Why this web site?

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We crossed the finish line of our working lives when we both retired on the same day in September 2015.  

 

Prior to retirement, while innocently reading the paper, there was an article mentioning a long, long, long cruise.  And that brings us to this web site and our embracing of our post-retirement adventures.  If you are reading this, we hope you vicariously enjoy our excitement and discoveries in this site.  Our first cruise was the Global Odyssey, a 52-day cruise from London to Beijing.  We wondered if they would have to drag us off the ship or if we would trample people to get back to Chicago.    Well, we subsequently booked six cruises, so it's easy to say that cruising was very appealing to us.

Who are we?

 

Married in October 2007, we have six grown children in our blended family.  Visit our family page to learn about the kids.  Click here.

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Margaret retired as a certified business analysis professional (CBAP) from US Foods.  She has mad skills in business analysis and expertise in public relations and photography, but now enjoys doing just whatever she feels like doing.   Mike retired as a project manager (PMP) from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago.  He still has a clipboard and keeps written to-do lists. 

 

What happened in 2019? 

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The year 2019 presented big changes for us.  Early in the year, we sold our townhouse in suburban Forest Park and in March moved to an apartment in the trendy Streeterville neighborhood of downtown Chicago. Our plan was to live in the City for a year, then decide where/if we wanted to move somewhere else.  Of course, everyone knows what happens to the best laid plans, right?  

 

Preparing to downsize, we loaded up our new Honda CRV with furniture and other hand-offs, and took off on a road trip.  We stopped in Joplin, Missouri to visit Mike's aunts Carolyn and Shirley, stopped in Oklahoma City to visit Mike's mom, stopped in Austin, Texas to deliver items to daughter Becky, stopped in Houston to deliver more items to son Mikey, and stopped in Cincinnati to deliver the last of the things to son Matthew.   Mike had shoulder surgery on March 19, which forced us to cancel a planned Caribbean cruise.  Our Houston son and his finance had a baby April 6, so that prompted a trip to Houston with Mike's arm still in a sling. 

 

Once Mike was well enough, we loaded up the CRV again to make a delivery of furniture to our daughter in Connecticut. We took advantage of being on the East Coast to visit friends Julie and Bill Chase in Washington DC, and Tom LeaMond in Greenbelt, MD.

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In July, Margaret and her friend Pam Tilbrook took a girls' getaway trip to New York City (thanks, niece Sandra for hosting), and then they hopped on a cruise to Bermuda.

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Our big trip that year was to Scotland (click here), and then we spent a wonderful week in Belize in December.   Margaret and her cousins spent a week in Puerto Rico right before the world came crashing in around everyone.  Sheltering in place on the 17th floor of a Chicago high rise gave us time to decide that Italy was our destination of choice, and we began the long arduous process of planning to move to Italy.

 

We love for folks to view our site and send us messages.  Please stay in touch!

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Mike and Margaret

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