Sharyn and I had front row seats that Jeremy had saved for us, so even though my camera usually does not take very good pictures without flash, they didn't get too bad, being that close. Here are some of the scenes Jeremy was in:

In the picture above and below, Jeremy is the guy in the middle.

He played the part of Tulsa, which included the song All I Need is the Girl. I didn't get any good picture during the song because he was moving and dancing almost the entire song. I wish you could hear him sing it. His voice is amazing.

We were SO HOT afterward. It was held in a little, old theatre that does not have AC - in Florida!!! There was a pretty strong thunder storm during the show, which did cool the air somewhat.

Sunday

Sunday morning we went to Lisa and George's church, Grace Family Church. Before we left Sophie was playing with her "sharkie" that she had gotten at the zoo the day before.

She loved that sharkie! He even went along on the ride to church.

The church service was awesome - great praise and worship and a message from the pastor that was tremendously inspiring and convicting. I was really moved.

On the way home Sophie was upset about some discipline George and Lisa had to enforce. Look at that sad face.

But not for long! I soon had her smiling.

Sophie forgot all about being sad when I let her try taking pictures with my camera. Here's one she took of her mommy in the front seat.

And the beautiful clouds in the sky.

After church we took time for a family photo while everyone was looking so fine.

But by the time we wanted a picture of Memaw and Sophie, she was all pictured out!

On Sunday their dog Macy turned nine, and later this month Dexter will turn ten. Sophie was so excited to celebrate. She made a poster, we had balloons and bubbles, and George made a doggie birthday cake out of dog food, soft dog food, doggie treats, and water. He baked it in the microwave!! Whew - that was some smell!!

Later George took time to read to his little girl before he went for a run. He's the best young dad in the whole world, and that's the truth.

Monday

Monday morning Lisa went to a yoga class and I had the entire morning to play with Sophie. We had the most fun. I drew faces on balloons and we played with them.

Sophie told me to make one that was crying, and she was so sympathetic toward it!!

We made a tent and she had fun under it for a while, but later we broke it down and pretended it was a roller coaster at Busch Gardens!

Another thing we played was "dance class". I would put some music on and she would show me some fancy foot work!

In the afternoon I made a triple recipe of a favorite dish of Lisa's and Jeremy's from their childhood. Jeremy came over between classes and worked on a project on his computer while I cooked. We listened to music and chatted occasionally. It felt nice to have him there while I worked.

We did miss a good picture. My feet felt pretty good during this vacation - except for this day when I was on my feet such a long time cooking and cleaning up. I just had to break down and put my black Reeboks on. The only socks I had along were white "anklets", complete with my capris - a lovely sight.

Neopolitan Meal in a Dish. Yummmm.

Tuesday

On Tuesday I felt like a lady of leisure. Lisa had her friend Jill and her son Giovanni over to play in the pool. I had fun in the pool, I sat in the shade and read my book, I ate a nice lunch, I enjoyed the beauty of Lisa's back yard, and I took a nap. It doesn't get much better than that, right?

Lisa is an artist to the core - even in her landscaping. (These pictures are much better when clicked on.)

She's going back to her roots - growing her own tomatoes, peppers, and onions.

After a day of playing, swimming, and relaxing we went to Sophie's dance class. She hadn't taken a nap like she was supposed to before we came, so she was looking a little tired before it started!

Stretching out!

They rehearsed their routine for the upcoming recital - so cute!

By the time we got home from Sophie's dance class, Jeremy had arrived from his class. The plans were that I would be spending my last day with him. So it was time for good byes. I was fighting back the tears the whole time I was packing. It was like a little taste of heaven being in their home - so beautiful, so peaceful, so relaxing, and so much love. Sophie and George were already having fun in the pool when Jeremy and I left, so our goodbyes were without hugs!

But as sad as I was to leave Lisa and family, I was looking forward to spending time with Jeremy. We drove to his house, enough time in the rush hour traffic for some good heart-to-heart talking. We had a really fun time eating at The Cheesecake Factory with his friends Mike and Tom. Good food and a good time. The funniest thing was when a chair from the table next to us came sailing over toward us as the boy who had been sitting in it sat on the floor, right where his chair had been. No one seemed to know how it had happened, but it looked so funny and surprised us so much, we just could not stop laughing. That, and the sweet little waitress that we could barely understand. Anyway, we did a lot of laughing. The guys must have been all laughed out by the time I took this picture!

Wednesday and Thursday

On Wednesday Jeremy sat and worked for HOURS on his computer project for his Commercial Design class. Can you tell that Molly and Lady were loving it?

We went to a nearby Dunkin' Donuts for coffee first thing in the morning, then I made us French toast for breakfast and did some cleaning in his kitchen. The rest of the time I read my book and took my good old time getting ready to leave for home.

Around 3:30 he dropped me off at the airport. We both felt sad to say goodbye. But as I wrote last night, my flight was very delayed due to stormy weather in Baltimore, and I ended up changing my flight home to this morning. Lisa came to the airport to pick me up and I babysat Sophie while she and George went to take a yoga class. (For more interesting details of our evening together, see Wednesday's post.)

This morning I had one more chance to have fun playing with Sophie. As usual, around 7:30 AM I heard her at the bottom of the steps calling, "Memaw? Are you coming down soon?" Oh, I miss her!!!!

No sign of stormy weather today. The sky was perfectly beautiful as I sat at the airport.

The trip home was not exactly that great though. For one thing, I had to take a middle seat. The guy at the window was big and he slept most of the way to Baltimore with his arms hanging out over his territory. I could not sit and relax without having to brush my arm against his hairy arm, and it freaked me out. Then, even worse, he had his arm laying against my lap and he started jerking it all the time while he was sleeping.

The luggage took forever to get onto the belt, the bus to long term parking was very slow to arrive, and I hit heavy traffic on 695. I was hungry, extremely thirsty, I had to pee, and my AC wasn't working right. Talk about misery. Finally after I was on 83 I was able to get off at an exit and go to a McDonalds. After I ate and went to the bathroom, I adjusted something up inside my glove compartment that made my AC work better (a trick I learned from Dick), and I was good to go. BUT then I hit major construction traffic on 30, which slowed me down dreadfully. I went to Destiny's other grandma in Lancaster to pick her up, and then she was starving, so I made another McDonald's stop on the way home. I was FINALLY home by around 6:30. It feels good to be home.

Still in Tampa

Well, it's Wednesday evening at 9:30 and I should be home soon. But instead I'm sitting here at Lisa's computer updating my blog. After a VERY relaxing day hanging out at Jeremy's as he worked on his project, we headed to the airport around 3:30. My flight was to leave at 5:35. Dick had called me and told me that there was some bad weather forecast up there, so I wasn't completely shocked when I heard that my flight was delayed until 6:35. But when I heard that it was delayed until 7:30 I called Dick in tears. I am pretty brave about driving, but late night-time driving (possibly on wet highways) far away from home in places where I have to make sure I get the right exits, etc. is just downright frightening to me. He wondered if I wanted to call Lisa and stay another night. Not knowing what their schedule was, I hated to bother them. But after I got my tears under control I decided to call just to let her know I was delayed. However, Dick had already called her! I went to the service desk and found out I could get an 11:20 AM flight without a change in price.

It actually worked out great, because Lisa and George wanted to go to a yoga class and were glad for a babysitter! And do you think I was delighted to be the babysitter???? Oh yes, indeed I was. Sophie and I had an absolutely delightful evening together. We took turns being the baby and the mom, we took a doll to the doctor several times because it had too much gum stuck in its throat (she claimed that Dexter, the dog, keeps giving the doll gum). One time she got her play cell phone and told me she has to make a conference call and I wasn't to interrupt her!! On the conference call she found out that Ariel (from The Little Mermaid) had too much seaweed in her belly and we had to take her to the doctor. Later I gave her a bath and we played with all her bath toys. Then it was story time until Lisa and George returned. What a precious little girl, and what a precious time we had. And more precious memories.

I must say I'm getting eager to get home now. I miss my hubby.

Last day

Well, it's already my last day in Florida. I can't believe it. Yesterday Lisa, Sophie, and I just hung out at home, mostly playing in the pool. Lisa's friend Jill and her little Giovanni were there for a few hours. I felt like such a lady of leisure! And of course, Sophie kept me entertained. (Wow, I can hardly talk about her without tears.) Late in the afternoon we went to watch her dance class, which was mostly a rehearsal for a recital coming up soon. What fun, watching a bunch of three-year-olds doing a routine to Under the Sea, each in her own little world!!

Jeremy arrived after his class when we got home from the dance class. I packed up my stuff and said my good-byes to Lisa, George, and Sophie. Wow, I was really glad they are coming to PA in a few weeks, because I was holding back the tears the whole time I was packing. I SO enjoyed being with Sophie, hearing her call up the steps each morning to see if Memaw was soon coming down, watching her break into a beautiful smile when she saw me, listening to her animated talking, entering into her wonderful world of imagination. Okay, I have tears again, so that's enough.

Anyway, Jeremy and I drove to his house, enough time in the rush hour traffic for some good heart-to-heart talking. We had a really fun time eating at The Cheesecake Factory with his friends Mike and Tom. Good food and a good time. The funniest thing was when a chair from the table next to us came sailing over toward us as the boy who had been sitting it sat on the floor, right where his chair had been. No one seemed to know how it had happened, but it looked so funny and surprised us so much, we just could not stop laughing. That, and the sweet little waitress that we could barely understand. Anyway, we did a lot of laughing.

Then we went home to Jeremy's house where his two dogs, Molly and Lady, greeted us with great enthusiasm. Tom gave Jeremy a much needed haircut, then Jeremy got right to work on the huge computer project he's doing for his Commercial Designs class. I sat on the couch next to him reading my book and snoozing till 1:00 AM, when he decided to call it a night. The book I'm reading is one I bought at Lisa's church on Sunday called the Yada, Yada Prayer Group by Neta Jackson. It's the first in a series and I LOVE it. I will definitely be reading the rest of the series this summer.

So now it's Wednesday morning, Jeremy and I just went to the nearby Dunkin' Donuts for our coffee, and Jeremy is letting me have a little time with his computer before he gets back to work on the big project. I'll make him a good breakfast and read some more, then this afternoon he'll take me to the airport. I think I'll arrive at the Baltimore Airport in enough time to be able to drive a little while in the daylight, which is good. Navigating the way from the airport to 695 is always a bit confusing.

Well, I gotta give Jeremy his computer now, so hopefully tomorrow I'll have time to post all the pictures I've taken. I might try to see if I can just insert them into these posts I've already done.

Here's what I've been doing

I'm going to write down what I've been doing so far. I'm afraid if I wait till I get home, I'll forget. So this will be a text post only, since I can't get my pictures out of my camera without my cable. (I mistakenly brought Dick's instead of mine.)

I drove to the Baltimore Airport very early Saturday morning. Of course, no trip of mine would be complete without an airport bathroom story. Why, oh why, can't they just have toilets that flush when you push a lever, like the ones we have at home? Instead, those annoying airport toilets keep flushing as you try to slipcover them, taking the slipcover right along down. So after you lose several slipcovers, you finally figure out that you have to keep a hand on it as you try to sit down as quickly as possible. Then when you're sitting and you need to flush part way through in order to save your dignity, that little red button above the toilet absolutely will not respond no matter how many times you push it. It comes down to your needing to stand up, turn around, bow down, and then it will finally flush. Try that several times in a row! Ridiculous!!

Anyway, I got to Tampa uneventfully and was met by Jeremy and his friend Mike. We went out to eat at Gallery Bistro at the mall and then walked around the mall, including an amazing furniture store where another of Jeremy's friends works.



He then brought me to Lisa and George's house where I had time to have fun in the pool with Sophie for a while. Later we went to Tijauna Flats for a delicious Mexican meal. In the evening I went with George's mom Sharyn to see Jeremy's performance in Gypsy. (Lisa and George had gone last weekend with Dick.) He saved us front row seats and we had a great time. As usual Jeremy's voice was the best one in the show ( I know, I know - you think I'm biased.) It ended up being a LATE night for us old ladies. The show lasted until 11:20 PM! I think it was 12:45 AM till I went to bed at Lisa's - a long day, considering that I had gotten up at 3:30!

Sunday morning we went to church at Lisa and George's church, Grace Family Church. The praise and worship was wonderful and the pastor's message was extremely inspiring and convicting, as usual. I just love going there when we're down here. The rest of the day was very low key. We played in the pool for a long time, then took naps. I slept soundly for an hour-and-a-half. I spent the evening playing with Sophie until she went to bed. What a girl. Her imagination is endless, and so is her toleration for repetition. When I do something that makes her laugh we have to do it over and over and over and over and over......and she laughs like crazy every time. One time while we were playing she said, "This is fun, Memaw. Your Pepaw was here to play with me last week." Then she added, "I love you." Awwww. Talk about melting a Memaw's heart! After she went to bed Lisa and I had fun talking, looking at blogs, envying other people's cameras, and trying to figure out who certain visitors are on our sitemeters. George was amused.

Today I spent the morning playing with Sophie again while Lisa went to her Yoga class. We made a tent, we had dance recitals, we went on roller coaster rides, we drew pictures, we took naps, and we did all of the above over and over again! After Lisa got home we went grocery shopping. Sophie's greatest delight is still pulling coupons out of every dispenser. Only now she actually calls them coupons. The last time I went grocery shopping with her she called them poopons. This afternoon I made a triple recipe of one of Lisa and Jeremy's favorite meals from their childhood - Neopolitan Meal in a Dish. It's a delicious combination of rice, green beans, and tuna in a tomatoey Italian base. Of course the part we like best is the melted cheese and buttered bread cubes on top!! While I cooked, Lisa and Sophie played in the pool and Jeremy came here between classes to work on a project on his computer. It was fun to be working with him sitting nearby. We listened to music we both love.

I'm getting lots of great pictures, but you'll just have to take my word for it till Thursday.

No pictures yet

I have been here in Florida since Saturday morning, having a WONDERFUL time. Unfortunately, in my hasty departure for the airport I packed the wrong camera cable. Thus I cannot get my pictures out of my camera till I get home Wednesday night. So I will have a huge post late in the week. Until then, check Lisa's blog occasionally.