May 2008: Mom's Retirement from CMH

My mom got her teaching degree from Western Michigan University, specializing in Spanish.    She was a teacher up until I was born, then she quit and stayed home with me until my father passed away in 1985.   Then, my Mom worked as a clerk at Community Mental Health Youth Services for 19 1/2 years.    There were a few years where she worked many hours of overtime, sometimes until 9 p.m.    She found out after retirement that Social Security bases your monthly checks on the top 5 consecutive years of work, so this overtime helped her out.    

She got to the point in life where she knew she was ready for retirement, so she decided she needed a new chapter in life.   Her co-workers gave her a nice retirement party with food, cake, and beverages.  They made her a scrapbook of her time at CMH.  They gave her many gift cards, a horn for her new bike, and a funny Michigan bike plate that said "Hottie".  

She bought a three wheeled bike shortly after retirement, intending to use it down in Florida.

January 2008: McAllen, Texas

Mom and I flew down to McAllen, Texas to visit my Grandpa's girlfriend, Beulah Justian.  She was staying at the same mobile home park that she was in last winter.      Beulah took us all over McAllen.   We went on a few tours, too.  One of the tours was for shopping in Brownsville, Reynosa, Matamoros, and Progresso (Mexico).  We were able to go to a SAS outlet in Brownsville and found some nice shoes.  SAS stands for 'San Antonio Shoes'.  

We took a tour to San Antonio and I was finally able to see the Alamo.  We didn't care too much for the hotel we stayed at in San Antonio, but it was a budget tour.      Enjoyed the Riverwalk in San Antonio.    

Beulah's friend, Olive, flew down to Texas about a week into our trip.   Olive went with us to Corpus Christi.  We toured this World War II ship there and enjoyed looking at the sites.   

Beulah was such a wonderful hostess to us on this trip.  She had a hard time walking, as she was in pain, but she still kept plugging away.    

December 24, 2007: Thomas Family Photo

My Aunt Charlene has been the photographer in the family.  She has always taken photos of the Thomas family throughout the years.       My Uncle Steve was a photographer, too, and taught my Aunt how to take beautiful photographs.       This is a photo from Christmas 2007 at Dayspring Assisted Living.

August 24, 2007: Birthday in Chicago

I decided that I wanted to celebrate my birthday in Chicago with my Mom and Maggie, so we drove there and spent the day.   I went to Information Resources to visit with my old co-workers which was fun. Then, we walked along the Chicago River over to Michigan Avenue.   Maggie seemed to enjoy all of the attention she got as we walked along the streets.     It truly was a nice day to spend in Chicago.

We spent the night at my friend Dawn Mehren's house in Palos Heights.      We had a good time hanging out with Dawn and seeing inside her childhood home that she now owned.

Summer 2007: Mackinac Island & Mackinaw City

I became a Big Sister to Brittanie Kammers and wanted to take her on a summer vacation to Mackinac Island and Mackinaw City.    My mom, Brittanie, Maggie, and I went on the trip.  We got a cheap hotel in Mackinaw Island that took pets.       We went through the shops in Mackinac City the first day.  I drove all of us over the Mackinac Bridge to the Upper Peninsula so Brittanie could experience that.       

We had to leave Maggie in the room at the hotel when we went to Mackinac Island for the day.  Brittanie enjoyed taking the ferry over to the island. She was quite surprised when she got to the island and saw no automobiles.    We took one of the carriage rides around the island to get a tour.      I had taken my video camera along, so she enjoyed taking videos.

We had a wonderful lunch buffet at the Grand Hotel.   Brittanie was so fascinated by how fancy the hotel and dining room were.    We walked through the whole hotel, which is so beautiful.  We walked around the island and then through more shops. Then, we took the ferry back to Mackinaw City.   

Maggie enjoyed walking all around Mackinaw City.     I think we all had a good time on this vacation.

May 26-28, 2007: Maggies First Vacation to Jamestown, NY

Maggie went on her first vacation which was to Jamestown, New York, for the Lucy Desi Festival. Lucy Arnaz was here so we get to see her tomorrow.   We left Muskegon at 7 a.m. and stopped near Battle Creek. Then, we stopped at these outlet stores we saw near the I-80/I-69 highway.   Maggie liked everyone petting her.  She is a good little traveler.  She slept most of the time.

Anyway, we got to Jamestown around 6:30 p.m. Jamestown is about a 495 mile trip. I forgot how long it was to drive here. I was quite tired from this past week of being on the go and working.     Mom and I took turns driving.   I think my medication also makes me a little more tired too, especially in the mornings.

We got to the hotel and let Maggie roam in the room.  She looked so happy.
She ran all over checking out everything.  I think she was enjoying the traveling
like we do.

Mom and I had dinner at this Italian restaurant which was quite good. Mom had
Italian wedding soup and I had lasagna.  It was a big plate of lasagna, too.   Then,
we came back to the room and got Maggie and walked down to watch
"Lucy Under the Stars".  They played "I Love Lucy" shows on a building.
It was nice to sit outside, too.  Maggie was real good.

Lucy Arnaz did a little show and then cut the ribbon.   In the beginning, 

it started to rain, so they had to stop the program for about 5 minutes.  

But, then the rain stopped and they could continue.    We took Maggie 

to the gravesite of Lucille Ball.  Also, we took a tour at the playhouse. 

They have reproductions of the New York apartment 

sets and the California apartment sets. I snuck in a couple of pictures too.

Saturday evening, we went to the show, 'Tribute to Desi Arnaz' which 

was presented by his daughter, Lucy Arnaz.     It was quite good.   

Then, the highlight of our evening was the Gala we attended at this 

mansion.  

It was pretty neat.  We got to meet the actors who played the 

twin cowboys (Timmy and Jimmy) in one of theI Love Lucy episodes. 

They were 11 yrs old at the time that episode was done.  They are 

now in their 60s.  

We also met this lady, Angela, who is the personal manager 

for Sebastian, who owns this laughter Yoga school in LA.  They were 

on the April 11th Oprah show and telling about this new type of yoga 

that is becoming popular.    

My mom and I got to meet Lucy Arnaz and had our picture taken with her.   

She sure has a cute figure.   

She must work out alot to keep it up.  Lucy Arnaz is quite nice.

December 24, 2006: Thomas Family Christmas

My Grandfather was now living at Dayspring Assisted Living, as he could no longer live on his own at his home at 1370 West Giles Rd.       He got excellent care at Dayspring.   We exchanged our Christmas presents at Dayspring with Grandpa this year.