Sunday - April 12

It was a very productive day starting with 9:30 Mass at St. Francis with Father Robert.    Then to the downtown Chocolatte for coffee/muffins.    On home and set to work getting the she shed in good order putting away the patio furniture, grill, umbrella, etc.  and loading up several bags and stuff in back of Big Red and Ruby.

By 1:30, we were done for the day so enjoyed the AC working on games, reading and puzzles (I'm obsessed - have done 31 as of tonight in less than 2 weeks)!!!

We watched Rory win the Masters and enjoyed Trader Joe's orange chicken and rice.    Then for a walk - beautiful evening - visited with Eileen and Rob from Crossville, TN.    

Zoom tonight was a rarity - all 11 family members present!     Good chat with Joan (and Joe) about her successful surgery - she's feeling good and so grateful to not be in pain.    No weight bearing for 6-8 weeks - she's a trooper for sure and can't say enough good things about Cleveland Clinic.

Enjoy your week ahead!

Saturday - April 11

Nice morning when we started our walk but quickly warming up.    Back home and I fixed ham and cheese omelets and toast.  

We left for the Barbara Mann Theater to meet Jim and Lydia - we all thoroughly enjoyed "Moulin Rouge", a delightful very entertaining musical.    The choreography was outstanding as were all the costumes, singing and dancing.   The main female and male voices were excellent!!! 

Great show!!!

Three couples from CT were there.....visited with Anita, Teri and Susan.

Susan, Lydia, Pat

After the show, we went to Deep Lagoon for dinner - very busy place but got a table outside and all enjoyed our meals.    Fun at the theater and then visiting over dinner.....we'll miss these two!

Mark, Jim, Lydia, Pat

Anne and I beat the computer 3 of 5 games!   

Friday - April 10

 Another beautiful and busy day!    Anna and Rosa arrived at 8:15 to give Flo her twice yearly cleaning.    We left for downtown and breakfast at Peter's.    We hung out there for a while enjoying our coffee and Empanada (Mark) and croissant sandwich for me.   Then we ran several errands and came home to a very sparkling, clean-smelling Flo!    AWESOME!!!!

We had a productive afternoon sorting, organizing, and getting things together to take or leave.    Did some laundry and then enough is enough!    Time to rest and decide where we're going to dinner?    😊

Italian sounded good, especially pizza, so headed downtown only to find that the Seafood Festival was going on..........we lucked out finding a spot on the street (free) versus paying a parking lot or the garages which were charging $10-15.  We had 5 blocks to walk to Capone's and wow....several tables available inside or outside.    We ate inside and chianti, salad and Tommy Gun pizza were all excellent.    By the time we left, it was packed with several waiting for a table.

Decided to walk and check out the seafood festival, but it was further away than we thought (not the usual area as in past years).    BUT......it was prom night for at least 2 high schools and these young people were really decked out - WOW.....sooo many gorgeous gowns!    Beautiful evening and they were taking  pics on the waterfront.

So exciting to see the successful landing of the Artemis II and astronauts safe return!   

Anne and I played 3 games of euchre and won 2.   

Mark's sister Joan and Joe are home tonight after her ankle surgery this morning at Cleveland Clinic.    Joan has had 2 previous ankle replacements (and 2 new knees) but her ankles have been giving her so much pain and so as a last resort, a specially made rod was inserted in her ankle today.    We hope and pray this will give her more mobility and be pain free.

Enjoy your weekend!

Thursday - April 9

BIRTHDAY   GIRL

ANNETTE 

Celebrating with Lake James friends tonight

Darrell, Kathryn, Colleen, ?, Keith, Philip, Birthday Girl

Happy Birthday to our sweet daughter-in-law, Annette.    She is married to Philip and holds down the fort often with all his travels, keeps Luke and Maeve where they need to be with all their activities and always giving them new and fun experiences.   She loves to hike, play pickleball and is an excellent cook!    So happy to have her in the family!!!

We gathered more stuff to donate, pack away, etc.  and then I left for RummiKub (last of the season and only Nancy and Vicki were there.)  I won 3 games and Vicki won 1.   Home for lunch.   

Last night when Mark and I were walking, I mentioned how beautiful the impatiens at the clubhouse were - really growing and so healthy after all the rain + grass is so green.   Well, when I got to the clubhouse this morning to play RummiKub, lo and behold, all the gorgeous flowers were gone!!!!!    They had taken them out and already replaced with small individual plants.    Bummer.....but I guess they keep to a certain schedule for plants, etc.   

I had appt. with my primary, Dr. Freeman - all good till I'm back in October.   On home and called Annette.    Then off to eat at Rib City for last hurrah at that favorite spot.   We even splurged and shared a slice of their very good key lime pie.

Anne and I won 2 and lost 2 to the computer in euchre games

Wednesday - April 8

 LUKE is a TEENAGER

Happy 13

His other Grandma (Nana) and I chose the same birthday card.    We also gave Maeve the same Easter card!!!    Great minds think alike  😆

We remember so well April 8, 2013 when we (and Annette's parents) were in Wellington, FL for Luke's birth (our 6th grandson).    And now here we are - 13 years later!   How can that be???     He's such a neat kiddo and enjoys school and in advanced math, and currently a tutor for 3rd graders, loves his adventure core group (rappelling, rock climbing, hiking, etc), playing golf, mowing lawns, etc.....

 We had a good day and thought the rain was coming, but just sunny and breezy.    We went to Starbucks (they have a delicious chocolate pistachio bread) this morning and then WalMart (Rx and some groceries).   On home for 45 minutes and then off to my yearly eye exam with Dr. Alessi.    All good with the eyes and come back in a year.    The refresh tears made all the difference after the eyelid surgery.

Since we didn't have lunch, we both were thinking the same thing - ice cream!!!!   So since we were close to Sun Harvest, we enjoyed their yummy twist (orange/chocolate for Mark and orange/vanilla for me) plus I did some shopping (love this fun store).   On home.    We got the bikes loaded up on back of Flo.   Little by little we're preparing for our departure 1 week from today.   

Had a good chat with the birthday boy - he got a cell phone...now we can talk and text!  

And more big news - Luke got his boating certificate which makes him official to drive a boat.

Taking the family for a ride tonight - where are they?    I see Maeve's arm!  😆

Tonight we had salad, tempura shrimp and Bob Evans mashed potatoes (they make a 2-pak small serving which is perfect to share) !

We went for a short walk - the sky was looking ominous and we hurried back but only got a few sprinkles.    It did rain earlier around 4, but didn't last long.  

Luke, Maeve and Blair are all on spring break this week!