i was just visiting site to catch up, sounds like europe treating our family members good. was also looking for comments from back in nov. dec. of last year--mebbe jan. of this year and can't find any of them! i have commented on the blog many times but not a single one is in the archives...why is that? it goes all the way back to beginning of last year but i am not on here once. am having a conversation with someone about reunion and cant find ANYTHING on it cept where aunt sandy says it'll be the 26th at their house....comments get randomly deleted?

Hello from Scotland!

We've had trouble finding a computer to use so communication has been sparse. I bought minutes at our hotel here in Glasgow so I could touch base with you all. We had two days in Edinburgh and saw a couple castles and a lot of sheep. Moved to Ft Williams where we saw another castle (this really was a bloody country)and the home of a Duke. Dad and I also went to a distillery (whiskey)and got a free taste at 10 AM. I was tempted to buy a bottle (on sale) to bring home but like a true Scot, I pinched my pennies and abstained.

We are in Glasgow for tonight and tomorrow morning after which we take the ferry to Northern Island. This is beautiful country and I'm so glad G'ma and G'pa were able to finally see it. They are quite tired and sore but everyone goes out of their way to watch out for them and make accommodations. Dad seems none the worse for wear after his fall. I think he may have used the excuse to catch some extra sleep to overcome the jet lag (don't tell him I said that!)

I can't upload pictures - this is a thin client with no access, but if I get the chance in the next couple days, I'll upload what I can to Facebook. More later if I get my hands on a computer. Love to all.

Oops

I want to apologize for ever dragging my feet about getting the McQueen blog spot. It has been an excellent source of family news. Wonder if they're having difficulty overseas getting to it; would have thought they'd post by now. Anybody heard from the wanderers?
Very sorry to hear your house plans are fouled up, Tracy and Scott. You've been very patient through the ordeal.

D-day Minus 1

Tomorrow is the big travel day. Have a wonderful trip, Mom, Dad, and Sandy. I SO wish I was going with you. Take lots of pictures. Love you.

Packing

Finished.
We were talking last night about this packing and it's been quite awhile since I've done any--guess I forgot how to get organized. Closet, along with the 'fridge, is quite empty. Vanessa phoned today and I told her I was making refrigerator soup and most of you know what that is----our supper.
I serve at Mass this afternoon, then it will be count the hours, minutes to pick up Sandy and the fun starts..
Neighbors are taking us to and from the airport, our car will stay home.
I'm now getting excited.
Thanks to each of you for my birthday wishes. Each of them appreciated and oh, so many. Never in my young years did I expect to have this many years to enjoy my family. Thanks again.

NL Follow up

Eric suggested I post a couple pictures as a follow up to our stories about the Red Snapper and Mozart's new bone in the family NL.

Enjoy!

3-days left

Thursday and my enthusiasm is still in outter space BUT have to start packing. Will give Dad a haircut today too.
Yesterday I harvested 3 beets and the tops, 1 carrot and more tomatoes. Had all for supper and it was a real feast, along with baked chicken.
Refrigerator is mighty empty.
Have a wonderful day family

Working TV

We have some good news, at least it's good to us. Our TV is properly working after 6 weeks of dealing with Samsung. Patience paid off, but it wasn't easy.
Today I started packing and feel more relaxed about it now. Will get Dad to do his meds and billfold tomorrow, I will work on getting his clothes in order and packed.
This all seems like a dream but Diana told me the 24th is fast approaching and I better get busy.
Love to each of you.

Airline Ticket

All - I have a round trip SouthWest Voucher that needs to be used by June 22nd. It's good for almost every day except around Memorial Day. I have a wedding that I am getting ready for in June so will have no opportunity to use it. The only think you have to pay for is the taxes (usually about $15) and is good any where that SouthWest flies (in the US). Does anyone have a use for it? I would have used it for the Reunion but Southwest does not fly into Lansing.

Forgot to share our new address with you all (I think.)

7923 Rivercrest Ct.
Freeland, MI 48623

Phone is the same: 989 695 4092

We are planning to stay here until the end of July, longer if our house has a contract pending by then. Otherwise, we'll likely move back into the Thornberry Dr. house. So maybe just write all of this in pencil.

Perhaps EVENTUALLY we'll finally have our River Rd. address.

Sigh.

Red Letter Day

Just 10 days until we take off on our 2nd trip of a lifetime. Did some shopping today and thanks to Medicare g'pa has a new walker with seat. He already used it at Bealls, clothing store with no rider carts, and it helped him navigate the necessary departments.
About NL time so I will write for that and save news for a different avenue.
Summer has arrived and we are in the low 90's daytime with a fairly nice breeze.
Love to all and hope those twins continue to amaze Mom and Dad as they do.,

I know most of you have heard this news already, thanks to Facebook and our family blog, but we are mourning the loss of our Gus. It's so unimaginable how quickly he was taken from us. He was fine one minute, and then the next he was so very, very not fine.

The doctor at MSU was able to run some tests on food they took from his intestines, and found that it was septic. There was massive infection, which they felt was caused from a hole in his intestine, which could have been from a blockage, some kind of a virus, or the most likely culprit, cancer. They could have done surgery to remove part of his intestine, and then they would have determined what was causing his illness. But he could have died during surgery, or in the days following surgery. And if the illness was terminal, and they felt it was given how quickly the onset of accute symptoms and the fact that he's lost so much weight and wasn't eating, he would die soon anyway. So rather than prolong his suffering, we made the decision to euthenize him. Scott was there alone, and is taking it very hard.

He didn't suffer in the end, and we truly didn't know he was sick until that very last afternoon. He was his normal, happy-go-lucky self until the end. Of course he was anxious and wasn't eating well, but he regularly cleaned the floor for us after the kids ate, and was always anxious when Scott traveled. Not to mention the packing for the move.

Anyway, Scott brought him back with him, and we are having our regular vet cremate him. We'll bury his ashes on our property, back by the fenceline near the lilac bushes. He would have liked that.

The kids don't really know enough to miss him. Sure, they loved him, and when they see pictures they say, "hi Gus!" but the move has thrown them off and they seem to be fine without him here. Scott and I are another story, but I think that we will be sad for quite awhile. And that's just a part of life.

So that's the scoop. We were looking forward to bringing him with us to the family reunion, so maybe we can just have some extra hugs and think good things about him while we're there. I know he would have loved to have been there with us all.

Thanks again for all the loving thoughts and prayers. I know so many of you truly understand the pain of losing such an important part of your daily life. He was just always there, and now he's not.

Update...

Hello all. Sorry we missed the NL, thought I would give you all a catch up here. We had a wonderful time in FL for our vacation. Spent some time in Cocoa Beach area with Patrick's family. We stayed with his Dad who lives on a river that goes to the ocean. It was great waking up and sitting on his porch just looking out over the water. We spent some time with his sister, Pam who lives in MI and was visiting during the time we were there. His other sister, Colleen, lives down there near his Dad and we got to hang out with her too. His Mom was also visiting, we did a beach day with her too. Traveled south to NFM to see McQueens, and Mom. We stayed at Mom's new place in Raintree. It was very lovely. My Dad was visiting also, so we got to see him too. Took Flynn mini golfing for the first time, and he had a blast. I posted a picture album on Facebook if you're interested.

Patrick's work has been more and more busy. Before we went on vacation, he traveled to San Diego for an athletic conference. There weren't many Chicago venues there for him to schmooze with, but he did some schmoozing for others around the country and the company as a whole is grateful. Right after our trip, Patrick had to travel to NYC to pick up some supplies to carry out installs for all the contracts he's gotten for ClubCom...a division of Zoom. He's been working very hard since returning with these. The band, Jonny Rumble just finished it's next album. Titled, JR. They are being marketed by this website called RockProper, everyone is really excited about it...and the album is soooooooooooooo good!!

Flynn is doing well, still at Little Fox Day School for now. This year, he gets to go on a field trip every week this summer, so I know he's excited about that. He just loves riding the bus with all his friends. He really enjoys going to school, and hopefully we can continue to send him there.

I got some bad news yesterday on the job front, seems my position, as well as the other 3 people in our department (technology) has been closed. Illinois is going very broke like the rest of the country, and the gov is giving education 24% less money than it did last year. So, there are cuts everywhere in the state. I am one of very many people, not only from this building, but statewide, to loose their education jobs this year. Totally stinks, and I'm still not sure what we're going to do. The Hawks are still playing, so that's great...I'll always have United Center and Bears which will start in August. I may try to get back at the Sox scoreboard for a summer income, but we'll see. Put my name back into the freelance bucket, and see what happens. Keep your fingers crossed for us! I'm confident that we will get through this, because really, we have to.
Love you all!
vanessa

gabbing

Not only am I slowing down about writing I guess I forgot how to use this apparatus. Things here in FL have warmed up to summer and AC is a must. My hearing aids are working great for me. They have adjusted a couple times but it just seems like a natural addition to life.
G'pa has started feeling better with getting some pain medicine worked out of his body. It was sure powerful but it made him like a zombie. He couldn't function.
It's sure quiet here. Don't know what happened to get this effect but I'm signing off now. Happy homecoming for Millers.

Oh Wow, we're slowing