Lil E's Helmet

I mentioned in a previous post that Lil E would be sportin' a Bear's helmet and here it is. I think Erik has plans to decorate it more. And how about those Bears!

Merry Christmas

I put away the Christmas decorations today and before I know it, it'll be time to get them down from the attic again. We had a nice, quiet Christmas. Christmas Eve we planned to go to the non-denominational 6:00 candlelight service at Church on the Square. We left our house at 4:30 thinking we'd left plenty early. Wrong! There was a line of people halfway around the church and it's a big church. We quickly made a decision to go to the 5:00 service at the Presbyterian church we've been attending regularly. This was a contemporary candlelight service. There were four guitars, drummer, violinist and small chorus. The drummer was too loud for the singer. At one point, I saw the man in front of me remove both his hearing aids until the music stopped.

Since chili has been a Christmas Eve tradition, we stopped at Wendy's and bought chili to take home. (I think their chili tastes as good as mine.) After eating, we visited with Lisa, Erik, Nick, Taylor, Kadin, Gracie, Aaron2 and his friend Ashley through Skype. Erik was acting goofy, looking down over the top of the computer screen, like he was hanging from the ceiling. Speaking of hanging from the ceiling, Gracie told me they didn't have a stand for the Christmas tree so Erik put nails in the ceiling, which happens to be wood, and hung the tree. Always an engineer, that Erik! Some of them had bowls and when asked what they were eating, they of course answered...chili! Erik has had a houseful all week. They've gone sledding and snowboarding while Lisa stayed at Erik's cooking and acting like a "housewife." No wonder she invited me to join them and I was smart enough to decline. :-)

Here are some photos Arne took of the screen as we talked through Skype. Arne had put on his Santa hat so the girls put their hats on also, as well as the red noses. Pretty soon, they were all sporting red noses. You can see me in the lower right corner on the last photo. Sorry we didn't get one of Erik hangin'...





Christmas Day, we went to Nick and Polly's, neighbors directly behind us. She had turkey, ham and all the trimmings. I was feeling very uncomfortable by the time we left. I should have used some restraint and not tried to taste everything! We got home around 8 and there was a message from Aaron1. We called him back and had a nice visit. I asked what he had cooked for Christmas dinner. What else but..chili! He and his roommate, Jeremy, who plays saxophone, sang "Holly Jolly Christmas" to both sets of parents as Jeremy had called his parents also. The song sounded quite good coming through speaker phone. Jeremy's parents live in Pensacola, Florida, our first home as newlyweds.

I've been doing lots of reading in the evenings, as well as on the elliptical at the fitness center. Recently, I read Michael Connley's "The Reversal," David Baldachi's "Simple Truth" and Kathryn Stockett's "The Help" which is for book club. I will be leading the discussion at our next meeting.

It is soooo COLD here that I've stayed inside all day. It's not supposed to warm up until Thursday. No golf this week and probably no pickleball. Now, I know I'll never get my sister to leave Arizona and spend winter here. :-(

Since taking a core conditioning class two months ago, I've been sitting on my ball instead of a chair. It's supposed to be better for my "core." Arne decided to take a picture yesterday and as I look at it, I think it's spreading my core. :-)

Lil E is doing good

Lil E, AKA Jeffrey Erik, is back in New Mexico after successful surgery to open his skull. The surgeon said it was a textbook operation. To protect and reshape his head, he has to wear a helmet for many months. Erik said Lil E will be in a Chicago Bears helmet this Christmas. A heartfelt thank you for all your thoughts and prayers.

Arne Made the Daily Sun

Our local paper had pictures from the holiday party held last Monday during Arne's favorite art class. I didn't look through all of the paper today, which is rare for me, and didn't know about it until a friend brought a copy to MahJongg, thinking I might want to send to family. In case you can't tell from my grainy copies, Arne's in the Santa hat. The man in front of second picture is Frank, the teacher and Arne's mentor. The class meets every Monday from 12-3 and Arne doesn't like to miss it. He practices for hours at home and I must say, his watercolor exercises are paying off. Even Frank says Arne is improving. :-)

Where is the "Global Warming"???

Central Floridians awoke to unseasonably cold weather on Monday as a second wintry blast hits the area.
It seems as though we've been covering plants for weeks. We'll finally get a respite for about two days and then...who knows!

Last night was our Miona Shores annual Caroling Party. Four people opened their homes to carolers and other partiers for a festive holiday celebration. Someone even rented a horse-drawn wagon from Ocala. On the ride, we were told that the horses, Doc and Duke, will be starring in the newest edition of Pirates of the Caribbean. They were flown to Puerto Rico (or was it Jamaica?) for the filming.




My tee time with the ladies was canceled yesterday, but today's mixed golf was held and the weather was beautiful. While it was only mid-50's, the sun was shining and there was very little wind so it felt closer to 60. I played poorly on 6 of the 9 holes but still managed to win $10 due to the game's format.

After golf, neighbor Fern and I went to a local Mexican restaurant for the "final" of our 8 week Spanish class. I have enrolled in the next class which is more conversational Spanish.

Our prayers were answered as Jeffrey, AKA Lil E, had a "textbook" operation yesterday at San Diego Children's Hospital. He is doing well and Erik said the shape of his head has already improved. Thank you for your prayers.

Girls Gone Wild...Yeah, Right!

Wednesday I drove to Ft. Myers and picked up college friend and fellow basketball player, Lori Wright. She has a condo on the Gulf half an hour south of Ft. Myers and had flown in from Chicago to play with our Villages team in the Florida State Senior Games. We sat on her balcony that evening watching the sunset over the water. After going to Doc's for pizza and beer, we took a walk on the beach.



Thursday we had a morning tee time but because of rain, we didn't tee off until 1:20. It was cold and we had the whole course to ourselves. After we finished 9 holes, we played the first four over again.

Friday morning we played basketball in the Florida games. Unfortunately, we were one of only four teams, three from The Villages. We lost to the Villages 55+ team, 27-18, lost to the Villages 60+ team, 29-20 and won our game with the only non-Villages team, 43-0. Once again I "won" a gold medal because there was no other team in our 65+ age group. In the last minute of the last game, the ball was passed very low to me and as I reached for it, I jammed my finger. As bad as it looks, I would give the pain a rating of 2 on a scale of 1-10.



When we left the gym, the sun was shining and it was a beautiful afternoon. Lori called her club and we were able to get a tee time so we played 9 holes. On the ninth hole, Lori was in such pain, she removed her shoe. Her feet were stepped on several times during basketball but she hadn't said anything about it earlier.

Lori flew back to Chicago this morning and I drove four hours back to the Villages. We had a fun three days with just the two of us, much like college when we used to ride in the back seat of the IWC station wagon around the country playing basketball.

Chicago Visit

Friday, December 3, Arne and I flew to Chicago for a surprise birthday party for Arne's brother, Carl. Carl was totally surprised that there was a party and especially surprised that we were there. On the drive back to our motel, the snow, which had been predicted, began to fall.




Saturday morning we awoke to a winter wonderland. We were grateful Hertz had recommended we upgrade to an SUV as we needed the traction to get out of the motel parking lot...after brushing off 6" of snow. We were reminded why we left Chicago in 1979.


We went to niece Michelle's home to visit with Carl and his kids before we all headed out for a birthday party for Carl's granddaughter Nicole's 17th. While at Michelle's, Carl opened his gift from Arne...an iPad. Arne also bought us an iPad so he and Carl can now talk about their favorite apps.


We spent a few hours at Michelle's on Sunday and flew back to Florida that afternoon. Our flights were good, no issues with TSA, and the snow came between our flights. Short, but pleasant, time with family.