daffodil . . .

went to visit lee today in the hospital.

they make you dress up to go visit her because she is considered an infectious disease.  she names all the peeps who come visit her after yellow flowers.

i am daffodil spelled daffy-dill.  nothing wrong with her sense of humor.  you can't see my hands covered in rubber gloves.  i didn't kiss her hello or goodbye.  i'm a rotten friend but i don't want her cooties.  snort.

it's still spitting outside but depression #9 is now headed north enough that our county is out of the danger zone.  now mother nature could you please arrange that for my friend sue as well.  please.

i know i have to go clean the front gutter but i don't want to.  signed, the brat.  better afternoon for a nap.

updates . . .

lunch with nancy.  gron made a really good chicken/sausage/vegetable soup. i need the recipe for that and the bean with bacon soup.  slurp.  and a chocolate/peanut butter cupcake since i will be mia on my birthday.  i am giddy that soup season is fast approaching.

lee, is still in the hospital, terrorizing all the nurses and doctors in a 20 mile radius.  she has mrsa and staph and something else going on but is being treated with some potent drugs from a caldron.  she may be in for a couple more days unless she gets evicted for causing chaos.

bear is still limping if he thinks i am watching.  he's out from under the bed, so i know he's feeling betterer.

got all my ironing done.  new battery in another old watch.  stuff is slowly getting accomplished.

well . . .

that idea didn't work.  my favorite watch did have a dead battery but it's still dead.  sigh.  hit three thrift stores looking for a belt for my now sagging pants and zilch.  if my pants fall down in a strange country, please send bail money c/o uss minnow.

lee was back in the ER but now she is a resident.  the infection is in her lymph nodes and an arm muscle.  no bueno.

bear is out and about but still limping.

the beard is happy in china.  i hope he remembers to come home.

joanie is hanging in there.  life ain't easy sometimes.

i was going to shorten a pair of pants but apparently i donated them.  settled for swapping a tie belt for elastic in my most comfy namaste pants.

tick. tock.  life keeps moving and joanie still has her sense of humor.  she sent me this goodie.

scurry . . .

the count down has begun.  starting a calendar to make sure everything gets done for the grand adventure.

busy beavering.  tomorrow i will try and run all the errands that need to be done outside the house and then i can settle in and start cleaning and laundering and doing the rest of the must do list.

this is the fun part.  so happy for the opportunity.  happiness abounds.

double bad day in blackrock . . .

joanie's "paw" passed away last night.  he leaves a family of tears behind him.  adios, john quesal, you were a brilliant light for 94 years.

lee called this afternoon.  her arm was redder and hotter and swollener.  she called our insurance nurse help line who said, do not pass go.  the er is the place to be.  i went down and collected her and off we went.  they stuck in an iv and pumped her full of goodies while we entertained ourselves talking to everyone who came into her cubicle with a tattoo.  great stories.

we did a little comparison shopping for her new drugs.  $78 at publix, $20 at walgreen's.

and poor bear, who seems to be feeling better from the pancreatitis, is still limping badly.  hopefullly he will be good by monday but if not, i will video him and take him back to the vet.

i am hiding out lest mother nature takes her wrath out on me.

namaste.

hen day . . .

and joanie managed to sneak away to join us for a bit.  hooray.

again with the blackened chicken, bacon, tomato and bleu cheese salad.  slurp!!  lee joined in and had one too.  joanie was into her beet, goat cheese and arugula salad.  there's always one odd ball.

speaking of odd balls, lee had surgery yesterday morning at the dermatologists to remove a squamous cell carcinoma which immediately got infected.  good grief.  she went straight to the office to have it looked at and is now running a fever and living on antibiotics.  our insurance company apparently no longer covers moh's surgery but the doctor is 99% sure she got it all.  how is this right in anyone's world?

i headed home and then off to michael's for a heidi swapp travel, photo journal.  going to cheat this time instead of making it from scratch.  it's pretty cool and i bought an embellishment kit to match .  . . as if i need anymore embellishments.  gah!

bear spent the morning under the bed again but since dinner he has decided to join us on top.  i hope that mean he is feeling better.

life is good.

out and about . . .

off to the dermatologist.  the freezing two months ago didn't appease the skin gods.  he had to scrape three places.  at least they are now gone.  i hope.  and for good measure, he froze a couple of other places.  done with him until november.   yay.

off to AT&T because i have mangled the film covering my phone.  turns out it has a life time guarantee.  the hitch is, you have to be a genius to fill out the on-line warranty.  so i pulled lee's poor little widow lady routine and some really nice guy did it for me.  all 17 pages.  so the company will send me a new one, the nice man will take off the old one and replace it with the new one and package up the old one so all i have to do is take it to the post office to be returned. 

got a text from beijing.  the beard arrived safely.

off to dillard's to look for a belt.  found an outrageous purse sale instead.  almost all summer pocketbooks were on sale 30% off and then another 40% on top of that.  score a summer bag for $12.  still need a belt.

and VS's for some undergarments and a free tote.  i hope one of the kids wants the tote. 

back home to drug up poor bear again.  every time he pops his head out from under the bed, i pop something in his mouth.  poor dear.

need to do some sewing tomorrow and shorten a pair of slacks into shorts.  put elastic in another pair.  it's getting closer.

life is most blessed.

it was a very good day . . .

robin invited julie and i to lunch to celebrate our september birthdays.  julie's is the 5th and mine the 11th.  i know.  i know.  it is still august but life gets in the way sometimes and rearranges our schedules.  any who, as only robin can do, there was Tony's famous clam chowder followed by crab cakes, bean/corn/avocado salad and fresh melon and peaches.  oh and mango mimosas.  does this woman know how to throw a party or what but that's not even the best part.

robin, jules and i are the camper/kayakers of the group.  remember in may when we last went?  well robin had the most amazing necklaces made for the three of us.  the one side is made from the thank you card that julie sent her after the trip.  the other side you just have to see.

look!!! my two favorite robin-isms.  it was such a dear and special trip.  we all needed the solace only the river could provide.

is this not the best present?!?!?!?!  joyous lunch.  special friends.  my soul is healing.

oh the things we do . . .

lunch with nancy was a lovely cup of french onion soup with fruit and a shared maple pecan cupcake.  slurp.

a quick run to the pharmacy and then all you know what broke loose.  i had taken a nap when i heard a thunderous thump and i knew someone had fallen off the tall bureau.  turns out it was bear and he was limping badly.  add that to the fact that he has been hiding under the bed lately and not eating all of his food and it was an emergency run to the vets.

does he limp at the vets.  no.  not in the least.  is he limping now.  yes, curled up with me for attention.  they did blood work and a urinalysis.  we should know by tomorrow if we need more work ups.  he has one bad tooth so maybe that is the issue.  but i need to call them tomorrow and get him some pain meds for his leg.  cha-ching.

they are pets.  they give  love.  they deserve love.

and just for the inanity of it all:

and i love this one:

life is good.

home from oviedo . . .

and noshing on left overs and off to buy more pippin food.  the others have eaten him out of house and home.  and a nap.  a long lovely nap and early to bed.

more food . . .

yes, i like to eat. and i've been so good for so long but every once in a while, you just have to splurge.  went to bento for a chicken in yellow curry bowl in coconut milk with snow peas and carrots.  slurp.  i would go back in a heart beat.  now i have two sets of leftovers.

it must have been pledge week this week at ucf.  the restaurant was crawling with girls in white dresses and long tables of giggles.  i wish someone would tell them that white thongs show through white dresses.  oops.

that pesky advertising frame is no longer on my front bumper.  yay!!!  and i learned some more tricks the car can do.  amazing.

um, i did manage to leave an unopened bottle of wine inside the car for two days.  this is the result:

it managed to pop the foil off and push the cork half way out. any one know if the wine is still good to drink?  color me happy it didn't explode.  gah.

off to oviedo . . .

color me stuffed.  went to a mexican restaurant where the portion size should be cut in fourths.  not complaining because it was amazingly good but way too much goodness for someone's tummy.  pork quesadillas with onions, an red peppers and rich cheeses not to mention refried beans, sour cream and guacamole.  slurp!!!!  then off to do some shopping.  the new car was so much easier and less scarier to drive on the interstate than my poor little miata.  it was good day.

well all righty then . . .

peeps have been complaining that i need a new photo and some shots of the car.

what? you don't like a five year old photo from back in the day when i was still fighting off the gray and my hair was a foot shorter?

lee and i went to lunch at bahama breeze today and she kindly took a couple of shots of me in the parking lot with my yet to be named baby behemoth.

i'll be really happy when i get the honda sign taken off.  kidlet tried but it is somehow bolted to the bottom of the car.  she did manage to get the advertising frame off the back.  there is so much space in the trunk . . .  the car, not me, although i do still have a bunch of junk in my trunk too.

i love that i can push a button and say, "call kidlet" and the car calls her.  to funny.  i think my miata is jealous.  and i finally have four seats again, or if you feel squishy, five.  and with the back seats down, there is a huge cargo space, she says eyeballing robin's kayak.

oh and after a stop at the tag office, kidlet is officially the owner and operator of her little black fit.  where did my little girl go???

so i am a happy camper.  i have my lovely little luscious miata and my roomy, interstate willing honda.  life is most excellent.

and so . . .

running around getting errands done . . . and exercising . . . and playing . . .

this is a shot that lee took and shared with me.  i love stealing her photos . . . she's out walking every day and gets some really good ones.  all the goodies are by anna aspnes.

tomorrow hopefully some shots of my new cr-v.

miscommunication . . .

a manager called me back and asked me to please come in.  they had talked to the GM and it was a miscommunication.  (((((cough))))).  i explained i no longer had a ride to the dealership.  we will pick you up.  and they did.

they "ate" (((((cough)))))  the $790 some odd dollars.  andy teaches me the ins and outs of what's new in cars since 1999.  it's a learning curve.  where's the darn key???  we fill out all the paperwork and finally the finance director is free and i set off for his office.  we fill out more paperwork and then he tells me . . .  you can only put 5K on your card.  the howl was reportedly heard in ames, iowa.  he was so disconcerted, he ran out of the office to check with another manager.  meanwhile i am frantically digging through my phone because i made them send me the quote in writing including the part where i could put the entire thing on my card.  mr. money man comes back in looking sheepish while i am still glaring holes in him.  miscommunication, i can use my card.  oh, the points, i say.  oh, the agony, he says.  do i care.  not a teeny tiny bit.

tucked carefully in the garage next to her little sister is my brand spanking new honda cr-v.  oh happy day!!!

so kidlet and tj and i headed to genovese to celebrate!!!!

grrrr . . .

i have an intense dislike for the car buying process. I.N.T.E.N.S.E!!!

we agreed upon a price.  i picked a color.  went in to sign the papers and they won't let me put it on my amex.  they knew that was how i was going to pay.  i told everyone.  that's how i paid for kidet's car last summer.  one of the managers says the only way i can put it on my credit card is if i pay the 3% finance fee.  my little feet did the walking.  i am not a happy camper.

but on the bright side, because there always is one, i don't need a new car.  i want one, but i don't need it.  my 1999 little jelly bean still has some life in her yet.  i love that wonderful hunk of machinery!!!  all is good.

UPDATE:

Another sales manager wants me to call him back.  There's been a misunderstanding.  Gah!!!!  

chugging right along . . .

since bear decided to piddle on my bed and the bench at the end of the bed and any other place i have yet to discover last night, this morning was full of linen washing.  sigh.  hopefully he is just mad that noodle came for a visit and it is not a uti.  yes, cats get uti's

had my six month check up with my over protective doc.  more blood work to check for hypoglycemia and other oddities.  and a few tweaks and changes.  all is good.

finally came to terms with the dealership . . . i hope, and spent the afternoon on the phone with the insurance company.  kidlet to finally get her own policy and she will be in full fledged flight.  yay.

i love this girl.  she is still alive and well and living in florida.

noodle . . .

kidlet called this morning bright and early on her way to work.  she had come across a lost pup without id.  wet and dirty.  very friendly and when she opened the door, the pup hopped right in the car.  what should she do?  the humane society wasn't due to open until 10: a.m.   bring her to me i replied.

then i called joanie and asked to borrow a leash and collar and some dog food.  kidlet drove up as i was chatting with j.

 i took the pup home and fixed her bowls of water and food out on the pool deck.  i couldn't let her stay in the house because she was looking at pip as if she were a snack on a stick.

she was definitely dirty but not hungry and you could see where she had been wearing a collar.  little did i know that she would take advantage of the pool and go for a swim.

 clean pup.  she was also exhausted.

it finally got close to 10: so the two of us hopped in the miata and went to the humane society.  it seems she is a regular frequent flier there.  her name is noodle.  sigh.

i left her in good hands.  i can't say the cats will miss her.  bear didn't come out of hiding until dinner time.  that cat misses no meals.

and so that was my adventure of the morning.  very happy kidlet hadn't come across a stray elephant.

missing joanie . . .

we've been missing a hen for a quite awhile.  joanie's dad is not doing well.  he's 94 and smart as a tack but age is catching up with him and joanie has been doing what good little hens do and tending the nest.  all prayers and clucks gratefully accepted.

so it was just lee and i for lunch and we chose aunt catfish.  a place right along the river.  if you're a long time reader, you might remember my last visit there resulted in an ambulance ride and a hospital er visit.  oops.

but my fish and chips were good.

on the way home, i decided to stop at the honda store and test drive a 2016 CR-V.  i fell in love but the dealership and i were 1k apart and i left empty handed.  sigh.  if it were meant to be, it would have been.

home to demolish the rest of the eggplant parmesan and off to bed to watch the olympics.  yay!!!!

another delightful day . . .

with the beard.  

finally made it to sorrento's for meat balls subs.  just as good as they used to be.  off to the bank to pick up my euros.  the trip is getting real.

home for long casual conversations.  laughing and teasing.

a new recipe for dinner . . . honey garlic shrimp, with bacon and spinach.

slurp.

a slow start . . .

but a 1/2 hour of water aerobics

five loads of laundry

a fridge full of eggplant parmesan

some mending

my hand wash

and various and sundry other items checked off my to-do list.

a truly lazy day . . .

of sleeping in late.

of paddling around the pool.

of  building a salad full of treats.

of getting lost in a good book.

of hearing a familiar voice.

of feeling complete.

another busy, busy . . .

up at the crack to get the miata to the body shop.

no more boo boo and for a grand total of $47.99, i am an extremely happy camper.  now all i need is an early warning system to guide me clear of concrete bumpers in the future.  onto the bank to try again to order euros.  this time i was successful and the exchange rate was really good.  even better than in may.

lunch at la's with nancy.  gron was off gallivanting around georgia, so i had to order something normal off the menu.  carlos isn't good with changes.  snort.  i guess he's not fond of me decimating his menu.

got a call from the cruise company and they are picking up the ENTIRE increase in airfare due to the change in port.  oh happiness. 

finally paid my bills so i don't have to sell coal on the street corner to keep the house. 

life is extremely good.  happiness abounds.

busy . . .

did i mention i joined a gym on saturday morning?  i did.  it's been too hot to walk and i desperately need some exercise.  i am not a gym aficionado . . . but a girl's got to do what a girl's gotta do.  besides, with my healthcare program, it's free!!!!  now to make myself go.

busy beaver morning.  off to get my blood work done.  fight with the insurance company over the payments for kidlet's policy . . .  they keep applying the funds to my account and telling me they are dropping her coverage.   no bueno.  checking to make sure i have emergency medical while overseas.

over to the mechanic to see if he can fix the miata.  no.  over to the body shop to see if they can.  it has an appointment tomorrow morning at 9:30.  what happened you asked?  like a heat seeking missile, it got hung up on one of those concrete parking bumpers and when asked to go in reverse, it decided to pull it's bumper away from the body.  oops.  thankfully, it is no big deal and they can do it while i wait.

over to the bank to cash some checks and to buy some euros.  their connection to foreign money was down so i need to go back tomorrow for that.

off to the dentist.  happily clean teeth and no cavities.

then on the phone to try and collect some more refund on the air fare increase due to the change in ports from istanbul to athens.  fingers crossed.

and finally, mail a check to robin to cover my share of our excursion to cinque terra.  bucket list material!!!!

i still have to pay bills and head to the gym.  then i get to relax.

whew!!!!

some days are better than others . . .

the beard came over to play and although our original plans fell by the wayside, it was a good day.  we were going to head over to sorrento's for meatball subs . . .  its been almost five years since i've had one and then head to the beach but unfortunately, sorrento's is closed on sunday and mother nature decided on a down pour.

fall back plans, lunch at snack jack's.  gotta love their steamed spiced shrimpers.  or fried clams if you happen to have a beard.

headed home and decided what the heck, let's walk on the beach anyway and after about a minute, the skies cleared and we had the beach to ourselves.  yay.

he looked at the damage to the miata and couldn't fix it himself.  not a problem.

ended up making salads for dinner before he headed back to oviedo.

it was a very good day.

a little of this . . .

i forgot to show the results of thursday night's down pour.  this is the poor holly tree between nancy and me.

 crunch.

yesterday and last night, we worked separately to tame the madness,

 different piles.  the wednesday pickup is going to be happy with us.

today, lee and i decided to run some errands.  she got a better stash at walmart then i did.  she got a bicycle basket, a ga-wooga horn and some lights for her bike.  toothpaste and soft soap was not nearly as much fun.

off to lunch at wendy's so she could get her very berry seasonal salad and i could nosh on some chili. they have a new to me beverage machine.  you swipe to find the coke product of your choice but there are multiple screens with multiple options.  after having trouble and watching others fool with it, lee decided it was not made for the over six crowd.  we slinked, slank, skunked away.

and off to find bathing suits for the two of us.  lee scored two and i managed one.  the bottom from one store and the top from another.  it's not that i have body issues . . .  i just want my 22 year old body back.  please.

another one down . . .

ran to let the painters back into kidlet's at 8:30.

home to clean up.

lunch with the hens.  i thought my hummus platter was good with carrots, cucumbers, crisps, spinach pesto and red pepper pesto but lee got a shrimp and lobster fondue with the same crisps and some really, really, really good bread for dipping.  there were huge chunks of seafood in her bowl.  i know, i helped her eat it.  oh, slurp.  joanie opted for a quinoa salad with fresh fishies.  three little piggies happy as can be.

headed over to kidlet's where craig hung the new drapery rods in the bedrooms.  pretty.  the painters are done except for a few touch ups.  her bedroom is stunning.

back home to re-hydrate craig before he headed out to work.

some days are better than others  . . .

hurry up and wait . . .

kind of day.

since kidlet had to work, i needed to let the painters in.  they got tied up and ran really late.

had to be home to let the bug control person do their yearly magic.  she was running late.

good thing i am a non-busy person.

and a slug.

and easily amused.

a good day.

bit-lets . . .

lunch with nancy since it was delayed by my visit to oviedo.  my very favorite bacon and black bean soup.  got my fourth lecture about what is happening to my side so i stuck my head in my doctor's office two down from lunch, but my favorite nurse was not there.  seems i have a rather large rash/hive surrounded by bruising on one side.  it will have to wait until my checkup on the 18th or my dermatology appointment on the 25th but no one is please with it.  gah.

went over to kidlet's to see how the painting was going and to head out to look for curtain rods.  found ones for both bedrooms and i love her choices.  yay!!!  craig will help us hang them on friday.

stopped for some dinner at paneras's and spent some time chatting. i am so proud of kidlet and her new found adult skills.  kidlet, you rock!!!!

day three . . .

i headed back on 417 and i-4.  i can't not express how much i hate driving i-4.  417 isn't quite as bad but still nerve racking in my jelly bean.  i have been seriously thinking about getting a new honda crv.  in addition, not instead of the miata.  but it would be safer and bigger and more useful and i could still keep the jelly bean for fun. 

almost as soon as i got home, the beard called to say his mom was back in the hospital and he was mid drive back over there.  i feel really badly for him. she is 90, he is 93 and they've been married for seventy some odd years.  he takes care of her and she takes care of him and the alternatives are terrifying for them both.  no bueno.

joanie had mentioned that pip's food dish was empty which is very strange since she is a very slow grazer and rarely eats all her food in a day.  we were thinking of blaming bear.  as i decide to take a nap, i looked over and there was ninji sitting on top of the filing cabinets chowing down.  surprise.  now i need to find a new out of reach feeding station for pip!!!!

on day two . . .

we headed over to meet the beard's parents in titusville.  they live in outdoor world.  what an amazing place.  it's an rv paradise with a golf course, movie theater, hobby building, church, and more.  some of the area are full size houses with extra large garages to house the rv's, some are manufactured homes with big garage ports for the rv's.  and some are just plots of land with little storage units that you utilize during the winter and actually live in the rv.  there's a little bit of everything.

his parents were delightful but his mom was newly home from the hospital for an attack of cardiac asthma.  to top it off, the night after she finally got home, she tripped and fell in the bathroom and went down hard.  we think she damaged her ribs but she has a tuesday appointment with her own doctor.  all of which is tough at any age but at 90 is extra difficult.

the beard grilled some salmon i had marinated in a olive oil, soy sauce,  rosemary fresh garlic and limeade sauce.  i hadn't had it since i lost the 9TS.  along with that i made a spinach salad with hard boiled egg, sliced mushroom, grated locatelli cheese and a bacon bits . . . although some of the bacon never made it to the salad.  the dressing was homemade with honey, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil and dijon mustard.  it was a most excellent meal eaten outside in the screened porch.

yay!!!!