Christmas Update

Christmas is over - it's hard to believe. But isn't that always the way it is? We get caught up in the busyness of shopping, decorating, cooking, entertaining, etc., and the holiday is here and gone before we know it. The world is trying to get us to forget what we're celebrating - the birth of our Saviour and the beginning of our redemption story. Christ came to earth as a baby for one reason - to be the ultimate sacrificial lamb.

We have been "enjoying" ill health - nothing major just annoying colds. We went to Disney last week and 3 days later, Dan was down with another cold. This time, I was not fortunate enough to avoid it. I started feeling "coldy" on Monday and Tuesday I had all of the symptoms. Today I am feeling better but still am sniffling and coughing. Enough complaining!

Sunday we headed over to Rick's and had a good visit with them Sunday night. Monday we babysat the girls while Rick and Csilla went over to Disney with the Seminole High School choir. They left about noon. The girls were wonderful - no whimpering or crying. We knew Taylor would be fine, but we were concerned about Ashley. However, our fears were groundless - as Rick and Csilla were leaving, she said "Bye Mom and Dad, see you later," and went back to what she was doing! We had a good time with the girls. Rick and Csilla got home about 7:30 PM and we headed back down to Bradenton getting home about 10:00.

Christmas Day, we were invited over to Sarah and Eric's for dinner. However, when we woke up, both of us were still congested and coughing. Eric's twin sister and her husband were going to be there with their two children (ages 4 and 4 weeks). We really didn't feel we should go and possibly "share the wealth" (spread our germs), so we called and told them we wouldn't be coming over. They were disappointed, but understood. We just stayed home and watched TV and slept!

Last night, we called to wish Eric and Sarah a Merry Christmas and they suggested they come over tonight. We said no problem they were more than welcome, but just know we were still coughing and sneezing. They brought dinner over with them (honey-baked ham, sweet potatoes and salad). We had a lovely dinner and then we exchanged gifts. They left about 8:30 since Sarah has to be up at 6:00 drive down to Sarasota for one of her master's classes. They are squeezing a full semester's class into 4-1/2 days!

We didn't take Aunti Vi shopping today - she called us this morning and said she didn't need any groceries. We're going to check with her Saturday and make sure she's okay.

The rest of this week is quiet. We have nothing scheduled at all. Very scary thought. Of course, there is always housework and yard work to be done.

Everything's Normal - Part Deux

After the choir concert on Sunday, we both were ready just to have a day at home. So Monday we did exactly that - stayed home and enjoyed a day not leaving the house all day!!! We did normal things like laundry, cooking, etc., but enjoyed the day at home. Tuesday, we went back to Disney and spent the afternoon and early evening at the Magic Kingdom. When we got to the Magic Kingdom, even though it was 1-1/2 hours before the castle lighting, we "staked out" an area right in front of the castle where Dan could tape the lighting. After the lighting, the "Wishes" fireworks show went off. The fireworks were spectacular.



Wednesday was just our normal Wednesday - we took Aunti Vi shopping in the afternoon and then choir in the evening. Wednesday was also Sarah and Eric's 9th wedding anniversary and they had asked us to join them for dinner to celebrate. Our choir director was not terribly happy when the four of us got up and left midway through rehearsal but he understood and enjoyed giving us a hard time about leaving!! We had a lovely dinner at Bonefish Grill.

Thursday we just hung out at home - again not leaving the house at all! Twice in one week - a record I think! I also managed to get some scrapbooking done - the first time I've had a chance to scrap since late October. I really enjoyed working on my scrapbooking again. I didn't realize how much I had missed it.

Today, we we didn't do a whole lot of anything during the day. I got out some recipes for baking that I want to do this weekend. Tonight we met Sarah and Eric and Connie and Jesse at the Lonestar Restaurant and had dinner before going to the movie "National Treasure - Book of Secrets." All of us enjoyed the first "National Treasure" movie and were looking forward to the second installment. It did not disappoint!! Lots of action, good plot and all of the cast from the first movie is back with the exception of Ian who is in jail. They also left the door wide open for another installment.

Tomorrow I need to finish wrapping Taylor and Ashley's gifts and get a few more gift cards. Then Sunday, we'll go to church in the morning and after church head over to Sanford. We'll be there until late Monday night. We're babysitting the girls while Rick and Csilla chaperone the high school choir. They're performing at the Candlelight Processional at EPCOT.

Well, I think I'm going to see if I can get some scrapping done. Or maybe I'll bake a batch of cookies :-)!!!

Everything's Normal --

Considering it's Christmas that is. These are days that need to be 48 hours long in order to get everything done. Things are beginning to slow down slightly now since all the packages that needed to be mailed have been mailed and shopping is done except for one gift card. Let's see where do I begin to update since it's been 10 days --

Monday, the 10th, we had an extra choir rehearsal in preparation for the choir concert which was presented at both morning services the 16th. We also had our normal rehearsal on Wednesday. Aunti Vi didn't want to go shopping in the afternoon, so we picked up a gallon of milk for her and went down and visited her for a little while. Thursday evening was the church advisory board meeting. Normally, I wouldn't have to attend, but our church clerk resigned in November and since I am the assistant church clerk, I needed to be there to take the minutes. The meeting lasted a little over 2 hours - UGH!!! Friday, Eric and Sarah came over for dinner. They were both exhausted, so all we did was eat dinner and watch "Ratatouille." Sarah fell asleep midway through the movie and slept until they left about 11:00 PM. Saturday, Dan and I went and saw the movie "Enchanted" which is absolutely darling. In between all of this, we were decorating the house, doing some baking and taking care of normal household chores. I also needed to get the minutes done from the advisory board meeting as well as the church clerk's annual report which will be presented at the annual meeting January 13th.

Sunday morning we met Connie and Jesse and Sarah and Eric at Cracker Barrel for breakfast at 7:00 AM. We all wanted to eat a good breakfast so we wouldn't be totally starved by the time second service started (all of us except Jesse sing in the choir). With the choir presenting its concert at both services, it meant we wouldn't have a chance to eat again until at least 12:30. We came home from church and slept until 5:00 PM!

Well that catches up to Monday of this week. More later.

Christmas??

The calendar says Christmas is 15 days away. However, it still feels like summer down here. Today the high was 85 and the pool is 78. We didn't go swimming, but it definitely was warm enough. I had all of the windows on the lanai open and also the front door which gave us a lovely cross breeze.

We have had a quiet 4 days. Dan has been down with a heavy cold. He is on the mend now, but sleeping has been challenging. He'll just fall asleep and then he'll wake up coughing. So far I have managed to avoid getting whatever it is he has. We didn't go to choir Wednesday night. We did take Aunti Vi shopping Thursday. Friday we went to the Senior Center for scrapbooking class. The ladies are so sweet and are so hungry to learn. Yesterday, we were supposed to meet Rick and Csilla at Disney but Dan didn't feel well enough so we stayed home. Today we also stayed home from church since Dan didn't sleep well last night and is still coughing.

Tomorrow will be another busy day. We have choir rehearsal tomorrow night in preparation for the choir concert next Sunday. We're presenting the choir concert at both the 8:15 AM service and the 10:45 AM service. It will be a long morning and we probably will have no voices left after it's over. I need to finish wrapping packages and get them mailed. Christmas cards are waiting to be done. I'm also trying to get some Christmas baking done. Tuesday we're tentatively planning on going over to Disney for one last time before the Christmas crowds hit. It will be our last trip over until after the first of the year. From the 15th of December on, the crowds at Disney are horrendous. Wednesday is the normal - shopping with Aunti Vi in the afternoon and then choir in the evening. Thursday we may go over to Disney if we don't go on Tuesday. Friday, Sarah and Eric are coming over for dinner and scrapbooking.

Well, it's time for bed and my eyes are definitely getting heavy.

Christmas at Disney

Saturday night was our Sunday School class Christmas party. It was held at a buffet place and a good time was had by all. There were over 50 there - our Sunday School class has about 85 members, but we average between 40 and 50 on any given Sunday. Obviously with being a buffet, everyone had more than enough to eat. The buffet had a huge salad bar, many hot food stations and about every dessert you could imagine.

Sunday morning we went to church - singing at both services and then Sunday School in between the 2 services. We got home about noon and left for Disney. We got over to Disney about 2:30 and settled in our room for our Sunday afternoon nap. We woke up about 5 PM and headed for the Magic Kingdom. We arrived there in time for the castle lighting. It is absolutely magnificent (see picture). The castle is draped in over 500,000 tiny white LED lights. The lighting ceremony lasts about 8 minutes and can be viewed on YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DS0AE3vTwA&feature=related (copy and paste link into address window). After the castle lighting, we went and found something to eat and then watched the Christmas show presented on the castle forecourt. It had lots of dancing and music. It was then time for the Christmas Parade which lasted until about 9:00. After the parade, we went and saw the Carousel of Progress and then rode the TTA (Tomorrowland Transit Authority also known as the WED Way People Mover). As soon as the parade finished we went and got some hot chocolate and cookies. It was then time for the fireworks show which was awesome. After the fireworks, we went and saw another Christmas show which was absolutely darling - Mickey's "Twas the Night Before Christmas." By now it was close to 11:00 and we decided we had had enough fun for the day and headed back to the hotel.

We stayed at the Pop Century Hotel which is the newest of the value resorts. The theming is cute and the icons are oversized (see pics at top). It is a very large resort with over 2,880 rooms. Right now, the areas are themed with icons from the decades of the second half of the 20th century. There are plans to have a section devoted to the first half of the 20th century, but construction on that section is at a standstill with two of the buildings partly done and the check in area partly done. The main complaint we had was the beds were like concrete - very, very hard.

Monday we went to the Animal Kingdom and saw the Christmas parade which was all we had planned for that day. After the parade, we left and headed to the barbecue place where we met Rick and Csilla and had a lovely dinner. We visited for awhile and then headed to the Marketplace to do some Christmas shopping. It was very crowded and shopping was not pleasant at all. We managed to get what we were after and then headed back to the hotel.

We were going to go to Disney Studios on Tuesday to see the parade and the Osbourne Lights, but since they were the same as they were other years, we decided to head home. We got home about 4:30. We will be heading back to Disney on Saturday, meeting Rick and Csilla there so the girls can see the lights and Christmas decorations.

Today was just a quiet day at home. Both Dan and I are feeling "coldy", so we didn't do a lot of anything. We're scheduled to take Aunti Vi shopping tomorrow, but we'll see how we feel.

I'll close for now as it's bedtime and my eyes are getting heavy.

EPCOT Tree Lit

It's Been Awhile

Other than the cruise posts, I haven't blogged for a few weeks. We've been managing to stay busy with the normal routine. Bible study finished November 15th and I'm still "adjusting" to Thursdays being "free". Of course the first Thursday after Bible study finished was Thanksgiving. We had a lovely time with Sarah and Eric and Aunti Vi. Dinner was the normal - turkey with all the trimmings. We did the turkey on the charcoal Weber and it turned out tender and moist - delicious with a mild smoky flavor. After Thanksgiving, we actually had 5 days with nothing to do - amazing!!! We enjoyed just being able to relax! Of course, there was laundry and other household tasks to do as well as a few errands. Dan took time and put up our Christmas lights and I started decorating the inside of the house. We haven't put up our tree yet and probably won't until next weekend.

Our "normal" schedule picked up again with choir on Wednesday night after taking Aunti Vi shopping in the afternoon. Thursday we headed over to Disney for a couple of the Christmas special programs. The first one we did was the lighting of the EPCOT Christmas tree. Mickey and Minnie as well as Donald, Chip and Dale and Goofy put on a cute 15 minute show with the finale being the tree lighting. We also went to the Candlelight Processional which is an absolutely phenomenal concert incorporating the narration of the Christmas story with music sung by a massed choir made up of high schoolers from throughout the US and overseas. The concert is presented 3X each night and each time the massed choir is made up of different schools. During the month it's presented, over 300 choirs will participate. We stayed at the All Star Movie Resort which is one resort we had never stayed at. The theming at the resort was adorable and based on the movies The Love Bug, 101 Dalmatians, D2 the Ducks, and Fantasia.

As annual passholders, we were able to get vouchers for the taping of the Disney Christmas parade on Friday. However, they weren't taping the actual parade, they were only taping all of the performances that come between the parade segments. The weather yesterday was cloudy and foggy and there was a mist falling. After finding out they weren't gong to tape the parade, we left getting home about 11:00.

Today, is our Sunday School class Christmas party. We have a great class and it should be lots of fun. Tomorrow is church in the morning and then we're heading back to Disney in the afternoon for our annual Christmas visit. We're staying at the Pop Century Resort which is another resort we haven't stayed at before. We have tickets for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party tomorrow night and then Monday we're going to go to the Animal Kingdom. We're meeting Rick and Csilla for dinner at a barbecue place near Csilla's work. Tuesday we'll go to MGM Studios and see the Osbourne Family Lights. We may go back to EPCOT after MGM. Wednesday, we'll head home.

Well, I'll close for now - time to get ready for the party.

Cruise Summary

Overall, the cruise was a total bust. We knew we weren't on a Disney cruise when we entered the ship and the first thing you saw was a bar. On the public decks (Lido, Promenade and Atlantic), there were bars every 50-75 feet. One positive thing - the casino was tucked off to the side of the ship so you didn't have to walk through it to get anywhere. The food was nothing to write home about at all. Tables were not bused in a timely fashion and floors were not swept. If we had been in port, the ship would have been overrun with seagulls - nature's ultimate scavengers. Dining service was not at all customer oriented. The travel agent for our group had given each of us a bottle of wine. We asked our waiter if we could substitute a bottle of sparkling grape juice or apple juice for the wine. He said he would check and never got back to us. On the Disney line, we not only were served sparkling apple juice, we were given a bottle to take back to our cabin (it's still in the refrigerator - we haven't drunk it yet!). There was only one pool on board and it was maybe half again as big as ours for 2,000 passengers. Obviously, we did not go swimming at all. Smoking was pervasive - the only non-smoking areas were the staterooms and restaurants. Smoking was permitted anywhere on the outside decks. They had ashtrays stacked so that if you wanted to smoke, you simply picked up an ashtray and took it wherever you wanted to smoke. The ship was noisy and dirty. Considering it had just come out of drydock, my expectations were higher. It was very obvious to us that they wanted to attract and keep a totally different clientele than Disney.

There were only 2 stageshows the entire cruise. Both were definitely "R" rated and the PA announcement said if you were easily offended do not attend - the girls were going to have on g-strings. The other 2 nights, they had a stand-up comedian. Again, the announcement said the humor was "R" rated one night and "X" rated the other night. Needless to say, we didn't attend any of the "entertainment."

We will not sail Carnival again nor will we recommend it to anyone. The old adage you get what you pay for was certainly true in this case.

Cruise 4

Tuesday morning we woke up in port at Calica, Mexico. What a disappointment! We were anchored so we could walk off the ship, but it was obviously an industrial port, not a commercial port. Calica itself was 10 miles from the port. Again, Dan did not want to leave the ship and I was in complete agreement. We did leave the ship long enough to take pictures of the ship. As people came back to the ship from going ashore, we knew we had made the right decision. No one had anything good to say about Calica - "dusty, dirty, sleazy" were some of the adjectives used to describe the town. One tour that sounded interesting was a tour of the Mayan ruins. However, people who took this tour said it was 65 miles over Mexican roads each way.

I am so glad we didn't leave the ship. We spent the day walking around the ship, taking pictures of the beautiful, crystal clear aqua water and enjoying the quietness on board. We cast off at 6:00 PM and started heading northeast toward Tampa. The seas were the roughest they had been the entire cruise. It was absolutely impossible to walk a straight line. I felt like a pinball ball - stagger to one side bounce off, stagger to the other side - we were laughing so hard. People were saying they were staggering like drunks but drunks were the only ones who could walk a straight line!

We would be at sea the whole next day. Again, classes would be held from 8:00 - 3:30. Our first class we made cute little gifts that could be used for teachers or someone else you wanted to remember. The second class (which I skipped again) was a holiday organizer. The third class was another album which I finished but I really don't care for it. The last class we made a hostess tray that incorporates an mini album. I finished that after we got home.

In the evening, we had our group farewell party. I had thoroughly enjoyed being with 50 other scrapbookers and I've learned new techniques. Whether I ever use them again is a good question.

I will summarize the cruise in my next entry.

Cruise 3

Monday morning, when we woke up, we were anchored in the bay at Grand Cayman. Since we would need to take a tender from the ship to shore, we opted not to leave the ship. We were also only going to be in port at Grand Cayman for 6 hours. With that short a time frame, we didn't want to risk going ashore and missing the ship. We spent the time walking around the ship and I was able to get quite a bit of studying done.

Monday night and Tuesday night (port days), there were Christmas card classes scheduled. I had never gotten "into" cardmaking and was very interested to learn about cardmaking and get some ideas. We were going to be making 35 cards - 5 each of 7 different styles. They turned out great and I will probably use some of them this year (I had already purchased Christmas cards before we left on the cruise). Julie (our fearless leader/head instructor) also had a make and take page layout for us. Each night, we would complete another section of the layout.

Tuesday morning, when we woke up we were docked at Calica, Mexico. More on this port in the next section.

Cruise 2

Sunday morning I woke up about 7:00 AM (with the help of an alarm clock) and headed to class which started at 8:00. Dan and I figured we would eat after my first class. Classes were scheduled back to back from 8:00 AM to 3:30 PM with an hour for lunch and a 15 minute break between classes. However, our "head instructor" let us know up front that she knew there were other things to do on board and she would not be offended at all if we skipped some of the classes. I wound up skipping the second class both days (it ran from 9:45 - 11:15) so I could have breakfast with Dan. Sunday, our first class was making a darling gingerbread recipe book (see pictures). The second class was making a clock (this was the one I skipped). I did pick up the supplies and hopefully will be starting to make it soon. The third class was making a "Thankful" photo album. I didn't care for this project at all and in fact, still haven't finished it. The last class of the day was making a Christmas page layout (which again I haven't finished or in fact, even started!). Again, I skipped this class to spend time with Dan topside to watch the water go by (we spent all of Sunday traversing the Gulf of Mexico and cruising into the Caribbean Sea). I also spent time studying for Bible study since we were going to disembark at 7:30 Thursday morning and Bible study starts at 9:30. I had arranged for someone else to lead Bible study, but I wanted to be there since it was our last session in this course ("Jesus the One and Only").

The rest of Sunday, we spent topside enjoying cruising and exploring the ship. We went to bed and were rocked to sleep by the motion of the ship plowing through 8-12 foot seas. We were very thankful that neither one of us gets seasick.

The Cruise 1

Okay - we got to the Port of Tampa and boarded the ship. As soon as we boarded the ship, we knew we weren't on a Disney cruise. The atrium was all done in black marble and decorated with neon tube lights in red, green and blue - very gaudy, very Las Vegas-ish (is there such a word?). Besides the black marble and neon, the first thing we saw was a bar in the middle of the atrium. You can't avoid seeing it. Apparently that is the way they wanted it because there was a line waiting to be served. We made our way down to our stateroom which was very nice. The ship had just come out of dry dock and all of the staterooms had been refurbished. After we unpacked some, we headed up to the restaurant deck (Lido) to see if we could find something to eat. When we got there, it was another reminder we weren't on a Disney cruise. Most of the tables had dirty dishes sitting on them and the floors looked like people had taken plates and dumped them upside down on the floor - not an auspicious beginning at all. We managed to find a clean table and sat down and ate. The food was okay - definitely nothing to write home about. After the requisite muster drill, it was time to cast off so we went topside to watch. We thoroughly enjoyed sailing out through Tampa Bay. We never realized what a busy port Tampa was. We thought we might reach the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in about an hour, but it actually took us 2-1/2 hours to sail under the bridge and get out into the Gulf. By now, we were hungry again so we went and found something to eat. During the cruise, we ate mostly at The Brasserie which offers buffet service for all three meals.

After eating, we had a check-in meeting with the scrapbooking group we were traveling with. We found out that there were about 60 in our group. Julie (our leader) divided us into 4 groups for classes. Most of the women traveling were traveling with girlfriends. Only a few had their husbands along. After the meeting, we went topside to watch the water go by (one of our favorite parts of cruising!) and then headed to bed as I had class at 8:00 AM the next morning.

Catching Up

It seems like forever since I've blogged and it has been - 16 days to be precise! Monday, the 5th, we took Aunti Vi to the doctor. He was thrilled with her condition. He said he wasn't going to do anything - she was doing just fine! Just keep doing whatever she's doing. The only medication she's on is a heart medication that costs $5 a month. Her prior doctor (up in Chiefland) was prescribing one medication on top of another - Aunti Vi would complain about a side effect from the medication she was on and her doctor would prescribe something else to counter the side effect. When we moved down here her medications were costing over $600 a month!

Monday evening, I had a nominating team meeting at church. It was a long meeting and I got home about 10:15.

Tuesday, the 6th, we finished up the Gulf Coast Holiday Shop Hop. We had already done 7 of the scrapbook stores that were within a 75 mile radius of Bradenton last week. We still had the 6 stores down in Fort Myers and Cape Coral to finish, which we did getting home about 6:00.

Wednesday, the 7th, was our normal - shopping with Aunti Vi in the afternoon and choir in the evening. Thursday, again was normal - Bible study morning and evening.

Friday was quiet during the day, just normal stuff. Friday night we went to hear The Raleigh Ringers - a handbell group from Raleigh, NC. The concert was phenomenal! Eric and Sarah went with us. After the concert, we went to Sam Seltzer's Steakhouse one of our favorite restaurants.

Saturday morning we got up and headed to the Port of Tampa. We got there about 12:45and checked in and boarded the ship.

I'll close this post for now and get to the cruise in the next post.

Weekly Update

I can tell our schedule has been quiet. I've had nothing to write about for a week!! Last Saturday we drove over to Sanford to visit Rick and Csilla and watch Taylor ride in her first equestrian competition Sunday morning. In her dressage outfit, she looked so grown-up. She was entered in 2 events - walking around the ring and then a "trail ride." In the first event, she went around the show ring and showed proper riding posture and control of her horse "Little Bit." In the second event, she had to lean down, unhook the corral gate, walk her horse over logs, get mail out of a mailbox, put it back in the mailbox and then walk over a wooden "bridge" to finish. Taylor was entered in the special needs class as she still has "side walkers" and also someone holding a lead rope in case "Little Bit" decides to do something unexpected. Taylor placed 4th in the first event and received an honorable mention in the second event. It was definitely fun and watching Taylor interact with "Little Bit" was wonderful! It also gave Taylor a taste of equestrian competition. I also wanted to include a picture of Ashley since she is growing up much too fast!

Monday and Tuesday were quiet days. Just normal stuff - laundry, errands, etc. Wednesday was also our normal schedule (shopping, choir) as was Thursday (Bible study morning and evening). Friday, we drove about 150 miles participating in the first annual Gulfcoast Holiday Shop Hop(gulfcoastholidayshophop.com). 13 scrapbook stores from Bradenton south to Naples are participating. It's fun seeing how different independent scrapbook stores can be.

Saturday Rick and Csilla and the girls came over. Rick wanted to go to a seashell shop near us to pick out some seashells. He is planning on combining them with his woodturning and making Christmas ornaments and nightlights. He does beautiful work and I can't wait to see what creations he comes up with. This weekend was also probably the last time they would be in the pool until spring as the air temps are getting too cool to swim. The pool is still 88 degrees but the air chills you as soon as you get out (the air is about 75 degrees). They left today about 1:30.

Tomorrow we're taking Aunti Vi to the doctor for her 6 month check-up. Tuesday we're going to visit the last 6 scrapbook stores in the Shop Hop as it is the only day we have free this week. Wednesday again is our normal, Thursday is normal and then Friday we'll be packing for the cruise and going to the Raleigh Ringers concert (www.rr.org) in Sarasota. Saturday we sail away for a week.

Well, that brings everything up to date. I'm sure I'll have a lot to write about when we get back from the cruise. I will be keeping a journal while we're gone.

Blissfully Normal

This week has been blissfully normal. Monday we went and got new cell phones. Same numbers, just new phones. I'm not sure I like the new ones as well as our old ones, but the batteries (on our old ones) were developing memories and we could get new phones for less than replacement batteries cost. Monday is also laundry day.

Tuesday, we ran a couple errands and I studied for Bible study Thursday. Wednesday, we went shopping for Aunti Vi. She was just too tired to go out. Of course Wednesday night was choir. Thursday was Bible study morning and evening. Like I said this week has been blissfully normal.

Today we worked out in the yard. I managed to get the palms trimmed and the north garden partly weeded. Dan got the front and back yards mown. Normally he does one one day and the other the next day. But it was cool enough today to do both. We also trimmed the fountain grass in the north garden. After I finished, I sat down on the edge of the pool and put my feet in. However, I was so warm I did something I've done only once before since we moved to Florida - I went swimming with my clothes on! I was just too warm to go into the house and change into a swimsuit! The pool is still 85 degrees so it was refreshing.

Tomorrow we're going to a Bon Voyage party at the scrapbook shop that's sponsoring the cruise we're going on. After that, we're heading over to Sanford for the weekend. Taylor is riding in a horse show Sunday and so we're going over to watch. This is the closing event for this session of horseback riding. We'll be back home Sunday evening.

I'll close for now. I just made a cream cheese pecan pie and I need to get it out of the oven.

This week

Nothing much has happened this week. Tuesday morning I woke up and felt "stingy." When I looked in the mirror, I found I had gotten sunburned working outside on Monday! Nothing major, just annoying. We were going to do some more work outside, but overnight the heat and humidity returned so all of our yard projects are on hold until another break in the weather occurs. The air conditioner serviceman came out in the afternoon to do the semi-annual inspection of the air handlers (main unit and the auxiliary on the lanai). Both were in good shape. We had a new unit installed for the lanai in June, but we know in the next 2 years the big unit (which handles the whole house) will probably need to be replaced.

Wednesday we took Aunti Vi shopping in the afternoon and choir in the evening. Thursday was Bible study morning and evening and a dentist appointment in the afternoon. Both Dan and I got good reports from the dentist.

Friday, we went over to Disney's Magic Kingdom. We hadn't been to the Magic Kingdom for quite a while. We've been to the MGM park (now Disney Studio park), the Animal Kingdom and EPCOT multiple times but we hadn't been to the Magic Kingdom. We got there about 5:00 and rode the Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion which has recently undergone a refurbishment. We also had some orange and vanilla ice cream at the Sunshine Terrace which is near the Enchanted Tiki Birds. We left about 7:30. The park was very crowded and the heat and humidity oppressive. We were happy to get home where there is always a breeze and generally 5-10 degrees cooler. The park was open until midnight but we had done what we went over to do. On the way home we stopped at Giordano's to eat. We found out there is a Giordano's about 40 miles from us. Prior to this we thought the closest one was over by Disney. So we stopped at this new one on the way home and had delicious Italian beef sandwiches. We got home about 10:30.

Today we went up to Scrapbooking in Paradise, a scrapbook shop about 25 miles from here. They were having a stamp fest and I wanted to learn more about stamping. We were there about 2 hours and I got all of my questions answered. I also made a cute Halloween page as a make 'n' take.

Well, I must go and study for Bible study.

Enjoying the slower pace

Since last weekend, life has returned to a normal, manageable pace. Last Friday, we went to several scrapbook stores and saved enough to make the 100 mile round trip worthwhile. I found some neat soccer paper and a Quickutz die to make soccer uniforms to embellish the page and also a die for a soccer ball. Now I just have to decide which pics to scrap!!!!

Friday night, we went out to dinner at Lone Star Steakhouse and saw the movie "The Game Plan" starring Dwayne Johnson. The movie is adorable and we'll definitely be adding it to our video library when it comes out on DVD.

Saturday, Eric and Sarah and Connie and Jesse came over for dinner and fellowship. We had a major mishap with dinner. I was taking the ziti bake out of the oven and it slipped and went on the floor. Thank heavens, it landed right side up and the lasagna baking dish that I was baking it in didn't break. About a cup of the pasta spilled out on the floor, but there was definitely more than enough left! Sarah brought a Caesar salad and Connie brought lemon layer cake for dessert. All in all a very satisfying meal. After dinner, Sarah, Connie and I sat at the kitchen table scrapped and watched the NASCAR race along with Dan, Eric and Jesse. Everyone left about 10:30.

Sunday was a quiet day at home. We didn't go to church and in fact, didn't even leave the house until 6:00 PM when we headed to the beach for a walk and sunset.

Today, we worked outside the better part of the day. The weather has finally broken so it's not as warm nor as humid. Dan mowed the front lawn, trimmed the plumbagos and corner bushes as well as trimmed the laurel oak tree out front. I painted the trim around the patio french doors and washed all of the patio furniture. I still need to weed and remulch the north garden bed and weed and remulch the east flower bed. We also took breaks from working and spent time in the pool. It has been a very productive day.

Well, I best close and start thinking about dinner.

Not as busy

This has been a lovely week. After the last 2 weeks, a relatively quiet schedule is welcome! Yesterday, we took Aunti Vi out to lunch to celebrate her birthday since we wouldn't have time today due to Bible study morning and evening. We went a restaurant that's right on the gulf. Nothing fancy, but the food is good. We could sit and watch people walking along the beach, pelicans diving for their food and the ever present variety of sea gulls. There were also a number of boats that went by while we were eating. Aunti Vi really enjoyed herself. She didn't need too many groceries so we stopped and picked them up on the way back to her apartment. We stayed and visited with her a short time and then headed home. We had a couple of hours and then it was time to head for choir. We had a good rehearsal. As we were leaving Eric asked if we were up for ice cream at Coldstone Creamery. We said sure, so we stopped for ice cream on the way home.

This morning's Bible study was wonderful. The ladies had lots of discussion about the homework. Bible study started at 9:30 and finished at 12:30!!! The morning group is much more talkative than the evening group. I think it's because the evening group is mostly made up of ladies who come to Bible study directly from work. They're tired and some of them even bring dinner with them and eat there. I made the "executive" decision to not have any discussion tonight and show last week's DVD session and this week's DVD session. It was 2 hours of DVD teaching with a short break in between. However, the ladies really appreciated seeing the session they missed due to the tape jamming last week.

Tomorrow, several of the scrapbook shops are having sales (25-30% off everything in the stores). I am working on getting all of our trips north since we moved down here scrapped. I also have pictures from the soccer games that J&D played in the day before their dad died. I don't have any soccer paper or embellishments so that's one of the things I'm going to look for tomorrow. The sales are running until Monday, but tomorrow is the only block of time I have to take advantage of the sales. I found a really neat album at Michael's for the trips and other grandson pictures. It's blue denim and very boyish. I had a coupon from Simple Scrapbooking for 20% off the total of any regular priced merchandise. Everything I bought was regular price so I saved over $10!! With 2 trips every year except for this year, I have quite a few pics to scrap. I did finish the first trip in November 2003 last Friday at the crop night at church.

Saturday, Connie and Jesse and Sarah and Eric are coming over for dinner. We'll probably spend some time in the pool before dinner, then eat and watch the NASCAR race. We may get some scrapbooking done too!

Sunday is our normal schedule. We may go to an organ concert at the First Methodist church in the afternoon (if we're awake from our Sunday afternoon naps!).

I'll close for now - this post is long enough!

Catching Up Continued

Okay - let's see I finished Wednesday. Thursday was Bible study. All went well in the morning session until the VHS tape decided not to run with about 10 minutes left. We had gotten the main points of Beth's lesson so we called it a morning. I asked the ladies to pray for the evening session that the tape would not jam again. I fast forwarded and rewound the tape multiple times and it seemed to be okay. We headed home. We came back for the evening session. Because a number of ladies were not able to make it, we decided just to play the tape and skip the discussion of the homework. We started the tape and about 10 minutes into the tape, it wound itself around the player heads and jammed tight. It wouldn't go forward or rewind. I tried to eject it and it wouldn't eject! ARGHHH!! Dan managed to get the tape out of the player but the tape broke in the process. So, Bible study was considerably shortened (1 hour instead of 2-1/2). The tape breaking wouldn't be an issue except there is another group doing the same study starting October 10th. What we decided to do was to purchase another copy of the study - it is now out on DVD (YEAH!!).

Friday morning we drove up to Brandon and purchased the new set. Right after we got home, it was time to head to the senior center and scrapbook class. The ladies are really inquisitive and ask good questions. They are busy organizing their heritage photos and deciding on layouts. The evening crop party is disappointing. I don't know if it's fall activities or lack of interest. The last 2 months no one has shown up so I am going to put a notice in the bulletin that the crop night has been cancelled. With the holidays coming up, I don't see attendance increasing or coming back. I may try again in the spring, but we'll see.

Saturday Rick and Csilla and their girls and David and Kyndall and Hayley arrived about 2:00. As soon as they got here, they changed and headed for the pool. We swam (played) for a little while and then got out, changed and ate dinner. Aunti Vi was also here. After dinner we headed for the beach for sunset. It was a beautiful sunset and the girls enjoyed playing in the sand and water while the adults watched the sunset. After sunset, we headed for Sweetberries, a delicious frozen custard place.

Sunday was church. David and Kyndall (and Hayley) joined us at second service. We came home and grilled Italian sausage and then headed for the beach. We stayed at the beach until the afternoon thunderstorms chased us home about 4:00. After showers and cake and ice cream, they all headed back over to Sanford. It was a fun weekend but exhausting!

Yesterday was our first totally free day in over 2 weeks. We did not leave the house! I caught up on laundry and dishes and also did some studying. Today is another quiet day. We have a few errands to run but otherwise a quiet day.

I think that pretty well catches everything up.

Catching Up

Well, I finally have time to breathe. Let's see where to start. Last Thursday was Bible study. We had good sessions both morning and evening. Friday we left for Tennessee about 1:00PM. We planned to only go as far as Macon on Friday and then the rest of the way on Saturday. It really helped to split the drive up - 400 miles on Friday and then 300 on Saturday. We got to the hotel about 8:30 and had a good night's sleep. Saturday we finished the drive and arrived at Mom and Dad's about 1:30 PM Tennessee time (CDT). Mom planned to start dinner about 3:00, but about 2:30 PM the electricity went off and didn't come back on until about 5:00 -too late to make what Mom had planned. So we went to downtown Crossville and ate at a new restaurant - Dickie's Bar-B-Que. It was delicious. By the time we got home it was about 7:30. We talked about going to church the next morning, but Mom and Dad didn't want to since there is a bug going around and Mom was afraid of catching something.

Sunday morning when we woke up, we went out to the family room where Dad was sitting and sang "Happy Birthday" to Dad. His smile was so wide it could have lit up New York City. I can honestly say I have never seen my Dad with that big a smile! Mom said "oh, I forgot it's your birthday" and she was dead serious! We didn't do anything special, but we did go to the Country Club for lunch. It is always nice there and the food was really good. After lunch, we headed home and just "hung out" until it was time to leave.

We left Mom and Dad's about 6:30 PM to head back down to Macon. We got to the hotel about 11:30 and headed for bed. We wanted to get a good night's sleep as we had a long day ahead of us. We also wanted to stop at Warner Robins Air Force Base where they have an aviation museum. We weren't planning on spending too much time there since if it was a decent museum (it was - more on that later), we would be making a return trip and if it wasn't - nothing ventured, nothing gained - it was definitely on the route home.

The museum itself was phenomenal - it had lots of planes and very well done displays. They currently are building a WWII hangar with plans to have a major WWII exhibit. Many of the planes were in the museum's 3 buildings (2 of them huge hangars) but many more were on display outside. The museum covers 51 acres and is definitely worth a return visit. We got home Monday evening about 7:30 and unloaded the car and crashed - we were exhausted!

Tuesday, I spent the day studying for Bible study on Thursday. I knew with Leonard coming in that afternoon, I would have no prep time at all Tuesday evening or Wednesday and of course I had to be ready to go at 9:30 Thursday morning. Leonard arrived about 5:00 and we immediately left for dinner. Leonard wanted to go to Carrabas' and they don't rush through dinner. In fact we didn't finish and get home until 8:30. We sat and visited for a short time and then headed for bed.

Wednesday morning we got up and worked on catching up on stuff that I hadn't had time to do (like laundry!). Of course Wednesday is our normal shopping day with Aunti Vi, so I called her to make sure she wanted to go out. Leonard planned for all of us to go to a local Amish restaurant for dinner. Since she was going out for dinner, she didn't want to go shopping - she was afraid of getting too tired. So Dan and I picked up her groceries and went down and visited with her for a short time. When we got home, Leonard was sitting on the lanai and I asked him how the business at the bank had gone (the reason for his trip this time was to gain access to his dad's safe deposit box which was where his dad's will was). He said I didn't want to know - it turns out that this was an unnecessary trip. The bank had refused him access when his dad died - said he wasn't on the signature card. However, in checking further he was on the safe deposit box contract which meant he could have had access when he came down right after his dad died. Obviously he was livid and NOT a happy camper. We went out to dinner and had a lovely dinner. Leonard took Aunti Vi home and Dan and I headed to church for choir.

Well, that catches up through Wednesday. More on the rest of the week later.

No time to breathe!

I figured I'd better write something because for the next 10 days, we are going to be busier than busy.

Tomorrow is Bible study which means leaving the house at 8:45 AM getting home about 1:00 and then leaving again at 5:30 PM. Friday we're heading to Tennessee to be with Grandpa and Grandma to celebrate Grandpa's birthday on Sunday. He'll be 92. We'll get back home Monday night. Tuesday, my cousin Leonard is coming down to hopefully settle his dad's estate. He had to wait for a court order to allow access to Uncle Len's safe deposit box which is where his will is! Uncle Len never put Leonard on the safe deposit box signature card so the only way to get access to it was to go through the courts. Leonard will be staying with us until Thursday morning. While Leonard is busy with the attorney and courts on Wednesday, we'll be taking Aunti Vi shopping and then choir in the evening. Thursday of course is Bible study and somehow/someway I have to find time to study and prepare. I'm going to take my stuff with me and hopefully study in the car on the way up and down from Tennessee. Friday (October 5th), is my scrapbook day - teaching in the afternoon and hosting the crop party Friday night. Saturday morning Rick, Csilla and the girls will be over as well as Kyndall,David and Hayley who are arriving in Orlando Thursday. They want to come over and see our home and go to the beach. So, as Rick says, we will have 7 extra mouths to feed next weekend.

I'll try to post during the week and blog happenings, but I'm not anticipating a lot of free time.

Bible study last night --

Neat sharing at Bible study last night -

One of the ladies has trouble trying to picture things - she says she has no imagination. Beth Moore wrote a description of Christ in the study (Jesus the One and Only) and wanted us to maintain this picture throughout the study (muscular, dark skinned, dark almond eyes, etc.). She really struggled with that because of her lack of imagination, so she prayed and asked the Lord to somehow help her picture what Christ may have looked like. She promptly forgot her request, she had given it over to the Lord. Two days later, as she was walking from the out patient clinic to her office at the hospital, "something" made her turn around. She glanced around and there was a gentleman meeting the above description exactly and he was SMILING! She suddenly remembered her request and turned around to get a better look and he was gone! She couldn't see him anywhere! Talk about goose bumps! We all had them after she told us about this incident! An answer to her prayer!

Just one of the neat things happening in Bible study. Yesterday, in the morning session we had the most wonderful season of prayer! The ladies also "voted" to have the morning session go until 12:00 (morning Bible study starts at 9:30 AM). They said 11:30 just didn't give them enough time! The evening session already goes from 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM.

Also today I had a call from a lady in Sarasota. She had just finished Beth Moore's book "Get Out of the Pit." She is now hungry for Bible study so she called Living Proof in Nashville and they gave her my name and phone number. She will now be joining us in the evening study!

This afternoon we went out to the gulf to watch the waves. With the tropical depression off to our northwest, the winds are coming out of the south. The waves are breaking at 4-6 feet. They are just beautiful! The beach patrol is flying double red flags which means the water is closed to the public, but there were still many people playing in the waves. I'm glad I'm not a lifeguard!!!!

Busy week

Last week flew by and I didn't have time to post. Monday and Tuesday I spent catching up on housework and then studying for Bible study on Thursday. Wednesday we took Aunti Vi shopping and taking care of things she needed done. Thursday was Bible study morning and evening. Friday was Uncle Len's memorial service. Before the service, we all met at a restaurant on the Manatee River and had a lovely dinner. All of my cousins were here so there were 17 of us at dinner (Charlotte's husband was the only one not able to come). Rick came over from Sanford. Uncle Charlie and his lady friend Vida were here and of course Aunti Vi. Leonard and Ruth of course were here as were their 3 children (David, Cheryl and Karen - Karen's husband was also here). My dad and mom were the only ones not there, but dad is still gun shy about traveling with mom. It was fun to see everyone - the cousins hadn't been together since Thanksgiving 2004. Unfortunately, my cousin Leonard was feeling less than stellar and thought he was coming down with the flu. However, I just had an e-mail from Lenore and she says Leonard has had a 103 degree fever since he was here and the doctors are now testing him for Lyme disease. The memorial service was wonderful. We sang 3 of Uncle Len's favorite hymns and his pastor delivered a wonderful message.

Today was Rick's birthday. We drove over to Orlando so we could have dinner together. We went to Giordano's pizza and then over to Lake Buena Vista so the girls could get ice cream at Ghiardelli's. We got a table right by the lakeside so we were able to watch boats come and go on the "Sassagoula River" (a waterway created by Disney connecting Dixie Landings and The Marketplace). We had a good time playing with the girls and visiting with Rick and Csilla.

Tomorrow we'll be taking Aunti Vi shopping. There are some grocery specials she wants to take advantage of and the sale is up tomorrow - a slight change in our weekly routine. Wednesday is choir and Thursday is Bible study. So far, Friday is open, but I'm sure something will come and fill it up!

While we were over in Orlando, I went to a new scrapbook shop in Kissimmee - Mouse Memories. I had ordered from their website (www.mousememories.com), but I wanted to see their retail store. It is loaded with Disney stuff, but also has a wide variety of other scrapbook supplies including Sea World, cruise themed, Lego and much more. I will visit there again when we are over in that area!

While I think of it, we are going on a scrapbook cruise November 10-15. It should be fun. I'm looking forward to the scrapbooking and learning new techniques in classes but I'm also looking forward to our ports of call - Grand Cayman Island and Calica, Mexico. We've never been to either place. We're also looking forward to 2 entire days of sailing - no ports of call - just the great big blue ocean. It will be interesting to see how Carnival cruises compare to Disney cruises. We sail out of Tampa which is a huge plus. We won't need to drive far to get to the ship.

Well, I best close - it's approaching midnight and I am getting tired!

This weekend

This weekend was fun and rewarding! Saturday, I got an e-mail from Lenore (my cousin Leonard's daughter-in-law, wife of Uncle Len's grandson David)asking questions about people and dates for pictures she was trying to scrapbook for Uncle Len's memorial service Friday. When Uncle Len moved out of his house in 2004, my cousin Leonard had taken all of Uncle Len's old pictures intending to work with Lenore on identifying who was who and when the pics were taken. Since Leonard hadn't had time to work with her, she wrote me describing the people in the pictures and what they were wearing. By finding comparable pictures in the heritage album I had done, I was able to give her dates of pictures and what the occasions were. This just reinforces what a valuable and rewarding hobby scrapbooking is!

We didn't go to church Sunday morning since we weren't sure what time Csilla and the girls were going to be arriving. Once they got here, Taylor couldn't wait to show me her new scrapbooking case that she had gotten for her birthday! Prior to this, her scrapbooking stuff was in an old laptop computer case. Now it's all organized in a wheeled bag that so far she is able to pull. If it gets much heavier, she may have trouble balancing herself and the case. Many of her birthday gifts from her party on Saturday were also scrapbook related. We gave her a Creative Memories 12 inch straight edge cutter (Taylor was so cute - when we were packing up her stuff she asked if she was going to leave her straight edge trimmer here - I said no it was hers to take home - she said she didn't want to because Ashley might take it and get hurt! Csilla and I assured her it would be kept in the box so Ashley would have trouble getting to it). We scrapped for about 1-1/2 hours, completing the pages from her 7th birthday party last year.

One of the reasons Csilla and the girls came over here was because Taylor wanted to go to the beach. So after scrapbooking, we headed to the beach. We had a great time! The gulf water is 88 degrees and yesterday there were gentle waves. Taylor was in the water for the entire 3 hours we were there. She said "this beach is better than Daytona and New Smyrna beaches (beaches on the Atlantic side) combined!" We had been to this beach with them 3 other times, but Taylor was too young to remember. Ashley was so tired she fell asleep in my arms (I was sitting in a chair on the beach). After holding her for about 45 minutes my arm was sound asleep so I laid her down on a towel on the sand. She slept for about 1-1/2 hours. We finally managed to "drag" Taylor out of the water and headed home. After a dinner of Publix fried chicken, mac and cheese and a tossed salad, we celebrated Taylor's b'day with an ice cream cake. It was a great day! We live so close to the beach, but except for sunsets, we have only been to the beach to swim once since we moved down here!

Today is going to be a quiet day - it's cloudy and threatening to rain, so we'll probably just hang out here at home and maybe go grocery shopping. I also need to spend time studying for Thursday's Bible study.

Fall Schedule Starts

Well, I can tell it's the week after Labor Day - our fall schedule has kicked in big time! Saturday, Eric and Sarah called and asked if they could come over Labor Day for swimming and scrapbooking. We had nothing special planned so we said come on over. They got here about 3:30 and stayed until 10:00. We had a good time swimming and then got some scrapbooking done. Tuesday we relaxed and then Wednesday Aunti Vi called and said she didn't feel up to going shopping so could we pick up her groceries. So we did and then we went down and visited with her for a little while. By the time we got home, we only had an hour before we had to leave for choir. After choir, we picked up a pizza. Once home, we ate and then watched the introductory video session for "Jesus the One and Only."

Thursday morning we headed for church about 8:45 to get set up for Bible study which started at 9:30. We had 7 ladies there and 4 were absent (they told me they were going to be gone). The first session is always a little shorter since we don't have homework to discuss so we finished about 11:15. We got home and ate lunch and relaxed until it was time to head for church again at 5:45 for the evening session. We had 8 ladies in the evening session - what was so exciting is 2 of the ladies found the Bible study on Beth's website (www.lproof.org)! 3 other ladies are "non-Bethelites" who heard about the study "through the grapevine." We had a great time sharing and finished about 8:15. After a busy day, I got home and collapsed!

Today was scrapbooking day - afternoon at the senior center and then tonight at church. There are two faithful ladies at the senior center and it's fun helping them organize their photos and give them ideas for their scrapbooks. Their main objective is to get the photos in a scrapbook and labeled with who are in the pictures. One of the ladies is a retired missionary from the Ivory Coast. She wants to do 4 scrapbooks - one of her life growing up, one of her going to Africa, one of her life in Africa and then one of her retirement and return in 1999. She has many hundreds of pictures that she is organizing. The other lady is single and wants to get her heritage pictures in albums for her nephews. She is concerned because she has been given the responsibility to identify every one in the pictures and get them in a scrapbook. She's feeling frustrated and overwhelmed right now because she has so many pictures. I have tried to reassure her that she's on the right track and she can't expect to get everything done overnight. Tonight the only one who showed up at church was the retired missionary. She brought more pictures and we talked about what ones to include in what album. She left about 8:00 so it was a relatively early night.

Tomorrow nothing is planned. I'm figuring on using the day to catch up on stuff that I've let go this week. Sunday, Csilla and the girls are coming over to celebrate Taylor's birthday with us. Rick has a woodworking demonstration so he won't be coming. Csilla is planning on arriving about 11:00 which will give us a chance to go to church. As soon as they get here, Taylor wants to do some scrapbooking with me. After that Taylor wants to go to the beach. Csilla is planning on heading home about 6:00. It will be a full day but fun.

Monday and Tuesday, I'm going to need to do some heavy cramming for Bible study next week. Besides tomorrow those are the only 2 days I have this week to prep. Wednesday is shopping and choir as well as Leonard and Ruth and their daughter Karen arriving. Thursday is Bible study morning and evening. Friday is Uncle Len's memorial service. That brings us to Saturday which right now is open. I think we'll probably use it to recover from the previous 4 days!

Sad (but rejoicing) days

Uncle Len died Tuesday morning at 9:55 AM. I am sad that he's gone, but know I will see him again. He was so ready to go. For the last year or so he just wanted to go to sleep and not wake up.

Leonard and his daughter Cheryl flew down yesterday to start cleaning out Uncle Len's room at The Shores. They are mainly going through his file cabinet and shredding stuff as well as going through his clothes and deciding what can be given to Goodwill and what just needs to be thrown away. They will finish cleaning out his room when they're down here in two weeks for his memorial service. We've enjoyed spending time with Leonard and Cheryl the last two days. We've gone out to dinner together and enjoyed sharing our memories of Uncle Len.

Other than that, nothing much is going on. Wednesday night was choir. Kevin feels we are ready to start singing this Sunday. We'll see how it goes.

I've managed to get the scrapbook pages for Discovery Cove done. It is so nice to look back at the pictures and remember the good time we had.

I've started studying (prepping) for Bible study which starts next Thursday. Praise the Lord we have 20 ladies signed up - 10 in the morning session (9:30 - 12:00) and 10 in the evening session (6:30 - 9:00). Each time I've facilitated a Bible study, the numbers increase. This is the largest group so far. I think the Lord knew that if I started out with a total of 20, I would have backed out!!! He's been gradually increasing the numbers allowing me to feel comfortable in a role that is DEFINITELY outside my comfort zone. All credit and praise belongs to the Lord!!

Busy, busy days!

The last several days have been busy to say the least! Thursday evening we went out to dinner with Aunti Vi and my cousin Leonard. Uncle Len is so bad that he was not able to go with us. On top of his other problems, he fell getting from the wheelchair to the bed and needed 8 stitches in his shin. I truly hope the Lord calls him home soon as he has no quality of life whatsoever. After dinner Thursday night we stopped in to see him and he looked so confused and bewildered like he didn't even know where he was.

Friday morning we got up and hoped to catch Leonard before he left, but he was long gone. I know he was anxious to get down and spend some time with his dad before flying back north.

Friday night, Connie and Jesse and Sarah and Eric came over. We grilled hamburgers and just had some good fellowship. We were going to do some scrapbooking, but wound up just visiting which was fun too.

Saturday, Sarah and I headed up to Tampa to the Celebrate Tampa Crop sponsored by Creative Memories. We had a really good time cropping and visiting. We got there about 10:30 and left about 4:00. Sarah got a number of pages done (including one she had been struggling with on how to lay it out) and I got 8 pages done. It was fun to be with 1,000 women who share your passion for scrapbooking. Rick and Csilla and the girls were here when I got home so we had a good visit with them. They left about 2:00 today. After they left, we laid down for our Sunday afternoon nap.

So far, this week appears to be quieter, but we'll see ---

Unexpected guest

My cousin Leonard flew down to visit his dad today. He had not arranged for a room at The Shores before coming down figuring he could get one once he landed. Unfortunately, The Shores is undergoing construction (they're replacing all of the windows in the building with hurricane resistant windows) and all of the guest rooms are being used by "displaced residents" (the residents have to move out of their rooms for 2 weeks while the windows in their rooms are being replaced). He was sitting outside The Shores when we got there to pick up Aunti Vi to take her shopping. He said he would get a hotel room (there is a Holiday Inn near The Shores), but we offered our guest room which he accepted. So, we have a house guest until Friday morning when he flies back north.

It was good to be back in choir tonight. Our new minister of worship is using a different style of music than we have done in the past. It will take a some getting used to. There were 34 people out tonight which for the first rehearsal is great!

We had a really good time with Carolyn and Rog the beginning of the week. We drove over to Orlando on Monday arriving there about 2:30. We checked in (sort of - our room wasn't ready yet) and picked Rog up and went to find gas (Carolyn is here for a week long seminar and training for the Veteran's Administration). After we got gas, we headed to Disney. Rog really didn't want to pay for a day at Disney since we would only have about 2 hours before we had to be back at the hotel to pick up Carolyn so we did about the only free thing you can do at Disney - we took a monorail ride. Since parking is included with our annual passes, we parked at EPCOT and then hopped the monorail to the TTC (ticket and transportation center). We asked to sit up in the cab with the pilot since Rog had never ridden up front. Unfortunately, there was a family waiting to ride up front on the way back to EPCOT, but at least he had a chance to experience riding up front one way. He really enjoyed it - gives you a different view of the monorail.

When we got back to the hotel, we finished checking in and went to find our room. The original suite (I never asked for a suite!) they had set aside for us still wasn't ready, so the desk clerk found 2 other suites that "would do". She asked if we wanted a room with a view overlooking the pool (which was huge and had 2 waterfalls, a lazy river, and several slides) or a room with no view (there is not a bad view from any room in the hotel!). We asked what the difference was between the 2 rooms and she said the room with no view was bigger. She showed us pictures of the 2 rooms and we opted for the room with the view. We went up to the suite and walked in and about fell over. The suite was 1/2 the size of our house!!!! If that was the "smaller" room how big was the room with no view!!!! Anyway, we put our luggage in the room and headed down to meet Carolyn and Rog for dinner. We ate at Smokey Bones and then headed back to the hotel. Carolyn and Rog came up to our "room" and they had the same reaction "our room isn't this big, our room doesn't have a kitchenette, our room doesn't have a sofa, coffee table, conference center, etc." We don't know why we were given a suite, but I was going to check the bill the next day to make sure the rate was what I had reserved on the internet (it was!). We played cards ("Shove It") until about 10:00 and then Carolyn and Rog headed up to their room(we were on the 10th floor they were on the 18th).

Tuesday, we got up and met Rog for breakfast at the hotel (because our room wasn't ready when promised, we got vouchers for breakfast worth $18.00 each!). After eating we headed for Sea World and spent the day there. It was HOT!!!!! The only people who go out on a 95 degree August day in Florida are tourists! We Floridians know to stay in and go from our air-conditioned house, to our air-conditioned car to our air-conditioned restaurant/store, etc.!!! But because Rog wanted to go we did. We had a good time in spite of the heat. Several of the shows and exhibits are in air-conditioned buildings, so we were able to escape the oppressive central Florida heat. We got back to the hotel about 5:00, picked Carolyn up and headed to Giordano's for stuffed pizza. It was delicious. After eating, we headed back to the
hotel to play cards again. Since we had checked out of our room in the morning, we found a spot in the lobby where we could play. We played until about 9:00 and then said good-bye and headed back to Bradenton. We got home about 11:00.

Tomorrow, nothing much is doing. We're going to go out to dinner with Aunti Vi and Leonard. With being gone for the better part of 2 weeks, there is lots to catch up on. The yard needs tending and the house definitely needs attention!!!!

Well, I'll sign off. It's time for bed -

Trip north and other things

We had a wonderful trip north. We left Florida Thursday morning August 9th and drove through to my folks in Tennessee. We spent that night with them and then headed to Aurora to our son's house Friday morning, arriving in Aurora about 7:00 PM. We had a wonderful visit with them Friday evening and all day Saturday. James is getting so big and grown up. I can't believe he's starting 2nd grade already. Tyler is Tyler - not still for more than 30 seconds! He is in preschool 3 days a week and La says he loves it. La and I went to Archiver's scrapbook store - didn't spend a lot, but it was fun! We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and too soon it was time to head to Indiana and visit with our daughter-in-law and grandsons there. David is over 6' tall and not done growing yet! His daddy was 6'4" and his uncle is up there also so David is going to be tall! Jonathan is also getting tall. He's just a tad bit shorter than I am (5'6") and the way he was eating I wouldn't be surprised if he's coming into a growth spurt! David is now a freshman in high school (unbelievable!) and Jonathan is in 5th grade (it doesn't seem possible!). Edith and I also went to the new Archiver's in Fort Wayne. It was fun and again I didn't spend a lot, but they had some stuff I haven't seen here in Florida. Too soon our visit was over!

Tuesday morning it was time to head south. On our way down, we stopped for lunch at friends who had moved from Bradenton to Fishers. We had a good visit with them and then left to head south to Tennessee. We met my folks at the IHOP in Cookeville and had dinner there. After dinner we drove to Crossville. We visited for a while and then headed for bed. Wednesday we just hung out at the house as it was too warm to do anything else. We watched the weather and saw that Tennessee and Georgia were in the throes of a record breaking heat wave. On our way north, we knew it was warm, but we had no idea how warm (106 degrees in Atlanta). According to the weather forecast the heat wave was going to continue so we made the decision to drive overnight (Wednesday into Thursday) to make it easier on the car and also us. However, we didn't know how we would fare since it has been a VERY long time since we had driven overnight (like 30+ years). However, the trip absolutely flew by. The temps were in the 70's and there was NO traffic. Each rest area we passed had many, many semis parked and also every truck stop was maxed out with semis. We can't imagine how many trucks would have been on the road if we had driven during the day. We got home about 6:30 AM and headed for bed. We didn't even unpack the car!

Since we got home, we've taken it easy catching up on sleep, mail, laundry, etc. It was great to go north and see everyone, but it was also wonderful to get home and get back to normal.

Uncle Len is back in his room at The Shores. They bought him a hospital bed - he is still not walking. We haven't seen him or Aunti Vi yet. We'll probably not get down there until our normal visit on Wednesday. Tomorrow is church and then Monday and Tuesday we're heading to Disney and Sea World with friends from the upper penninsula of Michigan who are down for the week. Wednesday we'll take Aunti Vi shopping and then choir starts Wednesday night (we've been off since May). Saturday Sarah and I are going to an all day crop party at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa. We went last year and had a really good time. Rick and Csilla are coming over next weekend. We haven't seen them since the end of June so it will be fun.

This is a long post, but I think it brings us up to the current time.

Nothing Much Happening

It's been 2 weeks since I last wrote anything. The reason - life has been blissfully calm and quiet. Our Daniel Bible study finished last Thursday and now I'm preparing for the fall Bible study "Jesus the One and Only." It is a terrific study on the life of Christ. We'll start September 6th and finish November 16th. We're going to offer both morning and evening sessions (9:30 AM - 11:30 AM and 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM). We're praying for the Lord to put just who He wants in the study. The bulletin announcement is going in this weekend and will be run all month.

In the last 3 days, we've had about 6 inches of most welcome rain. A tropical low was just off the Tampa coast and kept sending heavy rainbands over us. We had to drain the pool for the first time in about 18 months. It has been so dry down here so the rain was most welcome.

Aunti Vi had a doctor's appointment last Friday. The doctor was very pleased with her condition and didn't put her on any other medications. After her last visit the doctor wrote "the less we do for this patient, the better she does!" We took her shopping on Wednesday and she "wilted" about 1/2 way down the first aisle. We had run several other errands before shopping and she does get tired easily. However, for an almost 97 year old, she's doing great!

Uncle Len is not doing well at all. We stopped by to see him and I talked to the physical therapist. He said Uncle Len will stand between the parallel bars but will not take any steps at all. He said he has pretty much plateaued and they don't think they can take him any further. I don't think he'll ever get back to his room in assisted living, but we'll see. He still has private care, and they may let him back based on that. He is also receiving oxygen 24/7.

Tomorrow I begin "teaching" scrapbook classes at the senior center. I haven't heard how many have signed up so we'll go and play it by ear. Tomorrow night is the monthly crop party at church. It's always fun to get together and see others have gotten done since our last crop.

That brings us up to date. Next week we're heading north, so I don't know when I'll be posting again.

It's Been Awhile

I haven't posted for awhile since nothing much was going on other than what I had written about previously. Monday and Tuesday were quiet - just getting work done around the house. Dan started painting the west side of the house. When they put the french doors in (before we moved in), they had done a very poor/nonexistent patch of the spraycrete finish. We patched it shortly after we moved in, but hadn't painted it to match the rest of the house. So now that's done - one more thing off the "to do" list. Dan is also in the process of removing the trunk from the laurel oak tree that we took out last year. He's been waiting for the wood to dry out and we're finding out that laurel oak doesn't dry out. We are still working on finishing the patio. We can't do a whole lot at any one time because of the heat and humidity. But we aren't complaining - you just learn not to try and do too much at any one time.

Wednesday, Aunti Vi just wanted to go visit Uncle Len (he's now in the rehab center) so we picked up her groceries and then went down to take her over to visit her brother. He was asleep when we got there and we tried to wake him up, but he wouldn't even acknowledge that we were there. She didn't want to leave, she said maybe he'll wake up so we went over to the assisted living facility and picked up his mail. We then went back and picked up Aunti Vi (Uncle Len was still asleep). Uncle Len just wants to die - he has no will to live whatsoever. He also is refusing to put any weight on the left leg. He hasn't walked since he broke that hip. They have him in PT but he is not cooperating with the therapists at all. Overall, the situation is a real downer.

Thursday, we had Bible study. We finish next week. I was thrilled to see Linda back - she had been in the Bible study this winter and was intending on taking the Daniel study again, but the Lord had other plans for her. She had had uterine cancer 5 years ago and had gone in for her 5 year checkup expecting to "receive a gold star" her way of saying a clean bill of health. The report she got was anything but. The cancer had reoccurred with a vengeance. So instead of taking the Bible study, she wound up going through chemo and radiation. We had been praying for her and our prayers have been answered - she is through with the treatments and so far so good. She'll know more next month. But it was SO wonderful to see her again!!
The people in the Bible study are so precious and they are looking forward to the next one.

Tonight Connie and Jesse came over. We spent about an hour in the pool and then had hamburgers and salad for dinner. After dinner we (Connie and I) scrapped and Jesse worked on his Sunday School lesson for Sunday. He's teaching the senior adults.

Tomorrow is our monthly Sunday School class breakfast. We're meeting at a restaurant near McKechnie Field (spring training home of the Pittsburgh Pirates). I don't know how many will be there, but it's always a fun time.

After breakfast, we're going to go up to St. Pete to a scrapbook store to pick up some odds and ends. I am really enjoying scrapbooking - it's relaxing and definitely provides an outlet for creativity.

Sunday of course is church and then another week begins.

Busy Days

Yesterday was a busy day. We spent the day outside working on the yard - weeding, getting the new patio set up and other miscellaneous yard chores. It was very warm, but when we got too warm, we headed for the pool and cooled down. There is still much to do. One thing about living in Florida, there is no "down season" for yard work. The lawn needs to be mown 12 months a year and the weeding needs to be done 12 months a year. But the benefit is we don't have to shovel snow!!!

Friday night Uncle Len fell and broke his hip. He had surgery Sunday morning - they put 2 pins in his hip. Leonard flew down yesterday to be with his dad. He'll be here until Wednesday morning. He came over tonight for dinner. We had a good visit.

Eric and Sarah were over last night for a visit and to scrapbook. They're leaving Thursday morning for Estonia on a short term mission trip for 2 weeks. On the way home, they're going to stop in France to visit with Eric's sister and brother-in-law who are missionaries in the Muslim community in Grenoble. We'll be picking them up at the airport when they get home.

Tomorrow is our weekly visit with Aunti Vi. We'll take her grocery shopping. Leonard said she's also planning on us taking her to the hospital to visit Uncle Len.

Thursday night is Bible study. We have three more weeks and then we'll take a break until September. The Thursday after Labor Day we'll be starting Beth Moore's "Jesus the One and Only" - a great study on the life of Christ.

Friday Connie and Jesse are coming over for dinner and scrapbooking. They haven't been over for about three weeks, so it will be a good visit. I'm still working on the pages from our Discovery Cove trip last October, but I am getting close to finishing. Yesterday I also got a call from the senior center confirming the date and time I will be there to "teach" scrapbooking. The first Friday of the month will be busy as I'll be going to the senior center in the afternoon for scrapbooking "class" and then going to Bethel in the evening for the crop.

It's getting late, so I'm going to sign off.

Time Flies

Time flies by - it doesn't seem possible that it's been 5 days since I last posted. Friday night Sarah and Eric came over for an evening of fellowship. We had grilled Italian sausage sandwiches for dinner. They were really good! We then settled in for an evening of scrapbooking. Sarah was working on laying out her Discovery Cove pictures and I worked on cropping mine. They left about midnight.

Saturday Rick, Csilla and the girls got here about 1:00. The girls wanted to go in the pool right away, so lunch was on hold. They swam and played until about 2:00 and then declared "we're hungry!" We grilled hot dogs and ate outside on the patio. After lunch, we came in the house and the girls played until about 4:30 when they decided they wanted to go back in the pool again where they played until about 7:00. We grilled Italian sausages again for dinner and enjoyed them just as much as we had Friday night. We had cake and ice cream for dessert. We were celebrating Rick and Csilla's anniversary, Csilla's birthday, Ashley's birthday and our anniversary.

Sunday we got up about 8:30 and since Rick and Csilla planned on leaving about 10:00, we skipped church and Sunday school. Rick, Csilla and the girls spent about an hour in the pool and then came in to a breakfast of Swedish pancakes. They left about 10:30. I cleaned the kitchen up, washed the sheets and towels from the weekend and then collapsed for a Sunday afternoon nap.

Monday, we went up to Palm Harbor to an awesome scrapbook store which is having a sale - 40% off everything! They also added the incentive of 50% off the most expensive item that you buy.

Today was a busy, but rewarding day. It started this morning with the scrapbook demonstration at the senior center. Sarah joined me there and it was wonderful to have her there. Because of her being there, we were able to answer twice as many questions. We had lots of good questions and wonderful reactions to my heritage album as well as our other albums we had brought along. Almost everyone who was there (over 60 people)said they had boxes of unidentified pictures. I stressed to them the importance of writing on the back of the pictures (in pencil) who, what, where, why and when of the pictures. I told them of the difficulty we had in identifying the pictures of Dan's family since everyone who could identify people in the pictures was gone. The activities director of the senior center said she had put the announcement about the crop night at church Friday night in their bulletin. If there is enough interest, we'll hold a crop the same day as the crop at church (the first Friday of the month). I can do the senior center in the afternoon and church at night. The senior center is indirectly affiliated with Bethel and is only 1/4 mile away.

After our time with the seniors, we headed out for haircuts and then headed to St. Pete to another scrapbook store. Quickutz had released their newest product today and I wanted to see it demonstrated. I picked up a few items and then we headed home.

Tomorrow is the 4th. We have nothing special planned - just a quiet day for a change - we had our celebration on the weekend. Thursday, we'll take Aunti Vi shopping. We don't have Bible study this week since so many are going to be gone. I was willing to have Bible study, but the group wanted to postpone and end a week later (July 26th).

Friday night is the monthly crop night at church. Since we don't have a sign-up sheet, I don't know how many will be there. But I will enjoy the evening no matter what!

Saturday is our anniversary - if the weather is okay, we're going to rent a boat and spend the day boating on the Manatee River. If the weather is dicey, we have several back-up ideas (going to the sponge docks in Tarpon Springs, going snorkeling at Egmont Key).

It's almost midnight, so I will close for now.