Second half of my trip to Lisa's

A week ago I was at Lisa's enjoying this view:

Lisa had a lot of work to do to get ready for a new week of early practices after the hurricane break.    So I had a relaxing chance to sit on the lanai and blog and do some weekly banking paperwork.  George worked at home in his office all day.  

Later in the afternoon Lisa and I went to get some groceries.  Back at home I made chicken tortilla soup for dinner, except I used shrimp instead of chicken.  

Stella is a people "person" and never far away.  She sat at the dinner table too, haha!

In the evening we sat in the family room to watch Monday night football.  

On Tuesday Lisa took me to see "water."  I had really hoped to go to a beach on this trip, but because of the storms the beaches were still not people friendly. 

So she took me across the Dunedin Causeway.  At one point she pulled over so I could get out of the car to take pictures. 

Then she took me to Casa Tina for a SCRUMPTIOUS lunch.  

As in any Mexican restaurant they brought guacamole and chips and salsa first.  It was the BEST I've ever had, and I could have been very happy with nothing else but that for my lunch.  After I took a picture of Lisa I wanted her to take a picture of me, but I had just stuffed my mouth and didn't know she was ready to take it.  Little did I know she was snapping away as I tried to get my mouthful chewed and swallowed, hahaha!

After lunch she took me to Philippe Park so I could see more water. 

We also saw big trees down.  This one was leaning on top of a pavilion. 

She also took me to see the towns of Dunedin, Safety Harbor, and Oldsmar.  They live in a suburb of Oldsmar, which is their address.  I learned that the same person who founded Oldsmar also invented the Oldsmobile.  Makes sense. 

We saw a lot of pretty places, but we also saw a lot of storm damage.  Little houses with piles of ruins stacked on the sidewalk - couches, cupboards, etc.   I guess when those things get picked up they are taken to places like this and piled on top of the mountains of debris.  Very, very sobering to imagine people starting over after a storm like that.  

After we were back at the house I got into their pool for the first time.  George and Lisa had said that their water heater wasn't working properly and the water was just 80 degrees.  I though that sounded cozy.  But it really wasn't, to my surprise!  The sun was no longer shining on the pool, so that didn't exactly help either.  But I still enjoyed being in the water for a while.  

Lisa and George and I sat on the lanai talking that evening.  We girls had thought we would not be hungry for the rest of the day after that Mexican meal, but when George said he was in the mood for pizza, we were all in.  He ordered pizza a few sides, and we enjoyed a last meal together.  I guess we were having such interesting conversation that I never thought of taking a picture. 

On Wednesday morning Lisa and I were out the door at 5:15!  Three mornings a week she holds private sprint trainings from 6 - 7 am at Berkeley Prep.  

She has a key to turn the lights on at the football field.  

What committed athletes coming out in the dark for these trainings!

Berkeley Prep has a beautiful field house.  It's an enormous campus, but since it was dark I really didn't get to see nearly all of it.  

When we got back to the house, the neighborhood deer family was crossing the street.  They did not seem the least bit afraid of us.  

I would be leaving in a few hours so I got myself and my bags ready to go.  And I took some pictures of the house.  I love it so much.  They talk about moving to a smaller place that's not in a flood plain, and I don't blame them.  But I'll be sad if I never see this house again.  

Lisa's office.

My room.

Sophie's room.

The stairs up to George's office and the master bedroom suite.  I didn't go up there. 

I said my goodbyes to the dogs.

Nilla Bean is 14 years old and has health issues.  It's possible this was my last time with her.  

Way back in July 2010 I stayed with Sophie and Nilla Bean for a whole week while Lisa and George went to Costa Rica, a trip George had earned from his job.  Nilla was in puppy training at the time, and I worked at  continuing her "education" while they were gone, haha!  Once, while we were doing a video call with them I discovered afterward that Nilla had been chewing on the trim!  So she had to stay in her cage for a while till I could get it all cleaned up.  

Lisa took me to the airport and I had plenty of time to relax before my flight left.  I napped a bit on the two -plus hour flight to Harrisburg.  I had a very chatty Kathy on my row.  She was nice enough, but I'm not usually in the mood for talking or listening a lot while flying.  

Getting out of long term parking at the Harrisburg airport was confusing even for my GPS, but eventually we figured it out and I was on my way home.  I really wanted to get home before dark, so I did not stop to pee or eat or drink.  

On Fox Hollow Road near home (where I have gotten stopped for speeding twice) I passed a police car.  I thought if he pulls me over I will need to ask him to follow me home so I can pee first, hahaha!  

Home again! 

My Sunday in Florida

On Sunday morning Lisa and I went to the 10:30 AM service at their church. I think we had talked until at least 1:00 AM, so our night was not very long! She had said that since they switched to having three services on Sundays she keeps getting the times confused,  so she sent me a screenshot of the service times before we went to bed Saturday night, actually early Sunday morning, so we would know what time to leave. We decided that we’d go to the 10:30 service and leave here at 10.  

So when I was getting dressed I got a text message from Lisa upstairs that she would be running about five minutes late because she had forgotten that her clothes were still shrink wrapped from when they had evacuated last week. I was thinking, “wow she must have her routine down to science if she knows 40 minutes before we leave that she’ll need five extra minutes.” I texted back that she should be fine since we don’t need to leave till 10.  She replied, “OMG I am hopeless. You have no idea how many times I get this wrong!” 

It’s been quite a while since I’ve been to a big church like that. The music was great and so was the message on forgiveness.  I would miss the friendship that comes with a smaller church like ours. 

Meanwhile in Miami Sophie sent us a picture of a group of track teammates who went to church together that morning.  One of the guys was baptized.  Sophie is the one in pink and white. 

On the way to church we saw enormous piles of debris. I can’t imagine where they go with all of it.

Lisa and I had a wonderfully relaxing afternoon. I took a nap on the lanai, my very favorite place.  When I woke up I decided to have a pomegranate for my snack, but I made the mistake of opening it when I had my yellow blouse on, and the pomegranate splashed all over it. Hopefully I’ll be able to get that out when I soak it in Clorox 2. 

George got home From his trip late afternoon. He took us for a ride on the golf cart. It was absolutely wonderful! So much beauty, plenty of deer, and even an alligator sticking its head up in one of the lakes. 

Not sure what George was looking at when I snapped this one!

And my beloved daughter is like a three year-old that prefers to make funny faces instead of smiles, lol!

Do you see the alligator poking its head out of the water in the picture below? 

Back at home Lisa finished the lasagna prep that she had begun earlier.

It was absolutely scrumptious! She had used egg white wraps instead of lasagna noodles, and you absolutely could not tell the difference!

We talked and laughed and they watched college football. 

I made peanut butter balls - applesauce, peanut butter powder, a few oat flakes, and chocolate chips.  A perfect bedtime snack. 

Meanwhile in Pennsylvania Dick was enjoying Pie Night at our church!