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We had a wonderful time snowshoeing! 18 inches of fresh powder and hiking with friends (both old and new) was just fantastic! We were really worn out after it but the smiles were awesome!

We've had a really good time since then, other than being busy with work and dealing with the various sicknesses that working with students bring to us.

I play my guitar at a couple of open mics every week. This past week, one of the open mic hosts asked me to always be the opener because he said, "You bring such a great energy and set a tone for everyone that follows!" You want to talk about a super stroke to my ego! Teacher said that she wasn't surprised.

I mentioned in a previous update that Teacher and I went to a salsa dancing class last month. There was another one this weekend at a local venue that is always pretty loud and we wondered if we could deal with the noise. We checked it out and decided that a quieter evening at home was just what we needed. So we grabbed a sandwich and headed back to her house.

Teacher had shared earlier that she had to admit at a staff meeting that she enjoyed doing "stuff" outside of work that probably couldn't be talked about in mixed company during one of those 'mixers' that staff trainers feel like is necessary. She said her co-workers acted both amused and a little shocked that someone of her age still engages in those sort of things. She said, "You all have children and are probably interrupted and probably have to schedule that time! We don't!"

So, after our sandwich and television time, well, we didn't have to worry about interruptions or scheduling. Later, we laughed and agreed that we need to do that more often!

A good night's sleep and fantastic dual prepared and shared breakfast brought the weekend to a close and we started getting ready for the coming week. We laughed as she shared a photo with my mom of her "holiday" cactus that finally bloomed. Teacher gave my mom a Christmas cactus last year and it hasn't stopped blooming since then. Teacher's was a bit of an underachiever!

Oh, common CD...two truths and one lie isn't one of your favorites? LOL! I hate those mixers, too. If you were starting in a sitcom, who would you pick to be your costars and why?

I'm not surprised you were picked to open, either. I'm glad you have a great outlet and support system. Plus, it sounds like you're good at reading your audience and knowing what may hit the spot musically.

CD

Just checking in to see how you’re doing. Hope all is well.

Bumped at OP’s request.

Wow, the end of the school year just sucked up all my time and welp, hadn't visited for a while. In post retirement failure news, the school I was teaching at experienced an enrollment drop over the past few years and as COVID relief $ ran out, the principal had to make some adjustments and I and 4 other teachers were let go.

Never fear, another principal called me and asked me to apply for a 7th grade science position at his school, so I did and was promptly hired for next school year. I'm pondering adding another endorsement to my teaching license so that when I renew it for the last time in 3 years, I can be a more valuable potential teacher until I actually do finally retire.

But that's not what some of you want to hear...is it?

Teacher and I both survived the end of our school years and then headed to Kansas for a quick trip to see my brother and sister in law and listen to some fine bluegrass music and adjust our bodies to a bit of extended vehicle travel. We had a fantastic time and enjoyed seeing my little brother.

Which brought us to an epic 3500 mile, 2 week camping trip to see my oldest son, his partner, their dogs and their new home. The biggest challenge was finding a place for little Molly to stay while we were gone. Teacher's long time dog-sitter unexpectedly passed away this spring so it was a pretty big issue. I called my parents and asked them if they though they could take care of a 15 year old little dog. Of course they said they would. We had to laugh as my mom sent us a picture from the first night with little Molly already sleeping on Grammy's bed!

We just took our time and following a loose plan and just had a fantastic time. We saw many wonderful sights of epic landscapes of mountains, deserts, forests, oceans and lakes. We spent 9 nights in a new-to-us rooftop tent and well, neither of us fell off the ladder! We actually slept quite well and woke each morning to campground espresso prepared by the fine little mocha pot and my campstove! We didn't see Bigfoot, but that was okay.

The only concerning issue was meeting my son's adopted Belgian Malamois (sp?). We needn't have been concerned. He took to us like we had been around him all of his life and I laughed at how my son's jaw dropped when the big lug came and gave me a lick on the face and sat on my lap. The dog actually liked Teacher even better than me. If he hadn't of weighed 85 pounds, I think Teacher would have tried to smuggle him home with us!

Our return took us on a slightly different route and we again marveled at the beauty of the western United States and had our breath taken away upon every turn of the highway.

Molly and Grammy and Pop got along well. We all returned home, tired and happy and with a strong desire to just turn the pickup north and keep going along with the trip!

[This message edited by countrydirt at 12:54 AM, Friday, June 28th]

Great to hear from you, CD. You've been missed.

Sounds like an awesome trip. Never stayed in a rooftop tent but not falling off the ladder is a major accomplishment.

Yay for great updates!!

"The biggest challenge was finding a place for little Molly to stay "

Pick me haha I would make a great pet nanny lol

So glad you took the time to leave such an inspiring update. And happy for you that you had such a great trip!

Hey CD, nice update! You’ve been on my mind. Glad you and Teacher are well!

Summer break is over for us. I start back with students on Monday. Teacher has another week before she gets going.

We just returned from a quick weekend trip to see her sister and had a wonderful time. We went to an arts festival and then out to eat with the family and laughed and enjoyed each other.

Now, over the past few years, I've gagged over the price of new clothes and became pretty good at thrift store shopping and always looked pretty decent. But this year, I decided not to wear someone else's clothes and have been redoing my wardrobe. Not that a good T-shirt and jeans aren't great to teach in, but since I am no longer teaching shop, I can step back into slacks and nicer shirts. Teacher and I stopped at the "Outlet" mall and I found a couple of good shirts on sale and then we went cowboy boot shopping and both of us scored some great looking and well made boots for not much money.

That's about it. Life continues and we just keep having fun.

So happy to see a happy update and learn that all is going great!

Glad to hear from you, CD. Thank you for the update and I'm so happy for you and teacher.

Good luck on Monday!

Thank you Lea and BB.

Did I mention that we are sickeningly in love?

I forgot a couple of things...age happens. Teacher had cataract surgery on one eye and I broke a tooth and have been fighting/dealing with the dentist to get that taken care of. Teacher came through in flying colors and is thrilled to be able to see again with that eye - the other is fine for now. I am progressing along and no longer in pain and waiting for insurance approval for a root canal and some other work that needs to be done.

But we hiked a really hard trail, after she got the all clear from the eye doctor, and thought we needed to get in better shape for sure. We talked to a couple of our more fit (and younger friends) that hike a lot and they said we chose the hardest part of the trail to hike. My 81 year old dad mountain biked part of that trail when he was in his early 40's and he agreed that we took the hard trail for sure (and I have a renewed respect for what a badass athlete he was when he was younger), so now we don't feel so weak and pitiful like we did.

We were sore from the hike for sure and with our various ailments and recoveries, intimacy was kinda put on the back burner for a bit. We agreed with each other that "soreness" from renewed and vigorous intimacy is much more more enjoyable than soreness from hiking on steep and rocky trails.

[This message edited by countrydirt at 3:38 AM, Monday, August 12th]

There’s a movie called "The Magic of Ordinary Days." It’s an older TV movie, and the plot has nothing to do with your life. But your updates always make me think of the title. These ordinary days, of us just living our lives, doing simple things with people we love…are magical.

The older I get, the more I savor these little moments. You and teacher have them in abundance, And it’s obvious in your writing that you both appreciate them.

I continue to be happy for you both.

As WTB mentions, the enjoyment of ordinary days are magical. Love the updates.

I am back after many many months. I first posted what I came here to post, then went to find your thread to see what is up! It looks like things progressed nicely:-) The hiking sounds awesome. Glad things are going well for you.

Update!

This has been a month of celebrations of sorts. Teacher's sister had her 80th birthday earlier in November and we had a wonderful time celebrating. We stayed with Teacher's niece and I enjoyed getting to know them better and we even had an impromptu guitar and singing session.

Teacher did an amazing thing. She asked about a Michael Martin Murphy Cowboy Christmas concert for my 61st birthday and asked if I thought my folks would like it. So I asked them and since they said they thought they would, she bought the tickets. My family has a celebration weekend that weekend with my mom's birthday a couple days before mine and their anniversary the day after my birthday. In a funny aside, Teacher's sister is actually 18 days older than my mother. I may have mentioned that Teacher is 13 years younger than her sister and my parents were married very young - but I think they are going to make it after 64 years married.

So we both took a day off work and headed to their house and then took them to the concert. Dad said he'd never been to a concert and well, they enjoyed the heck out of it. MMM's second song was one of my dad's favorites songs of all time, so he was hooked. Teacher wasn't too sure about "cowboy" music, but she loved it as well (In another weird aside, Teacher and I were driving and song came on the radio - I stream my favorite stuff. A song by John Prine came on and she asked, "Is that you?" and turned the radio up. It wasn't me, but I do sing a lot of John Prine songs. I was flattered when she said, "well, you do a pretty good John Prine!) We had cake and ice cream at their house before, and after a good night's sleep and great Grammy breakfast, came back to our town.

My youngest and Teacher then took me out to a restaurant for my actual birthday and we had a wonderful time. I chose the restaurant and had was the recipient of both a birthday tequila shot and an ice cream sopapilla!

We've started seriously looking at buying a house and setting ourselves up for actual retirement - whenever that may be. I'm coaching middle school boys basketball and that takes up most of my evenings. Fortunately, it is a short season and I only have a few more weeks until it is done. So, we'll both keep working for a bit more and just keeping everything day by day.

In a sort of saddish sort of way, we won't be together for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving has sort of became our starting point when she decided 3 years ago that I was okay because my family was all nice. But, I agreed to drive my parents to my younger brother's place and she is going to her sister's home. So, we'll just make do and have time before and after.

So good to hear from you. I thought you may have fallen off the face of the Earth.

Glad you've had some great together time with your family but missed hearing about Mollie.

Looking forward to updates around Christmas and wedding plans.

Little Mollie is doing fine. She can't hear or see too well anymore, but is always happy to see people and still protects the house from the 40 dragons that regularly walk by. She is 11 pounds of ferociousness with just a few teeth but keeps an eye on protecting the castle!

What a fantastic update! Sounds like such a healthy, lovely relationship.
I also suspected you had run off and eloped :-) But glad to hear all is going great.