Another week-end

On Saturday, Arne and I drove 50 miles north to Gainesville. We had tickets to see UP at the Hippodrome near the University of Florida campus. The lead role was performed by Aaron's high school friend, Tod Zimmerman. After the play, Tod came out front for a short visit. The last time I'd seen him, he and Aaron were teenagers and up to no good. But then that was over 20 years ago!


After the play, Arne and I stopped at Outback for dinner. We could see the University of Florida playing Kentucky. The Gators are our newly adopted team. We saw Tim Tebow get sacked and have his clock rung during the third quarter. I'm happy to hear that he has been released from the hospital after suffering a concussion.

This afternoon I went over to The Villages High School gym to check out the ladies' basketball and volleyball teams. I was in awe of the campus. It is beautiful with buildings surrounding a large grass-covered area with a bandshell in the center. Anyway, basketball was finished and they were setting up the volleyball net. The coach asked me if I was there to play. I told her I was just coming to observe. She was so impressed with my height, you'd have thought she'd struck gold. She gave me a basketball, much smaller than I remember. It's a "woman's" ball. I like the "man's" ball that was used when I played...47 years ago. Anyway, I tried several shots, including a couple of hooks, and while most of them missed the mark, she was impressed.

Since I had no shoes that hadn't been used outside, I went barefoot for volleyball. I have never played team volleyball so have a lot to learn there. The net is only 7' and I can reach over it without jumping. That impressed the coach. Is she easily impressed or what! :-) They have teams registered for the Florida Senior Games to be held in Ft. Myers the first two weeks in December. She said they need players so I think I'll give it a try. The rules are all designed for senior players and the goal is no injuries. That's a goal I like!!

Furniture Shopping and Love Bugs

Monday thru Wednesday, we looked for living room furniture. We finally decided to order a custom sofa and love seat so it will be late October or early November before we have them. On a trip to Ocala, we found this rug for the master bath. It's 5x8 and fills the space between our two sinks. Arne didn't like my hairspray on the tile. :-)
One day Arne ordered a Kid's meal and I thought the hot dog was so cute.
We heard about the love bugs before moving here. We were told they come in May and September. Guess what! It's September and they've appeared. They attach themselves to the other's backside and fly around or walk up the outside wall while mating. Then they die and we have to sweep them up. Don't know how the eggs hatch unless it's while in the garbage. They also stick to the front of the car and can damage the finish if not removed soon.


From the past: Hearing about the G20 meeting in Pittsburg reminded me of our visit to Paris in July 1989 when the G7 was meeting. Many of the French people went on holiday as they didn't want to be around so many tourists. We saw lots of uniforms, police and military, and felt very safe. George H.W. Bush and Margaret Thatcher were there. Ms Thatcher spoke of global climate change. Seems the only thing that's changed since then is the addition of 13 more countries to the summit.

Stage 3-4 of Southwest Trip

Stage 3 was my time with Marla. After golf we went to Marla's townhouse and vegged out. On Sunday, we took care of Drew and Kayley. They started out playing with the water table shown in picture. An hour later, they were in the wading pool and loving every minute of splashing in the cooling water.

Monday morning, Marla and I took the kids and dog for a long walk. It didn't get off to a good start as the double jogging stroller had a flat tire. So Marla had Drew in the single jogging stroller and and I pushed Kayley. Drew decided to throw a little tantrum along the way making this an eventful walk. We stopped at the park and all was well. Marilyn picked me up around 11:30 and I was off to Stage 4. Marilyn is learning MahJong, as am I, so we spent the afternoon "playing" with Edie and Maureen.

Tuesday morning we joined 9 other ladies for the Lit Chicks' annual Sedona golf trip. After checking into our rooms, some of us went hiking out at West Fork while the others went shopping. I hiked with Marilyn, Betty, Carol, and Beth. We had picked up sandwiches and sat by the creek while eating them. Very pretty.





Wednesday we played Seven Canyons, 15 minutes north of Sedona. It was truly beautiful. We were required to have a Forecaddy, whose name was Derek. He made the experience even more enjoyable and was helpful in reading putts and pointing out my alignment problem.







Thursday we played Sedona Golf Resort before heading back to the Valley. While it has some beautiful views, it couldn't beat Seven Canyons.

After Wednesday's round, Marilyn suggested I might want to take a lesson on Friday. She called Tim and got Darth's phone number. He said he could take me at 7 AM so off I went for a lesson. It didn't take him long to see that I was leaning too far right which caused me to hit behind the ball and have misalignment. He wants me to have 60% of my weight on my left foot. I joined Marilyn and Betty on the back 9 at Terravita but didn't keep score. I knew I'd have problems after a lesson but wanted to spend some more time with these two friends.

I had lunch at English Rose Tea Room with dear friend Trudy. We had a nice relaxing, 2 hour lunch.
Around 3, Marilyn drove me to The Pavillions, where grandson Nick picked me up and took me to Lisa's. Lisa and I then went to Dos Gringos near Scottsdale's Marshall Way where we joined her two business partners for Happy Hour. Saturday morning she drove me to the airport. I had a smooth flight but it took 45 minutes to get my luggage. Thank goodness, Arne had come to pick me up. Otherwise, I'd have had to wait two hours for the next Villages shuttle.

Today was church, grocery shopping and laundry. Guess my vacation is really over. :-( It was great to see everyone and spend quality time with friends and family.

Stage 2-3 of Trip Southwest

On Wednesday, Nick picked me up at the airport and became my chauffeur. I asked him to stop at Van's Golf Shop where I bought a carry bag and a travel bag. I then had him take me to Costco for Airborn Express, which I couldn't find in Florida, and gym shoes so that I would have a pair to leave here in Arizona. I left my old ones in New Mexico with Erik. Do you have any idea how much room a pair of size 12 women's shoes take? A lot!!

Thursday morning, I took Taylor over to the driving range near their house. He wanted a $12 bucket of balls and I thought he wouldn't get them used before time to go to school. I was wrong...he hit them all and we still had time to chip and putt.

Mid-day, I visited grandson Daniel. That evening, Lisa, Taylor and I went to Sorreno's in Mesa where Nick works. The bill was $20.37 and I left $40. Think I am a good tipper? Yes, if it's my grandson :-)

Friday morning I went to the driving range for an hour. I should be good with all this practice. Yeah, right!

At 1 PM, Lisa and I had a meeting with Daniel's case manager. We are glad to have her on Dan's side. She seems to truly care about him.




Friday night, we had dinner at PF Chang's in Tempe.

Saturday morning, Nick, Taylor and I met Marla at Riverview in Mesa for 9 holes of golf. We then went for lunch at Rubio's. I will be with Marla until Monday. We are going to sit Drew and Kayley tomorrow afternoon so Andy and his father can go to to the Cardinals'game.

Stage 1 of Trip to the Southwest

Last Friday, I began a 16 day journey back to the Southwest.I landed in Albuquerque around 3 PM, took a shuttle to the Sheraton Uptown and waited for Erik and the girls. After dinner, the girls swam in the hotel pool for almost two hours.

Saturday morning, I exercised in the very nice fitness room, IHOP for breakfast, then back to hotel for two more hours of the girls swimming. In the evening, we went to iT'Z, a pizza buffet and indoor amusement and arcade.

Sunday morning, I took the girls down to the pool AGAIN where they swam for 90 minutes before it was time to check out of the hotel. After lunch, we went to Hinkle Family Fun Center to play Miniature Golf. Then the 1 1/2 hour drive to Los Alamos and a BBQ at Erik's friends' house.Kadin and Gracie slept on the way home from Albuquerque.

Monday we headed to White Rock, where Erik used to live, and were guests at a swim club. We were there for 3 1/2 hours. Not warm enough for me to swim. In fact, I sat with a jacket on much of the afternoon. The girls did more eating than swimming. Since it was the last day of the swim season, the snack bar had everything at half price. Monday night we teleconferenced through Skype with Grandpa in Florida. Videos are of Erik and Gracie going off the high board. Later in the afternoon, Gracie dove off the lower board but my battery was dead, so no video. She did it 3 times and each one was very good.


This morning, I walked Kadin and Gracie to school and said Good-Bye. Gracie hung around me until the bell rang and came back to hug me again. Fortunately I had sun glasses on as I didn't want her to see the tears in my eyes. I probably won't see them again until Christmas. :-(

Erik's yard backs up to the ridge where I can get on the Perimeter Trail above Los Alamos. In 2000, there was a large fire which started with a prescribed burn in Bandeleir National Monument and got out of control, burning over 200 homes and destroying hundreds of trees.

Erik set up a trampoline for the girls this summer. They've taken gymnastics and enjoy practicing what they learned there. Erik did an engineering feat supporting the legs on the hillside.

Catching Up #2

Nothing too exciting this past week. Went to see "Inglorious Bastards" on Saturday. Typical Quentin Tarantino production with lots of blood and gore as well as humor. I enjoyed seeing the Nazis go up in flames. I know, I have no compassion...for murderers.

Sunday night we took a ride in the Corvette with the top off. We traveled up the highway through the countryside. My hair was blowing in swirls and when we stopped at McDonald's...for hot fudge sundae, of course...it actually looked pretty decent and had some body. Guess instead of using the hair dryer, I should just drive the Corvette at 60 MPH. Wonder if Arne would agree to that???

Friday I fly to Albuquerque for some time with Erik and the girls. The following Wednesday I fly to Phoenix for 10 days. Will try to post some pictures along the way.