Before I left for my long-planned trip to Swansboro on the first weekend of November, I joined Jim for a really cool event at the Japanese Ambassador's residence for the 69th Japan Self-Defense Forces Day reception. We couldn't be more excited to see the beautiful home and hoped for some wonderful Japanese food and sake! It did not disappoint. Bonus - we saw several people we knew from our time in Japan and reconnected with others that we hadn't seen in ages ... and of course the food was SPECTACULAR!
I left for Swansboro a few days later under unfortunate circumstances, because of Mom's unexpected heart attack. She was still in the hospital and so I went down to help out with Dad. He can't stay home by himself and Gregg really needed a break. She had been going nonstop between the hospital and the house and the marina. I was happy to be in Swansboro, even if the situation was less than ideal. We were overwhelmed with all the friends and family who helped us out so far, be it with food or volunteering their time with WT. We can never say thank you enough!
While I was there, Mom was moved from a critical care room to one further away from the center hub, which the nurses tell us is a good sign in her recovery. She still has a long way to go but we hopeful. Her poor arms are black and blue from all the IV's though. She says they don't hurt, but I can't imagine that is true. I made it back to VA with Daddy in tow, just in time to attend Ben's playoff game. While they didn't win, Ben had several incredible plays including an 80 yard run for a touchdown! Jim's best friend from high school joined us at the game, and he was duly impressed with Ben's performance. It was super cold, so Dad and I left at halftime just before the other team really started to pull away from the Mustangs.
Originally Jim and I were going to attend the Commandant's Birthday Ball this year, but then he realized his upcoming travel to the west coast was going to interfere and so I somehow missed out on attending any USMC Birthday functions this year. Jim attended a Birthday celebration with some friends and former Marines downtown in DC. He looks mighty spiffy in his uniform!
We are going to take a little time out before discussing Jim's upcoming trip to say HAPPY 19th BIRTHDAY to Lilly!!! She made a comment on how she wasn't featured in last month's edition. Welllllll, that is what happens when you decide to go to college on the other coast AND you don't share pictures other than you giving me a pouty face on snapchat. Sorry! However, this month it is different! I sent her roommates a supply of balloons and decorations and asked super nicely if they would provide me with a picture of Lilly waking up in a bed full of balloons since that has been our tradition since the kids were little. While I did not get any pictures, they did send me this fabulous video! I LOVE IT!!!
In addition to sending her some presents, we ordered some homemade treats to be delivered to the dorm so she could have at least have something sweet from us to share with her friends. Apparently they had a whole day planned to celebrate Lilly and we are so thankful that she has found a good group! But don't worry, we will be back to Lilly here shortly.
We drove Jim to the airport later that weekend and he flew to San Francisco to attend a conference. This blog initially started as kind of a joke response to Jim sending me pictures of the fantastic hotel room views and other activities he was exposed to on work trips. He would send me a picture of a hotel or bar and I would reply with a picture of a sink full of dirty dishes or the backyard. Sometimes I would add a brief synopsis of my day in reply to his explanation of what he had done. And the blog kind of took off from there. This trip was no exception 😬.
He does get to see some cool stuff. This trip also included a visit to a museum dedicated to the history of computers or something like that. He sent us some pictures. I think I owned or had immediate access to all of these.
After we dropped off Jim at Dulles, we decided to take Daddy to the Udvar-Hazy Center since it is right next door. Within this facility, hundreds of historically significant air and space craft along with other artifacts are on display. It is a vast hangar so we thought it best if we could put Dad in a wheelchair since his walking is slow and his balance isn't always the best. We really thought he would get a kick out of seeing most of the airplanes and especially the Space Shuttle. Our marina sat on the launch path of many of the shuttle launches and we often saw the launch clouds and contrails.
So why is Daddy in VA you say? Well we weren't sure when Mom would be home from the hospital and Gregg was doing double duty running between the hospital helping Mom and the house to take care of WT. So we thought maybe I could bring him home with me for the 12 days or so between my visit to Swansboro and our plans to be home for Thanksgiving. We weren't sure if he would tolerate being in VA or what he would say once he figured out where we were going, but decided to give it a try. Jim was going to be in CA and I had to get back to Lucy and Ben. Sooo, we thought, why not give it a try.
The drive north was interesting as he figured out fairly quickly we weren’t going to New Bern to visit Mom in the hospital and when I told him we were going to VA he didn’t seem that fazed. Of course we had the same conversation several times on the drive up, but he seemed to be tracking what we were doing.
After Jim left, Dad and I fell into a pretty good routine. We walked Wesley every day and we usually spent some time outside either raking the leaves or using the leaf blower to blow them off the back deck. Only once or twice during his stay did he get truly agitated, so I would say we were pretty lucky.
Lucy promised me earlier in the fall that once volleyball was over she would go get her permit so she can start practicing driving. According to the DMV, once she turns 18 in July, she can get her license. Fingers crossed that is the truth! We certainly can't be the only people to experience this but you would think so if you talk to ANY DMV employee.
Before I head back to Swansboro with Daddy for Thanksgiving, Ben got WT into the mini Mini and took him for a little spin down the street. Every day when we walked down the street he would comment how much he liked that car. Well today is your lucky day WT!
Back to Lilly! Jim made sure his travel plan included a long layover in LA so he could go see our sweet girl! He arrived in LA fairly early and walked around the campus until he found her! I am sooooo jealous!!
After linking up, Lilly took Jim to her Sorority house for lunch and a tour. Jim was impressed with the house and, to his relief, all the girls were super nice and we feel like she has found a great fit.
They then proceeded to pack as much fun as you possibly can into two days to include the UCLA - USC football game with his roommate from the Naval Academy John Landherr and his family.
UCLA vs USC is apparently one of the biggest rivals in college football! I mean it makes sense as they are crosstown rivals, but we were totally clueless as to the extent of the history of this rivalry. The campus doesn't take any chances. During the weeks leading up to the games, several statues are given some protection to ensure that the pranks the students play on each other don't do any lasting damage. The Bruin in the quad is one such landmark. He gets the encased in bubble wrap treatment as seen below.
Jim and Lilly were totally blown away by the LA Coliseum which was of course home to the 1984 Olympic Ceremonies and Track and Field events.
The visit ended all too quickly and I am super jealous that he got to spend time with her and I have to wait another month before I can get my hands on her! December can't come fast enough!
WT and I left for Swansboro before Jim got home that afternoon. He had to work half the week and the kids also had school on Monday and Tuesday. Our friends the Nestors drove in from CO to visit family for Thanksgiving and Blake came over to hang out with them. Ben has assured me they had a great time catching up. I hate that I missed seeing them but I needed to get WT back to Swansboro.
Thanksgiving was especially emotional this year given Mom's recent health scare. It was great to be home with everyone. Well everyone except Lilly who spent the holiday with our friends the McArdles in Santa Clarita. With her upcoming exams, it wasn't practical for her fly back to the east coast. We are forever thankful the McArdles opened their home to Lilly for the holiday! Not sure how we will ever be able to repay them!
While we were home we decided to check out the world famous Swansboro Christmas Flotilla since it has been a long while since we were home for it. We got a late start and got there at the tail end of it, but of course it was still magical! Ha Ha Ha! I would say there were probably a good 250 people milling around the downtown shops and streets. Crazy!
November was a fun filled, action packed month, but I am not going to lie, I am looking forward to DECEMBER!!
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