2011 Holiday Greetings

Happy holidays to family and friends everywhere.

2011 has been an interesting year – political unrest and gridlock, depending upon your geographic location, natural disasters, royal weddings. . . . But for us, it’s been mostly same old, same old. Rather than bore you with the “old” stuff, we’ll try to share the highlights.

We started the year very early – up at 4 a.m. to ride our tour bus to the Rose Parade site, where we waited a few hours for the parade to reach us. We were cold, but fortunately it wasn’t raining. After the parade, we found Deanne’s sister Jackie and her friend Marilyn, who were there on a different tour, and spent some time at our hotel, warming up with various exotic (and alcoholic) coffees. In addition to the Parade, we visited the Reagan Library (which unfortunately was undergoing renovation for the 100^th anniversary of his birth so most of the exhibits were closed; but President and Mr. Greco did have their pictures taken entering Air Force One!), the Getty Villa (a remarkable collection of antiquities in a beautiful setting overlooking the Pacific), and the barn where the floats are prepared. Our New Year’s Eve celebration ended at 9 p.m. (because of the early departure time), but we were plenty tired by then. What could go wrong? We came home to a dead car battery, dead shrubs (from a few cold nights while we were gone), and colds (lots of folks on our tour had been sick).

Other travel highlights: a trip to Palm Springs in June included a golf lesson, a guided tour of the Desert Museum, an architectural tour with a local expert, and a return trip to the top of the San Jacinto mountain;

A visit to Tucson in July, where we watched about a dozen javelinas walk across our patio one evening (guess they knew where they were headed);

An October trip with a group from our community to Lake Powell and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. On Lake Powell we took a sightseeing boat tour through a couple of the canyons formed by the Colorado River and the lake created by the [name] dam. The rock formations are amazing. The weather at the Canyon was great (it can be cold in October; in fact, it had snowed the week before), and we all sat on the terrace to watch a beautiful sunset before dinner. The accommodations at the North Rim are quite rustic – no TV, phone, or radio in the room. It can be a challenge figuring out how to spend an evening without our usual toys. Fortunately we’d brought the New York Times puzzles with us. But the views of the Canyon were worth the sacrifice;

On trips to Vegas we saw The Lion King (John was reluctant, but loved it) and “O” – which was just as incredible as the first time we saw it ten years ago.

On a personal level, the year has had its ups and downs.

In September we celebrated John’s 70^th birthday with a gathering of friends who were very generous with gifts of wine and other goodies (even though we suggested “no gifts”).

Deanne completed her second term as president of the women’s 9-hole golf group (fortunately there are term limits). She’ll continue to serve on the board as the immediate past president and is looking forward to just playing golf (if only all those aches and pains would subside!). John’s been playing more golf with a group of friends. His game is improving, but Deanne’s is getting worse. Maybe a new year’s resolution is in order?

John’s theater group produced another murder mystery dinner show. John had one of the leads. The group is hoping to do something different next spring.

John’s annual cancer check in August was clear. Deanne continues to deal with back and leg pain. This has curtailed her ability to walk for exercise, so she tries to walk in the pool. We’re both continuing our work with personal trainers.

Our nephew (Deanne’s brother’s son) returned from Afghanistan in late April. He may be redeployed some time next year, but we’re thankful for his service and his safe return.

Two of Deanne’s friends died of cancer (or the effects thereof), and one of the members of our bocce ball group died of a sudden massive heart attack. We’ve found that living in a “retirement” community means that our friends are often sick or dying. A bit depressing, but a reminder that life is short and to enjoy it while we can.

Hope that this season finds all of you enjoying time with family and friends and that the new year will be filled with good times and good health for all of us. Remember, if you’re ever in Arizona, give us a call.

Deanne & John