The first couple of years were fairly predictable – lots of Rotary stuff while I was president of my club and then assistant governor, daily excursions to the gym, lunch with friends, some re-decorating (still a work in progress!) and travel.

Not on the horizon was a partial re-location to our Arizona home but that adventure has helped me grow by leaps and bounds and has offered me options far beyond what my limited imagination could hold.

When we arrived last year I perused all the charter clubs in Sun City West – with over 150 choices there was something for everyone – sports, social, dance, music, computers, crafts of every variety, etc.  Not being too adventurous, I quickly met up with the bicycle club and started riding every morning followed by a weight workout at one of our 4 gyms a few times a week.  I walked the dog, made some friends, enjoyed seeing our local kids but basically played it safe.

No so this season!

One of the activities that caught my eye was a group called the Jazzy Poms – geezer grannies who wear modest but glitzy costumes complete with matching hats, spats and of course, color-coordinated pom poms!  My friend Ruth had been a member before her knee went out and she encouraged me to get involved and assured me I’d have more fun than I’d ever experienced and meet a great group of young-at-heart women.

She was dead-on right!

The latest session started in early January and I now go to class three times a week where we are working on a routine for our spring show to be held the last weekend in April.  Since I’m a newbie, I also get to go to remedial classes to learn the parade routine.

Our parade music is a snappy collection of Sousa marches and I’ve learned about 2/3 of the routine which I also practice faithfully at home with the DVD tutorial.  To say the gray matter is being challenged is putting it mildly!

Over the next three months we’ll participate in several parades in the valley as well as putting on a couple of shows at nursing facilities – and ending with our big show in late April.

As someone who was in the Math and Science Club in high school – and definitely NOT a cheerleader – this whole adventure is totally outside my comfort zone.  But I know this is the time of my life to throw caution to the wind and give things a try that I might not do otherwise.

It also helps that my fashionista daughter, Tammy, isn’t around to critique my costumes!!!

We are so happy that we’re here in Phoenix where he lives with his mom and dad and big brother since it meant we got to hold him when he was just a few hours old.  Being the good baby he is, he pretty much snoozed through the entire visit except for one brief scream just to let us know he has a great set of lungs on him.

The Brown Boys - Burl, Mike, Devin and Peyton

Peyton enters a world where he will always think phones come with cameras – or cameras come with phones!  A world where the terms “film and flashbulbs” don’t exist.  A world where the “thwump” of a newspaper on the driveway will never reach his ears at home since his parents get their news through their iPhones or MacBooks.  And given their affinity for Apple products, he’ll learn quickly that many of our favorite things start with “i” – iPhone, iPad, iPod…..

Peyton also enters a world where peace isn’t universal – a world where our own country is engaged in war with Afghanistan internationally and where safety within our own borders is not insured.

But Peyton is a very blessed baby as he joins a family where his parents center their lives on their faith in God and Jesus Christ – where his parents love each other and their children and have pledged to impart Christian values to him and his brother.  Peyton will attend church regularly – he will say his bedtime prayers and say “please” and “thank you” and will also know how to accept personal responsibility and to not blame others when he’s at fault.  He will know to value education and music and art and most of all, love for his family and friends.

The world isn’t perfect – and we know Peyton won’t be either – but he certainly has a good start on helping make the world a better place.

As your Nai Nai and Ye Ye (Chinese names for paternal grandparents) we pledge to give you our love and guidance……and spoil you rotten every chance we get!

Welcome to the world Baby Peyton.

Shortly after we arrived last fall, Stacey spent a weekend with us as she was on her way to San Diego for work.  Her arrival coincided with my birthday celebration and she even offered to paint our bedroom while she was here.  The offer was tempting but I didn’t want to take advantage of her generosity at the risk of limiting future visits!  Besides, I hadn’t yet picked out the paint color.

Then in December our friends Ron and Barb called our B&B (that’s “bed and booze” – you can fix your own breakfast around here!) for a 3-night stay as they were trekking from Springfield to San Diego in their RV.  They graciously offered to stay in the RV in front of our house but we wouldn’t let them!  Burl and Ron got to play golf, Barb and I lunched and shopped and the four of us shared some yummy margaritas and plenty of laughs.

Since then the reservation desk has been in high gear as we ramp up for our busy season.  Ron and Barb (and their grandson Zach) will return this coming Sunday for 2-3 nights which means more golf, lunches, margaritas and probably some Mexican Train.

Then later in the week Gary and Susan from Bolivar will stop in for a couple of nights on their way to Tucson to visit other friends.   They took us up on our Christmas letter that said, “If you’re heading our way, let us know as we’d love to see you.”  Good thing we meant it!  Susan and I have laughed that despite living 30 miles from each other, we all have to travel about 1300 miles just to get together!  For about 3 years she and I have been trying to find time for lunch but have discovered we are busier as retirees than when we were gainfully employed.  We were all on a tour of Ireland together several years ago and shared some great times so I have no doubt more memories are waiting to be made.

No sooner will I have the bedding changed than Burl’s brother Ed and his wife Agnes will be here for a few days on their way to Costa Rica.  Considering they live in Chicago, we’re not exactly on their way but it worked out well with their travel plans to add us to their itinerary.  Agnes and I are veterans at listening to the sibling rivalry of 6+ decades so will sit back and listen to the guys!

The guest room will stay empty for a couple of weeks until mid-February when Larry and Nancy from Springfield are taking advantage of great Allegiant rates to spend a few days with us.  Since Nancy and I never have sufficient time to talk (or knit), we can’t wait to share new patterns along with photos of our grandkids.  It helps that Larry and Burl are never at a loss for words with each other since Nancy and I generally get in our own little world and ignore them.

More guests are on tap for March and so far we haven’t had to post a sign that says “Fish and Guests Stink After 3 Days” because no one is staying too long.

But just in case, I have the porcelain tray that always sat on the dresser in the guest room of my parents’ home.  It conveys the perfect message – “If we get to drinking on Sunday and insist you stay until Tuesday, please remember we don’t mean it.”

Gotta run and answer the reservation phone………..

WordPress now gives a blogger a nifty composite of the past year and since my blogiversary coincides (almost) with a new year, the stats apply to the past year of blogging for me.  

According to WordPress, “A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 4,600times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 4 trips to carry that many people.

In 2011, there were 55 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 836 posts. There were 61 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 58mb. That’s about a picture per week.  With an average of a little more than one post per week, I have apparently done much less writing but that doesn’t mean that life isn’t more fun.  Quite the contrary!

The busiest day of the year was September 16th with 59 views. The most popular post that day was Carnival Spirit – Day 1 at Sea – January 31, 2010.

The top referring sites were:

The top referring sites in 2011 were:

• facebook.com
• groups.yahoo.com
• nancycatherine.blogspot.com
• tammykirks.com
• wordpress.com

And visitors came searching, mostly for sextasy aruba, aruba sextasy,scott bokal, living room arrangements, and living room arrangement.  Most visitors came from The United States. Aruba & Canada were not far behind.

The commented on post in 2011 was My Fabulous Firstborn which just proves how truly Fabulous my daughter Tammy is.  And the 5 most active commenters:

• 1 Tammy Kirks 9 comments
• 2 Kirsten 4 comments
• 3  Rhonda 3 comments
• 4  nancy b 3 comments
• 5  Lori 2 comments

These are the posts that got the most views in 2011. 

• 1 Carnival Spirit – Day 1 at Sea – January 31, 2010 1 comment February 2010
• 2 Sextasy, Quickie Lickie and Wacky Wahoo 0 comments November 2010
• 3 Celebrating Sally 3 comments June 2010
• 4 Dining In Style 0 comments November 2009
• 5 The Big Easy Continues – Katrina and Bill 0 comments June 2011

My friends who know me well will not be surprised that a blog full of stats is exciting to me.  I may have upgraded to Life 2.0 but it’s still hard to get away from being a true Number Nerd.

Thanks to all my readers and may 2012 bring joyful blessings to your lives.

As we approach the end of 2011, here are some final tidbits we can share:

• Robin is one of the new members of the City Utilities Board of Directors which makes me feel much better about paying my utility bill.  Vickie and I are so proud of her and happy she gets to put her extensive leadership skills to good use for our community.
• Vickie and Hannah made a quick trip to St. Louis for an early Christmas while Chaz had to stay home and work.  Here’s hoping a trip with a reluctant teen wasn’t too trying for Vickie.
• Hannah got the new iPhone 4S from Santa and wasted no time letting her FB friends know about it.
• Robin went back to the Gap at the outlet mall in Branson and bought the perfect pair of black skinny pants – but this time she had a coupon to insure she didn’t pay list price.
• The Springfield branch of WOS made sure the AZ WOS was remembered at Christmas with a perfect gift – the gift sampler of Mexican Villa sauces.  YES!  Sure made me homesick but what a thoughtful and original gift.
• Robin entered Christmas weekend with a sinus infection, helped by a visit to the Cox Wal-Mart clinic and some antibiotics.
• Robin and Vickie had lunch together last week and did not report any juicy gossip to me – I’m most disappointed in them both.
• When Robin was at MU she was a Golden Girl and wore a gold sequined leotard with white go-go boots.  She said they still wear the boots but the leotard has been updated to a very, very short dress.
• Next week I’m starting practice with the Jazzy Poms – a group of geezers who wear glitzy outfits and march in local parades.  They were even part of the half-time entertainment when the Super Bowl was here a few years ago.  Should be lots of fun and give me some great exercise.  Burl claims I’ll be ready to be a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader.  No gold sequined leotard and go-go boots for me though.
• 2012 may be the year when Vickie and Robin get the tattoos they have been talking about for a couple of years although Robin doesn’t know what she’ll get.  She thinks “Pour some sugar on me” doesn’t seem appropriate anymore and I agree.
• Robin and Vickie have decided to make 2012 a year to top all years and are throwing around the idea of setting a goal to do 3 things they have never done before.  Vickie has already picked 2 things for her list and they assure me that when their lists as complete, I can put them in my blog.
• Vickie made chicken enchiladas for Christmas dinner – you can find the recipe at http://allrecipes.com/recipe/angelas-awesome-enchiladas/detail.aspx
• Vickie is a big Tom Cruise fan and asked to go see Mission Impossible as a Christmas gift.  She can have him – we saw War Horse and it was as predictable and schmaltzy as I expected and I still cried.
• Robin and Vickie were at the mall by 9 a.m. Monday morning and grabbed some great bargains.  Unfortunately all the cute shoes were in Vickie’s size and not Robin’s.
• Robin scored a big victory on her first major presentation in her new job.
• I’ve joined a group of women who play cards twice a month.  The game is Shanghai Rummy although it’s just an excuse to get together and eat and drink!  Fortunately the game doesn’t require a huge amount of skill and so far I’ve won more than I’ve lost.  We met at my house a couple of weeks ago and polished off 5 bottles of wine (average of one per person!) which made for a longer evening of cards but also a lot more fun.
• Vickie and Hannah hit the Tanger Mall at 9:00 on Thanksgiving night and shopped until midnight – then stopped at Battlefield Mall for more shopping on the way home – and hit Target on Black Friday around noon.  I think she’s certifiable.
• My Black Friday consisted of a date to see “The Muppet Movie” with Devin who is 4.  Poor child had no idea who the Muppets were but when it was over he said he liked the “froggy movie”.  Appears he’s lacking in his well-rounded education.
• Vickie will be featured in a soon-to-be-released edition of the CoxHealth Connection on an article about helping women lead cancer-free lives.  There’s a great photo of her talking with her surgeon, Dr. Bucky Buckner.
•  Robin and Vickie scored some major gossip several weeks ago but were impressed when I could add a chapter to their story from 1300 miles away!
• Robin recently bought 2 pair of jeans in her goal/dream size!  Way to go, Robin.  I bought a pair in my goal/dream size too but after Christmas grazing I’m glad they have a bit of spandex in them!
• Vickie recommends “What The Dog Saw” by Malcolm Gladwell.  When I went to add it to my reading list, it was already there – recommended by my nephew.  Now I have to read it!
• My last great read was “In The Garden of Beasts” by Erik Larsson – very chilling non-fiction bestseller about the US Diplomat and his family in Germany in the early 1930s.
• If you see a major “oops” in your employer’s org chart, it’s best to keep quiet and let someone else report it.
• I love Groupon and Deal Chicken in Arizona as much as I do in Springfield – we’re having fun trying out new restaurants here.

That’s all the news that’s fit to print!  Happy New Year!

Sounds perfect except for one (well actually a lot more than one!) thing – we’re not with the rest of our family!

Tammy and Ralph and their families are together in Des Moines where Ralph is bemoaning the fact that it’s in the 50s and they won’t have a white Christmas and she won’t get to try out her new snowshoes.  Cindy and Stacey are gathered in Charlotte with their gang – and here we are enjoying the day with Mike, Annie and Devin and wishing and praying that Peyton will hold off on entering the world for another month!

I realized at a young age, thanks to my wonderful parents, that it’s much more fun to give than receive and I love seeing the reaction of recipients when they open a gift.  Even when we’ve been gone on the actual holiday in the past I was always able to see most of the family at some time over the holiday but this year is different.

Enter FaceTime!!!  Thanks to the genius of Steve Jobs and my MacBook and iPhones all around, we enjoyed an hour-long fiesta of gift opening with Tammy and Ralph and their families.  We followed our tradition of starting with the youngest (Lydia) and progressing through the clan to the oldest (Burl) to open one gift at a time.

This year I made Christmas stockings for Julia and Lydia because they had “stocking envy” over the ones I made for their mom and Aunt Tammy when they were little girls.  I bought the material before we left Springfield but I procrastinated over them until just a few weeks ago when crunch time ensued!  Over a frantic four days, I got them done and in the mail.  

I called the girls on Christmas Eve morning and let them open them so Santa would know he had to get extra goodies for them.   Just seeing their smiles and Lydia jumping up and down was worth every minute I spent making them!  I also made Piggy Slippers for them and for Bella and they too were big hits.  At one time my knitting plans included these slippers for all the big girls too but trust me, by time I finished the third pair, any enthusiasm I had for these little piggies was long gone!  

Chef Mike was in charge of our dinner today and did an excellent job.  My lonely contribution was a pork loin crown roast which looked pretty impressive but didn’t require any talent on my part – just an excellent butcher who crafted it for me.  Annie’s sister and her fiancée and his mother joined us for the afternoon and we all enjoyed overeating and over-drinking and under-exercising to excess.  But hey, last I heard Christmas only comes once a year and why waste an opportunity to blow a diet!

We’re back home tonight, the dog has been walked, our stockings have been opened (one of my favorite parts of Christmas), neighbors came over for a drink and now we’re basking in the feeling of being very blessed and loved.  I’ve already put Burl on notice that next year we will be in Springfield over the holidays and hopefully the kids we missed this year will be able to join in the festivities with us while we’re there.

Tiny Tim put it so well – Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night!

As a kid I remember vividly the year I was about 5 or 6 and got a doll that wore size 1 baby clothes.  My mom had saved dresses that my sister and I wore so this doll had an instant wardrobe.  The doll had a cloth body and pliable plastic arms and legs and I’m sure if I had tried to save it, it wouldn’t have lasted 60+ years.  I drug it around for a couple of years until I outgrew that phase and graduated into storybook dolls that I think were a bit smaller than a Barbie (and less anatomically enhanced) and featured lavish dresses.

The year I was about 9 or 10 I got a Brownie Hawkeye camera and boy did I think I was special – and grown up!  It was a black cube with a flash attachment and I still have some of the black and white photos I took with it – some really spectacular shots of my sister and I posing in our holiday clothing!

At that time, my sister Susie and I weren’t close because with a 5-year age gap, she had left toys behind while I was still excited over dolls and games so the gifts she got held little interest for me.   But I was definitely interested in annoying the hell out of her and my future brother-in-law and he took great delight in encouraging my bad behavior.

Forward many, many years and one of the most poignant Christmas memories of my sister is forever etched in my mind.  It was probably about 20 years ago and we were all in my sister’s living room on Christmas Eve.  We’d had dinner and drinks and opened our presents and the group included my parents, my kids and nephew John along with my sister and her husband, Riley.  John’s wife, Sheri, may or may not have been with us as she wasn’t an official family member yet – more on that later!

Anyway, gifts had been exchanged and Susie looked at her lovely gifts and said, “well I didn’t get what I really wanted”.  She kept looking around the room as if she expected Riley to bring in one last surprise gift but none was forthcoming. When we asked what she really wanted, she replied, “A dog.”  Just typing this story makes me cry because Susie and Riley had lost Max, their German shepherd, that year and all she wanted was another dog.  Not the diamond earrings Riley had chosen – just a dog.

A few years later I saw her for the last time on Christmas Day as she was dying of cancer.   I try not to conjure up the memory of her fading from us that day and instead think about her anticipating the furry gift she never received.

Another year – perhaps 1988 or 1989 – my girls and I were again in Fulton for Christmas.  Again, we had our festivities on Christmas Eve and on Christmas morning, my nephew John invited Tammy, Ralph and I to accompany him to check his beaver traps at a lake near Fulton.  The day was sunny and bitter cold and the lake appeared to be a sheet of solid ice except for a few open spots near the shore where John’s prey went in and out of the water.

We tromped across the ice in our boots, waited while John checked his traps and then repeated our trek.  John and the girls were in front of me and I was slowly bringing up the rear just enjoying the beautiful scenery when BAM – the ice gave out below me (right where they had just walked!) and my feet and legs were immersed up to my knees.

All I remember is screaming while I somehow jumped out of the water (apparently it wasn’t too deep) and started running across the ice like a mad woman.  John got me home quickly so I could thaw out and clean up and then he returned to set more traps.

Later that day when he checked them again, he pulled out a 60+ pound beaver, appropriately named “Big Anne” from the spot where the ice and I had met earlier.  I’m sure he made a wad of $ from the sale of that pelt and probably invested it in some start-up stock that has made millions of dollars for him and I’ve never seen a dime of it!  But I’m still waiting…….

But some of my best memories will always be the Christmas Eve church services I’ve attended.  When I was little there was only one service in Fulton and it was held at a small Evangelical and Reformed church.  We always went to the early service and I can vividly picture the small sanctuary lit by the candles we held while we sang “Silent Night.”

If I could only have one Christmas tradition, that would be it – the Christmas Eve service listening to the Christmas story from Luke and ending with candles and “Silent Night.”

This year we will attend services here in Arizona but my heart will be with my daughters and granddaughters and the memory of my parents and sister as I raise my candle and sing those familiar words.

A guy named Burl had answered my post on a singles internet site and he sounded “normal and nice”.  I was supposed to be in New York City for a Girl Scout conference but it cancelled at the last minute.  Coincidence?  I think not!

I told myself I was too busy with the holidays but then something (yes, God, I know it was you) told me to just go ahead and meet him so we had dinner at Springfield Brewing Co. and the rest, as the cliche goes, is history!

A fall on the ice with a possible head injury, ambulance ride to ER, roses, emails, phone calls and ten days later he proposed.  Without blinking an eye, I said YES.

Best decision I ever made.

Today I’m enjoying the dozen roses he gave me yesterday and we are both savoring the tons of great memories we have created.  My initial goal in meeting him was to find someone who would take me to dinner and a movie – making a lifelong commitment was way beyond my stunted imagination.

I’ve always heard that if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans for your life.  I’m sure He’s still chuckling over the plans I had in mind.

So yesterday we did indeed enjoy dinner and a movie – we saw “The Descendants” with George Clooney ( we think we’re giving it a B but the jury is still out) and dinner consisted of a big bag of movie popcorn (one of our guilty pleasures) followed by frozen yogurt.  Who said dinner had to be traditional fare?

Here’s to saying YES to life and adventures and most of all to the love of my life, Burl.

Thanks for the ride my dear – and here’s to all the memories just waiting for us to create.

Oh yeah, and more dinner and movies too!

Just a short message – may have not been a big deal to her to write it but it really had a powerful impact on my day.

I’ve savored her words so much since she sent them and I realize that not only am I very blessed to have such a friend but also that I need to BE that kind of friend to those who are important to me.

Last weekend we heard a wonderful sermon entitled “How Are You Making A Difference?”   The minister told us that it’s now how long we live but HOW we live and suggested we serve like Jesus.  That means being available, being humble and being faithful.

Now that’s a very tall order – not easy, but not impossible if I just keep service to others at the top of my priorities instead of thinking about myself.

Since I received that message I’ve thought so much about how often I pass up an opportunity to let someone know how important they are to me, how much I appreciate them, how often I’ve failed to give a smile to someone who needs it more than I do or ignored others who need a helping hand when mine is readily available.

I won’t change overnight but I’m going to try to share my thoughts with others when I’m thinking of them – with a quick note, a text, an email or a phone call – whatever the method, what really matters is letting others know they are important to me.

I need to always remember that the little things in life are really the BIG things.

I call it love at first byte!

As of a few days ago I have officially crossed the big divide and left the world of Microsoft and the PC in my rearview mirror and now am totally in love with my new Mac.

The “craptop” we bought a few years ago probably still has some life left in it but it’s cumbersome to connect to the Internet since it uses an archaic system and even then, it moves slower than a turtle.   I had high hopes of using my iPhone hotspot for an Internet connection with it but it just didn’t seem to want to work.  Seemed like a good time to just make a change and get a newer computer.

The Mac users in our family: Tammy, Steve, Mike and Annie, were instrumental in helping me make my decision since they have used Macs for a long time and raved about them.  Plus as a long-time iPhone fanatic, I was already semi-familiar with the Mac way of thinking and figured it would make life so much easier to use the same system everywhere.

I’ve now been a Mac owner for less than a week but thanks to Mike I’m quickly learning all the ins and outs and he even installed Office for Mac on my new baby so I can continue to use Word and Excel.  Sweet!

The breakthrough today was using Face Time as we visited via cyberspace with Tammy and Ralph and their families – they were all at Tammy’s in Springfield and we were with Mike and Annie here in Arizona.   Julia and Lydia especially got a kick out of hamming it up for the camera and Julia loved showing off her braces that now reflect a Christmas theme instead of the Iowa Hawkeyes.

I’ll admit I was homesick today not being in Springfield with my little girls but getting to see everyone made it more tolerable.  We did have a great day starting with a long bike ride this morning and then dinner with Mike, Annie and Devin at their home.  Mike and I did the planning and cooking and opted for traditional fare which means there’s leftovers for us to share tomorrow night.

Tomorrow is Black Friday and I hope the economy isn’t depending on me for stimulation because I don’t plan to shop!  The boys are playing golf, Annie is working at Urgent Care and I have a date to see “The Muppets” with Devin.

As for My Mac and Me, we’ll do our shopping together – my fingers and the Mac’s processor.

Bring on the Cyber-Shopping!