2013 Florida Vacation, Day Two

On Friday morning Lisa left bright and early to take Sophie to meet her school bus.  Dick and I enjoyed some time sitting by the pool, enjoying the warm beauty of their back yard.  

Later we went grocery shopping with Lisa.  Dick found a flavor of ice cream that looked pretty good to him!

Our minds were on George taking that eight-hour master's degree test.  Lisa got a cake for him and decided to finish decorating it herself - a decision she came to regret as she tried to turn it into the orange and blue colors of the University of Florida Gators.  He had said the night before that he was feeling disloyal to Penn State!  She did a great job.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any picture of the finished product.

I also was very much aware of something exciting going on in PA.  Remember that Sam and Jenn applied for their marriage license the other Monday when they were at our house?   Well, Friday was marriage ceremony day at the courthouse!  And here are a few pics.

Needless to say, we are VERY happy for them.

We picked Sophie up from school and went directly to her gymnastics practice.  It's always fun to watch her and the other kids and to meet other parents and grandparents.

From there, Lisa and Sophie left with another family to go to their small group Bible study. George was going to be driving there from Gainsville.  Dick and I took Lisa's car and went to the mall for some shopping and dinner.

We were glad to see George after we all got back home. Understandably, he was exhausted and very relieved.  Imagine writing for eight hours on five questions that called on you to remember any of the things you had studied the past eighteen months!  In a room with other people doing the same thing. He said it took him half an hour to tune out the loud, fast typing of the woman beside him before he could begin writing!

Congratulations, George!

Vacation in Florida, Day One

On Thursday morning Dick and I left home at 6:15.  That felt like a reasonable time for catching a 12:00 noon flight from Baltimore, wouldn't you think?  We were wrong.  This was taken somewhere around Harrisburg as it was just beginning to rain.

The further south we drove the more it was raining.  By the time we hit the beltway around Baltimore it was pouring.  The older I get, the worse I am as a passenger.  Poor Dick.  I was gasping every two minutes.  I was absolutely looking forward to getting on an airplane so I could relax.  But that was not about to happen any time soon,  Traffic was heavier than we had ever seen it on the beltway - absolutely bumper-to-bumper, stop-and-go the entire time.  

As we sat and crawled along Dick said, "I'm going to have to pull over.  Our car is overheating." My heart sank as I looked at the temperature gauge and saw the needle right up in the red.  When we got a chance to pull over, Dick got out in the pouring rain, opened the hood, then asked me for my water bottle.  He poured that into the radiator, then went to the ditch that was running with rain water and filled my water bottle up again and poured that in.  When he got back into the car he admitted that when he had checked the oil and water levels before we left home, he had forgotten to put the radiator cap back on!   The cap was still under the hood!   While it was a relief to know that the problem was that simple, it did not relieve our immediate problem of getting to the airport on time.  Because the radiator was so overheated, it did not allow enough water to enter at one time, so we had to stop two more times to add water.  THANK GOD it was raining and there was water running in the ditches.  Otherwise, Dick may have poured his Mountain Dew into the radiator.  

The stress of the situation was just horrible.  We were literally praying out loud as we drove.  All I could think of was that we MUST NOT miss our flights!!  This stupid ticket saga had to end!!  It was a great relief to finally reach the long term parking lot and the shuttle.  Of course, even that seemed to just crawl along as I kept my eye on my watch.  We were glad to find out that the US Airways and United terminals were right next to each other, but I was dismayed to see that the check-in line at US Airways was LOOOONNNGGG!!  Dick waited nearby and we eventually went through security together.   Both our flights were leaving from D gates, so we hurried in that direction together and then kissed goodbye at the point where his gate was one direction and mine was in the other.  We kept in touch by texting as long as we could.  My flight was delayed by at least half an hour, so I was not going to be missing it.  Whew!!

From Baltimore, he flew to Chicago and I flew to Charlotte.  Again we kept in touch from those two locations as long as we could, and again my flight was very delayed.  They said that our aircraft to Tampa had to go to the hangar for repairs and they would be finding us another one,  As we collectively sighed, the older gentleman sitting beside me said, "Well, I'm glad we're NOT boarding that plane if it needed repairs."  That put things into proper perspective.  He ended up being a very enjoyable conversationalist, and it made the time pass more quickly as we waited.  

At last we boarded and were Tampa bound.  Initially I was to have gotten there an hour before Dick, but he got there just a bit before me.  When I got to baggage claim, he, Lisa, and Sophie were waiting for me.  AHHHHHH.  Relief, relief, relief!!!  

We were all hungry and stopped at BJ's at the Citrus Park mall for a very delicious dinner, then came to the house to watch some highlights from The Voice.  We all LOVE that show!  

George was not here that first night.  He was at the University of Florida in Gainsville to take an eight-hour test on Friday - the culmination of eighteen months of a Masters in Pharmacy program he has been taking.

The airline ticket saga, part three

Tomorrow morning we will drive to the Baltimore airport together.  Then we'll say goodbye to each other till we meet again in Tampa.  Say what????  

But first I want to share a few pics.  We are so eager to see these adorable little girls at their gymnastics competition on Saturday.  

And these beautiful people.

And this sweet dog.

And this wonderful place.

Now about that separation at the Baltimore airport tomorrow.

Remember when I messed up my airline reservation at the beginning of the year?  I intended to go to Florida on March 20 - 23, but discovered that I had mistakenly booked my flight down for FEBRUARY 20!!  I didn't know it until I was informed on February 20 that my trip ticket was cancelled because I had missed my first flight!  After many tears and phone calls I was somewhat consoled that I would have credit with US Airways for the amount of the ticket for up to a year, but it would cost me a $175 change-ticket fee.  By then tickets prices were much higher and I thought I just would not be able to go, and I would miss Sophie's Grandparents Day event.  I don't know if I was ever madder at myself.  

My blessed son-in-law came to my rescue and got me a ticket on United Airlines with his American Express miles.  I did get to go, even stayed an extra day, and had a most wonderful time.  

Then I tried to get home.  I left warm toasty Tampa and landed at Dulles Airport in DC two hours later to snow!!  Little did I know that I would become far too familiar with Dulles Airport, or at least the sad little wing from which the flights to State College leave.  After numerous delays I finally boarded my flight, but gave up my seat when they said they were overbooked and offered a $300 voucher.  I took it and got off.  More delays for the rest of the day finally resulted in my rebooking a flight for the next morning and being picked up by Jeremy, who took me home for the night.  I was nearly at the end of my rope, but getting to see him turned out to be fun.  

SO.  I had credit with US Airways and a voucher with United.  When Lisa and I had decided on the best weekend for our trip this fall, I went about booking our flights with great fear and trepidation.  I actually did it by phone, because I was so afraid I would make a mistake online!  I was tremendously relieved when I was finished. 

Thus our separation at the airport tomorrow.  I will take a US Airways flight, Dick will take a United flight, leaving within half an hour of each other and arriving in Tampa about an hour apart.  (Dick will just take a little trip to Chicago on his way there, ha!)  

I'm not crazy about this arrangement AT ALL.  It feels ripe with complications.  But I just have to stop thinking about it and trust that it will all work out without too much hassle.  Next Tuesday we'll be doing the same thing in reverse.   It's the part in between that will make it all worthwhile. 

Anniversary, grandchildren, sisters, daughter, friend

We celebrated our 42nd anniversary on Wednesday.  What a long-anticipated day our wedding was!  We had been dating 4 1/2 years, the last two of which we were separated.  That was back in the Viet Nam war days when guys were drafted into the service.  As Mennonites, our young men could choose alternate service.  Dick worked for $15 to $25 per month for almost two years at Greer School near Poughkeepsie, NY, finishing out his service at Camp Hebron the summer before our wedding.   Phone calls were very expensive, so we did not do many of them.  Of course, there was no email or texting or Facebook.  We wrote real letters and sent them by snail mail.  My mood for those two years went up and down according to how recently I had received my last letter.  I'm sure he must have been in a good mood all the time, because I wrote long, pining love letters twice a week!  

These are some fun pics taken before the wedding.  Looks like best man John was asking Dick if he's sure about this!  Obviously staged!

My maid of honor Elaine (in brown), my sisters Mary Ellen and Doris in the back, sister-in-law-to-be Doris High Stauffer in the foreground.  They knew what was important to me!

On Wednesday evening we dressed up in our "Bobbsey Twin" outfits for praise team practice, and our friends Amy and Sharon took pictures of us.  We had a lot of fun doing it.  Dick joked that we had just upped the dress code for practice!

Later that evening we went to a nice restaurant, Olde New York, which we've been wanting to try ever since we moved up here.  I wasn't very hungry, so I just got an appetizer - two egg rolls with duck sauce.  They were the best egg rolls I've ever eaten.

On Thursday evening Anthony and Lori had a meeting to go to, so I kept Austin.  Most of the time we played with a train set that we now keep here at our house.  But we also tried a little bowling!

He is a master negotiator.  Here is a little conversation he and Anthony had this week, taken from Anthony's Facebook post:

Austin: “Can you pet me like a puppy?”
Me: “I like you better as a boy.”
Austin: “I'm a boy puppy!”
Me: “But I want a son, not a puppy...”
Austin: “I'll be your son puppy!”

On Friday evening I drove to Lancaster County and spent the night at my sister Mary Ellen's.  We hadn't had any good sister time for a few months.   We sat and talked until too late.

Early Saturday morning we met at Central Grille for breakfast with Doris.  She had an event to attend with her daughter Ellen at 10, so we met at 8:00.  It was a lovely summer morning!  (Yes, we have been having a return of summer weather, and I have been loving it.)

They must have known that we Witmer girls get a little loud, because they put us in a separate room from the rest of the crowd, hahaha!

I did a little shopping at some favorite used clothing stores in the Manheim area, then headed to Reading to spend some time with Destiny.  She had her friend there, so I took both girls to the movies.  First of all we had to get our traditional restroom pic!  Sometime I'll make a collage of all these so we can compare heights.

 We saw Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 in 3-D.  It was great.  Funny, ridiculous, imaginative, and sweet.  3-D is so awesome.  

After the movie we went to Carvel for ice cream cones.  Here the girls are in their cool 3-D glasses, minus the lenses.

And without.  So cute. 

I was back home by 8:30, but had rain some of the way after dark.  I do not enjoy driving in the dark very much, and definitely not when it's raining.  I was glad to be home.  

This afternoon I had a GOOD nap and then a nice, long chat on the phone with Miki in Sweden.  It was so good to hear her voice.  

Later I had a knock at the door, and there was my friend Elaine Nissley from Manheim - my maid of honor in my wedding!  She and John had been in Ohio for the weekend and decided to look up our place on their way back through.  They could not stay and visit, but oh my!  When Elaine and I start talking, we have a very hard time stopping!  It was just a teaser!

I need to do another post before we leave for our trip to Florida on Thursday to update you on my ticket saga.  So stay tuned!

Wedding, birthday party, fun weekend with family

On Saturday morning we drove to York, Pa for our nephew Greg Stauffer's wedding. 

We matched, haha!

Greg and Kendra - what a beautiful couple in every way.

Greg is the son of Dick's brother Jim and his wife Carolyn.

Greg's siblings.  Back row: Mike, Lindsey, Josh.  Front row: Mike's wife Chrystal, Kendra and Greg, Heather.  A fantastic group of young adults that I'm proud to call family.

Grandpa and Grandma Stauffer added to the family pic. Still looking good in their 80's!

After the wedding we drove to Jenn's parents' house near Harrisburg for a very important event - Sammy's 2nd birthday party!  He was sleeping when we arrived, and they said we could go upstairs to waken him.  He usually hates to be woken up, but he was so surprised to see us, he forgot to be grumpy!  We went downstairs with him, and he took me around by the hand to show everyone who he had found.  It was so CUTE!

Even though it was just Jenn's family and us, there were many gifts for him to open, and he did it with great gusto.

Because he's such a born showman, we got him this microphone.  Boy, he knew just how to put it right up to his mouth!  There are buttons and pedals to add special effects.  It was quite a hit for him and his cousins.

When the party was over, Sammy rode to State College with us, with Jenn and Sam following us.  It was so great to have them here again.  We had some fun again with the microphone. He's a little dancing machine!



As usual, Sam and Jenn went out, and Sammy cuddled up with me for a story and was soon sleeping. What a perfect ending to a big day.

Of course, he was the first one awake on Sunday morning!

There was plenty of time for Grandpa to play with him before church.  Yes, doll house and even doll babies!

It was a gorgeous day, and after church Dick grilled hamburgers and hot dogs.  Look at this cool kid!

After football watching and naps, we drove to Anthony and Lori's for the evening.

As the guys were outside playing with Austin and Sammy, they somehow discovered that the tree that had been dying for the past several years was, in fact, so dead it could be pushed over.  Anthony called us ladies to come outside to watch the amazing feat! Sam used Anthony's phone to take a video, which is actually a lot better than mine, but here is what I got from my position on the deck.  Sorry about my loud exclamations!

It provided the perfect dry wood for our camp fire.  Even Sammy helped to carry firewood to Grandpa!


Nothing like sitting around a campfire on a cool evening. 

Sam and Jenn actually stayed over till Monday.  They had important business to do on Monday - they applied for their marriage license!

Watching them parent Sammy brings me so much joy.

How do you spell delight?

They headed for home around 3:00 Monday afternoon, leaving me with an empty house, but also lots to do and look forward to.  How I love being a grandma!