It was a dark and stormy night...........

and it continues as we speak. Central Florida is living up to it's reputation of being the lightning capital of the world and a hot spot for tornados. We had a brief respite last evening and then it all fired up again.This is a bad picture out the front door.....the tree was bending way over but with the delay on the iPhone, I only got it partially bent. The winds were very impressive and since we don't have a basement, I sought refuge in the laundry which seems to be the most protected inner room. But unlike the neighbors, I did not take the beer and peanuts with me......will need to add that to the emergency list.
This is the view of the front approaching yesterday....the view today is more widespread but not as dangerous , so far. As I write this at 9:45 am, it is totally dark outside. We've had 3.5 inches of rain in the past 18 hours.

Paul is enjoying the sun in Miami again....he's doing the flight instructor thing in the simulators for the 2nd time this month. Aside from the long drive, he seems to like the change of pace from golf and more golf.

I saw this app, CamWow, for the iPhone on Robbie's blog (www.robbiespawprints.blogspot.com) and I had to try it and have been having fun with it. It makes a picture of my desk look like a sketch. It would be pretty to use flowers , trees etc.
It is a free app but for $1.99 you can get the writing eliminated.

Think I'll go stock the laundry room/tornado shelter with diet beer and pretzels.

Update: it is now an hour later and we have had 6+ inches and it is still raining torrentially.

GRAND kids

Yes, they are grand. And the fact that they want to spend their vacation days with us is a real treat.

Some of us enjoyed a day of shopping in Orlando. We did ourselves proud with a new pink Juicy purse (her) and black silk wedgie shoes for me. And lunch at Brio.....I enjoyed a salad, which is a far cry from the risotto that I usually order.......actually, the whole time I was there, I really really wanted the risotto.......
Meanwhile, Alex was burning up the course with his grandfather. Everyone around here really enjoys watching the young ones ...... even if we can't follow the ball that far with our old eyes.

Meanwhile, back on the feminine side of life, Lizzie and I had our nails spruced up.
On Friday, we hopped over to Epcot and Disney. It is the annual Flower Show and there was color around every corner.


It was a long day but the weather was perfect, as was the company. They fly home tomorrow and we will miss their energy and joie de vivre.

The fog comes on little cat feet................(Carl Sandburg)

It was a foggy, foggy morning on the course. We tee'd off at 7:47 and could only see 50 yards ahead. (These pictures were taken after the first couple of holes so not as foggy, just pretty.) Now considering that the greens are farther than that, and MOST times I can hit the ball farther than that......this presented a bit of a problem. It seemed kind of easy to just hit the ball straight ahead but our perception was all skewed and balls flew most anywhere they wanted. Some never to be found again. In order not to get hit by the group behind us, we had to flash our cart lights at them to indicate we were leaving......or just a shout out into the abyss. It was interesting.
It gradually started burning off and by the 5th hole, the sun was shining through. I can't say that I'd like to play like that very often but it certainly added a new dimension to already abundant challenges.

And, as we headed off to breakfast, we passed through this beautiful area filled with the moss covered oaks and the stunning azaleas. Everything is beginning to bloom and it is magnificent.

The JHS Class of 61.......

is looking pretty darn good. Judy Schultz Anderson and her husband Gary, have recently become Villagers and we gathered at the Palmer Country Club for a delightful evening of food and wine. They live in Fargo and are alums of UND and NDSU so we had a lot of catching up to do. It was a perfect evening for dining outside. The weather has reached the time of year when it is absolutely glorious,....warm, not hot, no humidity, beautiful evenings and perfect for dancing on the square and enjoying every minute of the day.

And, the tulips have arrived in the grocery store. I love them when they droop gracefully. However, I seemed to have gotten two groups of differing age and temperment. Or maybe it's just time for some fresh ones.

Good company......great family.

Our newest gadget is remarkable in it's simplicity. And it feels good besides. Jeff and Jennifer arrived last week and brought with them a small box containing the new Apple TV. She is very adept at making sense out of all those electronics and quickly made it work. Somehow, we can now buy first rate movies, (still in the theaters), choose from Netflix instantly, enjoy a slide show of our pictures and listen to our iTunes music. We can also access radio stations, youTube, podcasts and I'm sure there are many other things we need to learn about. And it's all done via our computer to the TV. Pretty cool.....We also bought new speakers for improved surround sound. Technology changes so rapidly but with a little help from our bright kids, we manage to almost keep in step.

We so enjoyed having them here........Jenn telecommutes for work so while she was busy, Jeff got in some good golf time. I'm back on the "I will either improve or quit" mode and so took a lesson with more planned for my future.

The weather wasn't great, nice temperatures but chilled by the strong breezes. They managed to squeeze in a day at Universal and recommended the Harry Potter rides and castle.

It was a good week.........