Happy birthdhay to me!

Well today is my birthday and I find it hard to believe that I have turned 51 years old. Where has the time gone?

I look back on my life and realize that I have been blessed very richly. I have a husband who loves me, a daughter whom I am very proud of and a wonderful son in law. Laura and Jay have been blessed with 2 beautiful daughters. What more could you ask for!

I wish everyone a special day today. It's not only for birthdays, but for every days.

How did we ever survive!!

Those Born 1930-1979 READ TO THE BOTTOM FOR QUOTE OF THE MONTH BY JAY LENO. IF YOU DON'T READ ANYTHING ELSE---VERY WELL STATED TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!! First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked And/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, Tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets And when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, Not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.As infants & children, we would ride in cars with No car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm Day was always a special treat.We drank water from the garden Hose and NOT from a bottleWe shared one soft drink with four friends, From one bottle and NO ONE actually died From this. We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter And drank Kool-aid made with sugar, But we weren't overweight because, WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!We would leave home in the morning and play all day, As long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And we were OK.We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps And then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, No 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, No surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, No personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms........WE HAD FRIENDS And we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth And there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, And the worms did not live in us forever. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, Made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, Although we were told it would happen, We did not put out very many eyes.We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and Knocked on the door or rang the bell, Or just walked in and talked to them! Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! The idea of a parent bailing us out If we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! These generations have produced some Of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and Inventors ever! The past 50 years have been an explosion Of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, And we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL! If YOU are one of them. CONGRATULATIONS! You m ight want to share this with others who have Had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers And the government regulated so much of our lives For our own good. While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they Will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were. Kind of makes you want to run Through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!The quote of the month Is By Jay Leno:'With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, Mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country From one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist Attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'For those that prefer to think that God is not watching Over us...go ahead and delete this.For the rest of us...pass this on

What a small world!!

We got up early and were on the road by around 8:00 this morning. The sky was blue but it was chilly... 31 degree's with a heavy frost on our windows... brrrr. It's a good thing we put on pants today although I was still in sandals... Ralph had to go looking for warmer shoes for me!!

Slowly as we were driving, we came upon a horrific site!!!! Snow!! Ralph let out a blood curtling scream..... It was aweful to see after all the sunshine that we had been enjoying!

As we hit Pennsylvania, the weather turned nasty. We entered into a major snowstorm. The radio's were cautioning an extreme weather alert and warned that the snow would bring 10-15 inches of snow in the next 24 hours. We thought we might stop at Morganstown and wait it out, but we decided to keep going. We finally stopped for dinner when we reached Buffalo. We'll leave here in the morning after we do a bit of shopping a the Fashion Outlet and Walden Galleria Mall.

While we were waiting for dinner, you'll never believe who we met!! Heather Steenhof (can't remember her married name). What a surprise. She approached Ralph (I was in the washroom) to say hello. How nice it was to talk to her and catch up on all she has been doing in the last 20 years (it's probably been that long since we have seen her). She was shopping in Buffalo with some friends. It sure is a small world.

We're looking forward to arriving home tomorrow sometime in the afternoon. We'll get a good nights sleep and then do some shopping and drive on.

We're on our way home....

We spent a great day yesterday with Chuck and Claudia. We had so much fun. We golfed midway through the morning and afternoon. We had to stop halfway through our game because of rain, so we relaxed over a glass of wine/beer while we waited for the rain to stop. As you can see from the pictures, it was really windy while we were golfing. As well, the temperature dropped what felt like about 15 degree's when the rain finally came. It slowly warmed up again later that afternoon. I think the temperature reached about 75 degrees.

When we returned to the house - Chuck and Ralph took a boat ride along the intercoastal waterways and enjoyed the scenery while Claudia and I relaxed at the house. We had a nice dinner at Carrabas which was an Italian restaurant. We spent the evening playing eucher and had lots of fun.

This morning we enjoyed breakfast all together and left Cape Coral around 9:30. We arrived at Dad and Mom's around 11:30 and shared coffee with them. We had a nice visit and felt sad that we had to leave.

We drove until just outside of Columbus - almost at Charlotte. We're currently staying at the Hampton Inn. We really like this hotel and their rates are reasonable ($89) for the room. We have a King size bed and a nice feather duvet. It will be nice to snuggle together and relax before leaving again tomorrow morning. We're not rushing and plan to be home sometime most likely Saturday afternoon or early evening. The traffic has been very good so far the weather great for driving.

The weather is cooler here. We left and the temperature was 71 but here it's 47.... I guess it's time to put away the shorts...

Congratulations Ron and Anne

On Monday, January 5, Michelle gave birth to a little baby girl!! She was born at about 9:30 pm and weighed in at 6 lbs 10 oz. They have named her Avery Anna Wilson. Congratulations to all of you on this little miracle and we wish you God's blessings.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow we're spending the day with Chuck and Claudia...We hope to go golfing for the day. We won't be on line until Thursday evening. We plan to be on the road (after coffee with Mom and Dad) by noon on Thursday....Stay tuned for more updates then...

Golfing in Florida

We had another round of golf yesterday at Metrowest. It wasn't my best game (104), but Ralph played an awesome game (89). The golfing here is different than in Myrtle Beach. We like both but think Myrtle Beach is more challenging... (to answer your question Teresa).

We've arrived in Venice and spent the day on the beach. We went to the beach at Lido key and watched the sunset before dinner. It was a beautiful evening.