THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER: VOLUME 96 DECEMBER 2014

Dear Readers ,

In early November I flew to Orlando to visit Leslee-Ann, and Craig: as a bonus or booby prize, depending on your viewpoint , I also got to see my Sean who seems to be shuffling himself between them and family friends Skylar and Jaimie in Sarasota, Florida while he waits for his British passport to arrive. The later couple have a home in need of a lot of updating so Sean is currently helping them out with plans for Josh to do so in the future: maybe.

An unexpected travel perk was revealed to me at the Kansas City airport. After successfully parking my car in the economy parking lot and boarding a shuttle bus to the Southwest terminal, I was surprised to see long lines at the security check in (a first for me at this airport) on a Thursday afternoon. I congratulated myself on having the foresight to arrive at least an hour ahead of the time my children would have done. Clutching my boarding pass, driver's license and luggage I was approached by a security guard who took a quick peak at my boarding pass and hustled me over to a much shorter line – I asked why and he explained that three little letters on my boarding pass decreed that I was cleared to pass through security with no need to remove any piece of clothing or my shoes. I almost felt guilty as I passed by yards of my fellow travelers who seemed as puzzled by the rationale for this selective process as myself. I felt very important of course, convinced that my British blue blood must have put me in this elite class. Only a few months ago on my trip to New York, I was selected to have my hands tested for bomb residue with Ava Claire in my arms – both ways. Coryn even asked the security guard the second time why I was selected but he assured her that it was a strictly random procedure, nothing suspicious about my persona. I thought that perhaps the airlines were trying to rectify pulling Grandma over by giving me the all clear this time. Turns out Southwest was randomly assigning passengers this status in hopes that we would be willing to pay up to a hundred dollars for the privilege on future flights .I was selected for the same security waiver on my return flight but I would not pay for this myself!

I was picked up by all three of my children and whisked off to dinner in downtown Winter Garden before heading to their home. I was most impressed with all the renovations that had taken place since my last visit. Leslee and Craig had replaced their honey oak kitchen cabinets with custom dark maple ones , new granite counter counter-tops and stainless steel appliances. Josh had ripped up their ceramic tile floor and installed beautiful bamboo flooring, added a new tile back splash and five inch baseboards. He also replaced other flooring in the house with bamboo. Mother would be thrilled to have some bamboo flooring installed in her house, any volunteers?

Leslee and Craig informed me that since they had made all these upgrades to the inside of their home they felt their front yard needed work too – my work of course. So on Friday morning after rushing out to pick up coffee and and a muffin for my breakfast Leslee-Ann explained that she wanted full color perennials for her sunny front yard. I was so excited to think that one of my children might be inheriting my green thumb that I could hardly wait to start digging in the dirt. Leslee quelled my enthusiasm by reminding me that in her domain Craig digs the holes under her supervision. We shopped for plants at Lowes, loaded up Craig' s cargo space in his new van and ate lunch before heading back to tackle the yard. I had suggested that we buy an edging tool to dig out defined beds, so I got the project started then handed the tool to Craig who was a tad too enthusiastic in his trenching around the borders, making them deep and wide enough for infantrymen to take refuge in. Leslee-Ann was not pleased. I assured her that a little back filling and a few trailing plants would rectify all the faults she was finding. I was actually far more concerned about the non- appearance of the sun. It was shaded when I looked the project over at breakfast time , still in shade when we returned from lunch and after edging out the border, moving some existing plants around , and placing our new ones I again questioned how this could be a full sun situation with only three more hours of daylight left? Craig ran around the house using his camera man skills to assess the lighting issue concluding that there was a minimal chance that the sun might shine on the garden bed in late light of day - if it wasn't blocked by their neighbors towering homes. I asked how they could possibly believe this garden bed was in full sun when every day they work from their desks in their home office overlooking the very spot we were working in? They were as baffled as I. We decided to have Craig and Sean plant all the sun perennials in the back yard where I placed them whilst Leslee-Ann and I made another trip to a nursery. Finding shade perennials in Florida was not easy and we ended up driving to three garden centers before we had enough plants to fill the space.

That evening we ate at a Greek restaurant, Opa, which was filled with belly dancers, fire eaters and waiters who periodically threw hundreds of paper napkins in the air. I was glad your dad was not there as he would have been stuffing handfuls of the napkins in all his pockets complaining about the waste and probably trying to stuff them into my purse too! The patrons ranged from young children (some of whom gyrated right alongside the belly dancer which I found rather disturbing , especially considering all the people capturing the scene with their cell phones) to the very aged who were hoisted onto table tops to dance. As their enthusiastic relatives raised their glasses to them in encouragement, I wondered if an ambulance was permanently parked out back in case of nasty falls with all those senior's osteoporosis riddled bones and doubtless highly medicated bodies precariously attempting to relive their glory years back in the old country. I dread to think what the liability insurance must be on that place. The food and service was very good though but I have to say I much preferred the BB King Jazz Club that we moved onto later for a drink, they had an outstanding young singer and guitar player performing for an enthusiastic crowd. We moved to a third venue for the night before finally heading for home. I was definitely getting my party on with the kids.

The next day Craig had to work so Leslee-Ann, Sean and I headed to the Magic Animal Kingdom which is only a short distance from their house. Through her connections Leslee had hooked us up with some free tickets which was great because otherwise it's about a hundred dollars a ticket. The park is enormous of course and beautifully kept with enchanting scenes everywhere you look and we were able to see many of the animals at close quarters especially on the Safari ride through the park. W e ate lunch there finding it a challenge to find a place to sit. The Kingdom was jam packed as soon as it opened for the day. We also managed to squeeze into a performance paying homage to the Lion King which was very entertaining. Once done with the park we made another stop for mulch and a hose nozzle and headed home. Leslee was attending a toddler's birthday party across the street – I elected to work on the front yard in peace for awhile while Sean spread the mulch in the back yard around the new plantings there. Then he joined Leslee while I toiled on.

.At some point while I was hauling dirt, moving rocks and lugging plants around the yard Leslee -Ann happened to remark that that when Craig's parents visit they love to relax in their screened in porch, basking in the sun with a cocktail in hand - maybe watching a movie on their outdoor big scree TV. I wiped the sweat from my brow, and muttered something about how I always seem to be toiling rather than lolling when I visit my children and was informed that I loved to help with their projects being more of a doer than a sitter.

Sean and Leslee returned home laden with food from their party hosts so we ate supper at home with Craig joining us and spent the evening playing games with plans for me to head back home the next day.

I returned home and decided to start work on refinishing my kitchen cabinets: doubtless I was motivated by Leslee and Craig's renovation. I decided to remove all the hardware and give it a good cleaning and discovered that my almost oil rubbed bronzed handles were actually shiny brass under all the tarnish and dirt. I think brass is going to make a comeback soon so I am going to forge ahead even though it takes an hour to clean each door's hardware. I have painted some of my cupboards several shades lighter than before to better contrast with my new gray tile floor. All work on this project came to a halt on November 21^st when Marc and Bryn arrived to spend just over a week with their mother .Josh arrived the following day. I have hopes of getting back to this task next week.

I picked Marc and Bryn up at the airport – having to circle five times while they were retrieving their enormous amounts of luggage from baggage claim. I reminded them that I had flown to this country with less luggage for my life time stay. Once home, Marc immediately took the bedroom closest to the bathroom of course, with his bladder issues, while Bryn nabbed my Florida room with the television, so Josh was left with my English Country Garden room. I made pork chops for dinner with pumpkin cake for dessert and was later talked into making a few batches of cookies.I was overwhelmed by all the cooking and cleaning after so many months of being a household of one tidy person content to eat a cheese sandwich and a frozen dinner.Josh and Bryn actually spent time visiting their old haunts in Kansas City while Marc kept me company with tales of life with his many brothers in his compact condo.

He was very happy when he learned that Bryn had accepted a job in downtown LA working for a commercial real estate company specializing in high end hotel developments: and would probably be moving into the Beverly Hills area to be closer to work as it would be quite a commute from Marc's condo in Torrance. Since Bryn's transfer to LA , Marc has been spending a lot of time in close quarters with brothers Sean and Josh - who both spent several weeks mooching off their big brother's largesse. It is a sad reflection on Marc's desperately in need of a makeover condo that his brothers were all compelled to shower in flip flops to avoid contaminating their feet during their stay and they even offered to help him redo the place making it into a two bedroom, two bath condo but Marc wasn't keen on having more disruption in his world.

We had the biggest crowd around my Thanksgiving table in sometime. Coryn , Jeremy, and Ava Claire along with Marc, Josh and Bryn made for quite a festive crowd and I was to learn later that we had an unexpected guest at the table. Ava Claire was debuting a dressy outfit that I had made her but shortly before we sat down to lunch Coryn removed her dress and matching jacket set and pulled a tee shirt over her head saying she didn't want Ava Claire to spill food all over her new outfit. I put a bib on her and said I could have just thrown it in the washing machine as she always insists on feeding herself and gets as much food on her clothes as she does into her mouth. I was busy stirring my gravy, checking my ham and turkey which my sons were fretting about being dry instead of juicy and moist: I was on the verge of drowning it in my bath tub to ensure it was moist. Coryn had baked a deliciously rich chocolate pie for dessert, and also contributed a sweet potato casserole and cranberry pepper relish. Bryn whipped up a batch of mashed potatoes and I made the stuffing. After gobbling everything down, including our very moist turkey, thanks to the aluminum foil I wrapped it in for the first hour of roasting (despite my sons misgivings )and cleaning up the kitchen we settled in the family room. Coryn asked me if I had noticed Ava Claire's shirt. “Sure it's purple, very girly”I replied. Then she asked if I had read what it said, well - I had seen the first word “cutest” and not paid any attention to the rest so to appease Coryn I read it and went ballistic. Ava Claire was going to be the cutest big sister! Our newest family member will arrive next May. Once again Coryn and Jeremy kept this pregnancy a secret until they were into the fourth month. I could not believe that I had not noticed it when I put her bib on! My mind was fixated on what was cooking in my oven not Coryn's tummy!

Ming-Lee has successfully finished his months of training in a new plane and will now be officially based in Indianapolis instead of Memphis. Blake and Claudia are very involved in the Indianapolis Children's Choir and keep their parents very busy with all the practices and performances. They will be spending Christmas with Lori's mom and husband.

Ming-Jon has been able to find some temporary legal work and will hopefully be able to find something permanent soon.

Kay and Jeff are spending Christmas in Mexico, Sean will be in Florida, and Bryn and Marc will be in LA. Coryn , Jeremy and Ava Claire will spend some time with me and maybe Josh – he may return to Florida or he may accept a temporary position with a legal firm here and still do his other job. Leslee-Ann and Craig will be at home with his parents spending the holiday with them.

My next newsletter will detail my time with Ava Claire while her parents took a few days break in Arizona in early December, my less than HO HO Christmas lighting this year and my holiday crafting project with Kay's first graders.

I have a new cell phone and plan with Republic which only costs ten dollars a month! It even has a person I can talk to like Suri! I have different sounds for calling, texting and emailing and have even figured out how to take photos – I'll admit finding them later is a bit tricky but I'm sure I will be able to use all the many features by next year. I was able to keep the same number so feel free to text me anytime children. You all know how much I love to stay in touch with you!

I wish all of my family and friends the happiest of holidays, I will probably still be tweaking my lights, trying to light a fire under Josh to clean up after himself, and doing my sugar plum fairy dance around the Christmas tree to entertain Ava Claire for the next couple of weeks. With visions of sugar plums dancing in your heads I'm sure I wish you all the best of Holiday Cheer! Love Mother

Ava Claire was not as excited to meet Santa in person as one would have hoped!
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