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2009 is over? Really? It's been hard to keep straight what has happened this year. Some things feel like it was years ago and other things feel like they were just yesterday. And we can never figure out if we were in California when it happened or in the midwest...we're still settling! But yes, 2009...it was a busy year!
We ended 2008 with Polly Mae's cousins in North Carolina jammin to the Avett Brothers and then got to Illinois just in time to count down into 2009 with friends.
February brought Polly Mae's 30th birthday trip to Maui. It was an absolutely amazing ten days. We stayed in a sweet little cabin on the west shore and time literally stopped. Plus we cruised in style with a sweet convertible upgrade! We snorkeled and ate shaved ice everyday. Other highlights were swimming in the dangerous ocean pools (we almost got swept away!), standing close to the blow hole, cruising the road to Hana that brought us to an amazing hike through a forest of bamboo, waterfalls and dips in the Seven Sacred Pools. We also enjoyed running around on the silent volcano and hiking through lava rocks to find a private little paradise. Polly Mae was often mistaken for a local which has never happened to her anywhere else. We loved our time just being together.
March brought a new addition to our family. We got a puppy boxer from the shelter. Someone had abandoned her at five months old. She was full of energy and dying to be loved. It was love at first play...especially for John. So, we adopted her and named her Shaka! Now she's huge and full of kisses. She is always eager to smooch or snuggle on the couch. Although her snuggles can leave you flat on your ass sometimes. She's a strong dog! She loves going out to Polly Mae's parents house or sister's house where she can run, run, run and play with other doggies. Or she enjoys runs in Tower Grove Park across the street from us and finding sticks to chew to mulch. She is an absolute joy to have around and great foot warmer in the bed.
For spring break in April, Polly Mae joined her good friend, Jessi, on a road trip out to New York. They stayed a few days at a fun B&B in Ithaca and enjoyed hiking the gorges and eating daily at the Moosewood Restaurant. They then went on to the Catskill Mountains to stay with their good friends Neb & Jennie and their daughter Greta. It was great to all be together making food, crafts, playing games and hiking around.
In May we headed out to Portland, Oregon to help celebrate the marriage of two very good friends, Andy and Steph. This wedding brought a lot of John's old friends out so we rented a house and crashed together. Some friends of ours from California came out that same weekend and crashed with us as well. It was this amazing week full of the greatest friends on earth, with plenty of singing, dancing, drag, strippers, sports, games, laughs and stellar love. It's a week we look back on often. We miss all of our people!
The summer kept us very busy since we are still the managers of the seven unit apartment building we live in. We had a lot of turning over of tenants and units to fix up and rent out. But it's slowed down now and we do love our third floor pent house overlooking the park (with reduced rent, who wouldn't?). We also attended a slew of Cardinals games, visited family, and made the annual venture to the creek in August to celebrate Jimmie and Cookie's 40th anniversary.
Polly Mae made a trip back to California in October. She partied with her bro-n-law, Eric, in San Francisco at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, which was out of control! The amount of people that attend has sky rocketed since they first started going. But that would be expected with free concerts in the Golden Gate Park. She also hit up some of her favorite spots in S.F. like the Presidio and Fillmore areas. She then made her way down to Santa Cruz to kick it with her homies, Sarah and Frank. And also squeezed in a trip down to Salinas to stay with her Uncle Roy and Aunt Cookie.
And we got a new niece this November! Ellen and Scott, John's sister and brother-in-law, had a sweet baby girl. Faith is happy and healthy...and sleepy. She is the ideal compliment to Grace's craziness.
John was a permanent sub at Flynn Park Elementary during the beginning of the year but was then hired as a Pre-K teacher for Twillman Elementary. Yeeeaaaah! He loves institutionalizing his students' wild minds and teaching them to write "Down with homework." Another perk to a full-time job is having spending cash to drop on vinyl at the independent record stores. He works hard at giving his little 4 year olds a great place to play, learn and imagine and is very successful. Mr. Phillips is already very well known on campus and his classroom is often a safe haven for many "troubled" students aka a zoo. Outside of work, John spends the rest of his time reading, listening to his records, bike riding and napping with Shaka.
Polly Mae continues to work as a library substitute for the St. Louis Public Library. Although she's been offered many full time positions she enjoys the flexibility and the experience of working in all the different branches. She is currently trying to talk herself into following through with library school applications. So we'll see what happens there. Nothing like the GRE and application fees to keep it at bay. She really enjoys having control of her work schedule. It gives her free time to just be home with Shaka, or visiting friends and family when she wants. She has been battling with health problems of uterus fibroids and ovarian cysts for a few years now but has stopped taking medications and has turned her health around with diet change! No dairy, meat or gluten. It's been a big change but has made her feels loads better. She mainly enjoys hanging with John and Shaka with a good book, tunes and breaking into dance every now and then.
We are extremely happy to be back in the Midwest closer to family and surrounded by the seasons. Yes, even winter. It is still taking a little while to get used to St. Louis, but we are finding little pockets that we like. We enjoy hitting up the Laumeier Sculpture Garden, The City Museum, and Wasabi for sushi. We are happy that we can just drive right over to see family for the weekend or they can show up at our place. It makes a huge difference. We feel so very lucky to have people we love all over this country...and a few even outside the country. You all make our life so full. Thank you! We hope 2010 brings loads of love and laughter. Maybe we'll see you...all are always welcome a stay with us in St. Louis.
