Christmas Past...on to New Year's!

I hadn't played volleyball since Thanksgiving so decided to get started again today. This was just my third time with the coed volleyball group. I was missing lots of hits the first few games. I went to the restroom, looked in the mirror and told myself to quit being so hard on myself since I'm just a beginner and I WILL get better. And...I did play better as I relaxed and kept my eye on the ball. That seems to work for golf as well.:-)

I hope everyone had a very nice Christmas and remembered the Reason for the Season. Arne and I had a quiet dinner Christmas eve. In the afternoon, we had gone to Fresh Market where we bought filet Mignon and Chilean sea bass plus some salads and twice baked potato. Very delicious dinner and...easy preparation. After dinner we went to the 7 PM candlelight church service.

Christmas Day, we were invited to the neighbor's house directly behind us. Polly and Nick put out a feast. It looked like a pot luck dinner as she had prepared so many dishes. We were there for almost 4 hours and she spent over 3/4 of that time in the kitchen. Polly said next year she'd have us bring a dish but Nick said she says that EVERY year.

My Arizona family members spent Christmas Eve at Lisa's and then Christmas Day at Megan's, where Marla made a delicious dinner. Thank you, Marla and Megan, for making up for our absence. We spent 30 minutes talking to the kids through Skype, which Marla had set up on her computer. That was great and I felt like I was there with them.

Erik called to wish us Merry Christmas. He didn't have the girls this year but had a nice Christmas with his new friend, Jamie, and her family. He picked up the girls today and they are meeting Jamie in Winter Park, CO, where she has a time share for the week. Erik, Kadin and Gracie will ski. I know they have fun but I worry about them on the slopes, as well as the drive in the mountains.

Below are some pictures from sister Marla. Looks like everyone had a good time.

Socializing

With the exception of golf on Wednesday and fitness center in the mornings, the past week was all about socializing. Tuesday night Del and Jacque Heiser and Al and Donna Smith came for dinner. Del and Jacque moved from Terravita to The Villages two years ago. Al and Donna moved from Terravita to Harbor Hills, not far from The Villages, a month ago. The two couples had never met before and they had much in common. It was a very nice evening.

Thursday night we went to a neighbor's holiday party. He had set up a large projection screen on the Lanai and as we walked through the front door, we could see this video of a winter wonderland. Later, he played a Ricky Nelson video and then Jimmy Buffet. Pretty cool!

Last night we joined about 70 neighbors for Christmas caroling and home tours. There were 6 homes on the tour and we had 30 minutes at each home. One home had a tree in every room including a 12 foot tree in the foyer and a Barbie tree in the master bedroom. There was also a display case in a guest room with dozens of collectible Barbies and one VERY HAPPY Ken doll. Another home had an iridescent green tree with flamingo ornaments, large lit flamingos in the front and back yard and Santa lying on the ground next to a motor scooter and empty booze bottle. I wish I had taken my camera but, alas, no pictures of the beautiful decorations. :-(

Christmas Eve Arne and I will have a quiet beef tenderloin dinner and then attend candlelight church service. Christmas day we are going to a neighbor's home for dinner. Hopefully, we will talk to family members in the evening.

Little Miss Holly Homemaker

Okay, okay...so the "Little Miss" is a bit of an exaggeration but when you read about my week, you'll see I'm definitely becoming Holly Homemaker.

Besides chocolate cake, Arne and I enjoy carrot cake. I found a recipe in my Healthy Homestyle cookbook and decided to give it a try. Arne thought it would be cute to get a picture of me in my 45-year-old apron. I'm barefoot but obviously, not pregnant. Besides the cake, I made a couple (Tuesday and Wednesday) dishes in my new little crock pot which turned out to be quite tasty. I like the idea that I can prepare it in the morning and then play golf in the afternoon, go to the "19th Hole" with the gang and come home to a ready dinner.
Thursday afternoon I finished up Christmas cards. Hope you got yours. :-)
Thursday evening we joined 140 of our neighbors for our Christmas dinner at a restaurant in Spanish Springs. A good time was had by all.
I was supposed to play golf on Friday but my group couldn't get a tee time. I'm thinking the scheduler limits our choices as there are 27 courses to choose from. As it turned out, it was very cold so I was glad I wasn't playing.

Saturday morning we went to the softball game to cheer on our neighorhood team. It was fun. I did more talking with the gals than watching the game but we did get enough cheers in to see them win. From there, Arne and I went to Fresh Market where we bought fresh swordfish and some salads for our Saturday dinner. It was delicious! I thought of my brother-in-law, Mark, who loves swordfish. If he ever comes to visit, I know one meal I'll serve.

Saturday afternoon I got out my sewing machine and whipped up a valance for the guest bath. Not sure how much I like it but it'll do for now.
While I was sewing, Arne was busy putting together the tables for our living room as well as the new lamp. We have now purchased most everything and it's time to get a decorator for help with window treatments, accessories and artwork.

Today, we met Al and Donna Smith at church. They lived across the street from us in Terravita, recently sold their home and moved to Florida. While they don't live in The Villages, they're only 15 minutes from our church. We did lunch and then went back to church for the Christmas concert. They're coming here Tuesday night for dinner along with another couple transplanted from Terravita. More on that next week!

Disney Tour

On Thursday, I joined 24 Miona Shores (our village) ladies for the Disney Institute's Yuletide Tour. We boarded a bus with two excellent guides, Ben and Cindy, who proceeded to tell us many historical facts about Christmas traditions. At Epcot, we learned of Germany's many contributions, among them the tree and candy cane. We then went to the Magic Kingdom where the Christmas parade was being filmed on Main Street. This will be shown December 26. Kris Allen, American Idol winner, was performing on stage in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle. Our last stop was Holiday Services, a huge warehouse where the Christmas decorations are stored, repaired and sorted for the following year. We saw the huge Christmas tree which will be put together on Main Street after filming of the parade. The tree is in 6 pieces and weighs several tons. Another stop was the Grand Floridian Resort to see the 16' tall gingerbread house.






Friday's golf was canceled due to rain. And rain it did...all day! I decided to go shopping. I've been looking for fabric with which to make window treatments, now that I have my new sewing machine. I neglected to report last week about my first time ever Black Friday shopping experience. I got to Joanne's about 6:15 AM to pick up a sewing machine($50 less than the previous one I bought and had not yet opened), a pull tote in which to store the machine when not in use, and a Christmas tree. These items retailed for $330 but were on sale for $145. I could have saved an additional $80 as I wasn't charged for the sewing machine but called when I realized what had happened. The store manager was most appreciative of my call. :-)

Saturday Arne and I took a ride up to Ocala to pick up our lamp and to order tables for the living room. They'll be delivered on Friday. That evening we watched our adopted Gators lose to Alabama. I know of several people who were happy to see Florida lose as they want a new national champ.

No volleyball today as many of the players are in Ft. Myers for the Florida Senior Games. My age group didn't go which was fine with me as I'm so new at the game.

Thanksgiving Week-end

This was by far the loneliest Thanksgiving I can remember. Besides being away from friends and family, Arne wasn't feeling up to par so we didn't do anything all day except for an hour at the driving range. I didn't even cook as I thought we were going out to eat but that didn't happen. We did get calls from Nick, Taylor and Lisa as well as a nice text message from grandson Aaron. I'm not looking forward to a lonely Christmas. I did decorate the house a little today to at least get into a festive mood. Christmas is really supposed to be about Christ so maybe it's not all bad to just focus on Him this year.

Friday we drove up to Ocala and looked at lamps and coffee tables. Did order a lamp but couldn't decide on the tables.

Saturday morning I was surprised to see myself on the front page of a section of the local paper. These pictures were taken the day we packed bags of food for the local food pantry.I'm the one in green. :-)

Saturday afternoon we had a visit from a high school classmate of Arne's. He and his wife drove up from Tampa. The two guys spent all afternoon reminiscing of their prowess on the baseball diamond. Jack was the pitcher when Lane Tech won the Chicago City Championship and Arne hit in the winning run. We took them to lunch at Arnie Palmer Legends Country Club about 2 miles from us. Can you believe...I forgot to take a picture and I had my camera in my purse!

Besides decorating today, I went to volleyball. I've been hitting the ball incorrectly so other players have been kind enough to show me the proper way to avoid broken or sprained fingers. One gal told me to practice in front of the mirror all week and to visualize the ball coming over the net. Hopefully, I will be better next week and the big knuckle on my index finger won't hurt as it has every other time I've played.

Golf, Amelia and Volleyball

I played golf Wednesday and Friday, just the Executive courses. Wednesday I got to the course and realized I didn't have my purse so no Villages ID. This is not the first time I've done this. :-( Since I couldn't get hold of Arne to bring it to me, I was told I couldn't play. At the last minute, the starter gave me a "Spectator" pass so I could ride along in the cart. I didn't play the first hole but played the remaining 8 as we were out of sight of the starter's shack.

Yesterday Arne and I saw "Amelia," life story of Amelia Earhart. Hilary Swank. the actress, looked very much like Amelia. I enjoyed the movie but of course there was no surprise ending. She was a remarkable lady and very daring. She was only 40 when she went down in the Pacific.

This afternoon I played my first games of team volleyball. It was fun but I have lots to learn if I want to play on the Villages 65-69 team next year. Before I left, we had a storm front move through...dark, roiling clouds. We did get some nice rain out of it.

Atlantis Launch...Spectacular!!

Sunday Arne and I drove over to Titusville. We spent some time at Space View Park looking at the Astronaut Walk of Fame and monuments for Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions. We then checked in to our motel and decided it would be the best place from which to view Monday's shuttle launch. Our room was on the second floor and early Monday morning Arne set up our chairs on the balcony looking directly across to the launch pad. We were 12-13 miles away. The sky was very cloudy throughout the morning and we were concerned the launch would be cancelled. The launch of Atlantis took place as scheduled, 2:28 PM EST, and according to NASA it was "perfect" and "flawless." We totally agree and feel so fortunate to have witnessed this spectacle. We thought we would be lucky to view the shuttle for 20 seconds but actually were able to view it for almost two minutes. Words cannot describe what we saw.



Here's some video. I apologize I got so engrossed in the launch that I didn't pay attention to the camera I was holding. Kind of like my experience in Ocala today when I was stopped for going 57 in a 40 MPH zone. OUCH! Now I know where the state of Florida gets their revenue since they don't have state income tax. :-)