On the Road Again

Ed and Mary enjoy a meal at R&B Breakfast Club.
*

We survived yet another trip to Colorado and Wyoming over the 4 days of Fall Break. Ed and I drove away from Show Low at 2:30 on Friday afternoon and arrived at his mom Caryl’s house in the prairies of northern Colorado at 4:00 a.m. our time (5:00 a.m. Colorado and Wyoming time) on Saturday morning. That’s a very long drive!

The drive was mostly uneventful, as far as I can tell. I really tried to be good company for Ed, who drove the entire 800 or so miles, but I’m afraid I slept for several hours during the trip. It made me stiff all over, trying to get some shut-eye in the front seat of a truck, but I’d been awake since about 5:00 Friday morning to finish up packing before going to work, and I was awfully tired!

Traffic slows north of Albuquerque.

We did hit some stop-and-go traffic as we drove through the northern part of Albuquerque, New Mexico. We don’t know what held us up for half an hour so late in the evening (about 8 p.m.), but at least we were provided with some entertainment while we waited. As luck would have it, a huge fireworks program was going on in the sky just across the freeway from where we were inching along. It gave us something to look at besides taillights!

SATURDAY

Ed’s favorite breakfast restaurant, R&B

Once we reached Caryl’s house, we visited for a few minutes and then went to bed for the next 5 hours. We needed the rest!  After we got up, we headed across the Wyoming border and into Cheyenne for breakfast. (See top picture.)

Other than his mother and his friends, I believe Ed misses nothing from this area more than he misses R&B Breakfast Club, a restaurant that serves breakfast all day. Before we got married, he actually came here every morning, 6 days a week, and ordered the same meal: ham and eggs (over easy), hash browns, toast with strawberry jam, milk, and orange juice. I know this because I’ve now eaten in this restaurant with him many times since our wedding!

Personally, I prefer a home-cooked breakfast. I like my eggs medium-cooked in real butter, my hash browns shredded from real potatoes and fried in extra-virgin olive oil (slightly greasy and sprinkled with garlic salt), and my toast made from 100% whole wheat bread, crispy-toasted and smothered in real, melted butter. I rarely eat like that, of course, but on occasion that’s what I like.

Ed, however, has been having breakfast withdrawals since he moved to Arizona. In his opinion, none of our local restaurants quite measure up to R&B. Besides, he really likes the people who work at R&B, so we head back there for breakfast every time we come to town. The staff treats us like royalty when we walk in, and it’s a nice tradition for us.

Ed and his mom, Caryl, at Denny’s in Fort Collins, Colorado;

I’m always amazed by how these tiny women can produce these big sons!

After breakfast, we returned to Caryl’s house to pick her up, and then we drove into Fort Collins so she could run some errands. After a couple of hours, she treated us to lunch at Denny’s. She is such a sweet lady!

I’ve seen a lot of Fort Collins over the past few months. Ed moved there from his home state of New York when he was sixteen. He finished high school there, made some good friends, and lived there as a young married man before joining the Air Force and again later during the early years of his second marriage before returning to Alaska. He made many good memories in Fort Collins.

Ed spent the rest of the day taking care of repairs at his mom’s house, getting her place ready for the coming winter. She’s still thinking about moving to Arizona, but those plans have been pushed back until at least next summer and meanwhile she has to survive the winter. Living so far from her now, Ed worries about how she’ll get by and run her big place without his help.

What was I doing while Ed was hard at work? I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I was napping! I slept for 2 more hours and got up just in time for dinner, which Ed cooked for us. I don't know how he kept going on so little sleep.  I think I’m in danger of becoming spoiled!
*

SUNDAY

Dinner at Red Lobster in Denver, Colorado

On Sunday we drove back into Cheyenne and attended church at Ed’s former ward. It was fun visiting with his old friends. As often as I’ve been there over the past several months, I’ve gotten to know and like many of the people of Frontier Ward. They always seem so pleased to see us when we return.

Sunday evening we headed south to Denver, which is slightly more than an hour’s drive from Caryl’s house. Ed had invited his lawyer’s family out to dinner on Monday night, but at the last minute they had to cancel and asked if we could do it Sunday instead. We try to avoid going out on Sundays, but since we thought we were heading home on Tuesday morning we didn’t see any other options.

Ed with his lawyer, Jim, and Jim’s children and wife, Patty

We had a delicious shrimp dinner and a lovely, long visit. It was my first time to meet Jim and his wife, Patty. Ed had told me what great people they are, and he was right. They’re a warm and personable family, and I see why Ed trusts Jim to handle his affairs. It was a wonderful evening.

MONDAY

Monday was a day of frustrations.  Ed spent the entire day working at finishing up all the projects around his mom's property that needed to be completed before we headed back home, but he met with many setbacks throughout the day.

We did get a nice break during the afternoon, when Ed's good friends Kelcey and Cindy stopped by to visit for an hour or two.  After that, though, it was back to business.  

 

The most difficult task was winterizing Caryl's furnace, which is a complex wood boiler designed by Ed's dad some 20 years ago.  Recently Caryl had a propane furnace added to the system.  Her intent was to switch between the wood and propane systems as needed.  Now that Ed no longer lives close enough to collect and chop the wood or continually feed the fires to keep the boiler working, it's too much labor for a woman of her age on a regular basis. 

 

To winterize the system, Ed thought he needed to add 20 gallons of specialized antifreeze.  By Monday afternoon, he discovered the job would be far more complicated than he'd expected, due to the newly added propane system, and would actually require 200 gallons of antifreeze!

On Tuesday, three 50-gallon drums of antifreeze are loaded on the back of Ed's truck.

*

That's a lot of antifreeze!  Luckily, the retailers Ed contacted were able to secure it for us the very next day.  Unfortunately, that was the day we were supposed to drive home so I could return to work at the end of Fall Break, on Wednesday.  I quickly made some phone calls to request a sub to cover my classes and give instructions to my teaching assistant, and we extended our stay one more day.

 

TUESDAY

Ed loads the last buckets of antifreeze on the truck.

*

We drove back to Fort Collins on Tuesday to pick up three drums of antifreeze and run a few more errands while we were at it.  Then Ed spent many hours filling the boiler system and troubleshooting each new problem that arose.

Dylan and Ed working around Caryl's property back in June.

I meant to take a picture of the wood boiler furnace, but never got around to doing it.  The furnace is an actual shed-like outbuilding which stands several yards from the house.  It's only slightly smaller than the shed in the above photo, except the walls are black.  You open the door and shove wood into the fire inside.

Beneath the furnace is a cement underground room, like a bomb shelter.  Many of the system's pipes and electrical wires are located there.  You enter through a rusty metal tube and climb down these rungs in the wall.  Ed invited me down to take a look around, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.  I'm not exactly claustrophobic, but...

Ed had to climb in and out of this hole many times over several days.  It was getting old, as one can imagine.  By the end of Tuesday, he was feeling confident that he had the newly integrated systems figured out and would only need a few more tweaks before we left for home the next morning.

WEDNESDAY

We meant to get up at 6:00 on Wednesday morning, but we overslept by an hour.  Ed still had work to do on the furnace system, so I kept busy with packing up our stuff and hauling it out to the truck.  It was after 11:00 when we drove into Cheyenne for one last breakfast at R&Bs and to take care of some final business matters.

In the end, it was 1:30 p.m. (Colorado/Wyoming time) when we finally got on the road headed toward home.  Thankfully, it was another uneventful drive and we made good time.  We were both sore and exhausted when we pulled into the driveway just after midnight, but our own bed in our own home never felt so wonderful!  There truly is no place like home!

The Weekend

Last weekend was a busy one for our family.  It began on Friday, of course, with the exciting arrival of Jacob's call to the California Santa Rosa Mission.  Then after dinner Ed and I enjoyed a pleasant evening together at a reception for a newlywed couple, Dick and Karen Stewart.  Dick is an eighty-something gentleman (who could easily pass for sixty-five) in our ward whose sweet wife Velma passed away last year.  We immediately liked his new wife and we're so thrilled for them both.  As Ed and I know, it's never too late to find love! 

Eric, Dylan (standing), and twins Adam and David at the bonfire

Ed had promised Dylan and some of his friends that they could have a bonfire on Friday night, so as soon as we returned from the reception they lit up the pile of flammable trash Ed and the boys had gathered during their clean-up of the yard and sheds.  (Cheaper to burn it than haul it to the dump.)

Diego chases and eats the falling sparks and ash.

The trash pile made a beautiful bonfire and we gathered around it, enjoying the warmth on a cool autumn night, for more than an hour.  Even our dog Diego had a great time.  He was fascinated with the showers of sparks floating in the sky around him and chased down as many as he could.



Dylan and his friends had a good time following one of my favorite old childhood pursuits, tree climbing.  They spent a good while in the branches of one of the old oak trees near the fire.

Dylan, age 13, gets comfy on a branch.  I'm not sure I'd trust it!

It was quite late when Ed finally sent the boys home and put out the flames.  It was such a hot fire, it was still smoking and sizzling the next morning!

Ed checks out the merchandise.

On Saturday we got up early enough to listen to the first session of General Conference, and then we jumped in the car and headed to a gun show in Hon-Dah, on the nearby Apache reservation.

Jacob and Ed admire some rifles.

Jacob joined us.  Hunting and shooting have never been a part of my children's lives, so my sons are fascinated with Ed's collection of firearms and his hunting tales.  Jacob asked a lot of questions at the gun show and learned a lot from Ed.  In coming years, I expect Dylan will become Ed's hunting partner and get educated about survival and self-reliance.

As for me, I'm not too interested in guns or hunting, although I'm happy to eat my share of elk or venison, and Ed plans to teach me to enjoy shooting a gun someday.  (We'll see...)  I only went along to the gun show so I could spend some time with my husband.

A few of the vendors sold other items alongside the guns and ammo, such as coins and jewelry.  At one point I admired a beautiful necklace with blue stones wrapped in thin curls of silver wire, telling Jacob I thought that was the prettiest necklace in the collection, before we walked on to the next booth.

After we returned home and prepared lunch while listening to the afternoon session of conference, Jacob mentioned that he'd thought about buying that necklace for me (he often does things like that).  Standing over a pan on the stove, I said over my shoulder, "That's okay, I'd rather you put your money away for your mission." 

Just then, Ed's hand appeared from behind me, holding out a small white box.  "You mean, this necklace?" he asked.  He had bought the necklace for me, the one I'm wearing in the photo above.  Do I have the sweetest husband or what?   

Clouds Ed and I saw in today's sky as we drove home from WalMart.

Can you see the cow on the right and the sheep on the left?

Last weekend was full and fun, but it's nothing compared to what Ed and I have planned for the upcoming, long weekend.  Tomorrow my students have their midterm exams since it's the final day of the first quarter of the school year.  Then we get to enjoy a four-day weekend, known as Fall Break, before we begin the second half of the semester.  Boy, do I need a break! 

Ed and I are using Fall Break to make yet another trip to Colorado and Wyoming.  Are we crazy?  Maybe, but there are still things he needs to take care of there.  Since tomorrow is a half-day at school, we hope to be on the road by 2pm and arrive at his mom's house in northern Colorado by 4am.  Ed will drive; I will sleep!

Sarah, Jacob, and Dylan are happy to keep the home fires burning in our absence, and I look forward to four full days alone with my hubby.  I will, of course, take loads of pictures and blog our trip after our return next week.  Stay tuned! 

The Call

About 2 hours before the end of my workday on Friday, my husband called me in my classroom.  For a couple of minutes, he rambled on about little things he and Jacob had done that afternoon.  Silently, I was thinking, "That's nice, sweetie, but I already knew you were going to do these things." 

Finally, Ed added matter-of-factly, "Then Jacob went out to bring in the mail.  He has a big envelope from Salt Lake City."

After that, the time couldn't fly by fast enough!

Mom watches over his shoulder as Jacob slices the envelope open.

Jacob knew better than to open the envelope before I came home!  We wanted the entire family together, so Jacob called Sarah and told her to meet us at home.  She's been staying at her Grandpa Butler's place since last weekend to house- and dog-sit while they're out of town.

My aide, Kim, made me leave school 30 minutes early, telling me to call her as soon as we opened the envelope.  At 3:15, I pulled into our driveway just as Sarah was pulling in and Dylan was walking up the street after getting off the school bus.  The timing was perfect!

The tension mounts as Jacob reaches into the envelope.

We all hurried inside, I handed Ed the camera, and we all waited with bated breath as Jacob took a peak inside the envelope addressed to "Elder Jacob Timothy Carter."

Jacob's happy reaction to his mission call.

Jacob and I read the cover page together.  Neither of us felt any sense of surprise at all as we read which mission he's been assigned to serve in.  It feels right.  He was beaming as he read the portion of the letter below:

He's going to Santa Rosa, in northern California!  It's just north of San Francisco and west of Sacramento (the state capital).  That's not all that far from where I grew up (age 5 to 17) in Fresno.  I'm so excited that he'll have the opportunity to live and serve in the state I called home for 25 years, having been born and raised in California.

Jacob is excited, too.  He knows this is where he's supposed to serve.  He is also a little relieved to be staying in the USA and to not have to learn another language.  I would have been thrilled no matter where he was called to go, but I admit as his mother it's nice to think, "California is just one state over..." 

He reports to the Mission Training Center in Provo, Utah, on December 1st.  That's only 2 months away, and we have so much more to do to get him ready to go!  The envelope also contained several packing lists and lists of things to do.  I foresee much shopping in our future!

I can hardly believe this is really going to happen, and soon!  Congratulations, my son the missionary.  We are all so very proud of you!

Fall Festival and Antique Cars

This weekend we enjoyed some of the activities of Pinetop-Lakeside's annual Fall Festival.  It's the most popular festival in our area, and for 3 or 4 days our population basically doubles in size.  It's also our community's last opportunity to profit from the tourist trade until ski season begins, about 2 months from now.  We are a "resort town," after all.

I had parent-teacher conferences on Thursday night, so we weren't able to attend the big talent show that traditionally kicks off the weekend.  Our first event was Friday afternoon, when we drove out to the highway to watch the "Cavalcade of Cars" go by. 

One of Fall Festival's main events is the nationally-renowned Run to the Pines car show, which features 400 antique cars.  On Friday the owners line up and drive their cars along the highway from Show Low to Hon-Dah, the convention center on the Apache reservation just south of Pinetop.  That's about a 20-mile drive.  Residents and tourists line the highway to watch them go by, waving and cheering while the kids collect candy tossed to them by the drivers.

Jacob, Dylan, and Eric at breakfast; outside the window, an antique car is parked and the parade is just beginning.

On Saturday morning we took Jacob, Dylan, and Dylan's friend Eric out to breakfast with us just before the Fall Festival parade began.  After breakfast we went outside the restaurant to enjoy the rest of the parade. 

Dylan and Eric watch the parade from the curb, keeping an eye out for tossed candy!

Small town parades are fun, but they are definitely low-key and low-tech.  The "floats" are often decorated cars and such.  Half of the parade is made up of fire engines, marching bands, and farm machinery.  There are no shoulder-to-shoulder, standing-room-only crowds.  Plenty of room to plop down your camp chairs or stretch out on the curb, like my kids prefer to do.

There are many different shows to attend during the festival: quilting shows, antique shows, Christmas decoration shows, you name it.  My personal favorite is the arts and crafts show.  I've purchased many nice things there over the years.  The most famous, though, is the Run to the Pines car show.

Ed stands among the classic Mustangs.

Ed had heard of the Run to the Pines car show before he moved here, but he hadn't realized this was where it happened each year.  Yesterday we spent 2 hours wandering among 400 classic and antique vehicles, and Ed was in seventh heaven.  His favorites are the classic muscle cars of the sixties and early seventies (the latest model allowed in the show is 1972).  However, he was extremely knowledgeable about every vehicle on the show-grounds, including the antique cars I prefer from the twenties, thirties, forties, and even fifties.

We spent a lot of time visiting with car owners while Ed talked shop with them.  (Remember, he's a retired mechanic.)  He was excited to finally meet our neighbors, Bob and Ona, who had two cars in the show.  Ed admires their antique cars and Bob's workshop every time we drive past their house on the corner.  They invited him to stop by any time! 

We left the car show sunburned but happy.  Ed often tells people how much he loves living in the White Mountains.  Now he has one more reason to love it!

Callie the TV Star!

On Tuesday, my niece Callie and her mom Dana were part of a press conference from Phoenix Children's Hospital on the subject of children and vehicle safety. They were both featured on the evening news that same night.  Check it out in the video clip above.  Callie is adorable, as always!

Out with the Old

Last weekend we held a yard sale.

It's amazing how much stuff you don't realize you have until you put in all in one place to sell!

We've been wanting to have this sale for months, but we've had an unusually wet monsoon season this summer.  Last week was the first time since June that our area had 4 whole days in a row without rain.

We did very well, earning almost $600, which will pay for our final (we hope) trip back to Colorado and Wyoming next month.  We need to collect the last of Ed's things, including his 1989 Mustang, and winterize his mom's house before the first freeze sets in.

One of two dining room sets Ed brought here from Wyoming

I've never made more than $300 at my previous yard sales, and ordinarily we'd only earn around $150.  However, this time we had a lot of furniture and manly garage-type items that are popular at yard sales.  Most of them belonged to Ed but wouldn't fit into our little house and sheds.  We hope we've sold off enough to be able to stop renting the storage unit where we've been keeping them. 

Jacob and his friends, Kyle and Xan (seen above), load up the old fridge for delivery to the new owner.

One item we sold was our old refrigerator.  Not only was it ancient and slightly worse for wear, but it didn't really fit our family anymore, now that there are five of us again and the kids are practically all adults.

Much more space for our food!

Our "new" refrigerator isn't really new, but it is a newer model that was owned by an older couple who took good care of it.  Best of all, it has much more space inside.

All loaded up with room to spare!

The new fridge is a few inches taller than the old one, and most of that extra space is found inside the freezer.  My freezer has always been packed to the gills, and it was always a trick to reorganize and fill it after a shopping trip.  Now, though, look at all the extra room after I transferred the frozen foods from the old freezer!

The only problem was that the door opened on the wrong side, but Ed quickly took care of that, switching the hinges and handles around.

What a blessing it is to have a husband who has the know-how and the want-to to take good care of our home!  I'm so ignorant about home care that I didn't even know how many things I had been letting fall into ruin.

Over the past months, Ed has handled many indoor repairs of items I had given up hope of saving.  He has tackled the cleaning and repair of our roof and prepared the storm drains for the coming snow.  We have purchased a new front door and a storm door for him to install, and he has plans to correct the insufficient insulation of our home before winter.  He and Jacob have cleaned our old shed from top to bottom, and soon Ed will replace the shed door, part of the floor, and two broken windows.  They have also hauled away two truckloads of trash, leaving our tree-covered property looking more beautiful than ever.  Ed also plans to start a garden in the spring and has already borrowed my dad's roto-tiller to prepare the plot before the ground freezes. 

And that's just the tip of the iceberg!  We have many more plans to remodel, replace, refurbish, and repair in the coming months and years.  I'm very excited to work by my husband's side and make our home into a comfortable place where we can grow old together.

The Message Is Love

At church today we had a special stake conference attended by members of all the wards in our area.  Richard G. Scott, an apostle and one of the general authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was in the area so our stake president asked him if he would address our congregation.

Once upon a time, when I was very young, it wasn't so unusual to receive an occasional visit from one of the twelve apostles or even the prophet of our church.  Now, though, the mormon church has grown to more than 12 million members in about 25,000 congregations around the world, so it is a rare treat and blessing for us to listen to an apostle in person today.

The stake building was packed.  Cars were parked blocks away.  Those who couldn't find seats in the chapel or cultural hall were seated in other rooms with closed-circuit television access.  Our family got up extra-early this morning and arrived at 7:20.  The conference didn't begin until 10:00, so we were early enough to get cushioned seats in the chapel near the podium from which Elder Scott would speak.

Today's conference began with an inspiring message from our stake president, President Shumway.  Then Elder Scott invited President Shumway's wife to share her testimony of the gospel.  A teenaged girl and an elderly sister were the next speakers.  Finally, we were addressed by Richard G. Scott himself.

Elder Scott began by speaking lovingly of his wife, Jeanene.  He told of her love for God and family, her self-discipline, and her strong and loving character.  She was an amazing dancer who trained alongside a young actress named Shirley McLain, but Jeanene gave up that career path to serve a church mission, marry, and raise seven children.  Elder Scott is still clearly in love with his wife, who passed away 15 years ago after a battle with cancer.  To him, she still is and always will be his eternal companion.

For me, the message of today's conference was all about the power of love, especially within the walls of our own homes.  Love can turn lives around, change hearts, and save souls.  If we were to sum up Christ's mission on earth, it could be expressed in that one, all-encompassing word: LOVE.

As an apostle of the Lord, Elder Scott is called as a special witness of Christ to the world.  The conference closed with his powerful testimony of the divinity of our Savior and the great love He has for us.  It was that indescribable love that led Him to atone for our sins and die for us.  He suffered more than we can comprehend in order to save us, because He loves each of us that much. 

The Spirit filled the room with warmth and brought tears to my eyes as Elder Scott closed with this special testimony.  I hope to never forget it.

A Double Birthday

In my last post I told about our birthday weekend getaway.  Now here's the scoop on how Ed and I spent our actual joint birthday on Wednesday.

This was a big year for Ed, turning 50.  He was happy with a small family celebration, but I'd have given him a big surprise party if we were in Wyoming or Oregon, where his closest friends live.  I wish there had been a way to ship them all to Arizona for a day so I could have given my sweet husband a party he'd never forget!

Instead, we went out for a steak dinner at Chuckwagon with Jacob and Dylan.  Sarah was unable to join us since she was working.  A family at the next table was also celebrating their dad's birthday, and they were amazed when we told them Ed and I were both having a birthday that day.  They mentioned it to our waitress, who treated us to a delicious slice of apple pie a la mode!

Later that evening we had a small family party.  The kids sang "Happy Birthday" and served us cake and ice cream.  Jacob baked us the delicious chocolate cake above.  (And I blew out all the candles on my first try!)

After that we opened our gifts and, as usual, the kids were very good to us.  Sarah gave Ed a shiny black tie with a cool tie pin featuring Captain Moroni and the Title of Liberty (from a Book of Mormon story).  Jacob gave him a fleece jacket with "Remington" embroidered on the breast (something to do with guns, I think; it's a guy thing).  From Dylan, Ed received a 2-disc set of the "Call of Duty" video games.  Over the past several days, they've spent a lot of time together playing that game!  As for me, I gave Ed the pottery bowl.  I know it seems an odd gift, but Ed needed something to empty his pockets into at night, and the elk motif fits my hunter husband.  Like any good newlywed husband, he claims to like it!

I think Ed liked the bag his gift was in even better than he liked the gift itself.  While I was at work that day, I spent some time decorating a brown paper bag with some of the wild animals Ed loves.  It's a little bit corny, I know, but after he saw it, Ed decreed that we were definitely keeping that bag!

I was spoiled with gifts, as well.  Dylan gave me a blue storage crate.  I haven't decided yet whether I'd rather use it in my classroom or in my home office.  Jacob gave me the hummingbird feeder above.  Although it's been hanging on the porch for just a few days now, we already have quite a few little visitors sipping the sugar nectar.  From Ed, I received the Gospel Art book, a bag of orange chocolate Milano cookies (my favorites!), and a Cadbury chocolate bar.  He knows I cannot resist chocolate!

And, finally, Sarah added another Willow Tree figurine to my collection, the little girl holding an armful of lilies, called "Beautiful Wishes."  My collection is growing and I love it!  Even Ed, who isn't a huge fan of feminine "gewgaws," looked at it admiringly and called it "pretty nice."  High praise, indeed!

As I mentioned, I did have to work on my (our) birthday, but I had fun celebrating at work, too.  When I arrived that morning, I found that my secret pal had strewn a "Happy Birthday" banner and curly ribbons and tiny colorful pom-poms across my desk and computer.  My aide, Kim, had brought me a beautiful bouquet of my favorite flowers, carnations.

Later in the day, someone brought me another carnation bouquet with a card, this time from my secret pal.  I placed both bouquets in the vase and enjoyed them on my desk all week.  Now I'm enjoying them in the kitchen window here at home.  They are still beautiful!

Kim brought in lots and lots of cookies for my classes, so we finished early each period to enjoy the food and celebrate the teacher getting a year older.  Kim brought in a cheesecake sampler for us to enjoy (we'd already indulged ourselves by the time I took the picture above).  She also gave me her "most special gift," the first ripe tomato from her new garden.  We ate it in a salad the following day, and it was delicious!

All in all, it was a great day.  I have quite a few friends who hate having birthdays and prefer not to acknowledge them.  However, my philosophy is this: I'm going to be a year older whether I ignore my birthday or not, so why not celebrate?!  Therefore, surprise me, bring me presents, sing me songs, feed me sweets, laugh with me, be joyful with me!  Many thanks to all of you who celebrate my life with me all the year through!

The Getaway

Ed and Mary enjoy a romantic dinner for two at The Pasta House.

Not many married couples enjoy the pleasure of having the same birthday, but Ed and I have the distinctly quirky delight of having been born on the same day, September first.  We weren't born in the same year, mind you.  On Wednesday I turned 56 while Ed finally hit the big 50. 

In honor of this special double-birthday occasion, Ed and I decided when we got married that we would make Labor Day weekend memorable each year, since our birthdays will always fall on or right before that holiday. 

Our little condo in Pinetop

This year we had a romantic getaway, spending Friday night at the WorldMark resort right here on our mountain, in nearby Pinetop.  It was dreamy to have a whole night and an entire morning to ourselves, to luxuriate in each others' company. 

The view from the patio of our condo

Last night we went to dinner at The Pasta House.  The food was delicious, the waiters were entertaining, the atmosphere was fun, and the uninterrupted conversation with my husband was delightful.

[By the way, this is the same restaurant where some of you may recall I had dinner with Orlando Bloom just 17 months ago, in March 2009.  To read that story, click below:]

http://melethwensmemories.blogspot.com/2009/03/orlando-and-me.html

Our living room for the night.

After dinner we rented some DVDs and returned to our condo.  We enjoyed a quiet evening together, drinking sparkling cider from champagne glasses (thanks, Wyndie and Charla!) and nibbling on cheesecake and chocolate chip cookies and each other!

Since it was just the two of us and just for one night, we chose to try a studio-sized condo.  After the kids have moved on and Ed and I begin traveling alone together, we won't need the 2-bedroom condos any longer.  Reserving a 1-bedroom or studio unit will save us WorldMark credits and give us more vacation time.  However, I'd never even seen the inside of a studio unit before and wondered if we would like it.

The dining area

It was much roomier and nicer than we expected.  Even so, we decided to go with the 1-bedroom in the future.  For one thing, the Murphy bed (the kind that unfolds from the wall) was only a double-bed, and we've been spoiled by our king-size bed.

The abbreviated kitchen

Also, the kitchen was nice but limited.  The stove consisted of two burners and no oven, although there was a convection oven and microwave.  There was no dishwasher, either, though that's no big deal since we don't have one here at home.  My favorite features of our WorldMark resorts are the full kitchen and laundry room in each condo.  Those are real money-savers, so in the future we'll be sure to book 1-bedroom units for the two of us.

This morning we went out to breakfast at Hilltop Restaurant, and then we returned to the resort and enjoyed holding hands and walking around the pine-covered properties.  It was so cool and green and peaceful.  Ed and I talked about how blessed we are to live in a place so beautiful that people pay to come here and vacation with their families.  Ed calls it "Elk Country."  To him, that's just one step away from heaven!

It's amazing how refreshed I feel after just one night of indulgence.  I think I can get used to this new tradition!