Guess I'm just doing a once a month post

Lately it seems that I can only get a post done once a month.  Things have been so, so busy around here it is really getting to be ridiculous. 

I guess I'll start the first of November - the first we had the Annual Membership Council meeting on the first and I was elected to the office of Secretary.  I thought I was going to be the Assistant Secretary  - but no, I'm "the" Secretary.  I was also told that we only met once a month but that isn't true either.  Seems like I was a sucker and have fallen into the trap - but someone has to do it so it might as well be me. 

I am now volunteering once a week at one of the gift shops down at the Village Square.  It is another way to give back to the community and I enjoy seeing all the new things every Wednesday morning.

Thursday I had another Membership Council meeting and then Thursday night we had a "Live at Dowling Park" series presentation.  November's presentation was the pianist Thomas Pandolfi and he was excellent.  His program was music by Gershwin and Marvin Hamlisch.  Beautiful program.

Friday morning was our street's Breakfast meeting at the Village Café (we have our meeting once a month) and Saturday was the Fall Festival at the Baptist Church.  Sunday after church - we helped move the costumes for the Nativity presentation from our friends house to the Harmony Center.

Monday, 11/7, Dan had fasting labs first thing and I had my annual doctors appointment.  My doctor didn't like the way my thyroid glad felt, so I she made an appointment to have an ultrasound done later in the week.  Then we went down to choose our costumes for the play presentation.

Wednesday I did my shift at the gift shop then Dan and I headed up to Valdosta for a quick trip to Sam's.  Thursday we went into t own and helped our friends decorate the Veteran's Day float. On our way back home we stopped and attended a FDOT presentation for the new bridge that will be built crossing the Suwannee River.  The construction will start late in 2017 and won't be finished until 2019.

Friday morning, instead of going to the parade, we headed to Madison for my ultrasound.  Still waiting to get the results.

After a quiet weekend we started our crazy schedule again on Tuesday with Dan's doctor's appointment (we'll need to work on the weight issue).  Then I had a hair appointment before our first Play rehearsal of many.  We had play rehearsal every night except Wednesday and Friday.  

Friday night we had the Builder's Guild dinner which was a fun and interesting evening.  Dan and I received a plaque for our contribution to the Village.  Who knew that we had donated so much to warrant an invitation to the dinner and be included in the Builder's Guild.

We only had one rehearsal Thanksgiving week and it's a good thing as I came down with a cold on Sunday.  I was still able to go to rehearsal and do my shift at the gift shop, but I was ever so grateful that I was NOT cooking this Thanksgiving.  None of the girls were here and Mom decided to have dinner with some friends on her street - so Dan and I went to the Dining Room with Carol and Neil for the Thanksgiving buffet.  So worth the $10 each - plus we had a to go box, since we had bought three tickets before we knew Mom didn't want to go.  That was nice because I didn't have to worry about feeding Dan later and was able to come home and go to bed.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I packed up all the fall decorations and got all the Christmas decorations up (except outside).  I was really surprised that I got it all done, since I still hasn't feeling all that great, but I was very happy that I did.

Family Room Tree

 The new mantel and bookshelves

Living Room tree

Entry way table

I really didn't go overboard this year - and kept things pretty simple.  We did put a small tree on our dresser in the bedroom, but there are no decorations on it - just lights, pinecones, red berries, and faux snow.

I was also able to use the pinecones that I bleached in an arrangement for the dining room table.  They turned out really nice with the plates from Pier 1 and the antler napkin holders from Pottery Barn.

The coffee bar area is also done in red and black.

Monday, the 28th, was the dress rehearsal - and I was changed from a villager to one of the angels (type casting???? Ha Ha).  Our first performance was Tuesday night at 7PM and there was well over 100 people there.  It was a good thing I didn't have a speaking part - as my voice was gone.  Dan was an awesome Wise Man.

Wednesday I still did my shift even though I wasn't feeling that good - but I think it did me good to get out. When I got home from my shift I sat down and made up the invitations for the Christmas Open House - addressed all the invitations and got them ready for the mail.  Then I wrote the Christmas letter, got the Christmas cards out, addressed them, stuffed the ones that needed the letter and  was ready to get everything in the mail.  Woot! Woot!!

I changed my cold medicine on Thursday and by 7 that night I was feeling much, much better.  The Thursday and Friday night presentation was also very well attended - in fact, we had to get additional chairs out so everyone would have a seat.  I guess there were close to 200 people at both nights presentations.  Oh!  I also got the invitations and the cards in the mail on Friday.

Saturday morning we were up early and in town to decorate the float for the Christmas parade.  Dan did something to his knee - so we came home for about an hour after the float was finished before we had to be back for the parade.  Once again I was an angel on the float while Dan drove the vehicle that pulled the float.  Our friend Bud always likes to be able to jump out and handle any difficulty with lights or sound system should they arise.  Thank goodness there were no difficulties and everything turned out great.  We were also able to keep up with the score of the Alabama/Florida game - and I'll just say Roll Tide ROLL!!!  (54-16)

Sunday Dan spent most of the day in his chair with ice on his knee.  We did attend a "Cookies and Cocoa" get together at the neighbors - but we drove the golf cart to their house and Dan sat the whole time while there.  We decided not to go to the community tree lightening and stayed in so he could rest his knee.

So, the evening was spent in front of the TV watching some football and eating a pizza.

You are now all caught up - I will TRY and post more frequently, but I won't guarantee it!    So, in case I don't, I hope that any of you still reading this blog have a very Merry Christmas and the happiest of New Year's!!!!

Carol

This year is flying by

I keep thinking that I will be able to do a blog post on Sunday's, but between church, fixing lunch, and football Sunday just seems to disappear!  So, instead here it is on Tuesday and it's been two weeks since my last post.  Good grief.

I have pretty much fallen into a schedule - sorta - but I don't get real upset if the schedule gets messed up some.  For the last couple of weeks Monday is laundry day - wash, fold/hang, put away.  Tuesday is clean house day (that will change starting this week - as we are getting a housekeeper coming in every two weeks - can you say YIPPEE!!!!!) Wednesday I volunteer at one of the gift shops here at the village.  Thursday is meal planning and grocery shopping day.  Friday is do what ever Dan wants to do.  Saturday is college football and we're back to Sunday which is Church, lunch, and football.  Now, there are other activities that get thrown into the mix and if you could see our schedule for the next two months you would see that the schedule might be out the window!

Last week on Tuesday. I had fasting labs.  It is so simple to get labs done here - I get out of bed about 7:30, get dressed, take the golf cart down to the Medical Center and boom 15 minutes later I'm back home drinking my cup of coffee.  Easy Peasy! 

Wednesday morning I volunteered at the gift shop.

Thursday afternoon was the Membership Council meeting - I had been nominated to be the assistant Secretary (not a big deal), well after the meeting one of the members of the nominating committee called and asked if I would be "The" Secretary instead of Assistant.  After discussing with Dan I agreed and tonight is the annual meeting where the votes will be taken and new officers will be sworn in.

Friday morning Dan and I went up to Valdosta to Sam's and picked up a few things - can you really buy a "few" things at Sam's???  Anyway, our main reason for going was to get Halloween Candy - they had great prices and we picked up enough for the kids that Trick or Treated Saturday night as well as having some to take to the day care center here at the Village (Wee Care).

Saturday early voting started so Dan and I went down and voted.  I will not talk about our votes but so much is on the line this year.  I'll leave it at that.

Saturday evening we went down to Carol and Neil's house for sloppy joes and to hand out candy to the little ones.  We sat out on the porch and there were so many cute, cute outfits.  Some were extremely creative (a snow blizzard) and some were the typical gory "walking dead" things.  All the children were extremely polite and would not take any candy out of the bowls on the table until we told them they could.  I was also impressed with the number of parents that also dressed up to take their children out.  We have a very large number of kids come out since we live in such a rural area - this is the only real development - so the kids come in by the truck and trailer load.  A set amount of time is published - this year from 6 to 8 - and it is amazing how the community sticks to the schedule.  Anyway, it was fun seeing all the little ones. 

Dan is also working on the fireplace.  When he built the mantle on the fireplace right after we moved back in the house we knew that it was temporary.  We didn't build the shelves that we wanted at that time and just used some black IKEA shelves that we had. 

This picture was taken right after we moved and had things "somewhat" put away.



Then, while cleaning out things in the garage, we came across these moose wall sconces.  These had not been hung since we lived in the "big" house in North Carolina (about 10 years ago).  I told Dan that either we hang them or we get rid of them.  Well, Dan hung them in the family room and we liked the look - the only problem was we didn't have electrical boxes to wire them.  So, they were just decorative.  But, we already knew that we (meaning Dan) was going to redo the fireplace mantle and Dan figured out how to wire them through the new mantle since we did have an electrical plug installed in the mantle when the remodeling was being done.

So, last week we made a trip to Lowe's and got the lumber and Dan started to tear the fireplace mantle apart.  As he was working we were making changes - which lead to him completely taking everything down.

You can see in this picture that he has installed the first electrical box and run the wiring for it.  This wire will run inside the mantle and will be wired with a switch on the outside on the right.  When we first worked on the fireplace we had them install a plug on the top so I could decorate for Christmas.  This was very useful in the new design.

Sunday Dan had the sconces successfully wired and on.  Yeah!


Today the bookshelves are being constructed. 

 Dan is even making the shelves adjustable - the bottom shelf and the middle shelf will be fixed and then there will be two (or three) adjustable shelves.

 He is doing all the construction outside in the garage/driveway and then bringing the prefabbed parts in and installing them.  I think he is going to paint the shelves outside, but the mantle itself will be painted in the house.

I am aware and thankful every day that Dan is so talented when it comes to woodworking.  If there is something that I would like built I know that Dan can make it come to life.

Yesterday we attended the Christmas Program information meeting - we are doing a live re-enactment of Jesus's birth outside with a village, market place, animals, etc.  The program will be presented three nights - Dan will be one of the Kings and I will be a merchant woman.  It should be interesting and fun - and we certainly hope that we will be able to be a blessing to everyone who attends.

Since tonight is the Annual Membership meeting where the new officers will be installed I have supper in the crock pot - a new chicken enchilada soup recipe that I saw on Facebook.  I hope it tastes as good as it smells!

Well, that pretty much catches you up on everything- but I have to leave you with a picture of the girls dressed for Trick or Treating - my lovely Lorelai was dressed as Rainbow Dash (a My Little Pony - and her favorite) and my adorable Adalyn was dress as My Little Kitty.  They were both so cute and I wish I could have been there to go with them.  Precious!

Hopefully, I'll talk to you soon!

This year is flying by

I keep thinking that I will be able to do a blog post on Sunday's, but between church, fixing lunch, and football Sunday just seems to disappear!  So, instead here it is on Tuesday and it's been two weeks since my last post.  Good grief.

I have pretty much fallen into a schedule - sorta - but I don't get real upset if the schedule gets messed up some.  For the last couple of weeks Monday is laundry day - wash, fold/hang, put away.  Tuesday is clean house day (that will change starting this week - as we are getting a housekeeper coming in every two weeks - can you say YIPPEE!!!!!) Wednesday I volunteer at one of the gift shops here at the village.  Thursday is meal planning and grocery shopping day.  Friday is do what ever Dan wants to do.  Saturday is college football and we're back to Sunday which is Church, lunch, and football.  Now, there are other activities that get thrown into the mix and if you could see our schedule for the next two months you would see that the schedule might be out the window!

Last week on Tuesday. I had fasting labs.  It is so simple to get labs done here - I get out of bed about 7:30, get dressed, take the golf cart down to the Medical Center and boom 15 minutes later I'm back home drinking my cup of coffee.  Easy Peasy! 

Wednesday morning I volunteered at the gift shop.

Thursday afternoon was the Membership Council meeting - I had been nominated to be the assistant Secretary (not a big deal), well after the meeting one of the members of the nominating committee called and asked if I would be "The" Secretary instead of Assistant.  After discussing with Dan I agreed and tonight is the annual meeting where the votes will be taken and new officers will be sworn in.

Friday morning Dan and I went up to Valdosta to Sam's and picked up a few things - can you really buy a "few" things at Sam's???  Anyway, our main reason for going was to get Halloween Candy - they had great prices and we picked up enough for the kids that Trick or Treated Saturday night as well as having some to take to the day care center here at the Village (Wee Care).

Saturday early voting started so Dan and I went down and voted.  I will not talk about our votes but so much is on the line this year.  I'll leave it at that.

Dan is also working on the fireplace.  When he built the mantle on the fireplace right after we moved back in the house we knew that it was temporary.  We didn't build the shelves that we wanted at that time and just used some black IKEA shelves that we had. 

This picture was taken right after we moved and had things "somewhat" put away.



Then, while cleaning out things in the garage, we came across these moose wall sconces.  These had not been hung since we lived in the "big" house in North Carolina (about 10 years ago).  I told Dan that either we hang them or we get rid of them.  Well, Dan hung them in the family room and we liked the look - the only problem was we didn't have electrical boxes to wire them.  So, they were just decorative.  But, we already knew that we (meaning Dan) was going to redo the fireplace mantle and Dan figured out how to wire them through the new mantle since we did have an electrical plug installed in the mantle when the remodeling was being done.

So, last week we made a trip to Lowe's and got the lumber and Dan started to tear the fireplace mantle apart.  As he was working we were making changes - which lead to him completely taking everything down.

You can see in this picture that he has installed the first electrical box and run the wiring for it.  This wire will run inside the mantle and will be wired with a switch on the outside on the right.  When we first worked on the fireplace we had them install a plug on the top so I could decorate for Christmas.  This was very useful in the new design.

Sunday Dan had the sconces successfully wired and on.  Yeah!


Today the bookshelves are being constructed. 

 Dan is even making the shelves adjustable - the bottom shelf and the middle shelf will be fixed and then there will be two (or three) adjustable shelves.

 He is doing all the construction outside in the garage/driveway and then bringing the prefabbed parts in and installing them.  I think he is going to paint the shelves outside, but the mantle itself will be painted in the house.

I am aware and thankful every day that Dan is so talented when it comes to woodworking.  If there is something that I would like built I know that Dan can make it come to life.

Yesterday we attended the Christmas Program information meeting - we are doing a live re-enactment of Jesus's birth outside with a village, market place, animals, etc.  The program will be presented three nights - Dan will be one of the Kings and I will be a merchant woman.  It should be interesting and fun - and we certainly hope that we will be able to be a blessing to everyone who attends.

Since tonight is the Annual Membership meeting where the new officers will be installed I have supper in the crock pot - a new chicken enchilada soup recipe that I saw on Facebook.  I hope it tastes as good as it smells!

Well, that pretty much catches you up on everything- but I have to leave you with a picture of the girls dressed for Trick or Treating - my lovely Lorelai was dressed as Rainbow Dash (a My Little Pony - and her favorite) and my adorable Adalyn was dress as My Little Kitty.  They were both so cute and I wish I could have been there to go with them.  Precious!

Hopefully, I'll talk to you soon!

Home Again

The last week of September was pretty quiet - I continue to work around here tweaking little things.  I did get my hair cut on Thursday.  Then Saturday, Oct. 1st was "October Fest" here.  Dan and I helped park cars.  Well, actually my job was to ferry the owners of the antique cars to the parking area for their trucks and trailers back to the staging area.  Dan helped park the visitors cars.  We worked from 7:30 until 9:30 - then we walked around and looked at the different vendors.  We came back home - watched some football and then went back down and picked up some food - half a rack of ribs, half a smoked chicken, and lunch.

Sunday morning we went to church and then went over to the dining hall for lunch.  After getting home I packed my suitcase (nothing like putting things off till the last minute), loaded the car and set off for Lakeland. 

I had to make a stop in north Lakeland to deliver the tie flying box to a friend of ours.  Dan finally decided that he was ready to get rid of it.  After visiting for a few minutes I headed on over to the kids new house.

My mission for the week was to get the boxes unpacked and put away - and while I did make SOME progress I did not get as much done as I had hoped (or as much as the kids probably hoped either). 

Monday I was able to get all the kitchen boxes unpacked and put away - only rearranging one cabinet.  Monday evening my son-in-laws family from Texas, who were visiting, came over to see the house. (Talk about stuffing stuff in cabinets to make things presentable!  HAHA!)  Then we all went over to Justin's parents house for dinner.  It was a somewhat late night for the kids and Melissa paid for it on Tuesday morning with Ada crying and fussing.

Tuesday I finished up the kitchen (all that stuff that was stuffed away!) Went to the grocery store and got the ingredients for spaghetti and then worked on the master bathroom. 

Everything was going pretty good until Wednesday - and Hurricane Matthew.  It was announced Wednesday that all schools would be closed in the county and the county that Melissa works in - which means that she and the girls were going to be home on Thursday and Friday PLUS I needed to go out and get supplies in case we lost power.  Getting food that everyone would eat that could be cooked on the grill, buying propane canisters, water, bread, etc. proved to be quite a task.  By Wednesday afternoon there was NO water or bread at WalMart or Publix.  I finally found a loaf of bread, some hamburger and hot dogs buns, then found water at Home Depot.  I never could find flashlights (Melissa ordered some from Amazon - so they will have them in the future).  Anyway, Wednesday was pretty much shot.

Thursday Melissa worked from home and things were somewhat stressful as she had employees in Boston for training that had to get home.  The airport in Orlando closed at 5 o'clock (where every one's car was) and she had to fly them into Tampa.  Then she rented them a car to get to Orlando to get their private vehicles - to find out they couldn't get their cars out of long term parking.  To say that she had a bad day, which transferred to the rest of us, was an understatement.  I was able to keep the girls occupied but it was not a good day.

The storm was scheduled to hit early Friday morning - it was never predicted to make a direct hit on us, but we were supposed to get tropical storm force winds and rain.  We were afraid that we would lose power (that's the reason for water, food for the grill, and propane.  We even filled the bathtub Thursday night so we would have water to flush the toilets IF we lost power.  So, imagine our surprise when we woke up Friday morning to, well, nothing.  A little rain, a little wind - but we get more in a good thunderstorm.  Now, I know that the east coast was hit hard - especially St. Augustine and parts of Jacksonville, but we didn't get anything.  So, I had another day of keeping the girls occupied while Justin spent most of the day in bed (sick) and Melissa working.  So, no boxes were unpacked Friday either.

Saturday morning we got up to a beautiful sunny day.  So, I got a couple of boxes unpacked and put away and we made some decisions on where to put some pictures.  Then it was decided that Melissa and I would go shopping.  We did go out and find a few things and picked up dinner.  Melissa asked me what I missed as far as food went, and believe it or not, I said Chili's - so dinner came from Chili's. (In hindsight I should have chosen Chinese from the Lake Miriam Publix store). 

Sunday morning, pretty bright and early, I headed home.  I loved seeing the new house and helping, what little I did, but I was also ready to come home.  Sunday afternoon was spent doing laundry and some straightening up. 

Monday I cleaned house, Tuesday I started working in the garage.  Wednesday was my first day of volunteering at one of the gift shops in the Village Square.  Thursday, after making a menu for the next couple of weeks, we took mom to Perry with us to buy groceries. 

Friday I got the budget book caught up and the worked in the garage some more.  I put a pork roast in the crock pot and fixed pulled bar-b-que for dinner.  Carol and Neil came down before we all went down to the church for the "Live at Downling Park Series".  Friday night was Williamson Branch - a bluegrass/country family act and were very good.

Saturday morning Dan helped down at a friend's garage sale.  She lost her husband a couple of months ago and was selling his tools.  She wanted to make sure she had help so several of the men in the subdivision went down and helped her.  I worked on a few things here in the house before settling in for an afternoon of college football.  I had a really good day with my teams - Vanderbilt beat Georgia (Yippee!!!), Alabama won over Tennessee (undefeated so far this year!!!), and Ohio State won their game (but I have to admit I went to bed before the end of the game).  I fixed a pizza for dinner.

Today is NFL football this afternoon - Chili is in the crock pot and I'm ready for the games to begin.

Have a great week and I'll catch up with you later!

Hurricane Hermine

I have talked about doing a post about our "adventure" with

Hurricane Hermine, but hadn't.  So, I thought today would be

a good day to show the pictures - as few as there are.

We had been following this storm for a couple of weeks and the

weather men could not decided where it was going to go.  First they said that it would go into Texas, then into Tampa. then into Louisiana, then back to Tampa, then the Panhandle of Florida.  Well, it actually came in between Apalachicola Bay and Tallahassee - which put us on the east side of the storm.  When it made landfall late Thursday night it was a Cat 1 storm but it sure did do quite a bit of damage.  We woke up sometime in the middle of the night (I think around 1 AM) with no power.  The wind was howling and it was pouring down rain.  Dan and I got up and I tried to look at the radar on my phone, but couldn't get a signal.  Anyway, we ended up sleeping (what little sleep we got) in the family room - Dan in his recliner and I was on the sectional.

When we got up Friday morning, Dan went and got the small generator out of the garage and brought it around to the back porch.   He tried and tried to get it started but couldn't.  I was thinking it was going to be a long hot day - but our friends were out riding around in their golf cart and stopped by and Bud and Dan were able to get the generator started.  I made a pot of coffee (we had water) and brought the coffee pot out on the porch - plugged it in and made us a pot of coffee.  (Things were looking up)  Dan brought around the garage fan, plugged it in along with the refrigerator and we were pretty much okay.

We decided to ride around on the golf cart and see how much damage there was.  The only thing that we could find at our house was a fascia board down - but Dan fixed it with no trouble by just nailing it back up.

I didn't take a lot of pictures - there were some trees down in the road

and one of the rental units had a tree fall on the back storage area.

No one was hurt and the village worked with the people to rescue their belongings until they could get the unit fixed.

There were some signs down and a couple of homes were hit by falling trees, but nothing that damaged the homes more than the picture above.

There were all kinds of rumors about when we would be power back on - the nursing home/assisted living units had power back by the middle of Friday morning - then the apartments, Village Square, and mobile home park got there's back by about 1 in the afternoon.  We, meaning the homes in River Woods, got ours back around 6 Friday night.  Those homes outside the village didn't get power back until sometime late Saturday/early Sunday.

My daughter and son-in-law had closed on their new house on Friday and we were suppose to get the girls for the week so they could get all moved in.  Well, we went back and forth since we didn't have power.  I didn't mind keeping them even without power BUT I had no way to feed them.  Anyway, with the power coming back on Friday we met my daughter in Ocala (about 1/2 way for both of us) and picked up the girls.

It's been about three/four weeks since the storm and almost everything is back to "normal".  Almost all the trees that came down are cut up and hauled away, there are still dead limbs up high and the next big thunderstorm to come through should knock all those down. 

I can say that I was extremely thankful that we had all those dead pine trees removed.  I'm not sure our new family room would have survived without some damage.

I'm hoping this is the only storm that we will go through - but I'm going to have Dan check and run the generator at least once a month just in case.

Blog's been a little quiet

Things have been quiet here on the blog for the last week or so because:

1. Hurricane Hermine (will post all about that on later)

2.  The most adorable little girls EVER!!!

We kept the girls for eight days starting the Saturday after the hurricane and meeting their dad on this past Sunday.

It was a lot of fun and we had many adventures, but BOY was I tired!!!  I forgot how tiring it is to keep little ones day in and day out - especially at age four and two!

We met their mom down in Ocala on Saturday (it's about half way for both of us) and had lunch at McDonald's before loading all their stuff into my car (in the rain) and heading for home.  Saturday afternoon was pretty laid back as they became familiar with the house and checking out the videos they could watch.

 Sunday I fixed a big lunch and the girls Grump Pa and Aunt Tul came down from Cuthbert Georgia for the day.  Aunt Tul had driven down to her dad's from Nashville on Saturday and headed back home Tuesday morning I think.  Anyway, mom came and had lunch with us too - Chicken, squash and zuccini, corn on the cob, mac and cheese, sweet potatoes, green beans w/ new potatoes, and apple pie with ice cream for dessert.  Grump Pa brought down the pool the girls had at his house for Lorelai's birthday in June and it was used during the week.  The girls had fun coloring and playing with Aunt Tul.

Monday was Labor Day and we went down to the "big" outdoor pool - as it was opened since it was a holiday.  The girls had a really good time swimming and playing in the pool.

Tuesday was a quiet day (as quiet as it gets with a four and two year old in the house), but they played with their toys, colored lots of pictures, played with stickers, watched a movie, and went for lots of golf cart rides.

Wednesday we played in their little pool and went to the Dollar Store to pick up some stuff - why do I mention that?  Well, don't ever go to the Dollar Store will little ones if you don't intend to spend more money then you think.  HaHa!!

Thursday afternoon we decided to go and feed the fish - that was a great hit - we had to go everyday in the afternoon as they really enjoyed feeding the koi fish.  There are at least a hundred in the pond by the nursing home and the girls had such an awesome time feeding them and watching them.

Friday we went next door for a tea party.

They really enjoyed themselves.

(Thanks Ms. Patty)

Saturday was playing at home again - and getting all the laundry done and packing up all the toys - searching the house to make sure you don't forget anything.

Sunday morning we were up pretty early and loaded in the car by eight - heading back to Ocala to meet the girls daddy, while mommy stayed home unpacking boxes.

Dan and I had such a great time with the girls, but I sure was tired when we got back home Sunday afternoon.  I just spent the rest of the day lying on the couch watching football, but I wouldn't trade the memories that we made for anything.

Love these girls!!!!

Precious babies!

Shredding

I finally got an item knocked off my "to do" list.  I have had a cardboard box FULL of old paperwork that needed to be shredded for probably close to five years.  I just didn't have a shredder (should I admit that????).  Anyway, the one I used to have before we hit the road full time quit working and we threw it away.  I did take some things (a box of stuff) to the credit union down south an they shredded it for us.  But I had a lot of things - like old credit card statements that I had been saying we needed to shred but never did.

Well, I finally ordered a new shredder from Amazon last week and it came on Wednesday.  I spent the next three days getting it all shredded - 11 garbage bags of shredding!

I really took my time as I didn't want to burn up the new shredder.

It's done and I don't have to worry about it anymore!

Yippee!!!!

We are working on a few little things around here  - when it isn't too hot to get outside.  (the temperature yesterday was 105 - that's HOT!!!!)  Dan is helping a friend pour concrete in his pergola area and now he is hot to trot to get our pergola built.  I think I might have convinced him that we do not need a 12 X 25 foot pergola, but I'm not sure.  A 12 X 12 or 14 X 14 would be big enough.  We shall see who wins.

I took mom to Gainesville yesterday for her checkup with her surgeon.  It was not a good day - she is getting much more combative when something happens that she doesn't understand or she feels like things aren't going the way she thinks they should.  She was very argumentative with the surgeon yesterday and didn't like it if he and I talked and she couldn't hear what we were saying.  He suggested that she see a gerontologist but she is not having that.  She is already refusing to see the oncologist which really isn't a big deal since he really hasn't done anything anyway.  Anyway, she was mad and upset with me and the doctor about all day yesterday.  However, today Dan and I went over to take out the satellite dish from her yard and she was all smiles.  Oh well, just something I will have to figure out.  (Don't want to complain on line, but I need to document somewhere).

Dan got his new log holder for the patio area - now we just need to go buy a truck load of wood so we will be ready when the weather DOES finally decide to cool off.  We figure that the wood will be cheaper now, while it's hot then it will be when the weather gets cooler.  We'll probably do that this weekend.

I have a pot roast in the crock pot for dinner tonight - and things are pretty quiet today.

Office/Craft Room Closet

 Well, we've been busy around here for the last week.

A week ago Monday it rained all day.   We really needed the rain and it was a nice quiet day of enjoying cooler temperatures and sitting on the back porch and listening to the rain fall.  Tuesday I had an appointment to get my hair cut.  It has only taken three haircuts to finally get something that I can live with.  The first one was the first of July when I was down in Lakeland, then Dan tried to fix it when I got home.  While it was better it still wasn't exactly what I wanted.  So, I finally made an appointment here in the village and got it cut.  Wednesday we took mom into town and went to WalMart to buy groceries.  Then we went by Lowe's and picked up the lumber for the shelves in the office.  When we got home I emptied the closet of all the stuff that was just piled in it.

This is just some of it.

Thursday Dan spent the day building the shelves.  We continued to have rain showers off and on all day, but he was able to do everything in the garage.

The closet is really deep on one end and we didn't want to waste any space, plus we needed a place to store our coats since we don't have a coat closet.

Thursday night we were excited to sit and eat pizza while watching

FOOTBALL!!!!

YIPPEEEEEEEE!!!!!

Football is BACK!

Friday morning I painted the shelves outside and then painted the supports.  We put two coats on each side and, once they dried, Dan installed them.

 It's amazing how much stuff you can cram into a closet.

After waiting overnight to make sure the paint was dried (because we got more rain on Friday)  I started putting things back into the closet on Saturday.  I was determined to have it organized where I knew where everything is.

First the box in the garage with the coats was unpacked.  (Yeah, another box emptied!)

Then I worked on getting things put in containers and baskets.  I figured I would finish things up on Sunday and do this post on Monday.  Well, when we got home from church Sunday I did NOT feel good.  I came in the house, changed clothes, laid down on the couch in the family room and went to sleep.  Now, if you know me at all you know that I do NOT take naps.  Dan said I slept for a couple of hours.  When I woke up, I just stayed on the couch and watched football.

First thing Monday morning, after coffee of course, I came back in the office and worked all day BUT  I got it all done!!!

So, here is my newly organized office/craft room.

I'm going to get a letter "L" and a letter "A" to put above and below the center picture.

These are the latest pictures I have of the girls and they were taken at their first day of daycare after they moved back up to Lakeland.  If you look close you can tell they were taken in the spring, as they have bunnies and an Easter basket.

 We went to the thrift store and found a file cabinet.

It may need a coat of paint - but for now - it does the job.

And the closet.......

All nice and neat.  I still need to make labels for the bins.

On the top shelf I was able to put things that we don't use that often, as this closet has to serve many purposes.  (Coat closet, storage for seldom used things, and storage for all my craft stuff.)

I still need to "tweak" these shelves but they don't look too bad.

Then we added these pictures.

My daughter gave me the sign several years ago and I have always had it displayed.  (I had it in the nursery/guest room down in Lake Placid).  It is a saying by Jiminy Cricket which says

"When your heart is in your dreams,

no request is too extreme"

Since this is a Disney quote I wanted to put the pictures that were taken when Dan and I took the girls to Disney the last time before we moved up to Dowling Park up with the sign.

This picture is very special to me - it's the first time that

Lorelai hugged a character without prompting.

When we walked into the greeting area she just ran up to Minnie and gave her the biggest hug.  Makes my heart happy. 

Today was cleaning house.  So much fun!  Ha Ha!

Well, that's it for today - hope you like my closet - I'm over the moon happy with it!!!

Now, I'm off to warm up some Chicken and Yellow Rice for dinner!