The Dixons

Jan 05 2010

Holiday Newsletter 2009/2010

We hope all of you had a very merry holiday season!

2009 began and ended with live concert events.  We celebrated Glenn’s 48th birthday by seeing Cheech and Chong and ended the year with the LMFAO Party Rock Tour.  At Cheech and Chong, the old hippies were on stage.  At LMFAO, WE were referred to as that “older hippie couple.”  Getting old sucks.

Speaking of old, Glenn attended his 30-year reunion in June.  He wondered why all of his classmates looked so much older than him.

After a long hiatus the lavender 1992 Univega mountain bikes were dusted off and serviced.  The new noseless seats are working well so far!

Glenn and Dixie each picked up a pair of Vibram Fivefingers this year and have been working on getting their feet in shape.

In November we took a nice long trip to Big Bend.  In the end we did not hike as much as planned but we did get to see a lot of wildlife and discovered a wonderful bed and breakfast in Marathon, Eve’s Garden.

This fall we experienced a great loss.  Even though we knew it was inevitable it was still very difficult to let go of our 17-year-old dog Tucker.  His age finally caught up to him and we were forced to have him put to sleep.  We miss him often.  The staff at the Animal Medical Center in Aubrey was truly kind and sympathetic and took great care in walking with us through this difficult event.  We truly appreciate them.

Looking forward, our early retirement plans have shifted slightly.  We now intend to travel North America in an RV for a few years before heading overseas.  We plan on putting the house on the market this spring.  Recent home sales are still quite a bit lower than what we owe so a short-sale will be necessary.  Assuming that goes through, we will then be moving into an RV until we’re ready to pull the trigger on retirement.  And since we don’t want to keep all our stuff, this means lots of yard sales, eBay and Craigslist.  Speaking of stuff, even though we stopped all wine making in early 2009 we still have 120 bottles to go through.  We might need help…

And for an exciting end to the year, the north Texas area was treated to it’s first ever……WHITE CHRISTMAS!  D/FW Airport recorded 1” of snow on Christmas Eve for the first time in history so everyone awoke to an awesome view of white everywhere.  We had around three inches here east of Denton.  Of course within 24 hours everything not in the shade melted, but it was great fun while it lasted.

If you would like to keep up with us all through the year, you can find us on Facebook:

Glenn’s Facebook Profile

Dixie’s Facebook Profile

Here are our main photo albums we keep online:

Picasa Albums

Flickr Albums

Apr 07 2009
Dec 14 2008

Glenn and Dixie’s 2008 Holiday Newsletter

Happy Holidays from Glenn and Dixie and Tucker!

Being the ultimate procrastinator, I have combined last year’s newsletter (which was never sent out) with this year’s; a two-for-one special!

This is the online electronic interwebs version, with pictures and links and everything!

To start off 2007 we went back to New Orleans for the last few days leading up to New Year’s Eve and rang in the new year on Bourbon Street and Jackson Square, counting down while watching the dropping gumbo pot.  I got my first Apple product ever in January, a white MacBook.  I loves it almost as much as I do Dixie.  In March my younger brother, Philip, turned 40.  It was celebrated in style but made me feel old.  I finally got my ham license, installed a radio in my car, and added vanity plates for my new vanity call sign – WX3TOR.  When severe weather approaches I am either looking for tornadoes or reporting to the local spotter network.  Dixie continued her insane Jazzercise devotion by becoming a class manager and attending about 150 classes!  She not only got a free t-shirt but a great group of friends…and they like LOVE our home-made wine.

September was a busy month.  When September 1st rolled around we were in Alaska as part of a weeklong cruise with our good friends Steve and Joyce.  We spent a couple of days at Denali National Park and wrapped up the trip with a visit to the North Pole! (the city)  I took over 1,000 pictures with my new camera, a Panasonic FZ-50.  After our return Dixie celebrated her 50th birthday with many Jazzercise classmates (and later cried when her AARP invitation arrived in the mail).  I prepared a slideshow for my parents’ 50th Wedding Anniversary.  It was a big hit.  My Aunt Norma and cousin Kathy flew down from Iowa for the occasion.  Then we celebrated our 17th anniversary by attending the Plano Balloon Festival, and to cap off the month we got together with our fellow wine-makers at WineStock 2007.

In early December we finally followed through on a long-overdue item and sold both of our motorcycles.  While we thoroughly enjoyed almost every one of the over 20,000 miles we put on them, we were riding less and less and could no longer justify the insurance.  They went to great homes and one of them was a surprise Christmas present!   

For 2008 we rode in a float in the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Greenville Ave. in Dallas, and then in May we spent ten days in the central mountain plateau of Mexico.  We saw Mexico City, San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato (our favorite).  I kept a running travelogue with picture updates at http://trips.tumblr.com.  Dixie made a return visit to New Orleans in July with her Jazzercise friends, and while she was gone I stood in line for SIX HOURS for my iPhone.  Dixie was jealous and got one for herself in September, then lost it and bought a replacement in December.

In September even the HOA noticed that the large oak in front of our house was dead so we had it cut down, and in late November Dixie made me get a new car, a 2009 Kia Rio5 hatchback.  It’s pretty!

We hope your holidays will be merry and that 2008 2009 will be a great year for you.  Please let us hear from you!

Email Glenn at dixonge@gmail.com

Email Dixie at dixie13@gmail.com

You can see hundreds of photos from Mexico, Alaska and all over Texas at:

Picasa

Flickr

SmugMug

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