Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Christmas Newsletter - Our Year

By the time you read our 2010 Christmas Newsletter, Paul and I will be in South Carolina again.

We have enjoyed another busy year together. We spent our 2009 New Year's Eve celebration with my Mom at her Senior Residence in Brockville and had a wonderful dinner. It was a very pleasant evening and for almost 90 years young, my Mon enjoyed it also.


On January 1, Paul and I left my sister's condo in Brockville and started our drive to Surfside Beach, South Carolina. The weather overall was cooperative with just a little lake effect snow in Syracuse, New York. We spent the night in Pennsylvania and arrived in Surfside Beach the next evening. It was nice to be back.


We spent January, February and March there and enjoyed our time. We joined the local shelling club, attending their monthly meetings, and made a shelling trip to Raccoon Key with our friends, Irmgard and Don. Amongst other treasures, we found over 50 sand dollar shells.


The high point of our trip to South Carolina this past year, for me, was meeting up with childhood friends, Shirley and Maddy, after more than 40 years. We spent a couple of evenings catching up on all the news, and meeting spouses. Paul and I spent more time with them in September in Newfoundland. Twice in one year - after more than 40 years.


After another wonderful winter in South Carolina, on 1 April, we packed up and headed home to Canada. We decided upon a slower pace of drive this year. After our first day of driving, we pulled into Gettysburg, PA and enjoyed a couple of warm, sunny days touring the American Civil War battlefields of Gettysburg, and enjoying some wonderful scenery. Paul has a great interest in the events of the civil war so this was a side trip that he had been looking forward to. There was so much to see and after a couple of days we had only touched the surface and plan to return sometime.



After a night in Massachusetts, and another in Fredericton, New Brunswick, we arrived back in Beresford on 6 April. The winter was nowhere in sight and spring was on its way. We spent a good part of May doing renovations to our house, which included new flooring, updating the laundry room, paving the driveway, but best of all, a new two-level deck on the back of our house.


While Paul kindly put the house back in order after the renovations, I left town for a few days. I attended the Hospital Auxiliary Annual Conference held in Moncton this year on the long weekend in May. It was nice to get away with "the girls" and enjoy some "me" time. I was also able to meet up there with a friend from my hometown in Newfoundland. It had been ten years since we last saw each other, so there was much news to catch up on. The month of May also took me to the big 55! Paul, family and friends helped me celebrate at our favourite local restaurant with a nice dinner and of course, birthday cake.

In June, Paul and I were on the road again, this time to Ontario. We spent a few days in Ottawa attending the wedding of our friends, Sandra and Javier; and meeting up with other friends that we had not seen for more than a year.


We then spent a week in Brockville/Mallorytown visiting with my family.


This year we celebrated our first Canada Day in Bathurst.


Also in July, we had a couple of celebrations in Bathurst with Paul's family. His sister, Jeannine, turned 60 and we helped organize her birthday dinner. We also attended Jodie and Robert's wedding, which took place at the local golf club. What a beautiful setting for an outdoor wedding.


In August, Paul's son, Tom, and his girlfriend (now fiancee) Lisa, spent a week in eastern Canada. It was nice to spend time with them, getting to know Lisa and to welcome her to our family.


At the end of August, Paul and I set out for a trip to Newfoundland. It was my first time back home in 10 years and Paul's first trip ever to the Island. We visited Corner Brook, Gros Morne, Pilley's Island area, Grand Falls, Twillingate, Bonavista and St. John's. We had the most wonderful holiday and have great memories, along with more than 3000 photos!


My sister and brother-in-law spent some time with us in Newfoundland. They returned to Beresford with us and spent a few days with us, before returning to Ontario. We spent several relaxing afternoons, while in Pelley's Island, sipping Auk Island wine and enjoying a campfire.


Our fall was rather quiet compared to the rest of our year. We enjoyed time at home and a few social events with our family and friends. Paul and I even enjoyed a couple of nice warm afternoons on our back and front decks which we considered bonus days at that time of year.



Towards the end of November, Paul and I packed up and headed for Surfside Beach. It will surely be a different Christmas than we are used to but we felt that a change was a good thing. We will be blogging our adventures.

Paul and I would like to wish you and yours a happy holiday season with a peaceful and healthy New Year.

Merry Christmas and a Happy 2011





3 comments:

  1. Great year in review Marilyn. I look forward to hearing more of your adventures,

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  2. Marilyn .. you have a wonderful way with words. It's been lovely following you and Paulk's adventures through your blog. Looking forward to reading many more entries.

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  3. I really enjoyed reading about Paul and your 2010. It was very interesting.
    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to the both of you. Keep on enjoying yourselves.

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