RELAX!

Each day doesn’t have to be hustle and bustle, does it?
Today we decided to just take it slow and relax…
And why not I say, after all we are a small group of three slower movers, which would cause any one of us to consider being called, dare I say… the “R” word, RETIRED people! But of course whatever did you think I was going to say? Oh you thought I was going to use that nasty one that Sarah Palin has nixed as not Politically Correct for describing youngsters with neurological chromosomal birth defects such as her own adorable youngest offspring. No, of course not, I would never say the word RETARDED in that context, but for describing myself it is accurate, since I am getting slower daily, because of my own neurological non birth defect called “MS”, Multiple Sclerosis, yep just nickname me that, “R”!

And I had another weird experience today where a book that I enjoy to look at for telling what type of birds are in the yard as well as other creatures, since that is what we were doing most of the day, just sitting and watching those little avian critters, eat our seed put out especially for them, bathe in the birdbath nearby it or flutter off to the pond fountain to drink and play within that shower. That book of nature felt like it weighed ten pounds! I haven’t had that odd a thing happen to me since around 1997, if I recall, when I thought the Mall locked their doors and me in, scary! An elderly gentleman tried the doors and opened them so easily I was visibly embarrassed, but thanked him. Till this day I have no idea why that happened and why today I experienced a similar affect.

We ate well at home, Hubby and I made homemade soup that we all enjoyed he and his Mom had soup and sandwiches and I soup and salad. I had made eggs for breakfast, and chops were barbequed for dinner with baked potatoes with cauliflower and broccoli and fruit bowls of pineapples and strawberries, mmmmmm so good!

On that mouth watering thought I will wish you all a very good night and to all count those blessings and we will too!

The tour ensued...

Today we had many stops to accomplish to give Mom the tour of our city, but not really a city since we are not incorporated, whatever that means. We do have a name to our tiny little hamlet, and its Port Charlotte, but yet in all the fifteen years that we have been living on this coast of the state, the west side or left coast as the locals say, I have never ever found the port of Charlotte?
Oh well, such is Florida and its quirky ways that we have somewhat adapted to and have not affected our way of doing things one iota.

Ah… you wish to know where we went on the grand tour, and if you are good and quiet I may tell you…first Mom and we, Hubby and me that is, all got ready to go out by dressing for the occasion.
And Mom found fault with her hair and felt the need to cut her coif.
So back to my hair stylists of the reasonable kind, and Mom got the clip she requested after changing her mind only once!

Then on to the independent living facility that I want to move to when I need to get a life!
All your needs are answered there from health, entertaining, exercise workout room, physical therapy, meals, which they gave us a sampling of, lunch that is, heated swimming pool, Bingo, did I mention Bingo, of course I did twice! Mom loves Bingo, dancing, maid service, doctors, bus and limo service, emergency service, fire sprinkler systems for each and every room, etc., and to top it all off a large quantity of contemporaries in the octo set that is octogenarian’s folks for the youngins.

And after that visit we asked Mom if she liked it and of course she did, but then started making those typical Mom excuses about all her stuff and all… but we waylaid those excuses with giving her logical reasons of why not to worry like putting her things in storage and then shipping them down here, she has the funds to make the move without the sale of her condo and doesn’t have to worry as much as she keeps thinking she does. We will be going to one more place of the similar concept but much more expensive without half of the extras this one includes and so we are really trying to encourage her to make a decision, but that’s part of her many problems. Plus she tried using a credit card that she forgot the account that was closed due to her daughter at the hair salon, but then found another that worked. When we got home Hubby cut it up so she wouldn’t try it again. And then I solved her other credit bill problem to try and find out what was charged and why the bill was over due, of course she forgot to pay it and had late charges and finance charges! We need her down here pronto; she is not doing well on her own. She has enough money but forgets to pay things and for monthly regular things it is directly taken out of her bank account but apparently this, the credit card confusion is all stemming from the backlash still from her daughter’s reign of terror of stealing her monies and trying to commit her!

After the independent living facility we went on to the Cultural Center for that round about, and a refresher her memory course for she had been there many a time in the past, but it was all new to her sadly or maybe not, I suppose it is all in the way you look at things, eh?

On that curious observation I will bid you all a good night and ask you to count those blessings and we will too!

Mom arrived safe and sound!

We left earlier than we originally planned to since according to the online info for her flight it said that they had apparently picked up a tail wind, and would be arriving forty minutes early!

Funny though, as it turned out when we arrived at the airport that was changed back to the original time, eh?

And so we were quite early, but that was good in a way since when we tried finding the short term parking it wasn’t listed on any of the signs and so we found out how a round about goes, and around and around we went, until we finally asked an airport employee where we should go. (You know how it is ladies men never want to act like they don’t know where they are going, although I kept pointing that he was going the wrong way! All I know is that when Hubby kept insisting on following the sign that said where to return the car rentals this way, he wouldn’t listen to me that it was NOT the right way to go so we went around three times!)
At the airport our eldest finally called back and said he will be visiting us on Thursday, hooray!

And then we had to go up to the second level for parking and park outside not under the floors inside or in any available handicap spots, since there weren’t any.
That’s another thing… one thing I hate almost as much as a healthy person parking in a handicap spot is one that uses the handicap bathroom, and that happened to me today too!
Boy, some people…but I guess she really had to go.
Maybe she had an invisible disability that I missed…who knows…oh well…

Anywho, we took Mom to a nice chain restaurant for lunch, Uno Chicago Grill: copy and paste to find a location near you: http://www.unos.com/ not far from the airport nearby a few nice hotels. The food was reasonably priced and very good, we all could have won the clean plate award since not a bite was left for even a doggy bag!

Unfortunately, I75 had an accident on it on the way home and so the return trip took a wee bit longer than it should have; not a great welcome to Florida but what can you do?

Mom appears happy with her accommodations and when we came home after I took her on a short renewal tour of the compound we sat and chatted outside in the backyard and watched the birds.

We had several emails when we returned and one was from Mom’s eldest son asking when Mom would be arriving, he thought it was today but wasn’t sure, and so Mom will be calling him later. He’s the one in Washington State.

Well, that was all she wrote tonight folks and have a good one, in other words good night to all and to all count those blessings and we will too!

PS Today would have been my parents 69th Wedding Anniversary!

We have been busy in preparation...

For Hubby’s Mom’s arrival, she will be here tomorrow, and hopefully we will be able to have her enjoy her stay so much that she doesn’t want to leave!

Our eldest offspring has been notified and originally said he would clear his busy schedule to spend some time with all of us when she is here, he lives a few hours away.

But yesterday he tried calling me while we were in the big warehouse store, and our phone was full of static, which doesn’t ordinarily happen unless the metal structure of the building was interfering on both of our phones, ours is quite old, but his is brand new, so probably not his.

I thought perhaps he would call back, and he still might but he was on his way to work at the time, and yes he does work Sundays, but is off at the end of the week for three days at a time, since he works four ten hour shifts.

We have been mostly buying things to eat, and so we often go to the big box store for coffee, water, paper goods, fish and the like.

And we also had a few more items for Hubby to get from the home store, more garden ties, since he has a plan to make a diamond pattern around our Tangelo tree, someday maybe it will be big enough for a bench too!
This morning we went to my favorite outlet store to pick up a couple more blouses for me to go with slacks and dresses I already have, and today is the 15% off day for the fifty and over crowd. All but one fit. Also to find some large discounted frames, which we did, we found 8X10’s, two of them for about four dollars each, not too bad. I painted them, they were stained wood but now they are sort of Shabby Chic in bluish greenish antique tones from my acrylic paint collection. I have painted many frames before; it’s so much fun, and one of the easier and cheaper forms of arts and crafts and a way to change decorating spaces. The pictures in them are vintage Victorian looking, one was sent to me by email, and has a funny saying ( a bunch of homely women expressing their feelings during prohibition, but it couldn’t be since their dress is bustles and long dresses right out of the 1890’s I believe, and it says, “ Lips that touch liquor shall not touch ours” But honestly they are all too ugly( I don’t think they could have ever existed in reality) for words, and no one would really want to) and the other is just a vintage pompadour haired woman, both are in plain black and white, and are now all are hanging in my vintage style bathroom, looking great!

Next stop was to the grocery for things like cereal and fruit, way too big quantities at the warehouse store yesterday! One thing that was interesting the coffee was on sale and actually was twenty cents cheaper than what we paid at the big box store, and so we bought one more, in our house coffee does not last long!

And Mom’s room is all aired out and clean and the bed is made with clean sheets too, and fresh towels are handy, drawers are emptied and extra hangers available, even my collection of small sample products are in her last drawer for her to access in case she forgot anything, oh yeah, even writing cards with stamps are on her dresser! The trunk has been turned into a suitcase holder, did I forget anything I sure hope not. Tomorrow I will see if I will be putting fresh flowers in her room or leave them in the garden for her to admire…

On that note of decisive thinking I will bid you all a good night and to all count those blessings and we will too!

Smile it fools the brain!

Now, isn’t that lovely?
Have you ever talked yourself into or out of the doldrums?
Or have you ever verged on possible momentary depression?
Perhaps you would like to maintain that you have only had cabin fever or a bad day…
But if you are an honest human being you have suffered at one time or another of some form of any of the above euphemisms.

And I am here to tell you what to do the next time you are feeling those blues, and need a bit of cheeriness to chase that mood away… Well folks it’s as simple as this… ‘Smile it fools the brain!’ Besides it is contagious.
Haven’t you ever noticed?
I contend that you should try it, and be amazed at the results it will bring not only to you but to everyone you share it with!
Too simple you say.
Well, in life the best things in life are just that…simple.
Think of sunsets, sunrises, beautiful flowers, birds singing, butterflies winging, you name it its free and sure to make you smile!

MJ, Michael Jackson my friends knew the meaning of that song written by Charlie Chaplin for his movie Modern Times circa 1936 that song named ‘Smile’.

Smile Lyrics
Theme Music for Modern Times
(Music by Charles "Charlie" Chaplin -- Lyrics by John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons)
“Smile tho' your heart is aching,
Smile even tho' it's breaking,
When there are clouds in the sky
You'll get by,
If you smile
thro' your fear and sorrow,
Smile and maybe tomorrow,
You'll see the sun come shin-ing thro' for you
Light up your face with gladness,
Hide ev-'ry trace of sadness,
Al -'tho a tear may be ever so near,
That's the time,
You must keep on trying,
Smile, what's the use of crying,
You'll find that life is still worth-while,
If you just smile...”
I dare you to get this out of your head!
Keep on smiling world things will get better they can’t get any worse, buh duh dum!
Those were the bad days of the depression.
Funny how the more things change the more they stay the same, and sometimes even the cure is the same too…timeless!

Take care peeps and remember what Tobi says about smiling and you will get through anything, believe me!

Good night to all and to all count hose blessings and we will too!

The weather was just perfect today and the work continued...

No one can complain about today’s weather it was picture perfect.
Temps did rise above the high sixties into the mid-seventies just like what was predicted!

The work continued on the boardwalk also, and I was a happy sidewalk supervisor but I did it all from the comfort of our patio, and on one of our comfortable webbed chairs that meet your body where they need to; you know the kind, eh?

This is the life, gorgeous weather entertainment by the yard; make that in the yard, LOL!

Tonight is movie night here in our homeland video room, translation: living-room, the choice is 2012, a two and half hour plus marathon, that big time disaster flick. It was hyped quite a bit when it first came out into the theaters, and those trailers were really something, weren’t they? You know, that always makes me a teeny weenie bit skeptical, about the film’s quality.
Did you know that most movies in the theater go to DVD within seventeen weeks but for some it’s only about fourteen?
The theaters could use your bucks so don’t stop going by any means, you could make the economy that much worse folks, or start waiting for the DVD homeland theaters, but isn’t that interesting; I thought so, and so I wanted you all to know too.

The reason we stopped going to the theaters was not for any of the reasons you might think… oh sure the prices went up, but didn’t everything?
No, I could not sit for very long due to back problems, and I would have to get up frequently or stiffen up, and lavatory breaks too…oh well, and now its so much more non annoying for others that we wait to see those cinematic gems at home on our own pausing machine or even to play something over we may have missed seeing or not heard correctly, what have you? As you get on in age you too may agree that is the way to go, or not to go, just stay in.

I made my famous white clam sauce and angel hair pasta for dinner tonight, Hubby calls it Chinese food since we all do know the history of pasta actually coming from China, and with this meal we are usually hungry again a few hours later, why is that I wonder?

Any-who on that silly note I will bid you all a good night and to all count your blessings and we will too!

We have been told we are in for... a very nice weekend, and week too!

Let’s say it’s about time on our home front that, that should have happened.
This is Florida after all, and nice weather is what we are all about, eh?
Gosh, we are nicknamed, ‘The Sunshine State’, for a reason!

They, the meteorologists that is, are saying we should be almost back to our normal temperatures for this time of the year, you don’t know what our normal temps are?
Well, let me tell you, they are fifties during the night and mid-seventies in the day time hours, degrees that is.

But last night we had mid-forties and today it rose to the high sixties.
Marginally colder but we as Floridians know the difference, and we want our norms back big time!

Why six months after moving here, nearly twenty-four years ago, my blood diminished in thickness I do believe to the point where when the thermometer slid to sixty degrees, it was a reason to get out the woolies! But unfortunately we gave them away when we moved here! LOL I really hate the possibility of getting assimilated to these colder temperatures with then feeling that eighty could be hot instead of just warm enough!

Blood thins I do believe, but I have no biological proof or a way to know for sure, and if it even could be realistically a truism.

Anywho, our resistance to colder temperatures did go the way of our overcoats, and we much prefer lighter weight clothing items to garnish our bodies with.
Not so much for me these days, lesser clothing, but so long as no one can see me I will put my bathing suit on to go into our swimming pool, which is only right, eh, and proper attire for the job?
That’s another thing until that water temperature goes up to eighty-five in our pool no toes are going in!

The Gulf of Mexico is still; would you believe in the fifties?
The only good that could come from all of this chilliness is that El Nino will prevent our hurricane season from producing too many nasty storm threats, since cold Gulf water temperatures prevent hurricanes from forming. It’s the warm water that creates the appropriate climate for such horrendous things!
And so you can only imagine that we are hoping for our cold Gulf of Mexico water temperatures to continue so we maintain this five year trend of no direct hits of hurricanes, thank you very much.

We are already plunging into the fifties for this evening, but there is nothing I personally can do about it, except wait it out, and personally I have got all the time in the world!

So on that oblique note of compromise I will bid you all a very good night and remind you to count those blessings and we will too!