MY FRIEND LOTTYE

I have a very dear new friend that I just met this year. Her name is Lottye. She is older than my mother but we have found that we have a lot in common. The thing that brought us together was our friend Mary.

Mary is the mother of John, my first love that I mentioned in my blog January 14,2008. Mary and Dottie have been friends since childhood. They went to a one room school in Franklin, Kentucky, a small town where they were also born.

After graduation Lottye went to Lexington, Kentucky to school, just like I did. I went to Fugazzi but she is a UK graduate.

We both lost two close family members last year. Her only son passed away in July and two weeks later her sister passed away. They all lived together in a beautiful house on McGregor and they were all the family that she has in Ft Myers.

We both grew up in Baptist churches in Kentucky and like southern cooking. We have started having lunch together every Saturday and it has been a pleasure. This past week we ended up at Dilliard's cosmetic counter and the lady in the black smock sold Lottye a little more make up than she was planning to buy. That's okay, it was the anniversary of her wedding so she needed to buy herself something.

Dolce Vita...always good

Dave took Sharon and I to Dolce Vita Sunday night. After church he came home and watched The Masters and I went with the Gautschy's to the Flea Market. We brought Jan and Phil home and Sharon and I went shopping at Coconut Point. We made some good purchases (just doing our small part to help spur the economy). The best part of the day was dinner on Sanibel. Not that is not me with them in this picture...it is a frog playing the violin.

Tarpon Springs

If you haven't been to Tarpon Springs to see all of the sponge divers and to enjoy all of the Greek food it is a fun trip.
We had such a good time. The little boat trip was fun and we met a very interesting man that has lived there for over 8o years, his family runs the tour boat with the sponge diver that show how it was done years ago. He had worked with many movie stars that have filmed movies there.
I didn't get a job at the Chamber of Commerce while I was there but I thought that I would plug the town just because I liked it.

Any sight seeing trip with David mean reading all the signs. The thing is he remembers what they said. I forget before the trip is over.

BREAST CANCER WALK

Saturday was the walk to raise money for breast cancer research. It was a perfect day and this photo was taken of Pam and I as we finished our 3 mile walk.

PHOTOS OF MY TRIP

We rode the water taxi over to City Walk a couple of times and one
morning we just walked back to The
Portifino.






I didn't go to the NBA Store but I thought Maison would like this one.













Our evening at Bubba Gump Shrimp company was fun and I am not really as sunburn as I look in this photo.



You can't tell by the photo but these glasses lit up. Very festive!






I picked up this old fellow in St Augustine and headed home.

R & R

Last week Cheryl took me out of town for a little R & R and it was great. We spent the first two days in Orlando at The Portofino, a luxury resort. It was a time of relaxing and having fun. I got a facial one day and enoyed all of the pampering. This is a photo from our room.







I caught up on my sunning.










This looks like the perfect way to get around in this setting.















This was the view looking back at the resort while we were waiting for our water taxi to take us to go over to The Walk. I will show photos of that tomorrow.

HOUSE HELPER

I have a House Helper. She is as cute as Doby, the House Elf in the Harry Potter books. She can't read yet so I only leave her a list when David is watching her so he can read her jobs to her.
She really likes to help and starts asking if she can put papers in the 'chine as soon as we start our trip home from Nursery School. I did purchase a new paper shredder that is safe for even small fingers.
Last week when I was gone and she was home with David, she ran in and told him that the washer had stopped and she needed her stoodle to get the clothes out. (she can't actually reach the clothes in the washer, we have to hand them to her and she drops them in a basket and then goes back and puts them in the dryer).
She also has the responsibility of putting our water and diet cokes in the refrigerator for us. She is just the right height for this job.

WALK * WALK * WALK

I am doing another walk for charity. This time it is to raise money for cancer research. I got two donations and am 1/3 of the way to my goal. Todd and his crew and Dana and her crew are members of my Honor Roll.

BACK TO WORK :(

Back in Florida and back to work.

They have these horses all around Louisville. Every one is different but they are each a piece of art.
I got to see some snow and took care of all the business on the schedule for my Kentucky trip. Carol and I had a chance to see a couple of movies and visit with old friends. We didn't get much cleaning done. We are still ignoring the basement and the garage. The bedrooms are also packed to the limit but there will be time for that later.

We went to chuch Sunday morning and it was great. There are special things about going home. I guess I am fortunate to feel at home in Florida and in Kentucky.

WEDDING SHOWER

This is Jenn, soon to be Joshua Robinson's wife. That sounds strange to me. I went to her shower on Saturday. In this photo she is showing the second half of my gift. The first half was a wall clock, it was very contemporary and all of the younger people at work loved it when it came in. Part two was a gift certificate and a candy bar from Bass Pro Shop. Josh has always been a favorite of mine and I wanted to get something I thought he would like.

MENDING

Dave is mending very well. He played golf on Saturday and came home to ice his knee. He probably over did it because the knee was a little swollen by the end of the day. He really didn't want me to post this photo because of the 'big belly' but I did get him fudge at the craft fair today so that doesn't help the swollen belly. It was delicious fudge.

DAVID'S SURGERY IS OVER

David had his knee surgery today and is home. He is sick at his stomach because of the pain medicine but if we can keep some food down tomorrow that should help. I am going back to work tomorrow but I am sure the neighbors will all be around to take care of him. He is giving himself therapy. "What a guy!"

THE HOUSE IS EMPTY AGAIN

Debbie and Joe "Rainman" Rapp were here for a week but left yesterday morning. We had such a wonderful visit. They were great. We played Hearts at night. We took turns as the winner but Joe (AKA Rainman) always controled the game and the three of us grew to hate him.

He is recovering, very slowly but has a determination that can't be altered. It's like he had to learn to walk all over again. He has tingling in his hands and feet most of the time and gets very cold for no apparent reason.

They enjoyed the pool, golf (for Joe) and shopping (for Debbie), riding bikes, and relaxing while we were at work and Debbie cleaned up around the condo and prepared some great meals for us.
She packed my pantry and refrigerator so we will be eating off the Rapps for a while.

Sorry we were to busy for pictures but they may come back if it is too cold and gray when they get back to Kentucky.

SAME NAME - GETTING BETTER

How do you explain it when someone comes along 40 some years later than you and is so much better. Look at this photo. We have the same name. She is prettier, she is smart, she is musical, she has curly hair, everyone likes her and much more. Well I explain it as improvement! I am very proud to have the same name as this pretty young lady and proud that she is my niece.

BERNICE BRENNAN

I think this photo was taken when she was 9 or 10 but I really don't know.

I am not sure if it was taken before she went into the Masonic Orphan's Home or if she was a little older and it was possibly a photo they took there at school.

I suspect that Aunt Alma was responsible for the curls so I think maybe it was before she went in the Home.

As I said, she loved curls.

DANA'S BABY STARTS SCHOOL

This week Emily started school and her Mom said that she is the cutest and the smartest kid in the class. (These curls are pain free AKA=natural)

FIRST LOVE

It is a known fact that you never forget your first love. This is a photo of mine. Johnny Webb is in the chair beside me and his brother Donnie is standing behind us. We played in the dirt together, we borrowed each others training pants when we were potty training and our families were so close we still think we are one.

He even came to my wedding to remind me that he was the best boyfriend that I had ever had.

ENDING THE YEAR ON A VERY HAPPY NOTE

We got home yesterday. We had a wonderful time at Tom's wedding. Nancy is a pleasure to be around. We loved seeing Tom's kids and getting to meet Nancy's kids and friends. The trip was short and I95 was a nightmare (traffic but no wrecks) but we are so happy we went.

Nancy's house looks like you stepped into a Southern Living Magazine. She fit right in. She is a gracious charming lady. I am glad she joined the family.

You may notice that the date is wrong. Just a little camera issue, 00ps.

WILL THIS YEAR EVER END???

You say this is the 27th of December? Yes, I know that.

Most of my kitchen cabinets, granite top, and appliances are all installed but since the knobs are not on the doors and drawers, all of my stuff is still in my neighbors condo and they will be back after the 1st. I spoke to Cory today and he told me that my last cabinet has been built but they are waiting to send it when they have a truck coming this way from the other coast. He is coming by this afternoon to put the knobs on. The garbage disposal is in but isn't wired in electrically yet so hopefully that guy will come today too. I want to get things back in order SOON.

We were planning to leave for South Carolina in the morning for Tom's wedding on Saturday. I went to AAA on Saturday and picked up our maps. This morning Dave fell when he was getting ready for work and isn't walking very well at all. I suggested he borrow one of his patient's walker for the weekend. He did make it to work without my assistance. He got an appointment for the orthopedic doctor this afternoon. We will decide about our weekend after he sees the doctor.

I am certain 2008 is going to be a much better year and I am looking forward to it.

Merry Christmas 2007

I started this blog a couple of years ago to keep friends and family informed of what was going on with me. I haven't written in 5 weeks but the 4 of you that read this know what has been going on. Todd said that most of us just blog for ourself so when I have the energy I may just go back and add what I have left out but today I just wanted to post this card (Dana sent it to us) and to wish you all a very Merry Christmas.
Love, Kathy