Monday After Christmas

I slept really well last night. It had been big day. We stayed up after the movie and visited and kind of watched TV until 9:00 and then all went on to bed. Ginger gave me another packet of those NyQuil capsules and I slept through the night. They keep my cough down. I am still fighting off the cold I was exposed to on the plane on my way down here. When I finally woke up this morning it was almost 5:00.

It's nearly 7:00 now. I'm the only one up. Ginger is on call. Scott has the day off.  Ginger will leave tomorrow to go to Ohio for her grandmother's funeral. She will take Nathan with her. He will come back down here so they can both take off at the Jacksonville airport. Scott will take them to the airport. Then they will return on Friday.

I've had my cereal and my meds for the day. Yesterday was an exhausting day. I guess it's my mileage and perhaps it wasn't that bad after all. They gave me some great lotion and candle gifts. Ginger will send them to me after she gets back. They would never make it through security.

This morning after everyone gets around, we will go to the market.  I need a thing or two.  Then I will try to get back to my book on the Kindle. Scott watches non stop TV.......CNN most of the time and movies some of the time. It's exhausting to me. I need to read and sit out in the sunshine some of the time.

Scott mowed day before yesterday and trimmed. The yard really looks good. I swept out their garage. That was needed too. It gave me something productive to do while I am here besides loading and unloading the dishwasher and peeling potatoes.

More later...

I read my Kindle until the kids were ready to leave. Then we went to Fernandina Beach for lunch and we stopped at Walmart there for me to do my little bit of shopping. I had tomato bisque soup. Ginger had a salad and a pizza. Scott had a hamburger and french fries. It was all yummy. Then we went back out to Amelia island so the kids could go looking for the place on the beach called Driftwood. There they both bought a small Bluetooth speaker they could put out by the pool and listen to their music.

I will make some potato soup after Ginger is gone tomorrow. That will be good for Scott and me to have for supper.

More even later...

Ginger rented the movie, Florence", this evening and she and I watched it. It was very good.  I had wanted to rent it from V&S Variety in Coffeyville but it was not out yet.

Scott and Ginger have walked down to the mailbox to check the mail. I am staying here to watch CNN news and wait for Nathan to come. He and his mother will fly out tomorrow. It's only 6:10 right now and I will not take my bath until 8:30 or so.

It's 9:00 now and I am really tired so I will go on to bed. Nathan still has not arrived.

Christmas Day in Florida

I didn't sleep well last night. I am still trying to take cold, I guess. I have fought this cold ever since I got here. So the man that sat next to me on the plane to Charlotte must have done a job on me.

I need to text Bill this morning and thank him for the Kindle book he gave me for Christmas. He is so faithful to do that every birthday and every Christmas.  I will wait until it is later in Kansas though.

I need my friends and family to know I cannot use my e-mail "out" while I am here. The mail still comes "in" but texting and this blog are my only way to tell anyone "Merry Christmas" or "thank you".

More later...

I just peeled some potatoes for Ginger. She has begun our Christmas dinner. It will be done in two crock pots. One for scalloped potatoes and one for the stuffing. She will do the ham and the mushrooms in the oven.

I cleaned up after the preparations.  That's one thing I could do to help.

More later....

Got the dishwasher loaded and ready to go to the movie.

More later...

The movie was called "Fences" and starred Denzel Washington. It was a very slow start and almost never gets going.  Ginger did not like it at all. I thought it was good once it got going but I wasn't sure it was going to get going.

When I finish this I am going to get my bath and get ready for bed. I didn't sleep well last night at all.

Saturday and a Shopping Trip at Amelia Island

I slept well last night. Ginger gave me some meds to help me sleep and also dry up what is trying to be a cold. So far, so good. The man sitting beside me on the plane to Charlotte had a terrible cold and I am trying to fight it off of developing. So far...so good.

We ate breakfast at Caroline's this morning and it was a terrific breakfast. I am still full and it is 1:25 in the afternoon.  The kids are off on a run. I am sitting on the porch in the wicker chairs in the sunshine trying to get the blog up to date.

The bad news is that Ginger's grandmother passed away last night. She will be flying out to Ohio for the services which are being held on Thursday. Since I am here, Scott has to stay here with me. My plane takes off on January 4th. I could stay here by myself while they are gone with Nathan, her son, to the services... if they got back in time to get me to the airport the morning of the 4th. But I don't think they are comfortable doing that.

This morning we all went over to Amelia Island and walked all over the place after visiting the street market there. Ginger finished up her last minute Christmas shopping. After a couple of hours, we came back home. Scott and Ginger are doing a run right now. I stayed here with the animals and am resting.

It is a beautiful day. Yesterday was chilly and cloudy. Today is lovely!

More later....

This afternoon Ginger's son, Nathan, came. She and Nathan are going to leave Tuesday to go back to Ohio to the funeral services for Ginger's grandmother, who passed away last night. She should be back on Friday. He is a very nice young man. When he got out of his truck, I extended my hand to shake his hand and he gave me a huge hug instead.

Scott and Ginger cooked dinner. Ginger cooks her veggies over a grill in a large cage type utensil.  I actually had never seen a thing like that. It reminded me a bit of an old fashioned popcorn popper.  But it worked. She put some seasoning on them and put broccoli, cauliflower and tomatoes in it and Scott grilled them over an open flame. Then they put some special seasoning on the pork and grilled that. They walked down the lane to get the mail and deliver some gifts to friends that live down that way and I watched the meat while they were gone. Dinner was great.

We visited awhile over dinner reminiscing over past experiences.

Nathan is watching a movie now. It's "Jack Reacher". I have not seen the movie. But it might not be one I would enjoy.

It's 6:20 now and I want to read to relax so I will go back to my bedroom and read. It's been a wonderful but exhausting day.

More later...

As it turned out, I did decide to watch "Jack Reacher" with the others. I got to bed before 9:00 but did not fall asleep right away. Too big a day, I guess.

I cannot send e-mail from here so texting and this blog are my only way to communicate with anyone. 

Friday Another Beautiful Day

I slept a little longer this morning. It was nearly 5:00 when I finally got up. I took a shower and washed my hair.  Then I came in for breakfast. I had some more of the cereal Scott bought for me and it is nearly gone. It was a small box.

We watched the last half of  "All The President's Men" since he went to bed last night before it was finished.  Then we went to the market and he bought a few things he needed. I bought some more cereal and some gum. Then we went to Panera Bread and I treated him to breakfast. We intend to go to the movie tonight to see "Collateral Beauty" with Will Smith.

Now Scott is going to run and I am going to watch the news.

So More later...

Scott never did get to run. It was just too chilly get out. He is off today although Ginger does work. This morning we watched "The Book Thief". It was part of his Apple TV. He has 112 movies on Apple.

I am still not hungry and it's nearly 1:00. I still have part of my dinner from last night.

I never did eat my leftover dinner. It's 3:45 now.

We will eat out again tonight and then go to the movie.

More later....

We went to Chili's for supper and I had their wonderful potato soup. Afterward we all went to see the movie, "Collateral Beauty" with Will Smith. It started slow but soon reached an interesting climax. I thought it was pretty good!

When we got back home, I washed my face free of makeup and got ready for bed. I had washed my hair this morning in the shower so did not want to take another bath or shower. 

When I turned my phone back on, Leslie had texted me about my old friend, Madelyn Miller.  She had fallen and broken her arm and her hip. She is in her late 80's or early 90's.  I don't believe she will make it. I called Tom Allen and he told me she does not want to do her physical therapy and she will not be able to recover unless she does.

I started to go on to bed but realized it was only a little past 8:00 and I would be up in the night if I went to bed that early. I will try to wait until 9:00..my usual bedtime.

Thursday and Another Quiet Day

I slept well last night and was up, as usual, at 5:00 AM. Old habits are hard to break.  Ginger was up when I came into the kitchen. She was getting ready to go to the hospital. After she left, I dressed and made up my face and had a bowl of cereal for my breakfast with a cup of coffee and one of chai latte.

Scott came in too late to have breakfast. He did turn CNN on for me on the TV. Then he left for work.  Perhaps he stopped on his way to the island and got something for a breakfast.  I hope at least he got some coffee.  

 I will work on my blog and read my kindle today. Hopefully it will be warmer today. It has been in the 40's since I've been here. I'd like to take a walk today and I'd like to wash my hair tonight.

We may have some more of our spaghetti tonight. We made enough for two meals.

More later...

I spent the afternoon out on the porch in a wicker chair in the sunshine. I had both the dog and the cat out there with me. 

No, Scott is taking us out to eat tonight at one of his favorite Mexican Restaurants as soon as Ginger gets home from work.

More later...

We enjoyed the Mexican Restaurant. It was way too much food though. I brought half of it home.

I watched "All the President's Men", a movie I had seen several times already but one of my favorites.

I went on the bed afterward. I was really tired.

Wednesday and In Florida

Well, I made it yesterday! It was quite a trip. I stayed Monday night at the Hilton and told them, as they told me to, to send me a wake up call at 4:00 AM. I also told them I would need the shuttle at 5:00 since my plane was to take off at 7:00 AM.

Well, that didn't happen. They didn't call me at 4:00 AM and luckily I had taken an alarm clock and it did wake me up. Then I called the desk to ask what happened. The woman who checked me in did not make a note of either. So when I talked to the young man on duty in the morning, I told him about it and he did order the shuttle. It came on time and I got to the airport in plenty of time. But I also was unable to connect to their internet there at the Hilton. They gave me three different codes but none of them worked.

Going through security at the Tulsa airport, something in my carry-on set off an alarm.  So they went through everything in the bag, stirring it all up and then I had to be patted down by a woman there. They found nothing illegal but a bottle of lotion  and that didn't set off the alarm but they still threw it away. It was larger then 10 ounces. It was brand new and a Christmas gift. I don't know what danger a bottle of lotion is but that's "security". I asked them if they had encountered very many 81 year old women  terrorists.  They said they felt someone could always plant something on an 81 year old person.

Finally I got on the plane for Charlotte. There I sat next to a man with a terrible cold. If I'm as lucky as I usually am, I won't get it. I read my Kindle until we got to Charlotte. When I got to the Charlotte airport I discovered that the gate I needed to find to leave for Jacksonville was all the way to the other end of the terminal. I had my carry-on and the computer bag to carry. That's when I felt my 81 years. Those two bags were very heavy. When the plane took off for Jacksonville, the man at the gate said I should let him check that carry on since the plane was packed and it would be a complimentary check. I was happy to let him do that. Then I just had to carry on the computer bag.

When I got to Jacksonville and the baggage area, I found both of the bags just fine. Scott circled around until he saw where I was standing outside the terminal at the baggage door and picked me up.  To say I was delighted to be done with the air travel for two weeks  would be an understatement.

We stopped for gas and shortly after that we arrived to their home. Ginger came in soon and started dinner. We had a nice dinner. I was pretty hungry. All I had had to eat all day was the breakfast bar I had in my purse. Somehow I wasn't particularly hungry all day. I will use one of their carry-ons when I go back home. Theirs have wheels. The one I brought was my Bob's and it was old and did not have wheels.

I slept fairly well last night. I think we went to bed fairly early after watching a movie. It was called "The Family" and was hilarious.  I think we all went to bed at 8:00 so I was awake at 4:00 and just got up. Scott was up.

Scott had been notified by his staff about that time that his parked work truck had been hit and wrecked out on the island and he needed to come in and assess the damage. After he lined me out on where things were etc, he went on to work.

He thinks he will be back home at 2:00 or so.

Later...this weekend, we will see a movie. They have waited for me to come to go see it. 

More later....

I think the one they want to see is called "Collateral Beauty" and stars Will Smith. There are a couple of others I would like to see. One is "Fences" and stars Denzel Washington and the other one is "Manchester By The Sea" with Casey Afflect.  Maybe I will see those at home.

More later again...

Scott came home after 2:00 and started fixing dinner for Ginger and me. I pitched in and helped. We fixed spaghetti.  It was very good. Scott browned some sausage on his grill while I stirred up the spaghetti and added spices. It was a good dinner.

Later Ginger went to a crafts party and he and I watched the movie, "The Judge" on the TV. Later I watched a chick flick. He watched it as long as he could but finally just had to go to bed.  I finished it before I took my bath and went to bed at 9:00. It was a good first full day. I did little things like emptying the dish washer. :) It is truly a vacation.

Monday and Packing

Today I will pack to leave for the motel this afternoon when Marilyn R. is ready to leave. First I will eat breakfast and give Missy her breakfast too. I have started my packing with packing all the stuff from the bathroom that goes with me. When I get the large suitcase down and the carry on she will know what is up and get nervous.

Right now, I had better got get our breakfasts and then I will get back with this after my breakfast and after I pack. I will not go to exercises today. I will pack and get ready in case Marilyn wants to leave earlier.

So, more later...

O.K. I am all packed and ready to go whenever Marilyn is ready. I have printed off her hotel reservation confirmation for the 25th. That's when she is coming back. I will be coming back over a week later on the 4th of January.

Bob came over before exercise class and brought me a Christmas gift. I gave him his...a tin of various popcorns. His was from Missy.  He is caring for her while I am gone. I even found an appropriate card from her. He gave me some Calgon hand soap and some Calgon lotion complete with a little holder to keep them in.  I was going to go down to the Dollar General store and buy some lotion this morning. So that was really timely. I put lotion on my feet after my bath and then put socklets on and go to bed that way. Eventually that softens my calloused feet in the winter. And I had just run out of hand soap in the bathroom too so even that is timely. That was nice of him. He will be kept busy coming over here to feed and water Missy and clean up her litter box.  He says he will stay some and watch my TV and give her some company too. She will enjoy that. She really likes him. (and she has not bit him either...yet.)

More later...
 He came back over after he got back from the church and we went over to Brahms and had a chicken sandwich and a small cup of coffee.  Now he is checking his bank balance and his e-mail .

He just encountered a threat of some sort and the computer is rebooting and Avast is checking his drive. It may take awhile.

Back later...

I managed to clean up his computer and get ready to go about the time Marilyn called me  that she was ready to leave.

I'll get back to this after I find a hot spot.