Happy New Year!

To my new friends here on Blogger and Google+, I wish you all good things in 2013!  I consider my friends here all part of my extended family.  Your friendship is special to me!

To my family members who read my blogs, and my trusted 'old' friends, I send my love and the same good wishes for all good things in 2013!  

May God bless you all richly!

Stay safe!  Be good!  Peace, love & hugs!

The Last Sunday of 2012....

Today was a great day. The only thing that would have made it better is more time!

We went to Legoland with my dear cousins.  The scooter worked great for me, and my cousin's wife, Patti, rented one there, so we scooted happily along all day!  I will post all of the Legoland photos at the end of this post.

I forgot to post the pictures of our church's alter, decorated for Christmas, so here they are:

I am remembering my mom, today.  We lost her on December 30, 1995, after a long battle with cancer.  A year later, on this day, my younger brother was diagnosed with cancer.  I lost my dad on December 12, 1989, and Joe's mom died (heart) on December 27, 1999.  For a long time, we didn't look forward to December.  Now, we just feel the love in our hearts.  December doesn't make me sad anymore.  Love them and miss them, but know they are at peace and no longer in pain.  I will see them again one day.  Counting on it.

Cancer sucks.  So does heart disease.

Our weather was sunny and beautiful, today, if a little cool.  We kept our jackets on all day, and could have used gloves in the early morning!  I don't own gloves anymore!!  I looked for the sun when parking the scooter while the kids rode the rides.  It was all about Tia (7 yrs old) and Tatum (5 yrs old) , but the big people had lots of fun, too!

Notice that the miniatures are all made from Legos, and all of the characters and animals sitting around are made from Legos, including the red full-sized car.  Just amazing.

We have no exciting plans for New Year's Eve or for New Year's Day.  We never go out for NYEve, first because we are old and too tired, second because there are too many drunks driving.  We will actually put Christmas away tomorrow, and clean the house.  It hasn't been cleaned really good since my knee problem started.  Joe did a couple of quick once-overs, but it needs a deep cleaning.  It must be done.  I will also do laundry.  We will go to Mass at 4:00, for our Holy Day of Obligation - Octave Day of the Nativity of the Lord; Solemnity of Mary; and the Holy Mother of God.  We will have Chinese for dinner, after Mass, and then come home to watch the special on Dick Clark.  If we stay awake, we will see the ball drop on Times Square.

New Year's Day, we will have the Rose Parade on TV, and probably some football.  I have a pork roast to cook, with kraut and black-eyed peas....all for good luck in 2013.  Not very exciting, but a good way to bring in the new year - with a clean house, clean clothes, and worship.

What traditions do you have for NYEve?  When I was growing up, my cousins and I would play Monopoly for hours.  It was a must do.  LOL

Peace, love & hugs!!

The Last Saturday of 2012....

The last Saturday of 2012 has been a lazy one for me.  I did get Christmas gifts put away, and started gathering some of the decorations from around the house, to get ready for putting it all away.  That will happen on Monday.

Tomorrow, we will head over to Legoland, shortly after 9:00 a.m.  Since I've been getting up at 8:00 (ish) these past few days, I will have to set the alarm!  LOL  I have been enjoying sleeping in!  Looking forward to spending the day with family, though.  Another cold front has come through, and it will only get into the low 60s tomorrow.  That's COLD for us!  Will have to pull out a jacket to wear.  It is supposed to be sunny, though, so that is great news.

Church was good this evening.  This weekend is the Feast of the Holy Family, so Fr. Buck's homily was about family.  He reminded us that when we accept Jesus, we immediately become part of a family.  We are never alone.  He also reminded us that family is a big word, and encompasses immediate family, extended family, and our church family.  It was a good reminder.

 
I wish you all a good Sunday, as we speed toward the end of this year!  Peace, love & hugs!

Can't Let Rain Get You Down.....

We had a good day, today, though it began on a down note, because I had to stop in at a visitation for the mother of a friend and business associate.  She was 91 when she passed, on the 21st.  The viewing was from 11-12 today, followed by the funeral at Christ Lutheran Church.  I did not stay for the funeral, but did sign the book and spoke with my friend for a few minutes.

We then headed for Orlando, around noon.  We started at the Coldwater Creek outlet (my favorite!).  I got two new pairs of jeans.  $79.95 for $14.99 each.  You really just can't beat the prices at the outlet.  These are not seconds or irregulars, by the way.  Love it.

Then Joe had his fun at IZOD.  He found three shirts, for less than $20.00 each.  We both felt like we "did good"!!  LOL

It was early for our dinner with my Ohio cousins, but we headed toward Downtown Disney, anyway.  Because of traffic (crazy) and having to drive around for 20-30 minutes just to find a parking spot, we got to the Rainforest Cafe at 4:15.  Our "date" was for 5:00, so we just settled in and did some people watching until they arrived.  

I loved spending time with my family.  It's been awhile since we were together with this 'gang'.  Bob is actually my mom's first cousin, making him my second cousin.  His two (Corey and Stacy) are my second cousins, once removed, and Stacy's two little darlings are my third cousins.  I think I have that progression correct, anyway.  My mom was so much older than her first cousins, that they all called her Aunt Helen.  I actually grew up with them.  Bob is only two years older than me.  I guess that's why I feel so close to them.  They are more like MY first cousins.  I love them, and they love me.  That's all that matters!

Bob is a retired school superintendent (and teacher) and his wife, Patti, is a retired school teacher. 

Here are some photos I took tonight:

 Outside the restaurant - where your adventure begins...

 "Aunt" Terri with cousins Tia and Tatum.

 My cousin, Bob, and his wife of 40+ years, Patti.

 Bob and Patti's son, Corey, with his wife Jenny.

 Bob & Patti's daughter, Stacy, with HER daughters, Tia and Tatum.

It was raining when we left the restaurant.  My scooter was wet, but Joe dried it off with his jacket.  We made it to the car without getting too wet, but we hit some hard rain on I-4, on the way home.  We made it safely, thank goodness.

We are looking forward to seeing them again on Sunday, at Legoland.  Corey and Jenny are going to Universal Studios, instead of Legoland, so we will miss them on Sunday.  It will be fun watching the little ones have a good time.  The rides at Legoland are geared to their age group.  Of course, I will have more photos!

Thanks for checking in!  Wishing you a good night and Saturday!  Peace, love & hugs.

A Chilly Day....

We had a 'cold' front come through yesterday, and it was chilly enough to need a sweater today.  What a mess my friends and family are having up north!  Oh my!!  I sure hope those of you stuck in a foot or more of snow are doing okay.

Joe worked for a client this morning, and I spent the morning just being a bit lazy.  I switched out some clothes from one closet to another, since it looks like our cooler weather is here to stay now, the summery things can hang in the guest room, and I brought my few sweaters and long-sleeved tops back to the master bedroom closet.  I straightened up the guest room, which is where we stored Christmas gifts and did our wrapping.  I also cleaned out the cats' toy basket, and put their new ones in it.  They won't miss the things I threw out!!  :-)

When Joe came home, we took off for Mobility Express.  They had a nice little scooter to rent, and (bless them!!) they only charged us for two days.  We are to return it on Monday.  That cost us a bunch less than we expected.  It is lite enough for the two of us to lift it into my car, and the battery will last for eight miles, but is easy to charge.

After that, we stopped for a late lunch at a new restaurant that just opened a couple of weeks ago, called Fat Maggie's.  It is a Bar-B-Que  place.  It was good - not great, but good enough that we will try it again.  Then, we stopped at Publix for a few things before coming home.  

I am enjoying my week off, and there is more fun to come.  My cousins got to Florida yesterday.  We talked last night.  They are happy with their accommodations just outside the Disney property and are ready for some fun.  This is Tia and Tatum's first trip to Florida and Disney.  They are the perfect age to enjoy it!!

There are seven of them, and we will have dinner with them tomorrow evening, over in Orlando.  Place to be determined, but it doesn't matter where.  I'm just anxious to see them all!  Sunday will be our day at Legoland with them.  Legoland is in Winter Haven, which is the next town east of Lakeland.  It is only about 15 miles for us to get there.  

Hope you are all enjoying your week and are winding down from the big day.  Our New Year's Eve will be quiet, since our nephew and his family are not able to come down this year.  We will miss them and all the fun we had last year.  One of the girls is sick.  :-(

Thanks for checking in!  Peace, love & hugs.

The Day After.....

Our Christmas Day was quiet, but very nice.  We went to the 7:00 p.m. Christmas Vigil Mass on Monday evening.  We came home and watched 'It's A Wonderful Life', then opened our stockings to each other.  We just had little gifts for each other.  It has been our "tradition" to go shopping for things on sale the day after Christmas, for anything we might want or need.  Our tree does have quite a few nice gifts around it, though.  Our friends and family were good to us!!

The cats got their stockings, and there are new toys all over the house now!  LOL  They had fun!

We had a wonderful Christmas dinner, at our friends' Al & Helen.  Helen prepared ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, creamed peas, sweet potatoes, jello salad, fresh fruit, macaroni and cheese, and had pecan and cherry pies for dessert.  Wow.  She also sent leftovers home with us, which is awesome!  Our Christmas Day weather was beautiful (photo taken Christmas morning)!

We went to the movies, when we left our friends' house.  We saw 'Parental Guidance' with Billy Crystal and Bette Midler.  It was GREAT!  Lots of laughs, and also some tears.  We both loved it.  I recommend it, if you haven't been already (especially recommended for grandparents!).

We did get going this morning, and did some shopping.  We headed for our favorite Italian Market, over in St. Pete.  Traffic was horrific, but we made it, only to find Mazzaro's is closed this week.  We were totally bummed, but rallied and headed for the International Mall, which is huge and the mall we enjoy most, in Tampa.  We shopped a bit, then had a delicious lunch at an Italian restaurant called Brio.  We really like it, when we go to International Mall.  They are in Orlando, too, but we are in Tampa more often than Orlando.

I called the doctor's office this morning, to see about getting some Predisone to take for a few days, to get me through Downtown Disney and Legoland.  They told me "no" they can't do that until the cortisone shot has two weeks to work (which will be Monday).  So, tomorrow, we are going to Mobility World to rent a scooter.  I tried going today, with just Joe to hold onto, and I was in pretty bad shape by the time we made it back to the car.  I just will not be able to manage walking for long, so - rather than miss out on the fun, I will go in a scooter!  Will keep you posted about how it goes!

Wishing you all a good evening and Thursday!  Peace, love & hugs.

Merry Christmas...

From our house, to yours....we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a joyful and healthy New Year!! 

Early Christmas Celebration!....

We had a wonderful weekend with our grandchildren!  Our former daughter-in-law (Kathy) and her husband (Jim) make us feel so welcome and wanted.  They treat us like royalty and we are so grateful and appreciative.  It makes seeing our grandchildren so easy and pleasurable.  They even asked us to stay another night!  We didn't, but it was nice to be asked.

Jim & Kathy Murphy

We arrived in Naples around 5:30 on Friday evening.  It takes us just under three hours to get there, from Lakeland.  Not a bad trip, because we go 'cross country' on Route 17, and don't hit I-75 until we get to Punta Gorda.

They took us out to dinner Friday, to BiCi, which is an upscale Italian restaurant, in Old Naples.  Not to sound ungrateful (or unsophisticated), but Joe and I both shudder at paying $23 for a plate of spaghetti.  It is one of their favorite places to eat, so eat we did.  I had the lasagna, which was light and delicious.  BiCi is where they had their rehearsal dinner, before their wedding last summer.  It is very nice, and they are well known there.  Service is impeccable. 

Saturday, they made me sit most of the day, with ice on my knee.  I did finish putting the Italian Creme Cake together, but Lauren and Kathy did all the work to get ready for a little party Saturday evening.  Their neighbors came over, and Tristan's best friend (Brett) and his parents (Rob & Jenny) and sister (Sky), were there, and also their friend (Todd).  Rob, Jenny and Todd have become friends of ours, too, since we see them nearly every time we go down there.

 

We had a 'Chinese Gift Exchange' at the party, which was lots of fun.  I got a 1 1/2 quart crock pot, which will be great for dips at parties.  Joe got a bucket of silly things, which was also fun.  The gift exchange gifts are on the stool....

This morning, we got up to coffee and a lite breakfast, then we opened gifts for each other.  They were very good to us.  It was great seeing Lauren and Tristan open their gifts from us.  We had too many years of sending their gifts north and not seeing them open their gifts, so this was very special for us.

Lauren, Kathy, Tristan

Opening gifts this morning.

 Below - our lovely Lauren.

The Nutcrackers are Tristan's.  Kathy gets him a new one every year.  He will have a nice collection to have in his own home some day.

                 This is their cat, Astrid,  peeking from under the tree!
 

My knee is still painful.  I am able to shuffle around without the cane, but every step is painful - just not as bad as it was.  Either that, or I'm just getting used to it.  I have been icing it, which helps.  I managed the two flights of steps (guest room on 3rd floor) this weekend by going up very slowly and taking my weight off the knee with the cane and the banister.  I went up once and came down once each day.  It was nice to stay on the first floor and not walk too much.

This weekend made a wonderful start to our Christmas holiday.  Tomorrow, I will do laundry.  We are planning to attend the 7:00 pm Christmas Vigil.  Christmas day, we are going to Al & Helen's for dinner at 1:00.  After that, we will go to the movies.  Going to a movie has become a tradition for us, since we don't have company anymore.

Hope your weekend went well and that you are ready for the big day!  I am catching up on Facebook and here.   I will say it again tomorrow, but I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!! 

Peace, love & hugs.