Interesting Brain Drain

Got home yesterday and we both found that we forgot: where the linen closet was, where we kept the bread, how to turn on the icemaker, and other things I ironically can't remember. We went through the same unthinking process when we got to Florida in January. It takes a while to train ourselves into thinking "north. . . north. . .north." Rather than "south. . .south. . . south."

We came home to (as planned) no phone, no tv, no computer until mid evening, when we finally got them phoned in and hooked up. Nancy called, about that time, to let me talk with my grandson Vincent who has arrived at the wonderful age of 4 yesterday. Thank goodness I could talk to him. He was so excited, and getting ready for bed, as it was a "school night." I don't think at that age there is a difference between bedtimes on weekends and weekdays, as they pretty much keep to a schedule of waking ups. He'd opened some of his presents, but not all, and went out for pizza. They plan to pretty much extend the birthday celebration through tomorrow by opening presents today and tomorrow. Last year we helped him celebrate his third birthday. Having three sets of grandparents, Nancy and Dan have been wonderfully fair about making sure the grandparents all see him equally.

We arrived home around suppertime to very high grass. Lots of the neighbors were outside - including Chloe, the year old dog from next door. We introduced Gracie to her and the neighborhood children. The kids were so gentle with her. Interesting note: I'd forgotten how small she is. . .in my mind. Comparing her to Chloe. Gracie wasn't sure what to do with the high grass. She really had to jump to go from place to place. (We did find some areas for her to do her business, though). Paul is spending the morning on his riding mower cutting the grass. I am unpacking, doing wash, and getting this posting done. Gracie is taking a nap on the rug by the computer.

Our trip home was uneventful, except for more stops (for the little one.). It wasn't a bad trip at all. We did 450 miles each day. Gracie rode very well - in a portion of the van behind my seat that Paul made into a "playpen" with puppy pad, carrier, and some toys. She also rode up front with us. The majority of time, she spent sleeping, either on a towel - of which she made a "nest," or in her carrier (cave.) We stopped at two really nice motels - so I took their cards, and will keep them as a remembrance of where we'd been. . .for future use. She ran like crazy (doing zoomies. . . which is just what the name implies) in the motel room. You could tell she was glad to be out of the car. She did the same thing when we got home. Zoom, zoom zoom. She discovered some of Ella's old toys too which zoomed with her.

We had a nice stop visiting Edna and Mike. Edna switched an appointment so she could be home. We had a nice leisurely lunch with them before getting back on the road. This time of the year is so beautiful to travel. The azaleas, dogwoods and other flowering trees, bushes are all at their peak somewhere or other. It's not at its peak here, though, which is good since we did plant lots of spring bulbs and we'd like to see them come to fruition. Edna and Mike's azaleas and pink and white dogwood tree was beautiful. Yes. It actually was pink and white. Mike told me that it was two trees, planted close together. Really close. Their trunks and branches intertwined. Interesting and pretty.

It is beautiful out today. A good first-day to be home. Our neighbors wanted to know if we brought this weather with us. I certainly hope so.

Guess that's all the news from the woods edge. How're things goin' in your neck o' the woods?

Snowbirds' Time is Flying for This Year

That was a great pun. Get it? Ha.

It's now Sunday afternoon and all is well down here in Fla.

The weather is getting to be more and more summery. The big Jacaranda tree out back has its delicate purple flowers and beginning to leaf out. It's a very unusual year for us to be down here this late and see this occur. I take that back, as Paul just said we got some great pictures of it last year. He's sending me some via e-mail. When I had a young family, and we were not able to come down except for a week in February or April, it was quite common to see the flowering Jacaranda on the third week of April Spring Break.
I had thought that the gardenia bush, by the front door, was too old and had quit blooming, but now realize that now also is the time for it to bloom. Plus Paul has fed it. I hadn't seen it bloom in years. I haven't been down this late. It has several buds on it. The aroma from that will be quite pleasant. I can remember corsages made with gardenias for high school proms.

Gracie is eating and eating. My thought is that she'd been sick for a while, but we didn't realize it. Her appetite is voracious for a 2.5 lb. dog. (Soon to be more.) She inhales what's on her dish and asks for more. We're trying to be as careful about not overfeeding her, as we don't want her to "lose it."
We took her on an expedition yesterday to the Outlet Mall. I never ever noticed that green poop disposal bag cannisters were placed at several lawn areas. How wonderful! We sat outside the Food Court, at a lovely covered patio overlooking a lake fountain, and had our lunch. She is getting quite used to her leash. It's amazing the admirers she attracts. One lady wanted to know if she was a toy dog, or a puppy and would she grow into her ears. We said: She is puppy. . .only 3 months old, but her ears will always be big because she is a papillon, or butterfly-ear dog.
She is getting better at car-rides. We took her carrier with us and she slept coming and going.
We also left her here alone last night and went out for a quick dinner. And we went to church this morning. She didn't chew anything up, nor caused any problem, except for whining, which I imagine will cease as soon as she realizes we will never abandon her, and we're always coming back.

At our age, I think we may be a little slow to use new things. . . but we've begun using Blockbuster Express Kiosks, DVDs, found in Publix supermarkets and other places around. What a pleasant surprise to find Oscar nominated films and new releases available and at our fingertips. For only a buck. We viewed two new movies this weekend. We still enjoy our Netflix, but have put that on hold for a couple of weeks since we'll be heading north.
We are planning on starting north on Tuesday rather than Wednesday because we're able to begin packing sooner.

Each year down here, had a different flavor, as all years do. So much goes by in just four months of time. This year, we lost Ella, gained Gracie. Paul said that the old lady across the street just lost, and I mean literally lost, her 18 year old cat. She is beside herself. The cat got out and she closed the door not realizing she was out. She's been in her car looking all around for her, for several days. I feel so sorry for her. She said that the cat was all she had. Sad.
We've been keeping our eyes open for it too.

Time to begin packing. (I've been making my list, added to it.) Now I think I'm ready to do a final wash. Tuesday will be here before we know it. Bob and Marian get back from their cruise tomorrow. Well, this was certainly a different weekend than we planned, but it went exceedingly well, and we're satisfied with our change of plans.

So - that's what's happenin here. What's happenin' in your neck o' the woods?

Crisis Averted

Yes! Gracie rallyed last night around 8PM, after her second round of antibiotics. Amazing - she went from being very limp, not lifting her head, to being very hungry at 8. She was not allowed food all day, so when she was feeling better, we were told to begin feeding her sparingly - 1/4 teaspoon at a time. One tablespoon of water.

Today she's bouncing around here. I wouldn't have believed it could happen. It was amazing. I was under the impression that she wouldn't have eaten if we hadn't been here. It's debateable, of course. Just my impression. Besides, I knew of that happening to a dog.

Actually, on one hand we have Gracie; the other hand we have the cruise. Gracie? The cruise? What was more important to us? Can you guess? Gracie won hands down. . .good pun.

So that's what's happenin' in our neck o the woods. What's happenin' in yours?

Cousin Alice so aptly pointed out, in a phone call to me, the positives I mentioned in my last posting about us missing the cruise and staying home with our sick Gracie: In one hand we have: Paul gets a new Venice baseball cap at The Domes (that is open on Fri-Sun) vs. on the other hand: a cruise. Okay. I agree. Not equal. I'll throw in some snacks that we were taking with us on the cruise, we're munching on right now. vs. a cruise. Does that make it more equal? Oh, well.
I did get a laugh out of your call. Thank you, Alice.
We made the right decision - Gracie is important to us.
Bob and Marian did call from the ship inquiring about her.
Thank you Bob and Marian.

Plans change

Ah, yes. Things some times just don't go the way you want them to.
We're not going on our cruise today because our adorable Gracie is ill. She had a scheduled puppy shot yesterday, and began throwing up within the two-hour time, the vet said she would, if she was going to have a reaction. And she did. We took her back for anti-throw-up and diarrhea injections in the afternoon. She still didn't eat, nor feel better later on nor this morning.

Needless to say we took her to the vets this morning. She had intraveneous water injected because she was borderline dehydrated, anti-biotics, and anti-diarrheal and throw-up medication for the next couple of days. We're optimistic that she'll be okay.
Sometimes life changes. It is what it is.

So. . .We have lots of clean clothes and can continue to finish the food in our fridge/freezer as we were trying to finish it before we left for home. Paul has the opportunity to go to the Domes Flea Market and get a new Venice baseball cap which he would have not been able to. (The Domes is open Fri - Sun) and we can keep an eye on Gracie. We would much rather be here with her. She's such a little thing. (but not in our hearts)
So. . .what' s happenin' in your neck o' the woods?

We went out this morning to Beall's, to look for a large spinner suitcase for Paul. And to get a birth gift for one of Paul's nieces who had a baby, and to mail it out from there. I got a cute little outfit for the little guy, named Paul, like his father. ( I'll never forget that.)Beall's does a super job of gift wrapping presents and then wrapping them for mail and will mail them out from the store. Can't ask for more than that.
Well, I can. I need a brain. I thought I brought the name and address with me, but I can't find it anywhere. After I looked in the car, in my pocketbook, I assume it's somewhere here at the house. I remember it was on a sticky note that I folded up. Now where did I put it? So we have the present presently here at the house. Paul is so patient with me.

Since Gracie appeared to be tired and settling down for a nap around the time we left, we put her in her cage in our bedroom while we took the short trip without her. We were back in less than an hour. Her feather-lite mattress was on top of her, the towel over her cage she'd tried to pull inside, I could hear her whining, when we got home, in spite of the windows being shut. I guess she wasn't tired enuf to sleep. But now she's sleeping, snuggled up to her toy otter by my feet. Separation Anxiety is a REAL thing.

Paul got a set of three spinner suitcases - 29" 27" and 21". The usual color. Black. They were half price. Good for him. Really nice.

We're due for rain the next three days. Doesn't look like we'll be at the pool much. Oh, well.
Any ideas about separation anxiety? I know she's only three months old and we probably have to be patient (and we are).

That's all the news at the woods right now. What's happenin' in your neck o' the woods?

Some days I have to think really hard what day of the week it is. For those of you who work, I imagine that's hard to believe. Today is Saturday, which means tomorrow is Sunday church. Duh. Who would have believed the week could go so fast.

Our little one was sick last night, so Paul and I spent the evening up and down out of bed. Washing her bedding. Changing them. Went to the vets this morning and she gave her two shots - for nausea and diarrhea. Fun info. . . . I know. She's fine now. . .but when she shows signs of illness (she weights only 2.5 lbs.), we worry. When she gets to mature, and turns a huge 5 lbs. we won't worry (as much.) She's learned if she sits by the back door, whines and "goes" outside, she'll get a treat. Now we have to go the other step and make her realize that it's the "goes" that gets the treat, not the go outside part.

It's been a quiet day here in Fla. The weather has turned cloudy and it seems like we're due for another rainy Sunday.

Brother Bob came over last night (Friday night) with a movie he got from the Blockbuster Box at Walmart. The movie was "2012". . .a disaster movie which had every possible natural disaster that could occur. (It was the end of the world.) Kind of corny, but entertaining. The three of us went to Outback for dinner. You can tell the Season is drawing to a close because we only waited about 5 minutes to be seated.

I went to Curves yesterday afternoon. I almost didn't. But fate intervened.
The reason I went was: When I walk, I wear a ball cap. My hairdresser said that I have a lot of hair, but it's thin. I inherited this lovely hair from my mother. My scalp will sunburn without the cap. Plus I sweat a lot which wets my hair. I inherited this trait from my father. The cap does a number on my hair. I was tired of this. But if I don't wear my hat, my hair will get a brassy color. So back to my story:
I went to Curves. In the afternoon. Not when I normally go. (In the morning. ) They close from 1-3:00 and open then, which is when I arrived. No cars out front. It was open. But the lady at the desk said after this time, at 6:30, they were closing for good. So if I hadn't gone at that time, if I had walked instead, I wouldn't have had a last chance to use it. Like saying good-by to an old friend. The owner is very ill. They had tried to get someone to take over the business, but couldn't get a buyer. The landlord finally said they had to leave. I felt really badly for them. Paul says when I join a Curves, it's like they're going to fail. Watkins Glen closed. I felt really bad for the owner. . . she was such a nice lady. Horseheads Curves moved. Twice. The last time a distance away from where we live, while I've been in Florida. I'll have to think about continuing my membership there. Perhaps this is the sign of the times. Everyone seems to find it hard making ends meet in this type of business. I'm not sure what I'll do when I return up north.

Ah. So - that's what's been happenin' in my neck of the woods. What's happenin' in yours?

We've been quite fortunate down here in the land of heat. Our winter was cool or cold most of the time.

So - we hadn't used our air-conditioner much. This is also the land of untrustworthy repairmen, (not all, but enough) and we've had our share of them here at Circlewoods. So when you find one that is known for his honesty, you grab on to him and make sure he knows how valuable he is to you. We found one. But let me tell you a tale first:

We've had many service contracts in the life of our air-conditioning units. Especially when you're a woman, you have to be on the outlook for people of quality to help you out when something goes wrong. I know squat about air-conditioners. Or most items that need repair. Luckily I have my dear husband who is very (and I mean VERY) knowledgeable about almost everything. I lie not. Nor do I exaggerate. And I have a brother who also knows a lot, but was also, and this was very very important, able to come up with a friend of his -someone honest, reputable, who also repaired and checked out air-conditioning systems. What a winning combination!

Anyway - the tale to tell: We had an air-conditioner repairman, with whose company, I will not mention,we had a contract, who came to service the a/c er. He said it was about to break down, we'd better have it replaced immediately or Heaven only knows what would happen right now or possibly when we went back up north.

Bob's friend, also named Bob, came over, looked at the a/c er and said there was absolutely nothing wrong with it. It should last for a long time. It did. He checked it out for several years. Finally, we needed to replace it. This Bob found a really good new unit and put it in for us this morning. In less than an hour. And we saved a lot of money.

As an aside: My tax refund came in handy.



Our next door neighbors, Crystal and Bob, left for home a couple of weeks ago and their good friends, Hank and Geri, stayed at their house for two weeks after they left. Hank and Geri left this morning for home also. We invited them for cocktails last night as a "good-by." Things are getting quieter and quieter around us, as people finish with their winter here. It really is so nice to see and hear the birds, beautiful skies, flowers - Paul says that the flowers are really growing in our hanging baskets. More so, these past couple of weeks. Perhaps we'll take them home with us. I have recently been aware of a scent outside and realized that it's the flowering citrus trees. Makes sense. Or scents. LOL

Looks like we'll have a good crop of grapefruit next year.

We have someone pick them, at the end of the season. His ladder is still leaning upon the branches, but only a few grapefruit are left. Perhaps he forgot it.

Gracie is lying asleep on top of her favorite toy that Lue got her. She's had a good day so far. Bob, the repairman, has a papillon also, and she enjoyed seeing her and tried to play with her. Older dogs just don't want to be bothered with little puppies though. They're a pain in the neck. Gracie's prettier anyway. So there. Well, we think they're related some way. Teddy is Martini's mom. Lots of controlled incest going on in the papillon world around here. Martini's related to Gracie somehow, but not close.

That's all that's goin on around here. What's happenin in your neck o the woods?

Hey - Here's some pictures!

Perhaps I'll remember how I did it, then perhaps not. . . First Picture - Guess who. April 15th she'll be three months old.

Picture #2 - toy Lue got her.

Picture #3 - Bobby, Nicolle's boyfriend, John, Nicolle.

Picture #4 Left front - Robert, Paul, Bob, Bobby, John, Nicolle, Paul, ( my nephew. )

I have been sitting here for about a half hour trying to get some recently taken photos on my blog. Again - I'm having troubles. If something works, it's usually because it's a fluke, and I can't re-produce the results because I'm not sure of the steps that I used in the first place.
This Sunday we had company for dinner. Bobby, his two grown children, Uncle Bob, Paul - my nephew. Nicolle and Robert were here for the day visiting their father, and grandfather. Robert is a Marine who spent 7 months in Iraq. God bless him. He completed his tour, and is now stationed in Orlando. Their mother lives in Melbourne, so that is really close by. He signed up for 6 years, and has four more to finish. Nicolle is the older of the two, and in college in Tampa. She changed majors and is now a math major, wanting to become a math professor. . .just like her Aunt Nancy. (But. . . they don't know each other. . .never met.) Nancy would like to contact her, but I don't have her address, or e-mail address. If anyone knows how, I'd appreciate it. Uncle Bob didn't seem to have it.
I have to work on this. Just like the photos.
Wow. It's lunchtime. Time goes fast when you're having fun. (?)
Gracie is napping next to Paul on the couch while he's computing. It's her quiet time. Obviously. She runs and runs and runs and then collapses. Cute as a button. Except when she bites. But all puppies bite. We're trying to cure her of this with chew sticks, toys, you name it.
So - what's happenin' in your neck o' the woods?

So - here's some recent pictures! I'm not completely sure how I did it, but here they are.

The first one is of Brenan in our grapefruit tree. Neenee and he would climb our other tree that we had cut down a year ago. I'm glad he could continue on with one of his favorite activities. He had his computer game up there with him.

Picture two: Paul wasn't sure he wanted this one displayed, but it was too cute to ignore. Gracie loves to be touching one of us. She sleeps in a cage by the bed. We're hoping she gets to think of it as her place of contentment. This is the most recent picture of her.

Picture three: It was good to find that the kids weren't too old to color easter eggs.

Picture four: Gracie is the one who has more white on her face. Bodie is the darker one. Or is it spelled Bode.

Picture five: Gracie and Bodie with you-know-who.

Quieting down time. . .

Things are calming down more and more. When we're out in the car, we're noticing less out-of-state licenses. It's true. The "High Season" is just about over with. Our weather is also getting to be summery. . . which means on the humid side. Good to have the a/c on. It's really a shame we had such cold weather for most of our time down here. (I always feel guilty when I criticize the Florida weather.)
We're getting ready for our 4-day cruise from Miami to Key West and Cozumel, Mexico. When I say "getting ready" I mean getting the paperwork done. It doesn't seem possible to go anywhere now adays (is that one word? don't know. obviously) without paperwork. Airlines, trains, motels, require it. Isn't that something about Spirit Airlines? Our last trip to Chicago was on Spirit and we had to pay for everything. Seats. Water. Now they want to charge for carry-ons? No way will we do that.
Puppy is sleeping near my feet. I worry about the castors on my computer chair. We have to be so careful. She's doing well. Sleeping in the bedroom with us, in her cage by the bed. She likes to be within touching distance, able to touch us. We close her in, so she'll tell us when she needs to go outside. She put up a racket last night when she first got closed in, and also when Paul brought her back after her bathroom break at 2 AM. He then said a stern NO! twice and she settled right down. I got up with her at 6:45. So. . .I've found she's creating a lot more vacuuming because of going out back into our common grass area. We all tend to track in leaves, sticks, dead grass and dirt. Good thing the lanaii has indoor-outdoor carpetting.
Last evening after supper while it was still light out, we took her outside in the front on the grass. She "performed" beautifully for our next-door neighbors. She was full of it. . .doing zoomies (where she ran and ran around and around in large figure eights, circles. ) and was full of vim and vigor. Tail wagging all the time. She's pretty quiet. With the exception of the above.
Guess I have to do some housework, so I'll close.
That's what's happenin' in this neck o' the woods. What's happenin' in yours?

Home alone. It sure is quiet around here. Except for Gracie whining (that she misses Bode and doesn't want us out of her sight). A nap is out of the question for her, unless we're in eyesight.
We had a nice visit with Greg and family, Emma and Brenda.
Yesterday was the day that Brenda and the kids were "handed over" to Greg and Noi. It was decided that we would both drive half-way, spend the day together, and then switch their luggage, etc. to Greg's car and say our good-byes then. After some consideration, we planned on meeting at Fort DeSoto Park up near Tampa at noontime.
The park had a dog park (called Paw Park) and doggie beach. Of course we didn't plan on mingling our pups with other dogs, but knowing the dog park and beach were there, we knew dogs were welcomed. There was a lovely picnic area with picnic tables, shade trees, plus beautiful turqoise blue water, in the not too far distance, with a fishing pier, lots of people swimming and fishermen on the pier. We set the pups up in their playpen right near our picnic table and under a big shade tree. It was ideal.
The travel-time we spent ended up being unfairly in our favor: one hour fifteen minutes. Theirs: two hours forty minutes. Considering Gainesville is just about three hours away, we need to focus on finding a better spot, even though this was really lovely, but one that is more in the middle to meet. . .if we do this again. I'm sure there are more beautiful spots closer to the middle. Considering that this is Florida, there has to be!
I got a really beautiful birthday present from Greg this year. I couldn't have been more pleased by anything else. Using a photograph, he did a pen and ink drawing of our home here at Circlewoods. He matted, framed it and gave it to me, ready to be hung. Picture-perfect! We decided to hang it in the lanaii on the new wall that separates the lanaii from our bedroom.
Incidentally brother Bob is doing the same thing to his villa. His wall will be done pretty soon.
Okay - what's happenin in your neck o' the woods?

Happy Easter to Y'all!
Florida is a great place to celebrate Easter. . .everyone seems to have guests visiting. And we're no exception to the rule. Emma and Brenda came in on Good Friday to Tampa airport from Sacramento, Calif, so Paul and I traveled up there with the two puppies in their cage. We were concerned about traveling with them but they really behaved themselves. They slept most of the way, and coming back they did pretty much the same thing. Brenda and Emma were so excited to finally meet Bode, their little male puppy.
Their plane got in a half hour late, which wasn't bad considering the plane schedules we all have to contend with now.
Noi, Greg, Neenee and Brenan arrived, late, after dinner after a three hour trip from Gainesville. Noi had to work today and after having dinner at home.
Our visitors managed to get to the beach twice. Once on Saturday, and once this morning early before church. There was a logical concern that the church would be crowded. We got there in plenty of time, but there were so many visitors! Our church has a custom of inviting all the visitors to stand. It felt good to see almost our whole pew stand up. . . and to know they were related to us! Last night Greg and Brenda went to Walmart by themselves and picked up a big selection of Board Games for us to have here to play! What a wonderful surprise that was. It's something we really needed, and thought about getting. . . at some future time. Well, we've had fun using them now. Last night we played dominoes: Mexican Train, and the dice game: Yahtzee, and tonight we played Hearts.
This afternoon Paul grilled pork loins. We invited Cousin Alice and Cousin Carol to join us. We ate mid-day because Greg and Noi had to head back to Gainesville because Noi had to work tomorrow. Brenda and the three cousins are staying here til Tuesday, when we'll drive them up to Tampa which is mid-way to Gainesville from here. We'll probably have a picnic at a park because the pups will be with us. It's really like having babies. They can't be left alone for too long, and so they will be accompanying us a lot, til they're old enough to stay by themselves for any good length of time.
Guess that's all for a while.
So. . . . . . . What's happenin' in your neck o' the woods?