Another Xmas Bites the Dust

Its been a crazy couple of days with Ted arriving last Thursday to celebrate the holidays with us.  As we watched the weather forecast for his upcoming visit, we had to put our heads together to find things to do as the days got cooler.  Ted has a habit of bringing cold weather with him when he comes down.  We keep asking him to knock it off but he is so busy looking for chicks it just doesn't register.

This dog was a loser.  Don't bet on it.

On Friday, we went over to the Grey Hound Dog Track to win some money for Xmas presents.  Needless to say, no one got anything.  But it was a beautiful day at the track and something I have been meaning to do since we moved here.  If you plan to come down here, I would have no problem going there again but don't plan on an early retirement.  I'm just saying.

We made it off the course alive.

Then we hit the golf course on Saturday, we thought we would golf 9 holes but since it was a perfect day for golf, we decided to go 18.  Ted loves seeing how fast his golf cart will go before he slams on the brakes.  He basically tried to run over a dog and a duck.  I thought he liked animals.  He liked to slide into the tee box sideways and see how close he could get his cart to ours so we would have to crawl out the other side to get out.  Of course, he drove over our balls. Gary and I were just happy to get off the course without an injury.   

Go Vikes.

Sunday was a Vikings day and so we headed to Woody's for the game.  Vikes won and the Steelers lost.  Perfect football day.

Mr. and Mrs. Claus relaxing on the beach before the big nite. Looks like Santa been on Jenny Craig.

Monday (Christmas Eve) we hit Fort Myers Beach and while it was not exactly hot, it was very nice out and obviously many people agreed.  The beach was full and Christmas was in the air.  After the beach, we headed to Mary and Pat's for a wonderful evening of Christmas cheer to be capped off by our yearly tradition of watching Christmas Vacation. 

Fort Myers Beach, even weiners love the beach!

A poinsetta tree on the beach.

Christmas Day the boys spent the day boating with Pat while I got ready for our Christmas celebration that afternoon.  We had a wonderful time celebrating out on the lanai with family and friends.

Christmas Nite at the Moes.

Wednesday we headed to the airport to put our little guy back on the plane to Minneapolis, we sent him back to 10 degree weather as we waved goodbye in our shorts and tee shirts.  I'm just saying.  Its Minnesota.

Ted tried our new pool before he left for Minneapolis.

Having Ted here for the holidays along with family and friends made it a special time.  Let's just say Ted made it a big splash.  Margaret

PS - The weather has been getting warmer since Ted left.  How does he doe that?
See Facebook for more photos.

Happy New Year to all!!!!

Oh Inflatable Christmas Tree

Getting ready for Christmas in Florida is a little different from a Minnesota Christmas.  No snow, no office Christmas parties, no lefse.  Oh yaaaaaaaaaa.  Don't you know.

 I thought it would be nice to go to at least one Christmas party and  I was able to convince Gary to go to the NRC Christmas Dinner Dance with the promise of Prime Rib. It worked like a charm.  There was a geriatric band trying to sing classic songs from about 50 years ago to please our generation but unfortunately each song sounded just like the one before it. Not that I like to complain but give me a break, just cause its loud doesn't mean its good.  I saw a couple hearing aids fly right out of a guy's ears.  WTF?  But the dance floor was packed so I guess it didn't really matter.  Gary and I stood in front of a tree all nite waiting for people to take our picture. 

We did some decorating at our house, mostly out in the lanai.  I did get a tree up, it took about 2 minutes to blow up and just floats around the pool.  So that's been checked off the to-do list.

Our resident gecko has moved into the Santa hat and we got a picture of him right before he moved in.  I think he'll like it there, at least til the first of the year and then the rent it going up.  There's only so much Christmas spirit to go around, even for our gecko.

Ted comes on Thursday to spend Christmas with us so we are very excited about that.  The blog will be full next week.  Can't wait.  Margaret

Silent Nite, Cookie Nite

Since so many of us are from out of state, the women in our NRC (New Residents Club) decided to get together and have a Christmas cookie exchange.  Only problem is what to do with all the cookies after the party. It may sound like a good idea until we have to get Jenny Craig on speed dial.  Apparenly there was a group in town that would take the extra cookies but when I told Gary about this, he assured me not to worry, he would take care of any extra cookies.  He always comes thru in a crisis. 

Mary putting her first batch in the oven.

Mary and I got together on Wednesday to begin the new Florida holiday tradition, Mary making two varieties and I stuck with one.  We had to come up with 8 dozen cookies each, half dozen for each participant and one dozen to share at the party on Friday nite.  Unfortunately Mary miscounted and had to take my half dozen for the party. WTF?  I had plenty of peanut butter balls. I hate running out of balls.

Margaret almost done with her balls.

The gal who had the party was from Long Island, NY.  Others at the party were from Ohio, Illinois, Texas, Cape Cod, Virginia, and Minnesota and we basically come down here for the same reason.  Get away from our kids.  JK.  We come here for the weather.  Sand, not snow.  Barefoot, not boots.

Cookies to share at exchange.

We had a great time, the party was a huge success.  Came home with all kinds of cookies, Gary dug right in, I don't have to bake anymore and its starting to feel like Christmas even without the sleet and frost warnings. Margaret

Ladies at Cookie Exchange 2012.  Temps last nite in 70s.

Happy Thanksgiving

My blog is all jumpy and nervous.  It seems like I just write a blog and then a couple weeks go by and my blog is knocking on my brain and saying "remember me"?  WTF?  Let's go girl.

Some naked girl decided to take a leak in our new pool.  The nerve!

The pool has been in progress for 3 months now and we are getting so close to being done, we think we're done and then something else comes up.  We had a leak in the pool for over a week and it finally got narrowed down to the problem which luckily was not a big deal so now the water is actually staying in the pool.  It looks so nice but with winter setting in here in Florida, its a little cool to go diving in.  So for now we have to be content with just looking at it. 

And then I have been working and that involves a lot of traveling to various grocery stores and c-stores in the area, work I have done for years and really enjoy as long as I don't have to do too much.  I came across this Coke display and just had to share it.  That's what they do with Coke in Florida. I wonder if Pepsi can top this?

Today we are celebrating the holiday with our new friends (and Mary and Pat of course) which we met thru the NRC (New Residents Club).  For the first time ever in my life, we are going out to a restaurant for dinner.  No one volunteered to cook so we will let someone else wait on us and clean up.  The restaurant we picked is Italian so not sure about that but they must have turkeys in Italy somewhere.  And luckily a good friend from Minnesota sent me a shirt to wear for the dinner, I just didn't have a clue what to wear til this showed up in the mail so thanks Jill.  I am sure I will be envy of all the women there. 

To my in-laws, I am not really wearing this today so please stop crying.



So with that, we wish each and every one of you a very happy Thanksgiving, especially our friends on the east coast who went thru Hurricane Sandy and are okay. We only wish we could be sitting at dinner with you today, as long as we don't have to cook. Love, Margaret

Snowbirds are Flying Back Down

We are finally getting some cooler weather here and also getting lots more people too.  The snowbirds are returning which adds to the traffic not only on the roads but the stores and restaurants are more crowded. 

We have a Farmers Market each Saturday and that just started up again too.  It is too hot here in the summer so they take a break but once it starts up again, it is really popular and so the dogs and I get over there and check out what's in season.  There are lots of dogs there and once DeDe and Mojo stop barking at the other dogs and anything else that is suspicious and should be barked at, we can actually meet the other dogs.  We met Dancy last time we were there, she is an almost 15 year old mini weiner so we had lots in common with her except she is quiet. If you think ours are spoiled, you should see this little princess. 

Mary and I had fun checking out all the plants.  So many decisions to make.  I guess we'll just have to go back. 

The pool cage went up last Sunday without any problems.  That is a first for this project.  Most pools in this area are covered with cages and it like adding another room to the house only its outside.  I have a feeling we'll be out there alot.

 We get lots of sun on that side of the house and if Gary ever gets the tiling done, we can actually spend some time out there.  Sometimes he is such a poke.  He blames it on his day job.  There's lots of time at night.  If he could just hold a flashlight in his mouth, he could get this done in about a week.  Do I have to think of everything?  Margaret

Pool Progress

Tiling done about 2 weeks ago.  Waiting for finish inside pool now.

 



Pool finish done 10/30/12 and started filling pool.  Screen off old lanai.



We finally had the pool finish put on Tuesday and started filling the pool. Once the finish gets in the pool you have to put water in it immediately because it can crack if you don't. By early the next morning, the pool was filled. We thought it would take a week so we were pretty happy to see it almost full when we got up the next morning.  The new pool cage should be up early next week and then the tiling around the pool will begin. Right now we have everything open to the back of the house and since we can finally have the patio doors open cause the AC is off, we are just waiting for a possum to come wandering thru the house. You know they are still out there. That pool cage can't get put up fast enough for me.

  

I took the girls for a walk this afternoon, we got hot so I jumped in the pool and took my first swim.  It was definitely refreshing and felt good after the initial shock.   Margaret

My first swim in our pool.  11-2-12

FYI: Germans Like Beer

There are lots of Germans in Florida.  About five miles from our house is the American/German Club and they were hosting their annual Octoberfest this past weekend.  We thought we should check this out and of course there was lots of beer at the festival.  After having some beer, this guy thought this may be a good place to look for his next wife.  He was alone most of the time so he may want to rethink his outfit.  I'm just saying.  Wide ties are so 1990. 

Some guys were blowing long horns after they drank some beer and then when they were finished, they needed more beer because they got thirsty blowing long horns. And it sounded just like you would think.  Loud and annoying.  How do they get those horns home?   Why do they need to be so long? What if they are chewing gum when they are blowing those horns and it accidentally slips out of their mouths cause they drank too much beer and it gets stuck in the middle of the horn? Does the horn sound different then or does it start to smell minty? So much to think about when you spend time with Germans. And beer.

Now to the pool in progress. The pool is coming along, some workers actually showed up on Thursday and Friday to put in the coping around the pool and the tile.  Next the pool deck will be poured.  Good thing we're journaling all this for the next time we put in a pool.  Maybe we'll just do it ourselves.  At least we'll know when we show up.  Margaret

Oct. 15, 2012

Oct. 20, 2012

Sink or Swim

It was our first summer in Florida and we found out a couple things.  It can be hot.  And humid.  For about three months we have the AC on constantly, try to keep the shades drawn to keep the sun light out and we sweat alot.  We noticed that we do a lot more laundry.  In the summer, its common to just stand still outside and walk back in the house to take a shower and change into dry clothes. 

Back yard when we decided to put in a pool

So I thought the best thing we could do to combat the heat is to put in a pool. Most homes in Florida have a pool and now we understand why.   At first we thought it would make more sense to just buy another house with a pool and do another remodel.  But we didn't have any luck with that and so we started to talk about how much we like the house we're in, we love the neighborhood and it is basically a new house since we redid the whole thing.  So why not just add a pool in the backyard. 

Putting in the pool shell

Unfortunately not only was the house all done but so was all the landscaping outside.  That was the real stinger, we would have to dig up the back yard and pull all the done stuff up.  We were looking at a lot of money and time.  But we were hoping to save the trees and bushes by moving them so  we signed the papers on August 30th and we were told we would have a completed pool and pool cage in 6 to 8 weeks. 

Gary wanted to swim last week.

Its been 6 weeks and Gary wanted to take a swim.  I told him he'd have to wait but he just doesn't listen.  Just think how much better it will feel when there is actually water in there.  Margaret

Down to the Keys

On Monday, Gary had to go down to Key West for a job and he invited the dogs and me to tag along.  It takes about 6 hours to drive down to Key West from here and this is the first time I had taken the drive.  It was not bad at all, lots to see as you go thru all the Keys all the way down to the last one, Key West. 

While Gary worked, the girls and I did some walking and window shopping.  The weather was a little cloudy but still warm. The girls wanted to stop and get directions once we got to the main drag in Key West.  I don't know what they were looking for but we stopped so they could check out all the signs.

They wanted to have their picture taken next to a big fish on the street and how could I say no?

The houses are all pretty old and so quaint.  They're all pretty close together too which makes for very little lawn mowing.  That's so there's time to water all the plants!!!

And of course, we had to do some window shopping.  Guess what Gary's getting for Christmas? 

We had a great time in the Keys, so much fun, so many crazy people, we fit right in.  Margaret

We Must have Dessert

It was hard to leave the Clearwater/South Haven area, its been my home for 20 years and leaving all my friends behind was tough but I still had to have dessert so Monday morning I headed down to Waterville, MN to pick up my brother, Steve.  He works at Potential Unlimited with about 20 other people and when I walked in the door and saw my sweet little brother, I knew it was well worth the drive.  Then we headed over to Mankato to see my older sister Noreen.  She too is very special and even took the day off so we could spend it together. 

Noreen, Margaret & Steve leaving for lunch in Mankato.

We had a wonderful lunch and then it was time for a movie.  We had the whole theater to ourselves.  It was a beautiful day in Mankato but unfortunately my brother is having lots of trouble with his ankles so walking was just too tough for him.  It didn't take a lot of arm twisting to take them to the movies.  We had a very nice time and it was very hard to leave.  It always is.

Margaret & Ted trying to use chopsticks.  I used my fingers mostly.

Then I headed back to Ted's for my last nite in town.  Since he lives within walking distance of so many bars and restaurants, we headed out for a nice dinner.  We first stopped at a Green Bay Packers bar which was standing room only due to the big Monday nite game.  Unfortunately we didn't have our GB jerseys or cheeseheads with us so we had to forego that place which probably saved our lives since there may have been some serious sobbing when they lost in the last second of the game. I wanted to go over there after they lost wearing my Vikings shirt but Ted thought it was too risky.

I forgot how pretty the trees are in the fall in Minnesota.

I love Minnesota in September, it is still beautiful weather, the trees are changing and the kids are back in school.  I used to love that.  But my home is in Florida now and that's not too bad either.  There's lots on the menu here too, we just have to get busy checking it all out.

Back in Florida, Tuesday nite.

So thanks to everyone who put up with me for a little while.  I had a great time with each and every one of you.  When I get hungry for some Minnesota grub, I'll be back.   Love m

On to the Next Course - Yummy

After leaving the flat Hillman area, I headed back to the Clearwater area to meet up for my third course of exotic flavors.  The weather was cool but sunny and when I got to Jan's house, she was all set for our time together.  Rudy grilled and we played cards, just like old times. But we were pretty tired, Jan from running after her little grandson all day and me from staying up way too late the nite before and we had lots of plans for Sunday so it was an early nite.

Sunday morning we went for a long walk on country roads in the cool Sunday morning and then made our way to the golf course. It was a perfect morning for golf and while I am pretty sure I won, Jan conveniently lost the score card so who knows. Of course we had to stop for some of the best Margaritas in central Minnesota after golf at Southbrook and one thing led to another as it always does after a couple Margaritas. I mentioned to Jan that I wanted to go past our old house and no sooner did the words leave my lips that Jan zoomed down our driveway cause the gate was open. Once the dust cleared, we saw the garage was open, cars were inside but Jan decided it wasn't a good idea to meet her new neighbors after a couple Margaritas so she whipped the car around and flew back down the driveway. I think we might have hit a raccoon or cow, it was just a blur.

Margaret, Sharon, Jan, Gwen, Carol and Deb





And then it was party time at Jan's.  All the neighbor ladies came over to visit and paint nails, catch up, complain, bitch, and pose for lots of pictures.  Carol brought her camera so we all know what that means.  It was so nice to see everyone, no one has changed much but it sure made me realize how good I had it in South Haven. 

Pumpkins from Jan's Garden.  Who knew Jan had a garden?

The Clearwater time was very tasty and I highly recommend everyone try it when they start missing old friends.  m

PS - My camera was broke during my time with Jan and the girls so thanks Carol.  I stole some of yours. 

The Second Course

Friday morning I was on my way to St. Cloud and Hillman, MN.  My second course consisted of four toasty friends sharing a special course up in the Hillman area.  We started off at Brothers Bar which is at the crossroads in Hillman.  I am not sure why it is called Hillman because its pretty flat.  Maybe there's some anthills somewhere.

Anne, Jill, Margaret & Doris at Brothers

We spent the afternoon catching up, eating lots of good stuff, testing some beer and wine, watching Weeds, sightseeing in Onamia and talk talk talk.  At about 2 am we called it a nite after deciding an all nighter was too risky at our ages. 

I'm resting my eyes in Onamia.  Jill is drunk.

Saturday was a beautiful fall day so we figured jumping in the lake would be a good idea after sitting in the hot tub for a while.  It was COLD but so fun.

Running out of the lake - COLD.

Before we knew it it was time to say see ya later.  We'll save goodbyes for another time.   m

Warming up after our jump in the lake.

Minnesota on the Menu

On Thursday last week I landed in Minneapolis for a little taste of Minnesota.  Its been almost a year since I was there and I really had a taste for some north country. 

After landing at the airport, I got a call from my son, Ted, wondering where I was.  He was there to pick me up.  He was on time.  It was a Christmas Miracle!!!  But its not Christmas so its just a plain miracle.  Ted and on time usually don't exist in the same sentence.  Life is full of surprises.

Ted just sold his house in Minneapolis and recently moved to the uptown area.  Such a fun area and so much to do there.  We ended up at Pat's Tap which is a few blocks away. I thought it was a place for tap dancing and I left my tap shoes in Florida.  But it was a different kind of tap.  Beer tap.  Don't need shoes for that.  My niece, Louise, lives nearby so she showed up too. And then my sister and her hubby made the trip over.  This was just the appetizer.  And it was very tasty.

Ted, Keith, Louise, Margaret & Anita - Pat's Tap

The next day, it was time for my first entree.  Stay tuned.....m

Amazing Orchid





When we moved here for good last November, I brought some houseplants from Minnesota and I am happy to say that the plants in the house are doing great. I also brought an orchid that I got from my son for Mother's Day. When I got the orchid, it was in full bloom but that didn't last too long. I hated to throw the plant away even tho it looked dead so I brought it along with me down here and somewhere along the line I read that you should just throw it in a tree and I thought, why not. Its not doing too good in a pot or in dirt so I opened the back door, hit a tree and thought, yeah, that will work.  And its been hanging in the tree ever since.

 

And today I looked out the back door and well, just let the pictures tell the rest of the story.  It is truly amazing.  I don't recommend trying this in Minnesota tho.  It would probably be covered with snow when it blooms and you would miss the whole thing.  I just wonder why else I can throw in that tree.  Margaret