THANK GOODNESS! IT'S VACATION TIME!

First..... sorry it's been so long since my last post. Much has been happening!

Golfer and I were in Washington, D.C. visiting friends when we got word that my sister's husband had passed away. He had been quite ill and was in declining health. It was sad, but we're glad he's not suffering any longer. Golfer scrambled around and found me a flight to Ohio and I got there for the funeral. Visited with everyone and came home last Tuesday. Then I had to scramble around to catch up at work and get everything ready for our vacation.

We are now in Myrtle Beach. Golfer and his buddies will be playing in the Retired Military Golf Classic this week. Bikini, Brief, Boxer and Bloomer are here for a few days. It's great to see them. Boxer and Bloomer are getting so big! And they have been soooooooo good! We've played in the pools and they've built sand castles. They've gone round and round the lazy river at the water park. We've gone out to dinner with our friends and the kids have been on their best behavior.

Memorial Day weekend is also the time of the Atlantic Beach Bikefest. Usually, the hotel where we stay is overcrowded, loud and noisy, and there are no parking places, and long lines everywhere for a few days. We have been pleasantly surprised this year. Myrtle Beach has passed some new laws and they are being enforced. Such things as restricted noise levels and parking restrictions, helmet laws, etc. The bikers have gone back to Atlantic Beach and the paper says they had a good time. The rest of us have enjoyed our visits to Myrtle Beach this time, too!

In other news, Golfer and I attended an excellent performance of "Wicked" at Chrysler Hall last week. It was wonderful! I highly recommend it. For those of you not familiar, "Wicked" is the story of the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz. You know, she didn't really start out as wicked. Tolerance of things different is a good thing.

That's about it from here for now. Stay safe!

HAPPY DAY BEFORE MOTHERS' DAY!

I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Mothers' Day!

I'll be calling my Mom, who lives in Ohio, tomorrow. She's turns 100 this year and she doesn't "do" computers so she won't see these wishes here.

All is well with us. Today it's hot and muggy and getting ready to rain some more even though the sun is out right now. We've had at least eight days with rain off and on. Things are soggy. The grass needs to be mowed and all that rain did not slow down any weed growth. I considered doing a a little yard clean-up today, but like I said, it's hot and muggy. Tomorrow is only supposed to be in the 70's. That's more conducive to yard work in my opinion. So today has been filled with doing laundry and doing errands and doing some cleaning.

Golfer and I saw "Wolverine" this past week. Very good movie. If you liked the X-Men movies, you should like this one. There are a few new movies coming out soon that we want to see. The new "Star Trek" might be the next one. I believe Bikini and Brief are seeing it today. I'm anxious to hear their opinions.

I ran into Nurse J while out doing errands; we had a short chat in Sam's Club. All is well with them.

Stay safe and have a good weekend!

Hey, All!

So.... When I fed the furry kids early yesterday morning I discovered teeny, tiny ants in the kitchen. Just in one area; the same area where they seem to be every year about this time. I had hoped that the disturbance of tearing up old flooring and putting in new tile and all the accompanying mortar and grout would eliminate the problem, but not so.

When the kitties had finished eating, I took up all their dishes and emptied and scrubbed them. Sprayed the whole area with kitty-safe insecticide and hoped for the best. The ants started keeling over right away. When I returned home from work in the afternoon I didn't see any live ones, so I cleaned well, and put things back in place. It's been too windy to spray the ant shield liquid around the foundation outside. We've found that that helps, too, but it will have to wait until later.

It's a lovely day here. Warm, breezy. The windows are open and the furry kids are running back and forth. I've been outside to pull some weeds and do some cleaning up.

Golfer is due home this evening from visiting his brother in Ohio. Lar had major heart surgery recently. We're glad he's doing well.

Bikini reports that Boxer has two soccer games today. Boxer took Bikini to a Mother's Tea at his school. Bikini said it was lovely and a good time was had by all, complete with dressing up and drinking tea and having lots of goodies! Bloomer is keeping busy, too! They are all doing well.

Nurse J and Cable Guy are both working today, so I took BeyB up to her school to join three teachers and over fifty kids, and some parent chaperones for a geology field trip to a field mine in the mountains. BeyB's teacher asked me if I wanted to go along; five kids did not show up. They had to pay in advance, non-refundable, and it wouldn't have cost me anything. I passed on the offer, but said thank you. Nothing sounds like so much fun for a sixty year old woman with joint issues as a two to three hour bus ride (one way) (on a school bus!) to a field mine to dig rocks in the sun with over fifty pre-teen kids. Woo-hoo!!!! But I do hope they all have a good time and find some great rocks. BeyB was excited because her mom bought her a new messenger bag and she said she was going to fill it with rocks. I reminded her she had to be able to carry it home.

That's about it for now. Stay safe!

ANTS ! ! !

More later.

Ummmmmmmm..........

Hey, all! I could make excuses for the long time since the last post, but really, time just flew by and I did not get to posting anything.

All is well here. We've had several gorgeous, sunny days in the 90's. But now it's cooled off and in the 60's and cloudy today. The A/C works well and has been turned off for now. The furry kids were happy to have an open window again!

Golfer had to have an appointment with our long-time optometrist, Dr. VZ. Golfer had corrective laser surgery a few years ago to eliminate the need to wear glasses. But they told him eventually, he would need reading glasses. That time is now. They've been ordered. We like Dr. VZ. Been seeing him for many years. And we smile every time, because he ALWAYS asks about our daughter, Bikini. She made a lasting impression on him. He says she has been his only patient, ever, to throw up and almost pass out while getting an eye exam. That was on the occasion of the first time her eyes were dilated. Let's just say there were some issues. But he always asks how she is. (or perhaps he asks to be sure she still lives in Georgia????) :)

I finished up a minor project in home upkeep. I replaced all the handles on the bi-fold closet doors. Added some small wooden disks between the brushed nickel knobs and the doors. Paint is all touched up and looking good. Knobs are nice and tight.

Everything is green and looking good in the yard. The azaleas are blooming and the potted flowers are doing well. Pollen is still an issue here and a yellow cloud is raised every time I clean off the porch and patio.

So, there you have it. Life moves on and days are full. Stay safe!

A Couple More Trip Tales

I wanted to share a couple more pictures. These first ones are from Garden of the Gods. This was taken the morning it was about 20 and starting to snow. It was still beautiful there.















These next two are from the Royal Gorge. The first is the view that always upset Nurse J when she was little. She was afraid she was going to fall through the bridge! The next is the view of what's under that bridge. Photo was taken from looking over the side.








On a side note, about my flight.... I was traveling alone since Golfer was traveling between business locations. All was well until the flight from Denver to Colorado Springs. It was late departing. After we all got on board and seated the pilot announced it was going to be rough and if we needed anything to just shout or wave; the flight attendants were going to stay belted in. Ominous. Take off was okay, and the flight wasn't too bad until we got close to landing. We were almost down, rocking back and forth, and all of a sudden up we went. We circled around again and on the second try we landed. Golfer said he saw the plane come in and then go back up and thought "what the heck!?" I was a little nauseous and had a headache, but all was well.

More later. Stay safe!

We're Back!

Golfer had a couple back-to-back business trips and I got to go along on the last one when he went out to Colorado Springs. We lived there for about four years and loved the area. This first picture tells why. Clear air, beautiful mountain (Pikes Peak)

The day we arrived it was almost 70 out. The next morning it was about 20 and snowing. The third morning it was about 10. We had packed sensibly and had warm clothes to layer so we were fine. We had forgotten how strong the winds could be though and at times it was difficult to walk in a straight line!

We went to all our favorite places and drove around enjoying the scenery. We also visited with some friends and ate at several excellent restaurants.

These cold fish are at Seven Falls. When we lived in Colorado and would go there, Bikini and Nurse J liked to feed the fish. The white part is ice.

We drove through Garden of the Gods and Cheyenne Canyon Park. Took a trip to Cripple Creek. In the mid-70's when we were there it was a quaint old mining town. Now it is touristy gambling establishments and little shops. But the area around it is still gorgeous!

We had a fun evening at the "Flying W Ranch" with a wonderful steak dinner and great cowboy music.

Golfer got his work done.

We visited Royal Gorge and the Air Force Academy and hunted the places where we used to live.

All in all we had a wonderful trip. I will close with the tradtional family photo of a potty break!

Stay safe!