First days of Florida vacation

 I’m enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon at Lisa’s. Maybe I’ll try posting an update on my phone. You know how much fun that is!

And now it’s Monday morning, haha!  See if I get any further on this post today.

I took this sunrise photo last Thursday morning.  There were a few old evergreens cut down last week, so I will probably have a better view of the sunrise now. Not complaining!

I took these pictures of my flowers last Thursday because I knew we would be having freezing temperatures overnight.

You may have already read my jacket story on Facebook, but I’m going to write it here anyhow for my own memory. I had a black Columbia fleece that would have been the perfect thing for a trip to Florida in the fall, but the zipper tab had broken off, and I just could no longer pull that zipper up without a tab. I fretted about it a lot. Just ask Dick!  

On Wednesday when I was getting groceries at Walmart I spied some lightweight fake leather jackets and grabbed one of them. But it was very ill-fitting and uncomfortable. More fretting. 

On Thursday I realized I had just enough time to make a run to Goodwill before choir practice, so  I went there in search of just the right jacket, but there was no such thing. I texted Dick to let him know where I was because I knew he would soon be getting home from work. He said, “Go to Gabe’s!” I had not thought of that and it is nearby to Goodwill. So I quickly went there and searched through their many racks of light jackets, almost deciding on one of them, when I discovered a rack of Columbia jackets. With a little searching I found the right size and it was perfect! Slippery exterior, flannel interior, and trim that would match my classic orange/pink sneakers! I was a happy camper! I had my regular choir practice followed by cantata practice on Thursday evening and then came home to finish packing.

I got up in the wee hours of Friday morning to make the trip to Harrisburg airport, about a two-hour drive.  I hated every minute of it. The first part was through the hills and mountains in the dark with many, many trucks shining their lights in my face and my mirrors. After it became more daylight I was going around Harrisburg with lots and lots of traffic. And then I had to find long term parking which was extremely far away from the actual airport. But I found it and parked and was very thankful for the shuttle ride into the airport. As usual I was there way too early and I did not mind one bit.  That’s the way I like it!

I had a direct flight on Allegiant from Harrisburg to St. Pete/Clearwater.  Lisa picked me up there.  And before long I was relaxing on their beautiful lanai, complete with a dog! Sweet old Nilla Bean. ❤️ I had been looking forward to this for a long time!

Lisa and cuddly Stella. 

While we ate dinner Sophie called from college, and we had fun talking with her for a while. She was showing us her Halloween make up!

I slept so good that night. George left Saturday morning for the airport. He had an event for work in Puerto Rico that evening!

The flooding from Milton destroyed a lot of Lisa’s landscaping behind the lanai, but it was still a lovely area.

The weather was absolutely perfect for keeping the sliders open between the living room and the lanai. 

My bedroom. 

In the afternoon I went with Lisa to Lowe’s. She got two bags of concrete mix, and then we went to look for plants to fix up her ruined landscaping.

That girl packed more things into that cart than I would ever have thought possible! She definitely has Dick’s Stauffer packing skills!

On the drive back home she took me through other parts of their community and we saw storm damage. 

Back at home she got to work, doing her magic.

Dear Stella is a little lover. I sat down in the evening and she spied just enough room between me and the arm of the couch and she plopped herself right in there next to me.

I am going to post this now and later I will share things from our lovely Sunday.

Sammy and Bianca weekend

This is my second post today.  Please don't miss my first one! 

On Saturday (10/12) I was so excited that we would finally be having Sammy and Bianca here for a weekend.  They hadn't been here since March, except for our camping weekend in July, which really wasn't "here."  Sam and Steph brought them here.  

I made a pot of chicken tortilla soup and a pan of peanut butter rice krispie treats before they got here, so that was our lunch.  As usual, we crowded around my tiny kitchen table, haha!

 

Sam was willing to help Dick cut down our very tall grasses that provide a privacy fence for our little back yard.  This was a bit early to cut them down, but when you have help you take it - at our age!

Sammy and Bianca helped rake up the grasses and put them in the back of Dick's truck.

I was happy to see that my flowers had not frozen when we had frost on the grass Friday morning.  

It was a really warm day, so we were glad to come inside to the AC and watch the beginning of the Penn State football game.  Eventually Sam and Steph needed to leave, so of course I needed family pictures.  

While Dick watched the rest of the game I took the kids to Talleyrand Park.  

We were saying that we wish we could see ducks swim down over the water falls.  But alas, they don't swim down, they fly over!

It was such a beautiful day to be there!

Then I took the kids to our church's Youth Campfire Night.  They were starting a kickball game when we got there, so Sammy and Bianca joined in.  

When that was finished there was a good fire going in the fire pit, ready for roasting hot dogs.  

Then there were all kinds of fun relay races, first of all outside.....

....then inside.  A lot of hilarious "minute to win it" challenges.

Marshmallow hoops!

Ice cream and s'mores around the campfire.

It was such a FUN evening!!  They had asked me to be the photographer, and I'm glad they did.  

Of course, Sunday morning was church.  We had a full house!  (But not when I took this picture.  We go early.)

After church we decided to join the crew that goes out to brunch.  Good grief!!  The group that gathered was a LOT for one waitress!!  I think we were there for two hours!  We were getting antsy because we wanted to go home to play Monopoly.  It was a dreary day, so no plans to do anything outdoors. 

We had so much fun playing Monopoly that we didn't want to quit when it was time for me to go to Essence 2 practice.  So we left everything on the table - to be continued.   

The sun had come out, so Dick took the kids to airport park while I was at practice.

And then the game continued and continued and continued....  Finally, Bianca was in such hopeless debt, we decided to call it quits.  She was a good sport and we had lots of laughs.  

Bianca had brought her clarinet along, so she played a couple of songs for me and I played piano with "Mary Had a Little Lamb."  But she didn't want me to post it, so I honored her request.  

On Monday morning I made pancakes for the kids, then went to get a few groceries.  I came back home and made Ginger Sweet Potato Lentil Stew for Anthony and Lori.  

Then we went to the kids' favorite place - the PSU Library!  As usual, we parked on the very top of Nittany Deck and took a selfie.

Their favorite place in the humongous library (10th largest college library in the US!) is the area called "the stacks."  Floors and floors of books, narrow aisles and low ceilings.   The floors connect with old, very narrow stairways.  Lori said she used to go there to study when she was a student because it was so quiet.  There were students studying EVERYWHERE in that library on Monday!!  

We got some of our favorite things at the Starbucks in the library (where Destiny used to work), but there was absolutely nowhere to sit down to eat.  Students EVERYWHERE!!  We remembered that up on the 5th floor there were seats at a big window, so we went up there.  But alas, those seats were taken too!  So we sat on chairs in the hallway.  At least we had a good view out that big window. 

Next we went to another favorite spot - Berkey Creamery.  A long line there, as usual, and NO SEATS except outside.  Too cool for that, besides it was trying to rain.  So we took our ice cream to the car in the parking garage.

Then we went home to get their stuff and Lori's soup.  I was glad to finally see some nice color on the way to our house.  

We headed for Hunter's school and saw a beautiful rainbow on our way.  No surprise.  It had been trying to rain while the sun was shining all afternoon.  

Lori met us at Hunter's school.  We gave Hunter the choice of going with us to take the kids home, or going home with Lori.  He decided to go with us.  We met Dick at his job a few blocks away and hit the road.  

We were meeting Sam and Steph at an exit about an hour away.  We played games the whole way there. First - listing a class in school for each letter of the alphabet, then a teacher for each letter, then a city for each letter, and a country for each letter.  It got pretty hilarious sometimes, and so much fun!!  

A pretty view along the way.

We met Lori when we got back to town and gave her boy back to her.  Dick and I were ready to go home to our quiet house.  

Now my focus is on all the things I need to get done before I leave for Lisa's very early Friday morning.   She said George will be away for work a couple of days while I'm there, so we'll have some girl time.  I think that will be a first.  We always had so many other children all her life - before college and after college.  And then she got married and moved to Florida.  Maybe it's about time.  I'm looking forward to it!