New Year's Eve 2010

Bryan got here late last night and since it was so late, we all just went to bed. This morning Dave and Bryan got up relatively early (compared to me!) and had breakfast ready when I came downstairs. The two of them took off for church to do some mudding in one of the rooms there. Then they came home and created chaos in our home! Actually, they were upstairs in the attic installing this foil heat barrier insulation. That sounds like a guy thing, doesn't it? That's what I thought and I couldn't see how that project would involve me!! Wrong again! After lunch, they called me up to the attic to make some decisions about some of the "stuff" up there! So now, instead of an attic full of "stuff", some of the "stuff" is now in the rose room awaiting my perusal! I have to go through those boxes that were brought down...I may see another garage sale in the near future! I guess if this "stuff" has been in the attic for more than a year, I really don't need it!! After moving some of the boxes downstairs, now the attic looks great! They were able to get all of the holiday decorations into one closet in the attic and they got the foil put down over most of the floor. Unfortunately, the attic was bigger than Dave anticipated, so 1,000 square feet of foil didn't cover the entire floor. Now he'll have to get another roll and do the rest of the job without Bryan! This foil is supposed to cut back on heat loss through the attic floor - I sure hope it does the job! We're one of the worst houses in our neighborhood as far as heat loss through the roof of our house is concerned.

Tonight Dave and I went to the club for dinner with Bob & Ann, Keith & Barb, Gary & Barb, Steve & Barb, and Steve & Marlene. We toasted the new year...not at midnight, at 7:30 instead! Bob and Ann are planning to get up at 4:00 AM to leave for Florida. I think the car is packed except for just a few last minute items! I hope they have a safe trip! I'm going to miss them!

Happy New Year you all. I hope that God blesses you and your loved ones in 2011 and beyond. More next year...

Beautiful Day!

It got to almost 60 here in Iowa today - I think all of the snow in our yard if finally gone, unless it's down at the end of the drive where the snow piled up when the snow plow went by! It also just got through raining a bit, so that should take care of a lot of it! We went to the Tom Tom Tap to meet Bob & Ann, Steve, Rhonda, Cheyenne, Vicki, Allison, Barb, Gary, Barb and Keith for pizza and beer and we didn't even wear jackets! That being said, it's supposed to change tomorrow afternoon/evening some time! We're expecting a high of 50 and then a low of 10 and a high of 23 on Saturday - yuck!

I got some of the pictures of our new Florida home uploaded! Here's the front of the house...the living room is on the front right and the extra room is front left. There's a large carport on the right, as well as a screened-in lanai with a storage shed at the front of the carport. The shutters are hurricane shutters - I shudder to think we might have to use those!!As you come into the house, you either go straight ahead to the bathroom, to the right for the master bedroom, or to the left to the kitchen, then living room. In between the kitchen and living room is the doorway for the bonus room - it's the yellow room in the pictures. The wallpaper has been changed - the living room is darker now. I pretty much hate wallpaper, so it may become a honey-do!!! No picture of the master bedroom and I didn't include the bathroom either - sorry!

More later...

Allison Christmas

We sure had a fun day yesterday! It was so fun that we didn't get home until midnight and slept in until after 9:00 this morning!!! We went to Bob's about 10:00 after both the ham and the rolls were cooked. Ann had a hair appointment at 10:30 and we weren't supposed to eat until about 1:00, so we helped Bob with the food prep. Ann had already set the table and had the side dishes ready to go...we peeled potatoes and got them on at the proper time. I was so anxious for the girls to get there that I was like I was when Bob and I waited for Aunt Helen and Uncle Bert to arrive at our place when we were just kids. At that time, Bob & I would sit on Mom & Dad's bed and watch out the window for what seemed like hours, just waiting to see who would see their car first. Of course, Bob always saw them first...after all, I was just a little kid and I had a short attention span!! Well, yesterday felt much the same - Bob and I both kept looking out the window!! Linda and her family arrived first, but not until about 12:15! Then Vicki's family and Rhonda's family and Ann all got there close to the same time! By the time we carried in packages and got all of our hugs, it was time to get serious about dinner!
After dinner and dishes, we opened packages. It seems we always have some kind of a tear-producing package and yesterday was no exception. The girls' mom had acquired a sign that was advertising J.W. Allison and Sons, which she gave to the girls to give to Bob. It produced lots of tears!! We figured the sign dated somewhere between 1945 and 1950. It had our Fairfield phone number on it and we moved from Fairfield in May of 1950. Dad didn't start trucking until 1945...thus our logic. Anyway it was good to remember all the sign stood for.

After presents and supper, the real fun began! We played games - Bananagram, 5 Seconds, Farkle, and Wild Card! We left there about 11:45 - it was a great day!!

Today, we worked on financial papers and taking clothes to Salvation Army. We also found out that we passed the background check with flying colors! So, now we can officially be owners at Holiday Ranch in Clearwater, Florida...actually, our home is in Largo, but the mailing address is Clearwater! I'll get some pix posted - hopefully tomorrow!! More later...

Eagles and Frost!!

This is the spectacular sight we woke up to this morning! The world was just beautiful! We had a hoary frost and every tree, every blade of grass, every fence and even every cobweb looked like this! It was beautiful. Since it was so beautiful, we decided to go down by the river to see the eagles today. There were dozens of them and thousands of Canadian geese! We watched the eagles dive to the water and snare fish - it was a wonderful sight! We 4-wheeled it up this hill and then walked across river on the footbridge that was just finished last year. It was really cold, but everything was so pretty that you didn't notice. So, Dave decided he was going to get the truck and move it to the south side of the river while I stayed where I was to take pictures. Pretty soon, he came back - walking! He was stuck in a snowdrift with a 4-wheel drive pickup! (I'm sure this was because he knocked over the salt shaker and spilled salt this morning!!) So, I ended up walking back across the river again. Some friends of ours from church were also there watching the eagles, so they brought me home while Dave waited for Larry Cofer to come with a scoop shovel so he could dig himself out of the drift!! We're always having adventures!! Anyway, I got some wonderful pictures and some really good exercise! I needed it because tomorrow is our family Christmas and I know I'll eat too much!!

Enjoy! More later...

Pretty Day

It was cold here today, but the snow is still pristine and so white that it is beautiful. We went to church this morning. Pastor David had a wonderful sermon again. His son and family and his daughter and her family all participated in the service. He talked on the Christmas story again, but this time from Matthew instead of Luke. He tried some interesting technology out on us, but our sound system pretty much failed. While he was talking about the heavenly host of angels, Paul (our sound guy) was supposed to have Silent Night playing in the background...but all we got was a hum in the speakers. Eventually Paul got it working, but it was a little late for the impact David wanted to achieve. He's very innovative! Church was sparsely attended today, though...my Dave made way too much coffee!!!

We went to Bob & Ann's today for Sunday dinner, so we got to see Rhonda and her family. Cheyenne (10) is almost as tall as Ann! I know that Ann isn't very tall, but Chey has really grown since we were in Texas in September. After dinner, we just sat around and talked until they had to leave to go to Rhonda's mom's. We came home and Dave worked in his garage on his trailer. I think he's pretty much done now.

Tomorrow I'm going to try to get in with the chiropractor. My back has really been hurting the last few days...hopefully he can help! More later...

Merry Christmas 2010

Christmas day has come and gone for 2010. We had a fun day. Since we didn't go to bed until late, we didn't get up very early today. Actually, though, I got up at 7:30 and turned the roast beef up on high so that I could be sure it would be done. Then I went back to bed. Unfortunately, about 20 minutes after I got back into bed, Dave woke up so there was no more sleep for me. We had lunch here with Bob and Ann. After lunch and after the dishes were done, we played "Wild Card" again. Ann ended the game with something like 16 points! She is so lucky - she gets wild cards all the time. She only had 3 hands where she had any points at all!!! After that, we played farkle and she won at that too! We're going to have to gang up on her next time!!

Bob and Ann are in Des Moines now. Rhonda's plane comes in at 9:00 so they're up there ready to pick them up. Cheyenne wanted a white Christmas and she's going to get it! We had a little more snow today, but nothing measurable...mainly just flurries! I know it's pretty, but I'm ready for the sun to shine now! We got our flights for returning to Florida...we'll fly out on the 24th. Our condo starts the 23rd, but we're going to be a day late! When you're flying Allegiant, you don't have a lot of choices!!

More later...I'm tired!! I hope Santa was good to all of you!

Christmas Eve

We had a beautiful day here...it snowed most all of the day. We probably got about 4" of snow - not too bad considering!! I must admit it is beautiful tonight especially. All of the lights are reflecting off the snow. It makes you think that Santa Claus is coming...HoHoHo!!!

I cooked chili this morning and made spicy oyster crackers. Dave "played" in his garage all day...he's rebuilding his little trailer. It's fun having him home all the time! This evening we went to Christmas Eve services at our church. We sang lots of carols and had a look back at our Christmas pageants of the past...remembering with Pastor David! The choirs did a wonderful job. PraiSing is VERY talented!! Melanie (who is 17) sang a solo while processing into the church!! The bell choir did a fantastic number called, "Fum Fum Fum"!! It was so impressive having a full church and all of us holding lighted candles, singing Silent Night without accompaniment!! It's always good to hear the real Christmas story!

After church we picked up the chili and crackers and went to Bob & Ann's. We didn't get there until 7:15 and I was pretty hungry by then! But, instead of eating right away, we each had a drink (Dave, Ann, and I all had margaritas whereas Bob had his spiced whiskey) and had cheese and crackers. Ann had fixed oyster soup, so everyone but me had both kinds of soup. After supper, we taught Bob and Ann how to play "Wild Card" and then they got out the Farkle set and we played Farkle. It's now midnight and we just got home!! We put a beef roast in the slow cooker for tomorrow...Bob & Ann will join us for dinner about 1:00. Since we're not having our family Christmas until Tuesday, there's no sense in us eating Christmas dinner alone - we may as well be together.

I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas. I hope that you will all remember the true meaning of Christmas and that there will someday truly be Peace on Earth and Good Will to ALL! Merry Christmas and good night! More later...

It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas!!

Today was another gray day. I'm ready to go back to Florida. It's supposed to snow tonight and we have a possibility of 6+ inches of snow!! If it's going to be gray, it may as well snow! I've got all my shopping done and everything is wrapped. I'm still missing two packages, though. One was mailed from Ft Lauderdale on the 17th and the other I purchased online..it's saying it was shipped on 12/6 and it should have gotten here between 12/9 and 12/14! Don't know what I'll do about that! I've got the ham and fixin's for apple salad, as well as the frozen rolls...so bring on the snow!! We still don't know when we're having Christmas. We're at my nieces' mercy - they just have to coordinate everything and let us know.

Here are a couple of pictures of the largest privately owned yacht in the world - the Cakewalk. In this first one, you can see how large it is compared to the people on it. Both of the two boats on the left side of the picture are BIG boats...but this one is huge!

This is just a picture of its side. We couldn't get any closer, darn it!! More later...

Busy Day

I didn't even get a nap today - we were just too busy! I made crockpot peanut clusters this morning - they take 3 hours! In the meantime, we were going through the whole basket of mail that we got delivered today. Wow! By the time we got all the Christmas cards opened and read, I didn't even get to most of the "other" mail! I also wrapped several packages. We had an appointment to close on our home refinance, and started filing the "other" mail! It was another gray day here and I can tell you that I need the sun to shine!! Unfortunately, it doesn't sound like much sunshine for the next few days. In fact, we're in an area that may get 6+ inches of snow by Friday night - I guess we're going to have a white Christmas here!!

More later...

Tuesday, Dec. 21st

This was an errand day - I had to wait for Dave to go, though. I'm not sure I like having only one car!! We both got our hair cut and got our rings cleaned, went to Walmart, and finished the Christmas shopping! Oh, I also took a long nap! I guess I truly had jet-lag! More later...

We're Home

We made it home safe and sound! Our flight was about 3 hours non-stop and pretty uneventful! We had a bit of turbulence, so we had to fly at 32,000 feet instead of 30,000 but that wasn't a problem at all. When we got down to 10,000 feet it was pretty cloudy, but it wasn't even bumpy going through the clouds. Ann had no trouble getting to DSM to pick us up and we made it home just fine - no ice!!! We then went over to pick up Ann and met Bob at Courtside for dinner. He didn't get off work until 7:00. This is his 70th birthday, so we took them out to dinner! We went t HyVee and stocked up on groceries and came home and now we're going to crash! I plan to sleep in tomorrow morning - I sure hope that works!! More later...

Flying Home

Tomorrow afternoon we get on an airplane and head back to Iowa. Don't know if we'll get to go home or not, though...the weather for O-town is calling for ice pretty much all day tomorrow. I don't want Bob and Ann to take any chances coming to get us. We've packed clothes for two days just in case we have to stay in Des Moines. Any prayers you can pass our way would be appreciated...for safe travel! We're to get into DSM at 4:00 Iowa time where it's supposed to be around 34 and rainy. Yuck. It'll be a rude awakening after having been down here.

Actually today wasn't very nice either. The sun peeked out for a little bit today, but it was only in the high 50's and windy...I guess it was God's way of getting us ready for Iowa! We went to church today here at Sun'n'Fun, then went out to dinner with the group to a Chinese buffet. This afternoon we went to Bealls and to SteinMart and then came home and made some candy that tastes like Butterfingers. Fun day!! I got a couple of pairs of capris and a couple of tops...Dave got two shirts. They'll still be new when we get back. We've got everything in suitcases to stay here for when we come back to Florida in January. More later...

Sarasota

We're in Sarasota for the next couple of days. We got here this afternoon and will leave here Monday morning early for Clearwater. It only took us 3.5 hours to get here from Ft Lauderdale. It rained on us a lot of the way here, but we were still able to see lots of alligators on Alligator Alley. By the time we got to the big fences where you usually see the gators, the sun had come out and the big birds were drying their wings and the gators were swimming and sunning themselves! It's always fun to see them. Dave was even able to see them while he was driving - some of them were really big!!

We're going to church in the morning with Maury and Roberta and all their friends. After church, we'll go out to dinner with their group and then Dave's got a few daddy-dos to do around here. More later...

Last Day in Ft Lauderdale

We had a fun day today. After we packed a bunch, we sat outside and read until Sudi and Howard came to get us for lunch. We went to the Sands Harbor for lunch. The food wasn't so hot, but the atmosphere was great. We saw lots of boats while we were eating...and we saw a manatee!! After lunch, we were going to go to the beach, but we decided to go down to the 17th street causeway and see if there were any big boats in the Port of Everglades. When we pulled up, there were two diesel tankers where we usually park. One tanker was unloading into the other tanker, and it was loading diesel onto a HUGE yacht! A lady came off the yacht and told us it was the largest private yacht in the world!! It was called the Cakewalk and it was at least 4 stories high. It held a crew of 28 and her company had done all of the canvas on the yacht. She said we should see the inside of her! I don't know what the flag was on her, but it wasn't American. It was some British holding I think. If it wasn't so late, I'd look it up.

We also then enjoyed the "pretty" beaches of Ft Lauderdale before we came back to the condo to get ready for Cats tonight. Jami and the three kids, plus Dave and I went to the Broward Center for the Broadway production of Cats. It was really good. The girl who played Grizabella and sang "Memory" was wonderful! Danny almost made it through the first act, but he just couldn't keep his little eyes open for Act II. Kelly didn't have any problem and Megan only snoozed through about 2 songs.

Tomorrow we have to be out of here by 10 and then we're going to watch Kelly play soccer at noon. After her game, we'll take off on Alligator Alley for Dad & Roberta's before we head home on Monday. I won't be posting for a day or so because they don't have internet at Dad's place. More later...

Thursday, Dec. 17th

It was another beautiful day in Paradise today! We went over to Jami's to get our laundry done and since her housekeeper was there cleaning the floors, we went outside to sit in the sun and wait for the laundry. It was beautiful! After we got done with the laundry, we came home and went to beach for some more sun time before we go home. Let me tell you, though, 73 degrees with the wind blowing is not a warm day on the beach! We were only there about an hour because it was just too cold! We thought we'd come back to the condo and sit by the pool out of the wind, but the sun was under a cloud, so we gave up!

Tonight we fixed bacon and eggs for supper and then went over to Jami's. Tom started a fire in their chiminea so we all sat outside around it, enjoying the ambiance! Tomorrow is our last day here in Ft Lauderdale until we come back in January, so we're planning to be outside a lot!! More later...

I Feel Much Better!

I finally feel much better. Dave and I went to Sweet Tomato's with Sudi and Howard. It felt really good to get out of this condo and it felt really good to eat real food! I'm glad that I didn't go overboard in eating, though. Although Howard would probably say that I ate way too much ice cream!! This afternoon, we went to Jami's to watch Megan while Jami went in to work for a while. She stayed home with Megan today because Megan still wasn't feeling the best. So, we watched "Willy Wonka" with Johnny Depp. What an interesting movie! Johnny Depp does a wonderful job. He is just fascinating. He adapts so well to any role he's asked to play. It's hard not to stare at him in movies like this. If you didn't tell me that it was Johnny playing the part of WW, I would have a hard time believing it...the makeup was fantastic!

Tomorrow it's supposed to be back up in the mid 70's here . I can hardly wait. It was 60 today and I was able to wear shorts, but 70's will be better!! I hope we get in some beach time tomorrow! More later...

I'm Better, But ...

I feel better today, but not much! My stomach just hurts so badly. I finally ate some crackers and a cup of chicken noodle soup tonight, but other than that I haven't felt like eating. Dave went with Jami and the family to Chili's tonight, but I stayed here. I sure hope I feel better tomorrow. I'm tired of this condo and need to get out of here!!

All I've done today is read, upload some pictures to the computer, lie down, take some Pepto, drink some 7-Up, and feel miserable! More later...

I'm Sick

I came home from Jami's last night and didn't feel very well. Today I've had a touch of the flu or something. Dave had to go out and buy some Pepto Bismol and some 7-Up. My stomach is still hurting something awful!! I hope it's gone by tomorrow. Dave went to the doctor this morning. He got some more medicine - steroids and Afrin. He has scarring on his eardrum from ear problems in the past. He was given a pressure test on his eardrums. His right one hardly registered because there's so much water behind it. Poor guy!

Sorry, I don't feel like blogging...more later...

Great Day

Today was another beautiful day in this beautiful place!! We went to church at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church and it was a long, long sermon! There for a while Dave and I thought that Pastor Tullian had turned into Pastor Jongewaard! His sermon was based on 3 verses of Job 42, but he told us what it meant, then he told us again, and he told us again!! They also installed 13 deacons today, which took a while. I wanted to stand up and ask where the women were - in this division of the Presbyterian Church, women are not allowed to hold any offices...no women pastors, no women elders, no women deacons. Hard to believe in this day and age...hard to believe that women put up with this too! I hope you get a kick out of this, Pastor Sara!!

We had a great lunch outside in Bru's Room with Sudi and Howard. I think Howard and I would love to sit there all afternoon and watch all the football games at once! It's pretty cool to have all those tvs! After lunch we went over to Jami's. Tom had been vomiting all night, so we pretty much stayed outside all day. Dave and Jami washed our car and her car, while the kids entertained me. Tonight Danny let Jami cut his hair without a whimper...of course, she bribed him. She told him he could watch Harry Potter if he got his hair cut first. He said, okay and sat there like a big boy while she cut his hair. Tom had taken him to the barber shop to have his hair cut yesterday, but he started crying and screaming, so he brought him home. Today was a different day. We also celebrated Megan's birthday today - it's really tomorrow, but we may not go over there tomorrow.

I talked to my brother tonight. He said that we had 5.5" of snow and 50 mph winds yesterday and last night. He also said it was supposed to be -8 real temperature tonight. Yuck. Somebody asked Bob if he hated to leave Florida to come home and Bob told them, it's harder to stay home than it was to leave Florida! I know what he means...I'm not looking forward to being cold! Oh well...more later!

Christmas Pageant

Today's Christmas Pageant at the 1st Baptist Church in downtown Ft Lauderdale was truly a spectacular production. The first hour or so was all production numbers with many, many different people participating. In fact, in one number a little girl, who couldn't have been more than 4, came out and sang a solo. She obviously stole the show!! The costumes and choreography were fabulous, as was the singing! They even had an ice skating rink and pyrotechnics!! After intermission, everything became very serious as they presented the story of Jesus' life from birth to resurrection. Wow! It was amazing how realistic they can make the various parts of the story. They use real animals - horses, camels, donkeys, sheep, goats, and even chickens!! It was great - the girls really enjoyed it this year. The only bad part was that it was about 60 degrees in the church. Thank goodness Jami and the girls had jackets.

More later...

Very Slow Tonight

I'm going to try to post, but may not get it done - the connection is waaaay slow tonight. We had a beautiful day today! We went to Butterfly World this morning. This is a wonderful place for anyone wanting to take pictures of butterflies, birds, or plants! It's a research facility with over 10,000 butterflies and I don't remember how many birds! This is just one of 307 pictures I took today!! It was so fun and a perfect day for visiting outside aviaries! Tomorrow is a busy day for us. We're going to be with the kids for most of the day. Should be fun, though. Hopefully I'll have pictures of some camels tomorrow!! Stay tuned...

Icky Day Today

This was a downright icky day! It was rainy, drizzly, and chilly! The ocean was still beautiful though. We went down to Sunrise to the camera shop today. I needed to get a photograph blown up for a Christmas present, and they do a great job. I wish you could see this picture - it's beautiful. I had it blown up to 24x36. This is the photo:I think it will be appreciated!! It's a picture of the bay at Clearwater. I love it.

Tomorrow we're going to Butterfly World to take some pictures. I sure hope I get to see some butterflies and birds!! It's 10 acres of tropical gardens and aviaries, so it should be fun!! More later...

Warmer Wednesday

We sure had a beautiful day today, even though we had to run the furnace earlier this morning. We even sat out by the pool this afternoon and soaked up some Vitamin D. It was a little too windy to go to the beach, but by the pool we were protected from the NW wind. We got most of our Christmas cards ready to mail tomorrow. To get them in the mail will really feel good! Tomorrow we have no plans - I think it's supposed to rain here, so no beach time tomorrow either. I think we're going to try to go to Boca to have lunch with Jami on Friday. She's working so many hours that we don't get to enjoy her much.

This weekend is going to be a busy one. We've got tickets for The Christmas Pageant for 2:00 on Saturday, then we're hoping to see the boat parade Saturday night. Church on Sunday and Kelly has a soccer game, plus the Pompano boat parade. Busy, busy, busy!! More later...

It's Cold Again

Next year we're going to go to Alaska for the winter!! We may as well, anyway. Tonight we're supposed to break the record for low temperature in South Florida. There are even freeze warnings around us. I'm sure the price of oranges and strawberries will go up tomorrow - just the threat of freeze seems to raise the prices! Speaking of prices, I read that the price of gas would be $3.00 a gallon before Christmas. Guess what - it went up to $3.05 yesterday here in Fort Lauderdale.

We stayed here at the condo today. We got up kind of late, so we fixed bacon and eggs for breakfast. We didn't eat lunch and tonight, we just ate leftovers. I was able to get the rest of my Christmas cards done today and Dave put the address labels and stamps on them. Tomorrow while we're at Jami's, we'll print out our Christmas "letter" and should be able to mail them by Wednesday! That would be a record for us. Usually we don't get our Christmas cards out until about the week of Christmas. We really cut back on the cards we send...we used to send out 75 and this year we're only sending 54. So, if you don't get a card from us it doesn't mean we don't love you, it's just that we're cutting back!!

Tomorrow we're going to pick up the kids from school and fix supper for the family. More later...

Super Sunday

It was another beautiful day in paradise! We went to church at the New Presbyterian Church today. Some of it was really wonderful, like the choir! The speaker, however, left a lot to be desired. I'm hoping Dave doesn't want to go back there, but he probably will. He seems to like it better than Coral Ridge. I like Coral Ridge better, even though I'm not sold on the contemporary services.

After church, we went to Bru's Room for lunch. Sudi & Howard came over too, then Howard, Dave and I went to the beach for our required time of wonder! Unfortunately, the sun went under a bunch of clouds, so we didn't get to soak up a lot of sunshine today. It was still pretty, though. Tonight we cooked hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill and the kids came over here for supper. Tomorrow it's supposed to be colder so we probably won't get to go sit on the beach. We'll have to wait and see. I did get my Christmas shopping all done online today, so that's a plus!! Now if some good fairy would just wrap it all for me...can't fault a girl for wishing, can you?? More later...

Another Great Day

It was another great day in Paradise today! We had to be at Jami's by 7:00 this morning to help her load her jewelry because she had a table to set up at Breakfast with Santa. Last time we helped her with this she didn't even sell $40 worth of stuff. Today was a little better. The tables were allowed to start selling at 8:00 and by 8:10 we'd already made back her cost for the table! She sold quite a few earrings and charms, all of which she had priced at $5.00. She didn't get rich, but she did get rid of some inventory and made a little bit besides!! We then went over to their house for lunch and to help her get ready for Megan's party this afternoon.

While the party was going on, we went to the beach. It was another perfect day for being on the beach. I'm sure that the beautiful Fort Lauderdale beaches were packed today and will be again tomorrow. Monday there's supposed to be a cold front come in with 60 degree temps for a few days. So, we plan to spend tomorrow afternoon at the beach again. It's just been so much fun to go there and just watch the boats and the people!!

More later...

Great Day

This was a great day! Dave and I went over to Sudi & Howard's to see their place - they're just upstairs from where they were last year. Their condo has been redecorated recently and it is really pretty...very spacious. It was kind of chilly this morning and again tonight, but today was lovely. After we left Sudi & Howard's we came back here, ate lunch, and then went to the beach! It was so gorgeous - we sat there (one of us slept...can you guess which one???) for over an hour just absorbing the sun and the beauty of this place!

Tonight we ate here at the condo and then went for ice cream at Razzleberry's! The day couldn't have gotten much better!! Tomorrow we have to be at McNab Elementary at 7:00 AM - we'll be having breakfast with Santa!! More later...

Thursday, Dec. 2

We finally got to go to Aruba's!! It is still the best place to eat in Fort Lauderdale, in my honest opinion! We got the front table outside today because we got there about 20 minutes before 12:00. The ocean was absolutely gorgeous today - very aqua! It is aqua when there aren't clouds in the sky...there were beautiful sail boats out there too. I got some pictures and as soon as I get them uploaded to this computer, I'll let you see what I'm talking about. The colors are just so vivid!

This afternoon we picked up the kids from their schools and took them home early. Since we were there about 2:15 and their dad didn't get home until 6:00, we watched a movie (Marley & Me) and then fed them about 5:15. Marley & Me had both of us teary-eyed!! Megan says, "Are you crying, Grandma? Is Grandpa crying?" Tomorrow we're staying here - we've got leftovers to eat and we'll be with the kids for the entire weekend. Dave helped me with Christmas cards today - he even ran the Cuttlebug. I think he actually had fun! We've got to finish the cards - hopefully tomorrow. Then I can get the "letter" written and get them in the mail!! More later...

Wednesday the 1st of December

This was another beautiful day in So. Florida! We went over to Jami's to do our laundry and theirs. Sudi and Howard came over and the four of us went to Shooters on the intercoastal for lunch and complimentary key lime pie! They have the very best key lime pie in the south...or anyway I think so! After lunch we went back to Jami's to finish the laundry. We didn't get done with all the laundry until 10 minutes after 5:00 - it took us all day to do five large loads!! Tonight we've just been hanging out!

Tomorrow we're going to pick up the girls early - they get out of school at 2:00 but they don't get home until 4:00 if Nicole picks them up or 6:00 if Tom get them. They love being car riders because they get to come home and play for several hours before their folks get home. We'll also pick up Danny early, so this should be fun. We'll fix supper for the family and then come home when it's bedtime for the kids!

Dave is feeling much better and so am I, so hopefully we averted a sinus epidemic! More later...

Here we go again

We spent 2 and a half hours in the emergency room Monday night. Dave had a pain rating of an 8 in his ear and couldn't get past it, so he woke me at 12:30 and we went to the hospital at Imperial Point (right by Jami's house). Of course we weren't the only ones there, so about 2 and a half hours and one code blue later the doc told Dave he had a middle ear infection, gave him some medicine and 3 scripts and we were on our way home. It's pretty funny that there is no traffic on the streets of Ft Lauderdale on a Monday night at either 12:45 or 3:00 AM! In fact, it's so weird that it's hard to figure out the streets you turn on!!

Anyway, we got home and went to bed again. When I woke up about 8:00 I had a sore throat and my ear was feeling full! So I went back to bed. I basically slept away Tuesday, as did Dave. He went out to get his prescriptions filled, but I didn't go outside until about 5:00 PM when I just went outside to sit. I feel better and so does he. I'm hoping my throat doesn't do anything more! More later...