Happy Anniversary ART

Wow 22 years ago today Art and I became a family. In some ways I think my goodness it has only been 22 years but then when I think about all we have done in that 22 years I think my goodness we have been together 22 years. Sometimes I have a hard time remembering a time without him. It seems like we have always been together.

It has been our tradition the past 5 or more years to spend our anniversary just the two of us in Cascade. We take the boat out and just enjoy spending time together. Here we are again this year only this year has the potential to be our last as we have the cabin for sale. NO NO not last anniversary.

We are going to the movies tonight and boating tomorrow. I am very excited. The weather is perfect.

In the words of a song................."Happy Anniversary Baby got you on my mind"

Happy Anniversary Art………………..I am so lucky to have been your wife for the past 22 years. Here’s to another 22.

(Trivia Question: Can you name the band and song)

My Latest Read

As most of you know I am not much of a reader. I think that gene missed me. My sister is an avid reader and so is my daughter. Me I have never been much of a pleasure reader. My sister loved reading so much, I can recall when I was young and we shared a bed, she would read under the covers as she just couldn't put the book down to go to sleep. This desire was so foreign to me. Now TV that is an other story. I love my TV. I am not a very fast reader and when I was employed I read a lot of law and technical material so the idea of coming home a reading a book when I could turn on the TV.............well it doesn't take a genesis to figure out what I did.

I joined a bookclub to broaden my horizon.......OK and to encourage me to read more. On occasion my mom has given me books to read and I will say that I enjoyed everyone that she has given me. I don't remember my mom reading much when I was growing up. She was very busy with raising a family, working, and her church work. Perhaps she felt the same way I do about reading. She reads a lot more now. I do know my son never enjoyed reading and he always thought reading was torture. He reads more now though as he regularly reads to his daughter. I will say that I really did enjoy reading the Twilight series.

That brings me to now. Well.....my daughter told me about a book series I should read. She said she stayed up until 4:00 in the morning reading the first one. She assured me I would enjoy it. I wasn't so sure. She is an avid reader and enjoys reading and I just told you that isn't me. She said she would bring them when she visited but with all the things she needed to bring the books got left at home. I wasn't that disappointed. Well, she knew I would enjoy them so she borrowed them from her sister-in-law for me. I promised I would read them. I read the story line inside the front cover of the first book and wasn't sure I really wanted to read the books. First off it reminded me of a recurring nightmare I used to have growing up but she really thought I would enjoy the series so I started reading. The verdict: I loved them. I read the first one in two days. I found myself thinking about the story when I wasn't reading. I can clearly understand why my daughter stayed up until 4:00 in the am reading. I finished both books and the next book in the series comes out in August. I can say I am looking forward to it. The series is the Hunger Games. I am glad my daughter encouraged me to read the series. I even got my daughter-in-law to read them. Once she is finished we (me, daughter and daughter-in-law) are going to have a phone bookclub discussion. I can't wait. Anyone who wants to join our discussion is welcome.

We're Back

Oh my goodness we had an early morning. We left Tampa this morning before the chickens got up. And believe it or not it was 86 degrees at 5:30 this morning. It will be a scorcher day there today. Our flights were absolutely flawless. The Buddy and Miss R picked us up at the airport about 1:15p.m. Thanks to them! We came home went to the grocery store and are now catching up. Yes, I have laundry going. It will be an early night for us. Here are some pictures of the trip.

Art just loaded sacks of clothes in the rental car

Uncle Red's House

The auction we went to

Art at Homosassa Park

Homosassa Park

This is the boat we were on in the movie we made

This is the awesome stunt car attraction we watched

Me with Budda at the Chinese restaurant where we had dinner

The fun anniversary buttons we wore at Hollywood Studios

Last Day

Today was our last day in Orlando. We spent most of the day at Hollywood Studios. It still has a lot of the same attractions that they had when we were here 18 years ago. One of the first attractions was a tour of the back lot but first they showed the audience how a movie is made. The attendant asked us to volunteer to be in the movie so I said sure. As we were putting on rain gear, Art told me I was no longer allowed to say yes to anything. As it turned out we were on a boat in a WWII movie. We didn’t get too wet and it was actually fun. Whew!!! We had lunch in the Sci-Fi theater and we ate in cars. It was dark and freezing cold but the food was good. Even Art got cold there. Since it is our anniversary, we got buttons that said Happy Anniversary and everywhere we went we were told “Happy Anniversary”. It was fun. My favorite attraction was the stunt cars show. That was really awesome. We headed back to Tampa about 4:30 pm.

We are on hold now with Uncle Red’s estate. Art needs to be appointed by a judge and after he gets the appointment, he can’t do anything for 90 days. Then he will be busy again.

It is early to bed as we have to get up at 5.00 a.m. and that is 3:00 am at home. It will be good to be home again but I will miss hanging out with Art all day. Just 2 more years.

Fun at the Park

Today we went to Epcot. We took the shuttle and got there about 8:30 a.m. It was really fun. Although we walked so much I ended up with a blister on my foot. There were lot of families there. It reminded both Art and I of when came to Disneyworld with our kids. I got sentimental that is for sure. Anyway, we saw everything there was to offer however one of the events got canceled due to technical errors. While we were in one of the shows, it poured down rain. We dodged that bullet. We went to the US venue three times. They had a group that sang 6 part harmony. They were so good we went back just to hear them. Art said they were worth the price of admission and I would have to agree. When they sang “Old Susannah” the guy singing the solo came and held my hand and sang to me. What a way to warm this old ladies heart. We visited with him for just a second after that show. We had dinner at the China venue. We stayed for the fireworks display. It was awesome. I have never seen anything like it. I am so glad we stayed for it. My feet are tired just like the rest of me so to bed for me. Thanks to Art for such a fun filled day.

To Orlando

We experienced thunderstorms all night. That made the humidity very high. We decided that since we were done with things at Uncle Red’s we would head to Orlando. We stopped by Uncle Red's to make a final check and bid our adieus. We got to Orlando about noon. We couldn’t check in our hotel until 4:00 pm so we went to the outlet mall. It was huge!!!!! We walked our legs off. After dinner we sat down by the pool until it started to sprinkle. We are very tired from all the walking we did so to bed early for us. Tomorrow we are going to go to Epcot.

Let me just pause to mention Art and my assessment of the hotels. The hotel in Crystal River needed maintenance/repair. It had patches that needed painted, holes in the walls, holes in the towels to mention some things but......it had the best bed ever. It was so very comfortable and the bedding was clean. It also offered a free continental breakfast, and free parking. The hotel in Orlando is not in need of repair or maintenance but the bed isn't as comfortable and doesn't offer free parking or breakfast. Guess you can't have it all. But we are together and having a blast so how can we complain.

Saturday Auction ?????

Today was a beautiful day. Today is Saturday so after breakfast we went to……the auction. It was just the usual thing to do. This is the farthest distance we have traveled for an auction road trip. Art will do anything to get a fix. Actually, we went to check out the auction company that we want to hire to auction off Uncle Red’s things. It was an estate auction and they auctioned off the property as well. The auction company did a great job and we are convinced they would be right for us. I know the burning question is …what did we buy. Well we did get a bidders number but we didn’t buy anything. I know it is unheard of but we really didn’t. Not that we didn’t want to, we just didn’t want the hassle of shipping it home. Art twitched a few times but he was able to contain himself. At least he got his fix and when we left he had a smile on his face and a hop in his step. Art says the rules of the auction are come early, bring a truck, get a number and stay to the bitter end. Well………………half aint bad. You can figure out which two we did.

We had a lovely lunch and visit with Jay and Marcie. Jay is Uncle Red’s stepson. We took them a small box of Jay’s mother’s things. They took us to a restaurant in Homosassa that is across from Monkey Island. Monkey Island is a small island that inhabits about 5 monkeys. They were fun to watch. The rest of the afternoon was spent at the pool. Don sat in a cabana and read and I worked my crossword puzzles and swam in the pool. It was very relaxing. After dinner Art and I went to a chick flick movie. That was fun as well. Oh that Art is such a sweetheart. Not everyone will understand this but Art is now a Jacob team fan. We really are opposites.

Thunderstorms are a brewing and the humidity is high.

Another Busy Day

Today was busy and fun. We got up early and went to Uncle Red’s. With the air conditioning out, we decided to go early before it got unbearably hot. Not only did we work hard we worked the little shredder to death. We shredded documents that were really really old. The appraiser came at 9:00. He was a nice guy. It didn’t take him long. With the market the way it is here, he wasn’t real optimistic on the value. We got everything ready to be auctioned and that was a good feeling. We were supposed to meet a realtor at 10:00 but she postponed until this afternoon and she was still late. We also went to the store, the post office, Goodwill to take clothes, and had the tires checked.

Later when it got too hot to be at the house, we went and played. We drove to Homosassa (about 15 miles) and we went to the Yulee sugar mill, toured the wildlife rescue park, had ice cream, then went for an airboat ride. It was awesome. The boat ride took 1 ½ hours. We went out to the Gulf of Mexico and back. Neither Art not I had ever done it and as luck would have it, we were the only two on the boat. It was a fabulous time. It was noisy though. We had to wear ear protection. I could write an entire entry about the ride. For those who don’t know what an airboat is, it is a flat-bottomed boat propelled in a forward direction by an aircraft-type propeller and powered by either an aircraft or automotive engine. It was a blast. We went to a restaurant in Ozello for dinner. Dinner was good but not as good as last night’s.

Ahh…… what a great day.



This is Art by the boat we took.

WOW

Wow what a great day. Not only did I get to spend the day with my darling Art but we got a lot settled. We got up early and after the continental breakfast the hotel offered, we went to Uncle Red’s. We sorted through a few things and then went to the bank when they opened. We were able to get a couple of the documents needed and cancel the safety deposit box. The contact at the bank has been so helpful and it was nice to finally meet her. Then back to the house to meet with a man from the auction house. The housing market is really depressed and in the hole here so having the auction company auction the property may be the best option. They will do the contents of the house on site so that is also a plus. The air conditioner stopped working so the house was WOW hot. Tonight after dinner the temp in the house was 99 degrees. Even I was melting. We met with the attorneys this afternoon and got the ball rolling for all the legal stuff. We need to have an appraisal for the house so we asked if it would possible to be done while we are here and as luck would have it worked out. The appraiser is coming tomorrow. Sorting through stuff today we were able to locate the other documents needed. Wow what a relief that was.

We had a fabulous dinner. We went to Cody’s Roadhouse. It was sooooo good. Art said his was WOW!!! His tenderloin was so tender….wow….the salad was…. wow with crack rolls….wow…the lobster was wow…..and mine was wow too. I had bacon wrapped shrimp….wow and prime rib…wow

As I said, the house was too hot to do much tonight so we headed back to the hotel and went to the pool. We met some nice folks from South Carolina. Now back in the room munching on popcorn and reflecting on a great day……wow.

Planes (NoTrains) and Automobiles

It was an early start this morning. Brent picked us up and we were headed to the airport by 5:30 am. Yes that is right 5:30 a.m. We are so appreciative of Brent getting up so early for us. The trip to Phoenix was uneventful. In Phoenix we loaded the plane at 9:00 a.m . The pilot informed us maintenance was changing one of the tires so we would be delayed a few minutes. It really didn’t take long and we were in the air. After about 15 minutes in the air, it was obvious there was something wrong. The pilot then informed us that the landing gear was stuck and they were trying to fix it but if not, we would have to return to Phoenix for a repair. After another ten minutes were we told we would have to go back to Phoenix. The pilot dumped a bunch of fuel and I was concerned it might be a rough landing but really it was a very smooth landing. In fact, one of the better ones I have experienced. I knew Art was concerned as well because as when we came down for landing, we were holding hands and although he didn’t say a word, his grip on my hand got tighter and tighter. We were then delayed for 2 1/2 hours. When they changed the tire, they left a pin in and that is why it wouldn’t retract. For those wondering….yes we sat on the plane that whole time. Let me divert here for just a minute to express the irony of this. We are headed to Florida to settle the estate of Art’s Uncle Red. Uncle Red’s profession was airline mechanic. Here we were sitting on the plane waiting for a mechanic so we could fly to Florida to settle the estate of an airline mechanic. Ok maybe it is just me but I thought it was ironic. Now back to the day……… Our seat mate and the lady sitting across from us expressed concern over being delayed as Tampa was expected to have severe thunderstorms and now with the delays we would be arriving the same time they were expecting the storms. The pilot told us after our second take off that we would be taking a different route as the scheduled route was experiencing severe thunderstorms. My first thoughts were great this is going to be a rough flight but it wasn’t. The flight was good and when we landed in Tampa the weather was clear and nice.
We got our rental car and I was a little concerned. Yes I am a worry wart. The rental place was not at the airport and was…well…. a dive place. The car we got was a Nissan Altima. They are nice cars but this one to put it bluntly is beat to crap. Needless to say Art was not impressed. It made a funny sound. I thought it was the muffler but Art said he thought it was a tire. Art wins. Tonight the tire warning light came on. We will have to take care of it tomorrow. We got to Crystal River about 9:30 pm. We went to Uncle Red’s and checked things out then to the grocery store for a few items. Now we are tucked in our hotel room and ready for a fun filled week.
I must say even with the delay, I had a great day with Art.