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.