I have been meaning to do an update for a few days,  but somehow we have seemed to keep very busy!  We are in Florida,  and enjoy our time here A LOT.

We flew down the morning after Christmas,  and luckily had a direct flight from Milwaukee to Fort Lauderdale.  Often we come through Atlanta and that would not have been good!  The East coast is still struggling to recover from the storms.  But our flight was good and arrived on time.   The first 2 nights were cold, close to record setting.  But the days were nice and the sun here still feels warm,  unlike home!   And each day has gotten better.  Today it was in the upper 60’s when we awoke.  I took a long walk along the beach, the wind is now out of the Southeast.  The bahama breezes are coming in.   The Boynton Beach park has been redone, and is still being finished.  Nothing moves quickly here in Florida!   They had it under construction when we were down in May.   But they have done a nice job and I walked there and had some juice.   Then a nice walk home.  We took the neighbors Al and Viv to lunch today,  and Al and I had our oysters.  And I had the oil changed on the Focus today, tomorrow we drive over to Fort Meyers to bring in the New Year with the Enders.

MJ had gone up to Orlando to meet a friend from the St Sebs neighborhood who lives there with his family now.  Chris and I emptied china cabinets and desk and some of Clyde’s boxes,  and found room for everything.  Yesterday we had a Ministry pick up the cabinets and dining room table.  And I have been running some outlets to where they need to be when we get a wall of cabinets installed in February.  So that is about set.   The room looks big right now!

And we have some not so good news.   Aunt Muriel had a major stroke just before Christmas.  They have moved her back to the nursing home from the hospital into their comfort care,  it sounds like she is not responding at this point and they will monitor her.   And Chris’s sister Marie had surgery again today.   Sounds like about as major as the first one.  She developed some infections around the mesh they put in for her hernia’s, and they had to take the mesh out and replace and take out some infected intestine.   She was unhappy with her rate of recovery before and has to start over,  with a longer recovery.   She will be in the hospital for the next week and Chris will make plans to go to New Mexico.  John is doing as well as expected, and will move nursing homes soon.   So we keep them all in our prayers.  Including Mom’s sister Lottie who was in St Francis hospital last we have heard.

But we did have a nice Christmas.  Mom did come to Skip and Claire’s on Christmas day and had an enjoyable time.  And Andria and Craig were up from Texas.  We had a great meal including smoked Texas turkey, which was excellent.

So I am on the porch doing updates, after spending some time with Al having a cocktail and listening to stories.  Chris has been working, on a work project they gave her a few hours ago and want in for year end.    I think I will have a glass of Zinfindel and a small cigar, and enjoy the breeze through the palms.   And we wish you all a Happy and Healthy 2011,  enjoy family friends and live life to the fullest.

Santa is close to arriving.  Actually MJ arrived today.   She flew into Chicago and rented a car because that was so cheap compared to flying into Appleton or Milwaukee.    Luckily she had an early flight, because O’Hare was already a mess this morning.  She was delayed because of O’Hare problems, and ended up circling for 45 more minutes waiting for a runway but she made it.  And the drive up was good.  She spent part of the day in Milwaukee visiting with someone she taught with there.

And thank you for your prayers.  Marie sounded much better today and has progressed a lot.  Still some hurdles to get through but a big improvement.  John on the other hand is struggling.   He ended up falling and breaking an arm.  Good friend Tom got him from the nursing home and took him to the hospital, where he is now.   His confusion is pretty bad.  The good news is after 3 days in the hospital Medicare will pick up the cost of him going back to the nursing home for awhile,  And Marie won’t be able to handle him for awhile.  So a few more prayers for them both would not hurt!

And our snow is back.  We probably had 4 inches this morning.   I got up at 4:30 am to clean the driveway, and spent more time than I had hoped.  Of course I had to fix the cable for the plow also,  I will have to try Al’s recommendation for a tennis ball before the hook.  Anyway there was good news here also,  we warmed up into the 20’s today which is very welcome.   And it looks like we will have a number of 20 degree highs at least.  I am going back out tonight for a little exercise and clean up the inch or two that is on the driveway.   From all the turkey tracks it looks like they were here looking for gravel!  How about turkey for Christmas dinner?

So be prepared for the coming of the Lord.  Be prepared for anything life brings next.   Well off to play in the snow,  enjoy!

Sunday night,  the Packers are playing without Aaron Rogers,  no one is giving them a chance, and so far they are making a good show of it.  Well OK,  some terrible tackling,  but still playing well overall.    Hope springs eternal, even after losing to Detroit.

The good news is that we have not had any more snow since we got home.  And we are getting closer to Christmas, and then to Florida.  We are consistently below normal temperatures.  And I love cold weather,  but things could be worse.   Chris’s sister Marie had her surgery,  Besides taking out part of the colon the doctor found a number of hernias and the surgery was much more extensive than planned.   And so far so is the recovery.  We have talked to her briefly but she is on a lot of medication.  And her husband John who has had a lot of confusion from his years of Parkinson’s medication, is staying in a nursing home and without Marie there 24/7 has had more confusion.  His Parkinson medication is probably not being given the same as he is used to and he has been falling a lot and difficult to handle.   So we are praying for both of them.  And for Tom and Barb Madrid who are there with them night and day.  They are more than good friends.   And we have heard one of our neighbors fell in the house and broke her leg, had some pins inserted in it, and is now on a long recovery.  And another neighbor Rick (who tries to teach me how to fish) had ankle surgery and has months more of recovery to look forward to.

So we can take some cold for now.  And pray everyone is doing better come Christmas.   We were home this weekend.  I spent a number of hours working, as there is a lot I need to have done by year end.   And no way to get it done during the work day.  I do have off Thursday and Friday, and will probably put some hours in on Thursday.  But we do get to wear jeans this week!

MJ is scheduled to come in on Tuesday, and we hope the weather does not get in her way.   Sounds like it will be mostly Monday night for a storm system coming in.    We hope to be hearing some better news by then and get some relaxing time in with MJ.

So we hope your week is a good one, and that you have some time to make this an enjoyable Christmas season.  Count your blessings

Christmas is getting closer!  Time continues to fly by.  We have had a great week.    Time with good friends and relaxing.   I had a head start last week,  one night I went to a whiskey tasting.  Fratello’s restaurant sponsered Fred Noe,  great great great grandson of Jim Beam to come in.  6 courses of food and 6 Jim Beam whiskey’s.  The food was great, the story telling was wonderful, and the bourbon’s were enjoyable.  Did you know bourbon has to be made with 51% corn, made in America and be aged in new American oak barrels?  It can be made anywhere but there happens to be a lot in Kentucky.  A nice way to spend an evening.

Last Wednesday night we headed down to Milwaukee to spend the evening with Mom.  And Thursday morning we flew off to Fort Lauderdale.  We booked some direct flights from Milwaukee to Fort Lauderdale, the way flights are over booked and few flight choices it takes out some stress!  We landed on a rainy day in south Florida and a little cool.   But that gave us time to open up the condo and do some cleaning.  I even took Chris to the cigar store and she learned how to play domino’s!  Friday started off sunny and getting warmer fast.   Now that is south Florida weather.    We had been planning some new cabinets for the dining room and spent some time at Lowes in the morning.  We ordered some cabinets and got some other shopping in.   And in the afternoon Noel, Jo Ann and Al Miller arrived from Fort Meyers.  Friday night was the Boynton boat parade on the intercoastal, and we always enjoy seeing them.   So we had planned our trip around Friday night.  Jo Ann brought the steaks and we got down the pool early to grill out and start the evening.  And Al and Viv, our neighbors from New Jersey joined us.  We had a fun night, much warmer than last year.  The boats were fun as usual.   On the album page I have some pictures.  You can click on them to see them larger also.  I was playing with my new camera and different settings, but still hard to get  a solid picture of a moving boat at night.  But you get the idea.

Saturday was even a nicer day.  We had a little walking and a lot of relaxing.   And probably too much eating and drinking – hold it how can there be too much of that?  We had a fun lunch with Al and Viv also at hurricane alley.  One of my favorite places.   We sat outside and enjoyed the sun and warm air.   Had lots of raw oysters and good food.  It was nice to spend time with our friends and just relax.  And the warm weather adds to it.  Sunday we went to church and then to 2 Georges to watch the Packer game.   The boys got there early to make sure we were in front of the Packer TV.   They have all the games on here.  We were there early enough to talk to the bartender into having the Packer game on the main TV.   2 Georges in on the intercoastal, and the bar is a deck built over the water.  And Sunday was the warmest day of the weekend, in the upper 70’s.  so the game was not what we wanted,  but we still had fun.   After the game back to the condo and we even made it for a swim in the pool.  So  much fun!

Monday brought some cooler weather, and the fact we needed to come home.  Enders stayed over and offered to take us to the airport in Fort Lauderdale.   So that saved us some trouble renting a car for the ride there.  Thanks Noel and Jo Ann.   Allen flew home with us.  He had driven down with the Enders a couple of weeks ago.  Spent some time with his daughter in family in Tampa, and to Fort Meyers and then the days with us.  Of course you may have heard Wisconsin had some snow and cold come in.   we were not looking forward to coming home.  The flight was good.  Standing outside waiting for the shuttle to the car was not.   The good news was Milwaukee had very little snow and the car did not need to get dug out and scraped,  and we were on our way quickly.  We dropped off Al and were on our way to Oshkosh.  There was certainly more snow as we drove north, and was dropping the temperature.   I was hoping to put the Trailblazer in 4 wheel and get in the garage when we got home.  but the size of the drifts in front of the garages changed that plan.   So Chris got a fire going in the fireplace, and I spent the evening having fun in the driveway.   I know Florida is having a couple of cold days,  but it doesn’t match up!  They will be 30 degrees warmer in a couple of days,  we will be 3 degrees warmer.

1 degree temp right now.  The roads and parking lots are iced up from being driven on, and too cold to melt even though we had sun today.  Tonight will be colder!   The best thought is we will be back in Florida in a couple of weeks!  How long does winter last?  So once I get over the cold weather,  I will try to get into the holiday mood!     Take care.

Another week flew by!   Well, the weekend for sure.   Work has been going OK,  keeping very busy and out of trouble.   Last week I had the homebrew club executive board over one night to plan this months meeting.  And that is coming together well.  And it is also a good chance to share some great beers!  And Friday night Chris and I went to a local bar that had the Dave Steffen band.  Dave plays a mean guitar and it was a fun evening.

Saturday I made some chili for a food day coming up at work.  And did some organizing down in the boat house.  We went to church on Saturday and then stopped for a sandwich after church.  We had tickets for the Grand Opera House and a sandwich fit in very well.   Janet Planet usually has a concert around Christmas, and this year it was with the Oshkosh Symphony.  It was great!  Janet has just an amazing voice.  I was the first time we had seen the Oshkosh Symphony and they did an impressive job.  I wish they would have recorded the concert,  we both enjoyed it so much.   We stopped for a drink after the concert and caught some more music.  Another local musician who played acoustic guitar and was very talented.  We enjoyed that also.   So it was an enjoyable musical weekend.

Sunday morning we went to brunch Harlan/Barb and Sam/Sarah.   And that was a great way to start the day.  We don’t talk to the neighbors enough, especially once it gets cold!  So we had great company and great food at the Roxy.  Then it was home to watch the Packer Game.  And that was good!  And Chris cleaned out a cabinet that had our china in it.  The weight of the china put a dangerous bow in the shelf particle board.  Which I expected to break soon!   So I deconstructed the shelf and manufactured a new 26 x 38 shelf.  As good as when it left Lou and Jeanne’s house!  And that was a number of years ago and moved twice.

So now back to one of my favorite Mondays.  Actually they have not been bad lately.  No major issues today and accomplished a few things.  And tonight we had an appointment at Lowes with a kitchen designer.   We have been thinking through adding some cabinets to the dining room in Florida and sat down to plan it out.  That went well, and we get to Florida we will sit with a Lowes designer there to finish the plan.   We hope to add the cabinet space and can then start some kitchen remodeling work.

And we get to think about that this week!  Wednesday night we drive to Milwaukee, spend the night with Mom, and then fly out Thursday morning to Fort Lauderdale.  Can’t wait!  They are having a cold snap in Florida this week of course,  but it will be warming up for the weekend.  Friday night is the Christmas boat parade which we enjoy seeing.  Noel and Jo Ann and Al Miller will be joining us.  We had a lot of fun last year, and there will be more this year!  We will be there until Monday.

And we will be thinking and praying for Chris’s sister Marie.  While her biopsy came back negative for cancer she still has some major surgery coming to remove the growth, and will spend several days in the hospital.  And she takes such wonderful care of John she is worried about him more than herself.  Things will work out Marie, we are all praying for both of you.

So have a good week.  Temperature says it is 19, but it feels colder.   I will try to update this weekend.

Oh and I wanted to Post some of Chris’s handiwork.   Each year she has made hats for Mary Jane’s third grade class.  And this year she did it again.   Every kid gets to choose stocking cap and Mary Jane adds some gloves.   Most of her kids don’t have much to dress for the cold weather.

We hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving.  The weather could have been more hospitable,  but we dealt with it.   Chris and I from Oshkosh, Denise from Kenosha,  Skip and Claire from Brookfield, and John and Mary Jane from Detroit traveled to Saugatuck Michigan for the Thanksgiving weekend.   We rented a home a couple of years ago and all decided that was a good way to go.   So we found a ‘cabin in the woods’ this year.  Actually a condo in the woods.  A condo association that a number of owners rent out the houses.   Less than 5 years old and nicely done.   Not as roomy as the last house but it suited us.   It allowed us to make Thanksgiving dinner together and play some games and cards,  build a fire in the fireplace each evening.  It worked out very well.   More pictures on the Album page link.   And we spent time walking through Saugatuck’s shops.  Think Door County.   Lot’s of interesting things; many types of gift stores, clothes that change color in the sun light, old fashioned drug store, a spice shop, fudge shop, and many more.  Even 2 winery stores,  of course with tastings.    And a good choice of restaurants and bars to stop at.  We also made it to Saugatuck Brewing one day,  the beer was good but the food not as good as last year.   Wally’s the food was very good, and a friendly bartender knew lot’s of shots to mix and pour. And had a walk through near by Douglas and its’ downtown.  Smaller but we made some purchases!   And I have to work on losing a few of the pounds put on with breakfasts, late lunches, and plenty of snacks and cheese during sheepshead games.  Fun was had,  and we all left together on Sunday morning for the drives home. The drives went well,  Illinois is better with an I-Pass.

But weather has been cold, and signs of snow!  Today stinks!  Cold wind and snow showers.  But I guess a sign of things to come, for too many months to come!  It gives us a chance to burn some of our firewood.   There is ice on the water,  and the next 7 days promise to make it thicker.   I am betting there will be plenty of fishermen by Christmas.

So stay warm, take time to relax and enjoy the season.