Sad News for The Mitchell Family

Howard's father, Howard Sr., passed away on Saturday, February 10. He had been in the hospital for a week or so and due to several medical problems, his kidneys began to fail. He felt the needed dialysis would be too much for his heart and opted not to take the dialysis. His prognosis wasn't good but we weren't sure how much time he would have left. Howard had just spoken to him the night before. Many members of the family will be together later this week for a service of some type, yet to be determined. We just arrived home last night at midnight and Howard was back on a plane today flying to Florida. Howard Sr. was 81 years old and is survived by his wife, Catherine, two brothers, a sister, 10 children and many grandchildren.

Back from Sunny and Warm San Diego

San Diego was beautiful! It wasn't as warm as we had hoped but it was much warmer than Michigan, that's for sure. People there were complaining about how cold it was but we didn't consider high 60's cold! Howard had to work the first two days we were there so I ventured out on my own. The first day I took a ferry over to Coronado Island and sat on the beach watching the surfers. There's just something about the Ocean that is beyond any comparison. Just listening and watching was enough. The beautiful El Coronado Hotel is always a sight to behold. The beach there always rates high in the Top Ten Beaches poll. I told Howard we should definitely retire here some day. Now if we can only come up with a million bucks as that's about what it takes to live there. Small homes sell for upwards of $500,000. Still, I'm going to work on that!! The next day I drove to the Birch Aquarium to check out their fish collection. The fish were so curious they would come right up to the glass. Check out those scary looking eels!! The view from the back deck of the Aquarium was spectacular. Friday Howard had to work until around noon so I headed back over to Coronado to check out the Dog Beach. Guess I was missing Zoe and I happened to luck out. I met a girl there who had a little Aussie of her own so I enjoyed watching her play frisbee and splash in the surf. Later that day Howard and I drove up to Carlsbad for more sightseeing and lunch in Del Mar. The little beach communities along the coast are so quaint.

Saturday was our day to sail on the America's Cup sail boat, Abracadabra. San Diego Bay was beautiful. It wasn't sunny but there was a strong breeze and the Abracadabra just flew along the water. Everyone who wants to can help sail the boat. Howard worked the grinders (which control the main sail) and we both had a chance to steer. Here's Howard telling me which was to go! We really enjoyed our 3 hour trip on the bay.

The skyline of San Diego is beautiful from any angle. It's really a beautiful area with so much to do. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting a nice break from winter! We came up along side this guy while sailing. He is a local photographer and if you look closely you can see him steering the boat (yes, it's a boat) with his feet. Right foot on the throttle, left foot steering on the wheel!

This boat was also out on the bay that day. Our Captain came very close to it (on purpose) and then steered away. The Abracadabra was amazingly easy to steer and it felt like you were driving a car!

We had a wonderful time in San Diego and I hope we get to go back there again some day. There are still so many things we didn't have a chance to do. Maybe next time!

Bitter Cold Weather!!

It's cold, really, really, cold!! I thought last week was cold but this past week and this weekend is the coldest weather I can remember having in Michigan since we've lived here!! It's been near zero for low's and high's for the past 2 days and the weatherman is saying we have a couple more to look forward to! And to think, it's supposed to be an early Spring according to Phil, the Groundhog. I hope it comes soon.

Tyler reports that it's a balmy 79 degrees in Honolulu right now. Guess we should plan ahead next year and head there. We are leaving for San Diego on Tuesday where the temps are at least in the 60's. Not exactly 80 but it's better than Zero!!

Waikiki Beach

The view from Tyler's balcony.

Amber's moving into her new place this weekend. Thankfully she doesn't have too much to move, just her bed, dresser, book case, clothes and some boxes. And it's not nearly as far as her last move from New York. This one is just a bit down the road.

Today was a good day to stay inside and cook/bake. I made some white chicken chili for Scott to eat while we are gone and some Oatmeal cookies to tide him over in the snack department. Now the day is gone and it's almost time to start dinner/snacks for the Superbowl. Go (fill in the blank because I don't really care)!! But for my friend, Claire, who's a Chicago girl, I will wish her Bears luck just because it will make her happy if they win. Go Bears!!

Let It Snow!!

We have finally had a little snow in the last couple weeks, maybe 2-4 inches overall. It's pretty to look at anyway. It's been really cold too, below 30 most days. Zoe loves the snow and cold. I would love it too if I had that lovely fur coat that she has. Tyler reports that his classes are going well and he's meeting lots of new and interesting people from all over the World. His roommate is from Saudia Arabia. Amber's first week at work went well but she has been adjusting to the rush hour traffic and gridlock. She's finding her way around at AOL and getting more to do every day. She has also found a house to rent. It's a 4 bedroom house with 4 girls. She'll have her own room and share a bath. The price and location are good too. She'll be moving in this coming weekend.

Howard and I are looking forward to leaving this cold weather behind for a few days. He will be attending a Hybrid Vehicle conference in San Diego next week and I'm going along for the ride. We can't wait to have a little warmth and sunshine. It helps you get through the cold, gray days, just a little bit. We are planning to go for a sail on the America's Cup sailboat, Stars and Stripes while we are there. We sailed on that boat last year while we were there and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. There's so much to do and see in that area it will be hard to decide what to do first. I'm sure those few days will only be enough to scratch the surface on all the activities that are available.

Tyler Made It To Hawaii!!

Well, Tyler is in Hawaii now and doing fine. He had a couple little problems but managed to get there and is now all moved in to his new apartment. There wasn't much in the apartment other than the bed and a desk. He's already gotten his Student ID and bus pass so he should be able to get around ok. He had to take the bus to Wal Mart to buy essentials and said the bus driver wasn't happy with all the bags he brought on the bus to take home! He is anxious to get to the beach and explore a little more but has business to take care of first. Tomorrow is his orientation and then school starts on Monday. Hopefully he will be able to find his way around by then. He says Honolulu is a big city and it's gonna take some time to find his way around. It sounds like a lot of the school buildings are just mixed in with other downtown buildings. I told him to send pictures soon and when he does I'll share them.

Icy!!

Check out this ice!! Even though it was here yesterday you couldn't really see it until the sun came out today. Yes, that's right, the SUN!! Haven't seen it in a long time it seems. When you can't remember the last time, you know it has to be a long time!! The temperature never got out of the 20's today but that sun makes it seem so much warmer!! Today everyone was back to work or school (or travelling like Tyler) except me. After being sick Thursday & Friday, off on the weekend, then Martin Luther King's Birthday, today was what we call a Developmental Day, a day when teacher's have to work, meetings, report cards, etc., but support staff has the day off. Usually I only work when kids are in school which makes sense since I'm an "instructional aide". No one to instruct when the kids aren't there!! I went out around noon to run some errands and the sun on the ice on the trees was really spectacular. These pictures don't do it justice. It's like diamonds on the branches, really something to see. Tyler and Howard got up around 4:30 to get ready for the drive to the airport. Tyler made it there on time and the only wrinkle was that he had to pay an extra $80 for his over sized suitcase. Guess that's not too bad when you consider he's moving everything he has there. He made it to Las Vegas and was waiting for the counter to open for his connecting flight so he could check in.

Guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow to be sure he got there as he won't get there until 1:30 a.m. our time and I'll be long asleep by then, hopefully. I just want to know he made it there ok and got in his apartment, etc. He has a couple days to look around and explore before orientation on Friday and then classes on Monday. Exciting times for both Tyler and Amber. She had no problems with her move or the drive to DC. She's trying to find her way around the City and find the best route to work so she's prepared next week when she starts her new job. The only exciting thing here at home (and it's not very exciting really) is that I better go dig out some more blankets because it sounds like we are going to need them tonight with single digit temps!!

Moving Day & More.....

Well, lots of things are happening with the Mitchells. Last Thursday I had to make another trip back to the Dr. The diagnosis was "strep throat" this week! I'm back on antibiotics again and trying to rest and get well soon. Thankfully I have a long weekend to try to recuperate. Lots of kids, especially in the kindergarten class, have been out with either the flu, strep and even a couple cases of head lice. I guess of the three I would choose strep!! Here's the new aquarium. I've already lost 2 of the 6 fish. The fish store tells me that can be part of the "process". Just hope I don't lose any more. Amber has been packing all week and should be driving to D.C. as I write this. She has a week until her new job starts to get acclimated to her new town. Tyler is busy packing. We went out last night and bought him a huge suitcase and some essentials for his move like shorts and t-shirts since he will be able to leave his sweats and coats behind. I was just looking at the Weather Channel's site and the record lowest temperature ever on Oahu is 52!! Imagine. It's supposed to be in the 80's there all next week whereas it's in the 20's here. It's also been very gray and I can't really remember when I last saw the sun. That's really the worst thing about living in Michigan. I don't mind the cold or the snow but I do hate the gray. It's just so depressing! Tyler will have quite the temperature shock but it will be a good one and he's looking forward to it. We woke up today with freezing rain and quite a bit of it. The roads were a mess when I ran out to the grocery store earlier today. Now it's mostly slush but there is a winter storm watch for tonight until tomorrow morning. If we were having school tomorrow we would probably have to have a snow day but luckily we are off because of MLK's Birthday. Thank you Dr. King!! Tyler leaves at 7:00 Tuesday morning. Since the airport is more than an hour away he will be up very early that day and with the time changes and all it will be a late night when he arrives there at 7:30 p.m. which will be 1:30 a.m. our time. He has a 6 hour layover in Vegas. Good thing he's a night owl. It's going to be very quiet around here with Tyler gone. :-(