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.

Quite a week!

"Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me; I want people to know 'why' I look this way. I've traveled a long way, and some of the roads weren't paved."
This is a quote attributed to Will Rogers. Whether that's so or not, I like what it says and that's the way I'm feeling these days.

Monday began our new landscaping project. They finished up Thursday morning, "in time to go home and clean up for their ladies." After last winter's frost, we noticed the Queen palms got hit quite hard. We decided that they weren't a good choice for this climate zone and now here we are with four of them. Hey, they look nice! We are quite happy with the outcome and have been told we have the biggest rock in Miona Shores. I said that's OK since we're "big" people. Besides, the red rock reminds me of Arizona and my many hikes in the mountains near the Valley of the Sun.




Tuesday, I left Arne with the landscapers while I played 18 holes of golf. Shot 91 so was happy with that. Dermatologist in the afternoon and had two biopsies taken. I'm beginning to think they see a cash cow in me as last time I had four biopsies, one of which required further surgery. My dermatologist in Arizona never biopsied unless I brought something up to him first. Hmmmm...

Wednesday, our window treatments were installed, at least in the living and dining rooms. After hanging the family room, the decorator said they were too short and she took the panels home to lower the hem. I played golf, nine holes Executive, and did fairly well, for me. It was a beautiful afternoon, not quite as warm as Tuesday.


Thursday, while most people were feasting on turkey and all the trimmings, Arne and I went to "Secretariat." I thought it was a great movie and the owner of Secretariat was a remarkable lady. After the movie, we went to Palmer for some chipping and putting. We had lasagna for dinner. Nice, quiet day. :-)

Friday, Arne had his first golf outing with the guys. He had a good time. I spent the day decorating for Christmas.

Saturday morning I played pickleball but was a little rusty since I hadn't played in four weeks. Saturday evening we went to our neighbors', Brad and Roseann, for dinner. Very interesting couple. She made me a peppermint martini and then we shared a gingerbread martini, which was really good. She buys the gingerbread syrup from Starbuck's. Roseann was an event planner for Kentucky Fried Chicken for 20 years. During this time, KFC began franchising, were bought by Pepsico and now are owned by Yum! Foods, which also owns Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and others. She told an interesting story of an event she was planning in 1992 for 3,000 franchisers in Nashville at the Opry. George H.W. Bush came through on a campaign stop and his people wanted to "borrow" her 3,000 guests for a rally. She shared, with hilarity, running into secret service and others with machine guns as she tried to get back to her suite at 2 AM after finalizing plans for her meeting.

I'm happy Erik got to Phoenix so my kids were all together for Thanksgiving. Nick said Erik was sore from playing football with his nephews and they were heading out to play raquetball. Guess Erik needs to stay in shape now that he has a new son. Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We have much for which to be thankful.

Headed Home

I'm on the New Mexico Rail Runner, a train that runs between Santa Fe and Albuquerque. This is a great help when visiting Erik as then he doesn't have to drive to Allbuquerque or I don't have to rent a car. I just discovered the train has wireless.

I hate to leave Erik, Kadin, Gracie and Jeffrey but I'm anxious to get back to warm weather. It was sunny but cold, for me, while I was in Los Alamos. I think Arne is ready to have me back also.

Erik bought another duplex half in May. He has been busy decorating the children's rooms which have their own wing with a bathroom. Erik's room has separate bath and door to close the master suite off from living room as well as a door to front patio. He told me I could have this room when I'm ready. Yeah, right! I hope that isn't happening for another 20 years.

In Kadin's room, Erik painted her walls three colors to match the colors in the bedding she picked out. He then copied the lace designs from her comforter and framed them to hang as pictures. He has to put up her canopy but is waiting until she has definitely decided where she wants her bunk beds. She also has a trundle bed so can have sleepover with many girls friends.



Gracie's room is also painted in colors picked from her bedding, which she chose. She looks like a princess as she relaxes while working on her school work. Each of the girls have a colorful chair in the corner. As you can see, Gracie's is turquoise while Kadin's is lime green.


For Jeffrey's room, Erik chose Chicago Bears theme. On the closet doors, he painted the numbers 34 in honor of Walter Payton.

New Grandson

Erik has had Jeffrey for an hour each of the three days I've been here. "Little E", as Erik calls him, is a sweetie. From the front, he looks perfect, but his skull has closed already allowing no room for his brain to grow. Jeffrey will be having surgery Dec. 14 at San Diego Children's Hospital.


Another Chicago Bears' fan. Note the Bears' logo.

Erik with his children.

Arizona Visit

Wednesday, Nov. 3, I flew to Phoenix for a visit with family and friends. Nick was my chaufeur to Lisa's. On Thursday morning, sister Marla picked me up. We went to the Apple Store where I got a new battery for my MacBook. Since I had paid $300 for an extended warranty, I saved the $129 the battery would have cost. I stayed with Marla Thursday night and we went hiking on the 6 mile GoJohn trail in Cave Creek Park. Friday afternoon we met Lisa, Nick and Aaron2 at Dos Gringos in Old Town Scottsdale for Happy Hour. I went home from there with Lisa.

Saturday, Aaron2 took Nick, Lisa and I to his parents' house in Gold Canyon. Lisa and I spent the afternoon looking at scrapbooks of Aaron2's life. Saturday night Aaron1, Nick, Dan, Lisa and I joined a large group that went to a Japanese steakhouse for dinner in celebration of Aaron2's birthday.


Sunday, Dan and I went to see "Hereafter." We thought it was good and had a happy ending. That evening, Lisa, Dan, Taylor and I went to Old Town Scottsdale for dinner at Oregano's pizzeria. Aaron1 and Marla joined us. After dinner, I said good-bye to my family members as I was going to be staying with Marla.

Monday morning, Marla and I went to 7th Street for a 5 mile hike. In the afternoon, we drove to Terravita for a visit with dear friend, Marilyn. We also spent an hour with friend Trudy in The Boulders.

Tuesday morning, Marla and I decided to hike Piestewa Peak. We had only gone about 3/8 of a mile when Marla said her foot was hurting. She has a broken toe and we decided it probably wasn't a good idea to continue the hike to the top. We found another trail that wasn't as steep or rugged and hiked another 3.5 miles. Later that afternoon we went to Terravita once again. We went to visit with good friend, Jane. She served us dry martinis, which we sipped slowly. At 6, the three of us went to the clubhouse where we met seven other friends for dinner. I was happy to see so many Terravita friends and acquaintances. As we were leaving, the former president of the golf club was heading straight for Marla, thinking he was saying hello to me. I intercepted him before he got to her and he did a double-take. Several people had commented it was easy to tell that we were sisters. I also got many compliments on my hair. I haven't colored it for eight months and think I'll not do it again. I still have a lot of my natural hair color with enough gray to look frosted.

This morning Marla took me to the airport. I had an 8 AM flight to Albuquerque. From there, I took the New Mexico Rail Runner to Santa Fe where Erik picked me up and brought me to Los Alamos. To be continued...