Our Beach Vacation

Well, we're here! Santa Rosa Beach. If you've never been you are really missing out! We've been coming here since the mid 80's. Of course, back then, there was nothing here---just beautiful, pristine beaches. There was no one around. It's a little more---okay, a lot more---grown up now. Actually that makes it even better. You do not have to leave the area---ever---if you don't want to. No fighting the crowds and crazy traffic in Destin! We did hit some of the traffic coming down. We left at 5 a.m. But there's no avoiding one bottleneck area. It took us an hour to go 8 miles---which was why it took us an extra hour to get here. Then, there's this:

The grocery store is insane! We brought most of our food supplies from home. Still we had a list that we divided 4 ways so we were finished pretty quickly---until it came time to check out. It ended up taking us about an hour. There was a young girl that came up to me and asked about Stephanie. Turns out Steph was her 5th grade teacher. Steph recognized her right away!! Small world!

Our first day at the beach was just plain hot. There was algae in the water too, so that's why it's green rather than the normal beautiful turquoise. That's not really a problem for us because out of 10 people, only about 3 or 4 even want to get in the ocean. It was still pretty.

And considering it's 4th of July weekend, the beach is not crowded at all. The chairs you see here is where people come down early and stake their claim. Just for fun, I wanted to move the chairs. They didn't even show up until about noon. We get down to the beach by 10 a.m. That  snow white, pristine sand---total love! This is not the kind of beach where you will find lovely sea shells. Apparently there's a ledge not too far out from the beach. Everything tends to drop there. Still there are unusual things you can find when you walk the beach. Not always cute stuff but lots of nasty stuff like sea pork! This day, there were a lot of sea snails---and big ones too. They were in the ocean, so I didn't get a picture.

Elizabeth and I only lasted an hour on the hot beach. We spent the next couple of hours in the pool. The rest of the gang joined us upon their return from the beach.

We've been so surprised at how it doesn't seem crowded at all---so unusual for the 4th of July weekend. There's hardly any traffic on 30A. I'm so glad to stay away from Destin where it is bumper-to-bumper. Everything we want and need is right here! I talked to a woman from Indiana. She said they booked in January and there was hardly anything left. Everything was all booked for the 4th, so there are a lot of people here---I just don't know where they are!

Day 2 at the beach---the algae is completely gone. It's amazing what changes there are in the ocean in less than 24 hours! It's still hot!

I just love this stuff!

Anything organizational that is! Earlier this week, I went over to Connie's to help her sort out all of her needlework supplies. Now, mind you, I thought I had already done her fibers last fall. Well, apparently she was holding out on me!

The first thing I had her do was gather everything in one place. I didn't think to take pictures until we were already in to the job, so this is not quite what it looked like to begin, but you'll get the idea.

All of those bags you see are lined up in front of the fireplace and contain various projects and supplies. I had Connie measure and mark all of her stretcher bars. It's amazing to me that we both have so many, but yet when we need them, we never have exactly what we need!! Luckily, those are pretty cheap.

 These are already the bags I've emptied and sorted.

These are all the floss bags with assorted fibers. I didn't think to take any of the "after" photos. The bags are all sorted by color and put on to large book rings. They all fit in to a large Vera Bradley bag and can be tucked away. Then when you have a project you want to work on, you can easily see what you have. Of course, you never have everything you need. Believe it or not, those little fibers are pricey, so it's important to be able to use what we already have.

The other thing Connie wanted to accomplish was to prioritize all of her upcoming projects. We did that, but ran out of time. There were two things I still wanted to do. 1. Go through the fiber rings and consolidate them---I'm sure she has 2 or 3 bags of the exact same fiber---I know I did when I organized mine a couple years ago. 2. I wanted to go over the supply lists for her upcoming projects to see if she had everything she needed to get started. I guess she'll be on her own for that. But it makes me feel like I didn't complete the job. Afterwards, I thought that I should have just taken her fibers home and gone through them myself. I hate leaving a project half finished!

This took us 2 hours to do. Connie thought it would take longer while I thought it would only take an hour. I always tend to underestimate how long something will take. I work fast and always think a job won't take long! Of course, it doesn't help that in the middle of the job, I noticed something was missing. I asked Connie where it was. She said, "oh, it's still in the closet." I "made" her get it and then asked if there was anything else she was holding out on. She assured me that was it. Okay, just like I thought I had already organized the fibers!

Now I know how Butch feels when he's packing the car and thinks he has everything. When he's about half loaded, the girls would come out with tons more stuff!  Yeah, it's like that!

Speaking of packing, we head off to our family vacation to the beach on Saturday. There's a "no swim" order as there is bad bacteria in the ocean---I don't really want to say what they are calling it. Let's just say that maybe a thousand babies have been playing in the ocean without a swim diaper! No big deal to me as I don't swim in the ocean anyway. I can't stand the taste of the water---and it always splashes in your mouth!l On top of that, the weather is supposed to be crappy. We'll make the best of it. Beach vacations are always hit or miss!

I Think I'm in Trouble!

Recently, someone asked me what will keep the moles from coming back. I said that I didn't know. Well, I got the bill from the molenator. I think I'm in trouble!

He made mailing labels for me! Not a good sign.

Sometimes There's Just Nothing to Blog About

Sometimes, life is just regular---nothing exciting or report worthy. That's pretty much how it's been lately. My weeks are the same---which is totally okay. They are predictable. I'm still busy all the time and there's not much room in the schedule.

My week looks like this:
Monday---get the house ready for Margarita to come clean---this means putting things in order, starting the laundry and unloading the dishwasher. Sometimes I run to the grocery store. I pay bills or work a little in my scrapbook room. Then it's off to meet my friends for lunch and a movie. When I get home, I read a little and nap. Dinner is "on your own" which means I don't usually cook on Mondays.

Tuesdays is my stitching day. Connie, Nancy and I meet at Nashville Needleworks. Cinco de Mayo is our regular lunch spot. Then we come back here to get in the pool.

Wednesday is usually a free day for me, but in the summer, Connie might come over with her grands to swim. Or, like last week, we visit our friend who's stuck at home for awhile. We're doing that next Wednesday too.

Thursday is my bridge day. I do errands on the way which includes my weekly nail appointment.

Fridays are swim days with my friends. We have happy hour and the weekend begins. Even though we're retired, there's still something special about weekends. We don't do much on weekends. If the girls come over, we'll hang with them some. I usually do a lot of reading over the weekend. I cut flowers from the garden. I watch a lot of tv and stitch.

So, you see, there's not much all that exciting that goes on around here. My life is pretty ordinary and I'm okay with that. I don't have much to blog about. At least not much that's all that interesting.

I am enthralled with the wildlife---despite my complaints. And I love my flowers. So with that, here's the latest:

 We've had turkeys every year, but for some reason, this year, it's just one lonely guy.

He stopped by for a drink from the little birdbath in my knot garden. When the family was here, the family got to see him fly up in the trees in the shade garden. Last year (or maybe the year before) we discovered that the whole flock was nesting in our trees at night. Justin was especially surprised that they could fly. After all they are birds!

We also are over-run with huge, black crows (are they any other color?). They are so LOUD with their squawking. The other day when I was reading and trying to nap, they were so loud that I couldn't concentrate. I finally went outside to try to figure out what all the hullaballoo was about. Of course about a dozen flew off. Since they were in the knot garden, I think they were eating the birdseed that had dropped from the bird feeders.

Then, there was a gigantic frog---dead on the driveway. We had that happen on the patio a few years ago. What happens is they somehow jump from a high place and splat on the hot, sharp aggregate and that's all she wrote. It's not like we have a bunch of frogs. In fact I never see them unless they have done this which has been exactly twice in 21 years. We must not have to many frogs or surely we'd see them once in awhile.

The moleinator finally sent me a bill. He got 6 moles. Someone asked me what will keep others from coming. I don't know the answer to that. But, I'll keep enlisting the help of the moleinator until the entire mole community gets the word that it's not worth coming here!

He Does This...

 
 7 1/2 hours of power washing...so we can do this...

 PS Rust doesn't come off!

And we appreciate it!

Mindy and Justin's New Condo

Mindy bought her condo in the Rhythm downtown 4 1/2 years ago. Once she got married, it was just too small---827 sq ft. She and Justin love their location, so they decided that they wanted to stay in the same building. The condo market is HOT in Nashville! They don't last long. Luckily, they were able to get a two-bedroom unit with 1100 sq. ft. Only 2 of those had come on the market in the last 2 years! Anyway, the move is done!

My pictures are not all that good due to the bright light coming in the windows.

 The biggest problem in the old place was the tiny closet. Now they have a nice size master closet.

Justin was finally able to get his clothes off the floor!

They bought a Futon for the extra bedroom so now they can have guests.

There's another nice closet. They also have a wine cooler in there.

 Justin's dad made something for the tv to sit on so they can still use their vintage stereo without having to move the tv. You can still slide open the doors as the tv sits above them.

There are still a few things to be done. Mindy is having a sliding "barn door" made to cover the closet. Who makes a closet without a door?

I guess that would be the same person who designed a kitchen without any drawers! Butch has come up with a solution for that. Love the Lionel Richie cutting board---"is it me you're cooking for?"

 Lowering the shades didn't help much. We put the pictures over the couch in the photos below.

 I guess I need to go down there at night and get some pictures.

Justin's uncle was a well-known, local photographer in New England. His aunt sent him many photos for a wedding gift. We had them framed in black, barn wood frames.

This wall is not complete yet. This is going to be their "wedding" wall. We still are waiting on the wedding portraits. I just ordered them in May.

This is their "his and hers" wall in the guest room. His side is on the left with his autographed Goonies print and the photos I gave him at Christmas time from when he was little. Her side has her autographed Will and Grace photo, Dumbo picture (from Stephanie---made out of a Dumbo record) and a print of Times Square with all of the theater marquees.

That's about it. Mindy and Justin are really enjoying more room.

Oh, and the old place is SOLD!---in a little over a week!

It's HIS day!

Father's day that is! The girls gave him his gifts on Friday at Happy Hour. But there's a whole lot more to it than gifts. He loves his girls. There's no doubt about that. Even though they are grown---and most of the grands are grown too, they still rely on him.

Currently, Mindy is waiting for her "daddy" to come up with a solution for the fact that there are NO drawers in her and Justin's new kitchen (yeah, I know, who designs a kitchen without drawers---but that's another story). It doesn't help that I keep offering suggestions---although I think that's help. He has his own ideas. He just takes longer to work through them than I do. Anyway, we'll see how long it takes to actually get those drawers installed! He can be a procrastinator.

Just a little over a week ago, he spent 7 1/2 hours power washing the pool deck in preparation for our family weekend. He wanted everything to be nice for his girls! He made sure all the floats were blown up and ready to go. And he stocked the bar.

And of course, there was the situation earlier this week when Morgan came by to swap cars. She had borrowed mine for Bonaroo. She went out to start up her car and the battery was dead. She called from the driveway for grandpa to come help. He wasn't happy that it was almost 10 p.m. and he had to jumpstart a car. That didn't work anyway. So, he's had her car all week to deal with the battery.

They bring him broken cars, broken glasses and broken jewelry. They think he can repair anything---and mostly he can. When they were little they expected him to fix all kinds of toys---even a Barbie high heel! But that's what he does. He fixes things for his girls.

He reads contracts for his girls. They count on him to make sure everything is on the "up and up!" He helps them make sense of business decisions. They rely on his advice for their personal careers. He's never steered them wrong. He's the voice of reason. He can calm them down. He clips coupons for them. And you can be sure that he always saves them MONEY!!

So for this one day a year, he's honored. But the truth is, the girls appreciate him every day of the year. And so do I!