Tuesday, December 28, 2021

Another year – in some ways the same old but in many other ways largely different because of the pandemic. Same old was only if it was outside – golf anyone? Or on Zoom. Not going out but ordering dinner for pick-up to take home.

In January after a pandemic caused break, Vina started doing Call for Action (consumer mediation) again from home with Gary’s help with the technology.

Then came the inoculations for COVID 19. We were finally able to interact with PEOPLE in person (who were also vaccinated) almost normally. We got used to always carrying a mask in our pocket or purse.

No international travel in 2020 or 2021. After staying in Tempe for the summer in 2020, we did go to San Diego during this summer. While there we started looking at houses. Yes, we have finally decided to move to San Diego full time. We are still looking for a house. The condo is too small for full time living. Our plan is to move there sometime this coming spring.

The summer in San Diego proved to be very active. We spent a day with son Mike and his “god daughter” Addison at Sea World. Great experience for both adults and Addison.

We enjoyed a birthday lunch with good friend Bob Serrano in Palm Springs.

We took a short vacation to visit Vina’s sister Elsie and family (Eddie, Michele, and Mason) in Carpinteria near Santa Barbara.

While we were in Carpinteria we the got news of son Bob having an emergency appendectomy which later developed an abscess and a week’s stay in the hospital for him. He is now fully recovered and doing well.

Later we enjoyed a visit from sister Cricket and Marty from Arizona. They stayed in our “west wing.”
😊 We were able to show them some of our favorite places in San Diego.

All of this in addition to our usual activities (hiking, golf, etc.) in San Diego.

Since we have been back in Arizona, we have been on the fast track including the Broadway series at ASU Gammage, ASU Football, National Geographic Live series at the Mesa Arts Center, the Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit in Scottsdale and the ASU East/Polytechnic Campus 25^th Anniversary where Gary was a member of the founding group.

Now onward towards San Diego sometime in 2022.

Wishing you a healthy and productive 2022!

Gary and Vina

Monday, December 28, 2020

Happy Holidays 2020

Happy Holidays!

Happy New Year!

Shall we cancel 2020? It is time to turn the page on 2020, a year that has been somewhere between a disaster and a disappointment for many of us.

Foremost we are healthy. While age is taking its toll, we are generally healthy and are staying active. We have been tested a few times for COVID and are happily negative. Both Vina and Gary manage to play golf weekly and have a few other properly socially distanced activities. There is not much we can do in this environment.

Both of us have managed to learn how to use Zoom and have been “attending” all kinds of lectures, classes, and even social gatherings virtually. We REALLY do miss seeing friends “in-person” but are very grateful for having the technology as a second-best option. We would love to Zoom with you!

Our annual international trip for 2020 got cancelled. We had a bit of an adventure getting our money back but were eventually able to do so. We are not planning any trips in 2021 but hoping to resume international travel in 2022. Also, this year we did not spend the summer months at our place in San Diego. We greatly missed seeing our San Diego friends. We spent the entire summer here in Tempe – where we had the hottest summer on record. Wouldn’t you know…

We did venture out to San Diego (we got tested before we left and after we came back) for the Thanksgiving holiday where we were able to share Thanksgiving dinner in person with Mike and virtually with Bob, Melissa and Maya. Mike got tested before coming over but Bob and Melissa were not able to. Our condo had done well during our 11 months of absence. These pictures were taken when Bob came to pick up his part of the Thanksgiving meal. Bob is on the left and Mike is on the right.

In September Gary and Vina celebrated 50 years of marriage. We had hoped to have a celebration with friends and family but then COVID struck. So we enjoyed a nice socially distanced dinner outdoors at a local restaurant. Maybe in 2022 we can have a celebration with friends and family.

As we close out 2020, we want to remember those whom we have lost this year. Let us hope that 2021 will be better year for all of us and for the world.

Gary and Vina

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Tuesday, December 28, 2021

2020 and 2021 in Photos

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Happy Holidays 2021

Monday, December 28, 2020

Happy Holidays 2020

Happy Holidays!

Happy New Year!