Christmas Day at Emrick Flats

Our annual Christmas Party at the flat was great fun! We always "piggy-back" on Carolyn and Jim's party on the evening of Dec. 25th. The "Open-House" concept works really well to accommodate everyone's schedule. Usually, folks hit Carolyn and Jim's on the third floor and then mosey up to our studio flat on the 4th floor. Then, usually the roof deck for the view of Richmond looking North - East and West. The familiar Central National Bank Building looms to the South East - as it is so very much a part of the Richmond skyline. It is truly a "Movable Feast".

Christmas in Richmond

After the fun in Virginia Beach and Hampton, Susan and I headed for Richmond. My sweet sister, Carolyn Faye and my Brother-in-Law, Jim told us that they wanted us to go to the Legend Beer Brewery on the James River to meet some friends and see Marsha and Archer's daughter Jessie's Band called "A Good Natured Riot" play. (www.agoodnaturedriot.com) We all remembered Jessie as a little 6 year old with white hair, running around the campfire while Archer played his "claw-hammer style banjo" or his wonderful fiddle tunes. Well, Jessie has grown up - went to VCU and majored in Music - and voila: got a hot pickin band together! Jaybird, Billy Rice, and Frankie joined us as we drank Legend's best ale and listened to some of the best Bluegrass in Virginia.

Christmas in Hampton

Coming to Hampton is going home for Susan and I. Maybe it was our first place - we were on the condo board - we know the people - Hampton is our home. Jim Baugh just bought a condo up the creek from us and invited us over to his place at 3 pm - we had seen our neighbors Mary Lou and Wayne and Bobby and Michelle, Willis, Rob, - so we went to Jim's. What a hoot! Pirate Pete and Debbie - Jim's kids: Ben and Casey - Jim's friend, Ruth - and some other folks were there. We laughed and laughed at each other - Jim was in rare form: magic tricks, close up magic, and finally keyboard concert.

Hampton

Susan and I flew to Norfolk, Virginia - bumped into Claude from AMTI days - after exchanging a few words in French and big huggs - we gathered our bags and met Emile and Diane. They were kind enough to pick up up at the airport and take us to Vickie's. Vickie loaned us a car - and after kisses and huggs, we drove to the beach. Susan and I kissed on the beach where we were married (almost 10 years ago) and drove to the Oceanfront at Virginia Beach and arrived at our old haunt, Bubba's Crab House. Susan and I were meeting some good friends at Bubba's for lunch. I worked with them at Coastal Training Technologies from 1996-2000. Then Ike and I got jobs at CSC. Andy is still there - Hunter is freelancing and Coastal is still one of her clients. Jason and Melissa have moved on and Diane is working on her PhD at ODU. Ike is working at Northrup Grumman. It was sooooooooooooo much fun! We caught up on everyone's lives a bit - and laughed about old times. Coastal was such a great place to work in the early days. Good people and good times.




After good byes, Susan and I drove to Hampton. It is so nice to back at our place. Steve and Anna dropped by and asked if we could join them at the Hampton Yacht Club (down the block past North Sails and the Camera Shop) - Kate came over and then Mike. We opened some wine, and our neighbor Beverly stopped by - yep a party was brewing. So, we followed Steve and Anna as their guests to the Yacht Club Friday Night Social. There we bumped into some other friends. A great night for sure!!

101 Clematis - West Palm Beach

Our Tropical Adventure continues in Florida, as our lease will be ending in February. With Florida leading the country in foreclosures - and the economy the way it is . . . we decided to purchase a condo in downtown West Palm. We have been renting for 2 years, and the time is right. We will miss the incredible view at Marina Grande, but, living in a high rise felt like a hotel - and you cannot walk anywhere. Susan started looking about the first of November, and it is amazing how many places are out there. She found the Loft Condos at 101 Clematis, and contacted our realtor (that's another story) - and we started looking. When we walked into the loft, after looking at about 4 other places, we felt at home. It is small (the way we like it) - you can see the intercoastal (my criteria) - over the bridge to the barrier island to the beach (both our criteria) - I'll be 10 minutes from work (my criteria)- and you can walk to everything, restaurants, shops, library, grocery store, and Starbucks. (Susan's criteria) - Good Feng Shui here, it feels good! After a grueling 2.5 weeks of offers and counter offers - we settled last night on an agreeable price. Today we negotiate with the lending institutions - hopefully to close before we come home for Christmas. No guest room, but our futon opens up into a queen size bed. Hopefully, this will be our new Florida home.

Happy Thanksgiving

We went to the Hilton on Singer Island for the Thanksgiving Buffet. We got our turkey and stuffing minus the cranberry sauce - they had eat-n-peel shrimp instead. We wish we could all be together on this Thanksgiving Day - See you soon. Love Wayne and Susan.

Night Photography

If anyone has tried to take photography at night you will know how difficult it is. I told Susan that the Full Moon was upon us tomorrow night; but, tonight was going to be spectacular. In the old days of shooting film - you only had 36 exposures per roll of film. Develope the rolls - make a contact sheet - take a loupe and select the shots. Then off to the darkroom for the adjustment -dodging - burning.Times have changed - technology has changed. Now, we shoot as many as we want - download into Photoshop and make adjustments - and Voila . . . the photo is there. Michael and I were on the balcony and decided to shoot Singer Island tonight. Michael has been really getting into timed photography - I said, "Michael, show me what you have learned - Michael is the best - Pratt Institute Whiz-Kid - Picks up anything/makes art. Wayne is old VCU/WIU - was the Whiz-Kid - needs to learn new technology and new techniques - Full moon night - we had our Nikon Digital cameras - you can be quite cavalier as we have 750 photo possibilities with the 2 gig chip. Michael is giving me lessons. The shots were non-stop after I got the hang of the new interface. The Moon is rising and we are shooting - you can hear the shutter and Michael explains, " the computer in the camera is assimilating the information. I'm here to tell you, "You can teach an old Dog new tricks".

The Party Continues - Olivia Joins Air Force

Our friend and colleague joined the Air Force. We don't know why. She just did.
We had a going away party - everyone came. We will miss her so much. Olivia, we love you. There she goes . . . into the wild blue yonder,
Climbing high into the sun;
Here they come zooming to meet our thunder,
At 'em boys, Give 'er the gun! (Give 'er the gun now!)
Down we dive, spouting our flame from under,
Off with one helluva roar!
We live in fame or go down in flame. Hey!
Nothing'll stop the U.S. Air Force!

Good Luck Olivia - We love you - Sunday snorkeling will not be the same without you

The Party Continues - Happy Birthday Susan!

Today is Susan's Birthday!!! We spent the morning by the pool - and I have a special surprise for her this evening. At 5ish our wonderful friend Michael Jackson picked us up and drove us the the Riviera Beach Marina Tiki Bar. I had reserved a part of the Tiki Bar, lined up some hors d'erves with the Chef, and the people started to arrive. The guy playing music graced us with a chorus of Happy Birthday as we brought out the cake. If you have to turn 50, you might as well do it in a Tiki Bar in South Florida. More pictures to come.

Nassau, Bahamas - Atlantis & Alanis

30 minutes by air from West Palm Beach is the Island of Nassau - one of the larger of the 700+ islands in the Bahamas. A local Radio Station whose hosts: Paul and Young Ron, were offering special prices on rooms at the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island, complete with a special broadcast Patron tequila party!... Free Patron tequila drinks, shots, or any combination - did I mention FREE. Well when times are tight, economy sucks, stock market at all time low, the Cubbies lost their chance at the World Series again this year - - - - the only thing you can do is . . . . party in the Bahamas! Oh, did I mention Alanis Morissett was performing there too - Susan and Wayne booked a flight on Spirit Airlines, grabbed their passports and took off for that spec of land in the Ocean called Nassau. The bus ride is always fun as the British influence dictates that drivers drive on the opposite side of the road. The Atlantis rises up from Paradise Island like the mythical city under the sea. In and out and around the resort are the most fabulous aquariums that provide hours of fish watching. We swam, sat by the pool, walked on the beach, dined, went to the comedy club, sat on the second row for Alanis Morissett's concert (she was great) and had a great time - Thursday - Sunday. A great way to kick off the week before Susan's Birthday.