end of Spring, beginning of Summer

So the month of May is in it's final days which brings the magic of Summer to all of us. As I reflect on what transpired during the end of Spring, I look forward to what will develop during the upcoming Summer months. The Spring came to an abrupt halt at the beginning of the month. All of a sudden 90 degree temps hit us and the sheen of humidity was upon our skin, soaking through our clothes and reminding us that it was now time for the air conditioner in our home and car. At the end of spring my garden was in it's infancy.

The tomato plants have produced a eenny bitty tiny tomato that I picked this week. We have enjoyed the basil, cilantro and chives. The cabbage I know has a way to grow still.

The lavender at the end of the season will be a wonderful joy to dry and savor the flavor.  I learned alot and will continue to develop my skills as a small yard gardener.





The middle of the month we celebrated Mother's Day at Epcot viewing the annual flower show. My favorite peice of the show was the Fairie Garden with the butterflys flying all around.

As for the last week of May I have been on staycation. I sewed for 2 of those days creating a new look for the living room. I wanted a softer beachy feel for the summer and I feel that I achieved that. Lots of hand sewing, which made me realize why I do not cross stitch any longer. Was able to read a couple of books, spend some time at the pool, have my hair touched up and finally be a photographer for Carey and Stephanie during their home inspection. Now it is back to work in 2 days and counting down to our annual vacation with Bonnie and Rob on North Captiva Island. Can not wait for the middle of the summer to be here. Hoping all enjoy the beginnings of summer.

end of April

it is so hard to believe that another month of 2010 is almost over.
Where did it go? I just finished catchng up on all of the blogs i follow and lurk and am amazed at what everyone is up to, what accomplishments have happened and what is in the future. Can not wait to see how all dreams develop.

Dago and I flew over to New Orleans last weekend for celebrations. His mother was 70 and Terri was 50. How do you celebrate in April? CRAWFISH boils. Yes, we ate crawfish all weekend and they were delicious. Janet flew in from CO to help with the Terri celebration. It was a mini BBW reunion. We had so much fun, catching up, shopping, eating, and just having a great time. And we did live up to our anagram (that would be Bitchy Bead Whores). No we did not catch and be greedy about beads, but just had some great moments with each other. Dago was able to spend time with Monica and Martha with Elijah in the emergency room getting stitches in his head. Poor guy he and CJ just decided to bump heads at the end of our first crawfish boil. I then spent the balance of the afternoon with Jacki and CJ. Rocko was not a happy camper when we returned, I guess life at the Ryan household must really be great, especially playing with his cousins Jack and Nanook. He kinda ignored us for a day. I am a little stressed at work, but things most likely will be unstressed within 2 or 3 weeks. Will keep all posted. Hope all ends their April showers with lots of sunshine, I know after tonight that is what i am wishing for.

april

just a catch up blog.
easter was great with cimi and randy.
jack, nanook and rocko enjoyed playing and catching up with each other.
thanks randy for getting my computer fixed.
just in time for taxes.
and the 2nd time around we still did not get a refund this year.
on vacation this week.
monday was tax day
tuesday is disney day
wednesday is cleaning up the guest rooms day
thursday is packing for new orleans on
friday off to visit the BBW's for terri's 50th
gonna eat crawfish all weekend, yummy
rocko will be visiting his cousins, thanks aunt cimi for having me over, be careful this time when you walk me, i don't want any accidents.

Friends

What a joy it is to have a friend that you are able to do absolutely nothing with. Terri flew into town Thursday after work. Dago had Tijuana Flats for us and of course you can never have a vacation without doing a grocery run. We choose Pub lix of course and anyone who has ever had carrot cake knows that Pub lix does have the best one out there.

Then Friday morning we got up with Dago to wish him a happy day and it was off to Cocoa Beach to spend a couple of days with Terri's sister, Cindy and her beau Brian. Cindy and Brian have a condo right on the beach. Could life be any better?

And two hours later we were set up on the beach for the day. Terri had given Cindy a "beach table" like the one that Cimi and Randy had given to Dago years ago for his birthday and Cindy had chairs, umbrellas, towels, snacks, water and great chemo stories for us that afternoon. We had a great time just sharing memories, getting bit by fish, sunning, lots of sand and just enjoying the simplicity of life. Dinner was fish tacos down the road when Brian came home. Then off to the condo to watch the lightning storms. Saturday was a repeat of Friday, with a sunset included in the day.

On Sunday morning I got up with the sunrise, which was great. As i strolled along in the surf I made sure to pick up whatever did not belong so it would not get washed back out when the tide came in. It is amazing that such

small things can really mess wonderful things up.

Captiva 2009

So another year in Captiva has come and gone. This year we spent an entire week there and needless to say, did not want to come back to city life. This was the 4th year that we have spent the 4th with Bonnie and Rob. This year their daughter, Olivia joined us. As always a great time was had by all.

Just a few of our thoughts on our last night there, live star fish, dolphins swimming 20 feet from us, and a manatee passing by, a bat flying for Bonnie, cockroaches on the patio under our feet, can we say JUMP, multiple lizards named George visiting, spiders and webs through the foliage, crabs telling us good morning, and then a crab biting Bonnie on the butt in the ocean, she freaked out cause she thought it was seaweed, the crab had gone postal, Rob finding the best shells on Bowman's Beach, Rob-Marco, Polo with Andrew his new man friend, painting coconuts, flying kites, shelling every day, boogie boarding, shopping, some body surfing, Olivia fishing and catching a big snooker, rain showers in the afternoon, Mexican food our last night, bad margaritas, screwdrivers, wine, great dinners, excellent lunches, great company with great friends, cute little cottage (Bette Davis had it built), no Shell Museum again, Michael Jackson on TV, 6am morning walks along the beach, real rough water, no floating in the ocean, water shoes, cut feet, how many corona beer boxes were down the street, five million dollar after dinner drink house, tikki torches, Dago and new swim shorts, torn up pedicures, sun poisoning, sitting under the umbrella, long sleeve t shirt, not swim suits, but sunning suits, guide dog on the beach, mutts on the beach, sand exfoliation, sunsets, dirty sunglasses, Olivia passed out on the beach, driving down to setup everyday, breaking in, who's got the key, outside showers, early bedtimes, Captiva 2009 sand and shell sculpture on the beach, ice cream, big red chair, are there any limes, where are my sunglasses, head wraps, keys and of course the mesh bags, towels, where's Dago, great laundry and sheets, "TIGHT", aggravating phone calls, Dago always swimming, Bonnie and Olivia being cold in the cottage, calves that hurt, hamstrings hurting worse, feet worn out and doing quads daily, Captiva Stoop, and then the long drive home. Hope you all enjoy the memories. Next year can not come fast enough.

slow to update

Sunday look for a current update. Captiva vacation, back to work and a deep dive.

wrapping the vacation up

I did do everything on my list to some degree so you could say that i was not all that lazy during this vacation. Saturday found me scrapping with Cimi. I thought that since everyone started out the week with a photo of bad hair and no makeup, but we did have pie, that you should have one with decent hair, some makeup and chocolate pound cake. I finished up the wedding album, 3 years and 2 months after. Just have to do some journalling. I think the next photo project will be Janet and Todd's wedding vacation trip that we took almost 10 years ago to Colorado. I did do a memory book for her, but nothing for us. Tonite we go to Bonnie and Rob's for the Survivor ending. Jacki just called and Dago is on his way to pick her up so she will be joining us. What a surprise. So tomorrow back to the world of Macy's at the mall of Millenia. Everyone have a great week.

May vacation

So what does a girl do when she doesn't have a vacation trip planned? (in no order)

1-clean house?

2-cook?

3-iron?

4-catch up the shows?

5-visit?

6-shop?

7-decorate?

8-lay by the pool?

9-do some work?

10-play with Rocko?

11-nap?

12-read?

13-scrap?

14-organize messes?

15-gardening?

16-all of the above?

So here is a pic of what I have done besides #1,2,4,7,11! I am only into day 3 of the vacation so I most likely can do some other things on the list. The bigger question is why? Do we always have to stay busy or can we focus on the important things in life? Something that I have been asking myself for a long time. I believe that everyone makes choices, but we all always forget about the most important choice and that is what makes and keeps YOU happy! So have a HAPPY week and I will let you know Sunday how the May vacation turns out, who knows?

last two days in Virginia

OK, so i have now been in Virgina for a week. could it be any colder?

on Tues we had snow. it was really pretty for this Florida girl. I took lots of pictures, made a snowman and also shoveled the snow off of the front walkway. that was my thing to DO for Jim, i have tried to DO something for him everyday.

with the snow yesterday we did not leave the house. can i tell you that being cooped up without a beach to look at can drive you crazy?

i also have had a meltdown while here, there is a part of me that does want to fix things (are you laughing Cimi?) and another that always wants to have positive things around me. so for all of you that received my email, i apologize.

since being in Virginia, i have had the opportunity to get lost in dc, mother had to walk the entire time and did very well. we visited the Holocaust museum, depressing entering the box car and in awe of the room from floor to ceiling pictures of a village. we went to a see grand torino with Clint Eastwood, it was good and sad all at the same time. we have gone shopping and let me tell you that the service at this walmart sucks. i did find the item that i was looking from the moment i stepped off the plane, how exciting is that. all in all it has been an interesting week.

I have gotten to visit with Jackson and Ashley and Craig. and now i only have one more day here and then i go home and back to my life, which i do miss.

could it be any colder?

DO something warm

20 degrees

just some pictures of my first day here in Virginia, visiting Jackson Emmerton. oh, and i am also here to watch over mother while chris recuperates from having a little minor surgery on her nerves.

so this am, jim took chris to the hospital to do the surgery thing. i got up and spent the morning at church with mother and then we went and had mexican for lunch. this afternoon we watched "88 Minutes" with Al Pacino, predictable at best, i had it figured out half way through. took that daily vacation nap and then jim brought chris home, fixed dinner and now i am in my room letting all of you know what is going on. the agenda for tomorrow is to take chris and mother to alexandria for a day trip.

it should be 40 degrees.

Black vs White, Iron vs Dryer

Vacation Day 6

Yesterday, I had this great idea to dye all of the black clothes that have faded. I did not know that there is an entire process for dying. I forgot those old days of tye dying t shirts when I was younger. Anyway, Macy's has a black dress code. I of course love cotton and linen. We all know that dark colors fade after washing several times. I had collected 13 black tops vs 19 white tops, 4 black suits, no white ones, 6 black skirts vs 1 white and lots of prints, 1 black pant vs lots of crops and 1 black dress vs 1 white. I love white tops. They are my favorite. Steph you keep all of your white T's as you never have enough. Back to the dying, I did it the "old fashioned" way, which is boiling water and seeping your clothes. All in all it took over 3 hours to do this process. So then it was on the drying rack for all. Now all I have to do is iron.

I spent this morning ironing all of my clothes that needed it. Started around 930a and finished up at 1130a. I never realized how wonderful clothes look when ironed, yes Carey, I even ironed all of the t shirts! And to think I actually did something productive that will keep me dressed for work for at least 3 weeks.

But back to black vs white. I hate black clothes, they are depressing and only really look good at black tie affairs. White on the other hand gives everyone the look of being cool and comfortable. Plus White never fades and you can always make white whiter!

Vacation Day 4 update

Oh, forgot to mention, that if anyone needs a great shampoo, call Cimi, she is the best!

Vacation day 4

The pic is a frog clinging to the window with Rocko trying to lick him off. So my vacation is now in full swing. Just getting things done around the house. Having family and friends over for a Labor Day BBQ, and NOT mentioning Gustav. But hey we do live in Florida and they are just lined up waiting to get here and to give all of the weather forecasters an exciting broadcast. For those wondering what everyone did for the not to be mentioned storm, Dago's mother, dad, sister and family and brother and family all went to Santa Rosa Beach. Monica and the boys went to Dallas and Martha went to Baton Rouge. Terri, Tom and Kay went up to Arkansas. Everyone is now anxious to get back and I just keep calling and giving them updates. Looks as if Terri and krewe come back tomorrow. Monica and Martha can get back in on Wednesday also, but the Orleans Parish krewe can not come back until Thursday or Friday. Luis, Dago's other brother stayed in New Orleans and all was fine he said. He is ready for all to come back, especially as the criminal element will get into the city and is now worried about everyones homes. Enough hurricane news, you know that I will keep all of you up with what is going on. On to vacation stuff. Of course the most important thing was to get my hair done by Jessica today. Love Cimi, who sneaks in as she knows that it will be cool. Her hair looks great and I have to say that mine does too. Got home and sat down with Manny to fill out several on line job apps, Home Depot, Lowes, UPS and scrolled through the wanted ads. We decided to have animated discussions regarding his "I did not have a choice" time here in Orlando. Guys and their testestorone, what are you going to do with it. His biggest concern is Emily. Mine is his life. mmmm any thoughts anyone? Tomorrow we will finally enter the age of HD TV as we are finally getting Direct TV HD installed! Needless to say Dago is thrilled, he has the Football Package and now he gets to see any game he wants in HD. Gosh, I am so excited :) Cimi and I are going to go and see the new Marshalls that just opened up close to our homes. Another exciting day. I hope I can find some sunshine somewhere to keep my tan alive, but if no real sun there are always those tanning beds. If I feel that there is enough time left in the day I think I will clean out my closet, so I can make more room for Manny in his room. So at this point that is all I have planned.

last saturday before going back to work

My July vacation is ending. Today i got up early and met Cimi at her house cause we made our annual trip to the Hallmark store to get those collectibles that we both collect. Cimi decided that we should be there at 9a and I do have to compliment her on her timing. We were in and out spending our money on those collectibles that we collect within a half hour. Then we drove back to her house cause she wanted to drive by this garage sale. We could not find it. It was the fastest garage sale that we had ever passed. mmmmmmm

I have now finished cleaning my house, completing the weeks laundry and also ironing all of my clothes for the upcoming week at work. Life is easy when you only have to figure out shirts since all I wear are black suits.

I have spent quality time this week at the pool, reading trash novels and keeping Rocko company. I did have a facial by Jacki, who has the best method for relaxing you in a very short time.

For the 4th Dago and I drove to Captivia for some wonderful beach time. This was our 3rd year spending the holiday with Bonnie and Rob. Each year we have upgraded our lodgings and this year was the best by far. We had the 3rd floor of the big house at the Old Captiva Inn on Andy Rosse lane. It was great. Our private balcony that overlooked the lane and we could enjoy the live music each evening from the Keylime Bistro.

This year we had the best idea, we stole it from someone last year. Bonnie and I had a weight that tied to our rafts that kept us from going out into the wild yonder of the Gulf of Mexico. This was one of the best conversation starters I have experienced this past year. A truly relaxing vacation and I wish I was still there, but there is always next year.

Would love to hear your comments. Thanks for letting me be a part of your blogging world.