I'm back!

I haven't really been anywhere other than The Villages, our "little bubble" in the Universe. Since I've been doing pretty much the same things each week, I didn't feel the urge to report in but it's been a month so guess it's time.

I started two new activities this month. Tomorrow I have my third piano lesson, which I'm enjoying. I spend 20-30 minutes every day in practice. This method is "for fun" and if we're not having fun, we need to evaluate what we're doing.

The second new activity is a monthly class in Photoshop Elements. While I've used Photoshop for over a decade and taught Elements for three weeks on a cruise ship in 2004, I figure I can always learn something new. One aspect I'm interested in is digital scrapbooking.

Arne continues to be consumed with art classes and improving his art skills. In fact, I feel like my kitchen and family room have become an art studio as Arne moves his supplies from the kitchen island to the kitchen table to the family room coffee table to the sofa to the table on the lanai. He's supposed to have an art studio in the garage but he doesn't seem to like working in one place. He graciously clears the kitchen table each night so we can eat dinner there.

There were several accidents yesterday about an hour from here on I-75. Arne travels that route to go to the VA. I even drove him once when it was pouring down rain and people were speeding as though the pavement was dry. Apparently, speed was a factor in this series of accidents which killed 10 people. There is an open area which gets lots of fog and haze. These people were driving at 3:30 AM so didn't "see" the fog until they were in it with 0 visibility. Very tragic.

Arne's car in a light fog in front of our house...

December is Almost Over! Happy New Year Everyone!

While our weather was too warm to seem like the Christmas season, the calendar told us it was still December. December 9th gave me my 7th "gold" medal for basketball. CBS News tonight showed a segment on "Grandmas playing basketball." It featured the Tigerettes from Louisiana. They have a sponsor who pays their expenses as they travel around the country. We played them in March in Clearwater. They play rough and it took us half a game to get tough. After being down 20 points at half, we came within 4 points.

On the 16th, Arne and I joined dozens of our neighbors for a caroling party. We started in a garage set up with hors d'oeuvres and drinks where we were supposed to practice our singing. Hard to get this neighborhood to sing when there's food and booze available. We "sang" for several neighbors housebound due to illness and then proceeded to three other homes where there was more food and drinks.

On the 20th, we went to Chicagoland Club monthly meeting which was a tribute to the tradition of George Halas and the Chicago Bears. We watched a movie which focused on the '85 Bears. Too bad Cutler broke his thumb or else I think they'd have made the playoffs. We've been watching the Broncos this season as Tebow is a favorite of ours from his Florida U playing.

Christmas Eve, we went to a neighborhood Open House for an hour, went to church for candlelight service and then back to the party. Christmas Day, we went next door and joined other neighbors for a delicious dinner. It was nice to be with friends but I missed family.

Needless to say, our waistlines have increased in spite of our regular visits to the Fitness Center. I also played pickleball 4-5 times a week. Didn't put much of a dent in the calories I consumed this month but I must say my PB game is improving.

Arne continues to take three art classes a week and tries to get some practice in on other days. He is getting quite good, I think.

In case you missed our posting on Facebook, here's our version of Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

We got Facebooked!

Arne and I had a very nice, quiet Thanksgiving. I played pickleball and then Arne and I took a long walk, resting at the halfway point by sitting on a bench next to a pond, watching the cranes and ducks. We Skyped Erik and the girls and watched Jeffrey walk. He seemed to recognize my voice from my recent visit but wasn't sure about the man with Grandma. For dinner, we went to Golden Corral buffet. Arne wanted to go at 3, I was pushing for later. We got there at 3:30 and good thing...they were closing at 4! We had a delicious dinner. I chose the more traditional Thanksgiving foods while Arne sampled a bit of everything. Later that night, we Skyped with Lisa for almost an hour.

Sunday evening we Skyped Lisa and the boys. Aaron was visiting and spent an hour visiting with him. Today we had a surprise when we checked Facebook. Nick had taken our picture at some point and posted it for the whole world to see! With these smartphones, you never know when someone is snapping your picture so be careful what you do and always...SMILE!

Calm After the Surge

November 12-18, we had five social functions. That's right...5, and three of them were with neighbors. The first event was a concert by Tony Pace, Las Vegas performer who's a friend of a neighbor. The concert and Afterglow was a fund raiser for our cancer center. Over 100 from our village were in attendance.

Sunday night, Arne and I attended a piano concert at Church on the Square.

Tuesday night was Chicagoland Club. After a dinner of chicken parmesan from Olive Garden, we were entertained for over ninety minutes by Dunning Shaw and Donna Moore. They are local performers and Villagers love their impersonations of famous singers. Since Tony Pace did a similar show, I found Shaw and Moore to be a little long. Of course, Tony performs in Vegas making him a bit better. Speaking of Chicago, how 'bout those Bears! Sadly, QB Cutler broke his thumb trying to be a defender. That's not good news.

Wednesday, the 16th, our village had an East-West golf challenge. Arne and I played for the East side. I played championship bracket (full 9) while Arne, in his first golf event, played executive (par 3 course.) We each won our match but it didn't help my team. The East executive group won while the West won championship. Afterwards, we all gathered at a rec center for a pizza party and presentation of the blue ribbons, which Arne got but not I. :-(

Friday night we were invited to the beautiful home of our neighbors from Switzerland. They invited 95 neighbors to help them celebrate the receiving of their permanent Green Cards. We brought them an apple pie with a story of the history of apple pie as an American icon. Hard to think of something for people who pretty much have everything.

This week we are keeping things quiet, including Thanksgiving. I hope all of you are enjoying time with friends and family. Arne and I will be celebrating alone with no special plans for dinner.

Warm, Cold, Warm

I left warm Florida for New Mexico where the weather was cold at times. However, the love of family was warm as I spent precious time with my son, Erik, and his three children, Kadin, Gracie and Lil E, AKA Jeffrey. I flew to Albuquerque on November 1 and took the train to Santa Fe. Since it wasn't Erik's day to have the girls, I was totally surprised when they ran up behind me. Amanda was kind enough to let them stay with Erik, and me. The girls didn't have school Thursday or Friday so I had two whole days to spend alone with them. Since Erik's time with Lil E is limited, I had Wednesday and Thursday from 3-6 PM and Sunday from 12-6 PM to get acquainted with my cute and happy grandson. On Sunday, he finally came to me. Since I probably won't see him again until April, we'll have to start over on our relationship. I flew back to Orlando on Tuesday, Nov. 8th. Here are some pictures from the week.

Gracie with Skull Erik just purchased for next year

Gracie playing the part of an "invalid"

Kadin on the trampoline

Kadin and Gracie "skateboarding" on trampoline

Erik and Lil E

Erik's front yard after light snowfall

Erik's back yard after snowfall

Gracie with her skateboard

Erik helping the girls tie-dye the curtains for the room.
I'm sorry I didn't take pictures of the finished projects as they turned out great.

Erik and Lil E

Wednesday, Arne and I attended a piano workshop given by Scott Houston.
I signed up to start his Play Piano in a Flash class in January.

Another Apple Product

I had planned to sell my Powerbook to Erik and buy myself an iPad2. I finally realized I just cannot give up my Powerbook. Sorry, Erik! Arne was kind enough to buy me the iPad2 as an early Christmas present. Somehow, it got named Arnold's iPad. What's that all about??

I have downloaded books, including Steve Jobs biography, and now use it for reading even when on the Elliptical at the Fitness Center. I rented two movies from the iTunes store for viewing on the plane to Albuquerque as I'm flying there tomorrow for a week with my youngest grandchildren. Hope Erik has lots of firewood as I saw where the temp is supposed to drop about 20 degrees on Wednesday. Needless to say, I've packed jeans and sweaters!

Last stop: Hilton Head Island

Monday morning, we headed to Hilton Head but first a stop at Parris Island Marine Corps Recruit Depot. We spent over an hour in the Parris Island Museum which covered military history from 1492 to the present. It was very interesting and Arne saw lots of "artifacts" from his time in the Marine Corps. We made a stop in the gift shop where Arne bought a tee shirt, hat, license plate holder and several bumper stickers. I got a shot glass with the Marine Corps emblem.

We checked into our hotel on Hilton Head around 3:45 and then went to see Tim and Marilyn who were spending two weeks at a Marriott time share. We walked to the beach and waded in the Atlantic. We had dinner at Carraba's before heading back to our hotel around 8. Many laughs were shared during our four hours with the Leyshocks.

Tuesday morning, we checked out around 10. Tim and Marilyn picked us up and took us to Sea Pines, the first planned island community. There were several plantations on the island, agricultural in the 1900's. The "modern" Hilton Head Island has existed for only a few decades. Its development began in the fifties. The first bridge was erected in 1956. We enjoyed lunch at The Salty Dog where I had a delicious shrimp gumbo. Around 1 PM, we headed home, arriving around 6:30. We decided we would definitely like to go back to Hilton Head and stay for several days, especially since it's a fairly easy drive from The Villages.