Thank you for taking the time to check in on our family! We have had a very busy and exciting year. Some of the highlights include: an engagement, a wedding, a new baby. Each of these events involve a different kid.
In October of 2018 my (Barbara’s) office closed and I came home to work permanently. I was pretty much doing that anyway but now there is no option to escape. I work for NCR in point of sale support for a product called StorePoint that is mostly in convenience stores. Many of the customers also have commercial fuel, such as TA. I enjoy my job and love working from home. The commute isn’t too bad and the best part? No bra required! I look out my front window. Sometimes I feel like Gladys Kravitz.
Almost two years ago, I started making soaps again. I said I would only make a few scents and not a ton of different products. I rarely do anything halfway so I have my famous muscle rub, lotions, soaps, lip balms, beard balm, whipped Shea butter … and I just bought some coffee butte to make coffee lip balm. It is still very much a hobby but my website has been revived: www.soaps-and-potions.com.
Alex is still working and enjoys making jewelry and knapping arrowheads. He turns the arrowheads into necklaces and gets many compliments. I hope to have his website up and running in a few weeks. Feel free to bookmark it to check out after the first of the year. Moreda Rocks. He loves spending time with our grandchildren. Crying still perplexes him! 😊
In the fall of 2017, R.J. started dating Brittany, who has a little girl Rae, who was not quite 3. She quickly stole my heart. As she already had loads of grandmas (and great grandmas) in her life, and Barbara was a mouthful for a 3 year old, we settled on Babs as my grandma name. When I asked if her Nama would be okay (which is what we called my mom), she said, “No. I do not like that!” It did take her a couple months to call me anything, though. They pretty much lived with us for about a year. It was so fun having a little one in the house again. She slept in Maggie’s room while Maggie was away at school. They hadn’t met yet and Rae called it “my bedroom”. When Maggie was coming home for the first time, we started saying “yours and Maggie’s room”. One day she asked, “So, is my bedroom my and Maggie’s room?” “Yes”. “Just WHO is this Maggie anyway?” Now, Maggie is one of her favorite people.
It has been so much fun watching R.J. be a daddy. He is so good with Rae. It has been especially wonderful watching how much he loves and care for a new baby. Owyn Lucas Moreda was born on June 16th – Father’s Day. It has been so much having a new little one in our lives. Watching your child love and care for their own children — there really is nothing quite like. Owyn is such a happy baby and such a joy to be around. We love the fact that we only live a few minutes away and see them often and even do some babysitting. How happy Rae and Owyn are is such a testament to how wonderfully Brittany cares for them.
Michael got married on June 8th to Spencer. She is in vet school in Illinois and Michael spent much of the previous year driving back and forth in order to work in Dayton and finish up his degree. He found a job in Champaign that started right after he graduated. They were willing to work him a few weeks then give him two weeks off for the wedding and honeymoon. The wedding was beautiful and he had to finally tell the DJs to stop playing the music. If he hadn’t, I think the Cuban contingent of the family would still be dancing the night away!
Maggie became engaged last year at Christmas. Her finance is named Alex. We call him Alex T. in group settings to help avoid confusion. She is attending Ohio University (NOT Ohio State University) to become a nurse. She started the nursing program this fall. Her end goal is to become a Certified Nurse Midwife. After three years of nursing school, she will need to work two years then get her masters degree. She is also working on a degree in public health as they go hand in hand and she is passionate about sex education and giving people informed choices. Alex T. attends West Virginia University and wants to work in wildlife management. He spent the summer working at a national park about an hour from home.
Part of getting ready for the wedding meant doing some work around the house. We ripped up the carpeting in Michael’s bedroom, the hallway, living room, and family room. We put down laminate as we sadly didn’t have hardwood floors underneath. We stripped off the hideous wallpaper in the foyer, master bath, and kitchen and removed the ugly border in the master bedroom. We repainted all those areas plus the hallway and family room. We still have work to do as the trim still hasn’t been painted. Barbara hopes to get that done soon. Well, let’s be honest. I don’t paint so I hope Alex can get it done soon. lol
Michael’s bedroom is pretty small and I have happily turned it into a craft room. It’s even small for a craft room since I am storing my soap making supplies and finished product in there as well. I have collected scrapbooking supplies for years but have never really done much with them. I never felt creative. Now that I have a photo printer and the space to craft, I am actually getting some things done. I am excited!
Now for some more pictures – just because!
Look Babs! Missing my teeth!!
