Well, we are almost 2 months into this retirement living and are still loving it! Some weeks have been pretty busy with CASA stuff, but that is settling down now. I just had another case end in adoption this week. It really surprised (and pleased) me at how quickly it went. The case opened in Feb. of 2014; the parents relinquished their rights in Jan. of this year; and the adoption was finalized on Monday. That is the fastest, by far, I've seen one go through the system. I am going to miss my sweet little girl, but I'm so very happy that she and her new mom can move on with their lives!
Because of all of the rain we've been having, Dennis and I have only been able to walk at the state park once a week...and had to skip one week altogether. We are greatly enjoying our hikes! It is interesting to watch the changing plant life and be able to see all of the critters that live along the trail. It has also been wonderful watching the lake fill up and overflow the spillway! God has blessed this area with an end to our YEARS long drought!
Speaking of weather, we were heading home Tuesday night from a day-long "date". Ricky called to see where we were (he was working in Paris) and cautioned against going home, because a tornado and large hail had been spotted in MW. I called Sheila (who had already made it home) to see what conditions were like at her house. She reported storms and light hail but nothing more...although the tornado sirens were blaring. We decided to go ahead and try to make it to the house, so we could get our car in the garage. We ran into the storm as we were entering town. It started out with just very light hail, but we were starting to get a few marble sized before we made it into the garage. (No damage, though.) When things settled down, we started hearing reports from around town on damage. The tornado hit right downtown. Most of the damage was to commercial buildings along North Oak. The First Baptist Church, which was in the same area, took a pretty good hit, too. Because of the area hit, and the time of day, there were no reported injuries. People from the community converged on the area to help secure the damaged structures for the night. Crews were at work early the next morning, cleaning up debris. So very thankful that it wasn't worse!
Last Saturday, Dennis and I spent the whole day planning our vacation. Dennis had ordered a large laminated map to plan our route. We drew the route on the map, determining where we would try to stop for the nights along the way. Then we started searching for lodging and making reservations. It was fun and exciting to "see" all of the places we plan to visit and reserve our rooms...in such places as NIAGARA FALLS (can you tell I'm excited?), a B&B on a farm in Vermont, and Presque Isle, Maine (a point about as far northeast as you can get without entering Canada). We plan to leave on Sept. 24 and spend 18 nights on the road. About the first 1100 miles (after we leave Jackson, MS) will be on scenic trailways...which are basically national parks. We'll head up the Natchez Trace to Tennessee, and then swing over to the Blue Ridge Parkway, which will take us up into Virginia. We'll pass through Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, and Connecticut. I think, in all, we'll be passing through about 14 states (maybe more...it is hard to wrap my head around it all!). We plan to explore the Smoky Mountains, the Blue Ridge Mtns, the Green Mtns. of Vermont and the White Mtns. of New Hampshire. We hope to enjoy Lake Placid and the rugged Maine coastline. We are going to try to avoid cities as much as possible! This trip is all about enjoying the beauty of the fall in the northeast and sampling the culture and food of the people along the way. (Very much looking forward to savoring some Maine lobster!)
In the meantime, we hope to get our first building projects completed. The city council approved our petition this morning and Dennis got the necessary permits to begin work on our shop and room that we are adding on to the back of the house. We have contracted this work out, so we can get it done as quickly as possible, before Dennis starts on the renovations inside the house. He will need his shop set up to do the work that he plans. Things will get rather busy and messy around here for awhile...at least it will when the ground dries up enough to begin!
Well, that is a few of the things going on around here. For all of those who were afraid Dennis would get bored when he retired, set your mind at ease. I believe he will have no trouble staying busy!
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