Things that make us happy.....

Because we haven't had enough of cold weather in Florida, we decided to drive North for 18 hours. After all, we're really used to wearing those sweaters and jeans and wooly jackets...and mittens. When Jon and Mary Beth came down a couple of weeks ago, the airlines were shut down due to the weather so they drove. Part of the incentive to do that was my impulsive "if you drive down, we'll drive the car back." They took us up on the offer and on Monday we headed out. We had plans to stop and do some lingering along the way but there's something about once on the road, it's almost easier to keep going. The ride was uneventful, the sun was out and aside from no scenery and tired behinds, it was fine.

At the end of the drive were some great rewards.

Andy getting ready for school.....
Mason enjoying his bagel.........

And a stop by Stew Leonards, the best grocery store ever. This bread is just amazing. The first day it is fresh and crusty. It is their most popular bread. But the next day it takes on a new look as toast, slathered in butter and covered with....

Sarabeth's Peach Apricot Legendary Spreadable Fruit. This is one of "Oprah's Favorites" and the combination of the bread, the butter and this spread makes me forget about the cold. I was going to take a picture of the presentation but I ate it instead.
We'll head home on Wednesday and hope for warmer days down there. In the meantime, we are loving these spring colors.

Challenges

Recently, I've been giving myself brain strain by learning how to play Mah-jongg. It is very popular down here and I have resisted getting involved.....for no good reason except I am busy enough with other retirement activities. And because it doesn't seem to be a couple thing, at least in our neighborhood. Originally conceived in China and played by men, it then became very popular with Jewish women.....and not being either Chinese, a man or Jewish (at least in this life) , it wasn't on my bucket list.
But, one of our neighbors offered to teach a group and I was encouraged to join in. Well, it is really fun and challenging and filled with tradition and etiquette. It reminds me of various card games and rummikube, only very different... if that makes sense. A neighborhood group meets on Thursday night at one of the nearby Rec centers and I'll join in once I think I won't embarrass myself.

Paul's been busy this month doing his instructional work in the simulators in Miami. If he had hoped to find warmer weather down there, he wasn't very successful. The days and nights continue cool and we have been near freezing a couple of times in the past week. It is just so unusual. I feel bad for people who have spent good money on a Florida vacation with hopes of getting sunburned.

Jenna has had her hands full these past couple of weeks. As Mike travels around the world and the country, she has turned into an orthopedic nurse/mother.

Yes, that is a picture of Lizzie and Alex, each wearing a full length cast on their fractured arms. Alex , as mentioned previously, from lacrosse, and Lizzie from a wet floor at school. Alex broke the other arm last summer in the same sport and I remember when he was about 6 or so, he wore casts on his arms at least twice, once from falling off the bunk bed and the other from the trampoline. We thought he'd outgrown all that.

Tell me it isn't so......

Pure fun. Andy and Mason took to the tepid pool water with enthusiasm. Last year, Mason wouldn't go in the water but look at him now..... very independent. (sorry that these pictures aren't 'clickable' to make them larger)

In the past few weeks, 2 out of the 3 sons have come back to the homestead. It has been great having them and their offspring here. They both enjoy our choice of retirement living and our lifestyle and visit fairly often. But, something different happened this time. They left clothes here !!! Like in drawers and closets. And even newly purchased golf clubs. And one of them even left a CAR !! Does this mean what I'm beginning to think it means............................are they all moving back HOME !!??

A couple of weeks ago, out of pure frustration, I went to the Custom Golf Ctr here and tried out some drivers. For those of you non-golfers, the Driver is the one that supposedly gets you the most distance off the tee. However, in payment for that distance, it has a very long shaft and is therefore more hard to control and sometimes it just has a mind of its own. My driver has always been my nemesis and altho I would prefer to never use it, that rather defeats the purpose of playing golf well. I didn't expect much when I went to demo the clubs but .........I found one that actually works. I pondered on it for a day and then went back and bought it. (The driver is also the most expensive club) I was able to buy the demo club at a substantial savings so I was happy. But, like a new pair of shoes that look so good in the store, they may give you blisters in the real world. I am happy, no ecstatic, to report that this driver has changed my LIFE. I am out playing with the big girls (figuritively, not literally) on the championship courses.....that's 18 holes of long distances. Yesterday, I had not one, but TWO birdies on the back 9. I tell you, it's nothing short of a miracle.

Life is good.

It's hard to write with mittens

Just a quickie to let you know that we have not FROZEN to death in Florida. It has been below freezing many days in the morning and barely to 50 with stiff winds in the heat (?) of the day. Golf is barely tolerable in these conditions.....more on that in another post.

Jeff came to visit for a week to get out of the rain in Washington and endured the cold here but played good golf regardless. Then Mary Beth and Jon tried to get down for a wedding and because of the NE snow storm and resulting airport mess, they ended up driving. Long hours but DVD's kept the little ones occupied. MB had to go back to Ct to work but Jon and boys are here for a few more days.

The pool and hot tub are done but it has been too cold to heat the pool due to some technicality like the heat pump doesn't work below 45 degrees. But all have really had fun in the 100 degree hot tub.....including the old people. But today, it is to be in the mid to HIGH SIXTIES and the pool is heating.....can't you just see those dollar bills flying around the back yard......!! Pictures at 11 if Andy and Mason finally get to jump in.

And , because there are no pictures on the world famous blog today, I want you to navigate to this link and enjoy. http://gallery.me.com/atwirls/101503 Lizzie, on the right and Meredith, a friend ,on the left (a nationally ranked twirler) and Alex, a dynamic 15 yr old with a love of lacrosse, a great sense of humor and a newly broken arm (from lacrosse), performed an impromptu number at a Twirling event in Denver. They won 1st for Creativity. Well deserved.

I'm still here.....

Discipline and organization have never been my strongest suite....I'm more the beauty than the brains ( I wish). Blogging requires more discipline than beauty and therefore I am sadly lacking in the requirements to keep this slog of a blog going. Anyway, I will keep posting because it is the only way I can remember what I did last month, or last year and who I did it with. And if you wish to keep checking in, be warned that this might just be more for my benefit than for my adoring public.

We attended the 3rd running of the Inner Circle Golf Cart Rally this week. An event characterized by teams of 4 following a difficult set of clues to find answers to questions based on locales within a several mile radius of our neighborhood. It is a raucous group of old people, mildly fueled by some libation, careening about in golf carts, determined to be the first back to base with the best time and most correct answers. Altho we had the 2nd best time, apparently we made some mistakes and came in 5TH....ohh the shame. A team of 4 red shirted women came in first and a formal protest has been filed by another team. Here are their complaints........speeding and reckless driving, using cell phone while driving and to obtain help with clues (we used ours to google who was on the $2 bill), use of other illegal items (phone book), drinking while riding in the cart (we were all guilty of that), using a certain hand gestures to intimidate other teams, ......The Red Shirts countered by filing a sexual harrassment suit......and so it continues....all in good fun.

Meanwhile, back at the site of major construction....we are a week over the contracted finish date and as you can see by the picture, we have a problem. They have had to dig up part of the hot tub to find a leak.
Finally, after much delay, it was found and hopefully, all will finally be finished in a few days.

Mike has been doing a serious amount of traveling but managed to find some respite in this comfort zone in North Carolina. Note the sign in the window. Doesn't that just make you wish there was a franchise in your home town.

Progress

Here's a view from the north end of the project to the south where the hot tub is. Note the expansive birdcage over all of this. It was quite labor intensive and involved some serious balancing acts. The original house(lanai) ended at the pillars on the right.
We don't really call this a swimming pool, it is more a standing pool, except for a small child, no one could do a lap. It is 3.5 to 5.5 ft deep. One of the laborers, cleaning the tiles, fell in Monday and the birdcage guys dropped a drill in. Air temp was only 50ish and the pool has yet to be heated so it was a chilly dip. There is more to be done but it is finishing work and then we can furnish the area and decorate with plants. As with other major calamities, I can barely take my eyes and ears off of the TV. It is almost incomprehensible and when I think of the trauma and heartbreak of an already destitute people, I wonder how they can recover.

One of the blogs that I follow is The Yarn Harlot. She is a very popular author with a large following of knitters. She has always supported Doctors without Borders but last week she put out a call to knitters to make donations and she would tally them. She is still counting but expects the total to be around $500,000. When I checked some of the comments, many are small donations of $10 or so....quite amazing is the power of the electronic world. Jan referred us to a blog written by two young missionairies in Haiti, she a Dr and he a teacher and their young son that they are in the process of adopting, www.kimandpatrick.blogspot.com . It is a compelling read.

Remembering

Sometimes, our life is just not that exciting...................can you believe that ???

During the cold spell, which lasted forever and made me want to call Al Gore and ask him where the warm weather was, we were unusually housebound in the 30 degree chill. Despite this, one of us took advantage of the behemoth parked in the front yard to replace some sparkplugs. I just think this is a funny picture.

And speaking of pictures, a while back, unknown to us, Jon patiently went thru boxes of slides and put them on CD's for us. Remember those days of slides, when we would gather in front of a blank wall and enjoy the show. They were big and vivid but otherwise quite inaccessible the rest of the time. And no dates on them.....

Anyway, some of them are now on my new computer and I have been enjoying the nostalgia. I should organized them into some semblance of time and space but that's for another day. Here are two of my favorites..........
Jeff, about 3 years of age, with that delightful smile and blonde hair. (Proving once again that I really am a natural blonde ....not. ) He was a bit mischievious but so darn cute.....and I doubt he has changed that much.

And here is my all time favorite picture. This was in Thailand during the Vietnam war and he sent this picture back to me.......about 25 years old, a Navy pilot and father of two. Brings back many memories......

I want my money back......

This is a mini look at the forecast for Saturday. Yes, it's called sleet, freezing rain or even SNOW. But I think the stars have to align just right for it to happen.
The expensive landscapes are being wiped out despite efforts to cover and heat with lights and fans.

But yesterday was in the 50's and the old people came out of their houses for the first time in days, the golf courses were busy, the squares were crowded and smiles were abundant. Today will be nice again and we are both on the golf course with our respective groups.

Rearranged the living area the other day. For me, it was just an annual female thing but for the other inhabitant of this place, it was more like work with having to dismantle the various components and the TV and then trying to put the puzzle back together. But I like it much better and there is more room to use the Wii and also gives us back our views of the golf course and the new lanai. And next year, I'll do it again.

I had some pictures to post but iPhoto sometimes loses what I download. I eventually find it but don't have time this morning to fiddle around with it. The Mac is starting to become second nature in many ways but I have SOOO much to learn.

Colder and colder

This is what we all congregated around in Ct to heat up various body parts. This brings back many memories of when we heated our Ct house totally with wood and with a kerosene heater that looked just like this one. Jon found this at the dump and fixed it up and even the cats like it. And then we braved lousy roads, blowing snow and very cold weather to get to the airport on Sunday and fly back to the land of the warm................NOT.
It is frigid down here and we just aren't used to that anymore. This is our neighbors house, all wrapped up to protect the more tropical plants. The colorful wrap is a parachute that protects a beautiful Robellini palm that is very susceptible to the cold.

We have only chosen to cover our manzanilla vines by the front door and we did bring in the potted crotons. The rest of the landscaping is pretty hardy.

But, we did have to bring the RV to the house to plug it in to heat it. It is not winterized and with temps to go to 22 tonight , we didn't want to chance frozen lines. The cold is not to let up until Sunday. I sure hope you hadn't planned a trip to Florida this week.

Being optomistic, we are getting ready for the warmer weather. This is a view of the new expanded lanai and the pool. I am standing next to the hot tub to take the picture. Next week, the large screen (called a birdcage) will be put up over the entire area and then they will put the final finish on the pool and it will be done. We will burn dollar bills to heat it to a tolerable temperature to try it once and then it will stay cold until some little people visit.

(Note more covered plants at the neighbors) . The pool looks really small in this picture and altho it's not huge , it is a decent size about 24x10-12 ft. And 3.5 to 5.5 ft deep.
The Christmas decor has been put away, new projects are planned and the new year is off to a good start. Now, if it will just get warm.

Excuses

My apologies for not updating the blog in TWO weeks. I heard from all 3 of my readers that I was remiss in not wishing you all a Merry Holiday at least. And in this update, I don't even have pictures. I am operating under a handicap. Despite the fact that we have 3 laptops in this house, I am unable to post the blog in my usual manner, complete with Kodak moments, on any of them. Believe me, I have tried. Right now, I am on the new MAC and altho I've fiddled with the font size, I am typing in this micro mini font which I can barely see. When I tried to download pictures, it gave me the dreaded spinning beach ball and I've had to reboot. The other computer is currently unusable because the power supply failed and one is on order. The 3rd one is just too ancient to consider handling an issue so important as this blog.
But aside from those difficulties, we had a very special Christmas. Jeff and Tracy decided at the last minute to come on down. The weather was lovely, the golf courses had tee times and they explored the gulf beaches.

(Just thought I'd help a bit by posting this Wii pic.

ptm)
Our family gave us a Wii.....popular among the young and seniors alike. We also got the Wii Fit Plus which is an interactive fitness tool. After going thru the set up and jumping thru hoops, it gives you your BMI and your fit age..........Mine came in at 73 !!!!!! Well, that made me REAL happy. Paul refused to get on the thing. I'm hoping that they based this on a balance test that I couldn't even figure out until it was half over because, other than wt and ht and age, that's all they tested. So, I will reset it, avoid wine before the test, and try again and hopefully, it will decide that I am 42 and a real blond.

And now, I'm going to spend the day trying to figure out some computer issues so I can come back and dazzle my audience with witty repose and blog worthy photos.

Addendum: My use of the word "repose" was totally inaccurate. I guess I meant "prose". Sometimes my fingers get ahead of my brain.