Odds & Ends...

Yet the end to another beautiful weekend! We've been lucky with the weather lately. We did lots in and around the house this weekend; isn't that was Spring means to you??? WORK! Joe's still working on the sunroom, but this morning, we managed to get the patio cleaned, and the siding cleaned - very yucky! I washed all the screens and put them back in the windows. Other than that we didn't do much or go anywhere.

My sister,Colleen, had a little class reunion (Class of '75) just for those that were interested, at TJ's. The big one fell through so just a bunch - I think she said 40 showed up at TJ's... I went to Eileen's to see the girls before they left, and DID WE LAUGH OR WHAT??? OMG... They wanted to look at their yearbook just to refresh their memories, and boy oh boy, did we have a good laugh! One thing to note though: 1/2 the hairdo's, 1/2 the eye glasses, and 1/2 the outfits are now in stlye again... Go figure! The funniest thing though was Mike, standing over us as we're turning the pages, saying, "I think he's dead....I think she's dead..." That was just wrong! He said it like every page! I don't think Mike knows who's dead and who's NOT dead. Perhaps they looked dead, but I don't think they were dead! Oh, it was too funny, all the little side stories that came up.... Anyway, I drove them down to TJ's (they would walk home) and I stopped in, Penn State hoody and all, just to say hi.... The girls said they had a nice time, which was nice.

We went somewhere on Saturday, but I was forbidden to blog about it.... See what happens when you have a blog???? There's no freedom of speech here; I have to respect others wishes....So, I won't say where I went on Saturday, but it was very very nice... Wait a minute: She said I couldn't put pictures on my blog (she actually used that dreadful word: forbid) but she didn't actually say, not to write about it. Hmmmm, I better not though, she's a lawyer and she may sue me or something, so mums the word on where I went on Saturday. It was lovely though; just so you know....

I finally finished: Memoirs of a Geisha on Sat. night.... It took me about 5 tries. I fell asleep every time. It was dark, very dark, I couldn't understand the momma character who smoked the weird looking pipe...I couldn't tell if she was drunk or just had a really bad accent. I remember the reviews that movie got, they were very very good.... I remember Regis saying how beautiful the landscape, and the scenery was... Sorry Reg., I didn't get it, and I didn't like it.... oh well...

Joe got the hot tub working this weekend, so I just had a nice soak and read a little. It was nice. Carol S: the temperature gauge is broken, Joe has to replace it, and the water was 105 degrees... I couldn't help but think about you! ha! If any of you wanna come over for a soak, let me know, It's Open!

We are very very into The Sapranos, so I may tape Desperate Housewives, which has been a huge disappointment.

I posted pictures of Pat pitching.... I didn't have any other pictures to post, and I thought his expression on the one was just too funny..... Enjoy!

Note: I didn't have time to make any soup this weekend, but I bought lots of soup at the store... I spent about 45 minutes in the soup section... who would have thought there's so many different types of soups and so many different brands! Boy, is my family in for a treat this week!

Have a great week folks, and enjoy the weather!

I LOVE SOUP!!!!

I discovered something fairly recently - I LOVE SOUP! I can't get soup out of my mind; I thought about soup all day today. Anytime I go out to eat, the very first question I ask is, "What is your soup?" I think it all started in Florida. Larry would order soup, and I'd just stare at it.... eye it up and down; he'd be gracious, and ask me if I wanted to taste it, but I wouldn't ... Then sometimes, Carol would order it. In the past, when I'm out to eat, I never order soup. Pat and Joe order it all the time, but I never do.... Our last meal in Naples, there they go again with the soup... Carol and Larry both got soup there.... Oh my.... soup, soup, soup.... everywhere was soup.... so yummy.

The other night, Stiltin Girls Night Out, I had to have myself some soup... and mmmmm, it was good. Dorothy and I went out to lunch this week... Yep, you guessed it: Soup. This week, I went to the nasty cafeteria 'cause I didn't bring any lunch... Yep, it was soup for me. Tonight, Joe and Pat are gone, and guess what? Yep, you see it ... Tomato Soup and a Grilled Cheese. How good does that soup look? And: It was mmmmmm mmmmmmm goooood............

As I was thinkin' about my newfound love of soup, I had to laugh. Anyone who knew my Dad knew that he was the original Soup Nazi. My Dad would make soup every other day. Sometimes they were really really odd soups; other times... yum yum soup! He would make what we all referred to as "Special Sauce." This wasn't soup, of course, but it was kinda soupy, and every time he made it, it would consist of something different. You could put it on pasta, rice, bread... Heck, you could even eat the special sauce by itself. Sometimes, you could even eat the special sauce with a fork! The special sauce would truly surprise you each and every time. My Dad made very good bean soup, and to this day, no one makes it as good as he does; my Mom would make very good chicken soups.... chicken corn, chicken rice, chicken noodle.... mmmmmm.

Joe makes a really good corn chowder, but Lord only knows when I'll see that soup again... One time when he made it, Pat had five bowls in one sitting.

You know what folks? I think I'm going to make some homemade soup this weekend! I've only made soup maybe two times in my life, but gosh darnit, I'm going to make this family some soup! Think about it: What if we would only have soup for dinners??? No more fussin' with what to make for dinner; no more Dreamdinners.com; no more rushing home to throw something together for dinner.... Nope, you just come home, take out soup you had previously made, or a good store bought soup, heat it up, and serve it with a nice crusty loaf of bread, and bon a petite! Enjoy your dinner!

Yep, it's soup for dinner from here on out! I can't wait to go grocery shopping this weekend!

How about making some soup for someone you love????

Happy Birthday Patrick!

Pat had a great birthday today! We had lots of fun. We had Chinese for dinner, and then ice cream cake - Pat's favorite! I survived the day and I'm ok now with my son being 16. He's nice.... He's a good kid and he's actually pretty nice. I'm ok with all of that... He's fun to be around, and he's just a nice young man. I think I'm really really going to like the man he turns out to be. He's sensitive, he's kind, he's sweet.... I like him.......

So, I just wanted to share all of that with you...that I actually survived the day and it's all good. I invited Amber, the Falcone's, and Uncle Bob and Kim.... Pat didn't know I had invited anyone and they all came and we had cake. We all had fun!

It's getting cold again....down to 30 degrees tonight. I can't wait to move into the condo - IN FLORIDA!!!!!!!!!!!!! You all are invited; you can come anytime and stay with me! We play LD tomorrow after school, and we'll be freezing again, while watching a baseball game...oh well.

This is funny - my friend Heather had a baby boy two weeks ago - Declan "Dex." I told her that April Baby Boys are simply the best! She wrote me a note today and said, "Yea, April Baby Boys are the best, and they cry a lot too!" Ok....oops... Miss Heather, Sorry, I forgot to tell you that little ditty about April Baby Boys.... HA!

Happy Birthday Patrick!

Sweet Sixteen! OMG!!!!!

You guys need to counsel me; my baby's going to be 16 today (April 25th)!!!! Yep, Pat's 16, and my life is officially over! What happens after this milestone? Oh, I know... let me guess - hours and hours of worrying the first night he takes the car out; the first night he goes to pick up his girlfriend and they go somewhere ... by themselves; uhmmmmm, what about I'm sitting here at home, waiting for him to come home, and I hear a police siren, or an ambulance???? I know, I'll need medicated - that's a given... but, really, what am I going to do? Does it get easier???? Is it possibly just the gosh awful anticipation of this day??? My saving grace, I guess, is the fact that it will be 6 months after this time until that dreadful day comes when he gets his license, right? I have six whole months to get used to this idea, right????? You gotta admit folks, we're luckier than our parents were.... We never had to wait the dreaded six months - (BTW, how stupid was that, not having to wait to get your license???) ... Hey, what about the States that the driving age is 17??? Why can't that be us???? Should I move to one of those States??? That's an idea - I actually just thought of that while I was typing this.... Brilliant, that's the answer!

No, comon' you guys, you know me better than that, and you all know that I'm perfectly fine with this.... Perfectly fine with the idea that my life will be over in approx. six months, and that my hair will now be a totally gray.... Yea, you guys all know I'm ok with that, right????

Question? Why do our kids want to grow up so fast??? Why don't they want to savor and enjoy their high school years? I assume that's just a thing we all do as we grow up; no one can tell you any different, right? Don't you remember your parents telling you that when you were in high school? I guess it's something we all go through, and no matter what anybody says, we want to grow up. Not me babe.... Take me back to 1975...Let me do it all over again....I wanna go to all our basketball games again, all our football games (it would be really really good for me to go to HS games and cheer for the winning team for a change! ha!); the bon fires, the pep rallies, the drive-ins.... Plus, think about it? We're so much smarter now.... How cool would that be???? When we reach our 40's, you have a choice - you can go on, live your mature life, have your mature jobs, OR>>>>>> Get this: you can go back to high school and do it all over again???? Ha!!!!!!!!!!! (I'm crackin' myself up here while I'm typing!!!)

Ok.....I'm done now..... I'm a lucky Mom, with a healthy, growing boy who happens to be celebrating his 16th birthday... that's not so bad, right? (Someone, please please call me and invite me out for a libation tonight, so that I can get through this dreadful day!) Just kiddin'.... I love it and you know it!

Goodnight all..... Hug your kids!

Baseball and Odds and Ends

Pat had his best game yet today! He was 2-2, had an RBI, scored a run, stole a couple bases, and had a walk! Maybe we should always play baseball in a heavy drissle in about 50 degree weather! I won't tell you about the play where he got picked off at third, 'cause, as you know, I'm from Stiltin, and that was just a BAD CALL! Anyway, we came up from behind, and I thought we were going to take it, we tied it up at 7-7 (see above photo!) but they came ahead in the 7th. Nonetheless, a good game for our young team; I see lots of improvement since the beginning of the season! Go Raiders!

My sister Vic and I cleaned my house today. She's retired, as many of you know, and she looks for things to keep her busy.... She offered, and I took her up on it! I wrote her a check to pay her for services rendered, and she promptly ripped it up. I honestly don't think my house has ever been this clean! It looks so nice, and I'm so pleased. I saw Vic clean corners, wash baseboards, clean out dust bunnies from closets - that have never been done before! Ha!!!! She pulled the funiture from the walls, we took down curtains and washed them, the windows got cleaned; it was just awesome. So this is what the old-school women refer to as: Spring Cleaning???? What an awesome feeling! I like it! I wish I did it every Spring! Ha! She got here in the morning (I worked 1/2 day) and when I came home at lunchtime, she was still only on the first floor. She and I did the second floor together.... It's hard work this spring cleaning is and Lord only knows if this will get repeated every Spring! ha! THANKS VIC; I LOVE YOU!

I have a Netflix to watch - Must Love Dogs - and I may go and watch that now, in bed, all cuddled up with pajamas on (I'm still cold from the game) ....

Have a great weekend Folks! We're getting 2 inches of rain here in lovely Central Pa (Carol, did you hear that?) so I'm going to clean out some drawers, do some filing, and such.... indoor, busy work.... And then GIRLS NIGHT OUT tomorrow night. I'm looking forward to it!

Our Beautiful Coast!

I took these pictures from the airplane, on the way home from Florida. I had the same seat on the plane both ways, although, on the way down, I was inland, of course. I had no idea that the folks on the other side of the plane got to see this until I was the lucky one, on the way back. We flew up the entire East Coast of our beautiful country, and everytime I looked down, I saw something more beautiful than the time before. Doesn't it make you wanna vacation in all of those little inlets, and islands? I do.... Makes me wanna go to the Outer Banks this summer. I think I was able to identify the Outer Banks since I'm pretty familiar with that coastland, however, I think the one with all of the little islands is South Carolina. That seems very lovely also.

So, I get back from Florida, and thoughts of the Outer Banks can't get out of my mind.... Tonight, Pat and I went to a meeting to sign up for Legion ball... Guess what I'll be doing all summer long? You got it.... I'll be running up and down Central Pa (not the coast of the lovely United States) ---- no.... I'll be up and down Central Pa running to Legion games. How lucky does a girl get????? Folks, when your teenage boy says that he wants to play Legion ball, RUN. Yes, run far away. This is serious baseball! This coach was hard core.... he said, "It's just not fair to some of the players if some of you guys take vacations, if you go away for weekends, if you go to various sports camps over the summer; it's just not fair to the other players." So, he's asking us NOT TO GO ANYWHERE THIS SUMMER, UNTIL AT LEAST MID TO LATE AUGUST because it's just not fair and how is he supposed to build the program.

We got in the car, and Pat says, "Mom, I'm really excited about this league; this is going to be great." So, looks like if I go anywhere, if I wanna go to see the lovely coast that I've documented above, it will be mid-August. Pat starts school the last week in August, so how easy is it going to be to get the perfect reservation for that exact week??????? Then, there'll be basketball camp too, and Lord knows how we're going to do that 'cause Coach said, no sports camps! You must commit to Legion! HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm looking forward to a girls' night out on Saturday night. I haven't caught up with my Steelton homeys in a while, and we will all go out for a nice dinner and libations someplace. It's always fun being with them. I'll post and let you know what we did. If anyone wants to join us, give me a holla.

Enjoy Your Friday; TGIF!

I Have NOTHING!

Sorry folks, but I have nothing to talk about!!!!!!! Can you believe that? Me, have nothing to say??? But don't I usually have a lot to say????? Ha! I took these pictures of Pat 'cause he looks so cute with his hair combed like that, but he only does that when he gets out of the shower. I told him he should wear it like that for school, not the shaggy dog look like he usually has... He said, "Mom, it looks dumb like this, it's called a 'comb over.'" .... HELLLLOOOO, but aren't you supposed to comb your hair?????? He said he would be called a nerd and would get beat up if he went to school with a comb over.... OMG!!!! I guess I've been out of school for too long, huh? He didn't shave his muzzy lately either, which makes me really really mad. He hates to do it, but he looks about 20 years old with it, WHICH MAKES ME REALLY CRAZY! Anyway, look at him with his earpiece in his ear while playing a video game... This is our future folks... Yep, you heard it here.... the picture you see above, is the next generation who are going to run our country.... Scarey, huh???? I'm really getting old, huh???? Hey, at least I knew where I was driving to tonight! (Carol M., that one's for you!) ha! (Ok, maybe I backed up the wrong way out of the parking lot after the meeting, but sometimes, those arrows on the street are hard to follow!)

We had a Raider Pride meeting tonight, and that took all night. I'm watching Regis now.... They are talking about a list of the unsexiest men: Dr. Phil, the Big Unit, Matsui(sp?), Osama Bin Laden, Jay Leno!!!! Too funny.... Regis is talking about going on a date tomorrow with Jack Nicholson, and going to see the last Laker's game tomorrow night. Must be nice, huh? I'm going to work tomorrow.... (Sorry, I told you I HAVE NOTHING!)

I stopped at DQ after the meeting for ice cream for us; Peanut was very very happy about that... Mmmmmm, I got a sundae.... that was gooooooooood. So, I'm sitting here, at the computer, eating a sundae, watching Reg. and blogging and NOT working out.... My roll from Florida is growing and growing! ha!

I'm going to read now; a good book that Carol S. gave me, a Sydney Sheldon novel, Tell Me Your Dreams. I only have a few pages left, and must finish tonight. It's about a girl who committed several murders, BUT, she didn't actually do it... Her multiple personalities did..... Hey, maybe my multiple personality just ate that sundae from DQ, while sitting at the computer, and NOT working out.... I like it!

Goodnight All! Enjoy the Weather! Take a Walk!

HAPPY EASTER!!!!

I hope this finds everyone happy and filled with the Easter spirit! I sure am! We woke up early and went to 7:30 Mass at the Cathedral. It was a very very nice mass; very good homily. We went for breakfast, then home for some chores around the house. Joe finally put the new lights up outside our house. The original ones were finally worn out, and 1/2 broken, so we got new ones. I only went to Home Depot three times today: first with Joe to buy the new lights, then I went to return a broken one, and then to return a set of lights that were the wrong size -
eeeerrrr.....

I didn't happen to get one of the those cheesy blow up bunnies that I wanted, but I did buy a small ham, got myself some pretty flowers at Sam's ... Made the ham and some scalloped potatoes, a little salad, asparagus, rolls.... I also made a $50 million lemon pound cake from Williams Sonoma (I'll never ever do that again!) and I made a nice fruit salad ... We had a nice Easter day and a very good meal. I used my Aunt Peg's china with little pink flowers that my Uncle Jim got her when he was overseas, in the Navy. I broke a saucer getting them down, cried a little, and promptly got on ebay for a replacement... found it, as well as additional plates, which I'll bid on 'cause this service is only for 4, and I could use more plates (see what happens when you log onto ebay!)

Joe and I are into the reruns of The Sopranos so I'm off to the basement to watch a few tonight. I just wanted to post some pictures of our Easter table, and tell you all Happy Easter again.

It's all good...........

ps. I know Pat looks like a shaggy dog... We tried to get his hair cut yesterday, but it was closed.... ha!

Our Husbands Made Love to Taylor...

Yes, you read that right Folks... Last night, Eileen and I witnessed our husbands (grown men in their mid-40's) make love to a Taylor Guitar. They felt her, they smelled her, they hugged her, (I think Joe may have kissed her, I'm not sure about that), then the ultimate, they both played her - she was putty in their hands ... I never saw such a thing in my life. Eileen and I sat there, watching this with concern. We felt like we needed to leave the room so that they could have some privacy. Just when you think you've seen it all.... ha! Don't feel bad for me and Eileen; we left the room and went to make love to Mr. Mondavi Vineyards.... He was very very smooth....

Anyway, we had a nice time, the salmon came out great, and enjoyed both our jam session and Mr. Mondavi.... A fun evening!

Bad news: The tool that Joe and Pat were going to use to do the wood for the sun room broke yesterday... There will be no sun room project this weekend until that stupid thing gets repaired. Joe has no idea the other projects that I foresee for him and his son on this lovely Saturday (can you say: lawn work?) ...

For me, I will walk the dogs, catch up on laundry, and get ready for my Easter meal. I'm not sure if I'll stick with a Dream Dinner since it's just us, or go and get a ham... Pat doesn't really like ham, so I may not do that. I wish the Easter Bunny would come to my house to make it feel more like Easter. I just don't have it this year. I do look forward to going to mass tomorrow morning. The Easter songs are my favorite, and they've been dancing around in my head for the past few weeks. Maybe I really am in the Easter spirit, but just don't know it???? Who knows.... Jesus Christ is risen today, Allllllllleeeeeellllllluuuuuuujjjjjjjiiiiiiaaaaaaaaa..... And, it's only 8:30 am.... I'll be one with Mr. Bunny by the end of this day by the way things are going, don't you think so? And, I used to love those silly little blow-up bunnies, I think they are so cute. Should I go and buy one today, and put it on my table??? Perhaps I will...

HAPPY HAPPY EASTER TO ALL OF YOU; MAY YOU ALL HAVE A BLESSED AND HAPPY EASTER SEASON. LOVE YOU ALL.

Baseball, Easter, Life, etc.....

We pretty much got nuked tonight by Palmyra. I think the score was 8-4, and Pat got his first homerun off of a pitch (Pat being the pitcher; not good) ... I feel crummy for my kid, but, think of it this way, can you imagine how the other Mom felt tonight??? You know, you gotta try and turn things around. I feel happy for her tonight. Isn't she lucky?????? Ha! Just kiddin' .... YOU ALL KNOW HOW REALLY THRILLED I AM FOR HER, RIGHT????

Everything is ok; he was in a fine mood after the game. He had a few strike outs, and that made him happy. It's only a game, right????

We are having the Kovach's over for dinner tomorrow night (I hope they like smoked salmon????) so Pat and I went to the grocery store after the game for all of that stuff. I can't help but feel like it's Friday, but it's only Thursday.... I'm very messed up from traveling this week. I should be in Carol's pool RIGHT NOW!!! Not Fair! Anyway, it's Easter weekend and it really doesn't feel that way to me (again, messed up ...). For some reason, Easter is hard for me without my Mom. She always loved Easter so much; I think it was her favorite Holiday. She always painted eggs with Pat when he was little, that was their little thing to do together, and they enjoyed that. I wanna paint Easter eggs with my Mom, and I want Pat to be little again. Do you ever get like that? Do you ever want things to stay the same, yet they are constantly changing? It's called: L - I - F - E. Yep, I know all too well about that.

We are keeping it simple this year. It will just be us for Easter, and Joe and Pat will be working on the sun room, putting up the wooden wall (I'll take pictures of the project and post). They are planing the wood and Joe is putting grooves in it, you know, like hard wood flooring (I know I butchered that up!). I'm anxious for that room to be done. I wanna use that to read outside this spring and summer, so we are hoping to get it completed soon. I'd like to put two chaise lounges or a love seat against the one wall, but I'll talk to my interior designer about that (ok, it's Eileen, but she's almost an interior designer). She's also working on ideas for my bedroom. That needs painted so badly, and I wanna do a chaise in there as well, like a little reading area, with a floor lamp behind it, or something like that. I know she'll come up with something for me. Awww, and the paint color.... so hard to pick. I want some sort of plum, or purple, something different, but just not sure. I wish I had no input in any of those decisions, that I could go away some weekend, and come home and it all be done! Ha!!!!!

I'm watching Larry King.... Hmmmmm, "God or the Girl" .... Whatever would Pope John Paul think of that reality show... There's something wrong with that. It's a TV show/documentary about young men in the seminary and their decisions to enter the priesthood. It's on Sunday night in case you're interested (Easter evening?? Again, something wrong with that...)

Goodnight all.... (Heather, I bet you are scratching your head and wondering why you asked me to blog tonight.... I'm in a real mood, huh???? Hey, I didn't talk about the Arby's promo, did I? ha!!!!)

I'm Home!

I'm beat, so I won't write too much. Just wanted to tell you I'm home ... I uploaded my pictures tonight, and shared the photos with most of you; I hope you enjoy the pictures. We had such a nice time. Western Florida is lovely; very beautiful. The Shaffner's were so good to me, and gracious, lovely hosts. They showed me an excellent time. Boy, did we eat, huh Carol??? We are cleansing for the next week or so, right Girl? (I had peanut butter crackers for dinner though, not very cleansing, huh?)

I'll tell you more about my trip when I have more time. Our day trips were so much fun.

It was nice to come home though; it's always nice to come home. My Dawnydoos was a little stand-offish, but my Macky.... well, he came running over to me, nearly broke his poor tail off hitting things with it.... and Pat was happy to see me, gave me a big hug and kiss even with 1/2 sub in his mouth! Joe, well, I think he was happy to see me.... During the commercials of MASH reruns from about a hundred years ago, he asked me about the trip (I can't imagine the comments I'm going to get from that one, but folks, that is the truth.)

Goodnight, from Central Pa..... I'm back, it's all good here too, I think... It's home...

My Last Day in Paradise....

I'm in the computer room at the Clubhouse.... geez, you guys should see this place! It's like something out of a James Bond film...the gym, the Library, the computer room, pool table room...all done in heavy, dark woods, just beautiful. I'll miss my peeps here at the Club....

Yesterday, we went to Marco Island. Very very nice little beach resort(Joe, can we buy a house there?). The sand was white as can be, and the water there was very warm. I liked it there very very much. We then went to eat at a place on the beach in Naples, but we missed lunchtime, and were too early for dinner. We are going there today. The food here is incredible. I don't know how I'll ever go back to Dream Dinners. Oh well.... We didn't get to the Jewelry Outlet (Joe's wiping his brow now) ... BUT, we are going today! ha!

I'm sad I'm leaving my people here in Naples.... but my people in Central Pa need me; that's where I'm most wanted. I'll have to wean Pat and Joe off of subs and pizza slowly; withdrawal is a horrible thing.

I should be in Phila. by 3 pm or so tomorrow, and then home in time for dinner. Whatever shall my husband have prepared for my arrival????

Thx Carol M. for checking on Joe; that was nice.

Carol and I are going to work on the weights now.... Larry wants us nice and sculpted.

Love from Sunny Sunny Beautiful Florida!

Where's Central Pa?????

What is that? Is that actually a place??? Central Pennslyvania???? Yuk! I'm a Floridian now... It's lovely here. We did lots of things and kept poor Larry on the go! The other day, we went to Sanibel and Captiva Islands. We enjoyed that very much, and ate at a really nice place on the water, at a marina; it was very beautiful and so peaceful. It really reminded me of the Outer Banks there. Yesterday, we went to Miami and South Beach. Hmmmmmm, a far cry from Central Pa for sure. It's a neat place to see, but wouldn't wanna live there. We ate on the sidewalk in South Beach; it was good. Today, we plan to go to Marco Island. It's a little cloudy (my only cloudy day here so far), so it's a good day to go. We will either eat at a place on the beach (the tables are actually on the sand!) or another nice place that the Shaffner's recommend. They have been more than gracious, of course. It's been so much fun, but I know I must soon return to my peeps, to my boy. I hear that he needs some milk. Joe bought him three little ones this morning at the McDonald's. Does he know that they actually sell milk at the grocery stores? Or, does he even know where the grocery stores are? Anyway, I can see I'll be going to the grocery store upon my return.

Attn: Amber K: Visited a Coach Outlet yesterday and did some damage.... ooooppps! I hope Joe's credit card is paid up to date! Carol tells me today, we are going to a store called: The Jewelry Outlet. ha!!!!!

Carol and I are off to the treadmills now; gotta keep our bods in shape for Larry.... ha!!!! Oh, BTW, the bikini went off without a hitch, except for my first degree burns....

Goodbye from Florida Folks! Carol says hey!

I'M MOVING!!!!

Anyone who knows me, knows that the last place I've visited is where I want to live. Well folks, YOU'VE HEARD IT FIRST.... I'M MOVING TO FLORIDA!!!!! It's great here; the weather, the company, the pool... everything is great! I flew in Tues., no problems. Today, we just hung out - we exercised in the morning, then headed poolside, ordered in, and tonight, went out for ice cream: mmmmm Ben and Jerry's Banana Rum, try it... very very good.

Tomorrow, we are heading to Sanibel Island, and just hangin' out there for the day.

It's lovely here, it was 87 degrees today, and very nice... I can't imagine that people live like this all year 'round. To go outdoors without 50 layers of clothing on, well, makes me very happy. I was born and raised in Central Pa, but I could move tomorrow.... In my dreams, I guess.... I'm destined to be a Central Pa girl, huh?

Carol has dial up, and some computer issues; this has been a real chore to get on the computer tonight, but Carol wanted to read the blog. She hadn't logged on the entire time she's been down here.... OMG, I'd have computer withdrawal!!!!!

We plan a few more day trips, and have about three different restaurants we want to try. I hope there's enough time to do it all, otherwise, I may have to stay a few more days.... Joe, you may have to get to the grocery store, and cook a few more Dream Dinners! ha!

Goodnight all, from Florida.... my next home!!!!!

NAPLES OR BUST????

Well, I prepared all weekend for my vacation. I'm very very excited... I shopped and packed both yesterday and today. I bought two types of tan in a can, so I hope to soon morph into a person with color. Oh, big news: I bought a bikini????? I purposely used questions marks there 'cause it's an oh so peculiar thing for me to do. I usually cover head to toe like a Stadi' ... (Croatian for Old Lady) ... but the spirit moved me, and I did it. Query: Is Naples ready for this; is Larry ready for this???? I hate to do it to poor Naples, but I look at it this way: I will never see any of those people ever ever again (except for the poor Shaffner's), I'll be in Carol's backyard, and, lastly, but most important: basically, the body goes downhill from here... I should have done this in the 90's folks, not the 00's... but, it is what it is, and I bit the bullet. Tell me if you like it. I asked Joe to come up and look when I tried it on at home, and he said, and I quote: "Yes, you can get away with that, I think, and if you lost a few more pounds, it would look great." Hmmmmmm, was that an insult or a compliment? I just couldn't tell.... Anyway, I'll report back what the Naple's crowd said... ha! (Pls understand, and if you know me, you KNOW that I'm only having way too much fun with buying and wearing a bikini - I bought it at Target for crying out loud! .... It's all good fun). Now, if I get booted out of Florida for lookin' really fat and ugly in my suit, then, it won't be for fun; that will be bad and I'll then ask for support from my people! ha!!!!!

Anyway, all in all, we had a great weekend. We ate at a new Thai place on Paxtang Street, Bankok 56, and enjoyed it very much. I highly recommend it. We came home, and watched: King Kong. I think I fell asleep about five different times during it; I would NOT recommend that. They called it: "The movie of the year." Wow..... I must be missing something....

We didn't like losing our one hour today, but we'll surely enjoy the extra daylight. Pat and Joe will be very busy while I'm gone; Pat has three games. If you want to, call Joe early early in the morning, and wake him up. I'm worried that they'll oversleep. Also, remind him of healthy eating, of the Dream Dinners in the freezer, and to feed the dogs. I have a million things that I'm worried about, but it is what it is, right????

I'll try and blog from Florida, if I can figure out Carol's laptop. She told me she hasn't used it since Christmas time. Can you imagine that? She'll have like 50 million emails, both junk and not junk, to go through. Bye all and have a great week!