Goodbye

Lew and Greg came down and we went to Two Georges at the Cove for a great lunch and all the sightseeing you care for. I think they were planning to pay me back for the Whale's Rib but I beat them to the tab. They are headed back to New York state (uppah, in their cah.) JJ and Pupper are doing well. We did not stay long at my house because my dogs were raising hell at having visitors. When we got back, they were fine-even chummy. Go figure.

Greg took this with my camera



The bridge is up for a big boat





cigarette boat



Lori arrived safely in Pampa yesterday. Jason sent a video of Juneau in the pool in Texas today. 100 degrees there today-85 here. The difference being on the high plains it is going to be 67 there tonight, here 73. But Janet called this morning to tell me she could not see anything in her front yard because it was snowing so hard in Arapahoe. Matt called last night-Medford has been cold.

Skype sent me an upgrade that has the capability to text from my computer to cell phones. I went through my contacts and included those folks I might conceivably text. Then the automatic emails went to all and sundry inviting them to join Skype! I am embarrassed and ticked off.

Weekend

I approach the weekend caught up- laundry done, house clean, tonight's dinner can be coasted upon. Doggies were walked a.m. and p.m. though p.m. was kind of short due to the rain. I rode my bike to the gym for a good workout this morning. Collected  the last plants fom Lori and had a little bon voyage visit. I will take her to the airport in the morning. She had a surprise visit from some friends who wanted to see her off. They sat on the patio while Stanley Steamer cleaned her floors. She is stoked about going to Texas. She has lots of family there. Jason sent a status report from Quanah, TX-106 degrees.  He is ready to be in Pampa and not that far from it. I told Lori we have to be the luckiest-two great places to be-two lives, two sets of  good friends. 

Running Like Rats!

Jason and Lori came by this morning so my doggies got two a.m. walks. Juneau did his duty which was a big relief all around. We said our goodbyes. Juneau, Jason and David are on the road. I think that BMW 750i is getting to scoot. They reported in from Orlando and Lake City, FL. I suspect they will stop in Jackson, Missisiippi or Vicksburg tonight.
I helped Lori ship packages to Texas. Her Alaska wear and several things she wanted to have in Texas-4 little boxes and 2 beeg ones!. It makes sense besides there is no way all that stuff could be managed in car or airplane.  I am still picking up plants. Otherwise they will die. They may die over here but I at least have neighbor kids who may undertake the job of watering them.

I have almost finished re-staining the power-washed fence. I ran out of stain so I went to Lowe's for supplies. Took the dogs. They were getting bored and I feel walked-out this evening. They seem happy enough now.  Kingsolver blows my mind. The novel Lacuna raises some interesting bits of history that are at odds with American History as most of us understand it. I fall in love with her every time she writes a new book.

Trish's Surprise



Jason pours the Champagne



Trish is a native born Englishwoman who has worked for Campus Management for years and has become a part of the family. She was over at the kids working on accommodations for the Alaska Cruise this July. It turned into her birthday party. The office had one too. She had a great day. Jason shopped for asparagus, greens, ka-bobs, a raspberry torte and asiago sun dried tomato bread and cooked it all.



Juneau thinks all birthday cakes are for him

 David popped in for awhile. We had a very nice time. As of today David is still going to ride to Texas with Jason.  We'll see.

Today, the dogs were walked by 8:00 a.m. Sometime I will wander over to the kid's for another plant run. They are going to be gone about 4-5 months with the Alaskan Cruise in July. I am missing them already. Our situations are reversed-usually I leave Florida for 6 months.  Nicole and Andre called from Quebec. They are busy-still having wintry weather, but getting things done and starting to prep the sailboat for the summer.



Lori is always happy entertaining.



Getting the "bird"

The rapture did occur-nobody qualified. You naughty children!

Busy days. I took the doggies on an early walk-they were champs. They walk so well in the morning. Around 10:00 a.m., I rode the bike to LA Fitness and had a good cardio workout. Some of those people are really serious. I admire them. Came home and tried to finish staining the fence. Jason has reached the pre-road time frenzy that I always go through. Lori did not feel very well so we bagged the visit to the guru. They are jettisoning a lot of plants. They're finding a happy home here, inside and out. My doggies enjoyed their evening walk. Played a few turns of "Word with Friends." I am working on three different books. Barbara Kingsolver's "Lacuna." "Master and Commander" a seafaring novel of a series, very well regarded, by Patrick O'Brian and some by Stephen Leathers a top selling Amazon Kindle author- thrillers.

I spent a lot of time installing a Brandsmart television antenna yesterday. I had a fancy amplified one from Radio Shack but I was only getting about 12 channels- no PBS and I thought I should be getting more. This $30 marvel is a compact and more conventional rooftop antenna. Upped my reception to 30 plus channels- two PBS lineups-one from Miami and one from West Palm Beach. I am pleased. Maybe I will have to learn Spanish-there is some interesting stuff out there.

Amusements

Jason, Juneau and, possibly David, are headed for Texas Wednesday. Lori will fly next Saturday. They treated me to an "end of season" feast. The Fresh Market benefited as well. Excellent and a very pleasant visit. I will miss them. Jason felt badly about leaving the cleaning ladies high and dry so he paid them to do my house through June- he is a sweet man. We will head to see the guru this evening- he is back.

Neighbor Steve hollered at me when I was on my way in. His project has been repaired from its inaugural sinking. It really is a very beautiful model- very realistic. He is justifiably proud.

This sign (below) is near the Pickle Barrel Deli and it made me laugh out loud. I don't know how long Willie has held the Bishopric and what his relationship is with Pastor Butts. One can only speculate.

The Rapture failed to materialize. Please raise your hand if you were raptured. I'm not piling on "the Christians." My across the road family seems to take it all very seriously and they are examples of the better kind, if a little naive. Sharon is taking a stab at gardening. I went over for a tour awhile ago. She said she was growing some mescaline. I told her I thought that was illegal. My research revealed there is a mix called mesclun with some purple lettuce in it. She joyfully brought me a bunch of green lettuce, then headed to barter at the farmer's market Saturday. An hour later she was outside my picture window waving a sign that said "Arugula." We had a good laugh.

Geography

Thayne sent me a phone picture of his front yard on 5/19/2011 so I replied in kind. If I were in Wyoming, I would be complaining bitterly about the non-arrival of Spring.

Since the end of the world is coming tomorrow it may be inconsequential what the weather is like. If the rapture is anything like a cl----x I will be sorely disappointed to miss out. But I think I will probably not be disappointed. Cold day in hell? Hotter than the hinges of Hades?

The place got its lawn mowed and trimmed, the "girls" came to clean but I had already done much of it-practicing. When the kids go to Texas, the package deal goes away. I feel kind of guilty about it anyway. I am able-bodied and the size of the operation is manageable. It is definitely nice to have cleaners. I am grateful for having had them. I will carry on just fine.

Greg and Lew were down Tuesday- Lew is recovering from his prostate surgery and did well-but he definitely got tired and it was visible.We had a nice visit and I took them to the Whale's Rib for lunch. Great place, great food, great visit. Greg called yesterday very upset. JJ, his dog, collapsed on their walk. I am betting heat stroke. She is doing much better now. It has been hot here- my rule is walking dogs before 8 in the morning and after 7 in the evening. My critters got three walks today and a visit from Juneau and Pepper.

Bought a flag to fly this weekend and it promptly wrapped itself around the flagpole. Nary a monkey in sight, either..

Red Letter Day

Yesterday was a good day for me. Tests at Dr. Rosenbaum's indicate my heart is in perfect rhythm- my cardioversion is "holding."  I was betting against myself because I could feel a fluttering in there from time to time and an enlarged aorta works against cardioversion holding. . Chloe at the Dr's office said that is common- the fibrillation is trying to return but the heart goes back into rhythm. Blood pressure was 104 over 64. I went immedately to Cardi-Rehab after that for my final paid visit. Dawn has been working with me on the free weights-do at home, hand weights, for the past couple of sessions. I feel comfortable doing these on my own now.

The kids are clearing the decks for a departure to Texas for the summer with some trips back here for events. The schedule looks busy and Lori will get some quality family and friends face time. She went to the doc yesterday for a procedure (none of your beeswax), Jason went to get a cracked filling fixed.

I am still hoping to hit the road for Wyoming at some future time this summer. I will probably go by way of Texas with a stop at the kid's summer residence in Pampa to rest my body, reassure them (or not, and return to FL.)

Milestones!

The most beautiful, smartest, nicest (much of the time), girl child on the planet got her first visit from the Tooth Fairy! Gosh, with inflation and so forth a front tooth probably merits at least a fiver! What do you think Matt? It has been a long time since I had dealings with the Tooth Fairy. Can you even say "Tooth Fairy" anymore?

Mike kept saying "no presents" for his retirement party. They got him one anyway. It commemorates their cabin and 50 acres in beautiful Brown's Park. It is on the ranch where Diana grew up. They put a cabin on it and spend as much time as possible there. A good idea for his retirement party.

05142011 McCright-Roberts Party

click the pix for the the album.

We had great cooperation from everyone except the weather man. After the host team spent the morning setting up tables and chairs for a hundred, hanging paper lanterns, icing beer, the rain began about the same time the party did. None of the yard accommodations could be used. The valets shuttled people to and from Pioneer Park. The story is in the pictures- Click on the picture for a link. Feedback from the party-goers is that all 140 of them had a great time. I know I did.

I rode my bike to the party. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to ride it home because of the rain but I could and did.

Catching UP!

A gentle nudge from a Wyomingite inquiring as to my Geometry: Am I horizontal or vertical?  My appointment with Dr. Cohn Tuesday had mostly good news. Bad news- I am getting fatter and that trend needs to reverse itself. I knew that from weighing every day. The tests showed the implications of that. Dr. Cohn is great. I was in the office for an hour and a half finally pondering saying "Well, enough about me. Let's talk about you!" Good news is the PSA went way down. As Lew has been up in Orlando with a robotic prostate surgeon, I was sweating that number. The protein that predicts a future cardiac event dropped 4500 points putting me in the average range rather that the highly likely range. I'm still pumping only about 20% and will see Dr.Rosenbaum next Wednesday. I think my atrial fibrillation is back but I would like to be surprised. I am walking a mile in 20 minutes 3 days a week and getting my muscles "pumped up." I pumped up the back tire on the Raleigh and rode it to a bike shop for a tuneup and repair and hoofed it home today for my exercise. I joined a gym not far from me and like it. It is not all "eye-candy" to make me feel bad- there are plenty of codgers and codgerettes trying to keep on keeping on.

News from home is mostly good- Guy and Janet made it through the winter after his operation and branded a big bunch of calves with good help from far and wide.  Thayne called yesterday and I told him how I thought helping the neighbors was great of them- he said they were just being neighbors. Thayne is seeing a (not so young) lady. I hope she is just not after what is in his pants (I refer, of course, to his wallet). Mike, my successor in the School District is retiring this year and looking forward to it. Bless him and Diana- they are true friends and deserve to have a blast. Delores does not mention it much but I think she is retiring too.

My kids are over almost every day and we walk dogs in the evening.  Lew is due back from Orlando and is healing. The kids are pitching a party this weekend with their friend Vicki McCright. Should be a blast.  Consider yourselves caught up for the moment.

Reunited and it feels so good!

David called us over to his house to see a fireworks display virtually in his backyard. A wedding was being celebrated at the Royal Palm Clubhouse. He was babysitting his granddaughter because Jacqui was out helling around with Lori and some other women. Jason and I were eating steaks, sweet taters, green peas and spinach salad I whipped up, when David called. The ladies had a good time, we had a good time and formulated our plan to fetch the Elante coach from the storage yard in Lake Worth. Sunday morning/out of season/ little traffic on I-95).

The RV and I are re-united. Jason drove it. I was the pace car. It went swimmingly. I had gotten myself in a state about what could go wrong-and nothing did go wrong. It sits on a slab of pavers that are really too nice to cover up but covered up they are. It was like Christmas and playing "remember when" to start excavating the innards of the RV. First out was my bike. Tires needed some air and I did that. I put the beverage refrigerator in the garage but it is about three steps from the coach so it will serve both. Eventually the coach will serve as a guest house (w/o plumbing). Zoning laws prohibit more than casual use. Perhaps I will "vacation" at John Prince Park for a month next winter. Rub elbows with my wintertime buddies. In any event I am glad to have it close and get rid of the storage fee. We old friends have had some adventures together. The mileage is showing but we still have some life left in us.