Well, here we go again-our family! Thomas & I invested in a timeshare that is located at: 1822 Resort Drive, McGaheysville, VA 22840 several years ago: www.massresort.com To be exact I believe it was the first year we were married. It is located outside of Harrisonburg, VA which is north of Roanoke-about a 2 hour drive. We felt since this all season resort was so close to our home it would definitely be utilized for us to entertain family/friends and so we are doing so this week. Our scheduled stay is the 5th week of each year which happens to fall on Superbowl Week-you all know how much I LOVE football so we thought it’d be appropriate to hold an all week celebration for our family/friends. Not really, we won’t be celebrating the end of football season all week long but it will be a sad time as the season draws to a close so we’ll have the usual 1 day celebration as all good Americans do then we’re off to the slopes, waterpark, tubing or just plain ‘ol relaxing in the mountains!
Thomas, Caitlynn and I have been planning and preparing for a week now as the day finally arrives that we do the loading/organizing and travel to our destination spot-Saturday, January 31, 2009. We got up this morning and started our preparation to depart by 10:00 AM. The temperature here at home in Roanoke is 28 degrees as we woke and began loading the vehicles. Notice I said vehicles since we always have to take 2 due to the amount of food that we take to the condo. We like to have everything we need for our meals, snacks and entertainment food and for everyone coming during our week. We were completely loaded to the brim, with only enough space in the pickup for Thomas to drive and Caitlynn to co-pilot his driving while I drove his car with enough room in the driver’s side and nothing else wasted. Off we go for our adventurous week. As I was outside of Harrisonburg I called Glen’s cell phone to check on their progress. He had called Thomas as they were having breakfast in Lexington and then they’d head to the resort also. Carla, Kristen (13 yrs old), Mileena (Kristen’s best friend), her mom-Linda, and her brother-Adam (who is 10 yrs old) were all traveling together in their van. As I entered the road to the resort they had pulled off to the side of the road and waited on me since they had never been here. I took them to the waterpark and all of then but Glen opted to stay there for fun in the water as we were going to get registered and see where we’d be staying. We had an hour and a half to wait until we could actually get into the condo (3:00 PM) so we went back to the waterpark and watched the rest of the crew and visited them for a little before we came back and unloaded our vehicles then sorted things out in both upstairs and downstairs. Thomas started his famous spaghetti but as Caitlynn reminded him “I can’t believe your using Ragu, you never do that” but with all the fresh “fixings” he puts in it I have no doubt it will be good and everyone will enjoy it. Caitlynn & I prepared queso dip and Glen prepared the garlic bread for our entrée this evening. When it was time for Glen to pickup his crew and bring them to the condo (6:00 PM), he left to return and we planned dinner to be ready at 7:30. Caitlynn ran outside to greet Glen and his bunch as they returned from the waterpark. I saw what looked like van lights and told her “that’s them” so she ran outside and yells “Glen my little Princess” just in time to realize that it was not Glen but a Chinese man who thought she was crazy!….As Glen escorted his group to the top floor (above our floor which is a mirror image of our floor-complete with 6 person hottub in the master bathroom, full kitchen, dining area, fireplace, decks, master bedroom with bath and another bedroom with 2 beds, not to leave out the fact that the couch makes into a full-size bed) the girls squealed and said “this is nicer than our house” and then when they set eyes on the hottub they squealed even louder, shut the door and started the water!
After everyone got settled and hungry-we all came to our condo floor to eat dinner together and spend some time getting to know each other. We all sat around talking and sharing stories of events, people, and times that we have shared. Thomas and Glen have worked together since 1991 so they have seen each others families grow and change with the times. Carla was cracking us up with a story about the time Glen was having kidney stone issues and she told us that as he sat around in his boxers, he kept “fiddling with himself down there”. She said he had a funny look on his face as he keep groping so she asked him “did you pass a stone yet”, as he had a peculiar look on his face as he looked up and had something in his hand that he opened it for Carla to find a earring back that must have been lodged in his underpants! Caitlynn held her own as she is so funny naturally-even if she’s not telling stories. The kids all went back and forth between both floors but ironically they did hang out with us mostly to share in the laughter. As Caitlynn now has a full mouth of braces-top and bottom, she is also fortunate to also have to wear a nice bright red retainer on the top section of her teeth so Carla was amazed that she could still talk but Glen laughed and said maybe they were trying to slow her down from talking-you think? Kristen and Mileena are friends from school and play soccer together. Carla and Linda met as their girls hang out together and Linda helped coach the girl’s soccer team. She recalls her famous line she used with Kristen the last season as being “What are you do doing?” as she recalls and demonstrates her reactions when she yells this. Linda shared with us the story of how her ex-husband and she found Mileena’s name as it is so unique. She said she used to be a big fan/player of Mortal Combat which is a video game and she said there was a “big, bad woman that was just awesome and had an awesome body” so they named her after this video woman because she was “so bad” as her says respectfully. Their family moved here 3 years ago from New Mexico so they are adjusting to the cultural differences here in Virginia as Linda tells us is so different.
All 3 of us mom’s sitting here have thyroid issues and we talked about that and the fact that research has changed the normal values that are acceptable. Linda has been doing some research in the information of it and so we all participated in that conversation. Carla shared a story with us that she remembers when Kristen was small and she loved playing in her mom’s lipstick. One day she heard her in their bedroom and she yelled at Kristen that she had better not be in her lipstick! Carla said that every time she would get into them she would apply it around her whole mouth as she was young and didn’t really aim. She said that the next day Glen went to put on a pair of his underwear on and as he turned and walked away, she saw lip prints all over the back of his underpants! She said to Glen, “is there something I need to know because those don’t look like lips!” We were all laughing so hard as I’m sure as parents we can all imagine how that felt. It wasn’t long before they realized that when Carla yelled for Kristen to NOT be in the lipstick, she grabbed her dad’s underwear and wiped her mouth to erase the evidence of her curiosity. Thomas chuckled as he told Carla “and you should of told him you wouldn’t be kissing his ass anyway so those couldn’t be your lips!” Kristen used the chocolate chip cookie mix that Caitlynn gave her and she made us Jesus cookies meaning they were large as she started putting them on the cookie sheet, Carla said they were Jesus cookies because “Jesus those are large!” Glen told her that “they will never cook being that big” but they did and no one cared how big they were as they were ALL gobbled up! After we let our bellies settle then I gave them all blind taste tests for NERD, which is a new business venture Thomas and I have invested in recently (http://www.nerdenergy.tv) . We tested Rockstar, Mother Load, Red Bull and of course NERD. All the kids chose NERD and the both adults tested (Glen and Linda-Carla said she “can’t just sip something or it makes me sick”) chose NERD to be 1 of their top 2 so we did label comparisons and talked about how we came about this venture. As we all sat around we each talked about our families and growing up, in-laws, and parents. Caitlynn shared a story with us when she and her dad (Lynn) were watching an animal show with one of her visits to see him. There was a Silver Back gorilla in the show and Lynn asked her if she knew what “that is” and she said she knew it was a gorilla. He corrected her and said “no, you see the silver line down its back-that is the meanest gorilla in the jungle. That would be your Grannanny (which would be my mother). We spent the next few hours reminiscencing of the many memories several of us here have had together and for the rest of us we were getting to know one another. Kristen came back down to our floor at 1:05AM as she reported to us it was hard for her to go to sleep as she kept hearing all of us laugh so loud down here! After Carla gave Kristen something for a headache, we all decided it was time to call it a day. We departed to lay our heads down to sleep at1:30 AM but as I finished getting ready for bed with my nightly routine, Thomas was snoring so I talked with Caitlynn for a few more minutes then I was off to read and in bed myself to close a nice day.
Sunday, February 01, 2009-As the bright sun filters through our bedroom window the temperature is 45 degrees, Thomas was up to start making breakfast. Happy Superbowl Day-43rd game with Pittsburgh Steelers vs Arizona Cardinals in Tampa Bay, Florida. I am cheering the Cardinals on for several reasons, the first being I have always liked Kurt Warner and secondly they are the underdogs as everyone expects Pittsburgh to win as they have been in the Superbowl before. The preview game show will begin at noon for TV coverage.
As everyone started waking up-the kids first except for Caitlynn, they came to our floor. Glen tells us as he comes to eat breakfast that he heard the kids saying they were going to come down to see if “my good man Mr. Thomas has something to eat” (as Kristen affectionately refers to Thomas frequently) they’re not crazy, they know who does the cooking around here! As they bounced onto our floor they were pleased to see the progress that Thomas was making as he had biscuits, sausage, bacon, coffee (juices/milk for the kids) and was putting the finishing touches on the eggs. Everyone had breakfast as they woke and came downstairs to join us. Linda came down with her Steelers lounge pants, Thomas stated he’s for the underdog Arizona. The night refreshed us all and we spent some time getting ready for the day and Glen’s group prepared the pack since they would be heading back to Roanoke/Salem today. After everyone finished getting ready and was pretty much packed, lunchtime was upon us. We sat out Thomas’s famous tuna-which I have never seen anyone including kids not like eating this! Sure enough we all enjoyed it along with soft tacos that Caitlynn had just finished preparing for everyone. With the adults sitting around talking again as we’ve been able to do with this getaway, we laughed as Linda told us about taking her 2 kids back to NM last year. She really wanted to teach her kids about fishing-catching, cutting & gutting them. She relayed to us that she was raised fishing as a way of life with her dad and she wanted her kids “to get the big picture of that true way of life”. Glen and Carla reported to us Kristen’s realization as Glen told her “this is the fact, every one we catch we will clean and eat”. As he gives us the details Carla grimaced at the thought. Linda is from Albuquerque, NM so we got on the subject of the annual Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta www.balloonfiesta.com that is held there each year where 5,000 or more hot air balloons have mass ascension out of the valley of Albuquerque in the wee hours of the morning in the fall season-it is truly amazing that everyone should see at least once in their life. Lynn, Caitlynn and Shugs (my only Rat Dog at that time) attended and other than Lynn’s constant complaining we had a good time.
Caitlynn joined in with her humor and it’s so funny to hear Kristen and Mileena laugh with her funny tales or comments. She announces that she is wearing my least favorite pair of pants that she wears because she loves them. They have holes everywhere so she wears a pair of basketball shorts under them-if I get a chance one day I’ll have to dispose of them….
The afternoon was already upon us so Glen’s group loaded up and we said our good-bye’s as they departed. It was a good time to be had by all and we made some new friends along the way which is what life’s all about.
Thomas and I made our way to the Woodstone building where he enjoyed the sauna and hottub as I worked out in the exercise room for an hour. He drove back to the condo and I walked it as I felt like I ate all day yesterday, besides the weather is beautiful at a sunny 59 degrees here in the mountains. Nothing like the mountain fresh air! There were quite a few golf carts out as the golfers are enjoying the day here as this is considered an All Season Resort with its own large golf course-not sure “how big exactly” since I am NOT a golfer. I will have to do a little investigative work on the golfing as I will use that to entice Nicole and her family with the golfing here since Justin is learning to golf with Juan so they’ve been trying to play on a regular basis.
As I make my way I think about how blessed I am as I’m able to take time to enjoy our surroundings. I walk and focus to open my eyes, stretch my mind and let go of the security blanket of what I think I know…….Upon my arrival in the condo Thomas pointed out that Caitlynn had baked us a couple of cookies and left them for us to enjoy. She left a note in the floor in front of the front door that read “upstairs taking a nap….hopefully napping” with a smiley face.
The Superbowl pregame show is on and I love watching the interviews as you get such an up close and personal view of the players that you watch play a game that they love and play with such passion each week during football season. The entertainment was music by Journey an hour before the game and I was shocked as I watched them perform because the lead singer is not the original man, he is Asian but performed for the crowd well. I told Thomas it was almost like going to a funeral and seeing the wrong body in the coffin as I did not expect that at all. Matt Lauer from The Today Show interviewed our new president that’s been in the office for 12 days now, that was entertaining and I enjoyed it also. The NFL named Kurt Warner “Man of the Year” and presented him with an award. I talked to Nicole as they are in Texas also getting ready to watch the game. Juan (her husband is also a Cowboys fan like Thomas), we talked as she tells me Lauren had her first fever on Friday evening but is somewhat better today.
Halftime for the Superbowl score is Steelers 17 and Cardinals 10. The last few minutes of the 1st half, the longest touchdown run (100 yds) in history was made for Steelers by a defensive end: James Harrison #92. Bruce Springsteen and The E-Street Band performed at halftime but Thomas and I enjoyed watching the commercials more than their performance. Some of the commercials have brought back 3D, that was kind of cool. We chuckled as Caitlynn has slowly started taking over the top floor since Glen’s group left today so she’s been coming down off & on during the game to get some snacks to stock up there for her. So occasionally we’ll here her abruptly jogging done the steps and selectively picking her next batch of snacks. Thomas and I are enjoying our own little smorgasbord of snacks. As the game time is dwindling down it is very exciting so this marks 2 great teams that deserve to be in the Superbowl. The game was won in the last 35 seconds with a catch by Santonio Holmes (made MVP of this game) with an amazing catch making the final score Steelers 27, Cardinals 23. Pittsburgh Steelers (coached by Mike Tomlin currently, began coaching this team at 32 yrs old) makes history today by being the only NFL team to be 6 time champions of the Superbowl. Ben Rothelishberger is the quarterback for Pittsburgh and his is 26 yrs old and this is his 2nd Superbowl win.
Thomas and I completed our evening in the hottub in our room with wine & candlelight as we relaxed and spent some alone time as Caitlynn was off to watching a movie/sleep upstairs. It’s been a good day.
Today is Monday, February 02, 2009-Ground Hog Day. The temperature is 52 degrees @ 10:00AM and the weather channel is predicting things to start cooling off mid day today with a slight chance of snow showers by Tuesday. “Punxsutawney” (who lives in PA) saw his shadow this morning so he predicts we will have 6 more weeks of winter weather: Frankly I love that because it just seems that winter gets shorter and shorter with less snow each year. We’ve had a few days with brief snow showers but nothing significant to speak of in Roanoke this year.
Monday, February 2nd, 2009-Thomas woke up to take a conference call and is working from here today so he’s on his cell and laptop, busy at it. Once Caitlynn woke she graced us with her presence from her “own floor upstairs”. We chuckled as I said “it’s always fun and games until someone gets an eye put out” as MawMaw Nolen would often tell her grandkids as they would horse-play. I however was referring to the fact that she claimed the upstairs place as hers for now as she “likes living alone” she told us. I said to her, “lots of people do until the bills come in and someone has to pay them if you like the amount of space you have and the amenities. She just gave me that “ok, thanks mom” look but she still came down to see what we were having for breakfast-funny how that happens don’t you think?
Louise called and she is driving here this morning with Lauren (she turned 2 yrs old in November), which I have the honor of babysitting while she skis with Caitlynn today. They will spend the night and go home on Tuesday sometime. So since I have time to spare after dealing with a few work-related issues I am walking to Woodstone to workout. I have joined my office in a 100-day challenge for “Get Healthy VA” and there were 54 teams (last account I had) that for the next 100 days (beginning Jan. 21st) we are competing on weight loss and activity tracked for each team so since I am the team captain-I should be setting a good example. Besides all of that I am not getting ANY younger and have another 5K to do March 14th in Roanoke so off I go. After I finished an exceptional workout I began my walk back to the condo and it was very obvious that the temperature had dropped (as they were predicting) to 41 degrees and the cloud cover was moving in-it’s still beautiful making this 9 minute walk. There are several small pond areas that the geese are enjoying even though there are several frozen patches throughout. Not many people golfing today but I’m hopeful for the weather to change in hopes that we get snow here. Upon my arrival after my exercise, Louise and Lauren had arrived. When I walked in sweaty and looking lovely I’m sure, Lauren said “Hey Aunt Raquel!” Now that is a nice greeting. She had a bag full of toys and books she so eagerly showed me and Thomas. She joined us as we put together a puzzle on the floor. I giggled as Louise brought in 5 pairs of shoes as she tells us that Lauren LOVES shoes. I would agree as that is a common trait all of us women share, I’d say. Caitlynn came down as she and Louise were planning their ski session for the afternoon. Thomas & I are going to go swimming with Lauren as there are several indoor pools to choose from here at the resort. As the girls dressed for their ski event, Lauren and I prepared for our swim. Lauren & I stood on one of the decks and said our good-byes to Caitlynn and her mom for now and I took pictures, one with my phone and sent it via text to Lynn for him to see his daughter in ski gear. Then we waited on Thomas to finish up and head out which took about 45 minutes, so in that time Lauren had dressed and undressed about 5 times. Now there is rain/snow mixed falling as we left the condo and the temperature has dropped to 38 degrees but feels like 34 with the wind. I’d say that Louise & Caitlynn chose the perfect time to go ski as this is great ski weather as it turns out to be with the weather change.
We’re off to the Woodstone recreation building to take Lauren swimming. I got her in the pool first and then Thomas joined us after taking a dip in the hottub which is just to the inside of the pool area from where she and I were. I spent a few minutes in the hot sauna and I looked out the door and low and behold who’s standing there-Thomas was holding Lauren as she waved to me when spotting me. Louise said she had not had a nap today but she’s still going full force! After we finished swimming we took her to ride the little kid’s rides that they have for the children, they require money but Uncle Thomas just shook it with his hands and for a 2 yr old that was plenty. Lauren then tried out the video games and since the screens change to entice any passer-by, she thought she was pushing the buttons and pulling the handles to make things happen-she loved that!
We made our way back to the condo through the snow as it is coming down in really big flakes now and we began to prepare dinner as I figured Louise and Caitlynn would be returning hungry, around 7:30 PM ish…. We opted for leftover spaghetti and so I prepared Lauren’s meal first while I was also waiting on the garlic bread to cook. She surprised me by eating an entire banana (except for the bite her Uncle Thomas begged for and she granted his wish), a small bowl of spaghetti, several Ritz crackers with cheese (typical for a Rothe to LOVE any kind of cheese!), a handful and a half of grapes, 3 small carrots, and 1 tomato that she reached over to Thomas’s vegetable tray and dipped it in ranch dressing before devouring. Of course by this time she is down to only her pull-up again and loving life. I laugh as I watch her because it brings back so many memories of Caitlynn when she was little-she hated clothes! As soon as I’d dress her she’d turn the corner in a dead run and be pulling every article off her body. Then the race was on as she’d run and hide so no one could get her clothes back on. From exhaustion we would give up trying the catch her and calf rope her to dress her again but while she was hiding her giggle would be a dead giveaway where she had chosen to hide! All of Brandon’s friends would laugh because every time they were at our house (which was all the time since he loved being at home out in the country!) she’d be half-way naked or jumping on the trampoline butt naked usually upon their arrival. Good thing we had no neighbors for miles…
We I read Lauren several books I was amazed to see how well she knows the letters of the alphabet and with 1 particular book-she really enjoys to be read to. Louise & Caitlynn arrived and we escorted them in as Caitlynn had a little pain in her left leg, above her ankle area on the outside. Thomas feels like it’s tendonitis probably. Us girls ate dinner and Lauren picked at my food as she took a few bites and ran around and Thomas was STILL troubleshooting his laptop modem issue with HP and Verizon as he tried to transition his phone service to a modem use as a way of getting internet on his laptop Friday before we left on Sat. no luck so far and he’s been trying for 12 hours total for the last 2 days. We cracked up as Lauren entertained us now naked as she stacks her puzzle pieces then sits on them and of course the more we laughed, the more energy she seemed to create. Every time Louise asked Lauren if she wanted something or if she could get something for her she responded to her mom , “no Aunt Raquel do it” and Louise grinned as she said “ok, now I know how your dad feels when we’re home as she always wants me to do it there”. I got Caitlynn to lie down and put ice on her leg while we put the movie “Racing Stripes” in to watch. Lauren has a yellow platapus that she carries around and calls it a duck, she loves it and searches for it when she’s ready for it. I asked Louise where she got it and she told me it was in a bag of things that Helene had given her that was Kayla and Nick’s “kid” things. She believed this was actually Kayla’s in the past and Lauren has graciously adopted it. One of the things that I so greatly respect and admire about Louise and David as they strive to raise Lauren in this day and time is the fact that they are always instilling pieces of family history for her in everyday life. When I say this I mean they encourage her to always use the “title of each family member when addressing or referring to them (ie: Aunt…cousin….Uncle, etc.) and they implement bits and pieces of the family past such as this stuffed animal of her cousins so that she will have a great appreciation of her family roots when she gets older. I love to see that because with the busyness of our daily lives we live today it’s not seen very often and I feel there’s a big breakdown in the time families spent together like I recall as a child growing up in my home as compared to today. There will be a day and time that Lauren will appreciate this attribute as her parents are giving her a heritage and for that I’m thankful.
Lauren never went to sleep so after the movie went off Louise took her to their bedroom and read to her and she was off to night-night land in no time-I creeped in to take a picture of her in her motionless state, she’s so cute! Caitlynn was off to her upstairs domain and Louise played her DS game, Thomas was emailing tech support back & forth in between playing a computer game as I’m typing this story. The snow is still falling and it is so peaceful. We’ve never been here for our week when it did not snow, the snow makes the trip complete for me. As I head off the do my quiet time, I think of how ironic it is that my reading is almost always related to the day that’s just been completed for me. The Living Faith daily devotion reads: Jesus’ Humanity Enlivens Us *The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him. Luke 2:40-the reading for February 2, 2009 I always let this phrase roll around in my head like the last sip of a favorite drink. I savor it because it reminds us that Jesus was a child who grew up, becoming strong and filled with wisdom. Like the rest of us, he didn’t start out that strong or wise. I can’t help but wonder what he was like as a child, what seemingly nutty things he might have done. Jane Goodall, advocate for the chimpanzees, took garden worms to bed as a child to keep them warm. Did Jesus bring home some ragged stray and plaintively ask, “Mom, can I keep him?” or climb a tree attempting to put an unfledged chick back in its nest? Thinking of Jesus as a child enlivens his humanity for me and makes it easier for me to continue to follow the man he became. Dear Jesus, fill me with your wisdom and strength so that I may follow you.
Interesting that we have spent the day with Lauren as a young child and have seen her strong-willed ways and how intelligent she is yet she is still very much a child with so much to learn and such a bright future ahead of her. I pray for her nightly as I do all the children in my family, that God would write his name on their hearts and use their parents to be Godly examples to create a passion in them to seek Him in all they do. Good night all.
Good morning, today is Tuesday, February 3, 2009 and they are saying we got 4-6 inches of snow and the current temperature is 30 degrees. The day is starting out sunny and will melt parts of it away I’m sure before long but for now we will enjoy the majestic view of the mountains covered in fresh fallen snow-it is quite picturesque. I sent via text the girls at the office and Nicole/kids (Justin, Allison, and Lauren-yes I have a Lauren on my side of the family also since last August) a picture of the view outside our back deck here at the condo. Kim sent me back their version of their view at the lab which had an audio clip and it was somewhere that had snow covered cross-country skiing place with huge mountains-they are so humorous. It was obviously not what they were actually looking outside their window in Salem, VA! We are in hopes that some of my staff will be joining us later on this week.
Thomas prepared a nice breakfast for Louise, Lauren and I as we let Caitlynn sleep in this morning. We were impressed to hear the sound of the geese to the little pond area outside the condo as they must be returning after flying off yesterday when the weather changed so drastically. Afterwards Louise, Lauren and I got our snow clothes on and went outside in search of an area to make a snowman. Louise said that Lauren had not liked the snow before (last year) and wouldn’t even walk in it, she was in hopes that her fear had changed. So Louise immediately laid in the snow outside the condo (with Lauren standing beside her) and started making a snow angel. I laughed as I proceeded out the front door to observe her actions and it made me think of the days when Jason and his friends from Jr High would get in and out of the hottub at Thomas’s house to make snow angels in the middle of winter-still not sure if they were dressed or not as I never really watched but just heard the stories from Thomas since I was usually only there for a brief visit from Tx. when we dated. I smiled as I remembered their excitement when they shared the stories themselves with me. We are in hopes that he will be able to join us at some point this week to ski but when I sent him a text after the weekend when we got here he said he was busy getting caught up in his accounting class so I did send him a text picture of the snow and how cute Lauren looked getting ready to swim yesterday as we left-he in turn sent me a text picture of the snow there at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA. Maybe as the week passes he’ll be able to join us for a little bit.
Louise found a good spot to build a snowman but had to resort back to carrying Lauren as she didn’t want to walk in the snow. Lauren stood there and I talked to her as her mom became the artist creating a snowman before her very eyes, she observed with great caution and as Louise finished I had Caitlynn hand us vegetables to make him come alive with features. So he had celery sticks for his ears, a carrot nose and tomato eyes. There was an old tortilla that Caitlynn had thrown outside yesterday in hopes that the birds would eat it, their loss was the snowman’s gain to be its hat. Then Louise topped it off with a small ball of snow to secure the hat better-Lauren smiled as her mom talked to her as she completed her masterpiece. At this point she did begin to take a closer look and showed a little more interest in the project her mom just completed so I was able to take pictures. David was unable to come so I will be sharing the pictures after our trip is over this week-he’ll like them as I have been able to get some good ones. As a parent can you really ever have enough pictures to look at with your kid(s) in them? I’m thinking not! I then made my way down the golf cart trail to take more pictures as Louise and Lauren headed back to the condo. With me and nature out here alone, it gives me time to once again think about all of my surroundings and realize how perfectly simple life is intended to be. As humans we are the ones that complicate things and by the grace of our Heavenly Father we have the simple opportunities to reconnect and renew balance in our ordinary lives.
Thomas continues to be on the phone with tech support and the same issue with his laptop, he goes between HP and Verizon so Louise, Lauren and I got ready and went to Le Club to swim as they have an isolated kid pool that is heated and other amenities. The sun is out but the high temperature for the day was 33 degrees as some of the snow melts away with the warmth of the sun. This time as we got out of Louise’s vehicle Lauren walked, even though there was snow-Louise and I noticed but didn’t make a big deal out of it in hopes that she will get better while being around it. We had a good time swimming and entertaining Lauren as we had the kid pool to ourselves except for a 4 yr old little boy but his mom only watched and read a book, she did not swim. After awhile Lauren was obviously sleepy so we gathered our things and we’re off to the condo for some lunch and then they will drive home to Rocky Mount. Louise told me that David called this morning and was going home from work as he was not feeling well so he’d be there upon their arrival. We returned to have lunch and load them up for their departure for home. With a full belly her “baby doll”, blankets, and her yellow duck I felt confident that she’d sleep as Louise drove them home to see her daddy! It was a great visit and we enjoyed every minute of it! After they left I straightened the kitchen and talked to the lab several times and Bari regarding work. Caitlynn stayed downstairs after we had all said our good-byes and we talked, she talked about several of her friends, school and our plans for the evening. I like hearing her perception of relationships as she is not easy swayed at all and has very definite opinions of certain things involving relationships. Women typically don’t have the power over their own emotions. You can’t have power over anything if you don’t have power over who you are and you can’t have power over who you are until you have the courage to say no out of love, versus yes out of fear. Women say yes because they are afraid of what others will think of them, what others will say about them. I’ve tried to teach her to do soul searching when forming an opinion and make sure you’re right with God then do what’s right regardless of other people. If they are your true friends they allow you to be different out of respect. She’s becoming quite the young lady that I am proud of her but feel like I have such a mission ahead of me for the next 2 ½ years, with God all things are possible.
Then I settled on the couch to read for a bit and relax. After a couple of hours I decided to go do my workout so Thomas and I left around 7:00 PM to go to Woodstone so he could swim and enjoy the sauna and hottub there until I was finished and joined him before returning here. We ate our dinner as Caitlynn had prepared BBQ for sandwiches prior to us leaving. Thomas and I then started a movie with the fireplace blazing and relaxed as Caitlynn had been back & forth to chat with us and bake us chocolate chip cookies again but then she was off for the duration of the evening. It’s been an enriching day full of good times and relaxation for all.
Today is Wednesday, February 04, 2009 and I woke up to my cell ringing at 3:00 AM and so I talked to Robin at the lab regarding a clinical judgement call on a patient. Then I called Robbie at the lab as Sunday was his 21st birthday and I wanted to make sure he survived! I was off to bed again after toasting myself a PopTart (strawberry and I only had 1) and having a big glass of water. My cell phone rang again around 8:15 AM and it was Nicole. She cracks me up, of course I sounded groggy and she apologized for waking me-not a big deal to me as I love to hear from her and besides I’m on vacation. Whether it be a health related question, opinion seeking, talk to the kids or just to chat it doesn’t matter as long as she thinks for me! Thomas was awake shortly, made coffee and headed to the hottub here in the condo and Caitlynn is still sleeping in her upstairs area. She will be moving down here later today as Bruce and Tracy will arrive this evening to join us and we’ve like to give them some privacy before we have another group coming in on Thursday. Caitlynn has definitely enjoyed her “space” upstairs as she has practiced for living on her own so I have full confidence that she’ll do well when she leaves the nest in a little over 2 yrs., after all she is her mother’s child-right? Scary….
It is a brisk 24 degrees (feels like 16 though) and the high temp for today they are saying is 32 degrees, partly cloudy. Thomas remains working on a Suduko puzzle while enjoying the hottub and I kept his coffee full until I joined him for a bit. I’m grabbing my breakfast after making reservations for the Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre for us to attend this evening as a family before Bruce and Tracy arrive later this evening. Caitlynn had mentioned it with interest the last time we were here for our ski week last year but we had never gone so now would be a good time. I took Thomas and Jason to one similar in Roanoke at the Holiday Inn-Tanglewood for one of Thomas’s birthdays when we were dating and we had a good time so I hope this one is as entertaining for us.
Off I go out the door after starting laundry and vacuuming to go workout. Thomas is on the phone with his offices and working on an excel spreadsheet for tracking production in his offices. Caitlynn is upstairs watching TV so I am sure they will be fine in my absence. I had a good workout out then swam, enjoyed the wet sauna, then moved to the dry sauna before I changed clothes to head back to the condo. Surprisingly Thomas is STILL on the phone with tech support with his laptop connection issues and Caitlynn is asleep upstairs now. After eating I caught up on my texts, phone calls for work then laid down to read before I needed to get ready for our family outing-The Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre at the conference center scheduled for 6:00 PM. So for something to do that had never been done before for this trip would be Caitlynn attending her first Mystery Dinner Theatre, she’s excited. Thomas ended his tech support call to go with us as a family, which was nice. So as we expected, it was entertaining and we enjoyed it-the buffet was great with quite a selection but we especially delighted in the steamed crab legs. Since Caitlynn had a slight reaction to cracking them last time we were in VA Beach last year, we were sure not to let her touch them but Thomas & enjoyed them enough for all 3of us. We returned to the condo (Thomas let Caitlynn drive us back-I of course sat in the back seat as we veered down the mountain side-she is a good driver though. I’m sure it’s due to his instruction and patience) and got comfortable as Bruce & Tracy were driving in this evening and should be here shortly. Caitlynn baked chocolate chip cookies and we greeted them at the front. It is a very brisk 18 degrees outside now as its 10 PM but feels like 10 degrees with the wind chill. We watched an older DVD together without Caitlynn as she was down here with us but doing her own thing in her room. Afterwards we were off to bed. We all stayed downstairs to allow Bruce and Tracy space and time as they rarely get that at home. I am thankful for the day and friends/family that we enjoy spending time with.
Good Morning, it’s Thursday, February 05, 2009 and a bitter 14 degrees when I woke again at 5:50 AM. Thomas was up at 7AM and left for his office in Mechanicsville then Waynesboro to return here this evening. I have the fireplace on in the living room area and my Itunes music playing softly not to wake up Caitlynn as she moved downstairs with us yesterday evening. The sun is bright even though it’s cold and they’re predicting the high of 25 degrees today. I prepared a smorgasbord of breakfast food including freshly made coffee (with cream & sugar as Bruce likes, Tracy is not a coffee drinker) and milk and set it outside the upstairs door then sent a text message for them to retrieve and enjoy their room service for this morning! I fixed myself a small breakfast burrito and caught up with the office several times as Kim took over a sleepless titration for Robbie this AM for me-all is good now. She & Darrell will be joining everyone here this evening early. I will head back to Roanoke around 2 PM to take Caitlynn and friends (Sam, Tiffany and Jake-Tiffany’s boyfriend that they became “promised” to with a ring for Christmas) to see Larry the Cable Guy. Thomas would be returning to prepare dinner for our friends as we are in hopes that Kim and Darrell Wells will be here by then also. The drive to Roanoke was uneventful with me having a lot of good entertainment from my daughter, I often wonder what age she will be when she allows a complete song to play for its entire way through-maybe that’s just too much to ask for a 15 yr old that has such a diverse love of music? Anyway it’s always good to just hang out with her-no place to go (except for the road trip we’re on) and just let her talk about whatever comes to her mind. It’s always interesting to hear her thought process.
We picked up Tiffany on our way in to town then went to our house where Jake met us then Grandma brought Sam to the house shortly afterwards. The Rat Dogz (Shugs-10 yrs old last month, Gizmo-7 yrs old until Oct of this year and Val-3 yrs old until Sept of this year) were so excited to see us! I finished signing payroll checks and gathered the kids to take them to the Salem Civic Center for their evening performance then I went to the lab to work a bit and gather my mail from the week. I returned to my house to write dialog for an interview from Our Health magazine as they will be featuring Sleep EZ Diagnostics, Inc. as a private practice and is interviewing a patient of ours and myself for the article, deadline is tomorrow. Of course they did not notify me until this afternoon as to what the deadline was so I am down to the wire since we did not have internet except for a couple of days while in Massanutten.
Caitlynn sent me a text around 10:00 PM and they were ready to be picked up so I left right after I emailed the interview and off to get the kids I went. We returned to the house around 10:35 PM and told Sam and Caitlynn I thought we should just make a quick stop at Kroger’s then drive back to Massanutten tonight, this meant we would arrive around 1:00 AM but I could do it if they could. They agreed and immediately put their Ipods in their ears as I was in control of the radio station this time-off we were into the night. Actually both kids slept at least half of the drive and I sang. I knew I should have been a backup singer, why am I doing sleep? Sometimes we miss our calling until later in life but I’m not sure my backup singing could pay the bills though-my daughter reminds me often that it won’t. We arrived safe and sound as Kim, Darrell, Thomas, Bruce, and Tracy were watching TV as they waited on us. We all chatted for a bit then off to bed we all went…..
Waking to a cell phone (mine-as if that is a shocker to anyone who knows me…haha) before 8:30 AM on this Friday. A bright beautiful morning with a temperature of 16 degrees, high expected to be 40’s today, first time since Monday when the cold front came thru bringing the snow which has been wonderful to see as we are here in the mountains. We ate breakfast after Thomas & I prepared it and everyone came from downstairs and we were all awake except Caitlynn and Sam. After they woke up we cleaned the kitchen and waited for Jason & Jessica’s (our neice) arrival which was shortly before lunchtime.
We all headed for the Le Club where we could swim, work out, play basketball, racquetball, enjoy the hottub (inside or out), sauna (wet or dry), or swim. Kim, Tracy and I worked out then joined the rest of them in the hottub then moved to the sauna and back. Jason and Jessica went to the indoor waterpark initially but joined us after they realized the cost. It’s always good to have them around. Later that late afternoon Thomas, Bruce and Darrell headed back to the condo to begin our dinner preparations. We had quite a crowd now so they started the process and we joined them shortly afterwards. Everyone got into comfortable clothes and meandered between both floors as Jessica indulged in the nice big hottub upstairs (I loaned her some bubbles to enjoy) and others took showers in the bottom floor, then we all began working together for our meal. We blessed the meal as we once again come together and realize how fortunate each one of us are to have each other and be able to enjoy some “down time” together and regroup. Life can be down at times and it may seem to have too few “highs” in it. The highs are laughter, fun, activity, and involvement with others. I am thankful for this beautiful and magical creation called life.
Kim & Darrell finished grilling our burgers and Bratwurst, we all got a good laugh as Kim came downstairs and asked us if the Brats needed to be skinned or not! (what? Has anyone reading this every skinned a Brat-really?) We had never tried them that way but what the heck? Since Jason is the Brat connoisseur, we asked him what he thought since he had not eaten anything but Brats from his plate tonight and it didn’t seem to matter to him! EVERYONE of us definitely had plenty of food to eat! Afterwards we sat around talking and catching up, listening to Itunes on my laptop as Jason and I like to compare new music that we’ve found. Thomas left and made arrangements for those wanting to snowtube at the lifts and then they left for the adventure. Most of the women stayed except Jessica. Darrell and Bruce all stayed while Caitlynn made chocolate chip cookies for us to enjoy again. After the snowtube group returned Jessica and Jason decided they would leave and drive to Clifton since a friend of Jessica’s was having a birthday party so they left close to 11:00 PM, the rest of us watched a movie and called it a day. Jason and I sent texts to each other as he was driving back to Roanoke in the early morning hours-it’s always great to have him with us even if it’s for a short time. He’s become quite the young man and handsome, compassionate and nurturing like his dad. I can’t believe he’s a sophomore in college!
Saturday, February 7th, 2009. Checkout day so we all ate breakfast together and what a smorgasbord as we were getting the groceries eaten before we had to packup the remains. It was 48 degrees before 9 AM and was expected to be in the 60’s today so it will be good weather for the drive home. We were all gathering and cleaning as we packed our families. It’s amazing how fast it goes with teamwork! We enjoyed the help as it is typically Thomas and I trying to get everything done to get ready to leave after a week. Kim and Darrell left in their truck, Tracy, Bruce, and Sam left in “Ellie” which is Tracy’s vehicle, and then Thomas was in his truck with Caitlynn and me “the Lone Ranger” following them as we all left the mountains of Massanutten to drive to our homes. It’s been a good week. I was greatly inspired by the mountains here as I write yet another story; Let is always have a mountain within our soul with a peak so high that we never quite reach the top…for then we always strive for greater things and will not be content with merely climbing hills.
