B and B’s 2003 News
Hi, Everyone! 
Ho, ho, ho! Tis the season to be jolly! Bah humbug! But that’s just Bunni. hehe!
This is the last month of 2003 (December 15th at time of writing) and time for reflection on the events of the year. We still enjoy relatively good health and Bear is still employed – two good reasons to rejoice and be thankful. And we are thankful. 
January
- Lots of New Year’s resolutions. All of them forgotten, most of them no doubt broken. hehe!
- Bunni was diagnosed with very high blood pressure. Bring on the drugs!
February
- The most important news of the year 2003 is our first grandchild, Blake, born February 3rd in Iowa, USA to daughter Brandy and her hubby David! The little devil/angel was born early so Grammee arrived late, on the 12th! But Grammee got to spend 2 whole weeks with her newborn grandson, his Mommy and his Daddy.
Bunni also was able to celebrate David’s birthday while she was there and got to meet David’s parents for the first time. Nice people.
- We bought a new vehicle. We traded in our 2001 Monte Carlo SS, a lemon we might add, and got a 2003 Chevy Tracker.
March
- An uneventful month other than the fact that Bunni was diagnosed with high cholesterol. Bring on more drugs!
April
- For lucky Bunni, the yearly pap test and the yearly mammogram. Oh joy! What fun! NOT! The mammogram was fine but she found out she had a huge fibroid tumour in the uterus and was sent to see a gynecologist.
May
- Again for lucky Bonnie, the Gynecologist advises that surgery is required to remove the fibroid tumour. She recommended a total hysterectomy and made the arrangements.
- May 7-11 – San Diego – A business trip for Bear and absolute pleasure trip for Bunni.
June
- Bunni underwent a total hysterectomy to remove the tumour and recovered quickly and completely in a couple of months. Avec patch, of course! More drugs! Poor Bear had to cut grass for 6 weeks! hehe! Needless to say we both were glad when Bunni could get back into her usual routine. Sitting around is for sissies! Bunni likes to keep busy!
July
- After six weeks of quote taking it easy unquote, Bunni is finally permitted to resume normal activity. Yard work! Finally! This girl is once again a happy camper! Hubby is happy too!
- July 13th Brucie turns 48! Hey old man! hehe!
August
- Lots of yard work, lots of golf! Two happy campers!
Bear is grateful he was able to get out on the golf course as much as possible this year and for the most part the weather cooperated. It was a long, hot, humid summer here.
September
- Plans were made to drive up to Ontario to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving with the family the following month.
October
- Canadian Thanksgiving! Mom and Dad! Adam! Randy, Judy, Andy and Amy! Other than the 2 days of driving it was a wonderful week!
November
- On November 19th Bunni turned 50 – the big Five-Oh! Although it seemed there should be fanfare and much celebrating for reaching the half century mark, the day passed very quietly. Kinda sad in a way….
December
- Christmas shopping, Christmas eating….
There were home improvements this year. We had our leaky, falling-through-the-floor hot water tank replaced and we had a big deck built onto the side of the house. We bought furniture – a 3-piece entertainment center (2 piers and a bridge) to encompass our big screen TV. We bought appliances – a new
Whirlpool washing machine to replace the old one that developed an annoying leak, and a new microwave.
- Since nobody comes to visit, we gave away all the bedroom furniture from the spare bedroom and set up a sewing room slash office for the sewing machine, second pooter, desks, bookshelves and filing cabinets that handle and house the family finances.
- Best of all, after bills were paid and savings were banked, we were fortunate enough to be able to afford a few toys – a Sony digital mini camcorder, a Sony UX-50 PDA for him, a Sony NX80V PDA for her, and a Sony Vaio 2.8Ghz laptop for her to replace the faulty 2.0Ghz Dell unit. Now we are not only a two pooter family but we are a two Sony Vaio pooter family.
- We were able to visit both our families this year. We went twice to Pennsylvania and once to Ontario. Families are wonderful things to have and should never be taken for granted.
- It has been a good year! Life is good!
No doubt December is keeping everyone busy with holiday preparations, Christmas gift buying and getting those cards and gifts into the mail. It’s a busy time of year for us too and the weather is being less than cooperative this month. We’ve had days of pelting rain and days of snow. One day we’re a warm and sunny
50 and the next we’re in the 20′s. For you Canadian folks, that’s Fahrenheit! hehe!
Fortunately, we had the foresight to do some shopping for our Canadian family while we were in Ontario in October. All that was left was to get those things where they needed to be and that was all done the first week of December, thanks to the USPS. Our Christmas cards went in the mail at the same time. All that was left was to take care of our American family members. That too was done with a minimum of fuss and all mailed out the second week of December.
Deciding that we were a little bit too bah humbug for the season, I decided to put up some decorations on the new deck we had built this year. I purchased some icicle lights and put those up. I then dragged out all the outdoor decorations from the shed and proceeded to attach a few of those in various and sundry
locations. Satisfied with the results, I moved indoors to survey our little domain. Well, here it is the 17th at time of writing and still I have not pulled out and put up our little ceramic tree or our other holiday decorations. I do however have the cards we’ve received displayed on the bridge of the entertainment
center. Well, that’s something, right? hehe!
We’re not sure how we will spend the holidays this year but we know it will be quiet. Time, weather and finances do not permit traveling long distances so that pretty much leaves us to our own devices. It was my suggestion to visit our local Chinese restaurant for dinner on the 25th but that was met with something less than alacrity. So, since I cooked Thanksgiving turkey dinner with all the trimmings in November, I thought perhaps HE would like to take a turn and do Christmas dinner for us. That too went over like a lead balloon! Go figure! hehe! So that subject is still up in the air. Well, we could both use some diet time. LOL!
Guess that’s about it for here. Although we would love nothing more than to spend our holidays watching our new grandson experience his first Christmas, we are destined to share a quiet time at home again this year. And that’s ok ’cause home is where the heart is and my heart is definitely here with my little hubbybear. Besides, Bean promised us lots of pictures with their new digital camera!
Have a very Merry Christmas and happy and healthy New Year, everyone! We love you all!
Love,
BnB
a.k.a. Bear & Bunni
a.k.a. Bruce & Bonnie
