YEAR IN REVIEW: PART 2

Our Bay At Dusk

I think I last left you at June.  Aren't you happy I divided this into two parts?  You can read my Part 1 Year In Review here.

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I love how the calm water reflects the light, and provides a mirror for the boats and docks.  It is so, so peaceful here during the week.  Weekends are pretty wild with people having company that fills the roads with parked cars, strollers being pushed, bicycles, joggers/walkers, and cute dogs on leashes.  Honestly, I appreciate all seven days of the week for what they bring.  

Niles, MI Antique Shop Find

It was so fun having the time here to myself.  I explored towns with wonderful Main Street vibes, and many antique shops.  I was so excited to score these old Beatrix Potter books.  I may have to look back at my original post--I think they are copyrighted 1949.  They look very well loved.  It's so fun to have weekdays to bum around doing things I could never do on Saturdays and Sundays.  Even when we took 2 weeks in August for a long stay, so much time was spent on tasks, and many lazy days, just not wanting to get off the boat even to have dinner out.  

Master Bedroom Balcony

For the very first time, I fixed up the balcony off our master bedroom.  It looks out over the big lake.  I found canvas sling chairs which fold up---great for storing in the winter months.   The canvas can be wiped cleaned.  I added some plants and citronella candles.  The dogs loved walking out to sun themselves every morning when I made the bed and tidied up the room.  Now its empty and carpeted in snow.

Mango Guacamole 

I came across this recipe, and it was a hit all summer long.  My grocery store in Chicago makes a mango salsa.  This is just another take with avocado.  If you want to make it ahead, reserve the pit of the avocado and squish that down in until you are ready to serve.  This keeps the avocado from turning brown.  Find the recipe here.

Tropical Luau Drink

One morning I was fiddling around in my garden when I happened to see something hanging off the driver's side mirror of my car.  It was a cute invitation in the shape of a pineapple, inviting me to a luau that weekend.  I didn't recognize the name, but I did know the street was directly across the bay.  I talked to my friend Diane, who lives three houses down, and she knew the lady a bit, and it was a party for our whole bay. 

That weekend, The Husband came up, I made a Hawaiian Salad, and off we went.  It was an absolute blast!  Good food, meeting neighbors who had been here as long as us, but just a body of water separating us.  Oh, how we laughed.  There was karaoke, a photo booth with crazy tropical props to dress up in,  a bon fire on the beach, and dancing.  This beautiful lady who held the party with the help of her sweet sisters, is just so fun.  I hope to get in touch with her this summer---I'd love her friendship.  She also lives full time in Illinois, but very far north from me.  

Papa and Madelyn

The Husband loves nothing better than to take everyone out for boat rides.  He takes his role of captain very seriously.  To think Abigail was this little when we moved here.  I like to drive the boat, too, but The Husband freaks when I bring it into our shore station.  It's a sharp right turn, as we are in the corner of the bay, and then you have to cut the engine and rely on the waves to let you drift in.  If your boat smacks against any metal parts, it ain't purdy.  Sometimes I love the freedom of the wave runners.  You just the gun the engine and cruise onto the beach.  

Our Lake at Sunset

I actually found this gorgeous photo of our lake on Facebook.  You can see how large our lake is, the largest in Southwest Michigan.  That's the island in the center--it has about a hundred homes.  A ferry takes people and cars back and forth.  These home aren't accessible in the winter by ferry, but back in the day, when the lake froze, people would get there by snowmobile.  Another activity was truck racing on the ice.  For the brave I guess.  If you can enlarge this photo you can see few specks, which are boats, in the lower right corner.  If we cruise the entire shoreline, and you must go counterclockwise, it takes over an hour.  

City House Outdoor Renovation

This huge project took at minimum 4 months to complete.  It was my baby.  We started out having a new porch and driveway done.  Then the shutters were painted, and that was a huge improvement.  Then I worked with a great lady on the landscaping.  I told her the bushes and shrubs I liked, and she chose the placement.  We also reseeded and the new grass came up thick and lush.  I have never seen this with seeding before.  We get so many compliments from our neighbors, and sometimes people taking walks pause and point to some of the bushes and flowers they like.  I am super excited about planting some flowers next summer, maybe some red geraniums. 

Fall Centerpiece

Autumn seemed to come and go in a flash.  I think it is becoming my favorite season.  Everything seems to slow down.  The crisp air and the trees changing from green to brilliant colors, really makes me happy.  But I knew my time at the lake was winding up.  By mid-October,  I had a lot of yard cleanup, and wanted to really give the city house a good cleaning after not being there so much all summer.  I could also sense the holidays approaching.  I think the last time I was here was the end of October.

Miss Madelyn

All the grandkids continued to grow at warp speed.  Emily has an Instagram account that is simply pictures of Madelyn.  It is so cool to follow as she grows and changes.  I think this is one way technology is used nicely.  I remember my father having his old leather wallet with the plastic photo inserts.  He had pictures of all of us kids, and when he was fluffing his feathers for someone, he'd pull it out, give it a shake, and then, with what seemed like magic-- the yellowed plastic would unfold with blurred pics of all seven of us.  I was always in awe of that.  It's a vivid memory I have of him, along with Old Spice aftershave, and Lucky Strike cigarettes.  Anyway--our lives can be shared much differently now in a compact and portable way.  And who knows, maybe in future our kids will be telling their kids about iPhones, Instagram, and Snapchat, and it will sound very simpleminded and outdated.    

Tom & Abigail

Shortly before Thanksgiving, Abby's longtime boyfriend, Tom, popped the question.  He had her engagement ring made from his own design, and that evening his father put together an impromptu party for their family and friends.  We knew they were going to get engaged soon---they've been together for eight years!  They are planning for a July wedding in 2019.  They are now, in fact, house hunting, and I'm so happy it is back in our neighborhood.

Christmas 2017

The rest of 2017 for me is probably somewhat fresh on your minds (ha!).  Christmas stressed me out incredibly, try as I might to cut back and streamline everything I plan and do, I'm simply too fussy.  When its over and done, and I have a family hangover, I vow to do it differently next Christmas.  But that rolls around and the festivities spark my over thinking everything again.

We had several celebrations; I hosted one two days before Christmas Day, and I never had the joy of doing this annual family Christmas party.  Even with catered food, I was spread thin and worried constantly that something wouldn't work out right.  When I have parties, I try to make it so that the work is done ahead of time and I can be part of the party.  But it never turns out that way.  Some hostesses get that down right and I envy them.  I have learned that if you are going to have over thirty people, you really have to delegate your kids or friends to help in specific ways.  And I now realize, too, that my sister in law Meg, had this particular holiday party at her house for many, many years.  I always brought a dish and offered to help in any way I could and she always said no.  But I really applaud her now...she made it look easy.  I should have been a little bit persistent when I saw her more in the kitchen than with the family.  I do however, have a fantastic family and they really enjoyed themselves at this party I had, and gave me more "thank-you's" than I deserved.  I'm rambling here, but I think this was the extra on my plate that really made everything too much.  

We had Christmas dinner at the home of Megan, her husband Declan, and their kids.  Another brother in law,  Jim, and his wife Gwen and kids, were in from Kansas City for the holiday as always, and of course we had Papa.  So it was a long dining room table filled with great food, love and laughter.  I think this was the first time I just sat and soaked up the blessings of our good family.

*****

I was pretty happy to say goodbye to 2017.  It was a good year with a lot of personal growth.  But there were many ups and downs which are only natural.  Physically I was fighting the CMV virus, dealing with more and more back problems, and trying new and more experimental treatments for my eczema.  I tried a medication just recently passed by the FDA; it involved giving myself bi-weekly injections.  The only known side effect was dry eyes and irritation.  That hit me hard, and at one point my eyes were so dry that one morning I opened them and tore the cornea of my left eye.  This promising drug, which had already relieved so many people from severe, chronic eczema, failed me and I was at square one again.  

I can say that we had a great year at the lake.  The Husband and I finished up a ton of work inside and out, and had another beach area created on the opposite side of our dock.  I'm hoping he will decide to clean up his old fishing boat and keep it on that side, he sort of lost his love of getting up at 5:00 a.m., and getting out on the lake at dawn.  I think times like those are good for the soul, just as my time here alone is.  Still, we enjoy weekends cooking on the grill, having drinks with our neighbors, having company up, or just sitting on the beach watching the waves.  

As much as we want January to start  off on a brilliant new path, sometimes you have to drag some of the old baggage with you.   Its inevitable.  Right now I'm focused on the health of my husband, and of course Milo.  He is still getting chemo, and I'm not sure how long we will continue to do this if he doesn't go into remission soon.  We have to say goodbye at some point as much as it breaks my heart, and I swing back and forth with the mind set of enjoying every second we can buy, to seeing him decline.  Sometimes I see him staring at walls or struggling to get up the steps, and I think that I really need to decide if it's the cancer or old age that's making him go downhill.  He's not in pain, so I can't see doing anything different then I am at this point.  It's simply so much weighing on my mind.   

On a good note, there is no reason to not look at 2018 as a new slate.  In fact, everyday is a new start.    Maybe we have to learn to be accepting of taking the good with the bad.  A good enough sign of wisdom and maturity as any!

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I am always so grateful to all of you ladies who have been with me since the start of my blog, and so many of you new friends.  I get so much joy reading your comments and popping into your blogs as much as possible.  My blogging has taken a terrible slope downward.  In 2011, I posted well over a hundred times in the space of that year.  In 2017, I was at barely forty posts.  Egad!  It's not easy to keep up when my day job is writing as well.  Sometimes I really long to hide my laptop and sit with a good book or a crossword puzzle.  I try to remember life before my Mac.  I'm forever grateful for what I have, but I have to figure out a way to make all of this run like a well oiled machine.

So...onward and upward.  Next week we can move on to adventures in the new year!

Jane x   

***A note:  I keep meaning to let all of you know that I am having problem or glitch with responding to any of your comments by email.  This has been going on for several months.  My emails sent through the address in your profiles get returned to me. It's definitely something on my end, and when I know who to ask, I will.  In the meantime, know that I'm reading your comments and appreciating all of your kinds words.  I'd much rather visit your blog than send an email, but sometimes I'd like to touch base more thoughtfully.  I'll keep working on it.  ;)

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