in the garage here.
• I did not make a lot of things in my wood shop but I did spent time working creating things. The smell of the wood and the things one can create with hands always bring joy.
• In the summer of 2009 the lawn in St. Paul was terrible and that is being kind.  Each summer since I have worked to sod, seed, cut, trim, fertilize, water and more.  Last summer it was certainly not a "prize lawn" but it was looking better than ever and that was fun to see.
• A small summer garden produced tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and more.
• After such a disappointing winter tennis season the fall season was a mountain top experience.  We finished in 1st place and the guys became a real team.  It was a fun ride.
• On March 27th Terry and I celebrated our 5th anniversary.
• We continued to plan and host monthly villa parties at pool side.  Five years ago they did not exist and now we usually have 25-40 people show up.  They always bring great food and interesting conversation.
• Even tho we are not actually OLD it still is great to celebrate birthdays and we did last year.  I say that because I have known too too many people who were not able to celebrate last year.
• LASTLY I JUST FEEL BLESSED TO BE WHO I AM AND WHERE I AM.  I AM SO GRATEFUL TO BE ABLE TO GET ON THE BIKE AND GO, TO TAKE MY TENNIS RACQUET TO THE COURT AND PLAY, TO GET UP IN THE MORNING AND BE PHYSICALLY AND EMOTIONALLY ABLE TO DO THINGS.  I do have a slight problem.  As time passes my mind does not keep up with my body.  That means the body often has to remind the mind that time quietly and slowly steals strength-agility-stamina and more.  Mind me, I have no complaints.  IF my the mind ignored the body, perhaps life would be dangerous!

Here I am, with no more FP to enjoy and no more thoughts in my mind.

Enough of 2016.  It is history and it certainly was more good than bad.  2017 has begun and it appears that it will go faster than 2016 but then 2016 went faster than 2015 and so on.

January 13th, Friday!

Things must change, Henry beat me in table tennis and may be taller than Grandpa soon

Jude is one neat kid and he has the best smiles for pictures

Not much to say today.  Tennis at 7:30, Terry has a PT at 2:00 and maybe we can find some way to celebrate Friday the 13th!
I am enjoying my FP this morning but it is not the BEST.  The best, Kona, is safely tucked away as there is very little left and I need to save it for a special day.
I weighed myself yesterday and it was YES my weight is way down!  I suspected that the scale was in some kind of giving mode.  I weighed today and I was right about yesterday!!!
I got a mild surprise yesterday as I looked at my LuLu account. (my book was published by them)  On December 31st 14 books were sold!  How about that.  I think my take on those books will be a grand total of $13.95.  That inches me a bit closer to the million dollar mark--I figured that at the rate my book sold in 2016 the profit will reach 1 million by the year 15,349!
No, I may leave early for tennis and get some stretching in before I hit the ball.  I think there is enough FP left to take a cup along.

A heavy heart

Veronica sitting on Daddy's lap

Terry and I received sad news yesterday.  When I picked up the phone and saw that it was from Canada I braced myself.  Our next door neighbors, John and Diane, are from Toronto.  When they left last spring Terry hurried out to make sure she saw Diane before they left.  Last summer, out of the blue, Diane was diagnosed with brain cancer.  We kept in touch with them off and on.  The last 2 times John called he did not mention how Diane was doing and the last time I called, their daughter Beth said Mom was not doing well but they were taking good care of her.  Well, when I picked up the phone and saw it was Canada my heart went down to my feet.  John said he had bad news, Diane had passed away.  It seems like we have gotten way too many of those kinds of calls or e-mails and every time it feels like someone, with a steel toed shoe, kicks me in the gut.  We did not spend a lot of time with Diane and John but we did occasionally have dinner together and twice they invited us to their club where they played croquet.  They both were very good players so Diane would play with me and John would play with Terry.  Also, their club was at least a notch above ours in terms of Sunday brunch!  I don't, but it would be easy to wish oneself young again so you would not experience so many deaths among friends. For sure I can relate to Grandma Saunders when she said that all of her friends would go to a different unit where she lives and then they would die!
On a more positive note Terry continues to slowly get better.  My foot is not great but it is better and my back continues to tell me that things are interesting.
Terry and I hosted our first seasonal party yesterday and there was a great turn out.  There were about 35 people and enough food for twice that many.  People really enjoy getting together and catching up on who is doing what etc.  Terry set things up as I played tennis and arrived about 30 minutes late.  Once a month the tennis pros put on a round robin event where you get to play with several players.  After wards there are snacks and drinks.  I really enjoy it as I get to play with players that I would not play with much. The first guy I played with has been caring for his wife who has dementia.  As I walked onto the court I asked him how she was doing.  He said that he had to go out of town several months ago so he had her stay in a facility for people who are suffering from dementia.  She liked it so much and was so happy he now has her there.  He said she gets better care, is happier and for sure it is easier for him.  As I waited for the match to start my mind wandered to the area of old age and I realized for the thousandth time that it is wonderful to grow into old age but it is not always easy.
When I got up this morning and walked out to get the paper my body told me, loud and clear, that I should not have played 90 minutes of tennis in the morning and then 90 minutes in the afternoon yesterday.  I think in February when they have the round robin I will not play in the morning.  Some of my team members played from 7:30-9:00, then did a lesson from 9:00-10:30 and then played in the afternoon. NOT ME.
Oh, I did win 2 of 3 matches yesterday and they were against guys who are supposed to be better than I.
FP is gone and I am out of words.

A change of pace

Guess what, this is not from New Years with the Lees!
I came across this photo as I was looking for something else.  It shows the elaborate shop we had with the big vice and the huge drill press in the back.  As one can see Dad had a really fancy shop!!!  On the other side was the forge which was fun to use and then at night we parked the Ford tractor in the shop.  It did not have a door and I remember some of the windows were missing some glass AND I am not sure of the roof!  Also one can see that I had NO idea about what kind of tool to use.

Picture of the day

It looks like Agatha won that game of connect 4!

Time flies and babies grow to be young ladies

from 2008 to

2016

I would say Faustina and Audrey played Uno a total of 6+ hours over the two days.  When they were not playing Uno they were playing Connect 4.  For sure, Christmas time was a game time.  I have to admit that Henry is now better in table tennis than I BUT the lighting was poor and he is used to it!!!!  No excuses as it will not be long and he will be taller than Grandpa too.
I would like to say how cold it is this morning but I know Helen would be upset.  Terry's daughter Kim is here with some of her clients who will swim, bike and race today.  I am sure they will have wet suits as they swim in the gulf.  I would guess the water will not be too bad but getting in and out for sure will be very chilly.
Terry continues to improve.  I would say that over the last couple of days things have been kind of normal.  She still has pain and uses some pain meds for relief but I think there is now some light at the end of the tunnel.
I had my winter team over yesterday for about an hour.  It was a good time.  The schedule came out Friday and we have a bye the first week so that will give us more time to practice.  I would say we will need it.  Now our first match will be January 23rd.  It will be interesting to see how the season goes.  Last year I had high hopes and then guys were gone and guys got hurt which put a big time dent in our success.  If I remember we were closer to the bottom than the top.  If we do not finish in the top 2 this season I will be disappointed.
Kim and family spent Christmas money on a trip to Hawaii and had a great time.  She brought me some Kona Coffee which is out of this world.  At $20+ the price is out of this world too so I will guard the last of it.  I may save it for the morning of our first tennis match.  Not sure if it is good luck or not.
It rained most of the day yesterday.  I think that is the first real rain since we arrived in October.  Things are very dry here and now we are going into the dry season.
Enough, the Kona FP is history for now.
I just biked to the tennis courts to have a look after the rain and they look great but there is nobody playing.  I don't know why, it is a warm 41---sorry Helen!

I said it!

Baby Leo Adkins at ONE month

I said it, there will be pictures in January.
Again I can not mention the weather but I came home from tennis in a sweat!

Here they are

left to right
bottom:  Jude---Leo---Liam
top: Ben---Agatha---Elspeth---Audrey---Faustina---Leo---Ruby---Henry---Agatha

If there are any people who read this blog you may get tired of kids in January as I will post MANY!
Yesterday, our first day back, was normal.  I played tennis at 9:00, Terry went on two walks, we must have said "Happy New Year" to MANY people!
As I got out of bed this morning I felt old.  I am beginning to wonder if I am normal in the sense that my body aches so much.  I will go on record as NOT complaining but really is it normal to have the aches I have?  I do not know.  At the end of 90 minutes of tennis yesterday I thought I should take a cool bath and go to bed.  I can't say anything about the weather now because one of my two favorite sisters got upset (she may have thought I was bragging).  So was it warm yesterday, you figure.
When I stepped on the scale yesterday morning I was defeated.  Oh my goodness that body of mine was way to heavy.  If Mom would have seen it she would have said, "Uffa".  I do not know if I spelled that correctly but the spell check has no other way to spell.  I am sure the spell check is not Norwegian.
Time to get the tennis clothes on and head to stretch before I hit the ball.
FP seemed extra special this morning.

It was grand

Terry and I had an uneventful trip to South Bend, IN on Friday.  John and Mary had arranged for us to stay in a house a block away and we had it all to ourselves.  Aaron, Amy and Travis had another house all to themselves and THEN John and Mary hosted the Cynthia and Mike along with the 12 grand kids over night Friday and Saturday.
Friday and Saturday were filled with games, conversation, some naps, great food, yummy drinks and 12 special grand children everywhere!  John and Mary went over the top in hosting everyone.  Aaron and Amy were the first to leave on Sunday and then Cynthia and Mike followed.  Travis stayed Sunday night so that Faustina and Jude could stay a bit longer.  Terry and I were the last to leave Monday about 10:15.
Our trip home was NOT uneventful.  We flew from South Bend to Chicago and then from there to Fort Myers.  However in Chicago, about the time we were to take off, there was a minor problem.  Everyone had to get off the plane with their luggage and then we boarded again LATER.  Our 5:40 PM arrival time in Fort Myers turned out to be 8:05 PM.  It was not a fun trip but it was good to be home.
I would say all 12 grand children were all stars over the weekend.  From 1 month old Leo to 13 year old Henry they were terrific.  It is a bit concerning however as Henry is becoming this young man who may be taller than Grandpa soon and Liam may be close behind!
So, 2016 has ended and 2017 is HERE.  What will it bring?  What news will family bring?  Will we all enjoy good health?  Questions that will be answered as the weeks and months fly by.
Terry's daughter is coming this weekend and we are looking forward to that.  She is an Ironman coach and some of her clients will compete in a race.  I am not sure if she will compete in any of it as she has been dealing with injuries for some time but maybe she will swim is what Terry said.
As we were having fun with the grand children from the Lee side Terry had grand children visiting Paris, London and another on a ski trip.  You guessed it, they are a bit older.
Enough for now.  I need to sip the last of my FP and then bike to the courts as I need to stretch before playing tennis for the first time in 2017.  A side note about tennis.  When I organized the team in January of 2015 I struggled for players, now I may have too many!!!  Perhaps a good problem to have.  We will see.
There it goes, the last sip of FP.