Happy New Year!

Presenting fireworks from the St. Augustine Beach Pier.

A Little "R and R"

We've been here at the KOA campground on Anastasia Island (St Augustine Beach) since Wed afternoon. Very nice KOA situated about 3/4 mile from the beach. Easy walk to the beach. Found a restaurant (Sunset Grill) with yummy burgers on our walk yesterday. The walk back to the campground was not as easy as we had eaten too much! Headed back to the beach and the pier this afternoon for the New Year's Beach Blast. Brought the "babies" (our two new kittens) with us. Their first outing has been successful so far though they weren't overjoyed with the ride over. We will be here until Sunday then it's back to the daily grind. Boohoo! (Go to Flickr albums to see more pictures.)

Turn on the heat!!!

Oh, where oh where did Florida go? It had to have moved while I was busy doing the last minute Christmas prep! 35 degrees is not normal. I'm tired of moving plants inside every couple of weeks and I'm beginning to run out of layers. On the bright side we're not having to deal with snow and all of the problems it brings. So I guess each cloud does have a silver lining.                              

Merry Christmas!

It's hard to believe another Christmas has come and gone and in almost a blink of an eye. I wonder . . . will it rush by so fast when I'm retired???

We did have a very enjoyable Christmas. Christmas Eve was spent at our house with Mike, Mindi, Chris, and Sarah and Christmas Day at Mindi's house with Bob's family. Lots of tasty food and pleasant company. Plus some pretty nifty gifts!

As both Bob and I are off next week finishing the shower renovation is at the top of our "to do" list. On Wednesday we will be headed to Anastasia Island for a little, well deserved, R and R.

Have a healthy and prosperous New Year!

Br-r-r-r!

Time to pull out the socks! My toes are cold!!! It's 8:03 am and according to the TV the temp is 46 degrees in Orlando so I'm sure it's colder here.  You do have to be careful what you wish for. You may not be able to fool Mother Nature but she sure likes to try to fool you.  Yesterday Sarah, our granddaughter, told her mother that it felt like Christmas! However by the middle of next week it is expected to be back in the 70's. Typical Florida weather.

Wake Up Call

Sometimes in life we can get rather abrupt wake up calls. I was on the receiving end of one of those last week. Bob and I have been trying to make some positive life style changes but mine obviously should have been more diligent. When I woke up last Wednesday morning I certainly did not expect to be in the hospital by evening. Two "stents" later I can assure you that I am much more serious about my health issues and the food that goes into my mouth! I am also very grateful to my guardian angel for giving me another chance to get it right. Thank you!!

Construction!

Well, we're back in the construction business again. As soon as fall is in the air Bob gets the urge to build something! A few years ago we remodeled our master bath as it was over 20 years old. We traded our cold tiled walk-in shower for a "cozy" fiberglass corner shower complete with glass enclosure. Would have been great if we could have figured out how to keep it from leaking around the base. Finally gave up, tore it out, and discovered that the base had a crack in it! All the caulking in Lowe's would never have remedied that problem. We're keeping the corner footprint and the shower enclosure but tiling the whole thing. It's a little difficult to visualize at the moment as the concrete rubble and big hole tend to get in the way! I'll keep posting as progress is made.

Better Gardening

Bob and I may not have the best luck growing good things to eat but our squirrels sure have the knack.

They have "planted" peanuts all around the yard.

I recently posted about having a soft heart and feeding the stray cats in the neighborhood. The down side to that is you can't be certain what else you are feeding!

We had to chain up the dish because "Rocky" and his/her family kept stealing them.

New Blog Look

My favorite graphics designer is Irene Alexeeva and I was so tickled when she started designing "blog couture" - ready made backgrounds and headers for blogs. She recently updated her blog with a beautiful fall theme but hasn't offered it for sale yet so I decided to use her graphics and see what I could do. Not too shabby if I do say so! If you would like to see more of her work her blog address is http://irenealexeeva.blogspot.com/.  The Heartistic link on the right will also take you there.

I have been very busy with the start of the new school year. For the first time in quite a while I am the sole ESL teacher and have no one to share the many responsibilities with. The number of teachers may have decreased but the number of students and amount of paper work sure didn't! Next year at this time I should be able to say "This is the last time I have to do this and the last time I have to do that." Retirement will be right around the corner!

Home

I love vacation! Who doesn't? For some people a vacation means simply not having to go to work. For Bob and I a vacation means - ROAD TRIP!! We love exploring new places and revisiting old favorites. But sometimes reality is hard to return to. That's what happened to me last week. We returned home late last Tuesday and I just couldn't seem to settle back into the daily routine. I did get laundry completed but spent most of my time reliving vacation and finishing my library books. I couldn't even dig up enough ambition to post the rest of the vacation pictures. Of course this week I panicked when I realized that school starts in 3 weeks and my summer "to do" list is still a mile long! We had a wonderful trip, enjoyed spending time with family and friends from PA and NY, and took lots of pictures. Pictures are posted and I'm working on adding captions and descriptions. Check out the Flickr Web Album link to see them. We're already thinking about our next road trip.

More Sightseeing

Our last night in Page. Tomorrow it is back to Vegas and then home on Tuesday. Today we took a tour of Antelope Canyon. What an awesome sight! My only complaint is that I think they allow too many tour groups to visit at the same time and a few of the tour guides were a bit pushy towards other groups. You have to book a tour because the canyon is on the Navajo Indian Reservation. You ride to the slot canyon in the back of 4 wheel drive trucks with BIG tires as there are no paved roads into the canyon. Well worth the money though. Later in the afternoon we drove to several points of interest along Lake Powell. The Waheap Marina has a really nice RV park that we would like to come back to. Dinner was at an Italian/Mexican restaurant. Interesting combination but the food wasn't bad.

Vacation 2010

I am becoming tech savvy! On this trip I have learned how to post to Facebook from my phone and how to tweet. Look out world! We are now into the part of our trip that I really enjoy - sightseeing. Thursday morning we said goodbye to Rose, Terry, Nancy, and Ruthie and headed to Kanab Utah. We arrived early in the afternoon and decided to head to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon for sunset. Friday we explored some of the Grand Staircase. We drove the Cottonwood Canyon Road from one end to the other with a side trip to see Grosvenor Arch. We had rented an SUV for this purpose but probably should have had a 4 wheel drive vehicle. The road was quite rutted and washboardy but, oh, was the scenery worth it! We also wanted to hike the Willis Creek slot canyon but the road in was too poorly maintained. It seems that you can't always trust internet reviews. I was quite disappointed as I had really wanted to see this slot canyon. Instead we went back to Burr Trail to check out the scene of one of our worst RV nightmares. The trail is now paved and not at all the way we remembered it. We never could find the infamous switchbacks - probably didn't drive far enough in. Today we moved from Kanab to Page, Arizona. As it was a short trip we stopped at the Glen Canyon Dam for a bit and then hiked to a ledge over the Colorado River to see Horseshoe Bend. Tomorrow we have booked a tour of Antelope Canyon for the morning and haven't decided on any afternoon activities yet. I need to get more pictures posted! Here are a few.

After two days in Vegas all I have is blisters on my feet and a lighter purse! But I have had a great time and taken lots of pictures. This afternoon we went to the top of the Stratosphere. You get some amazing views from way up there. We've done a lot of walking these past two days, good exercise but easy to get dehydrated. Rose, Terry, Ruthie, and Nancy have outlasted us both days. By 6pm we are ready to call it quits and head back to the resort. Like the Energizer bunnies they just keep on going! It's been 15 years since Terry and Rose were in Vegas and Ruthie and Nancy have never been so it's understandable. One more day here and then it's off to Kanab Utah. I took pictures with my phone today so as soon as I can figure out how to get them off the phone I will get them posted to Flickr.

Vegas!

Well, we made it to Vegas all in one piece though our landing had me a bit worried. It was a bit rough coming in over the mountains. The weather was clear so I don't know if it was because of wind, rising heat, different route or what. I don't remember other landings quite so turbulent. Rosie, Terry, and friends were waiting for us at the condo. The condo is really nice (check out the Flicker link for pictures) but a little ways behind the Strip. You really should have a car to travel back and forth. You can walk it but after dark might not be wise. Luck has not shone on us yet at the casinos but there's always hope! Keep checking back for updates.

We had relatives from Pennsylvania visiting the area last week. We didn't see as much of them as we would have liked. Just like us when we're on vacation, they had an agenda. I will be so glad when we will be able to travel at our leisure without schedules and timetables. We will be leaving on our vacation next Sunday. Our "timetable" will be July 4-8 - Las Vegas, July 8 and 9 - Kanab Utah, July 10 and 11 - Page Arizona, July 12 - back to Las Vegas, and July 13 - home.

In our household we have 3 cats that are neutered and not allowed to venture outside. However we seem to be the minority in this neighborhood. There are many cats just wandering about. A mother and 3 kittens have taken up residence under our storage shed. Being the soft-hearted person that I am I have been putting food out for them daily. Even though they are feral the kittens are becoming brave and curious. Our cats were on the inside looking out.

New Smart Phone

Finally testing out the web feature of my 2 month old smart phone.

Memorial Weekend

Decided to go somewhere for the week-end but didn't want to travel very far so selected Wekiva Falls Resort on the Wekiva River. We were a little skeptical about going there as reviews were mixed but it wasn't bad. We drove over one afternoon to check it out and were allowed to choose our own site in advance which was a plus. Family joined us on Sunday and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. I know they enjoyed the Lagoon and the pool! Check out the Picture Gallery for updated photos. Have a wonderful Memorial Day.

Pooped!

Another outdoor's day and I'm tired! But the results are worth it. Instead of green crabgrass and green weeds amongst my green plants I now have brightly colored flowers nestled in. If only it will stay that way.

Good Day!

There is something about spending the day working amongst the flowers that makes me feel like I have really accomplished something. Now I need to figure out how to keep the crab grass stuff from growing back in so profusely!

Testing from my new phone via text messaging.

Beach Day

Even rain can't ruin family get-togethers! Bob's sister and her family are renting a beach house for the week just south of St Augustine. So today we all met for a picnic. It was definitely "jacket" weather and it did rain before we left but everyone had a good time. We all get so busy with our everyday lives that it's easy to forget how enjoyable the beach can be and how fortunate we are to have it so easily accessible. Go to our Photo Gallery to see more pictures.

A Sunday afternoon

Mike at the house. I'm trying to learn how to post from my phone. Gotta keep up with all this new technology!

Testing from my phone.

Vacation Plans

An email from a relative started us thinking about summer vacation. They are celebrating their 20th anniversary this year and wanted to know if we were interested in joining them in Vegas. As we haven't been out west in 5 years it's definitely worth thinking about. So I've spent the past few days checking out flights, resort availability, etc. It should be fun and a nice change.

Winter!!!

Just finished reading Facebook entries from northern friends and family. I guess I'd better not complain about the chilly weather. At least we don't have 2 feet of snow on the ground! Still, this weather has not been fun. At the race track for the Daytona 500, I could never seem to get warm. Check out pictures in the Picture Gallery. Some mornings I wear so many layers to school that I look like I put on 10 lbs. overnight! But I can guarantee you that come August we'll all be complaining just as vehemently about the heat. That's Florida for you.

Beautiful Day

Today was the kind of day you move to Florida for. Bright blue skies and temps in the upper 70's. We opened up the pop-up to get it aired out for Daytona. Can you believe it's only 3 weeks until the 500? Time moves so fast! I decided to wash all the pop-up's curtains and ruffly things. I don't think they have ever been washed so it was about time. Bob did some outside housekeeping stuff - sprinkler head repair, leaf mowing, general cleanup. All-in-all a very productive day. Hope these nice days keep flowing!

Bittersweet Day

Yesterday was not the best of days but it also was not the worst of days. On a good note it was Bob's and my 38th anniversary. On our wedding day I would not have been able to even picture 38 years together. But we've done it and done it quite well. I certainly don't expect 38 more but many more will be acceptable. On a sadder note a very dear friend left Friendship yesterday to continue her teaching career at a different school. As her new school is not even 5 miles from Friendship I am certain I will see her frequently. The saddest part, though, was the fact that it was just a year ago yesterday that my brother passed away. His death has been a hard thing to accept as he was younger than me and seemed to be in good health and physical shape. The thing that makes me the angriest is that he worked hard all his life and has now been denied the opportunity to retire and enjoy the fruits of all that hard work. Lesson learned - live life to the fullest because you DO NOT know what tomorrow will bring.

When did they move Florida?

Snow/sleet yesterday and 26 degrees this morning - not what people move to Florida for. Today the sky's bright blue and the sun is shining brightly but don't let it fool you, it hasn't warmed up much. There is hope though. It's supposed to be near 70 by the end of the week!

Snow on the pool screen.

Icicles on the bird feeder!

Snow on the plant cover. I don't know how much the cover helped.

What a day!

Each day my outside plants look sicker and sicker from the cold, a very good and long-time friend is transferring to a different school, and Mike may have to look for a new job. Not the most auspicious of days! On a lighter note, several more Pine Island pictures.

Br-r-r-r!!!

When it is warmer in Seattle than in Florida there is something drastically out of whack! Even after 25 years in Florida I still considered myself a Northerner. . . up until now. Now, I'm just plain COLD!

New Year's Resolution

I want to apologize. When I first set up this blog I intended to post frequently, sharing my thoughts and ideas, and giving people a glimpse of our everyday life. Instead it seems to have become just a travel diary. My New Year's resolution - to return the blog to its original purpose. I can't guarantee I will be successful but I will certainly try!

It was back to work today after a two week vacation. One week was spent in retirement practice. Just Bob and I and our motorhome at an RV Park definitely designed for retired couples. We didn't completely fit in, not because of age but because we had no pets with us! Most every motorhome had at least one dog or cat and many had multiple pets. Our poor cats were left at home. It was an interesting experiment. I spent the first couple of days feeling like I should be doing something. By the time I was comfortable with no itinerary it was time to leave. Bob seemed to have the opposite reaction, very relaxed and at ease the first dew days but getting restless by the end. Fortunately we still have plenty of time to perfect this retirement thing!