July Update

Well, I survived my solo trip to Colorado last month! The flights went smoothly, I met up with my friends in the airport, we grabbed a rental car and headed to our other friend’s home. It was a mixed emotions type of visit. I very much enjoyed meeting these ladies in person. Since we have known each other for over 20 years we were immediately comfortable around each other. I felt like I was hanging out with sisters. Since we were there for a passing of our friend’s husband there were many tears along with the smiles and hugs. By the end of our 3 days together our bond was even stronger and we are talking about meeting up again under happier circumstances.

I was only home for a week when my mother in law came to spend a few weeks with us. She has been a great house guest and we’ve enjoyed her visit. We’ve had unseasonably warm and humid weather during most of her visit. My hubby and I are miserable when it’s over 80 but she is loving it! She moved away from Michigan a few years ago and is used to summers in the south so our weather is comfortable by comparison. We’ve had quite a few beach days during the last month. Lake Huron is warming right up and the next 2 months will be even better swimming weather.

As mandated by our governor, our town is back to stricter COVID precautions. We wear masks when inside anywhere. If we are going into a restaurant/bar we wear them until we sit down and then put them back on when we leave the table. It’s a nuisance but I’m not going to let it stop me from enjoying my town and supporting out local businesses. We are supposed to wear them outside as well if we can’t consistently maintain a 6ft distance with people not in our group. That hasn’t been a problem for us as we are rarely among big groups of people these days. Even when we go to the beach bar we sit farther away than that from other people. Our summer has been full of smaller gatherings and that’s ok with us.

We FINALLY got our new living room furniture and are no longer using camping chairs for guests! It took 5 months between picking out what we wanted, waiting for the store to reopen and then waiting for the manufacturers to reopen and get caught up with their back orders. I LOVE IT though and it is so nice to have seating options. You don’t really appreciate something until you have to go without it for so long. Kinda like your favorite brand of toilet paper (which I am finally able to find in stores again!)

Next month we are going on a vacation with several other families. We do this each summer and it’s our time to catch up with each other and just get away from the rest of the world. We have cabins booked at a small lake right here in Michigan. Luckily we aren’t planning any major excursions as we have no idea what restrictions we may be facing come next month. Mostly we sit around visiting with each other, take naps, swim, have potluck dinners and end every night with a group bonfire. It’s the only time of the year my hubby doesn’t answer texts or calls after hours or on his days off. He is literally counting down the days.

One of our empty nest goals was to visit one new place every year. We didn’t get to go anywhere this spring. This fall we talked about Key West or San Diego. Given the current state of Covid we decided to hold off until we could travel and enjoy things normally. I hate to go somewhere new only to find most of the amenities are closed. I am really hoping by next spring the world is a more familiar place. I guess we are ALL hoping for that!

The rest of our summer will be filled with small groups of friends, plenty of beach days, day trips up the coast, quiet evenings on the balcony and taking care of our garden plots. Which are looking AMAZING by the way! I think we are starting to get the hang of this!

I was saving the BEST update for the last section. My grandson is ADORABLE! Probably the cutest, sweetest baby ever! He is 4 months old now and smiling and cooing. We’ve been able to see him 3 or 4 times now and I am headed to that side of the state to visit again tomorrow. The good news is that each visit has been multiple days since 4 hours each way is a bit much for a day trip. So we usually spend the night and get extra time with him, and his parents too 😉 ! My hubby and I love being “Gram and Gramps”. I highly recommend it.

So that’s what’s new with me. As always, I appreciate your support and thank you for taking the time to read this. I’m keeping all of you in my prayers and hoping we can just keep hanging in there with grace and compassion in our hearts. Things WILL get better again, I know it.

  Making s’mores on our balcony

   Oscoda 4th of July fireworks

  AuSable Harbor

  Lake Huron

   Sunset over the AuSable River

  River Road Scenic Byway