Well Hello There Stranger...

Has it really been a month since my last post? Truly? I'm so embarrassed. As you may imagine, the past few weeks have been a whirlwind of good, bad and everything in-between. I will try to touch on the high points to catch up.

Josh finally had his surgery to close the guage-holes in his ears, there - Marines are satisfied now and he is all set to serve Uncle Sam next year.

She shaves now. It's the most beautiful Daddy/Daughter time ever!









Candyland - little missy gets very serious about her new game.









Jacksonville, FL - first extended trip away from the family in over 3 years. While there at a conference for work (SILA - Securities & Insurance Licensing Association) the evenings included two remarkable vendor events. And then the view from my room? In all my travels to FL over the years, I have only passed over or through Jacksonville...seems I'll actually be STOPPING in the future. What an amazing city!


Feeding the giraffe on our afterhours tour of the Jacksonville Zoo.




Sunrise from my room.


Hangin' out at the old Dupont Mansion - Epping Forest Yacht Club. See more at efyc.com













And Dean Martin stopped by for a set.

Cigar bar.




Hangin' at Singleton's Seafood Shack....yes, Guy Fieri was here!

A zoo trip with old friends and new. Shannon and I were best friends in high school, and then as some friends do....our interests started to differ and we went our separate ways to college, losing touch for, oh, almost 20 YEARS! She was the one of the first people I tried to find when I signed onto Facebook almost 2 years ago...and once we started corresponding and talking again, it was as if the past 20 years condensed into 2 weeks. Though our careers and families have taken us on somewhat different paths, hers into the deep south and mine right where I've always been in the St. Louis area, we still have that old-friend connection. For a moment as I drove the long Highway 40 route from our home to the Zoo, I panicked - wondering if we would actually get along "in person" after so many years apart. Silly, once she walked through the main entrance with her family in tow (all of whom I have "met" through Facebook")...I realized there was nothing to worry about. Big hugs, laughing, introductions...and all was just fine. And our friend, Tiffany, who we "knew" in high school, but didn't really KNOW in high school. She is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. I realize the more I mature and grow and, well, get older, that people come into and out of your life for a reason....and I'm grateful for her coming into mine when she did. Of course I don't have the pic that someone else took of the 3 of us together!!


















The damn ostrich kept trying to nip at little baby giraffe!




Elise and her new friend "Merson" - Emerson.









Okay, enough with the deep-thought and sappiness...it was a warm, hot almost, October day - perfect Zoo weather. We had a large group - with 7 adults and 10 kids...so deciding just where to go and then maneuvering everyone to that spot? Well, reality show TV comes to mind (sorry Fisher/Lutkins clan!).











Lane's Freshman Homecoming dance. She. Was. Gorgeous. Ashlyn & Melissa, two of her close friends, met us at the park for a mini-photo shoot before joining their large group for dinner at Olive Garden. Occasionally, in-between our arguments over clothes, friends, homework, chores (ok, just about everything), I see glimpses of the smart, beautiful woman she is becoming.































Whew...if you made it this far, you deserve a medal! I'll call this the Marathon-post.