June, July, August, September - catching up

So much to catch up on . . .
June - It took Amanda and I about 3 weeks to adjust to the time change from our trip to Australia. Since Alan had to work, he was forced to make the adjustment more quickly! It was a good thing that Alan was thinking clearly - - his real estate expertise was needed to help Austin buy his first house. A special thank you goes to our friend Bill Brannen. Bill is a real estate agent and he shared information on HUD houses with us. He thought Austin could qualify with his Publix earnings. Alan actually had to co-sign at closing, but Austin almost qualified on his own. He put a $100 down, paid about $1000 at closing, and was then given a check for about $400 when he closed. So for about $600, Austin bought a house AND his loan is at less that a 4% interest rate. He is a proud homeowner!

July - We have always been blessed with wonderful neighbors and friends. We have a standing Fourth of July reservation at Gina and Steve's mobile mansion on Lake Allatoona each year. This year we also had a fabulous reunion with our 1st neighbors - Mark and Don. They were back visiting in Atlanta and had a full week planned. Nonetheless, they made time to visit with us. We hadn't seen them in almost 20 years! There were no awkward moments because of the time lapse. They hadn't changed. They still tell fabulous stories that make me laugh! I had forgotten that they lived with Connie for a short time. Their tales were hilarious. It was so good to see them and we want to visit with them again soon.

At the end of the month, we went to the beach to celebrate 26 years of wedded bliss. A tropical storm had passed through a week or so earlier and the shore was coated with seaweed!

August - We are officially empty nesters now. Amanda and Alessandra packed Amanda's car the night before leaving. The following morning, Alan helped Amanda move into the dorm at Kennesaw State University. She misses her dog, but other than that - she is doing well. We gave her the trusty Corolla and we bought a Rav4 for Alan to drive.

September - We started out at the beach for Labor Day weekend with Kirsten and Tony. It was a wonderful weekend - except for that little mishap where I ran over a wire from a chain link fence and punctured my tire. I called Kirsten  because I knew Alan would be on the beach. Alan had come in for lunch and was all set to return to the beach, but he gallantly came with Tony to rescue me. Fortunately, Tony had the necessary materials needed to plug the tire and we were good to go.

Alan played singles tennis in League Tennis and he won first place as the city champion! Of course, he is always my champion!

Our only challenge recently has been how to keep the dog in the fence! She grabs the bottom of the chain link fence with her teeth and somehow gets her snout under the fence and the rest of her body just follows. After one particularly long night of Rylie chasing rabbits from 10 PM to 2 AM, I went and bought six 40 pound bags of dirt and 6 cinder blocks. I put 3 bags and 3 blocks at each of her 2 favorite escape holes. Alan worked from home a few days later (so he would be at home when his iPhone 5 was delivered) and the stinking mutt escaped by moving about 6 inches from the last cinder block. I refuse to be outsmarted by the dang dog. Here is her new nighttime outfit . . .