Dave's Spring Break

We just got back from the sad journey of taking Dave to the airport.  He is heading back to Monticello to finish the final 2 months of school and enjoy the beautiful Indiana spring.   But whenever we take Dave or Ron to the airport to return home, it leaves us with a longing to have them stay.  I think Dave had a great week - I know Mom, Dad, and I did.  We did the beach - duh!!!   Dave enjoyed doing some odd jobs around the house - working on the patio and planting vegetable plants.   Our first garden in Florida.  This includes tomatoes of various kinds, green peppers, cucumber, mint, and parsley.  

Dave spent time enjoying the waves while Dad looked for shells.  I think he needed Ron here so they could go boogie boarding.  

We enjoyed a visit from Tammy and her family.   Tammy is on Dave's team at school - she teaches math (Dave teaches science).  Tammy and her family spent the week at Destin on the Gulf and ran over to see our house.  Off we all went to Flounders for lunch.   No restaurant is more "beachy"!  I loved meeting Tammy knowing what good friends she and Dave have become through years of teaching together.

One of the things that Dave and I have in common is our love for technology.   We are both on our smart phones and computers in our spare time.  

Before you know it, it is time for Dave to go home.   Boo-hoo!  Kacey likes having Dave here because Dave chases her, takes her for walks, and sits with her on his lap.   What else is there in life for a little doggie?

Tomorrow night Betty and Kirk come in to visit during their Spring Break.  The beach is on the agenda and also going to Alabama to a war museum.   Kris, is coming in on Tuesday and will be here until Saturday.  We have a great week ahead of us.

The weather is warm and the sun can burn you in a short time so back to sunblock! 

Beautiful Evening

It was a warm day here in Gulf Breeze and we started the day taking my friend Nicole out to breakfast for her birthday and then we ran over to the zoo. After lunch I threw in chicken breast in a crock pot with a jar of salsa and taco seasoning.  The smell was so.....so......good!  Chicken tacos with taco chips - very good and easy.  The problem with the crock pot is that you must smell the food cooking all afternoon and you can't even open it to taste. 

One of the Pensacola Beach landmarks is the water tower on Casino Beach.  It is getting a new face lift.  I would NOT want that job. 

After our chicken tacos we drove down to Fort Pickens to watch the sunset.

Most of you know this guy - my Dad. 

Also enjoying the sunset is my brother, Dave.

We stopped at Sonics on the way home for ice cream.

And now that we are home, Mom and I are watching Dancing With The Stars.

Who will win?   Well, I am pretty sure who is going home today.

NO SPIDERS ALLOWED!One BAD thing happened today.   While cleaning in my bedroom a large, and I mean LARGE black spider was found.    Need I say I was not happy.  I would rather have a snake in there than a large spider.  Florida does have some yucky creatures that I do not welcome into our house.  My friend Nicole had 7 scorpions in one week.  No creepy crawly insects allowed!

Other than the visit from the spider, it was a relaxing day with Dave.  Looking forward to tomorrow!

Butt Biter

I haven't blogged for sometime since we just spent 9 days up in Hobart (Indiana).  We stayed at my brother Ron's and had a great time visiting friends and family.  The first night we went to the HMS Band Concert.  My first concert as an audience member seemed so strange but I enjoyed the concert lots!  Then on Friday we headed to Monticello to see friends.

 Dad's friend Elmer has been a great woodworking buddy.  I know they miss each other's company.  We also saw Ruth, Mike, Jim, Millie, Marcia at Marcia's Flower Cart, Betty at Shears, our friends at Trios and Anglers.  We also ran by Mom and Dad's old house. 

Saturday Betty and Kris and I went to Shipshewana.  Kelly was going also but did not feel well.  We ate and shopped and had a great time.  Our friends John and Tammy came from Chicago for dinner on Sunday.

This picture is my cousin Sandy and her silly husband Jim. (Yes, I said it.  Silly!)  Both work of the Lake County Parks Department and we love visiting with them whenever possible.   I think Sandy and I take it upon ourselves to keep up with all the family news and then share with each other.  We ordered pizza and ate at Ron's house.

Here is a great picture of Mom and her brother, Carl.   We all had lunch together one of the days but my Aunt Doris was not feeling well so we did not get to see her.  I love this picture of Mom!  So pretty!

I got to have dinner with Kelly and her daughter Natalie.   She is a hoot.  Kelly and I were talking too long about school and the 8 year old Natalie informed us that "there is a kid here you know!"   In other words,  quit talking about school!!!    Natalie is going to Italy for Spring Break with her Daddy.  Oh, the life of an 8 year old.

Hey, if you want a great vacation, make reservations at my brother Ron's house.   Great meals on the grill, entertainment supplied by a new puppy, and evening entertainment.   One night he made a campfire in the backyard (no marshmallows though).  We loved staying with Ron EXCEPT I slept on a blow-up bed for 9 nights.  Ok but it sure makes you appreciate your own bed.   I think it was loosing air.   I think Ron was letting air out every day just to be mean. 

We also got to see Sue and Gordan, Eric, Dean, and Brian from school.  Sooooo.......you can see that it was a busy 9 days.  Very busy. 

Now on to the next topic.   The Butt Biter.

Ron has a 11 week old black lab puppy named Sage.  So cute and she bounced where ever she went but my Kacey (9 year old pug)  was afraid of her.  Here was this fast moving dog jumping into her face and it really scared her.  Matter of fact, she would not eat for 2 days and we had to act like her protectors.  You know how puppies like to nip?  Well, she would nip at Kacey's butt and Kacey hated that!  So I call her the Butt Biter.

Sage is so cute, isn't she?  Kacey just doesn't see it.  It wasn't until the second to last day that we could get them together, calmly, for a picture.   Mom is the peace maker here.

If you want more information about The Butt Biter, I mean Sage, go to Ron's blog http://sagewoff.blogspot.com/

Be prepared.  He is the king of puns.

It was a wonderful visit to Indiana.  We loved seeing everyone and would of loved to see more people if time allowed.  Dave drove back to Florida with us.....over night......straight through.   Ugh!! On top of that, my allergies were as bad as they have ever been.  You know, your eyes feel like they are bugging out of your head.   But we were home early morning and I slept until noon.   Allergies are better now, thank you very much! 

Future Plans

Dave is here for Spring Break so we are going to have some fun beach time in the next few days.   Then Betty and Kirk come in with Kris (all friends from HMS) flying in for Spring Break.  So life has been very busy and Spring is here but it seems like summer - 84 degrees.  Great beach weather!  Take care all!

Bucky

There are days you wake up and don't have any particular plans but you never know what is coming your way.  Maybe just another adventure.   Yesterday there was a large ship docked at the Pensacola Port and Dad loves these large ships so we ran over to see it.   It was 2  1/2 football fields long.  But that was not the adventure.   As we parked the car I noticed a fisherman by the rail and a pelican up close to him.  Pelicans do like to steal bait if they can but this one was especially close and did not move as if fearful of the man.   Matter of fact, as the man open his bait bag, the pelican kept putting his bill in it.  As I moved up to take a picture I could hear the man talking to the pelican. 
And this is his story.   He is homeless and comes to the port to fish every morning for food.  Six months ago, he saw a pelican that had fishing hooks in his bill.  He picked up the pelican and removed all the hooks.  Ever since the pelican joins him for his morning fishing excursions and has been named Bucky by the fisherman.  

It brought tears to my eyes to see the relationship between these two.   Bucky clearly loved him and wanted to be by his side.  He would reach out and pet Bucky and talk to him as if he was his best friend (and I believe he is!).  Bucky would put his bill on the man's arm - no fear - just companionship.

  Bucky finally did let me pet him - at first he wasn't sure but the fisherman told him it was ok.  I understood immediately that Bucky only allowed me to pet him because his trusted friend said it was ok.  What an honor for me to be allowed near a beautiful creature such as this. He was so soft and his eyes were always looking at his devoted friend.  Soon the man was out of bait and was going to leave.  I asked about what Bucky does at this time and he said that Bucky enjoys the bay just as all pelicans do but when his friend returns in the morning to fish, he is right by his side. Is there any greater gift?

This morning's adventure was a true inspiration to me of kindness and love and I consider it a gift that these two friends allowed me, for a few moments, share their friendship.  I hope to see Bucky and his friend enjoying many beautiful mornings together and maybe, just maybe, they will again share their friendship with me.  So this is the story of a man down on his luck and his friend for life - Bucky.

**********

And on to one other little thought.  We are going up to Indiana to visit family and friends and staying with my brother Ron.   Ron has a new puppy.   This is what Kacey, my pug, thinks of the new competition..........we will work on Kacey's attitude.

Until Next Disney Trip

This is my last Disney World post until the next trip.  We did have our pictures taken with Photopass but if you purchase it before you go, you get a Cd with all pictures taken for $99.00   Ok, I don't think so especially when I can take my own camera and take many pictures on my own.  But you could still utilize the photopass photographers and look up your pictures on line when you get home.  I did this but each picture you order is $14.95.  So I only ordered one picture.

This is not it.   This IS a picture of Sandy and I that was taken while going through Spaceship Earth in EPCOT.  I did this attraction 4 times - I love it!  If you are not a Disney World person, it is the large silver globe that you see in pictures of EPCOT.  Inside there is a ride that takes over 10 minutes to ride through an animatrionics show of the beginning of planet earth through the present.

Saturday morning it was time to go home.  Of course I did not want to leave but feet were sore, money was short, and every good thing must come to end.   But I must say, I knew I would be returning much more often since it is only a 7 hour drive away.  So we headed home and Mom had made dinner for us - her delicious barbecue beef bean bake casserole and Grandma Ronschke's coconut cake.  This cake is fantastic.

This week I spend Monday morning with my first appointment with my new doctor and Tuesday morning with my new cardiologist.   Blood test Wednesday.   Also I spent time unpacking and cleaning.   Dad and I are getting fishing poles ready for fishing.  We hope to go tomorrow so we stopped by a bait shop to see what is running right now and what bait to use.  As we thought, live shrimp is the choice of fish today!  If weather allows, we plan on going tomorrow.  Oh, and Nicole and I ran over to Hemingway's for lunch.   It was sunny and warm and we sure enjoyed it because we have had lots of clouds lately.

Kacey, Mom, and I went for ride down by the beach and Kacey got out of the car to get some rays.  I told her, "No doggies allowed on the beach"  so she kept watch out so she would not get caught.

Well,  I talked to Kelly tonight and she is doing great.   Matter of fact, the Jazz Band is performing for the school board tonight!  I know they will be great.