Sunday at Home

I want everyone to know that I LOVE my bed. I slept sooooo well last night! It was just a wonderful night! I knew that our Tempurpedic bed is wonderful, but I really found that out last night! It had to be the best night of sleep I've ever had!

Today was another sunny, beautiful day in Iowa! We went to church this morning, which was an interesting experience! Our guest speaker today was the Christian Ed director at the Oskaloosa church. She brought with her the youth group from their church. So, we had praise music, with a rock band! They were really quite good...it's great to see so many young people with long hair, dyed hair, piercings, singing praises to God. The keyboard player/bass guitarist was quite a musician. In the middle of all this rock music, our choir sang a very traditional, old world hymn! Talk about contrasts!

This afternoon, I took a short nap - again on that wonderful bed - and then I've been working on all these piles of mail! I finally got everything opened and into manageable piles! I've got to-file piles, to-pay piles, PEO piles, bank statement piles, as well as magazine/catalog piles! Tomorrow I hope to get through several of the piles and get them put away.

I've got to go to a funeral tomorrow morning. One of my sorority sister's father passed away, so I'll go to be there with her. Her dad was one of the cutest, sweetest men. He used to walk out at the life center, back when I still worked there - he was maybe 88 at the time. He'd walk one or two laps, but at least he walked! Then he got to a point where he couldn't do it anymore and he stopped coming. I didn't know that he was Judy's dad until just about 3 months ago when she was at VW visiting him and I was at VW visiting Aunt Helen. I had gone in and talked to her dad 3-4 times. He was a sweetheart! More later...

We're Home!!

We're home and it feels good - inside!! I'm getting ready to go upstairs to bed. In fact, I could hardly wait for it to be bedtime!! I think my bed is going to feel wonderful.

We drove home in two days...got to Oak Grove, KY the first day, which left only about 8 hours for today's trip. It was nice. We had a very uneventful trip - beautiful sunny days, no ice or snow on the roads - much better than last year! After we got home and unpacked the car, Dave went upstairs, put on his bib overalls and came downstairs to announce that he4 was back home!! He's so funny! Him and his bibs and long underwear! As for me, I worked on putting away all the food stuff - coffee, plates, silver, etc. Then I sat in my chair for about an hour. I had a 24" pile of mail that I started going through - I'm only part way there, but at least I've got a good start on it. I even played a few games on Facebook! Dave made me a list of "jobs" for me to accomplish this next week or so, and I'm already stressing about all of them. I guess I just need to walk away for tonight. More later...

On our way home

We're in Sarasota at Maury and Roberta's tonight. We had a good trip over from Ft Lauderdale - we saw lots of sugar cane fields and we even saw a flock of flamingos flying (in Florida)!!! Now that's a beautiful sight - they were near Okochobee. I've never seen flamingos flying before!

Tomorrow we're leaving here at 6:30 or so Dave says. He's taking his shower tonight and I'll take mine in the morning...the car is gassed up and ready to go.

Last day here - homeward bound

We had a good last day here in Fort Lauderdale. We packed this morning - the trunk is real full!! We've still got quite a bit to go into the back seat of the car - hopefully we'll get everything in!! We ate leftovers so the refrigerator is pretty much empty. We even got to pick up the girls - they love being car riders!! We took them to Razzleberry's as a special surprise and to say goodbye to the Orr family. Julie was there, as were her mom and dad. Didn't get to see her brother or her aunt, but did get our last taste of rum raisin ice cream. We also got to see Sudi and Howard again, and we cooked for the family! We're really going to miss them.

We'll take off in the morning and go to Sarasota where we'll spend the night and then leave Friday morning for points north!!

Tuesday Ponderings

Dave and Howard went deep sea fishing today. There were 7 guys on the boat and one lady...one was the Captain and one was the mate. They caught several fish collectively - one was a 59" barracuda and a real ugly grouper which weighed 60-65 pounds and about 46" long. The lady caught a 29" fish too. Both guys agreed that it was lots of fun!!

While the guys were fishing, Sudi and I went to breakfast at a rundown Denny's. We asked for eggs over medium and our eggs were really runny, so we sent them back...got 2 more eggs, again runny...we decided we could just eat them.

When the guys got back, we met Sudi at Aruba's - it was a beautiful day to eat by the beach! Tonight we went over to Jami's and visited with her and Mary Ellen - Tom had gone to a game. Danny was grumpy tonight - all he wanted was his mommy!!

I'm patiently waiting for the skaters in the Olympics...about an hour ago (just kidding!) they said 11 more minutes until the ladies skate...now we're bobsledding. We also missed the girls singing on Idol. Oh, well, I guess we'll miss the guys tomorrow night too.

I finally gave up and went to the doctor today for my back. She gave me two shots - one was cortisone and one was for inflamation. Ouch! I'm supposed to be 50% better by tomorrow - yeah!! Actually I feel much better today, so I hope it continues to improve tomorrow. I also got some prescriptions for muscle relaxers for the ride home!! The bad news was that we wasted about 2 hours waiting to see the doctor. This hasn't exactly been the best trip for us, but wait...there's more!!

Tonight, we went over to Sudi and Howard's for dinner. Wonderful food and great company! However, this time Sudi trounced us in cards!! Dave had 3 drinks, so I got to drive home. He had parked us in a guest spot that is really tight...so I started backing out very carefully. Well, I hit the telephone or electrical pole with my beautiful car. I started crying and he yelled at me, so I cried even more. It doesn't appear too bad, but then it's dark so we can't see it real well. We'll see how it looks tomorrow. Just add one more bad thing to this trip. That is the first time I've ever hit anything to cause damage to one of my cars.

Almost Over

Our time here is quickly drawing to a close. We've decided that we're going to leave on Thursday of this week - that should put us home by Saturday. Sure hate to leave, but I think I'll be better off when I get home - I MISS MY TEMPURPEDIC BED!!!! I sleep well here, but I don't move which doesn't help these back spasms at all.

This morning, we woke up to 7 more cruise ships in the port. Eight yesterday and seven today. Wow! I'll miss seeing them.

After church, we went to Jami's and did our laundry. About 4:00 or so we went over to the Italian Festival to be with Jami again.

We came back to the Taj about 8:00 and have just been reading and watching TV tonight. We're going to be doing several things that we love this week - like eating outside near the water and being with Jami and the kids! Dave is going deep sea fishing and Howard is going along with his camera. I plan to absorb some sun while he's out on the boat!! Since it's still snowing in Iowa, I have a feeling I need to absorb a bunch of sun just to get me thru until spring!!

Finally!!

Finally, an absolutely gorgeous day!! We left early to go to see the cruise ships that had come in early this morning...there were 8 of them, ranging from a small day-cruise ship to the huge Oasis of the Sea. Hopefully I got some good pictures, but I didn't get around to uploading them to the computer...should get that done tomorrow.

After that we went to Jami's where we all took off for the Italian Fest at their church. Kelly did her ballet thing about 12:15 - she looked so cute up there! Then we ate lunch and the kids wanted to ride the rides. We didn't leave there until about 4:00. Tom came to meet us at the Festival, but by the time he got there Danny was sleeping, so he took him home and Dave and I went around with the girls to the various rides. After about an hour I went to sit in the car because my back was hurting and the car seats are about the most comfortable seats around. Poor Jami - she is still there - the booths don't get to close until 11:00 tonight...and then another day tomorrow. Hopefully she sold some things!!

We got home just in time to watch all of the ships leave the Port. What a spectacular sight - they left one right after the other!!

Tomorrow is church and then enjoying another sunny day!

Just a Week Left

I can hardly believe that we only have about a week left. I think if it had been warmer down here, we would be more ready to go home. It just seems like the other day that we got here. I know that Dave is ready to go home, but I'm not. I really enjoy being in S Florida!

Today was a fun day. We picked up Sudi and Howard and went around looking at various properties. Most of them had lots of potential, except for one that wasn't on a canal!! I think the water is wonderful - it's like a movie, each scene is something different. The boats down here are wonderful!! Dave's and my favorite house is the one at 5911 Bayview...we think we could be very happy there!!! Later we went to lunch at Galuppi's, which is a restaurant at a public golf course on Federal. Sudi and I've both been wanting to go there.

This afternoon Dave and I hung out at the Taj and read. We're going to have to go home or go to a bookstore, because we're down to 1 book that we haven't read. I'm reading one that Sudi lent to me, so I've got to get it done soon. I just started it yesterday and I'm over half-way done now.

Tomorrow we go to Jami's and take the kids to the Italian Festival, where Kelly's ballet troupe will perform and where Jami is selling her jewelry.

Thursday

Dave is feeling much better today - great drugs!! We slept a little later than usual today, then went to the Bimini Boatyard for lunch with Jami. Before we picked her up, we went to Joann's and bought her some black velvet and white satin to display her jewelry on at the Italian Fest this weekend. She told us that Kelly performs somewhere between noon and 12:30 on Saturday and since Tom has detention at Cardinal Gibbons, she'd like us to bring the kids over to the church about 11:45. We're not planning to be at the Festival a lot...we're planning to enjoy our last weekend here by getting some beautiful water pictures and enjoying the sun!! We sat out quite a while today, then I took a nap. Now, Dave's taking his!! On the way back to the Taj Mahal, we drove down by the Port of Everglades - it's beautiful down there!

Tonight we've just been hanging out - don't know yet what tomorrow holds.

Dave's Sick!

We're starting to feel like true seniors - we've been visiting Dr's offices quite frequently it seems. Today was Dave's day. He's got sinus infection and he's been miserable! Today he finally broke down and went to a walk-in clinic. He is now on prednisone and an antibiotic...good news and bad news.

We had a really boring day - just hung out here at the Taj until about 2:00 when we left to go to the doctor. We also went to Jami's to do some laundry and tonight we went to Bobby Rubino's for ribs/chicken with Sudi and Howard. Good food and good company!

Tomorrow we're going to Bimini Boat Works or something like that with Jami for lunch and then we have to find some black velvet material for her table at the Italian Festival. Busy weekend coming up!!

Tuesday

I went to the chiropractor today - quite an experience! After he adjusted me I started having major spasms!! In fact I couldn't get up from the table! I finally was able to roll off of one table onto another and then got to sit up. After I was sitting up, he put a Tens machine on me, wich helped the muscles relax a bit. I've been using it all day. I was there for 2 hours! I'm hoping I can sleep tonight...I'm sore and my back is still tight.

Missed Yesterday

Last night, by the time we got home, I didn't feel like typing w/one finger! We got up relatively early, ate breakfast, and then we all went to church. Maury, Roberta, Dave and I went to Coral Ridge Presbyterian while Tom, Jami, and the kids went to St Coleman's. After church, we ALL went to The Original Pancake House...that turned out to be an expensive, but delicious venture!! Then we had to say goodbye to Maury and Roberta and we drove them out to the freeway. We came home and rested for a bit, then Jami brought the kids over and about 5:30 we all went to Razzleberry's for ice cream. It was about 7:15 before she went home!

Today we got up and after breakfast headed for Jami's - we did laundry and the Dave and Jami drug everything out of their storage shed, culled through it all, cleaned off the plastic bins, and put things back in. It looks like they have a bunch of room now. We went and got Subways for lunch and after lunch we went to the beach! Finally a nice day! We al had lots of fun. After that Jami brought the kids up to the Taj Mahal for snacks and took them home about 5:30 or so. We've just been watching ships go out and relaxing.

Tomorrow I've got a chiropractor's appointment - hope that will help the muscles in my back!!

Saturen day

Fun day today. We had breakfast here at the Taj Mahal then took off for Jami's. The kids were lots of fun. Danny's getting a cold again, though. Kelly and Megan both got their hair cut. Tonight we watched the Grand Princess leave - what a ship! Then we went to Barrage in Miramar. Wow, what a show - 8 musicians, 5 of whom played the violin, but not like you've ever seen before!!

Friday Fun

We went out to I75 to pick up my in-laws today. Pretty funny - we told them to take exit 21 and we'd meet them there...guess we should have told them to take the Weston exit because from the west it's exit 22!! So we get a call from them and they're already on I595 and don't know where to go. Anyway, we took off looking for them...found them near exit 19!! On the way however, Dave didn't listen to me and took the wrong exit, so we ended up at the Sawgrass Mall instead of heading to Naples and I75. Did a quick Florida u-turn and found them. I drove our car back and Dave drove their van. This afternoon we took them to Razzleberry's and then we went to Jami's to cook dinner for them.

The kids did another fashion show for us tonight. Danny came out in this darling black dress with a pink polkadot skirt. He wouldn't take it off until Jami told him he couldn't have ice cream until he took his dress off!!

Shopping Day

Today was a day for shopping! Since Dad and Roberta are coming tomorrow, Dave decided we needed to find a heater for their room. Roberta absolutely freezes, so he felt we needed one for them...after all, the Taj Mahal doesn't have heat!! Anyway, every place we went had no heaters left. Sudi and Howard and us went out to the Sawgrass Mall today...I think we walked for at least 2 miles. Before we went into the Mall, Dave and I went to Sam's and they didn't have any either! Finally Dave tried the Brandsmart and they had some! So we bought two...and we've been trying one out in our room tonight - feels pretty good!! Of course I'm sitting here with an ice pack on my shoulder.

Tomorrow we go meet Dad and Roberta and then this weekend we'll spend LOTS of time with Jami and her family. We're planning to cook tomorrow night again - guess I'll have to come up with a menu!! Later!

Fun day

I got my new camera today. Dave says now we can each walk down the street with a camera and look like real tourists!

Sudi, Howard, Dave and I went to Nick's today...this is someplace I've wanted to go for several years. Wow, that's a wonderful Italian restaurant! In fact, it may become my new favorite restaurant!!

Tonight we cooked for the fam! We fixed pork chops and rice...even the kids liked it! After supper I got to help Kelly with her homework again. I just love doing that. She's a beautiful reader!! Megan had homework last night, so I was able to help her too. She, too, is going to be a good student I think. She's very proud of her accomplishments!! Danny just wanted mommy tonight.

We've been watching Idol the last two nights...good singers. I'd hate to be a judge!

Tuesday

Today was kind of a lazy day. I woke up in lots of pain, so I took 3 Advil and put ice on my shoulder and was able to go back to sleep. After breakfast we went for our walk, then came back to the Taj Mahal and did some straightening up. We went to the camera shop but my camera hadn't come in yet. So we went to find a place to get my hair cut. After that we had lunch at

The Original Pancake House and then went to McNab Elementary to pick up the girls. We brought them here, fixed them popcorn and Diet Coke and played War until we had to pick up Jami to take Megan to get her stitches out. Since Jami had to go back to work, we brought the girls back here for mor War, coloring, watching boats and waiting for mommie. After Jami picked up the girls, Dave and I walked up to Bahia Cabana for supper.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll get my new camera. Plus, we're going to Nick's for lunch (with Sudi and Howard) and then we're cooking for the family tomorrow night. It's a challenge to fix something the kids will eat too!!

My Fall

I'm going to try to update this even though I am having to type left-handed again. Friday Dave and I went for our morning walk only this time we went over by the Marriott where the Colts were staying. We saw that the buses were about to load to take the guys to practice, so we decided to stick around and try to get a picture of Peyton Manning. Bad decision as it turns out. It started to rain so we went to a stairwell to wait....I sat down on the 4th step because the rain was hitting the first 3 steps. After a few minutes Dave went to see if he could get in to a restroom. I decided to check to see if they were boarding the buses yet. I slipped on step #3 and started to fall toward the bottom and onto my right shoulder...I must have grabbed the bannister to break my fall because my arm isn't bruised; however, in doing so I twisted my arm and back and still fell on my right hip. I was sure I'd broken my arm. When security came they suggested I get the EMTs and go to the hospital. We went that route with my rescue truck holding up the Colts' buses! Needless to say I didn't get my picture! So after 3 hours in the ER it was determined that I didn't break either my arm or myhip, but that I have a shoulder sprain, which means torn ligaments. I am in a new splint!! After all of that, I found out during the game that Larry Coyer who used to coach at Iowa State is the Defensive Coordinator for the Colts, so I probably could have gotten in w/Coach Coyer and gotten a picture!! Since that happened we haven't done much. I've got lots of back pain, shoulder pain, and I've got a bruise the size of a football on my hip- and is it ever black!!

Yesterday we went to Jupiter to see Derek DeGennaro, an ex-ISU quarterback. I haven't seen him for almost 20 years. It was good to catch up!!

Saturday

I'm in the condo, Dave is at the free concert on the beach. I'm back to hunting and pecking because of my new splint. Will catch up later when I can move my right arm.

Thursday Thoughts

Traffic down here is really picking up. We keep seeing the buses for both the Saints and the Colts go by - one of the teams you can't miss - it has at least 20 police motorcycle escorts . The other one just has 2 at the front and 2 at the back. Each team also has 4-5 police car escorts too. Sure is a spectacle to see - each team has 4 team buses and 1 other bus, I assume for trainers/managers, etc. Oh, the police escorts all have their lights on and their sirens blaring all the time - they make quite an entrance to the beach area! The stage is coming along very nicely at the beach. In fact, it looks pretty much done to me. Today the vendors were starting to set up.

I took this picture as we were driving by the beach on A1A yesterday. The beaches yesterday and today were just packed! Tons of extra people around Fort Lauderdale. I guess you can't even begin to find a room tonight!

This is a picture of the stage. Our "Taj Mahal" is just to the right behind the trees! We are on the 5th floor, though, so we have some wonderful views from our balconies! In fact, we're hoping to be able to see the fireworks from our balcony on Saturday night. Last night they had fireworks on the beach and we saw all of them!

Can you believe that Dave took this picture? He said he took it so his farmer friends would know what Florida farming is like! This John Deere is cleaning up debris from the beach - seaweed and blue jellyfish mainly!

After our morning walk to the beach, we went to have lunch w/Jami. She took us to a little diner called "Lester's Diner" where I ordered 2 eggs, bacon and American fries. I got 2 eggs, bacon and French fries!! Also my toast came after my eggs were almost eaten. Dave ordered a pork tenderloin. It came with gravy on it and no bun!!! Jami had cabbage and corned beef - hers was what we expected!! This afternoon and evening we just hung out, and now I'm waiting to watch Project Runway at 10:00 - if I can stay awake that long! Stay tuned...

Wednesday Happenings

We woke up this morning to another beautiful day. After breakfast and Dave's conference call, we headed out for our walk to the beach to see what progress had been made on the stage area for Saturday night. The stage area is coming along really well. They've put up a fence all the way around the venue so you have to walk all the way around the area...so we went down farther on the beach and sat for a while. While we were there, the Indianapolis Colt cheerleaders came out on the beach...and this is the first day we didn't take a camera with us. So I took a couple of shots with Dave's phone. Now, there is a problem taking pix with a phone on the beach - it's so bright out there, you can't see a thing, so you have no idea if your pictures came out at all. So, if you're around Dave, ask him to see the pictures of the cheerleaders!!



After lunch at our condo, we took off to check out new cameras. Went to Wolf Camera on Sunrise/Federal - talked to a guy who convinced me that I don't need an SLR. So, instead, I ordered an updated version of my camera (which has better image stabilization and a bit better zoom). I think I'll really like it. We walked out of there happy campers!!

Tonight we went to Jami's and went with the family to a hot dog feed/science fair thingee at McNab Elementary. It also turned out to be a PTA meeting, so as soon as we'd eaten our dogs and heard the meeting, we ducked out! Dave and I then went to Razzleberry's for some rum-raisin ice cream. Should sleep well tonight! Stay tuned...

No more rain!!!

Hopefully, the rain is gone for a while!! It was beautiful for most of today though. We decided to walk to the beach this morning, so off we went - even though it was looking pretty rainy. While we were at the beach I took a lot of pictures - I'm trying to find a picture that I really like so that I can have it blown up for our bedroom. Unfortunately, I've got lots of pictures I like! After our little walk, we stopped at the Bahia Cabana for coffee (or Dave stopped for coffee, I stopped for tea!) We ended sitting there for about an hour, just watching the birds and the boats. We came home then, had lunch, then went out to the deck to catch a little sun and read for a while. After a little bit, Dave called Sudi and Howard to see if they wanted to come over for a while. So they came over, sat outside with us for a while - until a little shower came through - and then we played a game of cards. Dave (the old coot!) won with only 12 points - unheard of!

After Sudi and Howard left, Dave and I went back over to the Bahia Cabana for a bowl of soup. We had black and white chili - it was really good, but I have a feeling it's going to be hard to digest! Tonight we've just been hanging out - kind of fun for a change!!

Moving Monday

Today was moving day again. We moved this time down toward downtown Fort Lauderdale, directly across A1A from where the free Super Bowl party will be held on Saturday night. They are busily trying to build the stage and unfortunately, the weather is not cooperating! It rained all day today - yuck! Makes you a little depressed when you're in this mecca of the south and the weather is gray and rainy! Anyway it does me! We've probably already had an inch of rain today and we have another inch possible tonight.

Our new condo is adequate (maybe??). It's basically a large hotel room with 2 full-sized beds. We were told to bring our pots and pans, but there's no stove!! We are on the 5th floor so if and when it stops raining, we'll have a wonderful view. On the one side is the Bahia Mar harbor where the multi-million dollar yachts park and out our window we can see the Port of Everglades in the distance. Tonight in the rain we watched a HUGE ship going out - it was enormous! We've got our binoculars in the car so we'll be checking out the boats I'm sure!

Last night we went with Sudi and Howard to Tortilla Flats - a restaurant near their condo. Good food and even better fellowship - the poor waitress thought we should be getting refills on our drinks since we were taking up a table!! We finally convinced her we just wanted to sit and talk!

Dave had a horrible night last night. He went out this morning and got one of those little pots to use to wash out his sinuses. This evening he's actually able to breathe thru both of his nostrils - it's starting to work. After we unloaded our car today, we picked up Jami and took her to lunch. Then we went shopping for some essentials - like toilet paper, etc. Oh well, it's just another adventure!!