Christmas Day 2012

We did dinner and a movie with the Brewins Sunday night (fun!) and had breakfast with the mostly fifth grade retired crowd Monday morning (more fun!)

We're looking forward to seeing old friends this week and into the new year.
Tom's surgery is Thursday and we are hoping for the best possible outcome.

Check out my Wedding website:

Check out my Wedding website:

I just saw this today. Whoo hoo! Congratulations to Isaac and Bethany.

Meanwhile, Tom is moving forward with the surgery plans in addition to the continuing BCG treatments, and I am looking forward to lunch with some Delran retirees tomorrow at Casamari and lunch with Gee Gee in New Brunswick on Friday.

Also, tax season is upon us. I have a schedule and everything!

Keeping Busy...again!

Most recently, I "took" the test associated with the Wordpress class I audited. The site I made during it is a tribute to my dear sister, called, appropriately enough, My Sister Sue.

The day after our return from vacation, we went for Tom's 3 month check up with the urologist and he had some news we weren't expecting and now Tom has to have another surgery to see what's going on. That's scheduled for the 27th, and we're trying to stay positive about it.

I went to my doctor (regular check-up) and got blood work and the whole bit.

We have danced twice, and I was the entertainment (teaching and leading some line dances) at Janet's party for her support group at Virtua. They were really nice people, brought great food, and I had a good time. (They were impressed that I was wearing boots!)

I went to the Eastampton Seniors meeting hosted by Officer Rodgers. The topic was taking care of your feet and I will, I promise. Sleeping more is a goal in that regard, as well as for other reasons.

I got a call from SHIP with the name of a new client. I finally got a hold of her on my third try and we went over a lot of stuff. (Did I mention Tom got his Medicare card?!! A milestone, for sure, though it won't be in effect until April.)

Tomorrow is a Chanukah brunch at Jill's and we are looking forward to seeing them and all the kids. Later I'll be doing some volunteer work at CONTACT, and Monday I have four things on the calendar....accompanying Tom for a knee doctor appointment, book club, dentist appointment, and HR Block orientation meeting.

I know of a few more things coming up too........some more HRB stuff, my DEAR lunch, and lunch with Gee Gee, and more dancing nights.....

So life goes on for me, but the CT tragedy is so overwhelming to try and comprehend. Every time I hear or think about it, I cry. It's just unbelievably sad.

So...December....

We are newly back from two weeks in Florida. I miss the 80 degree weather already!

We had lots of fun with John and Helen while visiting them in The Villages. Then we drove down to Solara in Miami. We got to visit Nick Crawford and see his very cool loft and eat at his restaurant (Hard Rock...waiter, not owner...).

We danced at The Round Up and enjoyed beautiful beach weather.

Milestones: Cody May is 21 and Tom's Medicare card was waiting for him when we got home today.

Post Thanksgiving and all is well...

Tom is off to golf and I am home making decisions about saving photos and financial moves.

Sue is in NYC with Zoe, having spent Thanksgiving with her and Millie's crowd and Alex and the boys.

We got to visit with her for a few days and had big big fun.

Tom made us a scrumptious Thanksgiving meal, and then we went to see "Skyfall", the new James Bond. I am pretty sure Ian Fleming didn't write that story. Is it mean to say I preferred "Wreck it Ralph"? Sue and I saw "Lincoln" and except for falling asleep a bit in the beginning, we really enjoyed it. Daniel Day Lewis was amazing!

Ok...back to figuing out how to move all my photos from multiply.com to somewhere(!?) before they are gone forever.....

A Visit and a Wedding

On our way home from Myrtle Beach we stopped in to visit (and stay overnight with) Alex and the boys.

It was great to see them even for the short time we had. Alex and Jackson hurried off in the morning to take Jackson to get his driving permit (?!!) and we headed home to NJ to unpack and get ready for our next wedding.

The wedding was lovely and we had a great time!

Janet and Tom

Frank, me, and Janet

One down, one to go

We've been packing all morning and now Tom's enjoying a power nap before we take off for the long journey ahead.

The visit with Joanne K. and sister Jayne was fun. 

 

  

  Then we golfed yesterday and met a nice Canadian couple we hooked up with. Then we met Doug and Jo-Anne for dinner and the Legends show. Doug was great, as always!

We're stopping by their place to pick up some "stuff" for transport and then we're on our way! (I'm thinking the snow is melted by now....) 

Mr. and Mrs. Brewin, at home

With luck, we'll get to stop at Alex's for a fast hello, and then we'll be off and looking forward to Lynne Pilvalis's wedding tomorrow.

Wonderful Times

Today we had a chance to visit with Mike and Margie and see their beautiful MB home before they had to fly back to NJ. We played UpWords and had big big fun. :-)

Speaking of fun, Doug and Jo-Anne's wedding week-end was just glorious! We played golf, enjoyed the Legends Christmas Show (starring Doug, among others), set up for the wedding, meeting lots of new friends in the process, enjoyed and celebrated the joining together of these two lovely friends, helped clean up a bit, and then met up again the next night for a glorious dinner at Rioz.

The weather has turned a bit cold (but not as cold as NJ is, we hear!)

We're hoping to hook up with another Joanne friend tomorrow.

Lots going on

So hooray hooray! I have now passed two, count'm two, certification level tests for HR Block. Just call me "Senior Tax Advisor 1"!

Yesterday's four events of the day were: shadowing the SHIP counselors at the County Corner Store in Moorestown, book club in Eastampton, Meet and Greet the legislators with BCEA at COB, and taking the aforementined Senior Tax Advisor test in Lumberton (I passed the "Tax Advisor 4" test last Friday).

Today, I attended the Contact In-service presented by Kristen from Crossroads, went to the gym, went to the BCEA office for some SHIP work, and tonight I'm back to Contact for the overnight.

Tomorrow....Gee Gee! Yay!

Keeping busy

Poor Tom! He can hardly keep track of me these days!

Today is the annual TP&AF meeting in Hightstown and tonight we're going to Prospectors early for a special event honoring Doug E., a dancing friend who passed away this year.

Yesterday I popped in to a nearby HR Block office and took the next level certification test and passed. Yay.  (Oh, and have I mentioned that I took and passed the RTRP IRS test and passed that, too? :-)

We are looking forward to seeing Joanne on her way home from PA and hope her mom has no ill effects from her recent episode.

Soon we'll be in Myrtle Beach for Doug and JoAnne's wedding (and see our Joanne K then again) and then come back in time for Lynne's wedding.

I am so not looking forward to a cold, snowy winter. :-(

Keeping busy

I seem to be spending a lot of time eating out these days, mostly luncheons. Between DKG and Contact and RSVP, my DEAR reunion group, and my friends, exercise and otherwise, I've been keeping pretty busy!

Today is both the last day for tax returns with extensions and the first day of Medicare Open Enrollment. Hmm....coincidence? (probably!)

We're disappointed not to see Caitlin and Zoe while they are together in NYC, but they don't have that much time and there is so much to do for fun! Ah, youth! :-)

Tom is looking malignancy free which was great news. He will be starting a year's worth of treatments tomorrow (BCG once a month).

Rainy Thursday (2)

It doesn't look very nice out, but I haven't heard that today's rain dated CONTACT golf fund raising event is cancelled, so I will be there taking photos. That will be after a SHIP counseling session and before tonight's tax class.

A lot of my days this month have been double or triple packed with activities. Yesterday's lunch with Gee Gee was really fun.

at Houlihan's in New Brunswick

Tom's next doctor's appointment is Oct. 1, but meanwhile, I picked up the biopsy report and the part I understood looked like good news. :-)

I am very excited about next week's upcoming lunch at Casamari with a bunch of Delran retiree friends. So far we have 12 who are able to attend, some of whom I haven't seen in ages!

We haven't seen Zoe since she moved to NYC, but it's nice knowing she is here! (and having a great time, too, it seems!)

Getting ready...

It's time to start packing (we are so bad at packing :-(

Good news: Zoe May is moving to NYC! We are so excited!

Teacher Appreciation

I got up bright and early Saturday morning to man the H & R Block table during the Staples Teacher Appreciation event. Linda Shinn came by and we reminisced about meeting up at the shag place in Myrtle Beach. Amanda Diaz and her husband tried to think of where they knew me from and it turned out it wasn't BCEA, but, rather, the Eastampton 5K run. Two Burlington County residents that teach in E. Brunswick came, independently of each other, at the same time and had a good chat about common colleagues and family life. We had fun dancing at Prospectors Friday night. Speaking of Prospectors, it's so upsetting and disappointing that WXTU will no longer be hosting Friday Night Lives there. :-(

Monday, Monday.....

I'm heading out for the dentist, library, HR Block meeting, and County Corner Store session for SHIP. Whew! I'm tired already! :-)

The week-end included dancing at Prospectors (no, I didn't win the tush push contest, but it was fun), two movies (Bourne Legacy (not bad) and The Watch (not my first choice, and not highly recommending it at all, but it was funny in parts), and Sunday brunch.

I have something to do every day this week, oddly enough, but maybe we'll get to the beach one of these days (if it cools down and isn't raining!)
Staples Teacher Appreciation Day is the 18th. (I'm "hosting" at an H&R Block table at the one in Mt. Holly).

Jackson is back from the Dominican Republic and Sue and fam look like they're having lots of fun in Rio.

How about those Olympics? (Go, Carli!)

Week-end fun

We danced at Prospectors Friday,  partied on Saturday, and saw the new "Total Recall" on Sunday. 

Here's a sample of the party fun: (many thanks to the gracious hosts!)

August already...

So my scheduled jury duty is not happening yet still....I have to call again Wednesday night...

It's sounding rainy...not boding well for the parties happening outside today :-(

We are struggling with Windows 7 on the new computers. Perhaps it's time to find and read some directions....

We made some plans for Florida, time share-wise; Myrtle Beach is coming up and Tom is interested in finding a way to get there sooner than our set time. We'll see.

Barnes and Noble posed a question for readers of Facebook: What was the first book you read? There were over 1900 responses (and I skim/read all of them!). Fascinating!
My first best book I ever read had to be Dr. Seuss's Horton Hatches an Egg. I loved that story!

Going for the Gold

It's Olympics time once again and we are glued to our TV for the exciting events! USA! USA! (and UK, too!)

July is drawing to a close and we have been pretty busy throughout. Tom had his BCG treatments, we had a mini Heroes marathon with Jackson, and we went to the Jamboree in the Hills (hooking up with George and Doreen after all this time!). We've seen like every movie that's out that we wanted to. I've been attending a study group with my HR Block friends (there's a big IRS test a comin') and I had some train adventures as I attended a really great Medicare Conference in New Brunswick last week (and tied it in to this month's lunch with Gee Gee, too). I "rocked Hollystock" in the rain Saturday, practiced SHIP counseling at the County Corner store with Ben this morning, and had a phone meeting with Mike of HR Block. Tom has happily gotten in some golf and is currently working on a magnificent eggplant parmesan dish.

My Heroes!

Dancing at Jambo

Little Big Town

Roberta and Tom

Doreen and me

NJ Transit

Lunch with Gee Gee

New Brunswick Hyatt

Hollystock July 2012

Soon it will be August....

A New Look

We finally lit the fire under our feet and have started some home renovations, starting with a new front door and some reflashing of the roof for leak control.

IRS certification test preparation is moving along steadily, which is a good thing...

We have seen a lot of the new movies that have come out recently with mixed reviews (mostly just OK as opposed to anything really grabby. I guess the one I liked the best of the lot so far was the early on Snow White and the Hunter.)

I hope I didn't lose a library book (but it's looking bad :-(  I'll keep looking. Now I am currently reading the delightful The  Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. :-)

I'm so looking forward to dancing at Prospectors tonight with our Hawaii, now Virginia Beach bound, friend Teri.

Hot enough for you?

In the 100's here in NJ, but at least we didn't have the debilitating storms that hit Maryland...the flooding in Florida, the fires in Colorado...

Fun of late has included Marissa's graduation party, Margie's annual barbecue party, the Contact Recommissioning picnic, working a table at the Whitesbog Blueberry Festival for RSVP, lunch with Conni and Sandy, lunch with Linda and Gee Gee, several movies and dancing with Tom, and HR Block classes to prepare for the IRS ceritification test. (yes it was fun!)

Linda and Gee Gee

Working the crowd with Len

Bog view on the way to parking

Lou and Marissa onstage

We're looking forward to spending the 4th of July with Jill and Mike and hearing all about the cruise and the birthday celebration. Then Teri (of Hawaii and onto VA beach fame, the surfing pole dancer!) is coming to Prospectors to dance with us on Friday. Whoo hoo! And we can't wait to hook up with Doreen and George at the Jamboree in the Hills!

Busy day!

What a full day! First Tom and I drove to his eye appointment. They were missing a machine so they didn't take his copay ( I wonder if they are charging the insurance the whole thing). Then we stopped at Barnes and Noble to see what help I could get with my Nook and it turns out my version is too ancient for classes on it and I am going to have to suffer. But...I did download the free Friday book while I was there.
So then we went to the gym. Then we went to lunch. Then we went to the Eastampton Seniors special thing at Russos. Then we went to the movies but the time had changed and also Tom noticed my vehicle inspection sticker had expired two months ago, so I went and got it renewed. Then I picked up Tom and we went to see The Avengers which he really enjoyed. There was a big storm and we turned off all the electronic stuff until it was time to go dancing at Prospectors. Now we're home watching 13 going on 30. I like it all over again. :-)
Tomorrow is the RSVP tabling thing at the White Bogs Blueberry Festival for RSVP and then Margie's party. :-) Fun!

Retirement Breakfast

I had the opportunity to attend this year's DEA Retirement Breakfast. So many friends...so little time!
I, of course, took photos of all the retirees and anyone else I could grab quickly. (But not quickly enough, because my breakfast was sorta swept away by enthusiastic cleaner uppers at the end! )

Here's the link: http://delranea.shutterfly.com/123

My best wishes for a wonderful retirement to all appropriate takers!

June 17...a day to remember

Our mother died on this day 46 years ago and we still miss her so much. It's Father's Day this year, and such an especially sad one with no Jeff to celebrate it with.












 My good friend Terri died on this day, too, two years ago, after a courageous battle with ovarian cancer.

 

I am thinking of all of you...my family and friends....and hoping we all enjoy life to its fullest every day....and cherish each other.

CMA Fest 2012 !

We had a lot of fun at the Nashville, TN "Fan Fair" this year. Having won the trip as a sweepstakes prize made it even more dear. Thanks to Chevy for sponsoring the sweepstakes and Lara Henley and all our friends at CMA for putting it together! <3

Nashville!

The good news: We made it safely to our hotel.
Bad news: Our four day shuttle transportation pass to downtown Nashville doesn't start until tomorrow and we can't get a shuttle, bus, or car for today. (Well, a taxi drive is a possibility....but for $40 one way we're thinkng tomorrow is soon enough....!)
Good news: We can always watch the CMT Awards show on tv....Maybe they're having it onscreen at the Gaylord Opry hotel. That will be fun. :-)

We're so excited about being here for the CMA Fest! (We're a member of the country club, you know! :-)

Getting excited about the CMAs

Hayley says Laura will be emailing us all the arrangements soon (we added a day) and I am starting to get pretty excited about the whole thing. (I'm thinking selling our old tickets won't be an issue and I hope I'm right!)
Hayley said Laura Henley will be contacting us with the arrangements via email soon. I told her to tell Laura we say hi (She was our contact at CMA last time too! How funny!)

Today I'm having lunch with Gee Gee (yay). Tomorrow is Tom's follow up appt with Dr. Dwosh. I hope the prognosis is the best possible report.

Oh, did I mention they are fixing my new computer? (:-(    The fixing is good...that they had to is bad. Since we bought it on Friday I've been happily using it for like ten minutes total....Bad omen? Maybe it's like a bad dress rehearsal and this will be my fave computer ever (doubt it). Speaking of computers, I only got halfway through the Steve Jobs book (couldn't renew...I guess number 159 on the Burl Co Library waiting list was getting anxious.....

A visit from the Kayes

Alex and Nathan just left for home. We had so much fun with them! Yesterday we went to Seaside and today we went to the Camden Aquarium. It was so great to see them and I hope we can all get together again soon.

Do you believe in magic?

OMG! I can hardly believe this, but guess what happened? A man called to let me know that I had won one of four grand prizes in a contest sponsored by Synergy and paid for by Chevrolet. Guess what the prize is? Flight, hotel, and tickets to the CMA Fest in Nashville!
We, of course, already bought tickets, and were wondering if we would be able to make the drive and if Tom could handle the trip.
This will be way easier, shorter, and convenient.
Someone is keeping an eye on us, that's for sure. I feel so lucky!

Healing is

Since last I wrote Tom was in the hospital (bladder infection, it turns out the pain was from) for four days (counting the 12 hours in ER on Friday), but he is home now and looking good.

He has appointments coming up for review and future plans, but meanwhile he's just relaxing and enjoying his new laptop computer.

I had fun at the Senior Expo today, greeting old friends, meeting new ones, grabbing lots of interesting information and reference materials, and taking pictures.

We're still hoping to get to Nashville for the CMA Fest. I don't know if that's going to happen or not....

There is no Myrtle Beach

Just ask Jamie O'Neal....
So we got home on Thursday at 2:30 a.m. and found out after the 1:45 p.m. testing that Tom has a tumor on his bladder and we scheduled surgery for Tuesday, the 15th.

Jill came to sit with me in the waiting room (love Jill!) and I drove Tom home after he recovered.

We're home now recuperating and awaiting results to determine the next step.

I am touched and heartwarmed by the outpouring of concern and support that our friends and family have been sending.

Driving home

We got home from California last Wednesday around 1 a.m. and left for Arkansas (via car) at 9 a.m. on Thursday. Now we are on the second leg of homeward bound from Texas and expect to be home in about 16 hours........(Tom just said, "I never met a rest area I didn't like".)

Though the occasion for our journey was a sad one, it was good to see our family....it's been awhile.

Hi and bye

We got home last night after midnight and are now finishing up the packing and mind set for heading out.
It's going to be a long trek, and I'm sure we'll be sharing lots of remembrances about Mom not only when we get together with family, but also all along the trail out there. She was quite a woman.........

Remembering Jeff in CA

Today was the California Celebration of Life for Jeff. It was a beautiful day at Jodie's....weather, collected tales, and catching up with old friends and family.

Mike White                                         

Jodie and Sue

The Mays

April now...what could be next? :-)

It's the Passover/Easter week-end and all is well.
We've had a visit with Nathan following Hannah's wedding. Tax season is rushing to a close.
California is on the horizon.
I am tired, but doing okay....

Time flies

Hard to believe it is almost the end of March already....
Poor Tom has bronchitis and my nose runs more than it rests....This has been some crazy weather winter...and now spring (or is it summer?) seems to have sprung.

Hannah's wedding is coming up this month as is the CA memorial event for Jeff...so we travel to D.C. and CA.

Monday I get to revisit the ABCO traveling financial reality show at Burl Co. Spec. Services school district...this time at the Mt. Laurel location. The kids in Mt. Holly did a great job and "selling" them furniture was fun! A great side encounter was seeing that Pam Woodington is Asst. Supt. there. She's great! :-)

We haven't been out dancing as much as usual due to Tom's health status and my busy/tired one, but we had big big fun on Wednesday and I'm looking forward to Sugarfootin' (after work at HR Block) Sunday.

Eye Eye Eye

I had the last surgery (hopefully) on my left eye. (Just a little curious as to how they had my approval signature in August for the laser surgery I didn't know they'd need until after I had some issues with my post cataract surgery vision in November.....?)
That was yesterday and I recuperated at home, foregoing the usual dancing.
Today I accompanied Tom to a bowling tournament and despite his lingering cold symptoms, he held his own. He is going back tomorrow for the teams portion, but I am working at HR Block (and then helping the Rec Comm with some prep, having dinner with the Brunch group, and going over to Burlington Center to grab some photos of the upgoing exhibits for our Mall Project....)
So here is today's amazing video...a record-holding belly dancer who can concentrate so well that she can direct individual muscles to turn coins over on her stomach...as a group and one at a time. Unbelievable! http://videosift.com/video/How-Belly-Dancers-Flip-Coins I'm not embedding it, but if you want to check it out, you are welcome to. The video is a segment from some tv show it looks like.
I am having fun studying for the IRS tax preparers exam. :-)

Branches of My Life

Keeping busy

I just got off the phone with Pat and have promised to bring her tons of old Harlequin Romance books I have on my shelves. (I remember the time they hooked me into buying four books a month with their offer of a watch a necklace and four free books....! :-)

[And here's every storyline: boy and girl meet, fall in love and are happy, something happens and they break up, and later they get back together. The End.]

We have a new couch thanks to Margie and Mike, and it is just great and so comfy! Transporting it and getting it in the house wasn't quite as hard a task as anticipated, so that was a good thing, too.

I am still working a lot of hours at H&R Block but have been able to squeeze in some time for visiting friends, taking the SHIP class (a volunteer program under the auspices of RSVP of Burlington County), meeting with the Eastampton Rec Committee and Seniors, enjoying today's Combined DKG Chapters luncheon/meeting, working on the BCEA website (sorry I missed seeing Lily Eskelson, though :-( , seeing DHS production of Oklahoma and the latest Bridgeplayers show Lost in Yonkers , dancing upon occasion (remember the old Woodbine? See Tuesday nights now!), and more. (Tonight's highlight was using a youtube video to learn a line dance for "Doncha Wish...". So cool! :-)

Tom has been able to do some winter golfing in this highly unseasonably warm weather and he had some fun recently watching a New Brunswick based bowling tournament with local participants on his computer! (He is just as wonderful as ever and I love him so much!)

Jeff is gone

The funeral home page: http://www.sollevinson.com/notice.php?id=23018

His obituary: http://current.org/obituaries/obit1203jeff-kaye.html

Link to the streaming memorial ceremony: http://memorialstreams.com/ms/sollevinson
   Number: 3908
   Password: levinson

This is the slideshow our cousin Bradley Kaye created with help from Jackson and Nathan...That's Jeff singing along with his guitar in the background.

Jeff Kaye Slideshow from bradkaye on Vimeo.

"Eye" see you!

My laser-ing follow-up after cataract surgery 3 months ago was this morning and went well. Dr. Cohen tells me I'll be seeing much better now. Yay. (and the next eye is early March...then I'll be perfect!) :-)

Things have been busy with tax season and all, but there is always time for dancing!
I have a bio on the H & R Block site. (You have to put in my name-Roberta Sallee to find me) Does that make me famous?

Looking for Mr. Groundhog....

It's hard to believe it is already February....Tom was out golfing in 60 degree weather (although we did have cumulative snow of sorts one day in Jan...). Tax season is in peak week and I am working every day in a variety of places (including High Street with Dorothy today).

I'm thinking dancing is in order for tomorrow.......hope I'm not too tired! :-)

Winter rears its (white) head

Jeff and the boys didn't get here until midnight the Friday of the week-end they headed to Washington, D.C., but we were so glad to see them and had fun that night and Saturday morning too.
(See Photos  )

I am busy working at H & R Block, but luckily I had off today(Saturday) for the snow and ice day!
We had to cancel our plans to meet with The Brunch Group, but we'll try again for next Saturday!

I went to the gym for the first time in a long time on the way home from my Contact shift the other day and it was fun to be back. My second round of eye surgery is coming up in Feb. and I hope it fixes all my ills in that regard.

I am looking forward to dancing at Sugarfootin' Sunday later after work.

Shoutout to Margie: Hi! Hope you are having/had fun on your cruise! :-)
(Being retired means never ever knowing what day it is or how much time has passed!)

Kaye family visits-film at 11

Jeff and the boys are arriving tonight en route to Washington, D. C. They'll be here for a fun night, ice cream for breakfast, and then be on their way to the big city to check out the new school and digs...and mom.

Meanwhile, back at the morning of this fun filled Friday the 13th, I'm looking at Eastampton cards, consumer workshop, and work at HRB til 8. (Speaking of which, I made my first Craigs List "ad" last night!)

Tom has been golfing on these (relatively) warm January days. He's such a sports enthusiast!

On the other hand, the wind is just HOWLING outside my computer room window right now. What's up with that?

HR Block 2012--Day 1

Tom and I ushered in the New Year happily and merrily.
Now it's time to get to work. I am leaving soon for my first day of work in tax season 2012. I hope we have a great season!
I'll be bouncing between HR Block offices- Sears, Burlington and Liberty Square (also in Burlington). Should be fun!

On another note, we have seen Mission Impossible and Sherlock Holmes. If choosing between the two, I'd recommend the former.

I also saw Hugo and then read the book. Brian Selznick is my new hero.

New Year's Resolutions? What? Oh, well...see Doreen and George, for sure!