March:
Pam surprised the heck out of Steve for his 50th birthday. Pam and Steve were having dinner in a restaurant with Becky and Megan McIntee (Morgan‘s mom- and sister-in-law). They were in a room off to the side with no other customers. Steve couldn’t help notice that an Elvis impersonator was setting up shop at the far end of the room. After a couple of minutes, Elvis turned on his sound system and started belting out “Viva Las Vegas” at Steve. As he wrapped up the song, he handed Steve the telegram part of what was apparently a singing telegram. It was from Pam, inviting Steve to go get married (renew their vows, really) in Las Vegas.
Some background: Several years ago, a co-worker told Steve that he was getting married for the second time and that the wedding was to be in Las Vegas. Steve said “That‘s great but it doesn‘t count unless the service is performed by Elvis or a space alien.” His advice was ignored but Steve thought that it was a good idea. Pam had since listened to Steve going on and on about this idea.
Evidently, Pam had conspired with Steve’s boss to get the time off. In fact, just about everyone Steve knew was in on this plot except him.
Morgan and Beth live about a 4 or 5 hour drive away from Las Vegas, but Morgan couldn’t join them because he’d just been deployed to Japan. Beth was able to meet them there and she brought her friend Kristen. Kristen was very familiar with the place and was a very helpful tour guide. They were both an effective cheering section for the ceremony.
The wedding by Elvis was all that Steve had imagined. (Please note that Steve isn’t an Elvis fan and has never listened to his music on purpose. Some folks thought that they did this because they took this seriously. I guess those folks don‘t know a joke when they hear one). They all had a great time. Neither Pam nor Steve had been to Las Vegas before so they got to be gawking tourists pointing at everything.
May:
Pam and Steve drove to Florida to visit Pam’s mom, Pat, and her husband, Fred. It was a good excuse to drive around in Pam’s sorta new car. They also got to test out Steve’s sorta new iPod. Because of Pam’s wheeling and dealing, they got to stay in some fancy-schmancy condo for a few days. Pat and Fred were both doing well. Fred was recovering very nicely from shoulder surgery he had earlier in the year.
July:
Aunt Maureen died. Steve had heard from his Dad back in May that she was on the way out. Pam and Steve went to Toronto in June to visit her. Pam, Corwin and Steve went over for her funeral. Steve found out the night before the funeral that he was speaking at the funeral. Luckily, he’d already written up something on his blog (https://billymouse.wordpress.com/2009/07/13/my-aunt-maureen/) that he could use.
September:
Morgan got promoted to staff-sergeant, sorta. He got put on a list of folks who will get promoted in the next year. Probably next summer.
October:
Pam and Steve drove to Toronto for the Canadian Thanksgiving. At least there were no funerals or hospital visits this time. At Dad and Sig’s were Jason, Anita, Nikhil, Samran and Alx. Camille wasn’t able to make it this time. They also managed to squeeze in a visit with Stella, Pam’s stepmom.
November:
Pam, Corwin and Steve flew to Morgan and Beth’s place for the American Thanksgiving. About a week before Corwin and Steve flew out, Pam flew out to San Francisco to meet Becky for a wine-tasting tour of Napa Valley. Steve was invited to join them but the thought of being a Designated Driver (Steve doesn‘t drink), sitting and reading in the car while Pam and Becky sloshed around the winery had no appeal for him.
Corwin and Steve flew out on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. They had a stopover in Memphis and met Megan on the last leg of the flight. Those 3 met Pam, Becky and Morgan at San Diego airport.
Also attending Thanksgiving were Becky and Megan McIntee and Alex Neininger, Morgan’s friend from school and scouts. Beth cooked up a storm and the older generation got to clean up afterwards. It was a good visit but far too short. To add insult to injury, the rackin’ frackin’ Marines figured that it’d be a good idea to put Morgan on 24 hour duty on Friday. Pam, Steve, and Corwin flew back on Saturday.