MONDAY MORNING GIFT

Eric brought me a box with a fat little green frog on top of it this morning. I might have been offended if he hadn't given skinny little Allison one like it.

He said that we were suppose to keep them on our desks.

I think getting a gift first thing on Monday is a good way to start the week off with a smile.

STAYING OFF THE "NAUGHTY LIST"

A "NAUGHTY LIST" has been formed for people who do not post on their blog in a timely manner. I noticed that one of the creators of this list hasn't updated in a week and therefore she is back on.

Last week was very slow at work as usual. I have started reading "Desire" by John Eldredge. I thought that was better than playing games on the computer all day.

Saturday morning I went to Lottye's memorial service at Cypress Lake Baptist Chuch. One of the interesting stories that they told was one Lottye had told me before but I had forgotten about it.

Jerry P. Jenkins, coauthor of The Left Behind Series mentioned in the beginning of one of his books about the importance in his life of Vacation Bible School and Mrs Lottye Case. Just think how her influence in his life has been multiplied by all the people who where touched by the Left Behind Books.

Saturday night Nattie came over to play for a few hours. We played board games, games on the computer, Barbies, watched movies and she only got mad at me once when I had to prove to her that as long as I out weigh her and am stronger than her, she will not beat me when we wrestle. I didn't hurt her but she got mad when I would pin her down. She is a little alpha dog.

Sunday morning we only had 30 some people in church. It was sad but we will have an interim pastor starting next week so it should get back to normal.

Dave golfed yesterday afternoon and I went to the grocery. It was a relaxing weekend and we are looking forward to our trip to Kentucky in 11 days.

THE ROTT'S FAREWELL

Saying good bye is one of my least favorite things in life. John and Laura are moving to Idaho to help with a church plant. They will be helping Laura's sister and her husband so they are very excited to be going back to the north west.

John was a very good Pastor and the kind of guy that could do anything with his hands. The activity center was built while they were here and much of the work was done by him. They were both very nice friends. We will miss them and their cute little boys.

THE SUMMER RAINS HAVE BEGUN

We have started to get our daily showers, they don't last long but things are beginning to green up a little bit. All of our lakes are very low and we have a pet that travels from lake to lake. He is approximately 10 feet long. I call him Al.

VACATIONS IS OVER

When I got back to work today my photo was still in the frame with all the other employee photos so I breathed a sigh of relief knowing they didn't decide they could do better without me. We are still slow but that isn't too unusual this time of year.

It looks like we are about to get a big storm so that rain we have been needing for so long is on the way. I look forward to a green golf course and a full pond.

LUNCH WITH FRIENDS

Time may change the way things look and it passes faster than we could ever imagine but the love we have for others stands the test of time.

Today Carol and I went to lunch with John "my first love" and his mom, Mary Webb.

NATALIE'S GROWING UP

Since I don't have Natalie during the week any longer I picked her up from school so she could come to our house and spend the night Friday night. She has had regular chores at our house and they just weren't getting done with our new schedule. She loves to help with laundry, putting cokes in the refrigerator and shredding old papers.

She did work on these things Saturday but after I let her play all the animated cards on JacquieLawson.com she wasn't as excited when the dryer stopped as she was before. She still took the clothes out and separated mine from David's and hers but it wasn't at the top of her priority list.

I was amazed at how well she navigated to see all the cards and play the games. She is 3. She can't read and she only had a few things that stumped her. I get stumped on the computer doing things I've done before.

We had to swim, chase squirrels and ride in the golf cart as we always do but the computer was her new adventure and I think she will be tutoring me soon.

TIBETAN BEAUTY QUEENS

Isn't it amazing how much these two beauties have grown since they moved to China 3 years ago? Since Todd isn't posting I get to post his photos before him.


In case you are wondering, No, they are not twins.

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!"