Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday of Christmas Week!

Well I am behind again with this blog so I will give you a quick summary of the days before Christmas!  We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Monday I had breakfast with my Curvette friends and what a fun time we had. Ken met me at Wal-Mart and we drove to see Katelyn, our youngest granddaughter, and her pre-school Christmas program.  She played Mary and was so adorable (spoken like a true grandma!).  After some refreshments, we went back to Lanie's and Ken entertained Katelyn while I helped Lanie wrap "Santa's" Christmas gifts.  After lunch we headed home and after checking my phone, I realized 5 people had responded to our ad on Craig's List for the sale of our 2001 CRV.  We quickly made an appointment to have it inspected at 3 (wow, that was quick!) and the 1st possible buyer we spoke to said he would stop by our apartment at 4:30 to check it out!  Long story short, by 5:30 we had a cash deposit and an appointment for 6:30 on Tuesday to finalize the sale - less than 24 hours.  Wow!

We said our goodbyes to a very faithful friend!

After a walk on Tuesday morning, Ken cleaned out the CRV and I started cutting celery, onions, and bread for making my potato stuffing on Wednesday morning. Ken had lunch with Kevin and when he returned, we drove to Masonic Homes to spend the afternoon playing cards with my parents.  We always have a fun time! After a quick dinner, we went to the Notary and our 2001 CRV is no longer ours! I spent the rest of the evening making jewelry!

Wednesday morning Ken and I went for a long walk since it was so mild outside. Ken had breakfast with his friend, Gary, and I made my potato stuffing ( a family tradition) and cranberry jello salad for our Christmas dinner at Jamie's. After lunch, we spent some time cleaning the apartment and organizing things. Ken took a short nap (he is still fighting some sinus issues) and I made some pendents out of pieces of seaglass we had found.  Cindy and John arrived at 4:30 and the 4 of us met Jamie and Dane at Church for an early Christmas Eve service.  What a phenomenal worship service.  After Church, Cindy, John, Ken and I went for a delicious dinner at Fiorentinos.  Back to the apartment where the men won Up the River.  By bedtime I had a sore throat and felt rather achy! Oh no!!!!! 

So Far This Month!!!!!

Well, it has been a long time again since I have posted, but the time in PA has certainly gone by quickly!

Ken and I must be getting old, because we have spent a lot of time with Dr. appointments.  I will give you just a brief summary of what has been going on -

I had my 1st dermatology appointment ever and all the spots I thought could be questionable were fine, but she didn't like the white line on my lip.  She did a scrapping for a biopsy and after 5 days it came back with cancer cells.  So, upon her advice, I scheduled an appointment with a facial surgeon for a Mohs procedure.  Ken and I went there last Wednesday for a consultation, and long story short, she couldn't get me in for the procedure until possibly the middle of January, but more likely, sometime in February.  Not good for our Florida schedule.  Fortunately she had a colleague in Florida (near where we would be staying) with great credentials and her scheduler placed a call to her on my behalf.  I now have the Mohs surgical procedure scheduled in her office in Estaro Bay for Friday, January 29. Ken and I were not impressed with the Dr. here, so we are happy to have the work done in Florida.

The day before that appointment I had my 1st colonoscopy - yippie! - and that went well.  I don't need to go back for 10 years, so maybe never!  We shall see. Ken has had a bad cold/sinus infection for the last 2 1/2 weeks and his appointment for a colonoscopy has been rescheduled 2x because of the cold.  He has an appointment now for New Year's Eve day (what a great time!), but his cold still has a lot of room for improvement if they will allow him to have it done!  I also had a dexiscan for my osteoporosis and since my bone density has improved with the medication I had taken for several years, I am off the medicine until I do another scan in 2 years.  That was good news!

In between all of these appointments we have spent time with family, friends, and our small church group.  We have enjoyed 3 different Christmas shows, watching our granddaughters at their swim meet ( at 6 and 8 they are really amazing little swimmers), and attending the Christmas show of our granddaughter, Katelyn, at her pre-school.  I also helped Jamie paint the trim in several areas of her house including the "dreaded" louvered closet doors.  It has been a special time.

The weather here, like in many parts of the country, has been unusually warm for this time year, but starting this week the cold weather has arrived.  They are predicting temperatures of around 60 degrees on Christmas day (crazy!) but we know those mild days are so temporary.  We will be ready to return to the warm Florida sunshine!

Looking forward to seeing all of our special friends that we get to see yearly in Florida.  We are hoping to leave on January 3rd or 4th if all goes according to plan. 

We Have Been Home 1 Week and It Has Been Crazy, But Great!

Well, we have certainly been on the move since returning to PA! 

Last Sunday we went to church where we celebrated seeing Jamie and her family, getting big hugs and kisses from them.  We also had breakfast with our small group and had such a good time catching up and just having fun socializing.  We did go home to get a short rest before driving 45 minutes to visit Lanie and her family.  Another wonderful time of visiting and sharing and getting to see all of them.  Got needed groceries on the way home.

Monday I actually spent the day at home (all day) working on jewelry making because I had a craft show this Saturday and another one next Saturday.  I needed to build up the inventory!  Ken had breakfast with his friend, Gary and then did some necessary errands!  He spent the afternoon working at his desk and going through our accumulated mail. I got to spend the evening at home but Ken went to a meeting at church.  I was able to get many pieces of jewelry made!

Tuesday I had my 1st dermatology appointment ever, and I figured the Dr. would have a "hay day" with all my spots and what I thought might be abnormalities.  Actually there was only 1 area that concerned her, and I thought that one wasn't even an issue.  She numbed my lip and "scrapped" off a white area on my lower lip and then cauterized it.  It wouldn't stop bleeding so a bit more novacain was needed and more cauterizing.  Not my favorite thing!  I should get the result of the biopsy this week, but hopefully it will be fine and there will be nothing else to do!  I did some shopping and then at 3 Ken and I left for Jamie's where we met Bria and Cali at the bus stop.  They went with us to get little gifts to put in the Samaritan Purse shoeboxes that we filled and then returned to the church to be sent overseas.  Bria and Cali were good helpers when selecting the gifts for 5 to 9 year old girls.   Home for dinner and then more jewelry making.

Wednesday morning was prep time for making a jello salad and our traditional potato stuffing for Thanksgiving Dinner.  It was a gorgeous, mild day, so Ken and I took a long walk.  After lunch we went to visit my parents for an afternoon of card playing.  Dad is doing well mentally, but his legs are so weak and no longer able to "hold him up".  So, he is totally dependent on the nursing staff for getting him our of bed and moving him from a chair to his electric wheelchair. He has never shown signs of depression until now, especially with winter coming and he will not be able to go outdoors.  Sad to see and experience!  So good to spend time with them again and they certainly love when we come and play cards.

Thanksgiving Day was so much fun and our daughter, Jamie, is definitely the hostess with the mostest!!!!  We  had such a nice day with her family and Sue and Dan, her in-laws.  The men sat outside (it was warm and sunny) watching the turkey cook in peanut oil in the fryer.  What a tough job!  All the food was delicious as well as the hospitality.  Jamie makes it look so easy and relaxing, but she really goes all out with the food and drinks. 

After our big dinner, Sue and Dan had to leave but the 6 of us walked to the Ephrata Park so the girls could burn up some energy and have fun on the climbing wall and the monkey bars.

They were so happy to walk to the park!

Love the "rock wall".....

....and the monkey bars!

Even mommy, daddy and Grandma got in on the fun!

Then the girls decided to go on the stage of the band shell and do a little show for us -

We left there at 5 and went to the home of Cindy's daughter, Michele (my niece) for the evening to visit with Cindy's children and their families. There was a beautiful sunset while we were driving -

 It was so good to see all of them again.

This is Cindy's son TW, his wife Arlena, and their son Bennett.
Arlena is due to deliver twins anytime!

This is my sister Cindy, her husband John, and grandson
Bennett!

Black Friday is not a shopping day for this gal.  I left home at 6:45 to meet my Curvette friends for breakfast.  We had a lot of fun and I was happy to reconnect with all of them.  Ken spent the morning working at his desk and after breakfast I stopped at K-Mart for a few small items and at Turkey Hill for my free hot chocolate and cheap poinsettias.  Ken had lunch with Kevin and I did more jewelry making.  When he returned we went for a 5 mile walk, checking out the new section of the rail trail here in Lititz.  After dinner Ken loaded the car for the craft show while I made additional jewelry.

Yesterday, Saturday, we were up at 5:45 for our craft show at Northern Lebanon High School and my sister, Cindy, had the space right next to us.  It was fun to spend the day together.  I am so blessed to have such a supportive husband who enjoys going to the shows with me and is such a helper.  He is my best advocate!  After a good show, we returned home by 4:15 and we were exhausted.  We both took a nap, then had more leftovers for dinner.  Doloris and Fred arrived at 7:15 and we were so happy to see them.  We "caught up" on each others lives and then played Hause (women won) and a game of Skip-Bo which the men won.  All of us were tired and called it a night around 10:15. We really enjoy spending time with them.

Today, Sunday, we went to church and were able to spend time with Jamie and her family and our small group.  We stopped for a few groceries before meeting our small group at Evergreen Restaurant for breakfast.  More sharing and just having a good time.  We were home by 12:30 and Ken read the paper before taking a nap.  I recorded expenses on our budget program (how can we spend so much money is beyond me!) and then I started more jewelry making.  Need more inventory for my show this coming Saturday. We watched football (what happened, Steelers?), had more delicious leftovers for dinner, and making jewelry and watching football continued.  By 10:15 we were in bed.

Like I said, we have only been home for 7 days, but we have managed to keep extremely busy.  That's a good thing!!!!!

Back Home Again!

Ken and I left mid South Carolina by 6:40AM on Saturday and thus the 2nd day of driving back home continued.  Traffic was not as heavy as Friday, and we didn't pass any accidents, so that was a big plus.  Also, it was a bright sunny day, but it kept getting colder and colder the further north we traveled.  Wow, that should have been a "no brainer".  I kept telling Ken we needed to be heading SOUTH, but he paid no attention.  

We stopped 2X for gas (again, only $1.79/gallon), at 2 rest stops, and enjoyed chili and a salad for lunch at Wendy's.  We arrived in Lititz around 4:45, stopping at Polly's house to drop off our bikes and the bike rack.  So good to see and talk to her.  

When we got to our apartment the work of unloading the CRV began. Fortunately we did not have nearly as much as when we are unloading Waldo. Our daughter, Jamie, had stopped by yesterday, turned up the heat, plugged in the refrigerator, and had a new 40" flat screen TV with a bow on the box waiting for us in our LR.  Our daughters and their families gave it to us as an early Christmas present.  They knew ours had stopped functioning several weeks before we left for our fall adventure and we were using a 13" one.  They wanted us to have it before Christmas so we would have more time to enjoy it before leaving for Florida again the beginning of January.  How thoughtful and what a surprise!!!!

Ken hooked up the new Smart TV ( we need a book, Smart TV's for Dummies!) while I unpacked everything and put all the items in their proper location.  By then we were both exhausted and it was 7:30.  We drove to La Piazza here in Lititz and shared a small chicken cheesesteak and a piece of pizza.  It was delicious.  Both of us were in bed by 9:30 and so ready for a long, good night's sleep.  We had driven 580 miles on not a lot of sleep and it had "caught up" with both of us!

Today, Sunday, was a special day.  We got ready to go to Church, arriving there at 8:45 and were welcomed by our small group.  So good to see all of them again.  Then when we went into the service and sat with Jamie, Dane, and Dane's parents, Sue and Dan.  So nice to see all of them too!  It was a very good service and afterwards, we went back to the youth area and got hugs and kisses by Bria and Cali.  It feels so great to see their excitement when we return back home.  We spent the next 1/2 hour visiting with Jamie and her family and it was a special time.  When they left, we reconnected with our small group and all of us went to a local restaurant for breakfast - lots of sharing and laughter. 

Ken and I were back to the apartment by 12:30 and Ken was feeling rather "drained".  He napped for about 1 1/2 hours which was good, for he had done so much driving the last 2 days (I did NONE!).  I went through some of the newspaper, talked to my mother, and then made some jewelry.

At 3:15, we left and drove 40 minutes to visit our daughter Lanie and her family.  They are leaving on Tuesday for Michigan to spend Thanksgiving with Bob's sister and her family, only coming back on Monday.  So we wanted to make sure we saw them before they left.  So good to see all of them too. Samantha and Katelyn were excited to show us their rooms (they had rearranged them) and to talk about what they have been doing.  We had wanted to buy pizza or go somewhere for dinner, but Bob grilled chicken and we had delicious salads.  We had a really nice visit!

We left there at 6:45 and decided to stop at Wal-Mart for groceries since our refrigerator was "bare".  Not what we wanted to do, but it was necessary!  We were back to our apartment by 8:15 and then I worked on this blog while we watched some TV (on our new 40" flat screen - WOW).  In bed by 9:30 after a busy, but good day!

On the Road Again, but Not in Waldo!

Ken and I were up at 6 and got ready to depart for home.  By 6:30 Ken was outside unhooking all the utilities and I left to go to a nearby Race Trac gas station to get us breakfast sandwiches and for some delicious mint hot chocolate for me.  We hooked the CRV to Waldo and were on our way out of the CG by 7:15.  It was already hot and humid!

We got onto Interstate 75 with Lazydays our destination.  All went well until we got within 6 miles of the exit for Interstate 4 for Lazydays and due to an accident it took us 1 hour to go those 6 miles.  We arrived at 9:30, Ken unhooked our CRV, we had our appointment with our service adviser, Samantha, and were back on the road by 10:40, leaving Waldo there!  Google advised us to take Interstate 4 instead of 75 due to some traffic congestion where there was some major road construction.  Of course, we got into some heavy traffic around Orlando and Jacksonville, where we passed 3 major accidents in less than a mile.  More slow traffic.  We actually saw 7 accidents during our drive today - wow!  We stopped at one Rest Area, 1 time for gas, and at a Subway for lunch.  Other than that, Ken just kept driving!

We drove a total of 520 miles arriving at Exit 119 in South Carolina at 7:30. What a long day!  We decided we were too tired to go out for dinner.  So we ate some snacks we had brought with us - peanut butter crackers and some fruit. Hopefully the hotel will provide a good breakfast tomorrow morning.

I did talk to my sister today (Dad has a UTI and it had him very confused), then my mother who said dad is on some antibiotics and doing much better, and then to Melissa.  They left Alliance today after staying there 5 nights to get some work done on their Motorhome and drove to just south of Atlanta.  They plan on being in Nashville on Sunday.  Ken had a nice chat with our daughter, Jamie, and we are anxious to see our children, granddaughters, etc. 

We are planning to be home later tomorrow, but we still have 580 miles to travel before arriving in Lititz.  Hopefully traffic will flow more smoothly.  We have no timeline for being home, so if it takes till Sunday that will be okay!  We plan to be on the road again around 7:15 with about 10 hours of driving.  We shall see!

I am excited to get back home but I am not looking forward to the cooler weather.  I am definitely a Florida type weather gal!

A Busy Day of Preparation for Heading Back to PA!

Ken and I were up right after 7:30 and the fun began!  I started vacuuming Waldo while Ken loaded somethings in the car.  Then we made a cooked breakfast, did the dishes, and then I headed to the laundry in the CG while Ken washed the floors in Waldo.

After putting the laundry in the washer, I returned to our campsite and Ken was on the phone with Ernie who was checking up on us and wishing us a safe journey back home.  Ken had started to wash the shelves and drawers in the refrigerator so I finished them while Ken and Ernie chatted.  I returned to the laundry to dry and fold the clothes and then went back to Waldo.  

Ken had a nice chat with Alan, our former financial adviser who had moved to Idaho and met us at Zion National Park in June to hike Angel's Landing with us. They covered many different topics during their conversation!

We re-made the bed, loaded a plastic tub to put in the shower with food items we didn't want to take home, made certain we had all the clothes and shoes that we would need at home, and then ate lunch.

I went shopping at Beall's Outlet from 1 to 2:45 while Ken pulled in the slides (boy is it crowded inside!), retracted the jacks so he could get the boards out from under them and allow them to dry before packing them in the basement of Waldo, and emptied the refrigerator so it could defrost.  Amazing how little food and drinks were remaining.  We did a great job reducing our food inventory.

I cleaned and scrubbed the bathroom and at 3:30 we took a short walk around part of the campground before stopping at Ray and Barb's.  Ray and Ken went to men's bocce from 4 to 5 and I played Quiddle with Barb and 5 of her lady friends.  We both had a good time.  

At 5:15 Barb, Ray, Ken and I went to Sonny's Bar-B-Q so I could enjoy another pulled pork sandwich before leaving for home.  It was so good.  We were back to the CG by 7:30 and Barb showed Ken some photos they had of moose.  The last one was a drawing Barb did of a moose and it was titled - Now Ken can say he saw a moose!  How nice!

We headed back to Waldo where Ken finished loading the CRV and we made sure the refrigerator was clean and dry.  We watched TV till 9 and then headed to bed.  We have a lot of driving to do in the next 2 days and hope to be on our way to Lazydays no later than 7 tomorrow morning.

PA, here we come!!!!

A Busy Day of Prepping for Heading Home!

Ken and I were up at 7:30, got ready and made a delicious cooked breakfast. After cleaning up, we decided to decide what clothing we needed to take home. We will leave all of our summer clothes here, since it is way tooooo cold in PA for shorts and sleeveless tops!

We left the CG around 10 and drove to Venice Beach, parked the car, and starting walking towards the south jetty.  It was another beautiful morning with plenty of sunshine, breezy and temperatures in the mid 80's.  Without the breeze it would have been very hot!!!

We enjoyed walking along the beach and then spending some time on the jetty where we watched some dolphins "leaping" out of the water several times. Unfortunately, Ken wasn't able to get a photo of the action.

This is Venice Beach

More walking along the beach to the Jetty!

This is the south jetty a beautiful place to watch a sunset!

It was very windy and the water much rougher than usual!

It was extremely windy and you could sense how tough it was for the boaters and those in kayaks to maneuver in the water.

The kayak were going swiftly through the water with the wind.
Good luck on the return trip!!!!  It may take a lot longer!

We came back to the main beach via the sidewalks viewing the marinas and all the condos, etc.  

I think these are Christmas coconuts!

Very colorful!

When we got to Venice Beach we decided to walk out to the water and whom should we see but Feather Man as Ken calls him.  He was always at the Drum Circle on Nokomis Beach but in March and when we were there last week we didn't see him.  One of the drummers told us he now a part of the drum circle on Venice Beach.  So, we were happy to see he was still around the area and "doing his thing".

So good to see "feather man" again!

Not sure what he does, maybe Tai Chi?  It is very meaningful
to him and to others!

We arrived back at the CG around noon and the work began.  Ken spent hours working outside putting things away, cleaning the grill, loading things in the car and in the basement of Waldo, loading our bikes, etc.  I worked inside packing up some food we need to take home, the rest of the clothes that go back to PA, cleaning out cabinets, and then putting things in safe places while Waldo is at Lazydays.  After that, I started cleaning Waldo.  We had planned to play some shuffleboard, but it got too late for that!!!!

Ken also did lots of paperwork for insurance for Waldo and our vehicles.  It was a crazy, busy day.  Hopefully tomorrow will be less hectic since we got so much done today.  We will need to defrost the refrigerator and freezer.

Called it an early night...  what a great time we have had at the Venice area.