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
Friday, October 21, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
I LOVE A RAINY DAY !
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.
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.
Monday, October 17, 2011
HOW I SPENT MY DAY . . .
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 ?
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 ?
Sunday, October 16, 2011
A GREAT AFTERNOON WITH SMITH
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!
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.
A good time was had by all!
Friday, October 14, 2011
SOME PICTURES FROM OUR TRIP
 |
| 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
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 !
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 !
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
SEEMS LIKE ONLY YESTERDAY
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 !
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 !
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)