So, here you go. Here's my list of unforgettable highlights of the year 2012:
1) Techie Stuff
The year started off with two not-so-good happenings. In January, my desktop computer died, and then I slipped on the icy sidewalk just outside our back door and both broke and dislocated the little finger of my left hand. After much online research, and with guidance from my son, I purchased a laptop. You're probably wondering where all of this is going. Well, being the glass-half-full-person that I am, I considered myself lucky to have that laptop to keep me occupied during the recovery time following surgery to repair my finger. I had a reaction to my pain medication which left me "wired" and unable to sleep for a couple of days. Holed up in the master bedroom with pillows supporting my stitched together ice-packed finger, I must have watched ten or fifteen Netflix movies one after the other on my laptop during that first forty-eight hour period at home.
Then, in August after I was paid several hundred dollars for a friend's house cleaning and staging-for-sale, I used most of the money to buy myself an iPad. I really love playing with it and find myself learning more and more about it every day. Now I consider one of my "things" I couldn't live without, right up there with a microwave oven and Post-It Notes!
2) 2nd Annual Moore Ladies Afternoon Tea
Little did I know when I started developing an interest in teacups, teapots, and afternoon tea that I'd be responsible for starting a new tradition among my Moore relatives in Texas! Last year, when I went to visit my cousin Mary Joyce in Blooming Grove, I took her a box of one of my favorite teas, Celestial Seasonings Moroccan Pomegranate. She suggested that we invite her sister-in-law from down the street and two of her daughters who live nearby to share the tea. Then, we decided to have an impromptu tea party. We invited ten of our female relatives that lived nearby and served three kinds tea and homemade scones. Some of us even dressed up and donned hats. I posted pictures on Facebook and called the event "The First Annual Moore Ladies Afternoon Tea." That little gathering was such a success that we decided to have another tea this year, but this time we'd invite every single one of our female Moore relatives.
For the 2nd Annual Moore Ladies Afternoon Tea, thirty-two of us gathered in the Fellowship Room of the Blooming Grove Church of Christ, all decked out in our fancy clothes and frilly hats. We had a full three-course afternoon tea, featuring homemade scones. finger sandwiches, and sweets, along with three kinds of tea. Each of us had brought an inexpensive but pretty teacup for a teacup exchange. Many pictures were taken that day, and a few days later the Corsicana Daily Sun published a nice article about the event.
I already have some ideas about how to make our 3rd Annual Moore Ladies Afternoon Tea even better!
3) Across the Pond Again
My travel buddy Gayle and I traveled to Italy in October on a 12-day tour with a group from Boston. The good part was that we got to visit all the wonderful places in Italy that we've read about and heard about in movies. The bad part was that because we covered so much of the country in ten days, we had early wake-up calls every day and spent a lot of time on the bus. More than once we heard the tour director say, "No stopping, no shopping!"
Nevertheless, we will never forget our first glimpse of Michelangelo's David in Florence or our gondola ride in Venice. Visiting medieval towns like Assissi and Siena and the lunch and wine-tasting at the vineyard in the breath-taking countryside of Tuscany!
Seeing Ancient Rome and throwing a coin into the Trevi Fountain! Visiting Vatican City and craning our necks to marvel at the Sistine Chapel! Walking among the ruins of Pompeii and spending the day on the Isle of Capri and driving along the Amalfi Coast! These are memories to last a lifetime.
4) The Best for Last
When Josh told us at the Thanksgiving table that he had asked Stephanie to marry him, we realized that 2012 would be forever thought of as one of those "banner years." You see, we fell in love with Stephi the first time we met her last year at Thanksgiving. She is a delightfully sweet, charmimgly poised, very intelligent, and extremely pretty young lady who has the same old-fashioned values as our son. In other words, we could not be more pleased to have Stephi as our future daughter-in-law!
Then came Christmas Eve when Stephi opened the final gift from Josh. . .a big box containing a smaller box, containing a smaller box, containing a smaller box, etc. And then, there it was. . .the diamond solitaire engagement ring! Pictures with Diana's "flat camera" and pictures with Stephi's, and more pictures.
It was a couple of days later before Stephi could Skype with her family in Germany. Then came the Facebook announcement with pictures of the ring and the "I said yes!" sign and my email blast. What fun!
2013 promises to bring more joy and fun times. . . first the civil ceremony in Lawrence KS in January and then the church wedding in Germany in July! I can hardly wait!!!
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