Over 60

VALENTINES SCHMALENTINES

2012-02-14T20:37:00.000-05:00

I feel like the Grinch at Christmas. I HATE Valentines Day. Almost as much as I HATE Mothers Day. Stupid days are just a money making gimmick for card stores and flower shops. I much prefer to ignore these days but when everyone around you is all smiley and happy it is tough to pretend it is just another day.
I have been dealing with a husband who has had his "cranky pants" on for the past 2 days so that has not helped the mood. In fact if Cupid had flown over our house today I would have hit him with a broom. But like the day or not H came through with a box of chocolates and a cute card. Usually he buys Mushy cards for me. Ones that express his undying love and tell me that even though he doesn't wear his heart on his sleeve he does indeed love me. Today's card was funny and light and just signed GER. No "LOVE" GER, just Ger. I guess he doesn't feel much like being all lovey dovey and mushy either.
At least we're on the same page for a change.

NEVER SHOP WITH YOUR HUSBAND

2012-02-13T14:10:00.000-05:00

I just had THE MOST frustrating shopping experience EVER! Husband has been accompanying me EVERY WHERE these days and I will admit that is because I have invited him. STUPID STUPID ME!

I have been going to the chiropractor twice a week this past month, taking advantage of the insurance company paying because of the accident back in October. The coverage stops as of this week and that will be fine with me but since I have had FREE (I know, we are all paying for it) adjustments I have been taking advantage of the twice a week visits to keep my back flexible. H likes to come with me and sit in the car for the half hour it takes to crack my bones and then we go for breakfast at Hobos. A great little local place just down the block from the chiropractor's office with great food and very reasonable prices. Basically H and I sit and watch the other customers and waitresses because we have nothing to talk about other than what H has seen on the TV news this morning or read in the paper while waiting for me. (Because H is with me 24/7 there isn't a hell of a lot that we have to talk about.)
Today, after breakfast, I had told H I wanted to go to the Mall to get some new sneakers. I did hope he might say he would stay home but I know better to think I can get out of his sight for more than 20 minutes. My old Wallmart sneakers had seen their $19.99 days worth of wear and were slowly falling apart. The sole on the one sneaker was falling off and I sounded and looked like a duck when ever I walked, what with the flapping sole. (I already waddle on my own so this really gave me a true duck look. On a good day I might even give off a quack or two.)

We arrived at Sears where I had a few hundred "REWARD POINTS" that were about to expire.
Would someone please explain these STUPID reward points to me! You get points to spend money. Then you can redeem points to save money. Except I have to spend a gazillion dollars to get one point and I have to save up a gazillion points to save a dollar. Makes no sense to me!
Anyway . . . there we were in Sears and guess what? EVERYTHING WAS ON SALE! I mean, ON SALE! 70% off, 80% off, prices were SLASHED! Despite the fact that the "normal" prices are so over the top expensive I realize I am really NOT saving that much. But all those "$ OFF" signs just trigger my shopping adrenalin and I want to SHOP! NO CAN DO when I am there with H. I did find good sneakers, ON SALE, and I was allowed to go into the baby department to find jammies with feet for Finley. (Keri told us yesterday that Finn needed these so H was OK to shop for them.) Once I started drifting into the little girl department H started to hyperventilate. When I was inching my way to the woman's department I thought he was going to have an all out fit. He was literally shaking and breaking out into a sweat. He kept walking toward the check out while calling my name. I GOT THE HINT!
ALL those things on sale . . . and I didn't shop. I am in withdrawal and planning how to sneak out of the house to ride back over to Sears. Do I NEED anything in the way of clothes? NO! Of course not but it is the idea of the hunt. Do big game hunters need a Lion's head on their living room wall . . . HELL NO! But it is all about the challenge. So the sales at Sears will go on without me. I have no more points to spend any way and I sure don't need to collect any more stupid points that usually expire before I go shopping again.
But I have to say, I am jealous of my SINGLE sister-in-law, Ann Marie who lives about a mile from her mall and is there EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK. She NEVER misses a sale!

GEOGRAPHY LESSON

2012-02-12T17:39:00.000-05:00

My knowledge of Africa is non existent. I know it is on the other side of the Atlantic and it has a LOT of countries on/in it. There are very poor countries in which you hear horrible things are happening. There is South Africa that I know has Dutch history but much beyond that, I KNOW NOTHING! Knowing that I know nothing I would never want to be on Jeopardy. (Not to mention that I don't know much about all sorts of things.) Africa is one of those places that I have lumped in with China, Japan and basically the entire middle East that I NEVER want to visit. So why am I writing a blog about a place I don't care about, (I care deeply about the starving children and the genocide that plagues this continent but I do nothing about it.) or even know anything about?

Abby and Roman are in Africa! We can narrow it down to Marrakesh, Morocco. I had no idea where Marrakesh was before the kids went there on vacation. But thanks to Google I now know that it Morocco is a country in north west Africa. Marrakesh is a city in the country of Morocco. Beyond that . . . I know nothing !
Why would someone want to go there? Why Not ! If you are living in England and have a weeks vacation then go go go. I wonder if Abby and Roman understand the amazing opportunities they have living in England and traveling all over the world on their vacations? Probably not now but some day I know they will look back in amazement. And Ger and I thought we were doing such wonderful traveling with our children when they were young. Ten years of traveling across the United States in a pop up camper just can't compare with the experiences of Abby and Roman. But then, when you think about it, just the idea of traveling outside your city or state is an experience so many kids will never have.

TAKE LOTS OF PICTURES! And don't forget to ride a camel while you're there. Don't bring home any figs or dates even though I bet they are wonderful. The UK won't let you back in with food.
The more I think about it, I may have to put Marrakesh on my bucket list. I bet it is fantastic !

YAWN!

2012-02-11T21:43:00.000-05:00

I must have had a lousy nights sleep last night because I am tired today. I do remember having some REALLY weird dreams near morning, which was why I didn't want to get up. I wanted to see where the dreams were headed. It seems that I have my most realistic dreams early in the morning when I am in that half sleep. Often I realize I am dreaming and can change the direction of the dream and then continue it after I fall asleep again. I never said I was normal!
I DO remember waking up A LOT last night scratching my shoulder and my neck. For some reason my skin gets terribly itchy at night and, like my poor daughter and grand daughter, I will be scratching away in my sleep and wake myself up. So tonight I took an allergy pill with hopes that will knock me out for a good nights sleep.
Once Ger was able to get me up today we headed down to Ft. L to see Smith but more importantly to see some NY friends who were in town for a few days. Patrick B and his lovely girl friend J are vacationing in a swanky hotel right on the beach. P&J are from Long Island and I haven't seen Pat in over a year. I baby sat a year for this young man right after he was born and he is like family. Pat is handsome, Smart smart smart, funny and just all around great guy. He and J seem very happy together and seem to be a great match.
As luck would have it Pat's mom was in Miami for business this week so she drove up from there and we all met for lunch. Kent and Kristen brought Smith over once Smith woke up from his nap and we spent a great couple of hours laughing, drinking and eating. The lobster roll was OUTSTANDING! and according to Lynne the Mojitos were pretty good too!
Once we caught up on everyone's lives we parted ways and we went to the play ground with Smith for a while but the little guy wanted to go to his car so we let the kids head home and G and I did the same. Once we got home you would think we had run a marathon or something because G and I both fell into our recliners and that was it for the night.
Of course, now that it is almost 10PM I am getting my second wind and will probably be awake for hours. Good luck getting me up for church tomorrow!

A FRIDAY SWIM

2012-02-10T18:09:00.000-05:00

Went to the chiropractor again today and he is on my case, (rightfully so), to get my arse in gear and get exercising. I have given up on Curves mostly because it was getting to be a bore and I was feeling stressed to get myself there 3 times a week. Not a good mental state so I dropped out when my membership expired. Did I pick up another form of exercise? Who are you kidding . . . Exercise is a dirty word to me so I have just been coasting along telling myself that carrying the laundry basket from the bedroom to the washer was good enough. Then there were the days that I really got wild and crazy and actually took a walk for 10 minutes. WOO HOO ! Needless to say my bones and muscles are needing more than 20 minutes a week.
I HATE exercise! Hate with a capital H ! Nothing more boring and dull than exercising. Walking on the treadmill isn't quite as bad as long as I can watch a movie and eat a snack while doing it. But since I can't get my wireless connection working the movie watching is out so I haven't been near the treadmill in months.
Today H and I were going to take a nice long walk over in one of the local jungles that are called "parks" but it was pouring rain all day so that was out. I decided I would come home and clean the garage. That would include a lot of lifting, bending, and general moving around. But when we came home and I finished checking out Facebook the sun had come out so I wanted to be out side. The humidity has been high this week and once the sun came out the thermometer went up to the high 70's. The pool has been looking particularly wonderful these days but it IS February, which means that the water in our unheated pool is usually quite chilly. I went out anyway and stuck in a toe and low and behold it really wasn't that cold. (0r so my toe thought). I didn't dare look at the alligator thermometer floating around in the water because if I had a number in my head I wouldn't get in. It did take a moment or ten to get into the water but it was a great incentive to MOVE ! I jumped, kicked, did jumping jacks and all sorts of other lively movements just to stay warm and by the time I was warming up I had been exercising for 20 minutes. GO FIGURE! It felt great and I felt like I had actually done something to help this aging old body.

(I think the screams of shock getting into the water probably burned off more calories than the actual exercise but as long as I'm burning calories, who cares how I do it! ) BTW The water was 77 degrees. That is warmer than the ocean is right now. And you have to admit, it does look inviting!

PROCASTINATION

2012-02-08T15:46:00.000-05:00

I have to get the tax papers together to send off to the tax guy but I just can't get myself in gear to do the dirty deed. Probably because I am thinking our luck has finally run out and we will have to PAY the government this year. Only one way to find out but I just can't find the time to pull all these papers together. There aren't that many papers cause we don't have that much money. NO stocks to speak of, no big investments, no real estate except the house and the little square cement box in the cemetery. No dependents unless Husband classifies for that since he is about as dependent as they come but I don't think the government considers that a REAL dependent. The biggest mess to pull together is our donation's. I donate to ALL sorts of charities and pulling that together takes time. Those $10 here and $15 there add up but all those little scraps of paper also add up to a big pile of paper that is spilled out on the kitchen island with hopes that it will all blow out the back door. But with it would go my only hope of getting any sort of a refund so I better go get busy before I am chasing papers all over the golf course and in the pool which is way too chilly to go in.

On the up side G and I took a nice LONG walk in Riverbend Park today. WE followed a couple of trails through the woods and along the river and it was lovely. I am in desperate mode to loose 20 pounds before next Thursday when I have to see the cardiologist who will give me "THE LOOK" when he reads my latest weight. Explaining that Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas AND a cruise all fell between now and my last check up will make no difference to this man. I know he has my best interest at heart but I just HATE having to admit I am a weak, food loving fat lady.
I guess my procrastinating extends into all facets of my life.

A GOOD PLACE TO GO

2012-02-03T19:07:00.000-05:00

Not talking about a tourist site or a restaurant . . . talking about buying a spot for our ashes after we kick the bucket. It's been something that I have been pushing Ger to do something about because, well, you just never know. And then this whole thing with Keri's father-in-law just brought it home that we have no control over the when and how of our demise. Fred was going strong one day and a month later his family is watching him die. God Bless them all !
G and I had decided a while back that we didn't want our remains brought back to NY. We found Paradise in Florida and might as well let our remains spend eternity here. It's as good a place as any and maybe our kids will visit. We knew we would be buried in the Catholic Cemetery in Royal Palm Beach, (doesn't that sound so fancy?) but just never found the time to do anything about it. Thanks to the AMERICAN GIRL DOLL we finally got our butts in gear and bought a spot.
Now there has to be a story there . . .
We gave Abby an AGD for her birthday and it was apparently a HUGE hit. (You don't know how happy that makes me that I know my beautiful Abby well enough to think of this gift for her. I swear sometimes I think she is my clone minus 130 pounds.) So now she has the doll and Grandma has a new source of spending. Low and Behold Ger finds a coupon in our paper for a doll factory in Royal Palm Beach that sells all sorts of clothes and accessories for the doll. Today was our day to go see what this place was all about. We found a coupon in the coupon book for a place for breakfast in RPB and off we went with our trusty GPS to go discover what this area had to offer. We had an idea of where Royal Palm is but really didn't know anything about the area. Also tucked in the back of our heads was the fact the cemetery is also out there.
Slight problem when we discovered the GPS was not working. It wouldn't turn on and just sat there on the dash board like a lump. We were on our own with only our great intelligence to aid us.
we started driving and when we saw the sign welcoming us to Cuba we knew we were in trouble. JUST KIDDING !
We passed the cemetery so we knew we were in Royal Palm. We had the address for the restaurant and saw the street it was on and just followed the addresses till we got to where we wanted to be. Breakfast was delicious and we were feeling really smart. The waitress gave us directions to the doll factory and after a few wrong turns we called the place and were guided to it with no further problems. THAT place turned out to be a GOLD MINE ! I was like a kid in a candy shop and will have to take Abby there when she comes to visit. I bought 3 outfits for the doll at prices WAY lower than the American Girl Doll web site. (For any of you with kids or grand kids that are into this check this out . . .
www.DollFactoryDirect.com . . . They make some of their own fashions and have others that come directly from AGD. They also have all sorts of other dolls and clothing and furniture.
After our shopping spree there I revived Ger and we drove on to the cemetery. At the cemetery we were given the fifty cent tour and picked out our building and niche where our ashes will be placed. Our "host" (he really didn't come across as a sales man) soon realized that we REALLY didn't care where our ashes went and since we planned on being dead the view really didn't matter to us. We did get a niche that was on sale so no matter the view, we got a good deal. We explained to Michael that we were planning on spending all our money before we went so the cheaper the better. But it is a lovely spot with a view of a field with Costco in the distance. But it does face West so we will be able to "see" all the wonderful Florida sunsets.
And to top off a great day, we had dinner with Jeanne and Frank who are returning to NY tomorrow. :-(
But they will be back in mid February so that's a good thing. And should we kick the bucket before then they can visit us in our new digs and have breakfast at a great little restaurant. It's a win win for all !

PAVLOV WOULD HAVE A FIELD DAY

2012-02-02T13:18:00.000-05:00

Either Husband is a total clutz or he is really really dumb. This is not being mean but just stating a very obvious fact.

You know how toddlers always have a bruise in the middle of their forehead from falling down and hitting their heads? Well, H always had a scab in the center of his bare head. (And since there is less and less hair up there it is becoming more and more noticeable. The man can not learn to OPEN the car trunk to its FULL OPEN position. He insists on just swinging it up and letting go before it stops moving. He then proceeds to reach into the trunk and smash his head AGAIN AND AGAIN on the half open door. AND THEN HE LOOKS AT ME LIKE IT IS MY FAULT! That is the best part. But the car isn't the only demon in H's life. There is the plastic storage box under the bed that he continually smashes his toe on. Again, I have told him over and over to kneel down and MOVE THE BOX but that seems to elude him. He would rather smash his toe over and over and do nothing about it except give me the look that says, "This is your fault for putting the box under the bed". It has now become a thing for me that I will NOT move that box come hell or high water. I really want to see how long it will take him to move it or to break a toe. I have a friend who's husband used to clean the house for her. Or so he said . . . there was a dead fly on a window sill that she left there for months to see how long it would take the "cleaning husband" to actually clean the windows and find it. He NEVER did.

I have reached the point of having a really hard time NOT laughing when these things happen. There are days when either one could happen several times. It is becoming a problem for me because I now have to run to the bathroom to keep from bursting into hysterical laughter that H would find offensive.
You really think he could learn but it sure hasn't happened yet.

BRAIN FREEZE

2012-01-31T17:55:00.000-05:00

Not the kind you get from eating ice cream and ice but the kind you get when you just can't function past sitting in a chair and staring at the TV for hours on end. I think I have Husbanditis . . . I just cannot get my butt in gear to do anything. No less write something witty and smart.
I have noticed lately that my brain is getting worse and worse. There are days when I can't keep a thought in my head for more than 2 seconds. REALLY! Things are just floating in and out of my head all day and I don't act upon any of them, no less remember them. It has just become too much of an effort to think. I guess this is what it must be like to be a man. Maybe I should go to the doctor and have my hormones checked before I start growing a beard and mustache. (Fortunately I have not yet had to worry about that whole menopausal mustache thing. Being blonde does have it's perks.) But then it is probably just that my eyes are so bad I just can't see all the fuzz that is growing on my face. My 2 BFF's are blessed/cursed with having their daughters living with them so when ever the facial hair starts getting out of control the daughters start pointing out the need for a day at the spa with a good facial waxing included. Not having my daughter near by I don't have any "Hair Police" to point out the nasty little buggers sprouting from my face so I have to depend on the magnifying mirror and my reading glasses. I could probably turn into Sasquatch before Husband would notice and even then it is doubtful he would say anything.
Getting back to my brain . . . I am seriously in trouble here. I have a lot of things to get done and I am just puttering along not doing a thing. I even think I have washed the same load of laundry about 4 times. For some reason I can't remember which basket had the clean wash and which was the dirty. Rather than putting the clothes away and hoping they were clean I have washed them again (and again?). They will either get so clean I won't have to wash them for a year or they will disintegrate in the machine. I used to have little tricks to keep things like this straight but I can't even remember the tricks so it is just a crap shoot as to whether you get clean clothes or whether you get dinner. It is just too hard to think.
Ever since the cruise with my best buds I have given up on thinking. My grand kids won't get a Valentine's care package at this rate because I just keep putting off shopping for stuff. I think what I really need is a day out on my own to do some shopping and wandering around ALONE. That would force me to focus and concentrate.
This really must be what it is like to be a man and NEVER have to think about anything. Maybe I won't have those hormones checked and just start living my life as a man. Do you think I would have any chance of Husband picking up the slack?

GOOD MORNING

2012-01-28T09:39:00.000-05:00

What am I doing up at 9 AM on a Saturday? (Not that Saturdays are any different than Tuesdays when you are retired.)
Little Man Smith is on his way to spend the weekend. I LOVE that we get to see him so often. WE all recovered from our day together on Thursday and now mom and dad are bringing him up with hopes of letting Gma and Gpa take over and letting mom and dad catch up on some sleep that they missed this past week. Smith just weathered a bout of Thrush, a virus that causes very painful sores in the mouth and throat. He spent 2 nights in misery before things started to turn around for him. And if baby is miserable, EVERYBODY is miserable. But if Thursday was any indication, the boy is back to his wonderful, normal self.
We talked to Keri yesterday afternoon and they are headed up to Baltimore today to visit Grandpa Fred in the coma care facility up there. Gpa Fred had a seizure of some sort just before Christmas and he has not returned from the coma he was in. His family moved him to this facility in Baltimore where they are working on trying to "find" him but so far nothing is happening. Keri and family were up there 2 weeks ago and Fred had his eyes open and seemed to be "responsive" so Keri brought Finn in to see him. Finn climbed all over Fred and Fred seemed to be agitated and trying to talk. (He was probably trying to say, "Get this kid off me!") But then when Steve went in a few minutes later Fred had his eyes closed and there was nothing. Kaelin has not seen her grandpa since he collapsed in December and she has not asked to see him. At almost 4 she is not understanding any of this so it is best she remember her grandpa the way she knew him. SO SAD.
AS for the British Lawlors . . . they are doing super! We talked to them last week for Abby and Bridget's birthdays and will try to catch them on Skype this weekend. They look so wonderful when we see them on the computer and the kids are becoming more and more English all the time. Roman is really picking up and English accent and Abby uses many of the British terms to refer to different things. It is so wonderful t see them flourishing in their new home.

Well, got to go get ready for today's visitors. The toys need dragging out of the garage and brooms and vacuum need to be hidden so Smith won't be dragging them around for the day.

TRUCKS AND DUCKS AND MUD PUDDLES

2012-01-26T20:56:00.000-05:00

We just got home from a fantastic and DIRTY day with Smith. Ger and I were up at SIX AM this morning, way way earlier than I am used to but for my grand kids NOTHING is impossible. WE had to be at Smith's house at 8 and not knowing what we might run into on the roads between here and there we left plenty of time for error. We arrived with plenty of time to spare so we made a stop at Macky D's for some breakfast to go. Since Smith had been up since 5:45 AM (so his not so happy mom told us) he was ready for a second breakfast at 8. Dad had already left for work and mom made a B line out the door after grandma told her to "GO!". Smith, Grandpa and I settled down in front of the TV for some breakfast but I gave up after about 3 bites of egg and a half of a biscuit. Between Smith wanting to play and the dog trying to steal anything and every thing off our plates I was done! Smith and I played inside and outside, up stairs and down stairs until we finally convinced him to get out of his jammies and into some clothes so we could go out in the car.
First stop . . . Home Depot. Now this little boy, Smith, is only 18 months old but he is a MAN! No sooner did we pull into the parking lot of HD than the boy started yelling "TRUCK!". As you would expect there are quite a few trucks at Home Depot. Big and little, pick ups and trailer and not a one went by un noticed by Smith. It took us 15 minutes to get out of the parking lot and into the store because we had to stop and admire each truck that was parked. What is it with little boys and trucks? Once we got into the store Smith and Grandpa both got a glazed look on their faces and went into a trance. Smith and his GPa walked from one end of the store to the other and no less than 10 people stopped to stare at this little man pushing a broom along in front of him. (We made the mistake of walking past the display of brooms and Smith would not walk another step until we gave him a broom to push.) Next to vacuums, brooms are in the top 10 things that this child is obsessed with. The were many chuckles and "AWS" as we walked around the store and only that the store alarm went off and distracted little man were we able to leave the broom and get out of the store with only our purchases. We did leave with wet feet because on our cruise through the garden department Smith found numerous puddles to dance in.
Once we got home we headed for the patio to re pot mommy's 4 little geraniums. That's when things really got down and dirty. Once the plants were in their new pots we had to turn on the hose to water them so the entire patio turned into one huge mud puddle. Good thing for the washer and dryer.
While Smith watered Gpa's feet I made some lunch for us and then it was a quick clean up, lunch and a nap. Grand pa took advantage of nap time to power wash the muddy patio and remove all the incriminating evidence.
But even with all this fun going on the high point of the day was the 2 FIRE RESCUE trucks that came down the street shortly after Smith got up from his nap. God Bless Grandpa, he scooped up Smith and headed out the door to see what was going on and the 2 boys walked down the street to find the fire trucks. I can't tell you how much the LITTLE guy loved seeing those trucks right there on his street. The poor lady who was being taken to the hospital probably didn't need an audience but it was great entertainment for us. Smith pointed and talked and just plain wiggled with excitement. Once again . . . What is it with BOYS and trucks ?
When Smith's parent arrived home this afternoon I told them that the amount of dirt on their child was in direct relation to the amount of fun we had today. AND BOY OH BOY DID WE HAVE FUN!

WHERE HAVE I BEEN ?

2012-01-25T22:37:00.000-05:00

If you don't know then I sure as heck can't tell you. Time is flashing by and I cannot account for the past couple of weeks. The cruise was great, Sharon and Bob were GREAT! and Jeanne and Frank are still DOUBLE GREAT! We have been discovering new restaurants, have dinner with "old" friends at old restaurants and just doing "STUFF".
Then there was the new lock for the front door that involved our Handyman having a heart attack, (not while at our house), the ant infestation of the light switch by the front door and now the 3 lights that work off that switch plate are not working so the now healed and healthy (I hope) handyman needs to return.
We voted today in the early elections for primary in Florida and hopefully Florida will not screw up this election and we have been running around like chickens without heads.
It really has been a crazy 2 weeks that I honestly can't account for but hopefully we will be on a more settled schedule in the weeks to come. Not counting tomorrow when we will be leaving at 6:30 AM to go babysit Smith for the day because he has Thrush. (That nasty virus that causes white canker type sores all over the inside of his mouth.) Poor little guy can't go to school, where he probably got the virus, because it is so contagious. That's OK by me, I get to spend a day with him and hopefully not catch the germs.

Hope to see you soon.

ANOTHER BLOG ABOUT H

2012-01-21T19:25:00.000-05:00

H is in his glory . . . he has a story and he is telling it to his sister. Now don't get me wrong, I love these 2 people but the 2 of them live to talk! There is nothing better in their lives than a good piece of GOSSIP to share with each other. Trouble is H can't keep his facts straight or remember half of them so his stories are usually lacking a bit.
For H, gossip is the very best thing next to a snow storm up north. That is clearly his best ever piece of juicy news to get him to call EVERYONE! So the fact that H has a good story AND it is snowing in NY has just made his day. He is practically glowing with anticipation of the phone calls. From what I hear NY is having 3-6 inches of snow, depending on where you are. Aunt AM had about 3 inches as of the middle of the afternoon when we first talked to her. Since then who knows what is happening. We have talked to folks from Maine who were getting a bunch of snow and some relatives North of NYC who were getting a nice amount of fluffy white flakes. This is now the time for H to make phone calls and laugh hideously into the phone. All his friends and family are used to it by now and know they can just hang up on him. But if there is a good story and a bit of gossip attached then the phone will be busy for quite some time.
If only there were a hurricane brewing H would be wetting his pants!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHEESE BALL !

2012-01-20T17:44:00.000-05:00

Today is Abby's 7th birthday. How is that possible? It was just yesterday that I was sitting in BFF Sharon's dining room with friends and family having something to eat between visiting hours at the funeral home where my father was laid out. Papa Danny had made it 97 years and just couldn't make it a few more days to see the birth of his first GREAT GRAND CHILD. He had a good life and we said that he had gone up to heaven to tell Abby it was time for her arrival. And that is just what she did on that cold winter afternoon.
Abby arrived in Atlanta so hopefully it wasn't as cold down there as it was up in New York. Ger and I got to see her about a week later after our return from Papa's funeral. We made a B-line straight for Atlanta as soon as we got the OK from Abby's parents. I remember thinking I had forgotten everything I had ever know about babies but the minute I held her it all came back and I didn't ever want to let her go.
And now here she is . . . SEVEN years old! And even more beautiful than the day she was born. What's even better is that she is a GREAT KID! Abby is funny, and silly and smart and charming. She has grandpa and I both wrapped right around her finger and even though she his thousands of miles away she still shares her life with us, thanks to Skype.
When Abby was about one she started to charm everyone with her great personality. She would do and say some of the funniest things so her Aunt Keri nicknamed her "Cheese ball", as in,"Abby you are such a cheese ball". The term of endearment has stuck over the years and Abby will ALWAYS be MY little cheese ball.
This afternoon the computer rang and there she was, our Abby, grinning from ear to ear and holding the American Girl Doll we sent her for her birthday. I think she liked the gift! I had had one of those epiphany's that occur every so often and decided this was going to be a great gift for Abby. And from the looks of her on the computer I think we nailed it! According to my "mini-me" Abby she has named her doll "Mini-Me". I always tell Abby that she is just like grandma when I was her age. She looks like I did and she acts like I did. And now she has a doll to be her "mini-me".
If I get some photo's of the birthday I'll put them on here but for now you will have to settle for some old photos from our last visit with Abby and Roman.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABBY! WE LOVE YOU TO PIECES!

SAILING TO HELL AND BACK

2012-01-17T20:19:00.000-05:00

Did you know you could sail to Hell ?
We just returned from our week's sail with our good friends and we had a GREAT TIME!
The Carnival ship, Freedom, left from Ft. Lauderdale a week ago Sunday and our first stop was Key West. Been there . . . Done that! The 2 other couples we were with were not impressed by Key West but it did help to get us into the party mood. The next day was a day at sea where we all took advantage of sitting on the deck watching the sights go by, drinking a few beers and eating every 15 minutes. Life is good ! No one over did any of the above activities and it was a great day. The sun was hot and the beer was cold. The company was great fun.

At night we all went to the shows and stayed up till after 10! What a wild and crazy group this is. The food on the ship was pretty yummy and we didn't miss a night in the dinning room. We had lobster and steak, shrimp and frogs legs, snails and strawberry soup. Nothing to complain about in the food department. And the desserts were pretty hard to pass up. That chocolate molten cake is a sure thing when nothing else looks good.

In the dining room

On the third day of the cruise the ship was docked off the coast of Grand Cayman Island. We had to take a tender to shore and we could have stayed on the boat for all that Grand Cayman had to offer. This island is nothing but a lump of limestone sitting in the middle of the sea. It is one really UGLY island and has very little to see. With the exception of the town of HELL.

We took a guided sight seeing tour of the island and Hell was the first stop. The town is named for some rock formations in back of the post office. Not much to see there either but it is unique. We bought a post card and mailed it to Abby and Roman in England thinking they would get a kick out of a card from Hell.
From Hell we went to the turtle farm where turtles are brought in as hatchlings and nurtured for a few years and then slaughtered for turtle meat. HOW AWFUL! The turtle meat is not exported anywhere but is sold only on Grand Cayman Island. We did not have an opportunity to try any as we could not find a restaurant selling it.

The last stop on this strange island was at the dock to take a "submarine" tour of the harbor. The boat was built so that the bottom of it appeared to be a submarine below the water. You got on, went down some stairs and sat on uncomfortable benches looking out windows at fish swimming by. Not as thrilling as it sounds, (if that sounds thrilling to you), but very different from anything we have ever tried before. We returned to our ship and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and laughing at what a disappointment Grand Cayman was. I guess with all the money on that island they don't care that it is one really UGLY place to live.
Stop three was the following day at the BEAUTIFUL island of Jamaica. WOW ! I really think Jamaica is THE MOST beautiful island I have yet to see. It is GREEN and MOUNTAINOUS and just plain gorgeous. We docked in Ocho Rios and took a catamaran sail down the coast to Dunn's River Falls.

Frank is checking out the sights

You could climb the water fall with a guide or walk up a dry path and stairs next to the falls. We walked the path to the top and took a dip in the ice cold water. Absolutely beautiful.
The sail back to our ship took us way out into the ocean for a wonderfully invigorating ride all the while drinking rum punch. It's a wonder we didn't get sea sick but we were having too much fun to even think about it.

Bob is following the Jamaican motto of "DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY"!

It's easy to "BE HAPPY" when they are serving FREE rum punch!

Once we returned to the ship we set sail for one more day at sea before coming back to Ft. Lauderdale on Saturday morning very bright and early. It was an over cast morning with temperatures in the high fifties. We tried to stay on board as long as possible but the cruise crew threw us off and we had to return to land.

All in all it was a great week of fun and friendship and hopefully we will do this again next year.

AND I HAVEN'T EVEN LEFT THE PORT YET . . .

2012-01-06T22:18:00.000-05:00

WE are about to cruise for a week. Everyone tells you how much weight you will gain on a cruise so I am in BIG trouble! My 2 BFF's arrived Wednesday and Thursday and we have not stopped eating since they hit town. The 3 couples are all going on this trip together and we plan on having a week of fun in the sun. NONE of us are skinny! We started with dinner after picking them up from the airport. The poor folks were starving after their 3 hour flight so dinner was a must. Wednesday night was with Jeanne and Frank and last night was with Sharon and Bob. Tonight we all gathered at my house for a lamb dinner. Frank is a lover of lamb and Jeanne never cooks it. Bob also loves lamb but doesn't get to have it that often so any time the 3 couples are together you can bet a leg of lamb is on the menu.
Naturally we can never have dinner without a glass or two of wine and dessert is ALWAYS on the menu. In the past 48 hours I have gained 3 pounds and feel like crap.
And the ship hasn't even sailed yet !

HOUSE WORK . . . BLAUGH !

2012-01-05T13:56:00.000-05:00

It is such a burden being a house wife. All we do is cook and clean. Oh Me - Oh My life is tough.

HA HA HA who am I kidding. I just decided that I REALLY REALLY needed to clean the oven. I walked into the kitchen. Turned 2 dials and VOILA ! In 2 or 3 hours I will have a clean oven. Remember the "good" old days ladies? When you needed an entire afternoon to attack the oven. Don't forget to put on the extra thick rubber gloves so that when you sprayed, (spray was a great improvement over the jar of gunk that you "painted" on the oven surfaces.) the toxic cleaner into the oven you wouldn't burn off the first 2 layers of skin. And then there was the 2 hour wait for the gunk to eat through the mess inside the oven, all the while making your eyes and nose burn from the stink. This was a job preferably done in the summer when you could open all the windows and turn on fans so you didn't drop dead from the fumes. I know there are women out there who actually clean the oven after each use . . . but they are not friends of mine and so are not reading this blog. My idea of cleaning the oven is when the oven shelves won't slide out because they are "glued" to the brackets on the side of the oven. The bottom of the oven usually looks like the city dump with piles of ash and goo all stuck together. It isn't until I am cooking for guests that I even think to look at the inside of my oven. There comes a point where anything I bake comes out with a smoky flavor thanks to the constant burning of residue on the floor of the oven.
So today was the day. It is chilly and breezy out so the doors can be opened to remove the smell of burning whatever. The vent fan is on full blast to suck out all the smoke and the candles are burning to try to cover any remaining stink. Back in the day I had a little fan over the stove that couldn't remove anything but lint and grease from the kitchen. How that fan used to get so clogged with dirt was beyond me but I NEVER cleaned that thing.
Now my house is work free. Spanish tile floors remove the need for floor washing, until the grand kids are here and their little socks or bare feet turn black within the first hour. So now the cleaning ladies wash all the floors every 2 weeks. The dust is supposed to be removed by the air filter system but when the windows and doors are open the dust comes in. And so the cleaning ladies remove that every 2 weeks. Windows get cleaned when I can't see the house next door. Those we do ourselves, unless we have friends staying in our house and they clean all the windows for us. (That's the sort of house guests I LOVE! Thanks once again Sharon and Bob.) The showers get sprayed daily by the little machine that hangs on the wall, the fridge is frost free so there are no day long ice chipping adventures like we used to have when the freezer door wouldn't close because of the ice build up, and who needs to vacuum? I just open the doors and windows and everything just blows out the door. Or the cleaning ladies get it on their next visit.
Yep . . . . life is tough! I have to go walk to the mail box to get today's mail. I haven't figured out how to get around that. Although I do all my banking on line so I don't have to stand in line at the bank or post office for stamps. So how come I don't have more free time?

FUZZY PINK ROBE

2012-01-03T15:45:00.000-05:00

IT IS COLD ! Yea Yea . . . . I don't know what cold is living here in South Florida but let me tell you that when I break out the Fuzzy Pink Robe . . . IT IS COLD !
I have no idea how long I have owned this robe but I think Husband gave it to me one of the first years we were in Florida. I seem to remember thinking, "WTF? . . . When am I going to wear THIS?" For truly, this robe is LARGE AND FUZZY! Having just moved to the sunny south all I could think was that this was the dumbest gift EVER. But as I unwrapped it further and felt how SOFT AND WARM it was in the 80 degree heat I thought, "What the Hell . . . I'll stick it in a closet and who knows." As with all weather related things in Florida, if you wait long enough the weather will change. Those 20 minute torrential down pours are gone and the blazing sun returns. The cloudy over cast day is gone before you have your lunch and you get to spend the rest of the day at the beach. It is all a matter of patience. So when the first COLD FRONT of the season hit I was prepared with my Fuzzy Pink Robe. I had forgotten about it hiding in the guest room closet, (It is soooooooooooo bulky that I have to keep it in the guest room because it takes up way too much space in my closet.) until I was in there searching for something and came upon THE ROBE. It was like finding water in a desert. I snatched that robe out of the closet, put it on and didn't take it off till the temperatures once again rose above 75. Once the warm returned to the area the robe returned to the closet just waiting for the next cold snap. And to be sure, every year there is another cold front or two, or three or more, that sweeps through paradise. And I am ready !
Last night's news warned us that the temperatures would be falling during the night but I was not prepared for just how far they would fall. It got chilly last week but only into the 50's at night and by 10 AM it was 72 outside. Not bad and since I don't usually climb out of bed till around 10 it is perfect for me. Nice cool nights to sleep and warming up for the day. PERFECT WINTER WEATHER by my standards. So this morning when I got my bones up at 9 for a chiropractor appointment I was SHOCKED, (literally) by the freezing cold floor tiles. It was one very quick run through the house to the guest room closet for that FUZZY PINK ROBE. I would have gone to the doctor with my robe on but H frowned on me leaving the house looking like a pink hippo. The robe does NOTHING for me as far as flattering my figure.(That this is assuming you can say I HAVE a figure.) I have no idea what material this robe is made from but it is not made for fashion. The stretchy, fuzzy, light weight yet thick material will fit my figure no matter how many pounds I gain at the holidays. And no matter how far I stretch it out to wrap around my body it is WARM WARM WARM. It is the sort of clothing item that everyone wants in their closet for that relaxed and snugly feeling on a cold winter day. And today is that day.
Did I mention it has HUGE pockets for my tissues, phone and glasses?

HAPPY NEW YEAR !

2012-01-01T16:36:00.000-05:00

I can't think of a better way to spend New Year's Day than a trip to the beach. So that is exactly what we did today. We woke up at 9 and watched our favorite Sunday Morning Show . . . Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood. As usual for New Year's Day Charles did a review of the year and as usual Ger and I sat there saying, "Was that THIS year?". The years are flying by so freaking fast but when we look back it seems like eons ago that some of these events took place.
But it is a new year for sure. NO getting away from the fact that it has now been TWELVE (12) years since Y2K. You remember the big hype and hysteria over the turn of the century . . . The world was going to end, all technology would fail and we were going to be thrown into the darkest of times. DIDN'T HAPPEN and not only did it NOT happen but it is now twelve years later, I am twelve years older and I don't have a clue WHERE those 12 years went.
Since the dawn of the new millennium I have been blessed with FIVE fabulous grand children but have also felt the loss of my dad and several other people who I have loved dearly. And it just does not seem possible that it has been TWELVE years! Do you remember those first 12 years of your life? I do, and they took FOREVER to pass by. I couldn't wait to be twelve and get to wear that corsage made of bubble gum?, or was it dog biscuits, or maybe that was the life saver year. Who can remember. I just know that the first 12 years of my life went by so slowly that I thought I would die before I ever made it out of grammar school. How is that possible? Is time really speeding up as we get older?
I can't answer any of those questions but I sure do know a sure fire way of slowing life down just a bit. Packing the beach chairs into the car, grabbing a couple of magazines that I have just not had the time to read, filling a huge water jug with ice cubes and grape juice with just a splash of pomegranate juice. Throw in a towel, some sun glasses and sun screen spray and we are good to spend three or four hours sitting on the beach watching all the tourists play in the water. The water was FABULOUS today but a little too cold for my liking. 73 degree water takes a little extra time to get into but once you are in and see how clear and clean it is, AHhhhhhhhhhhhh . . . there is nothing better. I floated around on my back like a beached whale and loved every minute of it. The sun was HOT, the sand was warm and the water was pure heaven.
It's going to be a good year because how else could a day like today start off a new year.
God Bless you all ! I pray that your year will be filled with HEALTH, HAPPINESS AND LOVE.
And the time to appreciate each and every moment of each and every day because you know that before you blink it will be 2024 and we will be wondering where the past 12 years have gone.

JUST SHAKING MY HEAD . . .

2011-12-30T14:59:00.000-05:00

I am about to spend a week with my 2 BFF's while cruising the warm waters of the Caribbean. (Husbands are coming too.) We will NOT be at a loss for things to talk about. (We NEVER run out of things to talk about but just in case . .) Husband has been supplying me with ENDLESS material for my next gig as a stand up comic. Just in the past week the man has gone totally DUMB with a capital D. The things he is saying and doing are giving me lots to talk about but some times I really DO feel bad making fun of the poor guy. He obviously can't help himself and the fact that this is actually nothing new says a lot for me staying with him all these years. I guess I just love a good laugh, even if my first reaction is murder.
The latest H ism came today when we decided to cram 2 large pool chairs into the car and drive them up to the Stewart Flea Market to have them re-strung. The plastic webbing is rotting and the last time we were at the Flea Market we saw a place that had good prices for making our lounges look like new.
Problem . . . Small Car . . . BIG chairs. This is going to take some thinking and work so I knew we were in for trouble. Even though the Rav is the car that H drives the man knows nothing about this vehicle. Open the door, put in the key and GO is as much involvement as H wants. He has recently learned how to fold down the back seats but even that requires some help from me. We got the seats down, I emptied all the crap from the back of the car that H would have left and fought with and we were ready to go. It took some doing but we did get the lounges into the car, the door closed and we were ready to make the 30 mile drive.
As soon as we started out I heard a noise that shouldn't have been. At first H told me it was nothing, "Stop listening for trouble" was his direct quote. (PS . . . I am driving and don't like noises coming from my car when it is crammed full) WE turned onto the ramp to the highway and I stuck to the slow lane because I really didn't like this noise. The further we drove the more the noise was evident. H continued to tell me everything was fine. I continued to think the noise was coming from the chairs rubbing on the back door. Just before we were getting off the highway H MENTIONED that he MIGHT have left the head rests from the back seats ON THE ROOF of the car. (Picture my face when he tells me this . . .) CALM . . . CALM . . . CALM . . . I WILL REMAIN CALM ! My response was "REALLY?" H had apparently taken the head rests off the back seats so they would fold down and rather than putting them some place SMART he puts them on the ROOF of the car.
I just happened to be at an exit so I pulled off and H jumped out and SURE ENOUGH! There sat ONE head rest on the roof of our car. TWO (2) seats, ONE head rest.
Some where between our house and 30 miles north of here there is a head rest laying on the side of the road and people are wondering . . . HOW THE HELL DID THAT GET THERE?
If they read my blog they will find out!

OH . . . PS . . . . the shop was closed today so we still have the chairs in the car and will have to make another trip next week. Do you think we will find our head rest on the way?

TWAS THE WEEK AFTER CHRISTMAS

2011-12-28T15:30:00.000-05:00

OI ! What a mess . . . I am cleaning up the aftermath of Christmas and it ain't pretty! Food all over the place and Mookie treats that were shot out of the "Snack Launcher" that I gave Kent are turning up in the oddest places. I didn't think we had launched THAT many little treats but those little suckers are in every room of the house. Mookie was eating the ones she could find but maybe she was then spitting them out in other rooms. All I know is that the poor Bug Man had a time of it today when he tried to spray the base boards of the house. There is STUFF every where !
And don't even mention the laundry . . . sheets, pillow cases, blankets all have dog hair on them so it is a laundry nightmare. (Not that I have anything else to do and it is too chilly, 62, to sit in the sun.) Ger is outside puttering and I am actually having a great time cleaning up here and there. I love organizing and Sharon sent me a "AS SEEN ON TV" organizer. It folds up into a case with a handle but then opens into a large pad with pockets and slots for all sorts of papers and pens. I LOVE stuff like that!
I have spent the morning throwing things on to beds and am now ready to start pulling things off the bed piles one thing at a time. I can only imagine what Jan Jan the Buggy Bug Man must think when he walks into this house. It is never looking neat and clean. It is ALWAYS in the state of coming or going. There is always a suitcase on the bed in the guest room, having either come from or are going to some trip. That's just how we live.
But today's mess is particularly LARGE! We have the residue of Christmas all over the place. Empty boxes still litter the living room. Gifts are here and there waiting to be put away. Christmas cookies and all those sticky buns etc that we received as gifts are on the kitchen counters. They NEED to be put away A.S.A.P. because I have gained 4 pounds back that I had lost before Christmas. I really should just throw them out but since there ARE starving children in China I just can't do that.
Here's a HEADS UP for you . . . husbands don't like it when you respond to their question of "What can I do for you?" with a resounding "LEAVE ME THE "F" ALONE! I mean really, I am up to my elbows in mess and H wants me to tell him what HE can do. Every woman knows that you just have to OPEN your eyes and you will KNOW what to do. God love these idiots we are married to. I guess I shouldn't complain because at least he asks . . . not that if I gave him some things to do they would actually get done, but he thinks he gets points for asking.
HE SHOULD ONLY KNOW!

THREE HOUR NAP !

2011-12-26T22:34:00.000-05:00

And I am not talking about my grand children . . . Christmas is over, the "kids" have gone home and I took a nap. In spite of the fact that Smith sleeps 12 hours a night I am too stupid to go to sleep when he does so I can get my usual 10 hours. And some how, after spending 12 hours playing with the little guy, 10 hours sleep at night just isn't enough for me.

Smith and parents were here for Christmas weekend along with Mookie the dog. They arrived Christmas Eve morning and left around 10 this morning after we all went out for a nice breakfast. After they left I finished up Kent's mimosas that he had mixed for the weekend and I went to bed. Three hours later I felt like normal again.

It was a great weekend all around. The weather was beyond FABULOUS. Temps in the 80's and sun sun sun. The AC was running all weekend to keep us cool in the house and at night after Smith went to bed we had a fire in the new fire pit out on the patio. Smith slept through the night both nights, K&K got good nights sleep as did grandma and grandpa and Santa arrived right on schedule. It took us ALL day yesterday to open gifts. Smith wasn't too sure about the whole Christmas gift thing so he would open a few things and then get distracted. It is actually a great way to spend a day. Open some gifts, have breakfast . . . open some gifts, go for a swim, open some gifts, have some lunch, open some gifts, take a nap . . . . and so it went for the entire day.

YAWN!

2011-12-25T21:00:00.000-05:00

It is too late (9 PM) to write a big blog but I just wanted to say MERRY CHRISTMAS to all. We had a wonderful day with Smith and his mom and dad and tomorrow I promise to down load some photos. We were up at 7 this morning and took all day to open gifts. One or two at a time were all Smith could handle so it was great fun spreading out the joy through out the day.
Kyle and Family are back from their week in the French Alps. The skiing was fantastic with lots and lots of snow. Abby skied down from half way up the mountain and Roman skied down from the TOP! Pretty amazing stuff.
Keri and Family had a good Christmas morning. Kaelin was super excited and Finley just loves EVERYTHING. Keri's father-in-law is still in a coma even though the doctors have taken him off of the sedatives and he is off the respirator. I guess Fred just wasn't ready to face the holiday madness. Keep your prayers coming and hopefully Grandpa Fred will wake up soon.
God Bless you all . . . time to get some rest.

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

2011-12-24T22:23:00.000-05:00

And I should be sleeping because there is a 17 month old little boy asleep in the crib in the guest bedroom and I know he will be awake in less than 8 hours.
Smith and family arrived here today around noon and I am EXHAUSTED ! I am in Holiday mode which means I am cooking ! When I have "guests", family or friends, I cook. I love to prepare goodies for everyone to eat and today I went nuts making sausage bread and cheese balls and even a pizza from scratch because I had left over dough and cheese. That is just plain nuts but I enjoy it . . . . until I am too tired to make dinner. I was delighted to attend the hour and twenty minute mass this afternoon at 4:00 just so I could sit for a while. K&K wanted to go to mass with us for Christmas. I would have preferred mass in the morning because oddly enough Christmas morning masses are usually empty. But the K's decided the 4 this afternoon would work best. NOT ! Five minutes into the completely packed packed packed church Smith had had enough and they all left. (We anticipated this and had brought 2 cars.) Lucky Ger and I stayed for the Christmas Pageant mass and all the extras. Not only was the gospel acted out by the children but then our pastor gave a 20 minute sermon that ended with the singing of 3 verses of "THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY" ! PA RUM PA PUM PUM ! Shoot me now I was ready to become a Jew! If I had had a Shepard's crook I would have smacked our pastor with it and then beat him to death with a donkey.
THIS IS NOT HOW WE SHOULD BE THINKING AND FEELING AT CHRISTMAS ! God forgive me but I got NOTHING, with a capital N, out of that mass. Good thing we went to Christmas midnight mass at 2 PM on Tuesday.
By the time G and I got home I threw dinner together, Smith went to bed, I drank a couple of glasses of wine and I am now ready to sleep in the shower because I am too tired to make it to bed. So what the Hell am I doing writing a blog? I couldn't go to bed without wishing all of you a

VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS !

WARM FUZZIES

2011-12-22T12:58:00.000-05:00

H once took a class for graduate credits that included "WARM FUZZIES". It was a stupid stupid class taught by a real character. But H was there with some friends and it was quite entertaining to them. Warm Fuzzies has always been a "catch phrase" in our family ever since. The idea is that students/children NEED Warm Fuzzies. It is what the present day "Character Ed" is all about. Be positive with your students/children and they will flourish. As part of the curriculum the class members were awarded little balls of fuzz that had googly eyes stuck on and adhesive feet on the bottom. Some had feathers on them, all were the size of large marble. For a time our house was littered with Warm Fuzzies that dad had brought home to the kids. Usually they were given to the kids one day and the next day there was yelling about the damn things being stuck all over the place. I think we missed the point but be that as it may we had Warm Fuzzies.
I was always one to react in the negative and start slapping before I even thought to be POSITIVE. I was positive I was going to kill my kids if they didn't straighten up their rooms. I was positive I was going to never buy them another toy until they learned to take care of what they had. I was positive I was going to stop the car and throw them all out on the side of the road. I am amazed my kids grew up to be the amazing parents that they are today. I think they did what I was unable to do . . . break the pattern of behavior that my parents used on me. I swore I would never raise my kids like my mom raised me and yet that is pretty much what happened. I did, however, NEVER chase my child around the house swinging a wooden coat hanger at them. (I was a brat!) My mom loved me but her parenting skills were less than perfect and I totally understand where she was coming from. But I still carried that German stubbornness into my child rearing. My kids have broken that pattern and are soooooooooooooooo GREAT with their kids that I am in awe of them. There are lots of Warm Fuzzies in all their homes, and not the kind with sticky feet and googly eyes. Just lots of love and hugs and positive reinforcement. My D-I-L asked me last week what I did instead of "Time Out" when out in public. I looked at her in total amazement and said,"I never gave my kids time out, I just slapped them". And that is the sad truth.
Sorry children of mine, I didn't know any better and I hope you have all forgiven me.
Now, returning to the topic of Warm Fuzzies . . . . I want a Guinea Pig! I really want a dog but there is no freaking way in hell that H will allow a dog, cat, mouse, squirrel, guinea pig, gerbil, rat, hamster, gold fish, snake or alligator in this house. There are many days when I don't feel welcome here so the thought of a PET is out of the question. H "HATES" animals ! He will tell you he doesn't HATE them, he just doesn't like them A LOT! He HATES animals. I tell people the day H dies I will be stopping at the local pound on the way from the funeral home to pick up a dog.
But what got me on the guinea pig kick was stopping in the local PETCO today to get some gifts for my grand dog and 2 grand cats. I LOVED the store and would have spent a fortune except I had you know who with me. H took a minute to use the bathroom and I made a beeline to the guinea pigs to see what was there. They had an adorable brown and white little guy just begging to be adopted (for $34). I know better than to even bring the topic up with H but I just imagine how nice it would be to sit down with my very own LIVE WARM FUZZY in my lap. Something to give some unconditional love to and to receive some in return.
It's a nice dream and maybe when I make that stop at the pound I'll also stop at Petco.

PS . . . . Sharon if you are reading this DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT UNLESS YOU WANT ME MOVING IN WITH YOU AND BOB FULL TIME !

WHEN SHIT HAPPENS

2011-12-20T22:51:00.000-05:00

We are never ready for it . . . no matter how prepared for life we think we are we are never ready when the "Shoe drops" or when Shit happens.
We got a phone call from our hysterical (as in UPSET) daughter this afternoon. I was just unlocking the front door after a day out and about when I caught the phone on the almost fourth ring. I heard my daughters voice and I just said, "What's Wrong" as a million different things were running through my head. Thank You GOD the children are fine and Steve is OK. Sadly Steve's dad is NOT OK. Fred had a blood clot in back of his knee and had it removed yesterday. I don't know any more than that. He was home today and suddenly collapsed on the floor and was not breathing. His wife called Keri and Ker walked Linda through doing CPR until the EMT's could arrive. Steve left to be with his mom and dad and Keri called so upset.
Keri is amazing that way. During the emergency she is cool as a cucumber but afterwards she needs a padded room to release all the pent up energy. When Keri's little brother was 12 our new puppy jumped up and tore part of Kent's ear. Mom had just run to the bank and was gone all of 15 minutes. Keri got a towel to press to Kent's ear to stop the bleeding and she kept her little brother sitting quietly until I got home. Then all hell broke loose and I had one bleeding son and one hysterical daughter.
Today was the bleeding ear all over again just multiplied by a BILLION ! As Keri was talking Linda through CPR she was pacing the dining room where the family had just been having a quiet dinner. Steve left and Kaelin paced next to Keri rooting her on with, "You go mom! You can do it!" Under any other circumstances it would have been quite funny.
So now Fred is in the ICU at the local hospital. He was clinically dead but brought back by the ER staff. As of now he is in a coma and only time will tell how this will all play out.
The week before Christmas and you just never know what life has in store for you. It sort of makes you want to put aside the shopping, wrapping and baking and maybe take an hour out for a visit to church. Or at least a take a few minutes to sit quietly and visit with God and discuss if you are ready to spend the rest of eternity with Him because you just never know when he will call YOUR name.

SLIDING TOWARD CHRISTMAS

2011-12-19T17:26:00.000-05:00

Who wouldn't want a slide in their living room? (Note the cat at the top of the stairs.)
Christmas arrived a little early this past weekend. Smith's mom and dad were very smart this year. They posted a "Christmas Wish List" on Amazon and it made shopping for the little man nice and easy. One click shopping and a Little Tykes Slide was on it's way to Smith's house. It arrived there about a week ago and poor Kristen has been hiding it in the tiny guest bathroom. The 2 cats were delighted that Gma and Gpa came down on Sunday to drag the huge box out of the "kitty litter bathroom". I think the box was traumatizing the 2 kittys who probably haven't gone potty in a week.
After an interesting lunch out, (it is not polite to stare at 4 adults who can't handle one 17 month old little boy), we returned to their house and got to assembling THE SLIDE. Kent had it put together in the time that it took for Kristen to change Smith's diaper. (I can't imagine how S could put so much into his diaper when most of his and our lunches landed on the floor.) Way to Go Little Tykes for making a product that was EASY EASY EASY to assemble. Smith came down the stairs with mommy and his eyes almost fell out of his head. He made a Bee Line for the slide and that took care of the next half hour. They must have one similar to it at his day care because he knew exactly what to do.

I love it when a gift is appreciated!
With any luck the slide may get moved out onto the patio but since K&K just found a FABULOUS wrought iron and slate patio table and chair set at a yard sale earlier this weekend the slide may be a permanent fixture in the living room.

After we returned from visiting with Smith we called the Maryland branch of the family and got to Skype with Kaelin and Finn. Dad was out with his friends for the afternoon and evening so Keri was entertaining the 2 little guys. They had just finished bath time and were in their jammies getting ready to settle for the evening. Keri looked like she had had a LONG night. Finn was in his JUMPEROO and Ger and I laughed our selves silly at the sight. A Jumperoo is the kid version of Bungee Jumping. The sling seat is fastened to 4 elastic straps that are suspended from the door frame. Finn was bouncing with his feet and nearly hitting the top of the door frame. He is so different from his sister who would sit quietly and not move.

Finn is jumping and just about crawling at 8 months old. You can just see the look in his eye that he wants to move. Kaelin was busy showing us all her Christmas books and had to run to get the SPECIAL book that grandma sent to her last week. It is one of those Hallmark books where you record your voice reading the story. Keri had me in tears describing Kaelin's reaction to opening the book and hearing my voice talking to her.
This year I am really missing my daughter and her family but I know that once the holidays are over and Smith empties our tree of all his Christmas gifts G and I will probably start planning our next visit to MD.
You know we can't stay home more than a few weeks at a time.

ARRIVAL OF THE COOKIE ELVES

2011-12-17T14:50:00.000-05:00

Two Christmas cookie elves took over my kitchen today. They looked a lot like Ger and me but they were filled with an energy that I have not seen or felt in a long time.
G and I decided we would get our butts in gear and bake some cookies for Christmas. Now the only people we will see for Christmas is Kent, Kristen and Smith. Kent doesn't usually like cookies, Kristen is too skinny to enjoy cookies and how many cookies can an eighteen month old eat? Who am I kidding . . . that little guy LOVES cookies so no doubt we will loose a great many to Smith. But even then, who is going to eat the 12 DOZEN cookies we have baked?
We started with sugar cookies and then went on to chocolate chip. I am trying to remember the PAIN I was in after eating those yummy 7 layer bars at Thanksgiving but the smell of cookies has a strange way of blocking my memory. How I wish I were more like my sister-in-law J who eats NO sugar EVER! I don't know how she does it but the woman has not had a cookie pass her lips in over 40 years. Personally, I don't think I could live like that. I really do want to be LIVING my life even if I am killing myself in the process. It is much more fun and interesting.
So now there are cookies all over the kitchen counter and we have to figure out where to store them until their deliciousness calls to us or some one shows up that I don't have a Christmas gift for. We will give some to the ladies up in the POA office but how many cookies can they eat? Any one out there want a care package?
Not only do we have these cookies all over the kitchen but we have plans to bake MORE on Monday. How can we possible stop with a selection of only 2 kinds of cookies? We need to make some of those delicious cream cheese cookies that you have to shoot out of a cookie press. The first 2 batches of those always come out looking like BLOBS rather than stars, trees or ornaments. But since they all taste the same who cares what shape they come in.
Half the fun of baking Christmas cookies is the decorating. The chocolate chips don't get decorated. They just get eaten no matter what their shape. But sugar cookies need decorating! WE will make up a mess of confectioners sugar and water with some food coloring added. Green painted trees with some sprinkles added, red Santa's with a mini marshmallow on the end of his cap, yellow stars and blue what evers.
Even though we don't have our children or grand children here to help as in years long past, G and I had a great time baking and reminiscing of Christmas past. It was a great morning and if the cookies taste as good as they look it will have been worth the effort. I'm looking forward to bringing Smith some Santa cookies tomorrow and seeing his reaction.

On a totally unrelated note. . . Have any of you seen the ST. Jude's Hospital 2012 calendar?
I was given one the other day and finally sat down to take a look at it. If you think you are in a funk and not IN THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT take a look at this calendar and see if you don't start realizing how blessed you are. Each month has a picture of a child who is being treated at St. Judes for some type of cancer. There is a one year old and 17 year old and each one will break your heart. I have never had a calendar make me cry but this one did the job. There is a quote with the March picture of a 5 year old boy named Joshua. His mam says," They say life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, but learning how to dance in the rain. St. Jude gave us dance lessons."
Take time to dance everyone and say a prayer for these children and all the children in the world who are battling to stay alive. Then think how blessed we are!

COLD WEATHER VACATIONS

2011-12-16T18:17:00.000-05:00

Are you thinking Bahamas, a cruise, warm sandy beaches with palm trees? That's what I think about when the weather is cold and I want to escape. Not that it is ever that cold down here but when we were young and living in NY it was COLD in the winter and I couldn't wait to get away from it.
Out of my 3 kids only one of them followed in my foot steps and found that life in South Florida is like being on vacation. The other 2 seem to like the cold. At least that is what it looks like to me when you go from 40 degree weather to vacation in the Alps. That's where K&B and the kids are as of tonight. A week of fun in the snow! That doesn't sound like fun to me no matter where you are going. Cold is cold and swishing down a snow covered mountain is not what I want to do on vacation. The London group left today to head to Geneva, Switzerland for a week of fun (?) on the slopes. They went to a different town last year and loved it so I guess they don't mind the cold. It does sound very exotic doesn't it? Skiing the Alps in France. La De Dah. But what a great experience for all of them. My thought, other than the cold, are the coordination issues that plague my oldest child. Once he got over remedial skipping in Kindergarten he actually was a decent athlete. Soccer, tennis and golf are some of his favorite sports. Skiing, I'm not so sure about that one. I tried skiing when I was in college and found that those 2 huge boards strapped to my feet had minds of their own. And when you fall, which I did often, it takes a huge amount of coordination and strength to get yourself back up. I usually took the skis off, carried them up the hill and strapped them back on at the top of the hill. Seems like a lot of work just to get a cold butt.
The other child of mine wasn't cold enough living up on the East Coast of the Atlantic so she had to pack up her family and head to "ICE" just to make sure they were REALLY cold. One of the large hotels in the DC area has a yearly exhibition of ice sculptures. Like skiing in the Alps it is not cheap. K and family bundled up and headed off to ICE one of the afternoons this past week. I am told you get a parka to put on to help you weather the 9, (NINE,) degree temps that keep the ice from melting. This years theme was Madagascar, like the movie. Kaelin liked it except for the big and bulky parka. Finn was so bundled up by mom that I don't think he saw a thing. But I am told it was great fun, even though it was COLD.
As for me, I'm loving the high 70 temperatures down here and if I get chilly I'll just turn on the oven and bake some Christmas cookies. Who says you can't feel like Christmas if the temperature isn't 20 below?

A LOVELY DAY AT THE CEMETERY

2011-12-15T20:11:00.000-05:00

NO ! Tell me I am not at THAT AGE where a day out means a trip to some one's grave! Lord help me!
But some times you gotta do what you gotta do. Cousin L steps into our lives every so often and today was one of those days. Her second husband died about 4 years ago and for some reason cousin L seems to think H and I enjoy a yearly visit to Ed's grave. It isn't about the transportation . . . that I understand. At 82 the old girl should not be driving on highways or actually any road. Florida being Florida we are over run with 80 and 90 year old drivers that should be home or out on the golf course. Any where but driving on the roads. And now that it is "SNOW BIRD" season the roads are more deadly than ever. Knowing all this the young senior citizens, (H and I), offer to drive 30 minutes north to pick up cousin L and drive her 60 minutes south so she can visit her hubby's grave. It only happens once or twice a year so we suck it up and offer it up to the Gods.
But . . . when cousin L calls and invites us to accompany her to the cemetery just for the fun of it I gotta wonder what my life has come to. L had suckered a friend into driving her to the cemetery today and she wanted to stop here, pick up H and I and then continue on down to the cemetery. Naturally, as any respectable senior citizen knows, none of this cannot be done without including a stop for lunch. H and I used to get nuts when his mother would ask him to drive her to the cemetery to visit H's dad's grave. We never minded taking her but when trying to squeeze the 3 hour trip into a work day, 3 kids schedules and after school activities the words . . . "WHERE WILL WE HAVE LUNCH" usually sent H over the top and into a rage. The poor old lady just didn't understand that H did not have a full day to take off in order to go to the cemetery.
And now we have the same with cousin L. When we call her to see when she will be home for us to come visit her we are submitted to 15 minutes of her checking her calendar for; nail appointments, hair appointments, Maj jong, bingo, dr. appointments, church meetings and all sorts of other things she has going in her busy schedule. But when her call comes for the annual trip to the cemetery we are expected to be ready to go at a moments notice.
So off we went today and you know what? . . . It was a very nice day! The cemetery is actually beautiful. South Florida Memorial Cemetery with all it's white tomb stones with green wreaths on them is a moving sight to see. I'm glad we went to say a prayer for Ed and all the other veterans who have fought for our country.
And lunch was good too.

RETAIL THERAPY FOR CHRISTMAS

2011-12-14T10:57:00.000-05:00

I know you are out there . . . those folks who HATE Christmas shopping but I have to tell you I find it therapeutic and the perfect medicine to get me into that Christmas spirit.
Up to now I have been pretty much in the BAH HUMBUG mood for Christmas. Not having seen Kaelin and Finn since October, having Abby and Roman so far away and pretty much just feeling cranky has left me in a less than pleasant state of mind. H has been trying his very best to help me get in to a better mental state but that just bugs the hell out of me and I get worse and worse each day.
Enter a day of shopping! ALONE ! Yesterday I took off ALONE and had some fun spending money. H likes to come with me ALWAYS and so I never really get the opportunity to truly shop. I can't let go of the thought that H is sitting in the front of the store WAITING. You know those men who are camped out in the ONE chair that these stores put up near the front door. There is one in every store you go into at Christmas time. They have a very bland expression on their faces as if they actually enjoy waiting for the wife. When we all know it is just a put on and they are bored out of their minds and are just playing the part of "GOOD HUSBAND". Look quickly around the store and you will be hard pressed to find their wives. Some are evident in their harried hurried look, knowing that their man in the chair is a ticking time bomb. Others, God Bless Them, don't give a flying F and are just shopping their little hearts out, Husband be damned. I envy those women. I can't do it. I am the one who is running through the store ripping things off shelves just to have something in the basket so I can say it was a worth while trip. Bottom line is, shopping is meant to be done ALONE ! Sometimes you go into a store and you just aren't feeling it. So then you move on and go some place else. Other times you walk into a store and it is like everything is just what you were looking for. Hours later you come out burdened with bags and bags of goodies. Then the fun part of coming home and sorting through what you bought is the icing on the cake.
I didn't need to shop yesterday, at least I didn't need to buy anything. The gifts had been bought on line for the grand kids that live far away. Sent directly to them, untouched by Grandma's hands. THAT IS SAD! So naturally I had some "extra" things that I had bought and wrapped and shipped. But it just wasn't good enough to get me into the Christmas spirit. I had pretty much all I wanted for Smith, the big climbing slide that will take up his entire patio, had been shipped directly to his house and is being hidden in the bathroom till grandma and grandpa get to come down. I had picked up toys and clothes for Smith over the past few months so I really didn't NEED to shop. BUT I SHOPPED ANYWAY! First stop, Kohls. Not as great as I had hoped. Last year I did fantastic shopping in Kohls. This year not so much. Right next door to Kohls is Target so I stopped in there and hit the mother load. I dislike our new Target because the store SMELLS. Every time I go in there the over whelming chemical smell makes me want to turn around and leave. After a while I don't notice it as much but what ever they used in the building of this store sure does stink. I got past the stink and did some good shopping for H and now I am more in the spirit of things.
I may just keep shopping every day just to stay in this good mood. I wonder if H will think my being in a good mood is worth the cost of a huge credit card bill ?

FREAKING RED BOWS

2011-12-11T17:36:00.000-05:00

H knows better than to tell me things that other people say about me or my home or family. And this is just the silly stuff I get nuts about. Just imagine if it were something serious!
I came home from my MRI the other day and H told me he met the lady down the block and she wanted to know where our RED BOWS on the palm trees were. Every year I decorate the palms in front of the house with giant red bows and this year I just hadn't gotten around to decorating ANYTHING, no less the palm trees. My focus has been on mailing packages to Abby & Roman in England and Kaelin & Finn in MD. I did most of the big shopping on line with direct deliveries to the grand kids but I did have some stuff here that I needed to wrap and mail. Once the Christmas cards, letters and photos were done and in the mail it was time to concentrate on gift mailing. Then I had the car accident and have been running back and forth to the chiropractor and lastly the MRI of my back to make sure there is no hidden damage. I am actually starting to feel normal so I think I can safely let the chiropractor appointment go and return to my monthly maintenance adjustments. (I really do think my chiropractor was pushing the envelope with the over kill 3 appointments a week plus massages but I'm not the authority on backs. And considering the resulting pictures of my mess of a back, I guess I can use as many adjustments as possible.)
A N Y W A Y . . . the red bows have been haunting me all weekend. Lynne B was here for the weekend and we had a very nice visit but every time I had a free moment I was thinking about those stupid bows. I even woke up one morning at 2 AM and thought about going out to the garage, finding the bows and putting them up on the trees while everyone was sleeping. But I came to my senses and went back to sleep.
Lynne left this afternoon and H and I stopped at Sam's Club for some stuff, then picked up our NEW prescription sun glasses, stopped at Mac D's for a burger, came home to make a phone call and put the groceries away and THEN . . . put the FREAKING RED BOWS on the trees outside.
They look lovely ! If I think of it tomorrow I will take a picture for you so you can see the expert decorating we do. As I was putting the garland and bow on the mail box a different neighbor walked by and told us how lovely our house always looks at the holidays.
Good thing I had already hung up the bows!

HOUSE GUEST

2011-12-10T21:57:00.000-05:00

NO blogs while we have company. Lynne B is here for the weekend and we have been too busy to take time to write. WE have been eating and drinking since she got here Thursday afternoon and will continue till she leaves tomorrow afternoon.
We did discover a new "Hot Spot" down on Singer Island. Johnny Longboat's was great for breakfast with the $1.99 BLOODY MARY. Great way to start any day. From there we came back to the pool for a cloudy afternoon swim. Mass at 4:30, dinner at Quarterdeck and shopping at Ross where Lynne found 3 dresses for $16 a piece. She loved it !
Tomorrow Lynne returns to cold cold Ohio and we will return to putting up Christmas decorations.

Smith is sick with a stomach virus, poor little guy, Kaelin and Finn visited Santa and got a great photo. (Notice the kilt on Kaelin and the vest on Finn . . . . we brought those back from Scotland)
Haven't heard form the English Lawlor's so don't know what they are up to.
I'll write more one of these days. Hope you're Christmas preparations are going well. Ho Ho Ho !

HOW COME NO ONE ASKS ME ?

2011-12-06T14:45:00.000-05:00

Daughter-in-law K is a blogger. And a very, very good one at that. She is a talented writer, does give aways and generally entertains all who read her blog. The "all" who read her blog range far and wide along with some really awesome people who represent different companies. K has made mucho friends through her blog and has received great gifts because of her blog. When K was pregnant with little man Smith she received all sorts of baby gifts from people who read her blog. Smith was hooked up with some really cute clothes and toys. Of the friends K has made through the Internet there are some really nice people. One couple from NY have hosted K and family for 2 different weekends and have even come to Florida for a visit down here.
The latest "BIGGIE" that has fallen into K's lap is the Oreck Vacuum company. Some how through K's blog Oreck contacted K and asked her if they could GIVE her a new vacuum! Do you have people offering you new $1000 vacuums? I sure as hell don't! Oreck would like K to use their product and then write about it on her blog ! I mean, is this a deal or what ?
So where are you girls out there reading my blog? What kind of offer have you got to make? And right off the top I will say NO NO NO I will NOT take your husbands for a year and then write about them. I have enough material with the one I have here and do NOT need any others.

?

2011-12-05T18:41:00.000-05:00

It happens every year . . . Christmas sneaks up on me and I don't know how it happens. I am just telling myself that in 4 weeks all the hype will be over and we can get back to living. I think my Scrooge is taking over the rest of my nasty personality.

Bah Humbug !

IT'S THE SIMPLE THINGS . . .

2011-12-02T22:22:00.000-05:00

Christmas cards are D O N E done ! Thanks to a lot of help from H. Ger wrote the first draft of our Christmas letter which motivated me to get my butt in gear and get it written on the computer and copies made at Staples. I wrote all the cards and envelopes and H graciously folded the letters and pictures and inserted them all into the envelopes and cards. THEN . . . H continued to help in sealing up the envelopes, stick on the stamps and return address lables. WHAT A GUY !
To all of you out there who are expecting a card . . . GOOD LUCK! The stamps are hanging on by a thread and the envelopes are barely stuck closed. For a man who can shower anyone within 12 feet of him while he talks he didn't provide much spit on those envelopes. I have added some stickers with hopes that will keep it all together but from here on it is in the hands of our trusty Postal Service.

A GOOD LAUGH

2011-12-01T11:24:00.000-05:00

I wanted to write this blog last night but H was already in bed reading and he "frowns upon" my using the computer while he is in bed. (Command Central is now located in the bedroom, rather than the garage) I think his problem stems from my giving attention to something other than him but who knows. All I know is that it causes a great deal of huffing and humphing and throat clearing. So to avoid that I went to bed and ran this through my head while H continued to read QUIETLY.
ANY WHOOOOOOOOOO The point I wanted to make was, LAUGHTER IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL, MIND, BODY AND HEART ! That is a fact ! I know that when I laugh with my friends and on the rare occasions when I laugh with H it is a great healing tool.
I have been feeling like CRAP with a capitol "C" for the whole week. The infections in my body were really beating me up physically and mentally. Monday and Tuesday I was just a wet noodle and not fit for company with anyone, no less a needy husband. Yesterday I started to rally and I started to function once again. H has been talking about "US" (me) putting together a Shutterfly photo book of our trip to England. He thought it would be a great Christmas gift for his sister Ann Marie, since she was with us on the trip and still has not figured out how to make copies of her photos. I agreed this would be an excellent idea but warned H that it would be time consuming and frustrating. ( I am not as computer literate as I would like to think and the proof is in me trying to create things like photo books. Yea, Yea, they walk you through it but it is still frustrating till I get the hang of it at about page 40.)
Last night there was nothing on TV (we did watch Survivor) so I thought I would give the book a shot. It took me forever to figure out the size and type I wanted to work with but finally got started. (The other half of the "WE" in this project was watching crap on TV and too busy to help. Not that there was anything he could do other than annoy me with helpful suggestions like, "Can you make that picture bigger? Move it to the left!". He doesn't realize that I am delighted just to have figured out how to get the freaking picture to STAY where I "dropped" it. ) An hour and a half later H wandered in to the bedroom to take his shower and see what I was cursing and swearing about. He showered and came out to read in bed and was highly entertained by my commentary that was going on as I fought the "PROJECT". It got to the point where the 2 of us were laughing so hard that I couldn't see to work on the pictures any more.
It was a gift to have been reminded WHY I married this man. Ger made me laugh, a lot, and I think that is why I fell in love with him. Over the years life has gotten in the way and there hasn't been as much laughter but on those wonderful occasions when we find time to laugh it feels great !

REFLECTIONS

I am sitting here thinking of "MR. PAPER CLIP", "DEAD DOG" and a few other occasions from when we were traveling with the kids on our summer treks across the country in a station wagon and a pop up camper. I guess the laughter is always so much better because it is so unexpected. The usual grumps are smothered in giggles and guffaws and for those few moments LIFE IS GOOD!

A FANTASTIC WEEKEND

2011-11-29T18:17:00.000-05:00

Smith's first ride EVER.

Dancing to the live music

A weekend in Orlando with Smith is the next best thing to a hot fudge sundae! (I had one of those too)
We left our home on Friday with Kent driving the 4 adults and Smith in the big comfy caddie. It was a nice ride in style to the "Happiest Place On Earth". We were able to check into our Hilton Hotel that we got for $59 a night . . . thank you Hotwire . . . and get a little snack before we headed off to THE MARKET PLACE where Smith's Aunt Brie was working at Goofy's Candy shoppe. (Brie is doing a Disney internship and will be in Orlando for the year so she can get her sister Kristen and the family into the Disney parks for free. We visited Brie at work for about 10 minutes and took Smith on his first ever amusement part ride . . . a little train that went around a track about as big as my living room. The track was small, my living room is not that big.) Smith wasn't too sure about this whole thing but quickly got into it and had his mom take him on a second time. From there we went on the carosel and then did some dancing on the deck while the grown ups had a beer and rested our feet. The next day was our adventure to ANIMAL KINGDOM. When you travel with a one and a half year old you get up and get moving bright and early. . . . which was great because the park was nice and empty so Smith got to meet the characters with no crowds around. He seemed to like Thumper the best but seemed to like every character he met. We had a great day at the park and even though Smith didn't get a nap he hung in there and we all had a great time.

Is Smith afraid of the sea monster or grandma?

Unfortunately that night was not a good one for Smith and his mom and dad. Poor little guy was up a LOT during the night but by Sunday morning breakfast he was doing great. Good thing because the 2 hour ride home took us 4 hours, thanks to all the Thanksgiving travelers.
But we made it home safe and sound and from what I hear Smith has slept like a rock the past 2 nights.

Now its time to get focused on Christmas and start decorating, shopping, wrapping, etc. etc.
When all I want to do is rest it isn't going to be easy. I"m sure you'll hear more about that in my next blog.

Getting into this ride thing

Lovin' thumper

Can you find Goofy? (He's wearing a brown shirt)

GREAT WEEKEND

2011-11-28T16:07:00.000-05:00

Too bad you will have to wait to hear about our fantastic weekend in Orlando with Smith and his family.
I ate a ton of walnuts and have such a pain in my abdomen as of last night and today. I can't sit up so I can't blog.
Hang in there because the weekend was so great and we got a ton of super pictures.

THANKS GIVING

2011-11-24T22:04:00.000-05:00

Went to mass this morning for Thanksgiving and was very glad I did. Our pastor started his sermon with a reminder that the FIRST THANKSGIVING was celebrated by the pilgrims . . . who had lost three quarters of their people in that first year after arriving in America. The pilgrims came here for religious freedom and suffered terribly from the moment they left England. People died terrible deaths and yet when the year was over the remaining pilgrims took time to GIVE THANKS!
Makes you stop and think a bit. So you don't have a job right now . . . Do you have a family who loves you? Do you have your health? Do you have clothes to wear? DO YOU LIVE IN AMERICA?
I know these are tough times and, believe me, I am more than blessed in all I have, but there isn't a day that goes by that I don't stop to say "THANK YOU GOD!" for everything I have.
I know it isn't easy to say, "Thank You" when you are down but no matter how far down you get there is always something to be thankful for. STOP looking at the "Poor me, I don't haves" and start searching for what you DO have. It may not be easy to find something but keep looking and then work up from there. If you're not 6 feet under with worms crawling through you then you've got something to say Thank you for. No more pissing and moaning folks . . . it's THANKS GIVING TIME !

THE BEST DAY !

2011-11-21T16:48:00.000-05:00

FEEDING DAD A COOKIE

Who is the cutest boy in Florida?

Kent, Mookie the dog and Smith came up to our house today to help grandpa with some chores. There was some screen repair, some tree trimming and the planting of grandma's avocado tree that I grew from a seed. (It is now 4 feet tall and ready to go into the ground. I hope!)
The big boys had a good time being manly, flexing their muscles and doing "MAN" stuff. Smith and I had the very best, most fantastic time ever just being ourselves. Usually when any of the grand kids come for a visit it involves preparation, cooking, cleaning, scheduling and planning. This was just the best hang out with grandma day ever because we didn't cook or clean or plan anything.

Hi Grandma, is this the snack drawer?

Smith and Kent arrived around 10 and because Smith had slept in the car he was ready to go. The big boys got started on their projects and Smith and I headed for the garage where all the toys are kept. I let him pick out what ever he wanted to play with and we even took some time out to paint on the easel. That's a first for this little guy and he wasn't too sure what to make of it. His reaction to the dripping paint was "MESSY". Yep, that's what he told me. From there we moved into the living room with an arm load of toys which we spent all of about 2 minutes playing with. The all time hit of today was a little pink doll stroller. At first Smith tried sitting in it but it was a little too small so he took to pushing/ carrying it around the house. Any time it got stuck he would pick it up and move it. At one point we were out on the side lawn trying to push it in the grass and that just wasn't happening.
Then we headed for the back yard and it didn't take long for Smith to have his feet in the pool splashing around. Luckily it was time for dad to stop for lunch so after Smith ate he went down for a nap and the grown ups took a much needed rest. When little man got up from his nap he and I headed back to the pool where we did some naked (Smith, not me) swimming. We must have spent a half hour at least with Smith jumping off the edge into my arms in the water. Several jumps landed Smith under water but he came up laughing and ready for more. He really is very comfortable with the water and even though the water temp in the pool is a cool 78 degrees it didn't bother either one of us. WE HAD A BLAST !
I am now ready for a nap ! I bet Smith is sleeping on the ride home. I know Kent wanted a nap and Ger is looking pretty comfy and quiet in his chair. A good day for everyone!
WE will see this happy little man on Thursday for Thanksgiving, along with Ger's brother Tom and his wife, Joan. Then on Friday Smith and family and Ger and I will head up to Orlando for a couple of days. Smith's Aunt Brie is working with Disney and can get us into the parks for free. Unfortunately the Magic Kingdom is not included in this plan because it is a holiday week but I honestly think Smith will enjoy the animals at Animal Kingdom more than anything at Magic Kingdom. Smith loves ANIMALS !
Should be fun!

TALK TO THE HAND . . . PUPPET

2011-11-20T16:41:00.000-05:00

I was cleaning out the guest room today and I found a cute little mouse puppet that I had bought years ago. Mouse and I are now best friends.
For those of you who haven't seen the Mel Gibson movie, "THE BEAVER" I'll give you a very brief synopsis. Mel is having coping problems and leaves his job, wife, family and in the midst of a drunken stupor he stumbles upon a hand puppet of a beaver. This becomes his life line to the world. Through the hand puppet Mel is able to say all the things that he is unable to say on his own. People of course think he is totally crazy but he turns his world around. I GET IT !
So there I was today trying to have a conversation with H when I decided "This is impossible". The MOUSE hand puppet will now be my go to place when I need to talk. (That and my blog!) Talking to H is like talking to a water melon or a door or a chair or, well, a beaver or a mouse. I know better than to talk to him when he is sitting in front of the TV (right there that eliminates about 40 hours of the day) but being in front of the TV AND watching FOOTBALL is such a combination that I can't make sense of anything the man says. I stupidly was trying to tell Ger something and the conversation got so OVER THE TOP ridiculous that I finally just agreed with what ever H was saying and ended the conversation.
Enter THE MOUSE . . . We had a very nice chat, made total sense to me and the mouse and all the stomach pains and head ache went away.
It is amazing what you can learn from the movies.

INTERNET OVER LOAD !

2011-11-18T18:41:00.000-05:00

Unlike what H said the other day, I AM NOT ON THE COMPUTER ALL DAY as he is in front of the TV. BUT . . . when I do get playing/working on the beastly Internet I am, at times, totally over whelmed with LOG IN'S !
First, let me say I LOVE this MAC. There is nothing better and I will NEVER EVER go back to a PC. You can take your windows and shut them tight because they will never be a match for Mac. That said . . . my brain gets quite frazzled at times trying to remember the pass word/ sign in name / code ? what ever for every single thing that I have to log into an account for. I know this is for my protection but for crying out loud who is going to sabotage my blog? I'm sure you would notice something was wrong if suddenly there was a witty entry EVERY DAY. You would know for sure it wasn't me. And if the blogs were cheery and up beat without a single piss or moan you would know it wasn't me.
How does the rest of the world handle this problem of "SECRET PASSWORDS" for everything? I have a little black book which, if I can find it at any given time, contains all my passwords. But then I come up with a new account some place and don't want to use the same password over and over so I create something very clever that I can't possibly forget so I don't bother to write it in the little black book that would take me an hour to find. You know that the next time I log into that new account I can't remember the password to save my soul.
But better than all that are the accounts that you HAVE the log in address, you HAVE the account access name and you think you HAVE the password and yet you can not log in no matter what you do. I have typed and retyped passwords in various languages and I still can't get into MY account. Do you really think there is someone out there who WANTS to pay my E-Zpass bill ? I don't think so ! Every time I go to that damn account I end up having to call them on the T E L E P H O N E and change the password and clear up what ever business I have with them. And yet sure enough, next time I need to log in to my account . . .I DOESN'T WORK! FRUSTRATING ! I really don't think it is me causing the problem but then again, that is quite possible.
Another thing I have to say is that I am very happy to have in my bag of tricks the ability to type at a fairly good pace. Nothing like my kids but I do hold my own. That I can thank my dad for. He was always a fantastic typist having worked for Western Union way back in the day when telegrams were the means of "QUICK" communication. He could type faster than anyone I knew. I used to love it when he would let me use his ancient type writer. What was that old sentence that you would type so you got to use every letter on the key board? Something like "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog". The stuff I remember . . . and yet . . . what was my pass word to log on to this site?

CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN THIS TO ME ?

2011-11-17T19:30:00.000-05:00

WHAT ARE THE WALL STREET PROTESTERS PROTESTING? I am quite serious . . . I don't know. I have read articles and watched YouTube and I still don't get it. AND how does burning the city,(a direct quote from one of the protesters) and/or taking over the NYC subway system accomplish anything?
Sharon, I know you are reading this and I really do want to understand this. I get the "Tea Party" group. They are unhappy with the way our country is headed and, like myself, just don't know what to do to change things. So far I haven't seen any one suggest burning down the capital or taking over the trains. I look at the pictures of both groups and see all the young people protesting wall street. That is good, it's the young folks who are going to be running this country and they need to be involved. But do you want your future government run like a dictatorship, where if you don't agree with them they will just burn your house down and kill your family? That is the mentality that I am seeing here. Yes, they are young and they are angry but I also think they are misguided. I don't want to live in a country ruled by violence. There are plenty of those around already. What happened to our democracy? Yes, the people should be heard but do you hear the screaming of your 2 year old who is throwing a tantrum because they don't like something or do you hear the voice of your parent or grandparent who wants to discuss things with you?
I'm not happy with our country. I haven't been happy with where it's been heading for many many years. NOT just this present administration but all our political leaders for the past 20 or so years. They are NOT listening to the people. The people of our country are frustrated and angry but throwing tantrums and stamping our feet will get us no where fast. We still live in the greatest country on earth and it is time for us to realize that we need to work together, not split apart any more than we already are. Never mind Democrat/Republican . . . liberal/conservative . . . WE ARE AMERICANS ! And until we stop separating ourselves into groups screaming at each other we will never get past this mess.
Did you ever stop to think that maybe this is EXACTLY what our enemies want ! Stir up the pot and then sit back and watch us self destruct.
I think if we would ALL stop looking at what is WRONG and start working on what is RIGHT maybe we could make some progress. What IS working? How can we incorporate that into other areas that aren't working as well. Come on people . . . we are SMART ! Let's figure this out without all the yelling and screaming.

WHAT TO SAY ?

2011-11-16T17:31:00.000-05:00

Last night I was all set to sit down and blog when H told me I am on the computer too much. This coming from the man who sits in front of the TV 8 hours a day. (I counted them up and YES . . . he watched TV for eight hours yesterday!)
Now it is another day and my brain is blank. Well, not really. My brain is never blank. It never stops for a minute and that is a bother some times. Forget meditation, it just isn't happening cause I can't get my brain to shut off. My brain isn't even quiet when I sleep because I dream non stop all night long.
The other night I was reading a "trashy magazine" and there was an article about Justin Timberlake. It said he smokes pot to quiet his brain. He gets it through a doctor. I WANT SOME POT ! For some reason I missed the entire druggie era and never smoked a joint in my life. That is on my "bucket list" for sure. It might be just the thing I need to calm myself down. Like last night when H told me I am on the computer too much, that put my brain into overload and I talked to myself for an hour. Even the happy pills I take don't help in shutting down the whirl wind that is my mind. (BTW . . . the computer remark was in response to my mentioning that maybe the reason the TV is buzzing is because it is on too much.) (I SWEAR THAT IS ALL I SAID!) About mid way through the evening last night the TV suddenly started to buzz and have static lines run across the screen. That along with everyone looking very PINK made us think we had a problem. At first H tried to tell me it wasn't the TV that was buzzing. I will admit that I did THINK "WTF?" but just SAID "Why don't you turn it off and see if the sound goes away . . . DEAR" Anyone care to take a bet on what happened to the noise once the TV was turned off? Like we have a swarm of bees flying through the den causing a loud BUZZ . . . or maybe it is my teeth vibrating when I am grinding them too hard? SERIOUSLY . . . So, the TV has a buzz and the color is off again. Today we packed up the TV and brought it back to Best Buy where it was purchased only 10 months ago. The kid plugged it in and TA DA . . . NO BUZZ . . . NO PINK PEOPLE. The "Geek Squad" told us they would leave it plugged in for a half hour or so to see if it started to buzz but we couldn't leave the store. We packed up the TV and brought it home where H had me plug it in (he doesn't have a clue) and there he has sat for the past 4 hours.
So far it isn't buzzing. It will wait to do that right about 8:00 tonight when Survivor comes on.

WHAT HAPPENED TO COMMON SENSE ?

2011-11-13T19:02:00.000-05:00

Lets start with a question for you . . . WHO DO YOU THINK SHOULD BE PAID MORE
YOUR CONGRESSMAN OR YOUR CHILD'S TEACHER ?

If you have one ounce of common sense you answered "MY CHILD'S TEACHER" ! It makes all the sense in the world to me that the person you are putting in charge of your child's education should make more money than the idiot who is assisting in the demise of our country. If we don't educate our children we will raise a nation of uneducated idiots who will toss the future of our country into the dumpster.
Two of my children are educators and neither of them is making 1/3 what a congressman makes. WHY ?
Oh yea, teachers only work 10 months a year . . . congress men work less than that . . . by far !
Teachers are entrusted with teaching your child how to read, write, spell, add, subtract, eat healthy, use proper English, use proper hygiene, have safe sex, drive, stay away from drugs and alcohol and you name it, the teacher is teaching it because in many/most cases mom and dad are working 2 or 3 jobs just to make ends meet because the GOVERNMENT is taxing mom and dad up the wazoo. But that same government is paying itself a might fine salary!
FOR WHAT ?????? I know my congressman is NOT representing me . . . he hasn't voted for a single thing that I believe in nor has he/she USED AN OUNCE OF COMMON SENSE.
I am really pissed that my son has not had a raise in 4 years. I am really pissed that my son has to take 3 days off without pay next week because the county doesn't have enough money to pay him and his fellow teachers. BUT the county will start paying merit pay to teachers whose students perform well on tests. Yet we will force the schools to close so the teachers have less time to teach while we add 20 new things to the curriculum while making pay cuts to teachers who are making less than $35,000 a year.
Write your local congressman and tell him to take a $100,000 pay cut and work twice as hard and see how he likes it !

SNUGGLE ALERT !

2011-11-11T19:07:00.000-05:00

It is fun living in Florida. It is such an unusual place and there are so many unusual things here that I am constantly entertained. Tonight's blog comes to you compliments of NBC News, West Palm Beach's weather man, Steve Weagle, or as we fondly refer to him . . .STEVIE WEEGIE ! This guy is GREAT! He is probably the best weather man on the planet or at least in Southern Florida. He actually gets the weather report right. If he says it's going to rain, it rains. IF he says it will be hot, it's hot. (That really isn't too much of a stretch since this is SOUTH Florida.) If Steve says the hurricane will not hit us, we don't bother to "batten down the hatches". Steve is the wizard of weather! And his forecast for tonight is a
"SNUGGLE ALERT". I am sitting here in my flannel PJ pants and a sweat shirt. The AC has been turned off for at least a week now and the windows have been open to the wonderful Florida breezes but tonight all the windows and doors are shut tight. The temperatures are going DOWN to 55! OMG ! Break out the fleece and the blankets, the hats and mittens, the snow shoes and muck-a-lucks, we're in for a cold spell!
I sure hope you're laughing by now because I am. You cannot imagine the hype over the temperature dropping 25 degrees. Not from my man Steve but from the news media in general. Any time the thermometer drops under 70 it is front page news. But I must admit I am COLD tonight. I was actually trying to enjoy the sun this afternoon but it was just too chilly so I had to come in. I realize that if I was still living in NY and the temp ROSE to 55 I'd be out in the yard in my bathing suit taking advantage of the HEAT WAVE. But we have become spoiled and anything lower than 70 is down right cold. But as bad as I am Husband is ridiculous! The man got up this morning and put on HEAVY jeans and a sweat shirt and stayed in that all day . . . even when it got up to 75 early this afternoon he remained dressed for a blizzard. Go Figure! Unlike H I change my clothes 20 times a day to be comfortable. I started out today in 3/4 length sleeve top and Capri pants. From there I went into my bathing suit until I actually tried to sit outside and then changed back into Capri's and a tee shirt. From that I am now into the flannel pants and sweat shirt. But come bed time I will have a window open cause there is nothing better than sleeping in a cold room. That was one of the big perks of our trip to Scotland this October. Most of the B&B's were cold at night but the beds all had great big down comforters on them. Those are just wonderful to snuggle under. But I wouldn't change my Florida living for the world. The idea of 75 degrees or better EVERY day for most of the year is just perfect with me. I'll think of you tomorrow when I get up in 50 degree weather and am basking in the sun a mere hour later loving the 75 degrees.

And as far as my "recovery" from the fender bender earlier this week. I got a rental car today . . . a little Toyota Camry that is mine to use, free of charge, for the time it takes to get my car fixed. I was back at the chiropractor today and even though my back and neck remain very tight I am feeling pretty good. Nothing some nice warm sunshine can't cure.

JUST COULDN'T DO IT !

2011-11-10T13:21:00.000-05:00

NO lawyer for me thank you ! I just got up this morning after thinking and thinking and talked with Ger about this whole going to a lawyer thing. We both feel that the reason you go to a lawyer is that you are having a PROBLEM with someone and you need legal back up to get what is fair for you. That isn't the case here so I just couldn't see going through someone who is only going to get paid by making our "case" into something it isn't. My insurance company has been fantastic. They were very helpful and pleasant on the phone and they all speak ENGLISH without an Indian accent. The insurance company has appraised the damage to my car within 20 hours after the accident. They have come up with a fair amount for the body shop and have already paid the body shop for the towing. The body shop is already working on my car and has no problem with the insurance company. As for medical coverage for me and the chiropractor who is treating me for slight whip lash and back ache, my insurance company is also paying 100% there. So why do I need a lawyer ?
I got up this morning and called the lawyer and cancelled our appointment for today and it felt like the weight of the world was lifted from my shoulders. I just was not comfortable making this into something it wasn't and if, Heaven forbid, I run into problems down the road, I have the name of a good lawyer I can contact.

SPINNING HEAD

2011-11-09T18:34:00.000-05:00

My head is spinning but not in the "Rosmary's Baby sort of way, more like, "WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING?" This is a direct result of yesterdays fender bender smash up. Between insurance company calls I am tied to the telephone and my rapidly growing list of notes. Thus the decision to introduce a blood sucking leach into the equation. Totally against every fiber of my being I am going to a lawyer because of this accident. Not to sue anyone but to get someone who knows the in's and out's of accident law proceedings. The big push in my mind to go this route is because the guy that hit me was driving a "company" car so the added issues of dealing with a company and their insurance rather than just Joe Schmoe and his insurance is a no brainer.

It all started when I got up this morning at the crack of dawn to a phone call from the insurance adjuster from my company. He had just inspected my car (People actually function at 8:30 in the morning?) and against my hopes for a Caddy, my car is NOT totaled but has $5,100 worth of damage. The next call was from the auto body shop wanting to get going on chopping off the entire back end of my car and putting a new one on. (I wonder if they could do that for me? My back end is pretty saggy these days too.) Since I still have not heard from the man's insurance company I am not doing anything and from what I hear I may not hear from the other insurance company because they have to go through all sorts of channels within the car owners company. By the time I got off the phone my head was starting to spin and my neck and back were aching. I slept O.K. last night but I definitely can feel the residual effect in my neck and back. When I was making the bed and got a shooting pain up the right side of my butt I decided I better get my butt back to the chiropractor for another adjustment.

As it turns out a chiropractor CANNOT, by law, do any adjustment on a patient after an auto accident before doing a complete set of X-Rays. So now the money in my pocket is starting to dribble out, thanks to the smash up derby that took place yesterday. My chiropractor advised us to get a lawyer to handle all the legal BS and the insurance companies so we have now officially joined the ranks of society who keep lawyers in business. It is killing me to do this because Ger and I always feel things work out the way they are supposed to . . . and maybe they will. But just in case I'm glad I watched all those Perry Mason shows so I know what to do and say.

And if you don't know who Perry Mason is you are too young to be reading this blog!

CRASH !

2011-11-08T22:12:00.000-05:00

I'M O.K. Let's get that out of the way first . . . my car . . . not so much !
I got up this morning feeling like I had a load of cement in my back and legs so I called the chiropractor and got an appointment to come in and get straightened out. On my way home my car was hit from behind and the damage doesn't look good. Want to guess if the driver of the car that hit me was on his cell phone or not? Of course he was ! I must say it scared the do do out of him and he totally admitted to being at fault. Not just an admission to me but to the police who showed up in a matter of seconds.
I was stopped at a light with cars in front of me and looked in my rear view mirror and saw that I was about to be hit. For a split second I thought the guy just might stop but I was braced for the hit and sure enough . . . . . WHAM ! He did try to swerve to the right at the last minute so the right side of my car got the worst of it but the entire bumper is hanging off and the right tail light looks like a Halloween eye ball just dangling by a wire. The trunk popped open and will never shut again because the entire trunk opening is out of shape. I'm hoping the insurance company totals the car cause then I just might get that Caddy I have been dreaming of. (Used of course) The other driver worked for a Lab where he drove around picking up specimens from all over the place and he was on his phone talking with his company when he hit me. I think he had one extra specimen on the seat of his car after hitting me.
What I couldn't believe was that I was so cool and collected. I pulled over and dug out my phone and dialed 911. The cops were there before I even got my car off the road. What service! GO PALM BEACH GARDENS POLICE ! The cops were awesome and really concerned about my well being. The other driver got a ticket for distracted driving. My second call was to Ger who showed up in a matter of minutes. I think he was worried we wouldn't get to go out to dinner . . . JUST KIDDING ! Ger was excellent and a big help. He comes through when I need him.
So now I have no car, spent the afternoon on the phone with my insurance company and probably need to go back to the chiropractor tomorrow for another adjustment. All things considered it was a good day. No one was hurt and it gave me something to blog about.

A MORNING AT THE ZOO

2011-11-07T16:41:00.000-05:00

I found out on Sunday that places actually open for business before 10 AM. I couldn't believe it myself but Ger, Kent, Kristen, Smith and I were AT the Palm Beach Zoo at 9:25 AM this Sunday morning. IT WAS WONDERFUL once I got my bones out of bed and moving in a direction.
Kent and Family came up for the weekend and we had a wonderful time. At least Smith and I did! The weather was cool so we didn't go in the back yard pool but we did go for a swim down the block at our community pool on Sunday afternoon, after Smith's nap. WE tired out the little man walking around the zoo for 3 hours in the morning and it was great fun. When we got there the zoo had just been open for 25 minutes so the place was EMPTY ! The animals were active and it was great to walk through with a 15 month old. Smith walked on his own most of the way with a few interludes in the stroller. We got to see the BIG black bear right in front of us. The bear was moving around checking out the pieces of pumpkin that were there for him to nibble on but he really didn't seem very interested. The otters had a small pumpkin floating in their pool but they were too busy grooming each other and the raccoon was having a feast eating all the pumpkin he had. I guess Halloween is over at the zoo.
We stopped for an early lunch at the snack bar and Smith devoured 3 chicken fingers and half his dads french fries. I guess all the walking gave him a good appetite. Our last stop before leaving the zoo was a visit to Mr. & Mrs. Tiger and their 3 little cubs who are not so little any more. The cubs were born in the spring, much to the delight of all us zoo goers, and they are growing so fast.
All in all it was a great day and as soon as I get my camera working I'll add some pictures.

HOME

2011-11-03T20:57:00.000-04:00

Home is where my bed is. My heart is still in Maryland and England with my grand kids. It's been a month and a week of travel to see the children and we miss them when they aren't around but home is where I long to be right now.
Home is where my comfy bed is . . . not Roman's double bed that Ger and I get to squish into while Roman gets to sleep in the top bunk in Abby's room. It's also not the sofa bed in son-in-law Steve's office that I find strangely comfortable with all its "nooks and crannies" that fit the shape of my body perfectly. These beds are wonderful when falling into them after an exhausting day with the kids but MY bed is still the best.

2 little cheese balls !

on the play ground

Reading the funnies.

Home is where my computer is . . . the one that doesn't skip off the page and delete everything I have just written because of an accidental brush of my hand on the key board.
Home is where my car is . . . the one that is easy to get in and out of now that my bones are hurting from all the playing on the floor with the kids.
Home is where my vitamins are . . . the ones that I counted out and set up for daily consumption while I was away and then left them on the kitchen counter. (That glucosamine really DOES work as I find out when I don't take it for over a week!)
Home is where all my "projects" are . . . the ones that occupy my time when I don't have grand kids to occupy me. I'd rather play with the kids any day but that isn't possible so I have "projects".
Home is where all our favorite restaurants are . . . Moes for taco salad lunches and Juno Beach Fish House for wonderful fish dinners. Lunches and dinners that I don't have to cook myself and clean up after.
Home is where I don't get dish pan hands because I almost never wash dishes. They just go in the dish washer and that is that. When there are grand kids involved it seems you are always washing something. From clothes to dishes to "drop zone mats" on the floor under Kaelin's and Finn's chairs to spills and silly string on the tree out side.
Home is where my HUGE bath tub is with the bubbles and candles and aroma therapy. A quick shower before bed just isn't the same.
Home is where there is no waking up before 10 AM!
Home is where I belong, even though I LOVE LOVE LOVE being with these amazing little people I do enjoy returning home to all my comforts.
It is in the high seventies here today, a breeze is blowing and it is just perfect! There is NO SNOW in the forecast, the cold front will only drop the temperature into the LOW 70's and I can once again put the coats, jackets, sweaters, hats and gloves back in the closet to await our next visit North of South Florida.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN HALLOWEEN HALLLOWEEN

2011-10-30T22:18:00.000-04:00

Kaelin is confused. Halloween has been going on here in Southern Florida for the past 4 days and Kaelin is totally Halloweened out before the actual holiday arrives. A few weeks ago Kaelin and her mom were shopping and Kaelin saw a bride dress costume. She had already decided she was going to be Snow White, a costume that Uncle Kyle and Aunt Bridget had sent to Kaelin for her third birthday. Kaelin loves her Snow White costume and will often wear it to church, shopping or any other time when the mood strikes her. Keri had gotten Kaelin sparkly red shoes to go with her costume so when the bride costume entered the picture mom had to pause. But then Kaelin announced that she would be Snow White this Halloween and a bride NEXT Halloween. Problem solved! Until we had 3 Halloweens.
We arrived in Maryland on Wednesday and were delighted to see our wonderful little grand kids. Finn has grown so much in the past 4 months he is a completely different child. We left a little 3 month old infant and returned to a 7 month old little man. He is rolling all over the place and making all sorts of sounds. Finley thinks his big sister is the funniest thing in the world and just laughs and smiles when ever she is around. Heaven help you if Kaelin is in the room when you are trying to feed Finn because his complete attention is on his sister. Our days have been spent playing with the 2 kids and helping out where we can. Thursday Keri came home from school with a mission for all of us. A friend of hers from school needed help with her 2 kids because their dad was in the hospital after emergency open heart surgery. The help involved picking up Ben (6) and his sister, Kate (17) . . . taking the kids to dinner, Kate to band practice and Ben trick or treating at his sister's high school. Ger, Kaelin and I left Finn with Steve and we all met Keri and her charges at a pizza place. Mid way through dinner Keri took Kate to the high school, returned and we all then went back to the high school to trick or treat the Halloween decorated school. Kaelin was Snow White and looked adorable and had a great time collecting a TON of candy. That was Halloween #1
Halloween #2 was Saturday evening when Kaelin got to trick or treat at THE WHITE HOUSE, which was orange.(Wonderfully decorated and lit up with orange lights the White house looked amazing.) Keri's school was given 300 tickets for trick or treating at the white house at 6:45PM. They had a lottery and Keri got 3 tickets for her and her family. Since grandma and grandpa were here we were able to stay home with Finn while the rest of the group left for Washington DC. This time Kaelin was dressed in her pumpkin costume because it was a cold cold night and her costume could go on over her sweat shirt, coat, and 2 pairs of pants. The trick or treaters had a great time and it was a once in a life time treat. Kaelin was so exhausted she fell asleep in the car on the way home and was totally confused this morning as to how she got home and into her bed. The poor little thing was still tired so when mom asked her what costume Kaelin wanted to wear to TRUNK OR TREATING at their church today Kaelin naturally said she wanted to wear her BRIDE COSTUME. Keri, being just as confused told Kaelin they were going to be a bride NEXT Halloween. To which Kaelin replied, "But this IS the NEXT Halloween".
She went to church in a dress . . . no costume. She played games at the church party, went on a hay ride and went trunk or treating in the parking lot. And that is the end of Halloween. Sure hope no one comes to her door tomorrow in costume because as far as we are all concerned, Halloween is OVER for this year.

NO REASON TO BITCH

2011-10-25T13:12:00.001-04:00

I had a full blown bitch fest ready but decided to check my mail first. That took the wind out of my petty complaints. A good friend from many years gone past has once again fallen off the wagon and is in the hospital with kidney failure. It doesn't sound good!
Husband's stupid inability to communicate doesn't amount to a hill of beans thanks to my faith. Over the years God has helped me to learn how I have to change to accommodate the idiots around me. ( Just another case of the world being crazy and I am fine!) But it has seriously helped me to cope and hold this marriage together. H just isn't a communicator in any way shape or form. He digresses to his Neanderthal means of grunting and I have had to learn to interpret. Today's debacle of his "helping" get something from the attic was classic. Him yelling "GET THIS . . . GET THIS" and me not having a clue as to what the hell he wants me to do. I was quite tempted to just let the attic stairs drop on his dumb ass head but a quick prayer and a quick assessment of the situation helped me to figure out what he hell he wanted me to do.
I guess our dear friend "X" never got past communications 101. He has been troubled for years but never let on that he had problems. "X", like husband was a good Irish Catholic with a classic Irish Catholic mother. This is a sure fire track to disaster. These men do not allow them selves to "FEEL". They just do as they are told and as they were taught living in their totally dysfunctional families. NOTHING WRONG WITH THEM! Heaven forbid you should even suggest that! They just go along driving the people they love further and further away and then can't understand why you want nothing to do with them.
Sorry to say I have shut down my hope for a better future for "X" and who ever else you care to read into this. Some times it just is what it is and we can't change anything so we just resort to prayer. I'll add poor "X" to my hourly prayers and hopefully God will help us all.
In the mean time I am retiring to the computer to put it all in type and get it out of my heart, soul and head before I buy that gun.

GRAND KID UP DATE

2011-10-23T15:07:00.000-04:00

We just had an overnight with Smith and it was GREAT ! Mom and dad had a Halloween party to attend at Kristen's work place so they invited us down to spend the evening with our little man. WE arrived in the late afternoon on Saturday and took Smith and the dog out for a walk through the neighborhood. Smith's favorite pastime, at 15 months old, is to look for the "DUCK DUCKS" that roam the neighborhood and swim past his back yard. And because he feeds the ducks they are usually on the look out for him also.
Yesterdays walk was extra fun because we found a boat in some one's driveway and some Halloween decorations. Smith is a very curious and friendly little dude who loves walking up peoples drive ways and knocking on their front doors. Thankfully his "knock knock" is very quiet which gives grandma time to run up the drive way and scoop him up before anyone can hear him at their door.
Unfortunately there were no ducks to be seen yesterday so we just walked through the neighborhood calling "DUCK DUCK". Little man is talking up a storm and when we got back to the house for dinner he and I had big chats together. Smith helped me heat up the pasta and sauce I had brought down and pulled out all the pots from the cabinets to make an obstacle course for grandma in the kitchen. When dinner was ready grandpa, Smith and I sat together and ate. Smith communicates his wants and dislikes in very clear nodding and head shaking. I could ask him if he wanted more or if he was full and he could tell me! He knows the word "DOWN" for when he is finished calls "PA PA" when he wants his grandpa.
After bath time grandpa read Smith 20 or so books and then the little guy went right to sleep without a complaint. (The book reading consists of picking out a book, turning all the pages and getting another book.) I'd say we had a fantastic evening! Smith slept through the night with one wake up call at 3 AM. Smith's dad came to the rescue on that one and little man returned to sleep till almost 7 AM. Since we were on such a high we took Smith and the dog for an early morning walk and then Smith, grandpa and I all went out to breakfast at "Donalds" ,(Mac Donalds to you and me) Smith was still in his jammies cause grandma didn't want to wake mom and dad rummaging around for a change of clothes. I'm sure it's not the first kid to go for breakfast in his jammies! Donalds was decorated for Halloween and Smith was loving looking at all the witches, ghosts and pumpkins hanging from the ceiling. He ran around the place pointing at everything. When grandpa arrived with the food Smith sat up and ate pancakes, sausage, eggs, "home fries" and part of a biscut. Not to mention the entire glass of OJ that he drank. Ger and I just keep watching him eat and couldn't believe it. I think this may become a ritual for us.
AS for the rest of the grand kids . . . Abby and Roman are on holiday AGAIN and are spending 5 or so days on the Isle of WIGHT with their mom and dad. WE are curious to hear about the trip and add it to our list of places we would like to visit on our next trip across the pond. The 6 weeks of school and week vacation schedule sure agrees with all the London Lawlors. There is nothing not to love about it. Abby and Roman will be home in time for Halloween but there didn't seem to be any big plans, last we heard.
Unlike Miss Kaelin who will be TRICK OR TREATING at the White House this year ! Keri got 3 tickets from her school so she and Steve and Kaelin will be in Washington DC on Halloween evening getting treats from the President himself. (I doubt that but they will be at the White House). Grandma and Grandpa will be at Kaelin's house handing out goodies for the masses and taking care of Finley. Ger says we have the better end of the deal! Should be fun no matter what!
Once we return from our Kaelin and Finn visit we should be remaining in Florida for some time. It has been better than beautiful down here these last few days. Temps in the high 70's and sun sun sun !
Too bad I am so tired I just keep sleeping half the day.

CONFESSIONS

2011-10-21T22:22:00.000-04:00

Pull up a chair and put in your ear plugs cause I don't know where this will lead me.
I started out this morning ready to do a rant on Husband because we have spent WAY too much time TOGETHER for the past 2 months and it is wearing REAL thin. But then I logged into my blog spot and there was my favorite blog, K. LAW: INSPIRED and I naturally stopped to read the latest from my daughter-in-law in Ft. Lauderdale. I just happen to think this young woman is so talented in her writing and pretty much everything she tackles. Her blogs make my day as she is usually either ranting about something that I can OH SO identify with or she is writing about my grandson and son. There are rants about the boys but I totally know where she is coming from because unfortunately her husband is a clone of his father . . . dear old H. The boy does try to fight the genetic magnet that draws him to the same behaviors as his dad but it is a VERY difficult battle and some time the family genes are just too strong to fight. And that is when we hear about it on THE BLOG.
Kristen is the one who got me blogging and it is the best therapy yet. Like me, we find it terribly therapeutic to spit up our thoughts and anger and throw them out there where the world can help make it all go away. It is like confession in the Catholic church . . . confess your sins and they are GONE! Well, the blog works the same way. Except Kristen has people who respond to her blog, negative and positive so she then has to deal with them. Thank you readers for NOT responding. I basically don't want to know I am WRONG in so many of my thinks so I do appreciate your keeping your opinions to yourself. (Unless, of course, you think I am right on, then feel free to call me!)

Before I log off for the night I do want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE VERY BEST DAUGHTER/WIFE/MOM IN THE WORLD. Happy birthday to my beautiful daughter Keri!
I love you and am so in awe of what an amazing young woman you are. Love, moms

I LOVE A RAINY DAY !

2011-10-18T20:12:00.000-04:00

My BFF thinks there is something wrong with me because while she and the rest of the world cover their heads on these rainy days and wish for nothing more than to sleep the day away, I am up and ready to go go go ! I LOVE rainy days. The gloomier the better . . . bring it on . . . these days fire up my energy and I am just aching to get into the thousand projects I have been putting off for months. It bugs me to have to go out on such days as I want nothing more than to just stay home and clean out drawers that haven't been cleaned in years. It is like a great treasure hunt to see what I can find to get into. Trouble is the rain doesn't last long enough and now I have 42 projects all in some stage of completion that will not be touched again for another couple of months and the next rainy spell.
It has been a very rainy season for Florida this year but since we were in Europe with 80 degrees and sunshine I didn't get to take advantage of our Florida monsoons. Now that we are back I have enjoyed the past 2 days except for having to leave my nest and go out on errands. Today we started the day with breakfast out because we had some chores to do but once we got home around noon it was HEAVEN! Ger just plopped in front of the TV and left me to my puttering. Such a smart man. It did pour most of the day and tonight we even have a tornado watch till 10 PM. That does NOT excite me and I often wonder how I would know if there was a tornado coming and what I would do if one did arrive over our heads. Florida homes do not typically have basements and they DO typically have lots and lots of windows and glass doors. Not great in a tornado I am sure. About the only place in the house without windows is the small bathroom inside the front door and our bedroom walk in closet. I guess I'd head for the closet because I really don't think I want to be cooped up in a bathroom with Husband. That is a little too close quarters for me. Let's just hope there are no tornadoes.
Our daughter, Keri, lives in Southern Maryland where there are often rogue tornadoes blowing through. They have a county alarm that sounds when a tornado is in the area. Keri doesn't have a basement either and none of her rooms are without windows so when the alarm goes off she & Steve grab the kids and head across the street to the neighbors house that has a "tornado room" in the basement. They have had the pleasure of sharing this room with their neighbors on more than one occasion and I for one am very thankful that they have such good neighbors.
Tornadoes are nasty things that are sneaky and mean. Hurricanes just stagger around and blow wind and rain at you but you know they are coming for weeks in advance. Not so with tornadoes. NO warning at all so if I suddenly stop writing you'll know ______________________________________

Just kidding! But just in case I think I'll call it a night. Hope to see you tomorrow.

HOW I SPENT MY DAY . . .

2011-10-17T19:55:00.000-04:00

WAITING WAITING WAITING waiting WAITING WAITing
waiTING WaItINg wAItinG waitiNG and more waiting . . .

I was not in a doctors office, I was not at the DMV, I was in my son's condo WAITING for the cable dude! Apparently 11-2 is just a joke they tell people to cause you to actually think you will have the remainder of the day to actually DO something productive. Some where there is a very evil person sitting at their computer making up these ridiculous schedules for the cable dude and then giving false hope to customers.
The cable dude showed up at 6:03 THIS EVENING ! We had not had breakfast, we did not have a decent lunch, and there will be no dinner because my stomach is in such a knot and it is now 8PM so if I eat anything now I will be up throwing it up by midnight.

HOW WAS YOUR DAY ?

A GREAT AFTERNOON WITH SMITH

2011-10-16T21:08:00.000-04:00

It was Punkin Patch day . . . unfortunately the weather was not cooperating and as soon as Kent and family pulled into the parking area it started to rain. We had been invited to meet K,K & Smith at a pumpkin farm half way between each of our homes. Ger and I arrived a minute before they did and Smith had a totally baffled look on his face when Ger and I jumped into the back seat of his daddy's car. It was as if to say, "Who are these people?" That combined with his just having woken from a nap and a mind numbing ride in the car added to his confusion. K&K have been telling us how much Smith is talking but the little man didn't have a single word for us. When we all got out of the car amidst the hundreds of other pumpkin seeking Floridians, tractors passing us left, right and center, band music playing and rain starting to fall steadily we knew this wasn't going to be the "Perfect afternoon".
Ger and I are used to pumpkin picking crowds from our years of living in the "country" on Long Island. Each weekend in the fall the mobs of "City Folk" would flock to eastern Long Island to one or more of the numerous pumpkin farms. The traffic would be as bad as the summer when the same city folks would flock to our beaches. But at least there were lots of pumpkin farms to choose from. Florida is not quite as pumpkin friendly so the pickings are few and far between. Our pumpkin picking has been limited to Sams Club and Publix. That's why today's adventure sounded like a great idea. We didn't even consider that there is ONE pumpkin farm in the entire county of Palm Beach. I can't imagine what the crowd would have been like had the weather been nice.

As it was we lasted about a half hour. The rain started to increase and Smith and the rest of us just weren't feeling it. So back in our cars we went to find a Friendlies down the road where Smith had a hot fudge sundae all his own and the grown ups had some snacks. We gave out our gifts that we had brought from our trip to Europe and Smith played with the vacuum that one of the waitresses had left out after cleaning up some ones mess.
A good time was had by all!

SOME PICTURES FROM OUR TRIP

2011-10-14T22:05:00.000-04:00

A day in Paris

Going into Scotland

Loch Lomand

Scotland at in finest

Kilt Falls, Isle of Skye, Scotland

Outside Kyle and Bridget's house in Windsor

Roman flies his kite

Abby in her rugby uniform

Our sweet ride through England and Scotland

HOME

2011-10-14T21:50:00.000-04:00

Home is where your comfy bed is ! And I am not leaving mine for at least a week.
Arrived back in the good old U S of A yesterday and were home in our house by 9 last night. Good trip, quiet and uneventful. In all fairness I must tell you that Delta did a fine job of flying us to and from England . In the past I have mentioned that I hate Delta Airlines but for this trip all was well. Flights were on time, relatively comfortable, movies current and the food not half bad. Thank you Delta for making this trip across the pond a pleasant one.
As for leaving Jolly Olde England . . . it was a rough good-bye. There were tears all around and I just wanted to hang on to Abby and take her with me. My first grand child is special in so many ways that always make it super hard to leave her. Abby and Roman are doing fantastic together and just blossoming like the ever blooming English roses. I know the family is loving life in Windsor but I do prefer having them in Atlanta that is only a 9 hour car ride away rather than an entire days flight across the ocean. But leave them we did . . . along with the Haggis, tatties and neeps, clotted cream and scones, bangers and mash. All the culinary delights of the UK have been left behind so our first priority today was a trip to one of our favorite lunch spots for a HUGE salad. It seems that the British do not believe in SALAD as a food source. "Salad" is added as a garnish for many English foods but never served as a main meal. There are salads on some menus but they are listed as "tuna and corn" with a small fist full of some sort of greens or "egg and mayo", again served with green leafy things next to it. The greens served in England usually resemble something you might find growing by the side of the road. It is no wonder there are no salads on the menu because there are so many sheep and cows eating everything green that grows. The few remaining stalks of green that manage not to be eaten by the farm animals are harvested to throw on your plate should some one be fool enough to order SALAD. The UK is a meat and potatoes country and other than mushy peas or the corn that they insist on throwing into the tuna salad, I don't think I have ever seen another vegetable.
Today's chicken, pecan and avocado salad was FABULOUS but I really did wish I had some chips with it. I am going through "chip" withdrawal along with Abby and Roman withdrawal. The English not only do NOT serve salad, they DO serve chips, (that would be french fries to us) with EVERYTHING. I swear I had chips with my ice cream one day! If you would prefer what we call "chips" you must order "CRISPS". Today's salad did not come with chips or crisps, just the HUGE bowl of salad and chicken and avocado and pecans and yummy home made honey mustard dressing.
My heart is still in Windsor but my tummy and my back are very happy to be home in Florida and my own bed.
Sweet dreams !

SEEMS LIKE ONLY YESTERDAY

2011-10-11T17:57:00.000-04:00

Has it really been 4 weeks since we got here? It has been a whirl wind month of travel and we have had a great time. We are back in Windsor as of this afternoon after our Scottish holiday. We traveled half way down yesterday afternoon after doing a bus tour of Edinburgh and her imposing castle built on an impossibly high out crop of rock. It is a most impressive location for a castle and it was fun to do the tour and see the beautiful country side from so high a setting. We were quite taken with Edinburgh city and would love to return there some day. There was a lot to do and see that we just didn't have the time to explore. I never thought I would return to Scotland after 42 years so who knows what the future may bring.
Last night we got off the main highway and stayed in a "hotel" B&B in the town of Preston. We had driven about 3 hours and were tired after our morning of sight seeing in Edinburgh. We had no idea what we would find in Preston so when we stopped for petrol Ger asked about accommodations in the town. We were sent back a block or two to an old hotel that was now a B&B. These buildings are mostly 3-4 stories high with about 4 rooms on each floor. (No elevators for the British.) There were rooms available so once again we dragged our bags up the 3 flights of stairs to our rooms. The rooms are old but quiet and clean with comfy beds. It seems to be a custom over here to put a bottom sheet on the bed and then a duvet without a top sheet. Seems odd to us but when you are tired and wet and cold it does feel wonderful. We did take a walk up the street to a treasure of a restaurant that the B&B owner suggested. In the midst of the English country side in a town with a huge Muslim population we found the best Italian restaurant that I have ever eaten in, even in Italy! We all had some sort of pasta dish and maybe it was because we were going into Italian food withdrawal after 3 weeks of no Italian food, but let me tell you we REALLY enjoyed dinner last night. We all moaned and groaned our way back to the hotel in the rain swearing we would never eat again. At least until breakfast this morning.
Today's trip to Windsor took us a little longer than 3 hours, thanks to some very heavy traffic at times but it was uneventful. We had lunch in Windsor, did a little last minute shopping and then got "home" in time to greet Abby and Roman after school. They were so happy to see us and we had a great afternoon with them. This will only make it harder to leave them on Thursday when we have to catch our flight back to the US.
I guess we'll have to make the most of tomorrow and try to get all our purchases into our suitcases. I may have to wear ALL my clothes home so I can pack all the things I have bought on this trip. Maybe by doing that no one will notice the 40 pounds I gained !

RAIN RAIN RAIN RAIN RAIN RAIN

2011-10-08T15:48:00.000-04:00

Got the message ? The Isle of Skye is just incredible . . . too bad we didn't see a thing thanks to the rain and clouds and fog and mist and did I mention RAIN!
We arrived on Skye via a weird ferry that was on a round table so that when it landed next to the ramp it could rotate to let the landing barge drop so the cars can load and un load. There is a bridge to Skye as of 2002 but we on the bus chose to take the ferry which entailed driving on some pretty awesome one lane roads to get to and from the landing spots. Skye is one mess of volcanic mountains that you have to be insane to drive around on. Add to that the fact that you are driving in fog so thick you can't see, it made for an interesting day. Thanks to the expert driver of our mini bus we did great but really missed all the beautiful Skye panorama. But we had great fun anyway. We stopped in Skye's capitol city of Portree which has a rousing population of 1,500 people and one street with shops on it. There actually was a building to house the police, unlike another town we drove through that had a sign saying "POLICE" on a private home. Skye seems to consist of tourists, sheep and an occasional fuzzy cow. It seems that the cows in this area of Scotland have long hair and horns and are quite fuzzy and gentle. We didn't get the opportunity to see any up close and personal so we'll have to take Allen's word for it. Allen is our driver and tour guide and seems to find Ger quite amusing. Ger is sitting right up front so he and Allen can exchange side remarks now and again. The other 12 people on the bus have no idea what all the chuckling is about nor do they seem to care. We have quite an international group on this trip. We 3 Americans, a single mother and her 8year old daughter from Australia, a single woman traveling alone who is also from Australia. There are the 2 young women from China, a female teacher from Switzerland who has left her family for 3 weeks to do a practice teaching in Edinburgh, a young couple from Iran who are heading to Boston to live and a mother and grown daughter and son from Brazil. The language barrier isn't too bad because most speak fair English with the exception of the Brazilian mom.
So our trip to Skye was a bit disappointing but we did make a few wet stops and took some very wet pictures. The bus was warm and cozy so we were pretty content to just sit back and sleep on our way to tonight's stop at Loch Ness. We are now snugged into our B&B after filling our bellies at the pub and ready to get some sleep before our boat ride on Loch Ness in the morning. Hoping the rain will stop so we can see something on the lake and on our way back to Edinburgh tomorrow night.
Would you like a quick lesson in Gaelic? It seems that many of the Irish came to settle Scotland all those years ago so the Highlands of Scotland had adopted the Gaelic language. Skye speaks mostly Gaelic with some sort of garbled English as a second language. All of the signs are written in both languages and neither are understandable. It seems that the rivers and lakes in Scotland are key to the naming of everything else. We have LOCH NESS for example. NESS is the name of the lake and LOCH is the word for lake. GLEN is the word for valley so the valley town would be called GLEN NESS. The word BEN means mountain so we would have BEN NESS if there were a mountain here and so on. We have learned that the word for cow is COE and the word for rain is RAIN!

ISLE OF SKYE

2011-10-07T16:24:00.000-04:00

I'll give this a shot tonight before I go to sleep and see if I can fill you in for the day.
We are on our 3 day bus tour and it is WONDERFUL ! We have traveled from Edinburgh this morning up through Scotland and the Western Highlands through some of the most amazing country. By this afternoon we took a ferry to the Isle of Skye where we are staying for the night. This is the sort of country that fairies live in. Totally out of your realm of imagination and beyond your wildest dreams. In spite of the fact that it started to rain this afternoon it only made the country side seem more surreal.
We stopped at an old castle on the shore just before heading on to Skye and that was most amazing. The hills and mountains are all shrouded in clouds and some even have snow on their peaks. It is a wild and savage land that has such amazing beauty.
Tonight we stay in a B&B on Skye and tomorrow our mini bus of 14 will tour the isle itself. We are taking hundreds of pictures and making new friends of our fellow travelers.
Have a great night. It's time for sleep.

IT'S NOT GOING TO BE A GOOD DAY

2011-10-06T16:43:00.000-04:00

You are not going to believe this but I have been sitting here for an hour writing and I just lost EVERY FREAKING WORD !

It figures after the day we have had . . .

Lost again and again

rain rain rain

Edinburgh . . . lost lost lost The GPS is driving me freaking nuts !

(good stuff that happened . . . booked a 3 day bus tour of the Highlands and the Isle of Skye for tomorrow through Sunday and found a B&B where we can leave the car while we are gone.)

Had a tire nearly flat and had to go to 2 service areas to get it fixed. LOST LOST LOST

(great dinner at a little place up the hill from our B&B)

STUPID COMPUTER ERASED MY BLOG !!!

We'll be on tour for the next 2 nights and don't know about internet so if you don't hear from me it's not because I've jumped off a cliff or drowned myself in Loch Ness.

ARRIVED IN SCOTLAND

2011-10-05T16:07:00.000-04:00

First let me say that I have discovered I am a computer junkie and I am not happy if I can't get on line. It has been 2 days since I was able to blog and I am going into shock. I am writing blogs in my head and can't get them printed so am not a happy camper. Thank goodness and thank the owner of our latest stop, she has lent me her internet access flash drive thingy and I am able to get to my blog. I really must look into getting one of these things for our travels.
Yesterday we were in mid-western England in a town called Morton-in-Marsh. Our night in the lovely B&B there was uneventful and relaxing even though I didn't sleep well. We had an English breakfast of sausage, egg, toast, potato cake, ham and tomato. (Ger wouldn't eat his tomato because it was hot and he hates hot tomatoes . . . except for me.) After breakfast we left our car at the B&B and walked the 2 minutes into town to the street fair. There were all sorts of booths selling all sorts of things and Ann and I did put a dent in our wallets. On our way into town Ann Marie fell when her knee gave out. She scrapped up her knee a bit but at least she managed to avoid rolling into the street in front of passing cars. She was fine and jumped back up but we did make a stop at the local drug store for some bandaids. After our adventures in town we headed back to the car and drove to another small Cotswold village named Chipping Campden. It was a beautiful town with the type of homes with thatched roofs that the Cotswold area is famous for. We parked and walked around for an hour or so taking all the same pictures. When we tired of that we returned to the car and started our journey north heading for the Lake District. The only problem was that the Cotswold area is off the beaten track and no where near the motorway that would get us north quickly. Ger was in the back seat with the maps, Ann was riding shot gun with all the travel books and Gretta II (the GPS) was spewing out directions about taking the third exit off the next round about. GOD BLESS DRUGS! I would have stopped the car in the middle of a freaking round about and walked away screaming "WHERE THE F--- ARE WE?" I am here to tell you that I stayed very calm even when I was on the M6 heading north when G told me to get off and we then got lost on back back roads for the next 3 hours. Later in the day he apologized for making a mistake. What you have to understand here is that all these years G has done the driving and I have been the navigator. I have had my share of screw ups so I am trying to remember how I felt when he was yelling "Tell me which way to go!" By 5PM we had once again found the M6 and were once again headed in the right direction driving 80 miles and hour on a straight road as opposed to driving 20 miles an hour on winding roads with sheep on them. BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
By now I was DONE and we stopped at a rest area to see if there was a tourist information that could direct us to an exit that might have a place for us to stay for the night. As we pulled into the parking lot there stood a Travel Inn . . . right there in front of us . . . in the parking lot of the rest area stood a HOTEL! We stayed there for the night and ate Burger King for dinner and I didn't give a damn. The room was quiet, clean, warm and wonderful. The only problem was the fire alarm that went off at 2AM and we had to evacuate the building. We think it was just a drill even though the fire department was there in the parking lot there was no evidence of smoke or fire. After 5 minutes we were allowed back into our room and I immediately fell sound asleep. Ann says she was up for an hour or so reading and Ger says he had trouble getting back to sleep but I was back asleep in minutes.
When we woke up this morning it was cloudy and much cooler that it had been. Up till now the weather has been unusually hot and sunny but I think we are now in for a change. We had breakfast in the rest area and then continued on up the motorway to an exit for the lake district. Once again we were on the tiny, winding back roads with stone walls lining them so that when a car comes toward you from the opposite direction you wonder which one of you is going into the wall in order to pass. Not the easiest driving in the world but I truly enjoy it! Especially when the roads are fairly empty and I don't have a line of cars on my butt. We found the lakes and along with them the hills and valleys of the area. We stopped in one town half way along Windermere Lake to take a short sight seeing boat ride in the rain and wind. Next we walked in and out of some shops and added more of our money to the English economy. We found a great little shop that had Hot Soup for lunch to warm us up before heading out again. We returned to the winding roads with hills on all sides dotted with sheep. We were now high in the hills are headed for a pass through the mountains. By the time we got to the top of the Kirkstone pass the clouds were blowing in all around us and we were going in and out of them. We stopped at every pull off we could find to take pictures of this area but I am sure they will never do justice to it. Luckily there were very few cars on the road so we didn't have to worry about only driving 10 miles an hour. We finally came out of this beautiful area and met up with the M6 once again for another 70 miles north to where we are tonight. We have chosen to take a scenic route to Edinburgh rather than come in on the major highways. We are now somewhere on our way to Edinburgh in the small town of Moffat, Scotland. It is adorable! We're staying in a hotel that is 3 stories high and as old as Moses. No elevator, just a huge winding stair case to the top floor where our rooms are. It's cold in here but the beds are piled high with down comforters and real woolen blankets. I can't wait to snuggle under the covers. We've had dinner at the Balmoral Hotel pub just down the street and we will have breakfast in our hotel in the morning. Our hostess has promised there will be a fire in the dining room for breakfast to "ward off the chill of the morning".
Tomorrow we hope to make it into Edinburgh without incident and find a tourist information. We plan on staying in that city for at least 2 nights with plans on taking a sight seeing bus up into the Scottish highlands. That way I can enjoy the sights also.
We are having a grand time and other than wanting to beat G with the map yesterday, we're all doing great. Hope to talk to you tomorrow . . .

THE COTSWOLDS

2011-10-03T16:53:00.000-04:00

We have yet to figure out what the heck this exactly means but here we are. Cotswolds is apparently an area of England that has quaint little towns with quaint little houses. So far all we have seen is a long and winding road.
We left Windsor and the family this morning to get on the motorway to head to the town of Bath. We actually made the hour and a half drive in two and a half hours with no incident once we stopped at a rest area to figure out how to work the British version of a GPS. With that under control and 42 maps and pages of directions plus 3 tour books we got to Bath and found a place to park. We took the city and country side tours on the open air tour bus and then had lunch. Bath is a very different town from Windsor. Bath is built on the sides of hills and into a valley with HUGE columed attached houses lining the streets and forming circles and gigantic crescents. (Google it on line because I can't describe it.) All the homes are built of Bath Stone, an unusual white stone that is quaried in the area. Very interesting and different from a anything we have ever seen.
Once we left bath we also left the easy driving of the motorway and drove through the country side on winding hilly roads that gave me a good opportunity to realize that I would much rather be ON a tour bus than driving myself. But we just took it slow and we did fine. The GPS worked fantastic and I can not imagine trying to find our way without it. We went through at least 20 roundabouts and without the GPS we would never have navigated them without going around 42 times.
While we were in Bath we tried to make reservations at a B&B in Moreton-in-Marsh (yes, that is the name of a town! ) But the tourist information lady in Bath was less than helpful so we just set out on our own. As we were entering the town of Moreton-in-Marsh Ann Marie saw a sign for a B&B so we turned around and drove into a drive that is like something out of a story book. The B&B is named Fosseway Farm. The house stands in about 100 yards from the road and is covered in ivy with farm land all around it. There are plants galore blooming all over the front of the place and we thought for sure they would not have a room for us or if they did it would cost a small fortune. By now it was almost 6 PM but sure enough they had 2 rooms left, one on the first floor with a double bed, a single bed AND a divan. The room is gorgeous! And guess what? It is costing us 59 pounds for the night. We also took a second room up stairs for Ger and I so Ann could stay in the "Queens" suite. She fell in love with the room and we may not be able to get her out of there in the morning. After we brought our bags in we walked the 2 minutes into town to have dinner at a pub.
Tomorrow morning breakfast will be served in the conservatory between 8-9 and then we will walk into town for the street fair that takes place on Tuesdays.
Heaven only knows what tomorrow will bring but we hope to see some of those cottage towns that COTSWOLDS is famous for and then drive on North heading next for the Lake District. Please keep those prayers coming for us in our travels and we'll keep you posted on where we are and what we're doing.

BETTER THAN LEGOLAND

2011-10-02T17:41:00.000-04:00

After yesterday's adventure and grand finale of waiting an hour and a half to get out of the freaking parking lot it wouldn't have taken much to make today a better day. Don't take me wrong, we had a great time with the kids, who were fantastic but these Lego folks need to stop building dragons and castles out of little plastic blocks and figure out a better way to empty their park.
The kids fell asleep on their feet last night and slept till 7:40 this morning when Abby came in to tell us her arm was asleep. I suggested that the rest of her body should do like her arm and sleep till 10 but that didn't work. Two minutes later Roman appeared at the door to our bedroom, still half asleep, but worried that he would miss something and his sister would get something that he didn't get. We settled the 2 of them in their parents bed with a movie video and I went down to create a GRANDMA BREAKFAST. Pancakes and waffles are always more interesting when grandma creates them with jelly and bananas. From there we went to mass and then off to Mac Donalds for lunch. That didn't work because all the people that were at Legoland yesterday were now in Windsor and there was not a parking spot to be had in a 12 mile radius of the center of town. The weather here has been unbelievable and has broken all sorts of records for this time of the year. We finally made our way out of town and over to the leisure center on the out skirts of Windsor. The leisure center is one of the best ideas I have seen here in England. Right on the banks of the Thames sits a huge complex of gyms, basket ball courts, a huge lap pool and water park . . . all in side. The water park area contains 2 huge twisty slides that are at least 3 stories high. There is a wave pool, lazy river, baby slide area and all sorts of fountains and spouts shooting water. There are changing rooms, bathrooms and even a PEOPLE DRYER that you stand in and it blow dries your entire body. I have NEVER seen anything like this in the states. The parking at the leisure center was almost as bad as in town but we lucked out and got a great spot. We had lunch at the snack bar and then spent 2 great hours playing in the water. Standing in the pool for 2 hours helped all the blisters on my toes to dissolve so now I am ready to start off on the next leg of our adventure.
Tomorrow morning Ann, Ger and I will start off in our beauty of a car, (a 2012 Black Vauxhall ) and we will head to Bath and then North. I have no idea what we will encounter as far as internet service so if you don't hear from us for a while it is because we are in the wilds of England and Scotland.
Until the next internet connection . . . Pip Pip !

FOUR VALIUM DAY

2011-10-01T17:58:00.000-04:00

It was a wonderful day! Let's establish that fact right off the bat. Kyle and Bridget left this morning for their over night get away and 3 adults were left home to care for and entertain 2 children. Piece of cake! Now factor in that one of the adults was H and you have got the beginnings of a story.
Abby was to perform 2 of her piano pieces at a local fair this morning so we all piled into the car (the rented car that is one SWEET ride but more about that at another time) and off we went to some local church where we would meet Abby's piano teacher. It took some doing to find the church and then to find parking but we finally got there. Abby did a fantastic job playing a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday" and "The Banjo Picker" and we were off again to LEGOLAND . I have been looking forward to seeing this amusement park so today was the day to give it a go. The park is about 2 minutes from K&B's house and we have often seen the lines of traffic on the main road, all headed to Legoland. Today was no exception with traffic but having spent some time at the church with Abby's piano performance we missed the major traffic jam. We started to run into problems once we arrived and parked the car. Problem #1, huge lines at the ticket booths. Problem #2, it's lunch time and Abby wants a hot dog from a stand and Roman wants pasta from a different lunch spot. Ann Marie and kids held a table, Husband went one way, I went another. And now it begins. . . You know that H cannot do anything simply or without attitude so the burden of having to get 4 hot dogs BY HIM SELF was an issue. But we survived . . . until Roman started in on "I WANT". Roman is the sort of child who has the ability to push H's buttons without even trying. I thought our youngest son was the only child who could do this with such finesse but here comes Roman with the same gift. The entire day was spent trying to keep peace and keep H from blowing his stack. It was a semi success thanks to the help of Ann Marie. We actually thought we were free and clear when we left the park at closing. An hour and a half later we were still sitting in the car trying to get out of the parking lot and H was in the back seat with the kids ranting and raving about how he was going to write a letter to Legoland, the mayor, the Queen and anyone else he could think of to tell them how terrible the parking situation was. Ann and I in the front seat just exchanged looks and rolled our eyes while the kids became very quiet in anticipation of the volcanic eruption that was pending in the back seat. Thankfully we managed to finally get out of Legoland and home to bed for a couple of exhausted kids and some equally exhausted adults.
I would like to note that H is now sound asleep and has yet to ask for paper and pen to start writing those letters.

BRITISH TORTURE

2011-09-30T08:53:00.000-04:00

I'm dying here ! There is a plot by my family and the British government to put and end to me in the slowest most painful way possible. They are making me walk every where !
I thought I was ready for this trip by walking on the treadmill every day but that was like a drop in the bucket. I need to lose 50 pounds (not the money, the fat) and run a marathon or two to be in shape for English life. These people DO NOT drive anywhere. They go to work in suits and dresses on their bikes. They go shopping with 10 bags of food swinging from the handlebars and when they are not riding their bikes they are walking, walking. walking. Maybe it is because they are such insane drivers that the majority of people choose to walk rather than get killed out on the road. But that is no guarantee for the bikers because they are out on the road along with the cars.
So for this Palm Beach Gardens senior citizen this is torture. My feet are not used to all this agony nor are my legs. I have already gone through a bottle of Advil and am now working on the back up bottle of Aleve.
The worst part of this is that Ger and Ann Marie, who are both YEARS older than me are just marching along like they do this every day. Ann is older by 9 years but she is a lot lighter so I guess that is a key to this walking. I can't figure out why Ger is not having any problems but he is just chugging along while I am dragging my feet 20 paces behind them whining all the way. Remember that 3 year old who is always whining, "I DON'T WANT TO" ? That's me . . . dragging my feet, kicking and screaming all the way to where ever we are going.
But I will now have my revenge. We are renting a car today and from this point on Grandma ain't walking! I don't care if I have to spend my entire retirement fund on petrol, I will be driving ! If I have to park this car on top of a lamp post I will do it, just so long as I don't have to walk.
Today was going to be a day of rest after Jean Marie left but so far I haven't seen much rest. Roman has the day off and Abby is in school. Bridget had a French class this morning so Roman came up to wake us at 8:30. Ger got up and I slowly and painfully pulled myself out of bed. When I came down stairs Roman and Ann Marie were in a heated 2 hour long game of Monopoly Jr.. Roman then left at 11 to meet his mom so they could go out to lunch together. That left the 3 of us adults to fend for ourselves for lunch. We decided to walk to the neighborhood park to see if the lunch wagon was there. NO luck with that so we walked across the park to find a short cut to the back way home where there is a pub where we could get lunch. NO luck there because the streets didn't connect so we just ended up walking in a huge circle. By the time we returned to our street Ann and Ger had decided to continue on down the street to a different pub with hopes of getting lunch there. At that point my feet were in more pain than my empty stomach so I came home and let them walk on into the sunset. The apple and peanut better that I had for lunch were absolutely delicious! And the nap I am about to take is going to be even better.

TAKING A DAY OFF

2011-09-29T06:40:00.001-04:00

I am done for the day . . . and it is only 11 AM. My feet and legs are like bricks and I just can't walk any more so I have sent the travelers into Windsor by them selves and I am staying behind to just put my feet up and read and nap for the day. Ever since the flight over my ankles are swollen and with all the walking we have been doing and the crazy eating and the lack of sleeping my body is screaming STOP!
Bridget took Ann Marie and Jean Marie on a car tour of Ascot this morning before Ger and I even got up. Then they came back at 10 and picked up Ger for a drive into Windsor. We wanted Ann and Jean to see the changing of the guard at Windsor castle. The guard come marching down main street with a band and then on into the castle for the half hour ceremony of changing the guard. It is actually better than Buckingham Palace because they are so close to you it is much easier to see everything. After the guard the 3 tourists will return to tour Windsor Castle once again. WE did this when we first got here but it was on the weekend and we had Roman and Abby with us. The castle was very crowded so today should be perfect for Ann and Jean to see everything without the big crowds.
Abby and Roman are in school today and Bridget is enjoying a quiet morning before she heads over to Abby's school to work on school computer programs. Bridget has volunteered to assist the school with some of their computer programs and I am sure they jumped at the opportunity. Kyle is still in Germany but should be back in time for dinner tonight.
Speaking of dinner . . . last night Bridget made the most delicious chicken ever. It was chicken cutlets "stuffed" with brie cheese and cranberry, wrapped in bacon. OMG was that delicious. You ca all plan on having that if you come to dinner at our house any time soon. It was a recipe that Bridget got from her grocery store . . . fantastic!
Along with great chicken we have been stuffing our selves with ENGLISH pastry and ice cream since our return from Paris. I don't know what has happened to the English over the past 40 years but they sure have learned how to bake. I guess that tunnel from
Paris to London has allowed some of the great French Pastry recipes to slip across the channel to England. I really had hoped to lose weight on this trip but it just isn't happening. The pastry in the states is cardboard compared to this.
Once again today is a fantastically beautiful day. Can you believe it is in the 80's and it is the end of September! I'm so glad I packed a pair of shorts and a tank top or two. Sitting here in Romans room on the second floor of the house the huge 10 foot high windows are open and the fresh air and sunshine are just pouring in. Poor Roman gets thrown out of his room when we visit. Abby has bunk beds so the 2 kids get to share Abby's room. It is fun for a few days but the novelty wears off fast. Last night Roman lost another tooth so the tooth fairy will have to find Roman in Abby's room. I checked under my pillow this morning but there was nothing there so I guess that tooth fairy found Roman after all.
Time for my late morning nap. Maybe I'll add more later.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH !

2011-09-28T11:49:00.000-04:00

The house is quiet, my feet are up and I am in my comfy clothes. Ann and Jean are in Windsor looking around, Bridget and kids are at the dentist and Ger and I are alone in a quiet, cool house. It is about 80 degrees out today and bright bright sunshine. A glorious day if I hadn't packed wool slacks and sweaters. For some reason England and France are having beautiful summer weather and I packed for winter. But it is just too beautiful to complain about so I will wear my one pair of shorts that I DID pack every day until the weather changes.
Last night we all slept like we were dead. Our journey from Paris and the previous 7 days of touring London and Paris finally caught up to us and we all collapsed in our beds till 9 this morning. We didn't hear Kyle leave at 5:15 AM to catch his plane to Frankfort for 2 days, we didn't hear Roman go out at 8 or Abby go out at 9. Bridget left with Abby to go work out at the gym and the 4 visitors just stayed in bed till everyone left. When Bridget came back from the gym she drove us into town,(no walking today thank you!) and we puttered around for an hour till she met us for a yummy lunch on the terrace of one of the pubs across from the castle. The fearsome four then walked across the bridge across the Thames where Ann and Jean went to explore some of the shops of Eaton. Ger and I sat on a bench under a tree and watched the world go by while fighting to stay awake. When the girls returned we took a boat ride on the Thames and then got an ice cream before Ger and I left Windsor for the day. We are POOPED ! A nice nap on the couch is on my agenda and Ger has already got a head start on that.
We really did push ourselves in Paris and we walked the entire city. WE visited the Louvre to say "HI" to Mona and tromped in and out of gardens and shops. Our best surprise was finding a roof top garden, bar and restaurant on the roof of the top department store in Paris, PRINETEMPS. It is like Harrods in London but even classier. As we walked through the store we were brushing up against Lous Viton, Vera Wang and all sorts of famous designer clothes. It was breath taking and for these clothes I would lose 200 pounds. I actually touched a dress by Versache. (sp?) WE had been on our TOUR THE CITY bus and the commentary talked about this famous department store. As we passed it we noticed people up on the roof and decided we would check it out. On our last day in Paris we snuck on the tour bus with our expired bus passes (Ger's idea which worked great once but he got thrown off on his second attempt at another stop. We girls just pretended we didn't know him and casually backed off the bus before we got caught.) After having refreshments on the roof of the store we then had to attempt figuring out the Metro, (the French version of the subway). Thankfully there were English speaking folk to help us and we rode the subway without incident.
All through our travels so far we have met the nicest people and everyone has been so helpful. I think we will take it a bit slower the last 2 weeks here in England with visits around the countryside to see the sights. The plan is to rent a car and I will drive us in and out of the little towns between here and Scotland. For now we are staying in Windsor through the weekend. Abby and Roman have school and we can help with homework tonight while Kyle is away. On Friday JeanMarie has to leave to return to the states :-( (I will miss her help with the maps!) and on Saturday Kyle and Bridget are going on an overnight for their anniversary so we can baby sit for them. Come Monday of next week Ann Marie, Ger and I will venture out on the remainder of our journey to see what trouble we can get into next.

BACK IN TOWN

2011-09-27T17:13:00.001-04:00

The gay Parisians are back in Windsor after a fantastic time in Paris. My feet have blisters the size of a French Pastry and my waist has expanded to the size of . . . well, you get the idea. We had a fantastic time and have seen everything that any self respecting tourist should see. We have now officially eaten our way through London and Paris and are ready for a day or two of rest.
Paris was WONDERFUL and we had the best weather ever. It was almost 80 degrees each day with wonderful sun shine. (Thank you Ann Marie and Jean Marie for packing umbrellas and rain coats!) Perfect weather for touring and seeing the sights.
Our first day in Paris we arrived in the afternoon after the 2 hour ride on the Eurostar high speed train. WE whizzed through the country side and the "chunnel" under the English Channel and arrived on time at Gare de Nord station. Thanks to Jean Marie she and I figured out where we were and how to find our hotel. It was about about a 10 minute walk to our little hotel where we dumped our suit cases and then took a walk to check out the neighborhood. We were just around the corner from the hotel Ger and I had stayed in last time we were in Paris so we were a little familiar with the area. The "HOTEL du PARIS" was a treasure. Old hotel with a tiny elevator and a winding stair case up to the 5th floor. Ger and I had a nice little room on the second floor with windows that opened out on to the rue de la Strausbourg. It was horribly noisy when the windows were open but when the windows were closed it was quiet and comfy. Since the people on this side of the ocean don't believe in screens on their windows you also get bugs along with the noise but since there really aren't bugs here that isn't a big problem. They also don't believe in AC so when there is a heat wave you have to open the windows and put up with the noise. Ann Marie was having a great deal of trouble with the noise so we had to spend the first evening looking for ear plugs. That and wash cloths. When you come to Europe bring your wash cloth . . . hotels here do not provide wash cloths. You are lucky to get a towel never mind a wash cloth. The showers are so small you have to step out to turn around so I guess they figure you don't need a cloth to take up more room in the shower. It's an adventure.
Saturday in Paris was amazing. We got tickets for the "hop on hop off" tour bus and set off on our journey. We got off on the Champs d'elise and had lunch at a sidewalk bistro and then walked to the L'arc de Triumphe where we caught the bus again to the Eiffel Tower. Ann and Jean stood on the lines forever to go up in the tower while Ger and I sat and watched all the people pass by. Back on the bus we rode to Sacre Cour with all the hundreds of other tourists. Sacre Cour is such a beautiful old church on top of as hill over looking Paris. When Ger and I were there 40 years ago the church was surrounded by Artists. Now it is surrounded by souvenir shops and little bistros. Ann and Jean had a great time shopping for scarves for gifts at Christmas so be prepared if you are on Ann's Christmas list. Every time we stopped at a shop the two of them were looking at more scarves. No wonder the suitcases coming home weighed so much. And I thought it was the 6 bottles of cheap French wine.
We had many more adventures in Paris but it is now too late to write any more so you'll just have to wait till tomorrow. The 4 of us are sitting at Kyle's kitchen table rehashing our trip and laughing at the photo's on Ger's camera. It's 10:15 PM and everyone is asleep except us. Tomorrow Kyle leaves for Frankfurt for 2 days and the kids will be in school so hopefully I will be able to catch some extra Z's.

THE MONTANA HOTEL, LONDON

2011-09-22T17:09:00.000-04:00

Where they got the name for this place is beyond me. Our room is the size of my walk in closet and the shower is the size of a phone booth. Wide and Spacious like Montana it ain't but the beds are comfy and we are only here to sleep and shower. And it is right across the street from the train station where we will get the Eurostar train tomorrow for our trip to Paris. I mention the hotel because although they do provide free internet access the signal is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo weak and the connection is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo slow that it is almost impossible to email. So if you're not reading the blog don't expect to hear from us! Unless Paris hotel is better. We shall see.
As for our adventures today, AH..................... It was so hard to get up at 8:30 this morning G and I almost sent Ann Marie and Jean Marie off on their own. Remember that AM is 75 years old . . . she is 9 years older than me and she puts me to shame. Then woman is related to the energizer bunny and just keeps going and going. When our alarm went off this morning G and I just wanted to roll over and sleep for another day or two. But we got up and went to breakfast with the girls and then headed out into the streets of London for our last day of touring. First we took the underground to Buckingham Palace. (We are really getting good at traveling the underground!) WE walked to the Palace gate and staked out our part of the fence to look through to see the changing of the guard. Only trouble was we were there an hour early. WE got a great spot but had to stand and wait an hour. By the time the guard started marching in and the crowds had swelled to 4&5 people deep I was done with standing and had to leave to find a bench in the part across the street. Having seen the changing of the guard at Windsor Castle I didn't feel I was missing much. The rest of the group stayed for about 20 minutes and then we all headed off to walk along St. James Part to the government offices and the House of Parliament. We stopped at the Churchill War Museum where J&A took a quick tour. It cost about $30 to tour so G & I found a spot in the sun and rested for the hour it took the girls. I'm sure it was interesting but not for that amount of money. From there we walked a block or two and found a little place to eat out side in the sun. The day was chilly when the sun went in but when the sun was out it was a fantastic day. As we sat down at our tiny little table on the street a couple at the next table started up a conversation with us. They were here for 3 weeks and were from the Miami area of Florida. Small world. The guy was quite a chatter box and we had a few laughs with them along with getting some good info on how to get to Harrods and a great little tea shop to go for HIGH TEA. High tea involves tea and cakes, pastry, finger sandwiches, scones and jam. Ann and I decided we HAD to experience this before we left London so we made the plan to have High Tea for dinner. When we left our new Florida friends we walked over to see BIG BEN, THEE HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT AND WESTMINSTER ABBEY. We did all this and actually managed to avoid getting killed crossing the streets. Have I mentioned London is one of those insane cities to drive or walk in? The drivers all drive 100 miles and hour and weave in and out. When you are crossing you have to look in the opposite direction than we are used to so it is quite the adventure to cross busy intersections. G has a terrible habit of stopping in the middle of the street to take a picture. I think my picture of him being creamed by 3 big red buses and 12 taxi cabs will be sure to win prizes every where!
After the last of the SIGHT seeing we decided it was time to treat Aunt AM to a shopping experience of a life time. Back on the Underground and off to Harrods, that world famous department store for the rich and famous. All I can say is WOW ! If I had a few million I could have a field day shopping in this store. Seven floors of EVERYTHING ! It is an experience of a life time to go in there and if you can afford to buy something and get one of their shopping bags . . . Well . . . you are just about as posh as you can be. Unfortunately I have not won the lottery and G and I were tired! We sent the 2 girls off to find the Princess Di exhibit and G and I sat in one of the many little cafes in Harrods where I had a cappichino and G had a soda while feeling very continental. The girls found the Christmas department and bought some nice ornaments so they were happy. G bought his sister AM a shopping bag from Harrods and she LOVED IT ! That little gift made her day! When we left we crossed the street to the little place that our Florida friend had told us about and we all had dessert for dinner. Ann and I had High Tea and G and J had cake. It was charming and totally made the day. When we finished the 3 girls ran back across the street so Jean and Ann could show me the Christmas department where I got ornaments for my grand kids. It was the topping to a great stay in London.
Tomorrow morning we can sleep in a bit and then we are off to the Eurostar high speed train to Paris for 4 days. I am hoping to sleep on the 2 hour train ride but will probably spend the time yakking. We are having a great time traveling together if only I were younger and lighter. I suppose having High Tea for dinner won't help the lighter part but we only go around once.
See you in Paris!

READ THE BLOG !

2011-09-21T17:04:00.000-04:00

Between the lousy Internet connection and my big fingers on this little computer I am TOTALLY frustrated with trying to write to you. Forget facebook and hotmail . . . they are just too much of a pain to try to log on to. I think the "hotel" we are in has gerbils on a treadmill running the internet connections. I keep loosing connection and pages just disappearing into cyber space. So to Kristen . . . Keri . . . and my gal pals . . .I love you all but don't expect to hear from me till we get to a better internet spot.
Today the 4 travelers took on the London Underground. I think we won but other than the fact that we did get where we were going and find our way home again I can't say the trips were a success. Well, I guess they were, we still have our sanity and some money left over but our bodies are dead, dead, dead !
Breakfast at the B&B again this morning, same as yesterday. I am disappointed there are no scones and clotted cream, just plain old ordinary toast. Once our bellies were full we headed out into the damp, chilly morning to see if we could find our way to St. Pauls Cathedral. NO PROBLEM ! We are like pros riding the underground, "minding the gap" and "standing right". Did you know there is Underground etiquette? Speak softly, "mind the gap", which means don't fall between the train and the platform(DUH!) and "stand right", which means you must move your fat ass over to the right when standing on the escalators in the stations. If you don't stand right you will get pushed down (or up) the escalator by the folks who are in a hurry. Ann Marie is having trouble with this one but she is also stopping right at the top or bottom of the escalator which will also get her killed. We bought ourselves "OYSTER" cards to ride the underground so we don't have to stop and buy tickets each time. Why these "Easy Pass" sort of cards are called OYSTER CARDS is beyond me but they work great. You scan the card going into the station and then again when leaving. Jean Marie didn't swipe her card today and just walked through and got a 5 pound penalty which we got reversed because basically we are stupid Americans. The Brits are very very gracious and have been extremely helpful and pleasant but you know that under their breath as we walk away they are muttering, "Stupid Yanks".
We did tour St. Pauls Cathederal where Princess Di and Charles were married. Most beautiful place but we did not climb the 600 steps to the top. WE barely can make it up and down all the stair cases in the tube no less 600 more steps to see the same view of London that we saw yesterday from the London Eye. From there we got back on the underground and found our way to the theatre district to buy tickets for a matinee of "WICKED". We had lunch in a pub near the theatre and thoroughly enjoyed the show. The music, story, singing, costumes were fantastic and now we can say we saw a show in London. When we came out of the show it was 5:30 and the crowds and masses of people on the streets was like nothing I have ever seen. NYC is crowded but this was unbelievable. We wasted some time to give the crowds going into the underground a chance to subside a bit and then we made our move to attempt to find our way "home". We actually did quite well, came out of the tube and had dinner at a place we just happened upon. We had a pricey but delicious dinner and then walked the 3 blocks back to our hotel.
The weather has been amazingly warm. I would think low 70's and actually once the morning damp wears off it is very beautiful. Tomorrow we are going to venture out to Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and then a trip to the famous department store of Harrods. Harrods is the carrot we have been waving in front of Ann Marie. The poor woman has not shopped in an entire week now and she is starting to go into shock. Harrods should cure that with the shock of their prices.
London has been great fun. It is NOT one of my favorite cities but we have had a good time here. I think I am missing the grandkids but I am also really looking forward to my favorite city of Paris.
To be continued . . .

FREAKING COMPUTER

2011-09-20T16:37:00.000-04:00

This little computer is driving me nuts. My Apple really has me spoiled and trying to blog on this little thing is very frustrating. Thus no message yesterday!
Our bodies are screaming in agony with all the walking we are doing. I am sure if I was 50 pounds lighter it wouldn't be as bad.
Yesterday we arrived in London via the train from Windsor. Once here we found our way on the underground to our hotel where we were able to leave our suitcases. Then it was off with the map of the bus route to find the tour bus that Kyle and Bridget had purchased tickets for us. That was quite an adventure because they had bought tickets for the ORIGINAL BUS TOUR but gave us a map to the BIG BUS TOUR. God Bless the English, they are so helpful and nice. We had construction workers, Bobbies(cops), strangers on the street all helping us find our way. At one point we jumped on a bus that was the "WRONG" bus but the driver just joked with us and then drove us to the stop where we wanted to be to find the RIGHT bus. Once there we needed tickets that we didn't have so they let us ride for free to the stop where the office was so we could purchase our tickets. We rode the bus for about 3 hours and then took a cab back to our hotel. Once we were in the right neighborhood we found a great Irish pub for dinner. Lamb shank, mashed potatoes and veggies that were to die for along with a wonderful pint of cider and beer. The perfect end to the day. By then we were so exhausted we barely managed to crawl back to our old hotel and crash for the night. Our "hotel" is actually a B&B and nothing about it would fit the picture that you have formed in your mind. It is clean but it is very basic. The beds are comfy and the water is hot and that is all we need.
This morning we all met at 8:30 for the English breakfast of eggs, sausage, beans, toast and something else that I am not sure what it was. (This is all included in our room price). Ann Marie and Jean Marie had toast and cereal ! Once our stomachs were full we set off once again with a vague idea of where to find the bus for the remaining day of our tour. And find it we did! Off to see the sights of London and then a stop to change buses to go to the TOWER OF LONDON. I always thought this was just one tower. NOPE ! It is a huge castle complex right on the river Thames. I could have spent the entire day there. There was so much to see and there were personal audio tours for the entire complex. G just wanted to rush to see the Crown Jewels but was out voted by the rest of us. The cheap Americans rented ONE audio tour that I got to listen to and condense the info for the rest of the group. I would love to return here and spend a lot more time seeing the rest of the keep but we did get to see the Crown Jewels and they are magnificent!
We then had to catch the river tour before 3PM as it was part of our 2 day bus tour that expired at 3. The river tour was quite a bit of fun as the young man who was narrating was very funny. When we hopped off the boat at Westminster Abbey we then walked across the bridge to take a ride on the London Eye, the HUGE ferris wheel that takes a half hour to complete its trip around. The views of this massive city are breath taking, even on a gloomy afternoon like today. Once off the Eye we found the underground and managed once again to find our way back to our hotel. We were so pooped that we decided to return to O'Neils for dinner and a pint.
Now we are back in our room and ready to call it a night. I got a text message today from Abby on my English cell phone saying she is missing us. I am looking forward to spending some more time with her next week but for now we will stuff these aching feet into our walking shoes and head out for another 2 days in London.
See you tomorrow night if I'm not too tired.

TOO TIRED

2011-09-18T18:30:00.000-04:00

Once again I just can't take the time to blog too much. It's 11 PM, I am physically unable to stand up another second or stay awake another hour. We will head into London for some grown up time tomorrow and stay there for 4 days before we head on to Paris.
Today we went to mass at 11. We all WALKED to church and as usual Abby and I were the 2 pokes at the end of the line. I am slow but this child is unbelievable! She gets distracted with EVERY THING, bugs, plants, and obscure thoughts that come into her mind. A usual 20 minute walk took us 40 minutes. After an hour rest in church we WALKED to the Windsor Trooper for a lunch of . . . are you ready for this . . . I kid you not that this was ALL included in the dinner . . . roast beef, yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes, roasted potato, cabbage, carrots, broccoli with cheese sauce, turnip, peas and gravy! The roast was so well cooked it was like a piece of leather and totally impossible to chew but the rest of the dinner was fabulous. Leave it to the English to cook the meat till it is totally DEAD and drained of any flavor.
From there we WALKED up to the castle where we parted from K&B. We took the kids into the castle to show Aunt AM and cousin JM the sights. We spent about an hour and a half before Roman gave up the ghost and begged us to go home. I would have left a hour earlier but didn't want to spoil it for the rest. Thank goodness Roman spoke up because I was on my last ounce of energy. When we left the castle we needed to stop for ice cream so we would have energy to make it home. We then took a cab!
K&B were at home getting ready for their evening at the castle at a reception fund raiser. Kyle was in his tuxedo and Bridge wore a beautiful gown. They make quiet the dashing couple. The rest of us were left at home to scrounge for dinner, quesedias(sp?) for the kids and wine and cheese for us once the kids went to bed. Now it's time to call it a night so I will have the energy to WALK more tomorrow. GROAN !

ANOTER TRIP TO WINDSOR

2011-09-17T17:38:00.000-04:00

We have returned to England . . . We arrived, wonder of wonder's, at Heathrow yesterday morning after a good trip. When we got to Kyle's house we dragged our suitcases into our rooms and then Bridget drove us into town for lunch. (Walking was out of the question after 24 hours with no sleep and standing an hour in the Q (line) for customs at the airport. When we got back we headed out to pick up Abby from her school. She looks WONDERFUL ! Then we met Roman at the play ground when he came home from the middle school that he attends. Roman has grown tall and is such a good looking young man. These two kids are just blossoming living here in England. It must be all the rain.
By the time we finished dinner last night the 4 of us were sooooo exhausted that we went to bed before the kids. That's pretty sad that I went to bed before the 6 year old.
We all slept like we were dead last night and woke up around 8 this morning. I guess we are all adjusted to the English time so there isn't any jet lag on this part of the journey. For breakfast today we all had bagels. Those would be the Florida bagels that Ger and I picked up on our way to the airport. Do you know how heavy 2 dozen bagels are? HEAVY ! I brought a large purse with me, more like a small suitcase, just for the bagels. That became my second carry on. Do you know how smelly 2 dozen bagels are when 6 of them are EVERYTHING bagels? SMELLY ! Every time I moved the bag it sent out a whiff of garlic and onion. Thankfully the vents on the plane kept the smell to a minimum.
When I woke up this morning Abby was waiting for me so she could come in and play. She jumped right into the bed with her arms full of baby dolls and stuffed animals. Once Roman discovered where she had disappeared to he joined us and became Doctor Roman for all the animals. Roman had to go out to religious education at the church in preparation for him making his first communion. This amazing child has done so much in the past year. He has learned an totally different language, been baptized in the Catholic church, learned to read and write and traveled the world with his family.
After Roman left Abby had to practice her piano for a few before she headed off with dad on her bike to go to her piano lesson. Ann, Jean, Ger and I left at the same time as Abby and Kyle and we walked into town dodging the rain drops as we went. AnnMarie had her hair styled just before coming on this trip so she was worrying about getting her hair wet on only the second day here Heaven forbid she shouldn't look like the fashionista that she is. Once we got to town we drifted in and out of shops until Kyle and Abby met us to go on the double decker Windsor bus tour. We got off at stop 4, the Windsor Castle Farm Shop where we had a great lunch of pastys and soup. Then it was back on the bus to finish the tour. Roman had to spend the day at home doing home work and when we returned Bridget looked like she was ready to kill him. Rather than doing his work he had spent the previous 3 hours asking when we were returning. When he finally finished his homework we all gave Kyle his birthday gifts to open. I think he liked his Mets shirts and I know he liked the bike carrier for his car that Bridget and the kids gave him. To top off the day we all walked around the block to the Prince Albert Pub for dinner where I met my friend
Sammy and her Bloke. I had met Sam the first time we were here and have kept in touch via email and face book. It was great to see her and she looked just wonderful. We shared a pint, had dinner with the family and returned to the house for birthday cake.
Ger is already asleep and I am writing this in the dark. The computer has erased bits and pieces of this blog about 4 different times so I am going to say good night.
More adventures to follow tomorrow, maybe even a visit to Windsor Castle!

36 HOURS

2011-09-16T15:48:00.000-04:00

I am too tired to fight this little computer so you will just have to be happy with knowing we arrived in England safe and sound with no problems. After being awake for 36 hours we are all done and going to bed. Tales to follow soon.

I'M PACKING, I'M PACKING !

2011-09-14T14:23:00.000-04:00

I want to be sitting outside in the sun reading my book and pulling in the last of the Florida rays before we head off to rainy old England but there are so many little things I have been putting off till this last minute. And then there will be the 42 phone calls to wish us a good trip or to ask for money. That was the last call, some charity asking us to pledge money to them. Our standard answer is "we don't pledge money over the phone" but some how that never stops them. But that is another whole blog for another day.
Today is about making sure I did pack some underwear and some makeup . . . two of the most vital things a woman needs when traveling. We also got our boarding passes and have the pass ports in an accessible place. Ger has been running around all morning getting his hair cut and ordering bagels. How can we go visit our grand kids and not bring them REAL bagels? If we really loved them we would have had Aunt Ann Marie buy some NEW YORK BAGELS for them but they will have to make do with Florida imitations. NO Joke folks, there is nothing like a NY bagel. No matter where we have traveled we have never found a bagel to match those made in NY. We have decided that it must have to do with the water in NY. Lets face it, Florida Swamp Water is just not the same as those crystal clear waters coming from the Adirondack Mountains in NY. (Of course, by the time those crystal clear waters make it to NYC they ain't so crystal clear.) Maybe that's what gives them the flavor. Pizza also falls in to the same category. There is no pizza like a good NY pizza. I may be a Floridian at heart but my stomach will always be NY.
So as we spend the day trying to think of every possible thing that needs doing before we leave town I am concentrating on where we will have dinner. NO way am I cooking the night before we leave town! And I really don't want pizza or bagels so we'll have to come up with something else.
It's a good thing they don't weigh the passengers when they weight your bags before your flight.

NEW BLOG !

2011-09-12T16:51:00.000-04:00

I know, I know, I haven't written in days and I am getting complaints from the peanut gallery. I'm busy !
Not really, just lazy and more interested in sitting in the sun and reading. You can't blame me for that, I do live in Florida for a reason. But since it is the rainy season I have had to catch the sun when ever I can. It has really been a very rainy rainy season. Back in June Ger dressed the flamingo on the front lawn in a rain coat and it hasn't stopped raining since. Not that we didn't need the rain. Our lake (sump/drainage ditch) in the back yard was really low and had a 3 foot beach around it. Then we started with the afternoon rains and the lake is filled to almost the top. That is a good thing and we Floridians don't mind the rain in the least. It is the poor tourists that are grumbling. My poor cousin and her golfing husband came down for almost 2 weeks of rain back in July. The sun didn't come out until their plane was on its way back to New York. Since then we have had a torrential shower almost every day but between there are wonderful hours of warm sunshine and balmy breezes. And you want me to give up those hours to blog? I think not! And i can't write during a thunder storm for fear of lightening blowing up my computer. Usually my creative genius (HA HA HA !) strikes in the wee hours of the evening and Ger really does have a problem with me turning on the computer and my music at 2 AM. Thus . . . you have not heard from me.
And now we are preparing for the journey across the pond and our return to the quaint town of Windsor and our fabulous grand kids and their parents. We are so excited about the trip because we will have Ann Marie and Jean Marie with us to show all the sights to. I really have fallen in love with this amazing little village of Windsor. I get a warm feeling inside thinking about going back. The suitcase (only one!) is packed and I am ready to go. We are spending this week just dotting "i's" and crossing "t's" before we head out on the journey. We already have a date at the Prince Albert Pub for dinner on Saturday night. Abby has been wanting to have dinner there so we all thought this would be the perfect day since it is her dad's birthday and we can celebrate with a pint. I can't believe my first born child is 38 years old. When did that happen? I think I will take his turning 40 a lot harder than he will or I did when I was that age.

As you can see by the following photos, we had a good weekend with a visit from Smith and family. We thought we would have a grand send off with a lobster party, Florida style! That means BIG, HUGE, GIGANTIC, DELICIOUS lobsters that were cooked and cracked for us. It's the only way to go!

WHAT IS THIS THING ? WILL IT BITE ?

LET'S ALL GO WALKING

WHOA ! WHAT ARE THOSE THINGS?

BITS AND PIECES

2011-09-08T22:53:00.000-04:00

I went for a massage and facial today . . . AHHHHHHH I am addicted. But today's 2 hour spa treatment wasn't as relaxing as usual. I didn't request any special therapist so I got Ruby for the first time. She was good in loosening up my back but she was a weird redneck southern gal. She talked the whole time and when I was done I really wasn't as relaxed as I had hoped to be. Then the girl who did my facial turned out to be from NY, only in Florida for a while and hating it and she too talked the entire time. You know how you go to the dentist and they stick 42 things in your mouth and then ask you a question . . . well this was the sort of day I had with these 2 women.
Then I came home and H is all in a tizzy about the President being on tonight, fires and drought in Texas, rain in Pennsylvania, and THREE named storms blowing around the Atlantic Ocean. It just seems that everyone wanted to talk today!
The good talking came from a Skype call from Keri telling us she and Kaelin did not have school today. Seems that Southern Maryland is also being flooded. A restaurant that we had gone to with Keri and family on our last trip up there was now washing away down the Potomac River. It just fell in the river, kerplop. It really didn't serve very good food so I think this was a win win for everyone. The owner is probably clapping his hands.
As for Kaelin and school, she started on Tuesday afternoon. Preschool for 3 year olds at a local church. Kaelin is grandma's girl in that she doesn't DO mornings so afternoon session is perfect for her. But even with that she had a tough time on Tuesday. She decided that she did not want to get dressed or go to school. Neither Granny or Daddy could convince her otherwise so mom was called in on speaker phone to help Kaelin get through her trauma. Dad finally got her to school on time in spite of Finn throwing up TWICE on the way to school. Poor Daddy had me laughing my head off with memories of me trying to get his wife off to school. History does repeat itself in all its glory.
So when today the call came in that all the schools and preschools in Charles County Maryland were closed for the day,(and for tomorrow also) the girls were very happy to go back to bed and cover their heads for the day. It was pouring rain there for the last 36 hours and as we were talking to Keri there was a tornado warning. I think I would rather put up with Florida hurricanes that only appear every 5 years or so.
Haven't heard from the rest of the family today. Abby and Roman are back to school over in Windsor and so far we hear things are going great. We'll see for ourselves next week when we go over for our month's visit.
Smith is still teething and his 2 fangs are coming in nicely. He apparently fell and hit his eye on the coffee table yesterday but really didn't bruise that badly. Smith is at the permanent bump stage . . . a large lump in the middle of his forehead is a permanent part of his appearance. Sort of like the unicorn look.
No pictures to share, no other news to tell. The bags are packed and we are finishing up all our running around before our trip. Yesterday's adventure was to the dermatologist where Ger had a small something cut off his face. I got the AOK for this visit.
Talk to you soon. I promise.

ANOTHER MORNING ?

2011-09-07T06:13:00.000-04:00

I seem to be hung up on mornings these days. It is 5 AM and the Queen of Sleep is awake. (Hope you were all sitting down for that shocker!) I actually woke up at 4:30 and have been flopping around in the bed trying to convince myself that;
A. I was NOT hungry (but I know that I am)
B. I was NOT suffering the beginnings of food poisoning ( I know that I"m not)
C. I WAS going to go back to sleep.

B & C just didn't happen and yes, I AM hungry. I guess this all stems back to yesterday when I slept till 10:30 AM, had a bowl of Total cereal mixed with raisin bran at noon and then ate a huge taco salad at Moe's Southwest Grill at about 4 PM. If that combination of food won't kill a stomach and intestines I don't know what will. I thought I was feeling OK but apparently the dregs of salsa and raisins hit me at 4AM and there was no going back to sleep after that !

So what do you do at 5 AM? Well, first I started with saying my prayers that I always fall asleep before I get through. OK, talked to God, He knows I'm awake and thinking so He'll put some real good thoughts into my head. You know the sort of things that you get thinking about in the middle of the night. I"m sure this was the hour that Christopher Columbus decided the world was round and the Wright brother's decided it would be a good idea to try to fly. Things some how always seem like a good plan at 4 AM. Well, after I got through solving our National economy and unemployment problems I got around to thinking about what I had packed and what I should still pack for our pending trip to England. The problem with that is Ger is still sleeping so I cannot turn on all the lights and start pulling things out of our closet. Not that he would be surprised or upset, it just wouldn't be a nice thing to do. So all that is still just buzzing around in my head and will probably continue to do so until I am locking the front door the day we leave.

Next best thing to turning on the TV is head for the old "Control Central" out in the garage and get the little computer up and running. This little notebook computer is just perfect for times like this. I'm sitting the the warm garage, which feels great. I seem to be cold all the time in the middle of summer in Florida in my house. The AC is set at 75 but it just feels cold. (I am really becoming a true Floridan Senior Citizen. "I'm soooo cold!") So the unairconditioned garage is quite pleasant at this hour. In spite of the 5 thousand little flying bugs that are drawn to the light it is very comfortable out here.

Actually, in thinking about this waking up so early, it is all the angels fault. Last night H and I went to bed saying we would go to mass this morning if the angles woke us in time. Guess the angles need a new watch or they are on London time.

ANOTHER GREAT MORNING

2011-09-04T11:34:00.000-04:00

Life is great, if you stop to look and listen. As I sit here this morning there is a mocking bird out side somewhere in the greenery around the patio and he is singing his little heart out. We have several mocking birds and every day I enjoy their joyful songs. They sing to me and even answer me when I am outside. I can whistle to them and they sing back. This little one is just chirping away singing about some thing that I can't even imagine. I wish you could see and hear him.
Yesterday afternoon Ger and I went to 4:30 mass for the weekend. It is our "Sunday" mass that we prefer, rather than getting up and dressed and out the door on Sunday morning, Saturday mass is our favorite. (Only the Catholics can justify celebrating Sunday mass on Saturday! ? ) As usual, the readings and the homily were addressed directly to ME. (This happens almost all the time.) The readings this weekend are all about our responsibility to keep others on the "right" track. I translated this to mean that I need to be more vocal with my 2 younger children in encouraging them to return to the Catholic Church. Just a word here and there, just a nudge once in a while. I understand Keri, she wants her family to have a religion that they can practice together but I see her missing her Catholic faith. Maybe some day she will start going back to mass on her own just to reconnect or maybe her husband will see how important it is to her to practice her faith. I'll just keep praying on that one. Kent is another story. He is not attending any church and his wife has no history of religion in her life. Kent is not one to take the initiative so I don't know what will happen there. Again, prayer is my answer but maybe God does need me to speak up and give Him a hand.
So as I was thinking all these things I some how got to thinking about what a wild ride life is. I'm still learning so much every day and I hope God gives me more time to keep learning. In thinking of "Wild Ride" my experience with white water rafting popped into my head and I had an epiphay of what I was doing when I traumatized my oldest son on that fateful trip. It was a Girl Scout adventure with a bus load of teen age girls and their families. Kent wanted NO part of it so he was left at home in NY with someone and the rest of the family, H included, set off on a bus ride to the wilds of Pennsylvania. Who knew that in the spring the rivers rose and the rapids were HUGE ! (thus the term WHITE WATER!) Being the dope that I can often be I thought this would be great! Until I found myself in the raft with some strangers, Husband, my 13 year old daughter and my 16 year old son. Kyle, being the strongest and most able was assigned the position at the back of the raft where he had to steer us around rocks, rapids, water falls and fallen logs. Thinking back on it no wonder the boy was traumatized even without his mother screaming at him to "go left, go right!" I was fine until I fell out of the raft about 3 minutes into the ride. I think it was Kyle who got me back in the raft but I really can't remember anything other than "Don't put your feet down" and "Don't let go" and the thoughts of "Oh Shit, I'm going to die!". Once I was back in the raft I was scared out of my wits for the remaining 2 hours which is no excuse to traumatize my son but in my defense I was not in a rational state of mind. (PS, this was all before I discovered the power of pills and therapy so I was quite the emotional mess.) Poor Kyle still goes sheet white if you mention white water rafting and he will still refuse to talk about that trip. It seems that I spent 2 hours screaming his name over and over, throwing orders at him to basically SAVE US! This is sort of what I do on a daily basis with God. As I thought more and more about this horrific experience I realized that Kyle was my savior and salvation on that raft. I knew he was capable of saving me, I knew he was in the position to save me and I knew he had the strength to save me. (Ger wasn't even a consideration as my savior because I have found over the years that he is less that useless in crisis. No offense meant, just stating fact. H saved me when he asked me out on our first date and then married me.) So what else would I do but call his name over and over asking for help. I don't think Kyle realized all that at the time and I sure don't blame him for his reaction to me. It is a wonder to me that he still wants to see me on occasion.
I just found all this so amazing that sitting there in church I realized what I had done that day on a raft in a river in PA. And how, unlike my poor son, God doesn't get disgusted with me and he doesn't become traumatized by my constant screaming, (Most of that is done inside my head but it is screaming none the less.) I think Kyle has finally forgiven me for his horrible experience with white water rafting and I know that God ALWAYS forgives me for everything stupid that I do.
THANK GOODNESS FOR FORGIVENESS.

GOOD MORNING

2011-09-02T12:30:00.000-04:00

Officially it isn't morning any more but that is just a technicality. It is 12:07 and it still feels like 6 AM so to me it is still morning.
Today is the first Friday of the month. That only means something if you are Catholic and over the age of 55. Because it is the first Friday of September Ger and I decided to get our lazy bones out of bed and get to the 8:30 AM mass. That means getting up at 7:45 at the latest and hustling our bones out the door by 8:15. First Friday mass is when our church has Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. In other words, it is a chance to sit and visit with God in the form of the Eucharist, or host. (Or for all you non Catholics, the piece of bread, that we believe has been transformed into the body, blood, soul and divinity of God, is put on display for all to visit.)
It is no easy task for Ger or I to get our butts out of bed before 9:00 these days. I often have trouble making it up before 10 so 7:45 is off the charts for me. A few years ago H and I had been going to mass each day. Then we got lazier and lazier and now are just starting to try to get ourselves back to mass at least one day during the week. I do love daily mass and I do miss it but that old Devil loves to whisper in my ear that I am soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo tired, I need to go back to sleep. What 's one more day of not going to mass? But this morning we moaned and groaned and off we went. Father Paul said the mass today and that alone is an adventure. Father Paul is Vietnamese and although he is supposedly in his late 40's early 50's you would think he was about 16 years old. There are bits of stories we have heard about this priest's life in Vietnam and his escape to Hong Kong. He was jailed for years before he was able to come to the US. He will often talk, (in his very very broken English) about how Jesus was ALWAYS with him during his earlier years and how he never felt alone when in prison. It sort of makes you stop and wonder about all we take for granted in our lives. We Americans are just so spoiled that we don't even see all the blessings we have. Just the fact that we have 3 pharmacies and 4 grocery stores within 2 miles of our house is something that we don't even think twice about. It isn't until a hurricane or some such natural disaster hits us that we even think about our electric and water, the 2 cars in our drive way and the house with a pool that we just accept as part of our lives.
I think that once a day we should all stop for a second and think about how Blessed we are. And don't forget to say THANK YOU for those blessings. Your thank you can be in any form you want . . . Just the thought that you ARE blessed is a start.

THERE ARE JUST SOME DAYS . . .

2011-08-31T14:23:00.000-04:00

There are just some days when you don't want to be married and today is one of those days. Husband is either getting his period or I am tired. Maybe it is a case of both. It's just one of those days when no matter what I say I am getting an argument so I thought I'd escape to the computer and not talk.
If you don't think men get hormonal just live with one for 40 years and you'll see that we women are not the only ones to get "moody". I just love when H says to me, "You're in a mood!" No shit Sherlock! And why do you suppose I am in that mood? DUH ! I'm the first to admit I get "in a mood" and I know exactly WHY I am in that mood. I have yet to EVER "get in a mood" when spending time with my gal pals. These moods of mine only happen when I am with you know who. It does not take rocket science to figure that out.
But male moods are more difficult to diagnosis. They usually don't come on as often as female moods but when they do they last for days. I have figured out that Man Moods usually are triggered by the man feeling ignored. This could be a result of the woman having a thousand things to take care of while the man just sits in front of the TV. Wife is busy trying to keep it all running smoothly so H won't get in a mood but as a result she ends up "ignoring" the poor man. Because wife is busy H is left to entertain himself and that is not a good thing. Men fall into 2 categories when it comes to filling time. They are either sooooooooo involved with a thousand different projects or they do nothing. Neither of these is good! Doing nothing allows the man to realize just how lonesome he is. They tend to start following us around trying to get our attention with senseless chatter which does nothing but piss us off even more so they just sit getting more and more into their mood. Those darling husbands who run around doing doing doing are even more annoying because we all know a man cannot "DO" anything alone and will constantly be interrupting you for your "help".
I have yet to find a cure for the male mood. We women will realize how we are feeling and take steps to remove ourselves from the source of our mood. We take a walk ALONE, get on the computer ALONE, or go shopping ALONE. Men, first off, NEVER realize or admit they are "in a mood". They will tell you they are fine should you be so brave as to ask them what is wrong. Then they will give you 50 reasons why you must be the one with a problem because they are feeling just fine. It is always a case of "I'm fine, it's the rest of the world that is crazy." And then they look at you like you are nuts for thinking they are moody. And now, because you have brought this up, the man now has to prove to you that he is NOT "in a mood". He will get up and start doing something just to prove he is fine. H has been known to clean the garage just to show me he is fine. This is a good thing so in the long run it can pay off.
Usually about 2 days later H will come up to me and apologize for being in a mood. I guess he starts thinking about his behavior and realizes he was a jerk.
My response is usually, "Oh, were you in a mood? I hadn't noticed."

COUSIN Lucille

2011-08-30T15:17:00.000-04:00

When you are an only child with 5 cousins they tend to take the place of siblings. My cousin Johnny was like the big brother I never had. His two sisters are older than me by 13 and 15 years, Johnny was their baby brother. They tell me they were so excited to get a little cousin when I was born. They had apparently been bugging my mom, their Aunt Margaret, to have a baby so they could play with a little cousin. At that time they were so grown up that I really don't remember having anything to do with them even though we would visit as often as possible. Probably once I got out of the cute toddler stage and into the annoying little pest stage they tired of me rather quickly. These girls and their brother lived on Staten Island which at that time was the end of the world. Staten Island is one of the 5 boroughs of New York City but it is the one borough that was isolated from the rest of the city with no easy access to it. As a kid my parents would pack up me and my maternal grandfather, who lived with us, and off we would go for an all day trek to the wilds of Staten Island. We would drive an hour from our house in Queens to the ferry terminal in Brooklyn where we would wait in the ferry line for our chance to board the boat for our half hour trip to the desolate island. It was like traveling to another world. I thought we lived in the country in Eastern Queens but Staten Island was even more remote and uninhabited. My cousins lived in a tiny, tiny house. Looking back now it was probably more like a 4 room shack. There was indoor plumbing but it really didn't work all that well so there was always a bucket of water to help flush. There were rabbits in cages in the back garden along with bee hives. I remember picking vegetables for dinner and helping Uncle Johnny gather some honey. I always got a piece of the comb to chew on till all the sweet drippy honey was sucked out of it and all that was left was a large glob of wax. Dinner was usually hossenfeffer which, I didn't find out till many years later, is rabbit. It was delicious even if it probably was that cute little bunny I had been playing with on our last visit. The alternate dinner would be stripped bass that my uncle had just caught that morning. My Aunt Tessie was a genius in the kitchen and could create the most mouth watering dishes out of almost nothing. I used to think my cousins lived such an exotic life near the beach on this island in the bay. They would be on the beach all summer and could roam the woods all year. They were always tan and seemed so happy to be on their own. Then the Verrazano bridge was built and all the illusions came crashing down. Years later I have come to find that my beloved uncle who played the drums and harmonica and led the parade of little cousins all around the yard was in fact physically abusing his wife and children. My older cousins all have emotional scares from their childhood and it isn't until now that they share any of their memories with us younger.
I have lost touch with cousin Johnny although his 2 sisters are now in touch with him after a very long separation. I see my oldest cousin the most because she is living only a few miles up the road from me here in Florida. She is now widowed and in her 80's and each time we see each other our bond grows a little more. Funny how much she wanted this little cousin in her life and yet it isn't until 60 years later that we have become friends and truly family.

MY GRANDSON "FANG"

2011-08-28T22:42:00.000-04:00

Smith came to visit today, with his mom and dad and Mookie the dog. I love it when they come up here to visit for the day or the weekend. Kristen and I get to yack about all the things we have touched on in our emails during the week. Kent and I get to catch up on what is going on in his life and classroom. Mookie and I get to go for long walks around the lake. And Smith and I get to make funny faces and noises at each other.
But today was super special! Smith had all sorts of new things to show Gma and Gpa. First we got to see Smith WALKING. Not just a step here and there but an "open the front door and walk in"walking! He is truly a TODDLER as his feet are slapping on the floor in a total "duck walk" fashion as he tries to keep his balance. It is quite the sight and he is quite proud of himself. Not only can he walk now but he can open the sliding glass doors that weigh a ton. I don't know where this little man gets his strength but if the door is open the tinniest crack Smith gets his fingers in and pulls and sure enough pushes open the heavy sliding doors. I couldn't believe he could do this till I watched him time and again opening the doors.
I guess it's a good thing he is also learning to swim because some of the doors open out onto the pool and patio. (We watch him like a hawk but I think we will be sure to lock these doors when he is visiting.) As for his swimming, his Saturday lessons are really paying off. He now puts his head in the water, holds his breath and goes from mom to dad or from dad to the side of the pool.
Did I mention he is only ONE year old. This kid is amazing! (But then I say that about all my little loves.)
So we got to see walking, swimming, talking . . . "GRANDPA" is part of his vocabulary but not much else, and discovery of a love of cheese. But best of all was the appearance of TWO (2) new teeth. Smith has his two bottom middle teeth. They arrived about 2 months ago and we have all been waiting for the next tooth to arrive. I assumed the next tooth to make an appearance would be one of the TOP MIDDLE teeth. WRONG ! We can now call Smith FANG because the two teeth that made an appearance this week are his two EYE teeth. The child is going to look like a vampire, but a cute vampire at that. About 2 weeks ago we thought we saw some little white bumps where the eye teeth would be but thought "NAH" that can't be, he doesn't have his middle teeth yet. Keri just asked me yesterday if Smith actually got his eye teeth and I told her "NO". Sure enough, the walking, swimming, ice cream and cheese eating little super man had vampire teeth cut through, one yesterday and one today.

Just one more thing to make this kid extra special!

BABY TURTLES

2011-08-26T15:35:00.000-04:00

It's time for some warm fuzzies. I know turtles aren't half as cute as bunnies, puppies and kittens but when there is a whole pool full of them you just can't help but say "AWWWWWWWW".

One of the side effects of hurricane Irene has been all the baby sea turtles washed out of their nests on the beach. We lost our dear turtle Andre early this week. He was found dead, washed up on a beach just north of here this past Monday. He was the giant sea turtle that we adopted for Smith for his birthday. Andre had been in the Loggerhead Marine Center here in Juno Beach for over a year while they nursed him back to health. He was released 3 weeks ago but for what ever reason he just couldn't make it back out in the ocean. I was feeling very sad about Andre so today when Ger wanted to get out for a while we took a ride to the beach and walked along the side walk above the ocean. The waves are quite large for Florida but nothing like the ones we used to see on Long Island. The beach had some people on it and there was a really good breeze blowing to help cool everyone off. It was delightful for walking but not good at all for all the turtle nests.
This is nesting season for a couple of different species of turtles here in Florida. They have laid their eggs a while ago and this is the time for the baby turtles to hatch. With the surf washing up higher than usual on the beach the nests are being washed away before they babies are ready to make their journey. People are picking the babies up off the beach and out of the rolling surf. The poor little things are exhausted from the pounding surf and the hot sun and would become bird food if not helped by kind humans.
After our walk Ger and I went out on the Juno Beach Pier to see what was going on out there. Only a couple of fishermen and not many fish. The water is just too stirred up. We then decided to check out the turtle park as it is known to the locals. As we arrived at Loggerhead there was a family arriving with a bucket with a dozen baby turtles in it. Following them was a woman with a turtle in her hands. They took the babies to a shallow pool where there were 3 volunteers introducing the baby turtles to water. The volunteers had 2 kiddie pools filled with wet sand and a hundred or more turtles. It seems that when the baby turtles first hatch they may not be ready to swim so the volunteers have to put each turtle into the water, one at a time, to see if the little guy will sink or swim! For the little ones who hatched too soon they are introduced to the water on a float that keeps them wet but on the surface. It is quite a thing to see. (Guess who didn't have their camera's with them!) There was one volunteer who's job it was to keep circling the tank to look for turtles who were too exhausted to stay above water to breathe. And you think the life guards on the beach have a tough job! 500 little baby turtles all climbing and swimming on top of each other and you have to keep track of those that are drowning. Sounds like a bad day at the community pool to me.

THANK YOU IRENE

2011-08-24T17:19:00.000-04:00

Since my return to Florida I have had Husband following me like white on rice. It is to the point of "stalker" status. I open the door to the bathroom and there he is! He has even gone so far as to offer to help me in the kitchen! I know H missed me while I was on my hiatus with the girls but this has gone too far. Bringing me a balloon at the airport was so out of character for him that I should have know what I was in for.
But then Irene arrived. . . it took another woman to get the attention off me and I DO appreciate it so very much. Irene has been around for about 3 weeks now. We first heard of her when the weather man saw her forming off the coast of Africa. She wasn't even a tropical depression yet but the weather man knew she would be something to watch. Irene has not disappointed anyone and has in fact become a hurricane and H is in love with her. While I was away I got daily up dates on Irene each time I called home. (There is no panic in Ohio about hurricanes.) I heard how Irene was growing, moving, changing and most important of all, (please read this with awe and amazement in your voice!) WHERE THE CONE OF PROBABILITY WAS ! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO . . . . THE ALL POWERFUL AND WISE CONE OF PROBABILITY ! (Think Wizard of Oz)
Anyway Irene has taken the heat off me and has captured H's attention totally. The TV is on ALL day and H is glued to it.
BUT THEN . . . WHAT . . . . COULD IT BE ? AN EARTHQUAKE ? That was the best thing that could have happened just when Irene was heading out to sea and avoiding Florida, AN EARTHQUAKE hits Virginia and the TV news is all over it in a matter of seconds. That was worth a good 24 hours of non stop coverage that kept H busy for all of yesterday and much of today.
I am very sorry to take advantage of natural disasters that are plaguing the nation but if it keeps H in front of the TV and not breathing down my neck (literally) I say "GOOD LUCK FOLKS, MY PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU" but bring it on! (God will probably punish me for this, no doubt, but I will take my chances) I am laughing with my Gal Pals that if you hear of a sudden out break of "disasters" it could be me calling in bomb threats or such. (JUST KIDDING FBI, CIA . . . JUST KIDDING) The gals and I decided I would never be charged by a female judge. She would probably wonder why she never thought of it!
And so the last few days have been fairly quiet in my world. I went to the dentist ALONE yesterday. Went for a wonderful massage ALONE today and plan on a trip to the chiropractor tomorrow but that one may include H. He likes to drive me there and wait and then go to dinner. I can deal with that. I do need my alone time these next couple of weeks in order to be ready for our month in England. That is really living together 24/7 so I will hope for a little more news coverage on the hurricane heading north and await the next BREAKING NEWS to give me a few hours to myself.
As for the rest of you . . . you are on your own to find ways to escape the beloved husbands. I figure most of you up north will have it made with Irene heading your way but just in case you need some help I am up for making anonymous phone calls to the local TV stations in your area. Just say the word and I'll see what I can do.

YOGURT FINGER PAINT ?

2011-08-22T16:34:00.000-04:00

I just read Kristen's blog for today and am rolling on the floor laughing. Check out "K.Law:Inspired@blogspot.com". Kristen is too funny when talking about Smith. I will get the whole story and let you know more about this adventure in finger painting. I never thought to try painting with yogurt but WHY NOT?
As for me, today is the beginning of the preparations for England. We will be leaving in just under a month so the suitcase (ONE) came out today to start packing. Since we are taking my sister-in-lawAnn Marie and her daughter with us we are limiting ourselves to one suitcase and one suitcase only. The Queen of fashion (Ann Marie) usually packs two HUGE suitcase when she comes to visit us for 2 weeks. This will be 4 weeks away and she can only bring one suitcase. This should get interesting! Ann has been packing and unpacking for the past 4 months. Her suitcase has taken up permanent residency on the guest room bed and she tells us daily what she has packed and what she has returned to the closet. Ann Marie is an absolutely stunning woman with a fab figure, great hair, makeup, nails and clothes. In other words, she is every thing I am not! And the fact that she is 10 years older than me just twists the knife of envy. But I love her like a sister and we really have a great time when we travel together. One of my friends was asking if a month with Ann will be too much. IMPOSSIBLE! If anything Ann Marie will get sick of me long before I tire of her company. She is a fantastic travel partner and she and I get to exchange looks when her brother, my darling husband, does stupid things.
I just got off the phone with Ann Marie and she is so excited about this trip. Her daughter is a seasoned traveler so we don't have to worry about her packing too much. Today's question from Ann was what she could bring for Abby and Roman. Good question! I'll forward that right to Kyle and Bridget. I have already picked up a little something for the kids. It has to be something small, light weight and non breakable. A make your own chocolate bar from Hershey Park should just hit the spot.
As for other preparations, Ger and I had doctor visits today. Ger went for his yearly physical and got the thumbs up once again. For an old guy he is doing great. The man continues to only take one medication for his thyroid. His BP is that of a 20 year old and his lab tests usually come out perfect. I went to the cardiologist for my 6 month check and I too got a thumbs up. Actually lost a pound since my last visit, the EKG was the same as always and the old ticker is ticking away just fine. Tomorrow I go to the dentist for my annual check up and cleaning and next week H and I will go to the dermatologist for our 6 month check.
The count down has begun, we are checking all the small stuff, dotting the "i's" and crossing the "t's" and waiting for a hurricane to hit on Friday. My plants need watering so that is a good thing.

HOME AGAIN

2011-08-21T20:08:00.000-04:00

The road trip is over, we have spent 2 days with Smith while his mom and dad were at work and now it is back to the old routine which is anything but dull.

As you can see from the smiling faces we had a great time on our road trip to Ohio and a great time while in Ohio. We had great weather, interesting conversations and lots and lots of laughs. There was the stop at Hershey and the resulting 5 pound weight gain. There was the trip to Falling Water, (the house in the back ground of this picture) and a great time spent with Lynne in Columbus. Lynne is very New York but she has found her niche in Columbus. We met a few of her new friends and thoroughly enjoyed our stay with her in her new home. She wined us and dined us and showed us the sights, (both of them) until it was time for us to head for home.
I hated leaving Sharon and Jeanne but I think Jeanne was ready for me to go so she could catch up on her sleep. Remember, she is the one who likes to wander around at 3 in the morning. I was ready to come home to Florida to catch up on some sleep but that had to wait till after Friday. I never like leaving Sharon because our friendship is so easy and relaxed. Now that I am home I have to watch what I say. No chance of that happening when I am with Sharon. We just open our mouths and say what we are thinking and no one ever gets insulted, hurt or pissed. We just yack and yack and yack and laugh and laugh and laugh. How wonderful !
But leaving wasn't too bad this trip because I knew I was returning to spending 2 days with Smith while his parent's were working. Seems that his day care decided to close for "vacation" the week that teachers had to return to school. Seems pretty dumb to me but there were K&K with no one to watch Smith. Kristen took the last 3 of her vacation days to stay home with the little man but then Grandma and Grandpa came to the rescue for Thursday and Friday. Ger picked me up at the airport with a "Welcome Home" balloon and a big cup of ice cold crystal light. I think he must have missed me! We drove right from the airport to Ft. Lauderdale where we had a hotel room for 2 nights so we could be at Smith's at 7:30 in the morning. In spite of the fact that I did not get my normal 10-12 hours sleep for the past 10 days I did great getting up for my little guy. But you know that when he napped, Grandma napped too.

We had some great fun with the dish washer. Never mind the 200 toys the boy has to play with, the dish washer was the best fun. We spent about a half hour taking things out and putting things in. I can only hope that he learned this skill from his daddy but I fear his dad is more like grandpa who still doesn't know what a dish washer is for.

And all that work sure does make a little guy thirsty. The first afternoon we went over to the lovely out door pool at our hotel where we swam for about an hour. We stopped and got lunch for Gma and Gpa and Smith helped us eat most of it. I had brought his baby food with us but he preferred the burger, fries and milk shake.

On Friday we took a trip to Home Depot where Smith practiced his driving in the HUGE shopping cart shaped like a car. The little guy just sat up there like he was king of the road and drove his way through the store. When he got tired of that he got down and pushed the cart around the store. He did make quite a hit with all the shoppers and employees. Even those hard hat construction workers had to stop and smile.

And now we are home! Yesterday I slept late and napped about 3 times during the day. I still had trouble staying awake at mass. Today was a lazy day with lunch out and Skype calls with Kyle and family, who had a fantastic time on their Disney cruise. Before we talked to Kyle Keri, Kaelin and Finley called to see how we were doing. Finn is sitting up in his special little chair and smiling all the time, especially when he sees his sister. Finley and Kaelin will be hosting cousin Abby this week for 3 days while Bridget takes Roman to Penn to visit a friend of his from the orphanage in the Ukraine. Bridget, in a moment of temporary insanity, decided to fly from London to DC with the 2 kids. She will then go to Richmond to her parents house, take one of their cars, drop Abby at Aunt Keri's house and continue on to Pittsburgh with Roman for a 2 day visit with his friend and his adopted family. Kyle will remain in Windsor clapping his hands that he is not on this insane trip. As I said to Bridget tonight, THE THINGS WE DO FOR OUR KIDS!

HEADING HOME

2011-08-15T21:31:00.000-04:00

The road trip is winding down, whether we like it or not. We left Columbus this morning after being awakened by Jeanne singing "Rise And Shine" at 8 AM. If we didn't kill her then she will live forever. And she better not give up her second job to become a singer! Sharon and I were NOT ready to get up but we had no choice, the slave master was packed and ready to go and since it is Jeanne's car we had to get our butts moving or figure out a different way of getting back to NY. We got on the road around 10 and drove in and out of torrential rain until about 4:30 when we stopped for the night. Once again we chose a hotel from the coupon book but this time we chose a Holiday Inn figuring it would be a better choice than the nasty Days Inn we had stayed in on the way to Ohio. This hotel was a little more expensive and had an indoor pool so we could take a dip and stretch our weary bones. NOT ! We checked in, put every thing into the room and put on our bathing suits. When we opened the door to the pool we all just froze and gagged. The pool was a scummy green color with some sort of nasty scum floating on the top. IT WAS GROSS ! We went up to the desk to complain and that got us no where. The girl told us the liner of the pool is green so that was supposed to explain the color. HA! As for the nasty stuff on the surface ? Bubbles . . . again, HA! We returned to our room and Jeanne channel surfed on the TV, Sharon played computer games and I read. So much for our stretching in the pool.
We had dinner at a little country inn across the street and they served Jeanne a tuna sandwich that looked like cat food. She sent it back and had a burger. It is just not our night. But at least we are safe and sound, the heavy rain has stopped and we are only about 4 hours from home so tomorrow's drive should be short and hopefully quick.
Sharon is ready to get home because her back is killing her from all the sitting. Jeanne is ready to get home because I think we have over loaded her with crazy and she is ready to be free from us. As for me, I'm on the road and could keep going for as long as the road keeps going. I have been talking to H every day and he is doing well on his own. I think we are actually missing each other but it has been a great trip and I just love spending time with these 2 wonderful women. Sharon and I are already planning our next trip. Vegas is looking like a good destination but we can't mention it to Jeanne yet. She needs to recover from this trip first and forget how annoying Sharon and I can be when we get together and get the giggles.

IT'S 1 AM . . . . DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR FRIENDS ARE?

2011-08-15T00:39:00.000-04:00

Once again it is almost 1 AM and we are still awake. S&J did take another nap today but Lynne and I stayed up chatting. Then we all went out to the movies and came home at 10PM to have "dinner" and dessert. Maybe the chocolate eclair is why I am still awake. Lynne is out like a light, Jeanne is watching TV in her room and Sharon is reading.
It was another very nice day today that started with mass at L's beautiful church. From there we went to a "junk" store and found all sorts of good stuff to buy. I had to keep reminding myself that I was flying home so I could not buy that service for 12 set of dishes. After our shopping expedition we went to pick up Jeanne's car that only had a bad clamp and did not cost her anything. PHEW! Sharon was starting to panic that we would be stuck in Ohio for the week and Jeanne was ready to fly home today. I think Jeanne is DONE with our road trip experience. I guess we won't be trying this again any time too soon. We did have a lovely lunch at a place that L knew about right on some river. The food was excellent and the view just beautiful. We unfortunately decided to have some wine with lunch which then led to the napping once again in the middle of the afternoon. This crowd is really wild and crazy! I just don't know if I can keep up with them for much longer. Mean while you will be amazed to know that I am averaging a mere 8 hours sleep a night. I am having too much fun to sleep any longer and if you sleep they talk about you so I don't want to miss a thing.
Speaking of talking about you, these women "Get Me". There are very few people on this earth that really really know me. I don't even know myself as well as my good friends do. Jeanne says it like it is and if I am being stupid, she tells me. Sharon is a little kinder but does not let me get away with stupid either. And yet we laugh all the time and take no offense when one of us speaks up. It is very refreshing to just relax and not be on guard every moment for fear of saying something that will offend someone. It is unfortunate that we cannot be this way with our husbands but sadly that is how it is. Husbands are always on the defensive, (I wonder why?) where as girl friends just listen and either tell you that you are full of shit or agree with you. We have gotten into the best discussions on this trip and haven't gotten mad at each other at all. I love these women for their honesty and love and am so happy to have had this opportunity to share this time with them. Ready as we are to head home I know we will still find a thousand more things to talk about on the ride home and will still be BFF's when we arrive home. Jeanne may not want to see Sharon and I for a few months but Sharon and I could just keep going and going. The giggling just gets better and better and works so much better than Valium.

A WILD TIME IN COLUMBUS OHIO

2011-08-14T00:53:00.000-04:00

We have arrived in Columbus and we are having a good time. When plans were being made for this trip to visit friend L we told our friend, who happens to be 10+ years younger than us, that we were coming to visit and relax and "catch up". We didn't want to go out bar hopping or clubbing. Friend "L" heard us loud and clear and we are just having a nice, quiet time.
We arrived yesterday afternoon after an early start to get out of the seedy Days Inn we had stayed in. We hit the road and an hour later were at "Falling Waters" where we did a self guided tour because all the guided tours were already booked. It was amazing ! How this spot was ever found is pretty amazing in itself but the fact that this incredible piece of architecture is built way out in the wood is even more amazing. We took our time and spent about 2 hours wandering around "Ooing and Ahhing". Then it was back on the road for the final push to where "L" lives. We arrived mid afternoon and had a very quiet evening because we were all tired.
Today everyone slept in and then took Ollie the dog for a walk where we encountered 2 deer crossing a meadow. We're not quite in the midst of down town NYC here but it is very pretty country. After our exciting walk we packed ourselves up for a sight seeing tour in the Beamer. "L" is doing very well for herself as an assistant VP with Nation Wide Insurance Co. and she is enjoying her new life in Ohio. There have to be some perks to make up for leaving NY to move to Ohio and her little white BMW is just one. It was pretty funny cramming the 4 of us into this little car but anything is possible when we are promised a stop at the #1 rated ice cream parlor in the entire US. Off we went to see the sights . . . we were warned not to blink at any point for fear of missing something but it turns out Columbus is a decent sized town with some interesting and quaint areas. We toured the HUGE campus of Ohio State University and then stopped at "The Market" for a very delicious and unusual ice cream. Sharon got ROASTED CORN RASPBERRY ice cream and it was really good. The rest of us stayed with pretty normal flavors and they were all yummy. Best ice cream in the country? Not sure about that but it was good and it gave us a chance to stretch our legs and see the market.
Once we got back to "L's" things got interesting. We opened the garage door to get out Jeanne's car and the place stunk of gasoline. There on the floor, running out from under the car, was a puddle of gas. We had a leak! It is now 2:30 in the afternoon and we are leaving day after tomorrow. We quickly looked up a repair shop and took the car 15 miles away to get it looked at. Jeanne had just had a new gas tank put in the car about 2 weeks before we left on this trip. Now there is a leak and we are in Ohio. Repair place called to say they will work on it tomorrow but can't order any parts till Monday. Will we or won't we get to leave Monday? Who knows ! I've got a late afternoon flight back to Florida on Wednesday so we do have a little time to spare but it won't be the leisurely trip home like the trip out here.
After all that we returned to "L's" and had a drink! That's when it got really wild and crazy. We all fell asleep for an hour and then couldn't get Jeanne back up. She just wanted to keep sleeping but we dragged her up so we could have dinner. It's now 12:30 AM, and none of us are tired. I'm sitting here blogging and the rest of "The girls" are watching a movie that I have already seen. It just doesn't get any wilder than this.
Tomorrow we will all go to mass and then lunch out some place. I just don't know if I can stand all this excitement. I don't think I had to worry about keeping "What happens in Columbus" staying in Columbus because if it gets and wilder than this I may go into a coma. Suddenly the excitement of doing a load of wash sounds pretty good. but no matter what . . . WE ARE HAVING FUN !

CHOCOLATE . . . CHOCOLATE . . . CHOCOLATE

2011-08-11T21:28:00.000-04:00

I know where I want to go to die. Elephants have secret burial grounds where they go to die and I think Hershey Park is going to be my burial ground. AHHHHHHH the smell of chocolate in the morning, noon and night. I could get used to this.
We had an interesting night at our lovely motel in Denver, PA last night. A very nice Comfort Inn with a pool that we took advantage of in the afternoon and a fantastic breakfast that we more than took advantage of this morning. As for getting a good nights sleep, that remains to be seen. You know I am a sleepy head and HATE HATE HATE early mornings. I'm not to happy with late mornings either but I can at least pretend to handle them. Then there are these two wackos that are my BFF's. Jeanne and Sharon both are EARLY early birds. I mean, like 5 AM early ! But Jeanne out did herself this morning. She fell asleep last night at 8:30. Sharon and I were tired but not that tired. One minute the 3 of us were talking and the next minute there were snores coming from the cot. Sure enough, sleeping beauty was out like a light. So I blogged and Sharon read till around 10:30 and then I called it a night. At 5 AM I woke up to Jeanne coming INTO the room. I rolled over and went back to sleep. At 7:30 I woke up to Sharon getting dressed, taking pills and leaving the room. At 8:30 I got up when Sharon returned to the room and she and I left a sleeping Jeanne to go get some breakfast. We brought back some breakfast to Jeanne and woke her around 9:30. Come to find out, Jeanne was up and dressed at 3 AM. She went out for a cigarette, drove across the street to get the car gassed up and to get a cup of tea. When I heard her at 5 she was returning to bed for another 4 hours sleep. THESE WOMEN ARE CRAZY ! And Ger thinks I wander the house at night. I get up to pee and that's it! These nuts are out driving around the neighborhood and goodness knows what else. But I fixed that! Tonight we are staying in a Days Inn that is not quite as nice as our hotel last night. It has a lot of fisherman and work men staying here and the girls are a bit nervous so I hope that keeps them in bed or at least in the room. But then I should be careful what I wish for. I can just picture the TV going on at 3 AM because one of them can't sleep. Good thing I can sleep through anything.
But if I wake up to the rattling of candy papers I am going to be up like a shot so I don't miss out. Once we got on the road today we found Hershey Chocolate Factory and took the tour. Big Whoop . . . it was cute but a big nothing. THEN, we found the candy/gift shop and look out ! Kid in a Candy Shop has a whole new meaning. I have never seen so much chocolate in one place. We shopped and shopped and shopped and every one in our family is getting something. We shopped so much we needed to take a break and have a milk shake to renew our strength. When we were finally recovered we headed back out to the car and off again down the road to our next stop in PA. (And Sharon said we wouldn't find anything interesting to see.) Tonight we are staying just off the PA Turnpike on our way to see Frank Loyd Wright's house, Falling Waters. Unfortunately we found out too late that we needed to buy tickets ahead of time so we don't know if we will even get near it. But tomorrow we'll get up and drive another 20 miles and give it a try. After that we have to get serious and get to Columbus, OH where Lynne is waiting for us to come visit her.
I think it is a good thing we aren't headed cross country. If it has taken us 2 days to go 200 miles we would need about 3 years to make it to California.

THEY'RE PICKING ON ME !

2011-08-10T22:04:00.000-04:00

Ah, the fond memories of camping with 3 kids in a station wagon pulling a pop up camper. All those suppressed moments of "What were we thinking" are suddenly being pulled to the surface.
Today the road trip to Ohio began. We left NY and spent about 2 hours trying to get out of NY. I do not miss NY traffic nor do I miss NY drivers, smog or roads. But we finally got across the GW Bridge and set off into NJ heading for PA. There are a shit load of cars up here and they were all on the road today as we tried to make our way into the country. We finally got off the Jersey Turnpike and onto the Pennsylvania Turnpike and we were still in traffic. We had left at 10 this morning from out on Long Island and ended our day at 4:30 only about 100 miles into PA. I could have walked faster!
But the best part is we 3 amigos are together so whether it is sitting in traffic or sitting by a pool it is the company that makes the adventure. Until they start picking on me! But even that is part of the fun. As we "drove" along we have discussed religion, politics and most importantly, food. Husbands actually have not entered into the conversations so I guess we are all just settling in or we haven't started drinking yet. We are someplace outside of Lancaster, PA and are staying in a motel for the night. It's 9:30 and Jeanne is asleep and snoring already. She will probably be up at 4 AM and wondering why Sharon and I aren't ready to hit the road. Sharon has to sit up for a while yet to let her stomach settle and I am just awake cause I don't fall asleep before midnight. But tonight I think I better get some early sleeps cause these two are early birds and just don't understand that the day does not begin before noon. And they have promised to take me to the Hershey Chocolate Factory tomorrow so for chocolate I will get up early. I can just feel my clothes getting tighter the closer we get to Hershey.
Tonight I was very good and had a salad for dinner. Then Sharon asked if anyone was having dessert and that was the end of that! We were going to split a dessert but we couldn't agree on which one we all wanted to we ended up with a piece of pie each. We were in a local diner that served half the pie as a serving. I could have served 3 people with the one slice that the waitress brought me but I managed to eat most of it on my own.
Now we are settled for the night and I will be burping Blueberry pie well into the wee hours of the morning. But like being picked on by my BFF's, who cares as long as I am with these 2 fantastic women who tell it like it is and love me in spite of who I am, how I dress or what I say.
That's what this road trip is all about. Quality time with quality people.

ROAD TRIP

2011-08-09T23:22:00.000-04:00

And so it begins . . . I am in NY and we are packing the car and leaving tomorrow morning for our 3 day trip to Ohio. The drive is a 10 hour drive but we will take 3 days. In spite of what my BFF's tell me I know we will find many adventures along the way. Like Hershey Park ! There we were today in the AAA with both my buds telling me there is NOTHING to see between NY and Ohio when low and behold I look at the map and there, jumping out at me, is Hershey Park! And they say there is NOTHING? I mean, we are talking the Mecca of chocolate lovers and they call this NOTHING? Well, let me tell you that stop NUMBER ONE on our journey West will be Hershey, PA. I have been to Hershey Park but NEVER NEVER NEVER been to the chocolate factory! It is a must ! So the plan is to leave tomorrow, head West and make it to the chocolate factory. From there on it is hit or miss but I figure it will take Sharon and Jeanne at least 6 hours to get me out of the chocolate vats. I hope they aren't just teasing me when they tell me there is a FREE candy for everyone at the end of the tour. Do you think I should bring a few disguises so I can go on the tour more than once?
We figure we will stay in a hotel some where in the vicinity of Hershey, take some time to sit by a pool and then move on out the next day to see what else we can find along the way. I'm thinking we can maybe find a corn maze, the world's biggest tomato or some such other nonsense to occupy our time. We will arrive in Columbus, OH on Friday where we will hook up with a friend of ours and stay with her for the weekend so she can show us the sights of her new home town.
No matter what we find or don't find I know we will have a GREAT time and probably laugh ourselves silly. This evening Sharon and I were checking out some computer games and we got playing "Bookworm". I have never played this game and probably wouldn't have wanted to play if it was just me. A speller I am not nor am I great at jumbles. But playing with a friend was totally great and worth the pain in my side from laughing.
That is the very best thing about spending time with these 2 women . . . the laughter just goes on and on.
So keep us in your prayers that we will have a safe journey and we will be thinking of all of you and wishing you as much fun as I know we will be having.
If you're really lucky I will get to post along the way but no promises.

I WOULD HAVE WRITTEN BUT . . .

2011-08-07T22:55:00.000-04:00

Where would you like to start on the list of excuses ?
The key reason you haven't heard from me is I was sick. I am talking SICK with a capitol "S". Sick to the point where I actually considered (very very briefly) cancelling my NY trip. But I have recovered, more or less and I am heading out the door tomorrow morning for 10 days with my BFFs. So do not expect to hear from me for at least 10 days unless we run out of things to talk about and you know that AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN !
Two weeks ago I got some stomach virus that just about killed me. Went to the doc 3 times, added a UTI to the mix of pain and suffering and finally, finally am starting to feel normal. I have never had something take so long to get out of my system. I was actually afraid to eat and that NEVER happens. I had myself on death's door and ready to say the big farewell. Thankfully Smith and fam came up this weekend and cured me of all the yucks so grandma is ready to fly off into the wild blue tomorrow AM. Ger is such a good guy, (yes, I did say that of the man I wanted to kill only a few weeks ago.) He will suffer through 10 days of taking care of him self, feeding himself, entertaining himself, and cleaning for himself. (I don't believe for a minute he is going to clean but I like to dream.) He will miss me . . . so he has told me several times today. Yes, it is sad to leave this grown man all by himself but I do get over it very very quickly. Like by the time I am out of the car at the airport and checked my bags, I am oh so very OVER IT! I think of these travel times as reality checks for H. He needs refresher classes every so often to remind him of the fact that he is quite capable of taking care of himself. Otherwise H would slowly drift into a comatose state of leachdom where he would expect the entire world to just fall at his feet. So reality check it is and good bye mamma I'm off to see the world.

It was great to have Smith and family here this weekend. It was a hot weekend and we did lots of swimming. Smith was fantastic and is still playing around with walking on his own. He was doing great holding on to grandma and grandpa's hands and almost running down the street. He is very impressed with himself and thinks he is just the best little guy in the world.
We talked to Kyle and Family from Barcelona on Friday. That group is off sailing the Mediterranean on a Disney cruise for the week and to say that Abby and Roman were excited just doesn't describe the two of them. Happy sailing guys, say "hola" to Mickey for me.
Keri and family Skyped us today to catch cousin Smith while he was here and they too are doing great. Kaelin is her usually "Hurricane Hattie" self and was all over the place while her brother Finn just sat in mom's lap and grinned at all of us. Finn is 4 months old now and really getting nosey. He thinks his sister is pretty funny and laughs when ever she is around. We'll see how long that lasts!
SOOOOOOOOOOOO, hope this will hold you over for a while. You never know when I may get a moment to write. I hate to disappoint you but you realize that what ever happens on the road stays on the road and you may never hear any of the tales of this adventure. But considering it is 3 Senior Citizen's in their 60's that may be a very good thing. You really don't need to know how may bathroom stops it took to get from NY to Ohio.

ANDRE

2011-08-03T16:43:00.000-04:00

WWW.MARINELIFE.ORG Go to this web site and visit Andre the Turtle and read about his story. WE adopted this turtle for Smith several months ago and today Andre was released back in to the wild.
Loggerhead park is our favorite beach in the area. We discovered it many years ago and would take our children to see the turtles when ever we were in this area of Florida. The Marine Center used to consist of a trailer and a shack with about 6 "turtle tanks" out back. You could visit the turtles free of charge, (donation requested), roam through the 2 tiny rooms with displays of turtle skeletons and turtle nests, go out the back door to see the sick and recovering turtles in their tanks and then exit through the gift shop. I can't imagine they made much money but it was always a MUST DO when in Florida. Then about 8 years ago the Marine Life Center closed their doors to the public and started building a new facility just next door. It took a couple of years to finish but it is such a great addition to the area. Still a small operation the new center has a display room and gift shop at the entrance (still only "donations accepted") but outside are about 10 turtle tanks, an education center and most importantly, a TURTLE HOSPITAL. There are always turtles to be seen and if you are lucky enough to be there on a day when the doctors are working on one of the sick or injured turtles you can stand outside the hospital room and watch through the window. It is a very people friendly place and the many volunteers are always ready to answer your questions about each turtle. Each tank contains one turtle and there is a display board that gives you the turtle's name and how he came to be at Loggerhead Marine Center. Most of the turtles are there due to injuries by boats or fishing line. Some are just found floating listlessly and people call the center for "rescuers to come and get the turtle. But the best time to go is during hatching season when the little hatchlings pop out of their nests on the beach. Most of them manage to get back to the ocean on their own but there are always the few who head off into the wrong direction or get into some other sort of trouble. It is so funny to see the tank with hundreds of little flippers swimming round and round.
Each year I like to adopt a turtle for one of my grand kids. For $30 you can adopt a turtle and the adopter gets a certificate stating that "Such and Such" a turtle is officially yours.
Unfortunately Smith was not able to come up today to see Andre return to the ocean and Ger and I had a previous appointment but according to the news Andre swam off into the Atlantic, hopefully to have better luck this time than his last encounter with mankind.
Be well Andre and live long.