A Wonderful Party!

It is late. The 'open house' party today was from 2:00 - 8:00 and people were still here at 9:00! All of Kelly's friends came and many of my sister's friends too. It was great fun. We had to order more food halfway into the party. Joe and I head out for my grandmother's house in the morning.

Pictures will follow when I have more time!  Thinking of you all...peace, love & hugs.

Road trip Days 3, 4 & 5....

I am late posting and my excuses follow....
(There actually is no excuse, but here are the reasons.... )

Day 3: started at Clary's Diner for breakfast with our three nieces, in Savannah. Had a great time over our Eggs Benedict, waffles, and chicken salad w/fries (Gina!). Sad to say good-bye to them, as they headed out for classes (Gina) and a day at the beach (Carly & Haley). Joe and I explored the historic River Street, had lunch at Spanky's, then left the historic area for some shopping and exploring elsewhere in the city. Day 3 - also excellent!!

That evening, I spent two hours in the hotel room, organizing my Savannah photos and adding text to create a slide show to post here.  Halfway through, it all went away. I decided to take the high road, and not curse (LOL). I'll re-do it later, and will have more photos to add, so photos will be coming.

Day 4: on the road for a 10-hour drive to Ohio. Turned into a 14 hour drive, because of a bad wreck on a mountain hill, in the rain. A tractor-trailer turned over and spilled diesel fuel all over I-77. Thankfully, we were a half mile behind it, but joined hundreds of motorists stuck in the back-up. We turned off motors and joined others - camaraderie was good, and we were all happy to learn that the truck driver was not killed. We had to jockey our vehicles to allow emergency vehicles to pass on the left, including the haz-mat trucks. Being close to the accident allowed us to clear out quickly, once they opened one lane. Could have been much worse, and we counted our blessings. Arrived safely at my sister's house, around 9:00 p.m. She kept dinner warm for us! :)

Day 5: that's today! Our niece, Kelly, graduates tonight. More family will be arriving this afternoon, and the big party is tomorrow. As promised, more photos will follow!!

You have all been in my thoughts, and daily prayers continue for those requested.  I will try to catch up on your posts as best I can.  I won't have internet access when we get to my grandmother's on Sunday, until we arrive at a hotel in Chattanooga, on Tuesday evening.  

Peace, love & hugs!!

Day Two - Road Trip May 2013

We had a very full and busy day! I will post photos later, for a visual tour of what we saw, but we had a great time today with three of our nieces and the boyfriend of one.  We met them for lunch, toured the Savannah College of Art & Design Art Museum with them, then met them later for dinner at Saigon Bistro.  We will meet the girls in the morning, for breakfast.

Joe and I toured Old Savannah this morning, the City Market, and two of the three buildings of the Telfair Museum. We had a wonderful time!!  More tomorrow!!

Carly D'Orsaneo, Haley D'Orsaneo, Stephen (Gina's boyfriend), and Gina Keller (her mom is a D'Orsaneo).  Of course, you recognize Joe and me, hiding in the back!!

Day One, May 2013 Road Trip...

Our vacation road trip started with breakfast at IHOP, since we had used all the eggs, coffee and milk in our house.  Nice excuse for having someone else make breakfast!!  While there, we finally connected with St. Augustine Sheila!!  Hooray!!  

Our second stop then, after IHOP, was St. Augustine.  St. Augustine is about 2.5 hours from Lakeland. We cruised through Orlando with no bad traffic at all.  Rarely happens, because of the Disney traffic, but I think getting on the road at 9:30 a.m. made a difference - we missed the "rush hour".  We got to St. Augustine at a perfect time for lunch, and we met Sheila at a lovely little pub/restaurant in Old St. Augustine.  We talked and talked and discovered that we know a few of the same people in Lakeland. Small world, for sure!!  

Sheila is delightful, and I am so happy we got to meet in person. I look forward to seeing her again, since we are not too far away from each other! She is a very private person, which I respect, so when I requested a photo, she agreed to this one....

Joe snapped the photo, and I wasn't thinking about having the window behind us.  It is rather distorted because of that, but I got my picture with Sheila!!  She took one of Joe and me, and maybe she will post it on her blog!!

We continued on to Savannah, GA, and are now settled into our very comfortable room near Old Savannah.  We spoke with our niece, Gina, and have plans to meet her and our two other nieces, Carly & Haley (who are here visiting Gina) tomorrow. Gina will give us a tour of her school (Savannah College of Art & Design) and some of the galleries and museums. We will have lunch and (hopefully) dinner with them. Joe and I will do the historic Savannah tour on Wednesday (tickets came with our hotel room). I plan to take lots of photos over the next two days!!

I also want to show you this photo of Onyx, sleeping on Joe's suitcase. It was hard to leave our fur-children today. Going away for a weekend isn't too bad, but almost two weeks is a very long time. Sigh.  At least we know they are being well cared for. 

Wishing you a good Tuesday!  Peace, love & hugs!!

Attn: St. Augustine Sheila....

One of my blogging friends, Sheila, lives in (or near) St. Augustine, and we have been trying to connect so we can meet as we head out tomorrow.  St. Augustine would be a great place for our first stop along the way, and meeting another blogging friend in person would be "icing on the cake" so I'm hoping (you) she sees this!  My email is  tdorsaneo@gmail.com  So Sheila, if it is possible to do this, please email me so we can get some information.  How fun this will be!!

We are nearly packed, the pork roast and potatoes are in the crock pot for company at 4:00 and I only have a couple more loads of laundry to finish tonight.  When we start out, the house will be clean and the laundry as caught up as possible. Whew.

The cats know something is up. They want attention and it is breaking my heart. I hate being away for so long, but I know they will be well cared for.

I need to bake an angel food/pineapple cake for our dessert, and we can take leftovers with us. It will make a good snack in the hotel room for us (if there are leftovers).

Still things to do. Is it worth it?  Yes, I think it definitely is. Especially connecting with family, friends, and blogging friends along the way!!

Peace, love & hugs!!

Saturday & the Countdown Begins....

We slept in until 8:30 today, and it was wonderful!  We got up and hit the ground running, though. 

The house is clean; the pool has been taken care of with chemicals and a backwash; we went out for dinner, then to the grocery for a few things we need for the dinner tomorrow. The laundry is caught up, though I will do sheets and another load or two tomorrow evening. The suitcases are out and are starting to fill up with things we will need. It feels like we are going for a month, rather than just 12 days. We always take too much when we go in the car - because we can.  Joe says we always look like road gypsies. LOL  The only things we can't take are our sweet kitties!  Onyx was sleeping on one of the suitcases all afternoon.  I will miss my babies.

I really have no other news today.  Thanks for checking in, and for your prayers during our journey!  Peace, love & hugs.

Angels Watching?!

It was a stressful day for Joe and me both.  My day was just non-stop, including working through lunch, to get everything caught up, so that I felt comfortable taking the next two weeks off.  I work for a small organization, and there is no one else to do the work I do. When I get back, I only want two weeks to work through, and not a backlog from this past week, too.  Well, I got it all done, and just when I was feeling pretty smug and proud of myself, the phone rang.

Joe was sitting in a parking lot, in MY car, with a flat tire.  He took my car today, to our favorite mechanic (and friend from church) so he could get the oil changed, the fluids filled, and just a general check-over before our trip.  My Kia Sportage is much more comfortable than his Kia Spectra, and I do all the driving anyway, so prefer my car for long trips, especially.

He was waiting for AAA to show up.  By the time I got there, he was gone, so I came on home. The car was in the driveway, with the donut tire on (little spare).  We went to Sam's Club, but they didn't have the right size tires, so we left there for Walmart.  Walmart had what we needed (and we decided on two new tires), but there were three cars ahead of us, so it would be a couple of hours.  Just what we needed to hear, both of us being worn out.

We walked over to Zaxby's (a chicken place) for some dinner and wasted an hour there, then we walked back to Walmart and did some shopping. We got a few sugar-free snacks for the trip, some wiper fluid for the car and new wiper blades. We wasted the two hours and got some exercise, so I guess that was good.

While we were at Zaxby's, I told Joe that we needed to be happy about the flat, because I have already started praying for a safe trip. I think the Angels were watching over us, and this flat made us get two new tires. The tread was really worn on only two tires, one of them being the one that had picked up a nail or screw. Had it blown going 70 mph on the interstate, it could have been really bad.  I feel so protected and am so thankful! The last time I got four new tires was four years ago, so I am happy two of them are still okay (according to the tire guy at Walmart).

Joe also had my car washed and cleaned out at the local car wash.  He needed to spend a few hours at his client's office, as well as get some other work transferred to his laptop so he could take it with him. That is the part giving him fits. He can't get his software to work on the laptop and his stress levels are as high as mine were.  We are both ready for our vacation!

Now, I need to get caught up here at home.  Cleaning, laundry, packing and making dinner for the neighbors on both side of us, on Sunday afternoon. So thankful for good neighbors who are happy to take care of our fur-babies and watch the house while we are gone. Blessed.

Wishing you a blessed weekend!  Peace, love & hugs.

Thursday (not a throwback)...

I am so far behind on catching up with your blogs!  Promise to get there.  I love using Feedly, and thank Judy for suggesting it to me.  It is working well, and I don't miss Google Reader at all.  Feedly will keep all my unread blogs in an orderly list for me.  Have any of you switched to another reader yet.  Google Reader goes away July 1.

Today was a good day to catch up. I got payroll done and several other things on my to-do list.  I also had the pleasure of attending a luncheon, with three of my co-workers.  The luncheon was to give awards to three of their top volunteers, who made a difference in girls' lives during the past year.  Girls, Inc. is a wonderful organization, inspiring girls to be strong, smart and bold.  My friend and co-worker, Pal, is on the Board of Girls Inc.  Here is more information, if you are interested:  http://www.girlsinc.org/about/index.html

It was an inspiring program, and lunch was good, too.  I hope you have had a good Thursday and I wish you a blessed Friday!!

Sandy, PR & Marketing; Lisa, Membership; and Pal, Executive Assistant

Lovely women who are a joy to work with!

Peace, love & hugs!

To Do Lists.....

From yesterday's post, it seems we are all list makers!  I call my lists, my paper brains!  LOL

I even have a little program on my computers called "Stickies" so I can have a to-do list right on my desktop.

I finished my financial reports today, so that is a big one to get off my desk. I do payroll tomorrow, and will have to go to the bank and also pay bills on Friday. I had lunch with Helen and Cheryl today, which was nice. Tomorrow I go to a luncheon for Girls Inc., with some co-workers.  I'm shuffling things off my home to-do list, because I'll start to stress over things that don't HAVE to be done before we leave.  Should be, but don't have to be. We have to pick our battles.

Talked with our son, Joe, this evening.  He and Darlene (and the two puppies) are coming down for two weeks at the end of June. We will look forward to that!!

That's all for another late post!  No Hodgepodge this week.  I hope you have had a good day, and I wish you a good Thursday!

Tuesday - LATE!!

Oh my gosh! I just realized I hadn't posted today.  I don't have a new photo to share, and not really any news worth boring you with.  Work is busy, trying to work ahead in preparation for my vacation - including getting the last payroll of the month to the bank for direct deposit on the proper day.  I'll be missing a Board meeting, and the presentation of our 2014 budget. Doing everything I can to make sure it all goes smoothly for those pitching in for me.

Home - same thing.  I did some mending tonight. I keep thinking I have lots of time, since we aren't leaving until Monday, but it sure seems to be going faster than fast! I've started making lists and piles....

Wishing you all a restful night and a good Wednesday!  Peace, love & hugs.

The Monday After Mayfaire....

Well, we all made it through another Mayfaire, though everyone at work today is pretty much tapped out.  I planned to have the afternoon off.  Joe and I are updating our wills, and wanted to get it done before we left on our road trip, so a nap may be in order for me, after our visit with the attorney.

Crazy week for me, with lots of catching up to get done.  The car has to go in for an oil change and check-over before we leave, too, and we are getting the neighbors on both sides together, for dinner, on Sunday, since they are both going to watch the house and pets while we are gone. God bless our neighbors!

I was looking out my window this morning, and just happened to catch this photo.  There was some noise, which drew me to the window. Parents were lined up to drop their kids off for school. We have the Montessori Middle School here, in our two classrooms, during the school year (we are an official Polk County school site).  I was taken by the beautiful dog, watching his child go off to school. A sweet image, even though it didn't take too well through my window.  I'll leave you with this, and wish you a good evening!  Peace, love & hugs!

Mayfaire Sunday...

I posted enough photos yesterday, so didn't even take any today....they would just be more of the same.

Happy Mother's Day to everyone who raised or helped to raise young'uns!  I hope you are having a nice day!

Joe and I will go to Peking House for dinner tonight, when Mayfaire ends.  He was here and took me to lunch.  I got a skewer of coconut shrimp, which were good - but there were only three on the stick and it cost $8.00!!  Good grief!  I don't want to eat much, anyway, since we will get Chinese for dinner, but a couple more shrimp would have been nice for the price!

I sent Joe home around 1:00.  He doesn't need to hang around here - I'm in my office getting lots of work caught up, which is a very good thing, since we will be gone for two weeks at the end of the month (only one week to go!).  I'll call him when I leave here, and he will meet me at the restaurant. That will work just fine, since it is about half-way between the Museum and home. Going to Peking House, after Mayfaire, has become a tradition for us. Actually, going to Peking House at any time is kind of a tradition with us!!  LOL

I started laundry last night, and we did not go to Lake Mirror for the Saturday nite party and fireworks. Once I got home, all I wanted to do was  park it.  Our PR person told me this morning, that there were around 12,000 people there!! It was a nice evening for it.  The operations team (who work for me) didn't get done until nearly midnight, and they were back here at 6:30 this morning. They are younger than me, thank goodness! And it is only once a year, but it's still a killer.  Bless them!

My knees held up pretty good yesterday.  I didn't walk far today, but they are still doing okay. Minimal pain, and I don't feel any fluid building up. Yeah!!

I need to go see if they need anything in the Museum tent.  The t-shirts are selling well!

Again - wishing you a wonderful Mother's Day/Sunday!!!  Peace, love & hugs.

Mayfaire Saturday!!!

We are halfway into our first day of Mayfaire!  Joe is out driving one of the parking lot shuttles for a two-hour shift, and I am back in my office, cooling off!  It is HOT out there! We just had a spurt of rain, though, and I think it may have cooled things off a bit.  The front has blown over, and the sun is shining again.  

I took some photos to share.  The first few are from the preview party last night, before the over 100 people arrived.  It is a nice kick-off for Mayfaire.  There is a charge to get in, so we are able to make it nicer than we can do for the freebies.  Texas Cattle Co. (a local upscale restaurant) did the food, and it was fabulous.  Billy Needs a Beard was the band we hired. They are local, and very good, with a nice following.  The rest were taken when Joe and I went out to look at the art and get some lunch today.  I had a crab cake and rice.  Joe had Italian sausage with peppers and onions. We have an entertainment stage, too, where lots of local talent show off, including belly dancers, and a combo of children on stringed instruments. Sorry that the quality of a few is off. I must have had a smear of something across the lens.

I have heat wraps and my knee braces on.  They hurt, but I did okay walking a bit. I'm not ready to go back out, however! We may skip the party tonight, though I would love to see the fireworks. We'll see.  Here are more photos than you want to see.  I'll tell you first that the festival goes about 2/3 around Lake Morton, which is one mile around.  Lake Morton is our bird sanctuary, and is where our wonderful swans live.  Lakeland is known as 'The City of Swans'.  They are nesting right now, and we ate our lunch at a table very close to one of the nests.  Some of the signets have hatched, but this momma was still sitting on eggs.

Wishing you a good Saturday afternoon & evening, and (to all the moms) a wonderful Mother's Day!  Peace, love & hugs!!

Some Friday Ideas.....

My BFF, Elaine, sent me an email with these great re-purposing/recycling ideas.  I've seen a few of them before, but many are new!  Very clever, don't you think?!

 

 We are into Mayfaire, up to our ears now. The artists start arriving today. Our newspaper had a great article about it in this morning's  paper, showcasing some of the artists.  Here is the link, if you are interested:  http://www.theledger.com/article/20130509/ENT/305105002/1326?Title=Meet-Artists-in-11-of-the-Mediums-Showcased-at-Mayfaire-by-the-Lake

I'll be checking in as I can this weekend!!  Wishing you all a great Friday!  Peace, love & hugs.  

I re-posted the photos. Please let me know if you can see them now!