I am very embarrassed to admit it, but somehow I missed a year of writing…anything. You know, insert usual excuses here and all that.

Well, as you can imagine, a lot has happened and we have been pretty consumed by the bulk of that. I think I’ll just list a few things, for my own sake, just to keep a record of what we did…

So….Isaac graduated from high school and got a great scholarship to attend college in Ohio. He is majoring in chemistry and his first semester was successful. He plays in several of their bands…marching, jazz, concert, steel drum. You may remember that Isaac is a sax player, so steel drums seemed out of his lane but he loves it and enjoys the variety.

Abigail finished her freshman year and is half way through her sophomore year in high school. Last year she was selected to sit as first chair flute for the all-state orchestra. This year, she was selected to sit as first chair in all-state band (there are two separate “bands” in the all-state realm). We are, of course, very proud for her to be selected for this great honor.

As I mentioned in my last post over a year ago, we did move into a new house. We finally sold our other house so that was a relief. Things do not move fast in our part of WV so we are very thankful to have that worry done. Our new house has not been without…fun, though. We had to put a new roof on it (which we had planned when we bought it) and a new furnace (which was a delightful surprise). As always, we are so happy to support the local economy for repairmen so it’s all good.

In 2010, we found our male orange cat, Seph. He certainly gave us fits, especially early on but mostly he was full of personality and spunk. Unfortunately, this past Fall, during a routine check-up, the vet mentioned that he had an enlarged heart. Without extraordinary measures, there was nothing to be done so we just decided to let things go as they may. He seemed to have few effects from his affliction so we thought nothing of it…until he started losing weight. Finally, about 2 weeks ago, his affliction had come to bear, and he had to be relieved of his suffering.

So…end on a positive, right? Most recently, I completed my first 25k trail race. It was among the more challenging things I have done, physically. The annual race is called the Frozen Sasquatch and is held in Kanawha State Forest.

As you might guess, weather can be a factor…last year it was 7 deg F I think…this year was warmer but it had rained a ton so it was super muddy and slippery. Couple that with overall elevation gain of 2300 feet elevation loss of 2400 feet, and you have a tough, hilly, slippery mess…anyhow, I finished pretty well and was not injured so I call that a win!

Ok friends, I think that is all for now…we are still keeping on here in WV!