Home Alone

Hello again.

Seems like ages since I posted last. So much has happened. We had Thanksgiving at Nancy and Dan's up in Chicago, and just yesterday, Wednesday, we helped Bill and Epril move out and into their new apartment in Punta Gorda. It's been busy!

I guess I'll go in chronological order. We had a non-stop flight from Ft. Myers into O'Hare airport. We had expected a lot of traffic, delays. None of which materialized. We had some expected traffic into the city on Wednesday late afternoon. Our nonstop flight on Sunday evening left at 6:15PM and was completely uneventful and a delight. No traffic or crowds at the airport. Got back here at midnight Sunday evening.

Dan's parents, Jane and Scott, visited also, but stayed at their other son,Jeff and fiancee Nina's apartment which was close by. They'd gone to Cape Cod to visit her relatives, so they had the apartment to themselves.

Dan cooked Thanksgiving dinner. No one was allowed in the kitchen while the chef worked...for a day and a half - the dinner was outstanding. Turkey, of course, with all the fixings. Nancy made home-made cranberry jelly. Jane and I set the table with the tablecloth and napkins I'd gotten Nancy from China and her Gram's silver and Haviland china. And we all did the clean up afterwards. Except for Dan of course! The rule of the game: the cook does not clean up.

To stay out of Dan's way on Thanksgiving morning, we all (Jane, Scott, Evie (2), Vincent (6), Paul, I and Nancy) went to a place called Pump it Up.

It was a fun house filled with all kind of air jumping houses/slides, a climbing wall, riding toys. Evie and Vincent had been there for a birthday party before and when we opened the door, Evie gave out a screech of delight. We had to grab her and take her sneakers off first. She was so excited, fearless and invincible.

Jane went in some of the mazes with her at first, but soon realized that Evie was content to do everything herself. Vincent tried the climbing wall and did quite well. He also loved the other apparatus. Adults could sit on plenty of sofas, chairs and have coffee too. Nancy is in her sixth and 1/2 month, looking pregnant. There were a lot of people there Thanksgiving morning - doing the same thing we were doing - staying out of the cook's way! Lots of fun.

Epril mentioned to me that her mother, Nila, reads my blog to learn about what's happening to them, so I'm happy to report, Nila that they've moved into their new apartment as of Wednesday.

Bill and Epril had been packing up and moving things in Paul's van, down to their new apartment in Punta Gorda while we were in Chicago. The van held a lot of things and they got a lot of furniture moved. They made numerous (four?) trips back and forth while we were gone.

Yesterday we spent packing up all that was left, and in the afternoon, we drove down to the apartment to unloaded stuff. It was a 45 minute trip on I75.

Epril and I made up the twin beds with sheets, pillows , after Paul put the second one together. The first one, they'd moved beforehand and was set up. So we knew they'd be able to "fall into bed" when the time came and I helped put food in the fridge/freezer.

Their apartment is very nice - it actually seems larger than our villa here in Circlewoods. We were very impressed.

As you walk into the living room - the small galley kitchen is in the back. They have three bedrooms - master and bath with a huge walk-in closet on one side and two nice-sized bedrooms on the other side with a bathroom there. There are plenty of closet spaces to do with as they like. They have an end unit - next to them is a nice grassy area. The pool is not too far away. Looked like lots of kids around. There is a playground. There was a dog across the street barking through the screen window which could be a problem, but they'll deal with it.

Bill's office is in the smaller of the two bedrooms, and our sofa-bed and a loveseat are in the third bedroom. He spent the time in his office, getting his computer hooked up, table up.

As we were getting ready to leave, the Comcast man came to hook up the cable for Bill's computer. Naturally they forgot stuff here at the woods edge. . .Bill called this morning to list the things they'd forgotten. They're coming up Saturday to pick them up. He also said unhappily, the Comcast man couldn't get him started and would be coming back again today. So he couldn't work last night. Hope it all is okay. But that's moving for you. . . things happen unexpectedly.

What a domino effect: We gave Bill and Epril our green sofa bed, which they moved and put in their third bedroom. So- we took the sofa bed we have in the computer room into the living room. (It looks very nice.) But there's a bare wall in the computer room now where it was, that needs a sofa/futon. We stopped at a Futon store in Port Charlotte on the way home, just looking. We're going to go other places before we decide which to buy.

Paul went to the dermatologist this morning to have the pre-cancerous spot on his nose taken care of. Paul said it wasn't necessary for me to go, and I had things to do here and decided not to go with him. It didn't take long, and before I knew it he was home. The doctor suggested that he not have pictures taken for Christmas, as he'll probably have a red nose. (It looks fine now.)

Paul is in the guest room (now) painting the walls a pretty light avocado. Debbie, our cleaning lady, has been here and done her magic. We've ordered twin bed mattresses and frames for there. We'll get a bedroom suite soon enough.

Paul said he talked with Lue over Thanksgiving. She had dinner with Sharon, Dave, and the family. Sounded like she had a good time. Paul said she said she used a walker now rather than a cane because it was more comfortable. I'm glad she found something that would help her. We hope she's doing well still.

Paul worked a long time on my computer to see if he could get my e-mail up and running. It seems I could send, but not receive. It seems to be working well, so if you've sent me anything important between November 21st and yesterday, the 28th, I did not receive it. I lost all info from that time period. You may want to send it again.

There's always more to write, it seems, but time runs out. It's lunchtime and I'm hungry, so I'm sure Paul is!

That's all the news from the woods edge - how're things in your neck o' the woods?

We're settled in down here. But we leave tomorrow for Chicago.

It's been cloudy all week. I've been to the pool twice in the two and a half weeks we've been here. Such is life. November weather is great usually. This year the temp is fine. We've sat at the patio out back quite a bit for cocktails. Epril brought out her computer (yes - it was fine - because. . . . she was on Skype with her older sister, Susan, in the Netherlands.) Susan is with a nice man there. I'm sure Susan is jealous (LOL) of our wonderful weather here. Epril says she wants to see snow. I said it's fine for about 10 minutes. Only kidding for you people up North.

We've had such good news today and yesterday. Bill and Epril have finally gotten an apartment in Punta Gorda.

The rental agency told them that they didn't have a two bedroom, Darn! but they could have a three bed-room for $50 a month extra. Of course that's good! It's on the second floor, and has a nice floorplan which we printed out. They'll begin moving out or taking things there this Saturday. Not to be a spoilsport, but I suggested they take a lot of cleaning stuff as you never know what you'll find. Paul's lending them his van while we're gone and we'll use their small Kia Spectra to go to the airport. They'll be able to move a lot of stuff that way.

As I said, we're flying to Chicago tomorrow. Our flight leaves Ft. Myers at 2:00 We have a non-stop flight of 2 hours 45 min. approx. and should get there in time for dinner. There's an hour time change - we gain an hour. Can't wait to see those little ones. Bill and Epril will be taking care of Gracie for us while we're gone. They're going to John and Carol's for Thanksgiving dinner with Bob. We've packed our suitcases. Mine is smaller than last time. We're taking our winter coats, of course, plus some winter clothes we brought down here for our Thanksgiving trip.

Other good news. This is something you don't know about but we were waiting for the news from the dermatologist. Paul had a follow-up for his last year's cancer surgery. The dermatologist found two suspicious spots that he biopsied. It took about a week and a half for us to find out about them. One came back clear, and one on his nose was pre-cancerous and he'll have that frozen off. We're so happy! We would have reported whatever happened, of course, but it's so nice to not have to report a problem.

We had a really great Sunday - we went to regular church at 10:30, after breakfast out, and then kept our church clothes on because we had tickets to the Venice Theatre matinee to see "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." It was very well done. Our seats were right in the middle (it's a small theater) and we could see very well. From there we went to The Bone Fish Grill, a restaurant that opened up last year. We found it very nice. We got there before 5:00 which meant drinks were half-priced. We only had one since Paul was driving. The food was delicious and not as expensive as we heard.

So that brings you all up to date about things down here. The roads are getting crowded, but they don't seem bad near us. We took Gracie to the ice cream store this afternoon. They have tables outside, so she could go with us and have her ice cream from Paul.

So - won't be writing for a while. We get back on Sunday night. Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. We plan to!

Go to Curves or Post?

Guess.

It's been a beautiful time down here.  The weather has been around 75 degrees, sunny and no humidity. It was foggy this morning and it usually means a sunny day, but it's still cloudy.  Actually it's mid-afternoon now and there is some blue sky up there.   Paul went to the hottub this morning at 8:00.  There was a friend of his in it too. 

 Paul's been thinking about outside Christmas decorations.    We'll be in Chicago visiting Nancy and her family for Thanksgiving this year.  He wants to be able to come back the Sunday after Thanksgiving and just turn on the switch and see it all lit up. Sounds like a plan to me.  Of course he doesn't have to think about doing all this in cold weather, so that's nice.

Actually My Dear One went to Target and bought a small Christmas Tree  and has it decorated, and sitting on the piano.  We have a fake fica tree, in the lanaii, that has white lights on it, so it never was a meaningful Christmas tree.  But we'd  decorated that for past Christmases.  It gets lit all the time anyway.  So he's been busy. 

 Paul decided to do something different with our big palm tree out front.  He went to Walmart, bought the necessary lights, and support stuff and put it all together.  It's hard to describe, but I'll try:  He staked out a ring around the bottom and tied the lights up into the top of the trunk just below the fronds. The shape is a pyramid of colored  lights going up and down around the tree.  So when it's dark (we sneaked a look at it last night) it looks like a Christmas tree shape.  As mentioned before, it won't be lit til after Thanksgiving weekend when we get back from Nancy's.

Paul and Gracie took me to Curves in Englewood the other day.  When he takes me, he likes to stop at a small restaurant in the plaza while I'm there and sit at one of their outside tables and have coffee and a muffin. As can be expected, no pets are allowed inside. So  I went  in and ordered it for him before I walked around the corner to Curves to  begin my exercising.  As the waitress and I brought them out, I had to smile because he was surrounded by "6 old chicks"  admiring Gracie.  The waitress  got a kick out of it and said our dog was a chick magnet.  She sure is.  Paul and I also got a kick out of it.

 Yesterday morning, I finally got around to calling my hair dresser. My hair was in a bad way!  She could take me an hour later, at 11:30.   After I got there I found out she'd had a knee replacement in September and was on a shortened schedule, so I was lucky to find her in and available.   Her name is Zsa Zsa.  With that name you can picture a blonde bombshell from Hungary.  Well, about the only thing that's the same is her coming from Hungary.  She's about my age.  A little younger.  We're about the same shape. You get the picture.

  Paul drove me over and picked me up afterwards at 1:00.  He hadn't had lunch yet, so we went to the Moose Club in Venice and had a delightful lunch.  We both had tuna and chicken salad sandwiches, and a glass of wine.  The sandwiches cost $3.50.  The wine was $2.50.  What a bargain.  The place was on the quiet side, and not really busy.  Some couples were playing cards at back tables, a couple of people were at the bar, eating,  and some tables were used - but not all. 

What a difference from their crowded Friday night Fish fry. I couldn't wait to go and I looked forward to it all week! (I'd actually been looking forward to it for months!)   We invited our next door neighbors, Bob and Crystal, to go with Bob, Epril, Bill and us.  We got there at 5:15 along with many others . . and we had trouble finding a place to sit! It's quite a large room too.  We ended up  on the porch overlooking their small lake and fountain.  That's where we usually have ended up because we get there when we do.  The food was delicious, as usual, and the service wasn't long.     Oh, well.  Epril made some delicious brownies and Bill bought some ice cream for dessert.  Afterwards, we sat on our lanaii and enjoyed it. 

Bob and we went  to Trinity Presbyterian church Sunday.  We went to the 9:00 contemporary service that is held in the Fellowship hall -  it is quite large and it holds a lot of people at round tables.  They serve coffee.  Paul and our friends, Carolyn and John, who go to the Presbyterian church in Bath, have their son's family down here.  They come down every year and spend time with them.  Their teenage granddaughter,Kayla,  sings in the contemporary choir.  We saw her there, and her parents Seth and Kelly who've  joined the church.

 I don't think I ever mentioned that I've been going there for years and years before I met Paul; my aunt and mother went there before we did, my parents names,along with many others . . are both engraved at the beautiful stone Memorial area outside.  Unfortunately, they spelled our dad's name wrong. Mom had it done, and I suspect because she couldn't see well, was advanced in age, and didn't know what to do about it anyway,  didn't get it fixed. We weren't here at that time to do anything about it.  We really should do something about it now.

Epril and I just had a cup of herbal tea out on the patio.  I like that herbal tea.  I found some K-cups with it at Walmart the other day.  We had a chance to just sit and talk.  Just the two of us. She's so sweet.  I had a chance to get to know her a little better.  And vice versa.  No cell phones allowed.  Just the two of us.

Carol O has been keeping me informed about my friend, Ruth, from Bath.  She had a hip replacement on Monday.  I understand from Carol, she's okay and should be home today or tomorrow.  Good.  And many thanks to Carol for letting me know how Ruth's doing.  Carol is doing really well with her knee replacement.  I guess I can thank my lucky stars that I have all my knees and hips.  And Paul does too. 

Well - guess I'll just end for now.  Hope you're all doing well.  Hurricane Sandy devastated Bob's and my hometown.  I have to call my friend Marty and see how they did out at the end of Long Island.  Marty's also from East Rockaway just as we are.  Her sister and her husband lives there still on one of the canals.  Oh, my. 

So - I bet things are goin' better at your neck o' the woods than their neck o' the woods.

We made it! Circlewoods is aliving and kicking. . .

What a great trip we had.  It was so relaxing.  Of course, Paul drove the whole trip.  I don't know if he just doesn't trust my driving skills, which I think are quite good, or he prefers to drive the whole way.  I think it's a combination of the two even though he wouldn't admit the first assumption. 

Our first stop of the trip, the first day, is always in Pennsylvania, at Edna and Mike's for lunch.  Mike has been on oxygen full-time for quite some time. He looked well, though.  Edna did too.   Edna's soup was delicious, as usual.  We stayed in Fredericksburg that night.

Instead of three days, we took two extra days and stayed overnight at our friends Marcia and Hal's in NC.  They had a dinner party with two of their delightful friends I'd met several years ago. 

Marcia served shrimp and grits.  I know I made a faux-pas because Hal asked me if I liked Grits and I said no because I thought he was fooling.  But he wasn't.   No one up North serves grits that I know.  To tell you the truth, I wouldn't be able to tell what grits tastes like, but I thought I was adding to the joke  along with them.   Did I feel badly!  Well - it was the most delicious dinner.  I had three servings of grits that also had bacon pieces and cheese in it.  Yum. 

We only stayed overnight, but the next morning we were able to see their new (to them) boat they'd acquired.  Coda. What a wonderful name.  A coda is a musical ending that is extended to be quite delightful - just like their sailing experiences have been.  That's my definition.  Obviously.   We didn't have time to go out for a cruise.  It actually was quite chilly and windy, so it was just as well.  We said good-by from the marina and headed down to Hardeeville, SC for the next  night. 

From there we traveled on to Gainesvilleon Saturday  to stay overnight with Greg, Noi, NeeNee and Brenan.  This was a spur of the moment stay.  It worked out well because it was the weekend.  The kids and Noi were home, besides  Greg, so we had a chance to see them.  During the week, we usually would see only Greg, who works from home, and could meet us for lunch.

 As an added treat the six of us went to a very elegant restaurant.  The food was out of this world!  We sat out back on a large light beige cement terrace.  The round tables surrounded a beautiful lit, tiered, waterfountain  We got there early, and were the first to be seated, but before we left, the terrace where we were, plus the  inside area filled up. 

There were lots of people at the restaurant dressed in the Gainesville colors and tee shirts. Orange. There had been an afternoon  home game which we watched  on TV.   Brenan (16)and NeeNee (15) drove by themselves because he had a gig (sp?) to play at.  NeeNee had her SATs and had gotten home just before we got there.  She was really tired.  It started at 7:45 and went for 5.5 hours.   

We arrived here mid-afternoon after a three plus-hour trip.  Bob joined us for dinner.  He looks very well for having had heart surgery three months ago.  He's lost weight, his color has come back, and he's been walking around the one-mile circle every day with Martini.  Gracie and Martini knew each other immediately.  They play very well together.  Not that they didn't before.  But as Gracie is getting older (she'll be 3 in January), Martini is getting more tolerant.

Well, I guess that's all the news for now.  We'll be watching the Election Coverage tonight.  I hope you all voted.  We did - early last month up in NY.  May the best man win. My man of course.   It's such a close race.  It's a possibility that we won't know tonight what the outcome is. 

So. . . . . .How're things going  . . . . . .in your neck o' the woods?  You know, every once in a while I hear from someone who's reading my blog.  Thank you, Jeanne, for your advice on the K-cups.  Jennifer, good to hear from you too!