Landon and Owen for the Weekend

We had Landon and Owen with us for the weekend while the rest of their family went house shopping in Wisconsin. We had a great time with the boys. In the pictures you can see the boys playing with bubble stuff in their "bath tub", Landon cutting play doh with a butter knife, and Owen working intently in the sand box.
We had other fun times too as the weather was nice we were outside a lot and when inside we did some painting, games and puzzles. Of course the Teletubbies, Franklin and Little Bear got some attention, as well as Willy Wonka which was on ABC Sat and Sun nights.

Gabby and HDTV

Here are two big additions to our pleasured life. We got home on the 31st of March. We had the new TV by the end of the week and the new dog on the following Monday. The TV and the dog are in competition for our attention. When Gabby wins we get healthier and when the TV wins we get fatter and dumber.

Gabby looks like a pure bred small black lab. We don't really know anything else about her. She is about 1 and weighs 30 or so pounds. She seems to be trained and we are learning how to interpret her signals to go outside. She is very loving and gentle. She is very full of energy.

Ready to go home now??

We are almost all packed and just waiting until Sunday (and maybe an easy trip through Atlanta).
We are leaving a month earlier than we had planned. Eddie got a promotion and has to move to Wisconsin (Milwaukee). Instead of coming down to Florida, they are spending his entire vacation getting their house ready for the market. We are also going up there to help them with the kids while they continue to de-clutter and get the house saleable.
I am sad to be leaving my exercises and bridge but I know that we can have a longer time next season when they won't need us as badly. They are going to go house hunting over Memorial day weekend.
It is also sad that they will be so far away from us now. We have been spoiled by having them less than two hours away since they started having kids. Now they will be a "fast ferry" away from us across Lake Michigan.

Really Busy and Really Loving It All

This was quite a week. Some days I was just moving quickly from one activity to another. First it was DST week and that meant our Water Exercise Classes couldn't be in the water (too cold out) at the usual time. We had to move them from 10 a.m. to 11a.m. and I had to run from the pool to my place and change fast and eat lunch and get to the Bridge Game by 1 p.m. After Bridge I had just enough time to swim and shower and get to dinner and/or the next event. Friday there were no regular classes to teach or Bridge, but I had invited the Scrapbookers over for videos from 2-4. My DVR, which I adore, has been storing Scrapbooking shows for two months and I wanted to share some with my class. Also Mac and I had lunch with one of my bridge partners at Lake Ashton. Then, at night there was a fun St. Patrick's potluck.
We found out that Evan's Mite C hockey team made it into the finals of the Cherry Cup Tournament. Evan's team is coached by Eddie of course. They play the final game this weekend for the championship. Go Aggies!
Sherry has a bunch of Educational toys called Leapsters. Even though he can't read, Landon loves to play with them and does know all of his alphabet and the letter sounds at 3. On Monday Landon wanted to know when the "leapster" bunny was coming. Once you hear it, you want to say it that way forever.
I found out the Harry won't be coming to see us in Fla this season. He promises to come to Michigan though if there is an interesting Bridge event. He is reallyl getting into Bridge more and more.
If I have it right, Shannon is now in Paris with Lynne and Kristen and she will be joined there by Caleb and the girls the end of the week and they are all going to England for "Leapster" in Devon.
Sean and Jo are in Mexico for a week so our family is really very international right now.
I have to do our taxes now. I woke up at 5 a.m. and that was really enough sleep as I went down at 9:30 p.m. so I am all by myself and wide awake. We have to pay a little money this year so we won't file them until next month, but this is a good time to get them filled out and ready to go.

Update

We are back from a hectic and fun two weeks in Michigan. Mac and I really are appreciating Florida more now that we have had some big-time experience with snow and freezing rain and sub zero temps. We got to see Eddie, Brady and Evan play some hockey. We were sick the entire time we were up there, but we had loads of fun anyway.
I got some great news today. I found out that I may never need knee surgery. There will be a lot of tweaking involved to keep me out of pain, but the cartilage is not degenerating. I will have to keep up a vigorous exercise schedule and I should lose some weight to give those knees a break, but basically no surgery is good surgery.

Where did the Month go?

I have been so busy this month that I haven't posted for two weeks. I am just playing for the most part and really enjoying my time in Florida. The two classes, Water Exercise and Scrapbooking, are doing well. I have been playing bridge three times a week and seeing some movies as well.
I had a lot of nice things happen for my Birthday. First I got a lovely picture from
Anja in France. Then I got flowers from Anne and Melonie. It was a beautiful boquet that has lasted for 7 days now. Then Mac got me a gift certificate for a pedicure that I had today. Many people sent me cards. All of my kids and grandkids made phone calls. There was a group birthday party for all of the Feb. birthdays on the 14th at the bridge club and then a potluck with music on my actual birthday itself. Beth called me Sat. night and we talked and laughed for a long time. Sunday and Monday I came in first at bridge, to top off the birthday events.
Today I got a permanent and tomorrow I start packing. We are leaving Thurs. for Michigan. We will be up in the cold and snow for about 10 days and then back again to Paradise. We will be going to at least 3 hockey games when we are up there.

Endorsement For President

Before the movie (Atonement) this afternoon, I found out that Paris Hilton had endorsed Hillary Clinton on her blog and I thought that maybe I should too. I really want a female president in my lifetime. I am convinced that she can do the job well. I know that people don't like her very much, but I think it is very hard for a women to be sweet and soft and convince others that she would make a fine Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. If not now, when? If not her, who? I like Obama but I want him to wait a few years.
There it is-- I made my endorsement.