Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from AZ,

This year is a special year of giving thanks for Martha and me. We still have to pinch ourselves from time to time just to make sure we are not dreaming. By God's grace we are here, living out the dream we put in place over 15 years ago.

Things are great here in AZ. We are getting settled in, and a certain rhythm is starting to develop. On MWFs I do a Total Gym workout here in the house (we bought one recently) because I am not a big fan of going to a gym. Martha will probably do TG as well and goes to a Pilates class on MWF. I am golfing once a week for now but I hope once the house gets "done" I can make that twice a week. There are four or five nice city/county courses I have played so far, and they are easy to walk. I just bought a golf push cart so I don't have to carry my clubs anymore because my shoulder has been bothering me a bit more these days.

We went to see "The Blind Side" last weekend. It was a great movie, based on a true story. In fact Martha and I made sure we watched some of the Baltimore Ravens game this past weekend. Go see the movie and you will understand.

Last Saturday we joined Resurrection Lutheran Church (RLC) and signed up to volunteer with Interfaith Community Services (ICS). You may recall that Martha was raised Lutheran (I was raised Catholic) so this is like going home for her. It is also very familiar to me because for the first 12 years of our marriage we worshipped at Lutheran churches. RLC is very outward focused, trying to meet various needs in the community, and ICS is focused on meeting daily needs in the Tucson area, from Mobile Meals to augmenting the local food bank. Martha and I feel that RLC and ICS is a good fit for us to start volunteering and helping others.

The house is coming along. We had a landscaper do a lot of work in the front yard (clearing, planting, new timed drip irrigation system) and it looks great. The new plants are fun and give the front yard a clean and diverse look (see above). We are especially fond of the Santa Rita Prickly Pear cactus (thanks JoAnn, John and Anna). The back yard will probably be a two year project. Also, we are about to tear up the kitchen and family room area. We are putting in new tile and new cabinets, as well as some minor construction to give us some more storage space. So, for about three weeks starting Dec. 7th, things will be a bit messy and disorganized. But we hope to have everything done by Jan. 8th.

We will be heading to MN on Dec. 24th again this year for Christmas and New Year. It will be great to see family and friends, and get another reminder why it is great to live in a snow-free zone! Right now the temps have been great, with lows in the 40s and highs in the mid 70s. This is the nicest time of year in Tucson for sure. We have met many of our neighbors, and they all seem like nice folks.

As I said at the beginning, Martha and I are well aware of how blessed we are. We thank God for all the blessings He has poured into our lives, especially all of our family and friends. We cherish each one of you and look forward to seeing some of you in the very near future.

Week 8 (almost).......................(martha)

Well, it has been a whirlwind week.

My well intentioned plans to write at mid-week did not materialize. Instead, I was busily preparing for my sister, Mary's, arrival on Wednesday with John, her husband. Besides cleaning the dust bunnies, scrubbing shower stalls and settling the guest room I have been cooking (yes, don't faint!)

Backing up, last Tuesday, Jeff and I attended the volunteer orientation to "work" for Interfaith Community Services (ICS). The scope of services offered and the wealth of opportunities to help were impressive. Currently, their # 1 need is for drivers delivering MM (Mobile Meals). They differ from Meals on Wheels in that their program accommodates dietary restrictions.

At orientation, the presenter asked for volunteers for the next day's annual golf tournament benefiting ICS; I offered to help. My assignment was an easy one. Four of us sat at the 7th green (a par 3,) to vouch for anyone who got a hole-in-one. The prize was a Steinway grand piano. Alas, nobody managed that feat and we had a pleasant afternoon outdoors. Fortunately I arrived home 30 minutes before John and Mary came.

They drove 8 hours from Pasadena, CA with their bikes mounted on their SUV. They have taken advantage of our bike-friendly city each day. Thursday, Jeff and John golfed. Mary and I walked in our neighborhood, ate lunch at a local park and took my cousin to PT in the afernoon.

It's time for me to close. All four of us are heading to my cousin's for dinner.

Settling in? - Jeff

Greetings from still warm and balmy Tucson!

One of things that Martha and I wanted to do in retirement is be more active volunteers. Well, things are starting to heat up in that area.

Our first time worshiping at Resurrection Lutheran a woman, Sandy, from Interfaith Community Services (ICS) gave a short talk about current needs in the Tucson area. ICS provides meals, transportation, and other "pastoral care" type services. Martha thought it would be a good idea to at least check them out, so we are going to attend volunteer orientation on 11/10. When Martha talked with Sandy I could tell they made a connection of sorts. In fact, Sandy called Martha this week and asked if she could help out preparing foods bags (stapling instructions to the brown paper bag)for distribution even before we agreed to be volunteers. I decided to tag along, so yesterday Martha and I stapled 500 grocery bags. It felt good to do a little something for ICS right now, even before being official volunteers.

But the fun thing, for me, was that while we were stapling bags I overheard Sandy talking about the golf tournament. Naturally I inquired, and now I am signed up to play in the ICS tournament on Wed. 11/11. It is a Texas scramble which should be fun. This is ICS's major fundraiser for the year. I am looking forward to playing for a worthy cause and getting to know some more folks, especially golfers!

Our lives are starting to develop a certain rhythm now. We get to bed by 10-10:30 and we get up at 6:30. We don't seem to have too much trouble filling our days. Martha does Pilates three days a week, and I have been golfing once a week. We also help out taking Jim Vadis (cousin-in-law) to physical therapy twice a week.

ps. I have added a couple of pictures to earlier posts if you want to check them out.