Remember when I wrote in my last post about how frustrating it is when we'd like people to come visit, but their children and they have different Spring vacations? Lue sent me an e-mail with an explanation. She said that if everyone had the same vacation dates, Florida would sink.
There's always that possibility.
I went to the pool Thursday, and it was so very crowded. Everyone was there. Everyone was hugging and kissing and saying good-by and "See you in the Fall". After all . . . .It's the first week in April.
It's the end-of-season. Now Regulars can enjoy their restaurants, roads, stores without us Snowbirds clogging them up. We've noticed less out-of-state license plates on the roads. You can go to Walmart and find a parking place anywhere You can travel on the road and there's much less traffic. Alice and Bob both say how much they enjoy the quiet of the summer months down here. They can go to the pool and it's like it's their own with no one around.
Alice is feeling ever so much better. She came for lunch today and looked well. The doctor told her to still take it easy, so she is.
There's a story to the lunch: I'm telling it in a round about way . . . not the short version. Alice and I are going to Weight-Watchers every Tuesday morning. We've been pretty faithful about it, except for Alice being sick - and I going on a cruise, having company.
So - I gained a few pounds on the cruise after all or after we had company, so I got my oomph back from the meeting and made some Weight Watchers' Soup. (It's delicious) I never follow my soup recipes with all the ingredients, but I thought I would this time. At least the spices.
It called for cracked red pepper, and diced tomatoes, black pepper. Particularly dry roasted diced tomatoes. So, Wednesday afternoon I made it. Thursday we had it for lunch.
The soup was so spicy hot; I thought I was going to die. I never have spicy foods so it was a surprise. I managed to have a cup, with some ice water, a couple of soup crackers and tried to lie down. I couldn't - my stomach was all crampy, I was burping, my stomach felt hot inside. I do have gerd, but my goodness, nothing ever like that has ever happened to me.
So, I decided to get rid of the soup - and then make some more new. My first thought was to give it to Bill and Epril - who love spicy hot things. Bill and Epril invited us to come to Punta Gorda and go to their Moose Club, so I was going to take the soup with me. I forgot it. My brain doesn't work as well as it used to. (More about Punta Gorda later.)
Yesterday Paul and I went to the supermarket and I bought all the ingredients again and decided to make the soup, but the old soup was in the soup pot still and I didn't want to throw it away. So today, I called Bob. Nephew Paul answered. He said his dad would love the soup, but he didn't like hot stuff. They'd take it though. Paul came and got the soup, which I'd put in a "traveling" bowl. . (It was returned. Thank you to nephew Paul. )
My pot was now free. I made a new batch of soup this morning. I left out the hot stuff. My thought was it was a great time for Alice to get out and so I invited her for a weight-watcher's lunch. So Paul, Alice and I agreed it was delicious and we each had another cupful. So that's the story of the soup.
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Now back to the Punta Gorda Story - I had originally invited Bill to come to Venice because Epril was busy this weekend with some friends celebrating birthdays in Miami. Epril's plans were changed, so we agreed to go to Punta Gorda. It was easier for them. And besides, they almost always come to Venice.
Pretty soon (Tuesday 4 AM) they'll be leaving for the Philippines and will be gone for three weeks. We thought it would be nice to see them this weekend so we could say good-by. When they come back, we will have headed north. Carol O and Bob went also. Paul drove. We had cocktails at their home and then went to the Moose Club. Our van holds 7, so six fit fine. Bill's two-seater does not work well for a crowd.
We'd been to the Punta Gorda Moose Club once before. It's an older building, like a lot of the Moose Clubs down here in Florida are. It's okay. It has a room in the back that is closed off and away from the bar area. It is smoke-free and quiet. Not this time. There was a noisy party at a long table in the back and they were having a good good time. We had to shout to hear each other, but that was okay. we had a good time anyway. The food was excellent. They left before us, and it all settled down.
As we were getting ready to leave, a lady from another table, not the noisy one, said something to Epril, and she went over and conversed with her very nicely. The lady was admiring her hair. Epril does have beautiful long black hair. Afterwards, Bill remarked to Epril how easily she talked with strangers. When she first got here, she was so shy, she would hardly ever talk to someone she didn't know. Epril nodded in agreement - and I guess his remark got her thinking because I could see the awareness on her face after he said that.
So - Bill and Epril are on an adventure the next three weeks. Bill said it should take 30 hours to get there with a stop in Beijing. They're hoping to do some sight-seeing. He said if you're not there more than 24 hours and you have a plane ticket out of there, You don't need a visa. You can leave the airport. I know I needed one when I went to China in 2004. I told them they'd better keep in touch via Facebook or whatever else they use.
Bill will be working from there. He contacted his company and they agreed to it. It'll be hard for Epril to leave once she has to come back, but she's made a million friends here. I'm not exaggerating at all. They've enveloped her with friendship. And we love her too.
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Paul went to the pool with me this afternoon. He sat in the shade. He doesn't go very often . . . But to be perfectly honest, I haven't been very much either. It's been a busy season. I was pleased that people are still around. We have some leaving in May. They say they want to be sure the snow is gone. It was HOT down at the pool. You can see the difference between March and April.
I sat with Carol O. She was there getting the last of her sun-time in. She leaves on the auto train from Sanford, Fla. next Friday. A week from today, she'll be in Pennsylvania seeing her grandkids. Her granddaughter just lost two teeth. The tooth fairy visited her. Reminds me of Vincent who just lost a bunch also. I assume the Tooth Fairy visited.
Carol was remarking the other day - that when her son Matt was his daughter's age and losing teeth he realized that he could make money when his teeth came out, so he spent a good deal of time walking around with his fingers in his mouth trying to loosen up his teeth so he could get more money.
Our next door neighbors, Crystal and Bob, aren't leaving until Monday. Bad weather was predicted on their trip back to Massachusetts if they left today. So we have them a while longer!
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