Thursday

 Beautiful here today...the car said 85 but it didn't feel that hot to me.  Dave worked on Bob & Ann's lanai, cleaning the ceiling, etc.  Then together we moved the patio chairs, tables, and footstools outside.  We also folded up all of the sheets, etc., covering the furniture.  It'll be good to have them next door again!  

Tonight we went up to a vacant lot on 3rd Street.  There was a fire in a fire pit and about 20 people there.  We sat in a socially distanced circle and enjoyed each others' company and the beautiful evening.  The fireworks around  us have been going for quite a while now.  Hope they don't wake us up when the big ones go off at midnight!

Happy New Year to you all!  I am sure 2021 will be better than 2020...bring it on!

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Wednesday

 Today we cut back the front bushes...they were getting rather large.  Unfortunately Dave got a little carried away with one of them.  It's going to have to grow a bit to look normal again!!  

We took our walk aat the Florida Botanical Center.  It was beautiful there today.  They had some of the prettiest poinsettias I've ever seen!

I took a couple of close-ups of them but I can't find them right now.

We're finally getting ready for Bob & Ann to come down.  They are going to leave either Sunday or Monday so they'll be here Tuesday at the latest.

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Tuesday

 What a beautiful day we had here.  It was 75 and gorgeous!  We cleaned house today.  I dusted and then vacuumed.  When I got done with that Dave steam mopped the two bathrooms and the kitchen.  Thank goodness he helps because my back doesn't do much more after dusting and vacuuming!  

This afternoon, we had a Girls of 66 get-together on Zoom.  There were 10 of us...it was fun to see everyone and visit for a bit.  Everyone want to do it again, so I'll set another get-together up late in January.  

John and Gail got here this afternoon.  It's good to have them here!  

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Monday

 We had a gorgeous day here!  It was about 70-72 with little to no humidity.  This morning while Dave was at the Urologist, I took down all of the Christmas decorations inside the house.  When Dave got home, he got out the totes so I could pack the decorations up for next year.  We then went outside and got all of the lights down and put away.  Christmas 2020 is officially over.  I even went through all the Christmas cards again and put them away.  

After lunch we went to John Taylor Park on 8th Street.  Tom & Karen say this is a great place to walk, with few people and there are always alligators to see.  We had just started our walk when Tom & Karen pulled in, put on their masks, and walked with us.  We walked all the way around the lake - my Fitbit showed over 2 miles.  Nice place to walk, but we didn't see ANY alligators.  Heehee!

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Sunday

 After we had watched our three church services and Dave had done his exercises, we ate lunch.  Then we decided to go for our walk in Eagle Lake Park.  It turned into a beautiful 2-mile walk.  The sun was warm.  I wore shorts, a short-sleeved shirt and a long-sleeved shirt.  I should have taken off my long-sleeved shirt cause I was plenty warm!  We probably won't go there again...too many people and very few of them were wearing masks.  We got some good pictures, but didn't see a lot of wildlife...lots of dogs, though, including two beautiful Italian greyhounds.  One of them came over to me so I had to pet her...she was so soft!  We did get to see a green heron and a beautiful great egret.

They both just sat and posed for us!

This evening we had chili from the freezer.  We talked to Roberta and Dave called his brother.  It was another good day!

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Saturday

 I got to talk to my family today after our walk around the park..  They had Christmas at Linda's so I made a video call after they had finished lunch and got to talk to everyone including Blaise, Oaklyn, Rowyn, and McCoy!  That was fun!!  

This evening we went to see the lights of Lake Park.  They take donations and all the money goes to Suncoast Hospice.  This is an area that encompasses blocks and blocks of homes.  When we were ready to leave, there was a line out on Bryan Dairy about 2 miles long!  Amazing!

Fun evening!

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Merry Christmas!

 As Christmases go, this one wasn't too bad!  We fixed turkey breast in the crockpot.  It was absolutely the best!!  I put it in the crockpot with a little water.  Then I put garlic powder, lemon pepper, sage, and celery salt on it.  It cooked on high for about 3 1/2 hours and it was delicious!  We neither one like regular turkey much, but this was really, really good...and tender...and moist!  We also had mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce...and pecan pie!  We walked after dinner...and boy did I need that!!

This morning we did a video call with Bryan, Erin, and the kids.  Aidan told us they were going to have a baby!  So we're going to be having another granddaughter in June.  Exciting news!  

This evening we talked to Jami and tried to call Roberta, but got no answer.  

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Christmas Eve

 What a great day we had here!  We went to the Clubhouse at 10:00 to sort Christmas cards for the park.  We had Dana and Kathy lined up to help us.  Then Chrissy helped, too.  After we sorted the cards, we used Chrissy's golf cart and Sandy's golf cart and delivered all the cards...and the January newsletter.  May as well kill two birds with one stone!  \

After lunch we took short naps and then this evening, we attended four virtual church services...traditional service at Anona, contemporary at Anona, 1st Presbyterian in Waterloo, and 1st Presbyterian in Ottumwa.  They were all very good!  

Tonight we were under a severe thunderstorm warning, but we didn't have anything but some wind and a heavy rain.  

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Wednesday

 After lunch today, we went to Moccasin Lake Park for our walk.  We never see many animals there, but it's a good hike - about 2 miles on the trails.  We did, however, see a BIG alligator in the lake on a little island.  He was probably 8-10 feet long.  

We then came home so we could rest a bit.  Then we went to a drive through live nativity at our church.  They had several Bible verses telling the story of Jesus' birth and at each of these big signs there were people depicting that verse...no camels, though!  Then at the very end, Mr and Mrs Santa Claus sat up on a big fire truck.  They had everything covered - the real story of Christmas and the fictional side!  It was very good.  

We stopped at Willie Jewels Old Town BBQ - we'd ordered ahead and they brought our meals out to us.  It was very good and we've got enough for tomorrow night, too.  Then at 6:30 I joined a Zoom meeting with our financial advisor and a representative from Mutual of Omaha's animal encounter.  We learned lots about 8 or so animals  they have there...one was a deformed at birth alligator that is 22 years old...about 3 1/2 feet long with no tape over his snout!  He's been there since he was a baby so they have no trouble handling him.  

We had a fun day!

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Tuesday

 We didn't do much today.  We worked on getting some paperwork in the mail and did a load of laundry.  I worked on some photos in Lightroom.  

We walked around the park and Karen joined us for our walk.  

We're pretty boring right now!

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Monday

 What a day!  It was a busy one!  I started out my day at the clinic getting a bone density test and an x-ray on my back.  I wonder if I'll hear from the docs about those two tests.  Probably not if there's nothing out of the ordinary.  On the way back to The Ranch, I decided to see if I could get a pedicure and I could so I stopped there and got that done.  Now if I just had my hair cut, I'd be in pretty good shape for another 5-6 weeks!

Dave wanted to go to Largo Nature Park for our walk.  It was a nice day.  Lots of birds...even baby Muscovy Ducks!  Then this evening we hurried through supper to try to get to Sand Key to see the sunset and the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn (what is being called The Christmas Star).  We missed the sunset, but we got to see the planets.  There were definitely two of them that we could see with the naked eye and then they got pretty close together to where we could only see one.  Once that happened, we got back in the car because it was cold out there!  Very interesting to see, though!

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Sunday

 Today is my big brother's 80th birthday...oh my goodness.  Where has time gone??  I texted him this morning early and then I called him this evening.  

We had a gloomy day here today.  Rained off and on.  I wasn't feeling well this morning, but I made it through 2 1/2 of my church services before getting sick.  I sure hope this is just a short-time bug.  I was in the bathroom a whole bunch today.

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Saturday

 We left our house at 8:00 AM to go to Fort Myers to the 6 Mile Cypress Slough Preserve where we met Jami, Tom, and all 3 kids.  We had a great time visiting with each other.  We also walked the boardwalk - a full 2 miles.  Dave is having sciatic issues, so he used ,the little motorized cart we have.  He would never have made it without riding.  Jami brought Subways for all of us so after our walk, we sat around in a circle and ate our lunches.  More visiting and then we headed home about 2:30...Megan had a dance thing tonight so they had to be home for her to make that event.  Fun day and so good to see Jami and her family.

Because of our trip to Ft Myers, I didn't get to watch the Cyclone-Sooners football game for the Big 12 Championship.  After we got into the car and heading back North, Dave looked up the score and we were behind by 24-7.  Then while I was driving, he kept me apprised of the score and where we were on the field.  We ended up getting beat 27-21, but made a valiant effort to come back.  Still proud to be a Cyclone even though today didn't go as we'd hoped.

We got home about 4:30 and we're both pooped.  

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Friday

 We had a cold day here!  I walked with a sweatshirt and jeans...but I wasn't any too warm!!  Dave helped another of his "widows and orphans" today so I got to watch The View.  It was their Christmas show, so it was a good one.  

We're excited about tomorrow...we're going to meet Jami and the kids near Fort Myers.  We're going to a park/preserve where we can social distance but still enjoy being with each other.  We haven't seen Jami and her family since February!  So it's time!  Tomorrow's also the Big 12 Conference Championship - Go Cyclones!!

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Thursday

 Today is certainly not as warm as yesterday was...darn it anyway!  It was hard-pressed to get to 65 today and there was a constant north wind.  I was warm walking until we turned north on every other street!!  By the time we walked 1st Street was in the shade and it was pretty darn cold!  We're to have a few 60's days but it could be a whole bunch worse.

Dave and I worked on getting things off our to-do lists.  He's helping his "widows and orphans".  Too funny!  He has a really hard time saying "No."

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Wednesday

 Dave and I walked right after lunch because it was supposed to rain this afternoon.  By 2:00 it was raining and it rained for about 2 hours or so.  It was a hard rain at times.  In fact, we were even in a tornado warning for a little bit.  The tornado was south of us, but ended up over by the Howard Franklin Bridge.  So it wasn't far away!  

I worked on bookwork this afternoon while Dave got a massage.  We both got a lot done today!!

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Tuesday

 We had another gorgeous day here...mid 70's with plentiful sunshine!  We decided yesterday that today we'd go on an adventure.  Our adventures almost always include water and today was no different.  When we got up this morning, Dave said we'd take a picnic lunch and go down to Fort DeSoto.  The water was beautiful today.  The piers were nice; we got some good pictures.  North Beach, however, was spectacular.  We went out to the sandbar and sat up our chairs to eat our lunch.  Not even one gull came to see what we were eating.  After lunch, I walked out to the sandbar and over to the BIG water.  Millions of shells and very few people today.  It was a great day for our adventure.

This evening before we ate our bowl of chili, we called Bryan so we could see the kids!  Erin asked Kaitlyn where Grandma Peg was and she pointed to us.  Then she said we were in Florida...she's a good talker, but she sure doesn't like to talk to us on the phone...she just looks at us and smiles!!  Aidan is usually too busy to talk to us, but he did tonight.  

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Monday

 DECEMBER IS HALF GONE ALREADY!!  How did that happen?  We had a few showers this morning and then sunshine.  Today was sort of a day of rest for us.  The only work Dave did was put up one set of shutters he missed and then he got the calcification off of Eileen's water spigot.  Other than that we made chili and spiced oyster crackers.  

We didn't walk until about 4:30 and by then it was a bit chilly outside.  By the time we got home our chili soup tasted mighty good!

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Sunday

 Good church services today.  I had to go  to Sam's Club for the latest order.  We want to make chili this week, but we didn't have any beans.  The only kind I could get today were pink beans, so my chili is going to look anemic.  We also didn't have any more Rotel, so we had to get a Sam's order.  

Dave painted the west end  of our home today and I helped him put up the last awning.  I also did a little but of inking, but not much.  

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Saturday

 Dave finished the south side of the house today and then I helped him put the awnings back up this evening after our walk.  It was a beautiful day here...sunshine and a light breeze.  While he was painting, I went to Michaels to pick up a couple of things.  They had some good sales going on, so I got a little more than I planned.  

Other than that, we didn't do much.  

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Friday

 We had another beautiful day here...low 70's...just about perfect!  Dave worked on power washing the south side of our house.  Then he taped and did the cut-in painting around three windows and a door.  Tomorrow he'll  use the roller to paint the rest of that side of the house.  He's already done all the shutters, the awnings, and the trim.

As for me, I went to the other cancer doctor I see.  She released me.  I'm done seeing her now.  That's a good feeling.  Since Dave was painting, I had to go pick up groceries from Walmart.  I also talked to a friend of mine from grade school.  We hadn't conversed in a while, but you would never know it.  We talked for almost an hour!!  We laughed and compared our breast cancer journeys.  It was a lot of fun getting caught up!  She and her brother are not part of each other's life but I wanted her to know that he's in really bad shape and in the hospital again.  She was glad to get a report on him, but will not be contacting him.  God bless them.  I can't imagine not wanting to talk to my brother.  

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Thursday

 I had a doctor's appointment today, with my oncologist.  In the two years since I've been seeing my oncologist, I've only seen him two times.  Most of the time I see either his PA or his Nurse Practitioner.  Today was no different.  Interesting.  I wonder if his other patients feel the same way.  I'm not even sure I'd recognize him if I saw him!!

When I got home, I made a meatloaf and put it in the crockpot.  Our house smelled wonderful!!  This evening I went to take it out of the crockpot and Dave said he'd  do it.  With my shakes, he thought I'd drop it or something.  So he did it...and he didn't cut it in two, like I would have.  So it broke in half and part of it ended up on the floor, on the cabinet, on Dave, and down the front of the cabinets.  I guess I should have done it!!  It couldn't have been any worse!!  It was sure good, though!  We didn't lose much of it at all.  I had called Betty & Marv to see if they wanted a couple of pieces, and they did.  Marv loves my meatloaf and he hasn't had much of an appetite lately so he was looking forward to meatloaf.

Now we're playing dominoes.  

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Wednesday

 We both had dental appointments today - for teeth cleaning and checkup from the dentist.  Dave got a clean bill of health...not me.  I have a problem starting under one of my bridges...that means removing the 3-tooth bridge and hoping there's enough tooth left under there to fill it, then a new bridge...yuck!  Not only is it expensive, but it means sitting in a dentist's chair for a long time getting it fixed.  If it can't be fixed, it means pulling a tooth and then having a different bridge made...double yuck!  

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Tuesday

 After lunch, Dave said we were going to the beach to look at the high surf.  Wow!  It was beautiful.  Lots of waves!  We walked the beach looking at the "stuff" that was left when a wave went back out.  We saw lots of shells, jelly fish, and a couple of horseshoe crabs.  We got lots of good pictures, but I want to touch them up a bit before I post any of them.  

Then we drove up to Clearwater Beach to order a pizza from Post Corner.  There was a sign on the door saying they were closed Monday and Tuesday of this week...grrr!  Too funny!  We were both excited about having Post Corner pizza!  

Now we're about ready to play a couple of games of dominoes.

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Monday

 I had a massage today...boy, did it feel good!  I needed that!  

Is anyone out there having international calls on their phones?  We've been getting dozens of calls, some from Grenadine, some from the Caymans, some from Belize.  Our spam filter catches them, but it's weird that all of a sudden we're getting all these calls.  

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Sunday

 I don't have much to say today...we didn't really do too much.  I say that, but Dave painted all the shutters.  He and I walked.  Then after lunch and a short nap, we took some boxes (over a carload full) from Betty & Marv's to Donna & Tom's.  

This evening I got most of the Christmas cards ready for our friends here in the park.  They're all addressed, signed, and sorted.  I just have a couple more to do because a few people are going to be here for Christmas that I didn't think would be here!

Now we're going to pay a game or two of dominoes!

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Saturday

I don't understand why I can't sleep past 7:00 down here.  For some reason I've been waking up somewhere between 6:15 and 6:59 AM.  That's so not me!  I like to read until about 11:30 PM and then go to sleep.  It would be nice to get more than 7 hours of sleep at night.  

We went to Largo Nature Park to take our first walk of the day today.  It was gorgeous outside!  We saw an alligator and several birds - some different ones, but I didn't get the pictures uploaded yet.  

We took our second walk at halftime of the ISU-WVU football game...and what a game it was!!  I hope there's not too much partying in Ames tonight.  Our next game will be for the Big 12 Championship!  What fun for ISU fans who've been waiting forever for this to happen!!

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Friday

 This morning we started walking and after 2 1/2 blocks it started sprinkling.  So we called it quits and came home.  Later in the afternoon, we got about 6 1/2 blocks in before it started sprinkling.  This time, we stopped to visit with Betty who was out on her porch.  Sandy came over.  Ann C stopped by.  Laurie and Dallas stopped.  We all stood there in the sprinkles just visiting.  We were socially distanced.  We at least eventually got our walk finished.  

This evening, we got out the dominoes and played 4 games...we're tied!  We decided that was a good place to stop for the evening.  We'll resume again tomorrow.

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Thursday

 I went to Largo Diagnostic Clinic twice today.  This morning I had to get an injection of a radioactive substance and then this afternoon I went back for a complete body scan.  The purpose of this scan is to see if I have any bone cancer.  I sure hope not...and I don't know when I'll hear from my scan.  I meet with my cancer doctor next Thursday so I'm assuming I won't hear until then.

I'll be glad when we get thru next week, then all my doctor appointments will be over for 6 months!  

In between the injection and the scan, Dave and I walked and then stuffed the Christmas cards and mailed them out...and this is only December 3rd!  Woohoo!

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Wednesday

 It was cold here this morning...Dave even moved into the house to do his exercises!  He had on his long johns and 4 shirts!!  I even wore long pants today.  Tomorrow is supposed to be nicer...yay!  Speaking of tomorrow, I have another adventure.  I go in the morning to have some kind of an injection and then in the afternoon I will have a full body scan.  This was all ordered by my cancer doctor...Next week I'll see both cancer docs and the dentist.  What fun I'm having!!

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Monday

 It didn't make it to 62...high today was in the 50's.  We walked twice today.  Both times I wore my shorts and a hoodie.  I wasn't too cold.  When we went North, the wind was pretty wicked.  I've walked when it was colder!  Tonight we've got a freeze watch for most of Florida.  I may have to dig out the jeans!

Dave and I worked on our Christmas cards today.  I think we'll be able to mail them tomorrow.  I ordered gifts for Aidan and Kaitlyn today and I got McCoy's birthday present.  I'm feeling pretty good about what all I accomplished!

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