Thursday, December 23, 2004

Happy Holidays

To everyone reading this. My friends and family keep me going and that is the best gift a person can have. I love you all.

Friday, December 17, 2004

New York, New York

Our family just returned from a short stay in New York. It was great fun. We got to see some shows and enjoy New York during Christmas. All the Christmas lights made the city sparkle. It was cold -- but we were only there for a few days so we could take it!

It was so nice to spend time as a family. At times, things were a little confusing for me, but I still managed o.k. I realize our "family time" is going to be more and more limited, both in terms of my health and the fact that my son is getting older and won't want to go with his parents on vacation. But so far, he has managed to tag along and tolerate us having our family time.

The best part of all is always the ice skating part. I love to ice skate and my son laced up some skates and skated with me at Rockefeller Center. It was just great. I have always loved to skate and it doesn't matter how cold it is or what the conditions are, I just love to skate. I guess growing up in Illinois helped with that as most Southerners don't seem to appreciate it as much as I do.

We had very little bickering on this trip. Not that we usually have a lot but there always seems to be those times when we argue over where we are going to eat, what we are going to do, how to get there, etc. But, for some reason this trip was good in that regard. It's strange that I think about that -- but I'm glad we didn't have that on this trip.

It was a nice holiday present for me -- time with my family -- that's what I like most.

Friday, December 10, 2004

The holidays

Last week my husband and I went to a one day conference on Alzheimer's in Atlanta. It was really interesting and we got to catch up on the latest news in what is happening with research and the like. But, it was the first time since I retired that I was in a "classroom" situation, listening and having to pay attention. I was amazed at how bad I was at this! I couldn't follow a lot of what was being said and I thought my head was going to explode after a couple of hours. I'm glad I don't have to concentrate for long periods of time anymore!

It's a couple of weeks before Christmas and here in the south it is still quite warm. Our family is going to New York City next week just to "play" and it is suppose to be cold there -- I'm glad of that -- perhaps it will get us into the spirit of Christmas a little more. And, I love to ice skate so I am looking forward to skating in Central Park and at Rockefeller Center. It is so beautiful there with the Christmas tree and everything. I'm glad I will get to enjoy this with my family. That is what the holidays is really about -- spending time with the people you love. And, unfortunately, missing the ones you can't be with.