Week One: Why make plans anyway?

 

Our plans have already gone awry!   

Not much in this post except family -- no great road discoveries. But we do like to share our family, so read on if you want.  .  

We left Durango on schedule.  We have extensive packing lists and consider it successful that we forgot only one thing we really will miss, and Matt and Katy are able to bring it to the cruise, so no loss there.  Baby Beluga is performing well -- always expect some problems after a remodel, but only a small, fixable one.  So far so good! 

We  made it to Austin.... where we found our family in great shape. Despite our setbacks (read on), we have had a good time and will continue on our now -interrupted  schedule....Here's highlights: 

✅ We met our 'new' foster granddog -- a 10 year old Weimaraner, who seemingly likes bread: 

✅ Mark arrived on time from Vienna -- that's a good thing!  FlightAware had shown the arrival time to be almost an hour late.  The hat came later.  He wore a Panama hat on the plane.  Mark likes hats and they look good on him (says his mother)

✅ We went to William's School's Christmas Concert.  The kids all wore their pajamas.  William is in the middle of the top row.  Except that they had the kids (read germ laden vectors) singing in the aisles again, it was a cute little concert.  

✅ We had a Krispy Kreme breakfast-fest for William's last day of school breakfast -- and by that I mean his breakfast before his school Christmas party.  Not sure there was much 'school' involved. 

Three generations of Miller Men! As you look at these pics, just remember one in a nuclear engineer, one is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army, and one is a quite successful, if young, school boy) 

Oldest and Youngest:  

✅ Then we went to the ER.... and not to the Christmas Cruise!  

On Friday -- the day after the Christmas concert -- I came down with a stomach bug of some sort -- oh so unhappy.   No pics of this.  It lasted for more than 24 hours, resulted in dehydration, etc, and a trip to ER for fluids, and worst  part, the inability to make the cruise sailing time. At that point, I didn't care much, but couldn't get Bill to go without me.  💙For our CCC friends, he kept claiming 100%/100%!  

 ✅ However, those who did go, have (all but one of them) been sea sick in 20 foot seas..... calming down on day 3 though.   Thanks goodness.  Here they all are having a good time with out us.... or at least smiling......

John and Georgia are missing and missed, but here's the rest of them-- from left to right:  Mark, Katy, Matt, Michael, Lindsay (taking the pic).

✅. Perhaps the most important thing we got to do, and just because we missed the ship, was to spend some extra time with my brother, Joe.  He has moved to a new assisted living facility and, despite calling his room there a cell, he seems a little happier.  It is closer to his son's home, too.  This is him with his adored daughter, Jacqueline. She is visiting from her home in Australia.  (Another Foreign Service family).

Here's to better times.    

Retirement Lesson Learned.  We (and BabyBeluga) can handle medical issues as they arise.

VOYAYA