THISILDO

Dear All,

I know I did promise to update this more regularly when I last wrote, however, it seems my good intentions ran away somewhere and joined my broken New Year's Resolutions!!!

Better late than never, so here goes with a condensed version of my life since I last wrote.

As planned, I drove to Chicago and picked Lauren up, on June 21st. I was bursting with excitement as was she. We had lunch and then headed towards Atlanta, stopping for the night around 10pm, some 4 hours from Atlanta. The next day we arrived at Kelly's to an empty house as both Kelly and Nate were at work. Kelly had left a key hidden for us and we phoned to get instructions for disarming the security system. Lauren was designated this task, as I was not to be trusted, as I had set the alarm off on more than one occasion on prior visits. I did offer to assist her, however I was dismissed (untrustworthy), and after all how hard could it be?

Next thing I know, the alarm was sounding!!!! I ran into the house just as Lauren was finally disarming it successfully. It seems, she did know exactly what to do, however, she did forget to ask where the key pad was and had assumed it was just inside the front door. Alas, it was not, and the precious seconds ran out before she found it. We both began to call Kelly and Nate, so they could tell the security people not to send the police (this incurs a hefty charge). Unfortunately, they were both in meetings with their phones switched off, so our calls were to no avail. Instead, we hoped that no-one would come as it only sounded for a few seconds.

As I was outside unpacking the car, the squad car pulled up. I had to explain what had happened and show my id. He was a very pleasant policeman who happened to love Australians, so we did chit chat for awhile, and did our best to sweet talk him (Lauren was the greatest asset here). As I write this, I realise I did not check with Kelly to see if they were charged for the visit.

That afternoon Kelly took us to day care to pick Kyler up and we made her stay outside. Kyler was very excited to see me and ran to me with open arms whilst I melted. I then turned to Lauren and said "look who is here". He said "Lauren" and his little arms went straight to her and then he just snuggled into her. We were both blown away - it seems that because she talks to him on Skype he really knew her and he was so happy to see her.

Each day we spent together in Atlanta was wonderful - some of the highlights were - Erin's baby shower which we gave her at a wonderful restaurant - 4th July barbeque and numerous outings where we had Kyler to ourselves.

While we were there Chris and Erin had a falling out with their landlord who refused to do maintenance on their property and as a consequence, they decided they had to move. Jim and Maura had been staying with them and had painted the nursery in preparation for the baby's arrival, so their decision was not made lightly.

We checked out many homes before they found one suitable and then we began packing. They have since moved in and I will now have to decorate the nursery when I go to await the baby's arrival. They will be happier where they are I am sure and they are still only around 10 minutes from Kelly and Nate's. Erin has only 5 weeks to go and I admit to being very impatient - I just can't wait.

Lauren left for London on 5th July and I headed back to Delton on that day also. I did intend to break up the trip and spend a night somewhere on the way home, but decided to press on as it would have been quite boring to spend an evening by myself in a motel room in a strange town.

My decision was the right one, as I arrived home by 6pm in time to have a coffee with Tom and Linda before unpacking the car and heading out to dinner with John and Alex.

I think I may have mentioned in previous blogs that our "Delton family" has taken up bowling on a Friday night. Rather than decrease in numbers, we have actually grown! We usually bowl two games starting at 6.30 then we go to dinner afterwards. Sometimes we go to a restaurant or sports bar and other times, back to someone's house. We really have a great time. Some of our group have managed to increase their scores a bit, whilst others of us, have remained consistently bad! The scores however, do not reflect our enjoyment level!!!! Mind you, we have a couple of people who may be soon forced out of the group if their scores are maintained or grow!!!

We have had a few get to-gethers since my return. Alex and Woody had July birthdays, so we celebrated with a combined birthday party here one night. As usual, it was a combined effort and everyone had a great time.

It is now under five weeks til my new grand-daughter arrives. The excitement is building and I just can't wait to meet her, and hold her, and cuddle her and love her. It will be incredible. Erin is keeping well and looking great, but her 12 hour shifts on her feet in a busy under-staffed hospital sure wear her out. Hard to believe, but she is perhaps even more anxious for the baby's arrival than I am.

For those of you who don't know, I have been dating recently. There has been a huge gap in my life since Paul's death and I freely admit that I was lonely. Anyway, I did meet some very nice men and had some nice dates, until I met Jim and then it all changed. Jim is a wonderful man from Grand Rapids and we "clicked" right from our first date. Needless to say, he is now a constant in my life and I am very, very happy to have met him. Like me Jim is 58 and has 3 daughters and a son. I have met one daughter and found her to be delightful. I have also met his mother and step-father on numerous occasions and last weekend I met his brother, sister-in-law and their children. We had a great time and he certainly has a lovely family. Obviously, there are many more to meet and I am looking forward to meeting them all in the not too distant future. PS Went to Jim's mother's house yesterday and met his sister Kate, nephew Nick and his fiancee Patty - another lovely branch of his family!

It was election day here yesterday and a huge event for me. I have been hosting meetings here over the course of months as part of a "No Recall" committee. It is an issue I felt very strongly about and one I could not ignore. A committee called for a recall of elected officials based on a very nasty campaign of lies. We have all worked hard over these months and last night our efforts were rewarded! Justice was served and the people of our township voted not to have a recall. I am very lucky to have met some really wonderful people during this campaign - people who worked hard, gave their time, their money and their efforts to ensure that democracy was upheld. It seems for all the "bad guys" out there, there are many, many good ones and it makes me very proud of my American citizenship.

Well summer here has been very, very hot and it seems there is no end in sight to this heat at the moment. We have also had lots of summer rain and storms and the lake has not gone down at all - it in fact remains at its highest level in years.

I have had no interest in the house and will remove it from the market at the end of September. It would have been nice to have had it sold, but I do admit, although it is way too big, it still brings me immense pleasure. I enjoy my morning coffee on the deck overlooking the lake and am awe-struck at the many pleasures I find each day. We have a doe with twins who still have their spots, who graze on the back lawn. The birds attack the bird feeder continuously and I even managed to spot a barn owl sitting in the garden the other morning. It was huge. We also have a family of geese - mum, dad and 7 babies that peck the lawn for the fallen bird seed. I really enjoyed them until I discovered that they "poop" like dogs - not little balls like sheep! Consequently, Jim bought a pellet gun and we now blast them each time they decide to drop by and drop stuff on my lawn!!!

Since beginning the blog, I have received a phone call from my realtor to say that he has a group of people who want to view the house next week. They are interested in it for a conference/counselling centre or some such thing. They have seen the virtual tour and are coming from Chicago. Fingers crossed that it is what they want/need. Meanwhile, I shall have to do some serious gardening despite the intense heat.

Well folks, that is all for now - as usual, I have waffled on a lot. Photos at the bottom for anyone interested.

Love to you all - Kathy

PS Check out this great website www.yespromo.com.au It is owned by an Aussie friend of mine.