Update

Well it has been a long time since I posted anything, so here is the update. We are doing great! My husband loves his new job and I am working for Kelly Services at a publishing company. It is temporary through the end of the year.

It is strange not working for HBU but rather exciting – new things to learn, new people to meet, so many opportunities. The job is about 23 miles from our home, which is almost exactly how far it was from HBU to my home in Richmond. The commute takes 25-30 minutes rather than 45-90 minutes. The commute is very much a drive through the country rather than sitting on an eight-lane highway. There is a part of the commute that is on a four-lane highway, during this stretch of the drive I will see a few cars but never have to slow down. When I get on the country road part of the drive, I might see 4 or 5 cars and never have to slow down – well I do have to watch for deer so that keeps my speed under control.

All in all, things are going well in this new frontier.
Elaine H.

Pine Needle Storm

It appears to be snowing pine needles in my back yard. We had pine trees in Texas but their needles were 6-8 inches long. The needles from the trees in my yard are 3-4 inches long. The Texas pine trees would shed their needles but I have never seen anything like what is happening in my back yard. The wind blows and down come the pine needles – it is like rain or snow there are so many of them.

This past weekend my husband dutifully mowed and bagged the yard – which was mostly pine needles. We were planning to put the clippings in bags and take the bags to the recycle drop off where we would have to empty the bags. Our neighbor offered to let us load up their trailer with the pine needles and grass clippings. We filled their trailer – I guess it is about 6’x8’. Do you know how many bags we would have had to use? Me either. Then they took the trailer and their truck load of pine needles and grass clippings to the recycling drop off. They would not let us help. Thank goodness for generous and kind neighbors.

The yard looked beautiful and green for about 3 hours, and then a pleasant little breeze came by. Down came the pine needles. In some ways it is pretty to watch but knowing the amount of work to come takes a lot of the fun out of watching them fall.

Of course, as I look up into the trees and see the leaves of the other trees beginning to turn I realize the work is just starting. Oh well, I will make a cup of tea, watch the storm of leaves, and think of all the exercise my husband and I will get.
ElaineH.

31 years and counting

31 Years! That is how long my husband and I have been married today. This seems like an amazingly long time. But there are days when it seems we have been together 31 days. I am still learning new things about him.

I just learned he read the entire series of “John Carter of Mars” when he was a boy. I had never heard of the series but sounds like a fun series, full of fantasy and good triumphing over evil. What more could a growing boy want. But the look on his face as he told he me about the books – well, he was a boy again.

Maybe that is part of why we have been together for so long – we keep learning new things about each other. Some of the new things come from our past (such as “John Carter of Mars”) but much comes from our everyday living. As we live our lives and find ourselves in new situations we learn something new.

Over the years we have done a lot of things to help us experience new situations and thus learn something new about each other. Some of the experiences have been fun, some sad, and some have ended up just being terrible but most have been great. But we learn about each other, which is a part of what keeps our relationship fresh and growing.

Honey, I love you and I am looking forward to the next 31 years of adventure, learning and loving.
ElaineH