Christmas 2003
We are thankful
to have made it through another year, still happy and healthy!
January started
with a “jaw-droppingly romantic” trip to Venice, Italy. When we got back, we decided to put our house up
for sale. We went the “Lazy by
Owner” route and just put a sign in the yard. We
had a few lookers – it was great for making us keep the place clean! I enjoyed a girls’ slumber party at my friend
Mary’s fabulous new cabin in Newnan.
On
Valentine’s Day, my niece Lauren and I went to Salt Lake City to ski. My bag was searched at the airport and my
surprise Valentine’s Day gift was revealed (a giant Snicker’s bar that Tony had
hidden in the toothpaste slot of my cosmetic kit).
In March, I
celebrated my 20th anniversary of combined service with Delta and Worldspan, so
Tony and I hosted a party for my classmates. Fifteen
of the original 25-member class came and we had a blast reminiscing about the fun we had
when Tony was our instructor. Then Tony and I
took a motor home trip to Tampa and Cedar Key Florida, getting back just in time for our
friend Zaine’s annual tropical party. March
ended with a really fun party at my Uncle Dwight’s, honoring Cousin Allison and her
fiancé.
April started
with a lovely lunch at Tony’s brother Tim’s new house in Covington to celebrate
several family birthdays. I got to attend a
fancy luncheon at Tony’s mother’s church where I wore a hat and gloves! Then we attended a party to send our friend Andrew
off to his new job as a Sous Chef at The Greenbrier.
My friend Cathy had several girlfriends for a weekend at her cabin in north
Georgia (it’s nice to have friends with cabins!).
We attended Cousin Allison’s wedding in Jefferson. April finished with a wonderful trip with friends
to Europe where we bicycled around Lake Konstanz on a route that took us through three
countries in one day.
In May, we
visited our friend Vincent to see the renovations he is making to his house in Oakhurst
and then attended the Oakhurst Wine Tasting. I,
once again, pretended to be Carol Merrill (From “Lets Make A Deal”) to assist my
friend Les at a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society fundraiser.
I went to Biloxi for a few days with friends Karla and JeRie. Tony and I went to a Barbeque in Lincolnton, North
Carolina and came back through Gainesville on our way home to attend Cousin Hutch’s
wedding (the afore mentioned Allison’s brother…
It was quite a busy spring for their family).
In June, we went
to our once a year Braves game. The Braves
lost, but we had an exciting day; providing medical care to a bicyclist we saw get hit by
a car as we were leaving the game. We took a
day trip to Saint Louis where we made some new friends at the blackjack table. Finishing June, we joined friends on an Alaskan
cruise which started in Vancouver and ended in Anchorage where fundraising Les ran in the
Midnight Sun Marathon.
For the 4th
of July, I went to Las Vegas with friends JeRie, Sue and Karla, where we hooked up with
JeRie’s brother Glen and his wife Mimi. Then
Tony and I took another day trip to Saint Louis. For
my birthday, my girlfriends let me have my favorite meal at Ray’s on the River –
an empty plate that they filled with a taste of what they were having. On my actual birthday, I flew with Karla to
Savannah, JeRie picked us up at the airport and we drove to Hilton Head to the Sea Pines
Resort for the Worldspan Golf Tournament. Tony
had to work, but joined us the next day.
In August, we
had one last “float day” at our friends Ken & Rhonda’s lake house
before they sold it. We celebrated our
anniversary at one of the new restaurants in downtown Smyrna, the Village Café. We also discovered that our friend Rich has
invested in a couple of new downtown Smyrna establishments, Zucca’s and The Vintage
Tavern so we started frequenting those places as well.
Once again, we went to Saint Louis, this time with friends Karla & Jim.
I spent a
relaxing Labor Day at my friend Sandy’s pool in her immaculately landscaped back
yard. Tony was a groomsman at our friend
Billy’s wedding at his beautiful new home in Conyers.
I clogged at Powder Springs Day and A Blue Ribbon Affair and we watched
nephew Jared play soccer at a park near our house. I
went to the Delta Women’s Golf tournament in Phoenix where my friend Mary got a hole
in one! Then Tony and I took a short vacation
to Key Largo, where we got to swim with manatees!
In October, we
judged BBQ at the Hernando County Rodeo and BBQ Festival near Tampa. We went to Saint Louis once again; this time with
JeRie and Scott. Then we judged another BBQ
at the Big Pig Jig in Vienna.
In November, we
judged at the Pig Fest in Richland Georgia. This
was followed by a fall hike with friends Bobby, Wendy, Melissa, Andy and Rusty near Blue
Ridge. On this hike, we found a lost hunting
dog, and were able to reunite it with its master. For
our Thanksgiving trip, we tried to go to Frankfurt, but ended up going to Nice and Venice
instead; hooking up with friends who had planned on going to Venice all along.
In December, we
flew to Dublin and took a short driving trip along the Southeast coast of Ireland. We went to a party at our friends Sarah and
Les’ house, Barrington Hall. And then we
came home and wrote you this letter!
Now you are up
to date on our 2003. Hope yours was filled
with fun too!
Oh, we have a
new web site address with lots of new trip diaries and pictures as well as new email
addresses:
Our new email
addresses are:
bj@bjandtony.com
tony@bjandtony.com
We love to get
email, so write!
HOPE
YOUR HOLIDAYS ARE FIRST CLASS!