Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Bormans - 2009!
We hope your year has been all you hoped for and even more.
We seem to be getting the hang of retirement. Lots of traveling and trying new things has become our norm, but our I-95 journeys seem to have multiplied.
Nan and I loved our sisters’ trip to Charleston in January – her first. We’re working on another sisters jaunt in 2010. While Bob headed to NY to wrestle with income taxes (I-95!), I celebrated my 60th birthday with good friends Joanne and Trish – also 60 this year – in Asheville, NC, at the Biltmore Estate and Grove Park Inn. Our Maine house renovation project hits year three. With Bob spending the summer there and with help from Don and Bill Chambers, work has progressed apace. Kate came to NC for an early summer visit with lots of beach time. Our fall travel season began with a flight west to celebrate the marriage of Neil’s youngest daughter, Karen, to Ian Hollaman in Boulder, Colorado. The chapel was impressive in its simplicity and the ceremony was enchanting. It was nice to have so much of the family together in one place. We bracketed the festivities with a few days in Denver, Boulder and Estes Park. Back to NY, then off to Maine. We’ve planned to take the CAT ferry from Bar Harbor to Yarmouth, NS, for a few years and this was the year – BIG mistake!! Most of the 900 passengers on the voyage were seasick; Yarmouth was a yawn. Never again! Back in the USA, we spent October enjoying Maine’s fall foliage, lobsters and other fresh seafood, and the company of Terry & Don. In NY once more, we saw “Jersey Boys” on Broadway (exceptional!), hugged the kids, did some laundry and headed south (I-95 again!). A timely and generous invitation from NY friends sent us on a week’s detour to Hilton Head Island in early November. We stayed at a beautiful Marriott timeshare, but HHI didn’t impress us. While there, we took a pretty sunset dinner cruise and a day cruise to Savannah – and celebrated the Yankees 27th World Series win! We plan more time in Savannah in January. A few days in Calabash allowed us to reconnect with some friends there - and do more laundry - before our next venture (I-95 once more!). We joined Don & Terry at their condo in Cape Canaveral. Our cruise director/concierge, Don, kept us moving with flea markets, dinners, auctions and plays – and a Space Shuttle launch! They returned to Maine after a week; we stayed on through December. Making the most of our stay (We’re learning, Don!), we’ve been to the beach almost daily, taken in street fairs and art shows, toured Kennedy Space Center for two days, found a lively Irish pub with nightly music that has us considering a visit to the Emerald Isle, eaten dozens of oysters and tried out many new restaurants. We lunched with some Borman relations in Clermont during Thanksgiving weekend. A four day trip to Key Largo and Key West in early December, a casino cruise and a four day cruise to the Bahamas round out our Florida stay. Late December finds us headed back to Calabash to host our annual New Year’s Eve celebration.
While we jaunted, we kept up with the kids via cell phone and email. Kate continues in graphic design, but her passion is still her jewelry. She has shown her wares at several home parties and craft fairs in the NY area and has had some success with internet sales. Rob is still making baseball bats and looking for work, but keeps busy taking on landscaping and home repair jobs around Chappaqua. Adam is subbing in schools in the Chappaqua area, while searching for a full time teaching position. His stint as assistant varsity soccer coach at Greeley was instructive (thanks, Mr. Oddo!) and rewarding, as the team made it into Sectional competition; but Arlington proved just too tough to beat. In general, the kids are healthy, happy and enjoying life – just like their parents!
As always, we hope you have a wonderful holiday season and a joyous new year.
Diana & Bob
See photos of our trips at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32224949@N00/sets/
Kate’s jewelry site is
Rob’s bat site is
