2013: A Recap

2013
was a crazy whirlwind of activity for the Lubitz Family.

There were good times and some not so good times.

I will cherish the memories.

I did not have any new year resolutions, however, if they had included a new pet to love, some quality family time, lots of glorious travel, apple harvesting, pressing, and continued home remodeling, I would have been batting a thousand!

January

January brought much biz travel for Michael including Japan, LA, Seattle, and Silicon Valley. I suffered from a horrible tooth ache, which eventually led to a root canal. Every Thursday I dealt with Stinky sitting in my office chair while the cleaning people cleaned and I tried to work (and I only took pictures of the pets in January, apparently). Oh, Stinky!

February

Michael completed the final bottling of his first official batch of hard cider (with the help of his friend, Mick). Sammy's room was emptied in preparation for a complete remodel and we enjoyed many lovely winter sunrises and sunsets in Portland. We are so lucky to have a view of Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens from our home.

March

In March I traveled with Michael to Silicon Valley and then we spent a wonderful couple of days in Paso Robles with Deb & Steve. We drank great wine, ate great food, and had a blast talking about winemaking and all sorts of things. We loved the Hotel Cheval, Paso Robles!

April

In April we spent 10 days on the island of Maui. I can feel the warm breeze right now. Paradise! Unfortunately, I was in a rather horrifying snorkeling accident the morning of our last day at the Four Seasons at which point I nearly drowned. I spent the rest of the day dealing with coral wounds and sea urchin stings. I then returned home only to deal with an infected coral wound, which grounded me for nearly 4 weeks. We did have a fantastic time in Hawaii. I am happy to be alive.

May

Despite my lingering wounds from April, May was so amazing. I turned 50 and enjoyed a wonderful dinner with Michael at Toro Bravo. I spent most of my injury time planning for our upcoming trip to Paris, France. Happy Birthday to me! We left for Paris on May 24. Words cannot describe how much I enjoyed our family trip to Paris or our visit to Roland Garros and the French Open Tennis Tournament!

June

June was pretty spectacular too. We continued getting to the know Paris for the first week of the month. We returned home absolutely in love with the city. On Father's Day weekend, we picked up our little Berner Rosen. We love that naughty little mini aussie puppy. He owns our hearts.

July

In July, Michael was hospitalized for a week. It was exceptionally difficult for him and we were very worried about him. We checked him out of the hospital and headed straight to The Stephanie Inn, Cannon Beach to celebrate our 24th wedding anniversary. As it turned out, we were both not feeling too well, but we enjoyed the time together and the fantastic view of Haystack Rock. We also enjoyed driving leisurely out to the farm every other Sunday to pick up our vegetables. The farm is an amazingly tranquil place.

August

In August, we extended our anniversary celebration to Los Angeles (on the back of a business trip, of course). We got a cherished visit from Joey after his summer stint in New York City. We delivered Sammy's '66 T-Bird to the Restoration Specialist and Michael and I headed to New York City while our furnace was being replaced. We spent a fantastic week in the city spending time with friends Doug & Sydney. We ate amazing food, went to a Yankees game (go Ichiro!), and we even went to the US Open Tennis Tournament--a.k.a., heaven for me!

September

The first part of September, we headed from NYC to Maine to get Sammy checked in to his Sophomore dorm. We returned home and harvested apples for this year's hard cider. Michael's new cider press arrived. We also harvested other lovely fruits from our garden including golden plums and figs. It was a great summer for fruit in Portland!

October

October was all about apple harvest and travel. Once we had harvested and pressed all our own apples, we went out to Sauvie Island and picked up a third variety. We traveled the first part of the month to Southern California. Michael celebrated his 50th Birthday. Unfortunately, we had no time for a real dinner and so Michael's birthday dinner was celebrated at I-Hop after we had arrived at our airport hotel in anticipation of our early morning flight back East. I have been trying to make it up to him ever since. We traveled to Boston, Maine, New York City, and Cleveland (and Oberlin).

November

In November, Michael's new home office was complete and we celebrated the occasion with some festive drinks shared with Uncle Chris, Grammy & Grampy. Michael and I also got new cars for the first time in seven years. We celebrated Thanksgiving with the Fleming Family, an exhausting yet rewarding time.

December

Finally, the last month of 2013 was a busy one. Michael traveled to Japan We enjoyed our 2nd Annual Corporate Retreat with our staff at The Allison Inn & Spa. Joey visited Portland for 10 wonderful days and we spent Christmas week at a rental house in Arch Cape, Oregon. We have fallen in love with Arch Cape and we shall see where that leads.

The year was a special one. 2014 has started out a bit rocky, but I think it will turn around.

Good-bye 2013! Cheers to 2014!