Tuesday - March 31

 Oh my, March is almost over and going out like a lamb here in Fort Myers.   Got to 87 with lots of sunshine.

Mark helped out at St. Francis parish office answering the phones from 10-12.    I took him down there and then picked him up and we were off to Punta Gorda.    We met Lee and Tamara who came from Bradenton at Laishley's.   Had a nice table on the water and almost 2.5 hours of catching up over our yummy lunch.    Very crowded today as it always seems to be.

We go way back with Lee and Tamara (she and Mark worked together a long time ago).    It's nice having them in FL, so we see them at least once a year.

Mark, Pat, Tamara, Lee

So sorry to hear today that Darlene a resident and neighbor at CT passed away from glioblastoma (brain cancer) which she suffered from for over a year.   RIP Darlene.

We walked around 6:30 - visited with Barry and Donna and talked Alaska where they are going in August.

There has been a wildfire northwest of Marion, NC (near Lake James).    Over the weekend, 2 Aero-Flite Tanker 260 Bombardier CL-415 (Super Scooper) aerial firefighting airplanes scooped up water from Lake James to pour onto the fire.   These airplanes can scoop up 1400 gallons of water in 12 seconds.    AMAZING!!!

Tonight Anne and I won 2 of 3 games!!!

Monday - March 30

Very breezy day here at CT.    I worked in the she shed organizing clothes and other stuff and what we'll leave and what we'll take with us.    Oh joy.....the nomads will be on the move 2 weeks from Wednesday.

Then I played canasta for the 1st time in several weeks - too much going on....visitors and avoided playing with all the sickness we had in the park.   So much fun to be with these gals again (28 strong) but Linda, Karen and I lost to Sandy, Denise and Terri.

Mark uncovered Big Red's cover and started cleaning out that stuff inside!   Stuff, stuff, so much stuff!    

Yesterday Luke was rock climbing and rappelling with hs core adventure group...

Luke - the great "adventurer"

and today he and his 7th-8th grade classmates are on their field trip to Washington, DC.    What fun seeing all the sites in our nation's capitol for these kiddos!

Tonight we met Connie and Steve for one last hurrah (dinner at Prawnbroker a big favorite for all of us).    As always, so much to chat about over our delicious meals.    We look forward to being together again in October.  We sure enjoy our times together.

Steve, Connie, Pat, Mark

It rained on our way to the restaurant, while we were eating and then on our way home.   We stopped at Costco and Trader Joe's for a few things - nasty night and glad to be home!

Anne and I played 3 games of euchre online - we won 1.   

  

Sunday - March 29

 Rainy Palm Sunday....started when we went to church and been off and on all day.    Cooler today, too.   After 9:30 Mass at St. Francis with Father Robert and a few errands, it was good to hunker down and have a day off from going somewhere and eating out!    Enjoyed our leftovers.

Connor and friends celebrating the Illini going to the Final Four

Paul, Connor, Jacob, Luke

I worked on setting up some dates to get together with friends when we're back in Bloomington (Kamp Komfort in Carlock) April 19-May 19.

We walked in the afternoon - very breezy. 

 Blair and her cheer team continue to do well.    They were in Gatlinburg this weekend and placed 2nd.

Zoom tonight was with 8 siblings and most of the talk was about health - especially Joan's upcoming surgery on 4/10 (very painful ankle with a rod inserted???)    She's already had 2 ankle replacements.    Also Tom and Beth's upcoming visit to Cleveland Clinic and March Madness excitement.

Enjoy the week ahead....

 

Saturday - March 28

 Today we went back to Blossom and Brie for the 10th lunch/brunch/dinner of the season.    We met my high school friends, Dick and Shirley from Dixon, IL for brunch.   Shirley is a Sublettian and we went all thru grade/high school together.    She is one year younger and Dick is 2 years older than me.   It was another packed place and Mark and I had a nice visit with Rodney (owner) before our friends arrived.    He is a U of I grad and will be cheering on the Illini tonight as we'll cheer on the Hawkeyes.   Mark asked Rodney if he had some sort of "loyalty" program for repeat customers (like 10 times).   He laughed, but maybe he'll give that some thought😀😀😀

We've been getting together with Shirley and Dick for many years here in FL (they spend February and March in Naples).    Tomorrow they head for home.    They loved Blossom and Brie and we yakked and yakked.    Then time to walk around and see the animals, take a picture and say good bye till next year.

Mark, Pat, Dick, Shirley

On home and took a nap - really warm today.   

Our Hawkeyes lost to IL tonight 71-59.    Exciting close game but then we kinda fell apart in the end!    So, I will now cheer on the Illini in the Final Four and wish them all the best!

Friday - March 27

Another busy but very fun day with Allie and Owen.     They came to CT around 10 and we went together to Buckingham Farms - not to eat, but do some shopping.  Back to Flo for a while and then off to Connor's in Gulf Coast Mall for an early lunch - all enjoyed our meals.

Friends since 1966

Pat 'n Allie

We got to the Music and Arts Community Center which is part of the Gulf Coast Symphony and located in the Unitarian Universalist  Church on Daniels.   We walked around the grounds and then "show time" and oh wow............it was just awesome with 4 guys and 1 gal singing all the oldies and cute storyline called Sh-Boom!    My friend Claire had seen it and highly recommended, so got tickets for this afternoon's matinee and we all loved it - so entertaining.

Then to Fancy's, just a mile away to eat again.......more good food.    On home and said our goodbyes to Allie and Owen - what a fun visit with them.    Always enjoy our time together but not sure when we'll see them again?    Maybe this summer somewhere on Lake Michigan?

Owen, Allie, Pat, Mark

Unfortunately there was an accident on I-75 on their way home to North Port, so traffic backed way up and rerouted off the interstate.   UGH....long delay getting home!

Happy "milestone" Birthday to our sister-in-law, Lydia who is celebrating today!

It rained here around 8 - didn't amount to much, but we'll take all we can get!

I stayed up till 12:20 AM this morning watching the IL vs Houston game.    A thrilling win for IL and both IL and Iowa are in the Elite 8.   They will play one another Saturday night. 

GO  HAWKEYES !!!