(Here is our annual letter that I send to family and friends near Christmas time. I’m posting it here too for family and friends that I don’t have their email address. I’m hoping that they will see this letter here and pass it on to other family members!)
Hello everyone! We have had a busy year this year. We didn’t do as much traveling as we would have liked but we did get some traveling in. Maybe next year will be a better traveling year for us.
Home: We did a lot of improvements on our home. When we found out we had roof damage due to a hail storm (which must have happened when we were traveling), we decided to close in our side porch when we replaced the entire roof. My side porch is now a beautiful sun room with windows all around. It is my newest favorite room in the house! We also decided to replace all 25 windows in our home that were is pretty need of repair. We could either scrape and reglaze each little pane in the window and then paint them or replace them with windows we would never need to paint. So, we did just that. So for a few months, our house looked like a major construction zone but it was well worth.
Health: During the time of our renovations, Don had extreme back pain and for the first time I had to call an ambulance to take him to the hospital. Finally we were referred to a physical therapist that specialized in spinal injuries. Apparently at some time (we think probably our car wreck in 2000), Don’s ribs were jammed into his back bone. This made the muscles spasm and try to compensate for the lack of flexibility in his rib cage. The therapist was able to manually dig the ribs out (yes, this was a weekly episode of torture and pain but it was well worth the results!). Now Don is able to sleep on his back for the first time in about 40 years and he is able to sleep without sleeping pills. Apparently his “sleep disorder” was really due to extreme back pain that he had been living with for years. Pat’s health has been great which is good so we could focus on getting Don back to 100%. She just wants to lose about 30 lbs which would make her extremely happy.
Retirement Life: As we finish our fifth year of retirement we love it! Pat is really involved in knitting and spinning. In fact we bought a new Sidekick spinning wheel in November. People are starting to commission some knitting from her and she also has an online Etsy store. Don is still enjoying his postcard and stamp collection. Pat is also teaching graduate classes in Special Education for Furman University in the summers. Don has recently joined the Board of Directors for Springbrook Hospital.
Travel: This year we have gone to Gatlinburg a couple of times. Once we headed to New England and only made it as far as Virginia when we decided to go home. We just got back from 2 cruises in the Caribbean aboard the Carnival Dream. We will be in Orlando for a week going to Universal studios, checking out antique stores, and visiting friends who live in the area. Then we will spend the rest of the year with my parents in southern Florida.
That’s about all we have been doing this year! I hope this finds you and your family happy and healthy! Hopefully this new year will bring you a lot of love and laughter.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Image: 'Merry Christmas Earth Wallpaper'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26870279@N04/8254083340
Found on flickrcc.net
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