Popping the Question

 Hello, hello, hello!  I mentioned that there was exciting news, no clowning around so..... here 'tis - the latest.

I'm bursting with happiness and want to share my unexpected joy........ It is with great surprise that I report to you that Gary Suter (pronounced "suitor") asked me to marry him and I said, "YES!"

We're busy planning a tiny wedding and a very small reception on Saturday, September 19, 2020.  

 

God is sooo good to have brought us together.  This man is so solid, so thoughtful, so loving, and so dependable.  I just love him to pieces. .........AND - he's taller than me!  We grew up 6 miles apart and went to the same high school but we didn't know each other

We've been together 4 years and he's been thinking about marriage for 2 years..... even discussed with Krista, his 44 year old daughter, 2 years ago and she gave her blessing.

I went ahead with my plans to buy an apartment at a nearby Retirement Community.   Taking care of a house and 3 acres is just too much to deal with - I'm an ole broad now!!

It will take 3 months to renovate the apartment.   The building is almost 20 years old so I'll get to choose my flooring and wall colors..... PLUS, I choose my cabinets, countertops, showers, vanity, closet set up, etc.    The unit is very small but how much do we need?  Gary will keep his house because his tax office is there.

Will this be my new official name?  Mary Elizabeth May Barrows Angelil Suter ?  We've discussed that and it's easy on cruises to just say we're Gary and Mary.  But, we both like the MaryMay Suter name the best. 
 

 MaryMay found her suitor (Suter)

 

p.s.  Don't know what to call the "Angelil Adventures" blog now.  If you have any ideas, please let me know.

My Post about Politics

We have a presidential election coming up on Tuesday, November 3, 2020.  Donald Trump (R) is running against Joe Biden (D). 

 

Politics is a topic I stay away from.  I grew up with a Republican father and a Democratic Mother, therefore politics was not discussed in our home.  I am registered as an Independent. 

 

I keep up with the news pretty well and try to keep myself informed.  I will admit that I am human and I do give in and read Facebook - LOL!

 

There are times when I start feeling a lot of stress regarding the whole topic so I have to give myself a little "talking to."  My brother pointed out that basically, we'll get up in the morning, have breakfast, go to work, come home, have dinner, watch a little TV or read, and go to bed.  Tomorrow we repeat.  

 

I forgot to mention the most important and reassuring fact of all:  GOD IS IN CONTROL!!!!!   But sometimes things don't happen when, where, or how we think they should.   Note to self:  When in doubt, PRAY!

 

This is pretty simplistic but it does help me get myself closer to a state of calm.

Don't get me wrong - I will vote but the cartoon above expresses my feelings.

When Will It Fall?

We have been watching this old barn for some years and wondering when it will fall.

I have been calling it a barn but maybe it is only a shed.  Anyway, it belonged to my Uncle Clarence May and I pass it when I go to town. It is perched so precariously and is sitting right on the edge of the road.

I have many questions......Why was it built so close to the road?  What was it used for?  How old is it? etc, etc.

 

There is another mystery about the barn.  It seems that every Christmas season, it gets decorated.  You can see the wreath hanging under the eves and I hear it's even lighted.  The whole neighbor is abuzz wondering who does the decorating.  It appears to have a Santa hat hanging in the center,  hmmnnn....

Every year when I come home for the summer I approach it with bated breath.  Will it be down yet?  How much more did it fall?  But every year it's still there and looks pretty much the same.  (I wish I had started taking photos 20+ years ago.)

Would anyone care to take bets as to when the fall will take place?  If I were a betting woman, I don't know if I would bet one year, ten years, or more!

I threaten to bring a broom handle and give it a little push but that would take all the fun out of it.  Therefore, it remains to be seen when the barn will fall. 

p.s.  Will Humpty Dumpty be sitting on top of it when it does fall?  Will all the king's horses and all the king's men be able to put it together again?

Pandemic Update for August 2020

The Covid-19 Coronavirus has changed life in the world and it appears that things will never be the same.  It started in Wuhan, China in late 2019 and has spread world-wide.  There is not a vaccine yet but they are feverishly working on that.

As of today, here are the statistics.

World cases:  22,792,401
World deaths:     795,460

USA cases:  5,740,306
USA deaths:    177,220

Florida cases: 588,602
Florida deaths:  10,052

Virginia cases:  109,882
Virginia deaths:    2,427

I personally know a few people who have had it and it is a horrible experience - quite unlike the regular flu.  One of my friend's mother died and her father was extremely ill for months.   My hairdresser in Florida, her daughter, and granddaughter had it.  It lasted over 4 weeks for them.   

A friend from my retirement community in Florida was in the hospital for weeks and had to be intubated.  He came near death.  Another friend of mine lost her son.  They found out his positive test results one day and he died the very next day.... only 46 years old!!

You can become infected from droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks.  You may also be able to get it by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it.

There are ways to avoid getting it such as wearing a mask, social distancing at least 6 feet from people, wash your hands, and stay at home as much as possible. 

Sadly, this has become a political issue and there are MANY people who simply refuse to wear a mask, saying it's a free country and they can do as they please.  Yet, they wear seat-belts???

Several colleges and school have tried to reopen but some had to close in a week or two because the virus hit so hard and fast.  One main problem is that young people continue to have BIG parties and go to bars with NO masks and packed together like sardines.

Having school is a quandary because children NEED to be in school to get effectively educated and they need to be with other children.  But this virus spreads so rapidly, many are getting sick along with their teachers within a few days of opening.

There are several cases where churches met after being told by their ministers that God would protect them.  They ended up with a lot of people getting sick, including at least one minister who died.

We have been quarantined (in lockdown) since March 18, 2020.  Things are slowly opening up (and some had to close again).   The retirement communities have been extremely vigilant even bringing mail and 3 meals daily to the doors of their residents.  

I could go on and on...... just as this Covid-19 virus is doing.  

I pray that people will cooperate and wear masks, a vaccine will be developed, and we can go out without fear.  

I pray for God to bless us with kindness, mercy, healing, and wisdom - especially wisdom - in coping with this horrible disease.  Let's all pray for an end to this Pandemic.

I'm partly writing this for my own history.  I've been doing this blog since 2008 and it is fun to look back on events I'd forgotten about.

Stay Tuned for the Latest!

I have some exciting, life-changing news
to share. 
I'm not clowning around either! 

 Stay tuned for the latest!!!

Back to Business

Shame on me!  Several of you have asked why I haven't been posting on this blog - and I have no excuse.  It's partly because in my desire to get everything PERFECT, I spend too much time on each entry.  The photos take the most time but I know people, including me, like photos.

Meanwhile, it looks the quarantine for the Covid 19 Pandemic, would have given me the opportunity to catch up, doesn't it?  The quarantine started the middle of March.  I was expecting it to end with the summer weather so didn't use my time wisely.

On the other hand, when you're in your house all day, nothing happens so there's nothing to talk about or write about.

We're not officially quarantined now but neither I nor my friends and family go out much.  When we do, we wear masks, social distance ourselves from others, and wash, wash, wash our hands.  

As of now, there are 4,887,648 positive cases of Covid-19 in the USA and159,596 deaths.  

I won't be moving to the local retirement community (VMRC) or selling my house this summer because that community is still under lockdown. That means people aren't able to move in or out... so there are not empty condo apartments at this time.

I'm trying to start using my time more wisely and get my photos purged, scanned, and organized.  That is QUITE the challenge! 

I think I'll make my posts more casual and share random thoughts.  If I slack off, you have permission to give me a nudge.  If I make grammatical errors, I plead with you to let me know.

Here's to updating Angelil Adventures.  Stay tuned.......!

Alaska is Awesome

Everyone I've talked to who's been to Alaska always says how beautiful it is.  The part that can't be described is how vast it is!

Gary, Krista, Cheryl, and I left on August 27th.  We flew to Chicago, then on to Vancouver, Canada where we stayed overnight.  We boarded the Island Princess on Wednesday, August 28th.  The next day was an "At Sea" day, where we just relaxed on the ship as we made our way to Icy Strait Point.
Our first excursion was at Icy Strait and we were delighted that we saw whales.  They breached (blew and jumped) just like we had seen on TV but it's so much more exciting when you see it in person!

Whales are identified by their flukes (tail fins).  The two we saw were Jingles and Taco, which were mother and son.

Juneau was our next stop, where we had a town tour.

 We went up on a tram and this was our view.

My sweetheart concentrating!

We visited a place that trained sled dogs. 

We rode this Unimog and it went straight up the side of the mountain.  That was scary but coming straight down was even worse!

During the summer, they use sleds with wheels so the dogs can practice.  I had read that these dogs love to run and I saw this with my own eyes.  They work together and seemed so happy and excited.  Hope this little video will play for you.

The commands are not made with the reins, as with horses.  It's all about the relationship with the person running the sled.  The dogs take verbal commands.

This was our sledder and she has actually run in the Iditarod - Last Great Race on Earth® 

The dogs are not the dramatic Syberian Huskies 

like I had expected.

 They're smaller and are not "matching."

My first glacier!

Cold, cold, cold!!!

Time for a bit of elegance.

Our friend, Cheryl Nottingham, Krista and Gary Suter, MaryMay Angelil

 

We left the ship in Whittier and 

traveled 9 hours to Denali Park.

We had a wonderful guide.  That lady was a walking encyclopedia about Alaska and I don't think she sat down for the whole trip!

The scenery was glorious.

 

Here is one happy guy..... why?  you ask....

The Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge was near our hotel in Denali and they had one of Gary's all-time favorites -  Cioppino seafood stew.
It was good but none of them are ever as good as his brother, Johnny Suter, made when Gary visited him in California a few years ago.

 

 

FINALLY, I got to see a moose AND her calf with my own eyes! 

Their faces are long, wide and kind of flat

The antlers were heavy!

I can't remember what kind of antlers these were but they were BIG!

It was our lucky day!  We got to see Denali, the highest peak in North America.  In the past it was called Mt. McKinley.

There are many people who have gone there numerous times to find the mountain covered with fog.

It has taken me a long time to find a map that clearly shows the places we went.  This is the clearest, except it doesn't show that we went north to Fairbanks for our last stop.

August 28 - Vancouver
August 29 - At Sea
August 30 -Icy Strait 
August 31 - Juneau
Sept. 1 - Skagway
Sept. 2 - At Sea - Glacier Bay
Sept 3 - At Sea l- College Fjord
Sept. 4 - Whittier and Train
Sept. 5 - Denali Park and Mount McKinley 
Sept. 6 - Fairbanks 

 Yes, Alaska was awesome and it was a fun adventure.

 

Cousin Jim Bowman - November 23, 1941 - March 28, 2019

I don't remember a lot about Jim when we were younger. I think he was about 6 years old when they moved back from D.C.   Mother told us that Aunt Luella would come up through the fields in the snow to visit.  She brought Jim but I don't know if Betty Lou was there during that time or working in D.C. 

Uncle Vernon, Aunt Luella, Betty Lou, and Jimmy Bowman
(CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE.)

I do remember that when Jim was a boy, he touched the electric fence with his hand.  He found an old rabbit skin laying on the grass and I can still visualize him wrapping his hand in that and walking around, obviously in pain.  Much to my surprise, he remembered that, too.  I'll never know if he touched the fence on purpose or not. 

He told about going across the road to play in Muddy Creek.  He'd hang down over the bank, reach up into the mud under the ledge and pull out frogs and SNAKES!!!!

I crossed paths with Jim again when I moved back to the Valley in 2001.  Ed, my husband, had a heart attack and was going to have surgery through the military but in DC, not Martinsburg.  Ed and I went once for an appointment, using maps, and a computer program - but we got lost many times.  Mother had the idea to see if Jim would drive us.  It was amazing, we just got into the car and Jim drove us straight to the hospital!! 

Ed Angelil and Jim Bowman became really good friends - a most unusual combination - an outgoing, rambunctious, strong-willed city boy from Montreal, Canada and a basic not-shy, strong-willed country boy from Singers Glen.  Oh the hours they did spend on the computer - naturally Ed did all the mouse work since Jim wouldn't touch a computer.  They ordered everything from guns to cowboy boots. 

Jim had a friend in Maryland who had diabetes but who loved cheesecake.  Jim asked me to make a sugar-free cheesecake, which I gladly did.  Jim was thoughtful like that.

Ed felt bad about Jim eating alone so we had him over quite often for supper.  He liked everything as long as there was no cheese involved.  He had horrid memories of the smell of the cottage cheese his mother made.  For over a year, Mother, Ed, Jim, and I went to iHop for the seniors' half-off night every Monday evening.  Betty gave him iHop gift cards several times. 

Jim had a key to our house and we could always count on him to do a walk-through about once a month when we were in Florida.  One winter in about March, I asked him to check our pantry closet.  Mice had gotten in there and the devastation was incredible!  He took pictures and got an exterminator.  That was a gross job but you can rest assured that he didn't touch any of it.

Jim Bowman was the only person I ever knew who ate ribs with a knife and fork.  He did NOT like to get dirty in any fashion or form. 

For the 30+ years that Jim worked for the Washington Post selling advertising, he had to wear a suit and a tie every day.  It gave him great pleasure to get rid of all his suits when he moved back home.  Later he had to buy one for funerals but we ALL know he had to get a bit larger size! 

Jim didn't use computers but he read lots of magazines, especially car ones.  He researched a whole year and decided that I needed a Subaru Outback.  He went shopping with me a few summers ago and told the salesman to only show us cars that were fully-loaded.  That was a great choice.

I was pleased that Jim became such good friends with my brother, Philip, and Maribeth, his wife.  They had him over a LOT…..and he looked forward to the fully-packed doggie bags that Maribeth sent home with him.  

He and Philip spent countless hours working on the St. John's Lutheran Cemetery.  It was good for them both to have a worthwhile project.

Sorry this photo is so dark.

I'll always think of Jim with a cigarette in his hand and that slow grin on his face.  I will especially remember his radio-announcer voice.  He loved to have the center stage and especially liked to make people laugh!!!  

He was easy to talk to and freely gave out fatherly advice.  He was fiercely loyal and I knew I could count on him. 

It's hard to believe that Jim Bowman is really gone.  I loved him and I am going to miss him very, very much.

CareBag Can Use Our Toiletries

Click on the highlighted words to visit websites.

CareBag

The Women's Club here in my community in Florida had a speaker named Rozanne Brown last year.  She is with an organization called CareBag.  I was captivated by her dedication and passion to help homeless people.  I learned that others felt the same way.

CareBag Mobile Showers

"Every man, woman, boy, and girl, should be able to have access to the basic right of life that is proper hygiene. We will accomplish this through our Mobile Shower Unit.

Access to water and sanitation is a basic human right. It is important because it’s about so much more than just a shower or using a private toilet – it’s about providing dignity to people."

CareBag Making a Difference Video

When we were on the Power Tour last summer, my friends and I
saved our toiletries each night from our hotels.   
We ended up with a goodly amount.

 

Some friends and I have also saved from other trips and cruises.

CareBag on Facebook

Homeless Times

A couple of us from here at Savanna Club (a 55+ community) plan 

to go to the grand opening of the CareBag Mobile Shower Trailer.

CareBag Dedication 

This will be an ongoing need so I, for one, will continue saving my hotel toiletries.  

Would you care to join me?

CareBag also qualifies for Amazon's Smile program.