Episode 54: January – March 2011
Highlights:
• Winter adventures;
• Girl’s weekend in Chicago with Michelle and Jen;
• Business trips to Brazil (Deb) and London (Neal);
• Girl’s long weekend and spa with Steph, Anna Mary, and Sharon;
• House guests;
• The Shorg’s foray into home ownership.
Although January was cold, we made the most of the days when the weather was kind with some outdoor activities, like snowshoeing through the local forests. Deb’s business travels to Florida, Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Houston gave her some reprieve from the weather. My business trips to Ann Arbor, Philadelphia, London, and New York on the other hand did nothing to provide a break from the winter cold!
We were graced with a visit from our dear friends, Stephanie and Luis, as house guests for five weeks as they were preparing to move to Brazil for the next few years. After all their belongings got packed and put on a ship they decided to stay with us rather than in a hotel, which worked out perfectly as we got to maximize the little time left with them in the country. Between their travel and ours, we counted a total of only six days that all four of us were in the house together, but we still made the most of those days.
Deb took advantage of a business trip to Chicago to stay for the weekend to meet up friends, Michelle and Jen, for a girl’s weekend filled with shopping and eating (plenty of both!). She took advantage of another business trip to Houston to meet up with Stephanie, Anna Mary (Stephanie’s mum), and Sharon (Anna Mary’s best friend). From Houston, the four of them took a drive to Austin, Texas and spent four luxurious days at the Lake Austin Spa. The spa was a sensational experience for them, with plenty of laughter, stories, and great memories. From the gourmet food offerings to the exercise classes, seminars, boutiques, and the spa itself, Lake Austin was the epitome of relaxation. Deb and Stephanie came back refreshed and raving of their time away – and they are already planning their next visit.
Other adventures this quarter centered on Stephanie and Luis leaving the U.S. We had a few farewell gatherings with other friends, and Stephanie had a farewell dance celebration followed by a dinner with our friends at NIA (the dance class Stephanie teaches), which was a wonderful way for many of her friends to say goodbye. Stephanie and Luis left in mid-March – and we miss them very much already.
This quarter, Deb experienced her first ever snow day. The children in Michigan are very familiar with this experience. Schools have multiple snow days in a year on which children are asked to stay home due to poor winter weather. In our four years in Midland, we have never had a day where the weather was so bad that it prohibited us from going to the office – until this season. We actually experienced two snow days this year! On both occasions, Deb’s car could not make it out of the driveway due to the amount of snow that had fallen overnight, and she was captive inside the house until our snow plow service came to free her from her days indoors. I think she quite liked the benefits of too much snow. With our weather experiences this year, we finally succumbed and bought our very first snow shovel. (It only took us four winters!) We are no longer in denial and are finally becoming real Michiganders.
As testament to our newly discovered “Michigander” status, we decided to buy a house here in town and finally move out of the rental we have been in for the last four years. Given our rather transient life together so far, this is the first home that we have purchased together, so we are very excited. The house is a new build that was half-way completed by the time we made our decision. With the house framed and drywalled, we did not have to make some of the bigger decisions around design, but came in at just the right time to choose some of the final fixtures and finishings. The rest of March was taken up with multiple trips to the house, home improvement stores, and to the builder’s offices themselves, not to mention banks, insurance companies, and so on. The house is well under way, and will be finished in the second week of May. We struck up an agreement with the builders, giving them permission to show it as a display home for a few weeks after it is ready. As a result, we won’t take possession of the house and move in until July 1. It is clear that there are a few trips to buy furniture and artwork in our not-too-distant future.
Until next time, take care!
