We are in Florida, life is good.  We are relaxed!   Had the usual airport problems.  A sunny nice day and our plane in Milwaukee arrived an hour late from Atlanta.  But we managed to still make our connection.   And we arrived in warm Florida on time.

We went out with neighbors last night,  I had oysters and soft shell crab,  needless to see Chris did not.  It was wonderful, and came back to our condo for a beer and a cigar (Chris skipped both of these also).  It was a beautiful night with a breeze coming in off the ocean.  At midnight it was probably 70 degrees.

This morning I took a nice walk along the ocean.  Then when I got back and showered we walked to our favorite diner for breakfast.   They have great food and large portions, so we brought home enough for tomorrow’s breakfast!

And I took a ride to my friend the cigar maker and spent some time talking with the locals.  And then Chris and I took a ride to the city park on the beach.  They are doing some remodeling so the upper walk and sitting areas were closed.  But we had a nice walk on the beach.  It was very busy,  with the ocean breeze coming in it was very comfortable there.   The humidity is starting in Florida, although it is not terrible.  And with the party cloudy skies I find it comfortable.  Chris was even surprised at the ocean that there was a difference from at the condo.

So we have not decided what is in the plans for tonight.  Either walk to a local restaurant our take something down to the pool and grill out by the intercoastal.    It all works.   I am on the porch,  just finished a German beer and am listening to a French band from Montreal.   Life is good.

Happy Cinco de Mayo.   I am going to go down and pour myself a glass of tequila to celebrate the victory over the French.

We had a chance to spend a little time with Enders, which was nice.  They are now on duty in Door County.  And it sounds like they brought the bad weather with them!  Watch out for those snow flakes Saturday morning!  We were on the edge of the worst of the storms last night.  The tornado’s were 10 or 15 miles north.  The lake sure got rough!  And lot’s of rain all night but that will be good for the ground.  Hopefully we did not lose the blossoms on our apple trees.

So I have a small project downstairs I was back to tonight.   Trying to finish a wall  that I didn’t do 15 years ago.  So the drywall is up and am doing my subsequent coats of drywall compound most nights.  It is getting close to the end.   I will have to decide on the type of finish coat I put on soon.

I bought some plants for the garden yesterday,  but did not get them in last night,  now too wet, and will be too cold the next days.  So will need a good day next week to put them in the ground.   Oh yesterday I did not get to the plants because we were busy shuffling cars.   On my way to work I lost power going over the Butte des Morts bridge.   I was able to get off the bridge on the north side of the water and pull it over.  So Chris came to get my,  I dropped the keys off at the garage and they towed it in later.   The way it lost power and ran I was thinking cam shaft.  But it was better news later.  The thermastat stuck closed, and when the engine started to overheat the sensors shut down the engine to protect it.  So it did not end up cheap,   but lot’s less than I was imagining.    The mechanic is not very positive on the future of my engine at 166,000 miles,  but we will keep running it for awhile.  The oil and compression may be going where it doesn’t belong,  but still not too bad.

So we manage to find things to keep busy with.

Another week and we will be getting ready to head to Florida for a long weekend.  That is always relaxing.  Speaking of which, time for my tequila.

I am behind on my postings!   I seem to keep fairly busy with a fair amount of things,   and work has not been much fun lately,  but life is still good.

Spring weather has been good,  although not much about last weekends cold rain.  But we did need the rain.  And we may get a freeze tonight,  but in the 70’s tomorrow.  A Wisconsin Spring!

And Chris, Mary Jane, and I celebrate our 32nd anniversary on April 28th.  Time does go quickly,  not just the days.  And life is good!  And it has been a great 32 years!

Another weekend coming to an end.   I have to find a way to make these longer!  Friday night I went down to Milwaukee.   Spent some time with Mom and had the chance to spend some time with Al Miller.   We went out for a pizza to my old Bay View neighborhood and one of the DeMarinni’s restaurants.    Good as ever.  And then for a couple of beers to the Sugar Maple on the southside.  60 American micro brews on tap, awesome.

Saturday some time with Mom and got home in the afternoon.  I always have these things in my mind that need to get done so I went to work in the yard.  There were strong north winds blowing in off the lake that made it pretty cool.  But I made a lot of progress yesterday and today.  Of course no one other than me will notice most of what I spent my time on.    But it feels good to have it done.  And I fit in a trip to Fleet Farm along the way.  One night the Bayliner gets a new battery put in.  And I found the lawn mower has a throttle problem and probably needs to go into the shop.  So the projects always continue.  But I stopped this evening for a cigar,  a steak and asparagus on the grill.   And now I am relaxed.   I just need another day!  But Monday will be back to work.  I guess I should be happy for that,  it pays for my fun.   And we filled the position that has been empty the last couple of months, so after a couple of weeks of training I should start to get some help.

Wisconsin is supposed to be a little warmer this week than it was this weekend.  but it is still April so we should be happy with what we have.  It is tempting to start to plant,  but we did have temps in the 30’s last night so need to wait.  And I get to look forward to Chris coming home from New Mexico on Thursday.   I am sure Marie will miss her but I will welcome her home.

So I hope your weekend was great!  Life is good, enjoy.

Well I did not take pictures of the snow today, it was too depressing.  I was stopped on Hwy 41 waiting for an accident to clear, and more cars in the ditches.  Today was opening day of the Timberrattler’s baseball season,  which is postponed until tomorrow.  They say 6 inches in Appleton.  But the spring has been very nice up until now, so we are hoping next week will be back to good weather!

With the good weather we do have the dock and shore station ready to go.   Just need to put the boat on it, the battery is charged and gas tank filled.   Now that we have had some rain (and snow) the lake level should come up a little and allow us to put the bayliner on the lift.   Maybe this weekend?

And I had a chance to brew beer with a friend,  so will have another batch to work on the next few months.  A rye blond dopplebock,  can’t wait!

And last week we had the opportunity to meet Craig’s fiance Andria, which was very enjoyable.  He is a lucky guy.   There was a wedding shower on Saturday, at Denise’s new condo.  Which was also very nice.  She has a beautiful place, very roomy and well done.  And we spent some quality time with Mom.  And on Easter had a great meal at Skip and Claire’s.   So it was a full weekend.    This week finished our taxes, uncovered the pontoon boats, and did a few things around the house.   Hopefully can put the ‘new’ pontoon in soon, that battery is charged and ready to go.    So looking forward to another weekend, almost here!   Friday night going out with good friends Steve and Tiff to Eddie Martini’s.  I have been looking forward to that for years!  We hope you have an enjoyable weekend also!   I added some more pictures on the Album page by the way.

Just want to wish everyone a great Easter Weekend.  It seems like it came up quickly. Here in the north we are well above normal temperatures, which is wonderful.   Cooling down a little tomorrow, but still it will be above normal!  How great is that.

Down to Milwaukee on Saturday, and actually to Kenosha for Andria’s wedding shower.  And our chance to see Denise’s new condo.  And a chance to spend a little time with Mom.   Then spend the night by Mom and over to Skip and Claire’s for Easter dinner (thanks).

Chance of some rain this weekend,  which if it happens here in Omro maybe will raise the water a little.  Dock is in and shore station in place,  I would like a little more water before trying to put the boats in though.  Low water made it easy to work,  but need a little more ‘float’.

I am glad I am to the end of this work week, although I got home each night and had the chance to work by the lake.  Tonight was just relaxing, as Chris and I had a chance to sit on the deck with a cocktail.   I am looking forward to the weekend, and hope that does not pass too quickly.

Thanks to my nephew Craig for a new look to the blog,  and easier to navigate the pages.  I will have to try some new things when I get a chance!

And to everyone who bothers to read this we wish you a wonderful Easter weekend,  new life is rising.

We are getting a nice treat of Wisconsin weather.   It was cool today, but sunny.  And each day this week should be warmer.   This is good!

Chris had a long weekend at her Insurance Women’s conference, and it sounds like it was a good time.   I made it down to see Mom on Friday and spent a little time with her.  Made it home Saturday afternoon and had a chance to get some things done around the house.  As long as the yard has still been dry I pulled the run about out of the boathouse and moved it to the garage.   Moved some dock stands over from my neighbors, who are donating them to us!   And scraped them down a little, and tonight wire brushed them down.  I will put a quick coat of paint on them before putting them in the water,  which I would like to start on this week!   Some of my old ones have rusted through the joints and are being retired.  So have some work to do to integrate the different pieces.  But it will work.  The water is very low yet,  a good time to be getting some of this done.

Put new spark plugs in the focus,  I thought it was time for a change after 160,000 miles.   But the thermastat housing seems to be cracked again.   I think this will be the 4th.  Ford used a plastic housing, the original went 6 years or so but the replacements have not been so good.   But the rest of the car has been good to us so we will try again.

Had a chance to brew some beer this weekend.  Good friend Mark lets me brew with him.   we made a rye blond dopplebock, and have it on 3 different yeasts right now.   I can’t wait!

A good day in South Florida.   It was a nice day, around 80.   A little cloudy,  and just had a quick shower, so  a little more humid than the other days.  but very comfortable.   So we made it to church this morning, did a little cleaning in the condo,  and just spent time relaxing.  Our last day here so ate some of the left overs in the refrigerator, and made some  hamburgers down by the pool for supper.   And just spent some time with some of the neighbors outside.  The wind is cooling down with the evening so we all came in.

The trip down was eventful as usual lately.  After New Years Delta screwed up our flights home and we had to stay another day.  March Airtran had plane problems and we missed our flight to West Palm and had to fly into Fort Lauderdale, picked up by our guests Bev and Wally.

And this time when I checked in Wednesday night.  Chris’s boarding passes with seat assignments printed out but I only got one boarding pass with ‘seat request’ rather than a seat assignment.  We got to the airport early Thursday afternoon to try and sort it out.  At the ticketing desk they told us only the gate could give the seat assignment.  The gate said they could only assign the seats while we were boarding, but don’t worry she checked and everyone’s seat she had assigned.  Well Chris boarded along with most of the people, and we found out Delta is leaving 8-10 seats un assigned on their flights.   While they were calling out seats I was one of the last two, and guess what,  the last 2 were oversold and could not get on.   I explained my wife was already on, and they could not figure out how that happened.  Another gate person tried to offer $400 for someone to get off, but that did not work.  They said when over booked they should board by the order people bought tickets.  But they had already boarded (because they did not realize they had too many people)  and they can’t convince me  that if Chris had her seat assigned, and we booked together,  that I was one of the last to book.  But they already screwed up.  I told them to go ask Chris if she wanted to go ahead,  but she did not and came off the plane Non to Happy!  but that got the other guy of us two on the plane with his buddies.   We had some discussion with the gate personnel.  We were too late to get any flight to West Palm.  Which was unfortunate, since we were at the airport early enough and if we had known could have gotten another flight earlier out of Appleton.   But I told the gate person (not the original but another who was anxious to try work something out for us so we did not have to lose a day of vacation)    that we could go into Fort Lauderdale.  She got us on the next flight out (which was their last flight to Minneapolis), and it turns out she overbooked that flight to make it happen.  But I learned that even at that point they could have sold another 6 seats on the flight.    I am convinced that if some one purchases a business class flight at that point they will get a seat assignment.

But she got us to Minneapolis and then on a flight to Fort Lauderdale.   And we are lucky enough to have a good friend Audrey who was willing to pick us up in Fort Lauderdale at 11:30 pm instead of 10:30 in West Palm.  And they did book us in First Class to Fort Lauderdale.  We did not know they still served dinners on china in First Class, which was pretty good.  And I drank LOTS of wine.  So we made it!  And it has been relaxing.  The picture is lunch Saturday with neighbors Al and Vivian and Ron and Verna.

We are now checked in for our flights tomorrow afternoon, and will see where our journey takes us!   Making plans for our next trip down,  in May to close up the condo for the year.   But that will be awhile.  In between we will have some reminders of winter in Wisconsin I am sure,  and Chris will be going to New Mexico to visit John and Marie.

So keep Wisconsin warm for our return,  hope everyone has had a great weekend!

Just to say Happy St Patrick’s Day!

It seems like it has been a long week already, and although I could have used it I did not make it out to celebrate today.   It’s certainly not like in the old days when I got out early afternoon.      But we are saving our celebrating for the next few days.  Tomorrow night we fly to Florida and will have a relaxing few days.

The weather here has sure been great, a reminder of what nice weather can be like.  But this is Wisconsin,  they are talking snow for Saturday!  Yes much too early to think it would last.   But it has been a good run.

I hope all are having a great time, and that you have a great weekend!

Not much to say tonight,  not in a writing mood!  But I am overdue for an update just so everyone knows I have not forgot!

The good news is Mom is doing well.   We had a little scare when she went into the hospital on Sunday with trouble breathing.  Fluid had built up in her, congestive heart failure.  But they put her on an IV diuretic and watched her and she was doing well on Monday.  And Tuesday she got to go home.   Not many results from the tests and she will see the doctor in about a week and get more news.   She is to drink less fluids and watch her sodium.

So she came through well, Skip spent a lot of time at the hospital, mostly waiting for some news and a chance to check her out.  In St Lukes form it sounds like that took 1/2 a day.   but we all have to say she received much better care than we were used to when Dad was there.   One nurse said Aurora has worked on that,  I think she was lucky enough to be on a heart floor with less patients.  And we think they gave her something to pump up her adrenelin,  because she is talking non stop!  Not sure what that is about but she is feeling good which is the important thing.

Otherwise not much new.  I am still working lot’s of hours.   Last Saturday volunteered at the Hops and Props beer festival at the EAA, and that was fun.  And looking forward to our yearly gathering with our cousins on Saturday night in Milwaukee.

So the temperatures in Wisconsin have been good, although we are stuck in an eternal fog.  But they say come Monday we could see the sun again.  For now I heard some flood warnings go up, I think the frost is quickly starting to come out of the ground.

Take care, take time to enjoy!