HEADING HOME....

We left Orlando at 5:30am on Monday and drove to the East side of St. Louis. Stopped in O'Fallon and stayed the night. It was another long day, but we wanted to get home as early as possible on Tuesday because we know there's a lot of snow and not sure what will be waiting for us. It's easier to blow snow during the daylight hours.

Left this morning at 6 and will be making a quick stop for breakfast. Will also be making a stop in Iowa City to check in with our granddaughter, Kayla, Mike and Stacey's oldest. That will give us a chance to stretch before our last leg of the journey. Should arrive home by 1pm.

I am so disappointed every time I try to Blog when I'm away from home. Again I had trouble downloading pictures. And what fun is the narrative without a visual? I sent an email to those I thought might be trying to follow us to Florida and back to let you know that I had posted my pictures on my Facebook page. If I missed anyone, I apologize. Just go to Facebook.com and type in my name in the Search field. I have 3 Albums of pictures for our trip. If you're not familiar with Facebook -- just click on an album and it will open up all the pictures. I think I typed in a comment for each one to try give an accounting of what was happening.

I am going to rethink the value of my Blog. Pictures are much easier to load on Facebook. If I can find a way to do some journaling along with it, I may go that way. I have always been opposed to Facebook because I don't want to deal with all that 'Friends' business. I'll investigate some and make a decision after we get home.

We've had really good traveling, both coming and going. The roads have been perfect and we've not even encountered heavy traffic going thru Atlanta or St. Louis. It's been pretty fun with Mike and Stacey. They have such a good sense of humor. But, we're all tired and anxious for the trip to be over. It was amazing to see Brad and we are looking forward to their visit this summer.

Til later.....

CHRISTMAS VACATION-Christmas Eve

We woke up to a beautiful, balmy Christmas Eve Day
--65 degrees by noon. Walked to the near-by Starbucks
for a morning coffee and then headed to Brad's so as not
to miss out on one minute of the preparations. My
intention was to get my pies in the oven early before
other people started coming, but Brad decided he
wanted to wait until Christmas Day. There are some
traditional desserts they have so that was fine.
They were expecting 35 or so people and he was afraid
there wouldn't be enough pie for him!!

The backyard was already decorated for Christmas. The
tables were set and all the decorations were out. Lisi
really knocked herself out for this. The pool area was
very inviting, however the water was too cold for
swimming. Certainly made for a beautiful scene, don't
you think?

This is what was waiting for us when we got there. The 65 pound hog was strung up to dry after Brad prepared it for cooking. Once Frank (Brad's brother-in-law) arrived they moved the hog to the roasting box and readied it for cooking. The insulated wooden box has a metal tray in the bottom that the hog rests on. Another tray is positioned on top and then another grate on top of that that holds the charcoal. They pile on 2 large bags of charcoal and light it. Another bag is added every hour until the meat reaches 180 degrees. The heat radiates down from the top and the hog cooks inside like an oven. Every hour another bag of charcoal is added. There is a thermometer that tracks the temperature of the meat and when the temp reaches 180 degrees the trays are taken off and the hog is inverted for another half hour to 'crisp' up the skin.

The roasting process took about 7 hours. That time was spent socializing and catching up with people we had met 3 years ago. Lisi has a very close knit family. Most of the day consisted of cousins and friends streaming in and out of the house, checking out the roasting hog and catching up. Natalie has a friend that is living in Manhattan, going to school and auditioning for operatic parts. She treated us all to an opera selection. What a powerful voice! It's unbelievable to hear someone sing like that in person.

The hog was finally done and carried into the kitchen. Then the process of stripping the meat from the carcass began. The veterans were in charge of that process with Maria (Lisi's mother) at the head and Frankie helping her. Everyone gathered around as the ribs were separated and up for grabs. What a delicious taste. The marinade consisted of a Cuban mixture out of a bottle with Maria's special spices and sour oranges mixed in. Unbelievable!!! When all the meat was separated we sat down to typical Cuban fare. Salad with olive oil & garlic dressing, yuca (sp?) which is a fibrous root like a turnip-very bland but cooked with olive oil and bacon on top, and black beans and rice. To me, their typical menu is very bland. They don't add many other spices. It's very filling. The desserts, on the other hand, are all very sweet and varied. Lisi made flan, a custard with a burnt sugar coating on top and lots of candies, cookies, etc. Very different from the traditional Midwest fare. Everyone has large appetites and eats a lot; for me it was pretty heavy food and Chuck and I filled up fast. It was fairly late when we ate so a quick game of 'pass the presents' was played and then everyone broke up and headed for home. The cleanup took about an hour and we headed back to our hotel. Exhausted from the day.

I've have tried for 2 days to upload my pictures, but am having no luck. Somehow I must have changed the settings on my camera as the picture files are about 3x larger than normal. The loading process gets so far and then it just quits. If I can't figure it out, I'll have to post the pictures on my Facebook page. I've saved some space here to add the pictures if I get it figured out.

That's it for now. Will recap Christmas Day next.

HERE WE GO.........

Our goal was to leave town at 5:00am Wednesday, but it was closer to 5:30 before we got 4 people and all our 'stuff' packed in the Tahoe. And we are packed!! When I travel I require a lot of stuff to keep me occupied in the back seat. Stacey too, so we have baskets of cross stitch projects, a quilting project, magazines, books, knitting, movies,etc. Of course, Chuck prefers driving without the radio on so that makes for some boring ride time. Stacey, however is able to sleep at will and did so several times throughout the day. Me I just change from knitting, to reading (got my book half done), to cross stitch. We watched the movie 'Precious' late in the afternoon, but for some reason the DVD player started skipping about 3/4 of the way thru so we'll have to finish watching it in the motel room tonight,

Chuck was determined to make only necessary stops, but Stacey is persistent and we got a few extras in there. Chuck is always focused on driving, not necessarily on the needs of the other passengers. Even though we stopped often, however, I had a problem with my feet. Sitting in a seat all day and not stretching my legs made it uncomfortable to walk. But, I got through it and did some good stretches this morning. Today will be a shorter day, and then we'll be in a location for 4 nights. We'll get some walking in and that will help tremendously.

We drove hard all day and reached our goal of stopping just north of Atlanta. Checked into our motel room at 8:30 - grabbed a bite to eat and were in bed by 9:30. A good night's sleep really improves your attitude. Not to mean that anyone was in a bad mood. Mike and Stacey have such a good sense of humor. (Stacey had been up since 2am Wednesday because she still had Christmas presents to wrap.)

Got up a little later this morning and took time to eat breakfast at the motel. Down the road he actually stopped so we could get a treat at Starbuck's. Today will be much more relaxed and we'll have a chance to shower, etc. before we go to Brad's. Brad picked up the hog this morning and is getting it cleaned and ready for the outdoor rotisserie. As soon as we can get ready, we'll be going to Brad's. He requested that I make a couple of pies for tomorrow so I'll need to get the crust done and in the fridge tonight. Of course, rendered lard is not available in FL so I brought along a box with my food processor, the lard, the butter, the spices, and the jar of homemade mincemeat. Brad thinks Elizabeth's family will be impressed with my pies. We'll see.

The sun is out today and the temperature is 40degrees. We always love driving thru Georgia. It's full of pine trees and the grass is green! That's it for now. I'll try to post every day. And I'll be taking lots of pictures so I hope I have lots to share with you.

For now......

'TIS THE SEASON

These pictures were taken Dec 12 after the
last snow storm. It was beautiful and truely
looked like a Winter Wonderland.











The wind really blew all of the snow around in the back yard and the garden. We literally had none in the front yard. Didn't even need to get the snow blower out, really. But the drifts in the backyard were 5+ feet tall and the wind resulted in a hard crust on most of it. We picked up 3 inflatable saucers in anticipation of a visit from our younger grandchildren.


This past weekend we had Christmas with our Iowa and Kansas families. They didn't get much snow so the kids really had fun once they got here.

Bailey, Olivia and Carson were out at least 2 hours digging tunnels and hiding from each other.
















Cheeks were white and fingers numb when they finally came in for hot chocolate and warmed up while they watched our many birds feeding.













Everyone was able to get here sooner or later. Kayla and Kelsey had to work until 5, but it was worth the wait.



We enjoyed soup and cookies, then spent a couple of hours opening gifts. After the gift opening everyone stayed up late playing yatzee. We have a very competitive group and all ages played. Jennifer told me that she played Yatzee with Bailey and Olivia every night after school so that they could "beat uncle Mike". There were screams and prizes and lots of laughs.













The Sunday morning run took place even though it was about zero degrees. But our kids have this tradition of running whenever they are together. Unfortunately, Mike had to work and missed out, but Jennifer and Angie headed right out for a 4 mile run. Normally they go further, but after that long they were having trouble seeing thru the frost on their eyelashes!!!



















Tomorrow morning we leave early for Orlando, FL to spend Christmas with Brad and his family. Mike and Stacey are going with us and we are all looking forward to being together. Our plan is to arrive in Orlando by 4 or 5 o'clock on Thursday. We will be heading home on Monday and arrive back in Waverly Tuesday in plenty of time to cheer the Hawks on!!!!

It is my intention to do blogging on the way. I will have my laptop with me and will be able to keep in touch via email. Hopefully I will be able to download pictures OK.

Merry Christmas to everyone. We'll miss the snow (at least I will), but I'm sure there will be plenty left for cross country skiing when we get back.

ALL IS WELL.....

I have to say, I have two son-in-laws with the greatest sense of humor. They both work hard at keeping me on my toes and reminding me that there's always a funny side to life.

The latest example is Wes. He is married to our youngest daughter, Jennifer. They live in Olathe, KS with their two daughters, Bailey and Olivia.

Thanksgiving day Wes presented me with a gift bag of accessories for my 'new wheels'. The presentation began with, "When a member of the family receives a new set of wheels, it's our tradition to provide that person with an assortment of useful accessories." I could tell that Wes put a lot of thought into what he bought for me and each item was useful, decorative and served a purpose. I received--

1. A bicycle cable with a padlock to prevent anyone from steeling my wheels.
2. Glow stick necklaces to wear when navigating in busy traffic.
3. Air fresheners to keep that 'old person' smell away.
4. A rear view mirror for changing lanes without causing a pile-up behind me.
5. And best of all a pink horn to announce to anyone within ear-shot that I NEED SOMETHING!!, or GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!!

I'm only sorry that I didn't receive these things earlier. These would have been beneficial in the early days after my surgery. Chuck could have used some extra help with being sensitive to my needs. There were times if he was far enough away that it was difficult to get his attention when I needed him.

But, I've never been one to waste an opportunity so Monday when I traveled to Iowa City to see my surgeon, I mounted all my 'stuff' on my wheels for what I expected to be my last outing with the walker.

First of all, Mary and I met our cousin Sandy for lunch at Granite City in Cedar Rapids. It was easy to get everyone's attention and I received VIP treatment in the restaurant. We got the table we wanted and our waiter was very accommodating. When I demonstrated the horn and told him I would use it to get his attention if needed, he laughed but we never had to honk for him. Doors were held, people moved out of the way. Same thing in the hospital. I'm not really the kind of person that tries to get the attention focused on me.......but it certainly had it's advantages. People were interested in the story and I could tell most were envious that I had such a thoughtful son-in-law. Thanks again, Wes. YOU'RE THE BEST!!!!!


My curiosity is peaked when I'm told not to do something. My foot had to stay bandaged for 2 weeks so I was very anxious to see what it looked like when the dressing was removed. I had seen it a couple of days after when I got the dressing wet and Mary had to change it, and it made an impression on me then. I told everyone it was a 3-4" incision when, in fact, it was about 2 inches. Nice job of suturing and I don't think I'll have much of a scar. The doctor explained that the probe was pretty deep to free the nerve that was causing the numbness, but looks like it's healing well.

I followed doctors orders yesterday exactly. Only 1 hour with my shoe on and the rest of the day wore my boot. I have no pain whatsoever in my foot, but after a day walking with that boot the tendon in the back of my calf was screaming. So, I've decided -- no boot. I'll wear the shoe and rest every hour or more often if needed.

That's the latest update for me. My life is pretty small right now. There's lots to do in the next couple of weeks to get ready for Christmas. Today I will finish my shopping list and do as much as I can via the internet. This weekend, Chuck and I will go and try to finish up what we can. We're going to look for an electric fireplace for the sun room to make it cozier out there. I decorated that tree yesterday and enjoyed the snow flurries a couple of times. I know it was cold outside in the afternoon, so I was glad I didn't have to go out.

Stay warm everyone and I'll be in touch.....