Family Dog

Because dogs are normally so pliable and friendly with everyone we can be fooled into thinking that dog would live comfortably in any home. The truth is that dogs are pack animals who are quite attached to their own family members.

I've noticed it especially with Rusty (Ron & Gerry's dog) and Baker and Bailey (Kim's dogs). They are happy to be with me but so much of their attention is on the door, hoping their real family will show up again.

Last night Rusty seemed very calm and contented to be here but as soon as his owners arrived he nearly turned himself inside out with happiness. He tried to herd them out the door and back to "their" home because that's where he knows he belongs. They were equally happy to see him, their late-in-life puppy son.

I remember when we had our dog, Corky, and the greeting he'd shower on us when we'd been away from the house. It could be minutes, hours, or days but he'd be just as ecstatic to see us again. We were his family. Even blood family doesn't throw themselves into ecstasy at reunions like your dog does.

Corky has been gone for many years now but his wonderful qualities and the love we had for each other will never be forgotten.

65 Degrees and I'm Cold

It only got up to around 65 degrees today and the wind was horribly strong. It began to feel like winter to me so I bundled up on the sofa and slept half the afternoon away, just as I'd do back home when we had a blizzard. It's so silly because I would be thrilled to have 65 degree weather back home in April but here it feels different somehow.

Sylvia, Joann, and I went over to the clubhouse and played both "31" and Rummicubes tonight. We had a lot of fun as usual but soon it will only be me and Joann unless some of the others join us because Sylvia leaves for home on Thursday. I'm really going to miss our card nights because we enjoy ourselves so much and laugh over the silliest things. We all agree that life in the real world of our main homes in the north is dreary compared to what we do here. I guess our play time has to come to an end sometime, though.

It's 9:30 P.M. and Anna and Lisa are still at Disney and I'm still dogsitting. Rusty is a miniature poodle and one of the sweetest, gentlest dogs I've ever seen. He's no trouble at all and gives me a chance to talk to myself while pretending I'm talking to him. You can tell he misses his real Mommy and Daddy (Ron & Gerry) because he keeps going to the door and looking toward his own house. He's nice company but I'm definitely not getting a dog of my own.

Well, it's time to turn off the computer and watch a little T.V. I wish there was a program so good that I'd make it a point to watch it but, since T.V. is only a short term option for me, none are that good.

Dog Sitting

Anna and Lisa arrived yesterday and we initiated them into our park family last night. Mark and Charlotte brought the horse race game over to the little clubhouse where we played for a few hours in the evening. Lisa and Anna both won a couple of bucks and I think they did have fun. My friends here are so darned nice that you can't help but like them.

Today L&A went off to Epcot with Ron and Gerry and I'm dogsitting Rusty. We're experiencing another weird spell of darned cold weather for a few days so they're all wearing sweatshirts. I'm going to stay home with Rusty and work on my Swedish weaving. One of the ladies I taught left early this morning for home in Nova Scotia but she presented me with a large bottle of my favorite wine in thanks for teaching her the craft. It wasn't necessary but it is very much appreciated.

I spoke with one of my friends yesterday about how well we all seem to blend together here. We don't have simply American or Canadian groups of friends because it doesn't matter where a person's northern home happens to be. We chum around with people whose company we enjoy. My very closest buddies happen to be Canadian but that was just by chance.

Anyway, today is a stay at home day with the dog. I've had to teach him not to sleep on the furniture just as I have to reteach Baker and Bailey (Kim's dogs) every time they visit. What's with these people who allow their animals on the furniture?? The dogs learn quickly what is not allowed so it's pretty easy to train them but maybe I'm too fussy.

I Never Learn

Joann and I went yard saleing yesterday and I spent $20 on a load of Nascar trading cards, old programs, and old magazines. I know nothing about Nascar but I have hopes that this stuff will sell on Ebay next fall (I'm not taking it home). Why do I do this to myself? In analyzing my actions I've decided that my brain goes into the same neverneverland that it does when I eat something I shouldn't.

A part of me is saying, "you don't need this", but a part of me is greedy. Sometimes the greed part wins. Yesterday the greedy part won and now I have to figure out how to store this stuff in a hot and humid trailer for the summer.

My poor children must be hoping I don't die before I get rid of all the crap I've accumulated over the years but the problem is that I'm always tempted by new crap.

Today I'm going to a huge flea market with Joann and her husband. The good news is that I won't have much money with me.

Another Senseless Massacre

Once more we see in the news another mass murder. Why can't we, as human beings, find out how some can be driven to commit atrocities like this? The overwhelming reason seems to be a deep seated hatred, either hatred of themselves or in blaming others for their own misery.

I can rationalize a person hating another so intensely that they allow themselves to stoop low enough to kill but that's the point. They are "allowing" themselves to act on a feeling. We all have choices and we can give in to deep feelings or we can control ourselves.

Killing indiscriminately or opening fire on people they don't even know is another thing entirely. Is it self hatred or egomania? They must be incredibly stupid because there are only two outcomes in their future...death or imprisonment...and neither will exalt them. They will be pariahs for all time.

I remember back in the years when I suffered from depression and couldn't read the newspaper without crying. Reading about so much senseless carnage was just too much to bear. I guess I'll go to my grave wondering why we humans are so flawed that some of us can commit such devastating crimes against each other.

Michelle Hugs Liz

So Michelle Obama gave an extra little affectionate hug to Queen Elizabeth and the whole stuffy world of protocol and politics goes berserk. How very sad that politicians have to follow such rigid rules that a genuine and innocent show of affection should make the headlines.

I like the Obamas so much that they might just draw me back to the voting booth. If they are as good as they appear then maybe we just might have a politician or two in Canada that is honest and has the public's interests at heart. I don't know, though, because that's very difficult to accept.

When it comes to presidents or premiers, I usually like the accompanying wife better than the main figure but with the Obamas I like them both. I'm too old to make another u-turn in how I view politicians so I hope these two are the genuine article. If I lose faith again it will be permanent.

My "Computer People"

I don't understand computers but I think I need a new laptop. I bought this one 3 1/2 years ago because it's easier to tote a laptop to Florida than to take my desk top one apart. My husband always did that but all those wires and cords overwhelm me.

This is an Acer with minimum capacity and I keep getting those popups that tell me my memory is low. When I went alone to the Future Shop they didn't even have a record of this laptop in their system to know what kind of memory it would take. It makes me feel helpless to try to explain my computer needs to these geeks. I usually have my personal "computer people" do it for me (Lisa and Anna at home...Bob in Florida). Computer illiterates like me need our own "people".

Anna and Lisa will be here on Monday so I'll get them to take a look at it and maybe even help me buy a new one down here. I'm pretty sure they're cheaper in the States but I'll let my "computer people" make the decision for me.

Getting Quieter and Quieter

My trailer is on a busy corner in the park and just across the road from the clubhouse so there is lots and lots of both motor and foot traffic. After the end of March when most of the snowbirds go home the world around me becomes quieter and quieter. I don't like this.

We played Rummoli last night (7 of us) and even our game time was quiet. So quiet that a few of the other card players in the room came over and commented on it. It's as though all the fun has gone out of the game because we are winding down our winter and getting ready to face the world back home.

My young neighbors, Anna and Lisa, who are coming down to drive back with me will never know the true nature of this park in high season. It is usually a roiling organism full of enthusiastic seniors busily enjoying their retirement but today it's more like a boring and almost empty neighborhood. I know Anna and Lisa love to shop so they probably won't care how quiet it is in the park. Lisa likes to sleep, too, so she won't mind that half a dozen people aren't knocking on my door in the morning. I think I will, though.

Life at home is so different from here. This is my socializing ground and I have so many really nice and fun people to hang out with here daily. When I'm home I do keep myself busy with whatever interests I have and there is family (mostly working) and friends but it's not the constant clamor of activity that I enjoy in this park. I joke about needing the rest when I go home but I'd really like to live in a place just like this during the summer. Life is too short to rest too often.

In any case, today will find me going to the grocery store for water, doing some Swedish weaving, and then working Bingo tonight. It's not over till it's over.

Overtrained

I was at Publix grocery store the other day and as I was checking out the young male cashier said, "And how was your shopping experience today?".

How was my shopping experience?

Some numbnut vice president of the company has probably forced this poor man to ask that asinine question stupidly thinking that I, the shopper, would be impressed in some way. I couldn't help but reply, "It was an experience I'll never forget".

The cashier, never missing a beat, replied, "I bet it was earth shattering".

I hope the dumb vice president gets demoted. And I hope the cashier gets his job.

Blackmail or Just a Promise

Every time something especially interesting happens whether here in the park or at home, I yelp, "that's a blog!". It really is true that truth is stranger than fiction.

Last week a cute incident happened that I threatened to put in my blog but never got around to doing it but here it is today.

Chris and Candy are 2 ladies who I've just taught how to do Swedish weaving and they've taken to it like ducks to water. Their very first projects were absolutely lovely and, now that they're hooked on the craft, they are busy buying up more monk's cloth to take home with them when they leave Florida this month.

Joann's Fabrics put 40% off coupons in the local newspaper and some of my ladies were thrilled to death to use them for buying monk's cloth. So thrilled, in fact, that they went dumpster diving to find discarded newspapers with those coupons. It's not as bad as it sounds because we apparently have one dumpster with only newspapers in it, thank heavens.

Chris is a little taller than Candy so she got the job of hanging into the dumpster to gather up the newspapers. As a result, her underarms are bruised black and blue. I'm so proud of their dedication!

Another part of the story is that Candy's husband, Tom, broke his leg just recently and has been very short tempered because of it. When people saw Chris and Candy heading to the dumpster with a shovel it was joked that they were going to bury Tom. As far as I know, they only went for coupons.

Saying Goodbyes

It's that time of year again when so many of the people I hang out with or just see daily are packing up and leaving for their real homes. Usually I feel a deep sense of loss as I see the park empty out but this year is a little different for me.

I always have lots of chores and activities to do when I get home myself but this year I have a greatgrandbaby to look forward to. Little no-name will arrive in July. When I arrive back home around April 20th, I'll still have a few months to join in the joyful wait.

Last night we played "31" at the clubhouse expecting few at our table because some had gone home and 2 had gone to the airport to pick up a relative but 2 others joined us and we had a full table again. We have a large circle of friends here who all get along very well and we float between groups (not cliques) with ease and comfort. This is the way it should be and why I love it here so very much.

Each day it will become quieter and emptier in the park but a lot of us will come together again this summer at our park reunion in Ohio. We'll have 4 days to reacquaint, talk about winter 2008/2009, and make plans for winter 2009/2010. Many of us have become as close as family over the past years because we spend so much time together.

I've enjoyed this winter immensely and it's hard to see it end but there are wonderful things back home, too. There's more family and friends and also little no-name. I'm looking forward to it all.

Recognizing a Gift

Most of us have such busy, hectic lives that we fail to recognize the gifts we've been allowed in this life. School time is filled to the brim with classes, studying, flirting, and part-time jobs. It's easy to miss the gift of youth you've been given. Adulthood carries it's own burdens with demanding jobs and wondering how you can afford to raise the babies you bring into the world. Again, it's easy to miss the beauty around you when your mind is too full of worry.

Each day on earth is a gift that you can appreciate or ignore. Is it worth making an extra buck at your job if you miss precious moments with your child? Is it worth fretting about a bad hair day when you have a strong and beautiful young body to live inside? Just open your eyes to what is real and important in your allotted years.

As a senior I feel I wasted too many of my younger years worrying about the negative aspects of my life instead of glorying in the positive. I really do greet the morning sun with a smile these days and marvel at the intricate beauty of nature. My life isn't perfect but I've been teaching myself to put aside that which I can do nothing about and to concentrate on making good what I can.

I can say with certainty that taking the time to draw your family and friends closer together is of the utmost importance. Time spent together is a gift beyond gold and one that you will never regret. When you're on your deathbed you won't regret making more money during your lifetime but you will regret missed opportunities to be with your loved ones.

My first gift today was waking up to the rising sun in my little Florida trailer. A few friends are coming over later this morning and that will be my second gift of the day. Come to think of it, my day will be full of gifts. I'm a rich woman.

Lessons Some CEOs Never Learned

When I was a very little girl a friend and I went into our very first business venture. We thought that selling lemonade would provide us with a lucrative income because we'd seen it done in movies. It made perfect sense to us that there was a lot of foot traffic past our house (it was about 1945 when there were fewer cars on the road) and everyone likes lemonade, right?

Well, we put a few large cardboard boxes together and wrote *LEMONADE 5 cents" on it with our crayons and then persuaded my grandmother to make a big pitcher of lemonade for us. I can't remember what we used for glasses. We sat our little chairs behind the cardboard boxes and sold a few drinks to kindly passersby.

When we'd earned a little bit of money we closed the stand temporarily and ran up to the local variety store to buy a notepad, pencil, and also some candy because those coins were burning a hole in our pockets.

We returned to the lemonade stand but failed to sell any more lemonade that day. We went out of business because we'd spent the money we earned on unnecessary supplies and perks.

I'll bet that the CEOs of these big conglomerates who are begging for public funds never had a lemonade stand in their youth or they would have known not to waste their earnings.

Just a thought.

Rainy Monday Coffee Time

We've been getting so many people to our Monday morning coffee time that I've had to borrow one of the huge percs from the clubhouse. My little 12 cup one needs to be refilled too many times and just isn't convenient anymore. It will do just fine for the smaller group we get before January.

It rained pretty heavily overnight and then just settled into a mild spit for the rest of the morning. I didn't expect many coffee drinkers so I gathered about 6 chairs under my front awning figuring that if more ladies came we could go inside. Well, it wasn't long before about a dozen showed up and inside we went.

Today was our day to vote on the name we'd put on our t-shirts in next year's park parade. We had a suggestion list of 19 names and the one we chose by overwhelming vote was "Dipsy Chicks". The ladies are really getting into the spirit of this and now want us to wear chicken hats. Linda, the lady who made the turd king hats, has a lot of ideas and we'll probably follow the craziest of them. It's all in fun and no need for our children and grandchildren to worry about us!

I had bought something really wild to use as my hat at our crazy hat at the pool day but it was too cool today so I modeled it for the coffee ladies instead. I'll post a picture when I remember to get someone to take it for me.

By the way, some of you know I harrass my local newspaper at home with letters to the editor and one will be published tomorrow (I think). A very nice lady from the newspaper phoned me to let me know but I forget which day she said it would be in. We discussed the weather and while I complained about 75 F here, she said it was 4 celcius at home (about 38 F). Whoever would have thought it years ago that today I'd be lazing in the Florida sun while someone from my local newspaper called to let me know they were publishing my comments. Hmmm! Life is full of surprises.

Well, this is my vegetating night at home. No games for me tonight, just T.V. I need the rest.

Yard Saleing

I'm really having a problem with my sleep pattern. Last night, or should I say this morning, I woke up at 1:30 A.M. and couldn't get back to sleep. It makes me nervous to take Tylenol P.M. too often but I'm taking it again tonight. My days are too full and busy to try to get by on just 3 hours sleep.

Joann and I left for a morning of yard saleing at 7:30 A.M. and hit pay dirt at our first stop. Get ready, Kim, because I got a Mickey Mouse tuxedo for baby boo!! We had a lot of fun, as usual, stalking the various yard sales and we both came home with quite a few goodies. I was very careful to keep my purchases to a minimum but Joann got a bit carried away and now her husband is mad at her. He can't understand why she'd buy 2 golf bags full of clubs when she doesn't play golf. Silly man. I'm sure she has reasonable and profitable plans for them.

Sheila, Agnes, Gail, and Vicky stopped by when we got home and we spent a while sitting on the patio and gabbing. We do it well. Sheila and I went out for dinner (I had a 2 for 1 coupon from Ruby Tuesday) and then a gang of us went over to the clubhouse in the evening to play Rummoli. We had 1 too many people so Sheila and Joann played Rummicubes.

An interesting note: a few people mentioned how noisy we were but they weren't mad....at least I hope they weren't. I'm sure some of them think we're drinking booze at our table but we never do (at games). We're just naturally enjoying each other's company and having fun. Rummoli is not a staid and serious game like Bridge.

We straggled home at our witching hour of 9 P.M. and I immediately came in and took a Tylenol P.M. I have to be up at 7:30 A.M. tomorrow morning because a bunch of us are going out for our regular Sunday breakfast and if I don't get a decent sleep tonight it might make me sick. I'm not sure why my sleep is so badly disturbed but this is the worse patch of insomnia I've had since I got here in the fall.

Wish me a good night.

Old Vs. Young

Our Red Hat Society ladies went out for our monthly lunch today and there was a gift shop in the restaurant. I bought this sign to hang on the side of my trailer.

2009 Turd Toss Kitty Litter Cake

More 2009 Turd Toss Pictures

2009 Turd Toss Pictures

Dog Races and Turd Tosses

I believe old age is our reward for a mispent youth. We finally get to have all the fun we ever wanted without the need to impress the opposite sex.

On Wednesday a busload of us went to the dog races in Tampa. I'd rather bet on the dogs than go to the casino because it costs less money and the dogs are so pretty. Most of us choose our dogs by their names and then bet $2 to show. That's because most of us have no idea how to pick a winning dog. We stay for 10 races so I bet on all my races at the same time. I'm not going to learn anything new about dog racing from the time I get there until I leave so I save myself standing in line 10 times by doing it all at once. I ended up winning $12.60 of the $20 I originally bet so the day was a huge success as far as I was concerned.

After the races we went to a regular stopover where we got ice cream and strawberry concoctions and then bought a few items in their market. I forgot to mention that we started out the day by boarding the bus at 7:45 so we could get to a terrific buffet breakfast by 9:00. Most of our outings seem to revolve strongly around food.

We got back to the park by 6 P.M. and I had to race over to Bingo because I was working it. Bingo was a lot of fun last night because we ladies handling the money refused to take any winnings out to the "porch monkeys". They had to come to us for anything they won. Then they demanded hugs along with their money so we all had a lot of laughs over that. Silly stuff but happy stuff.

Thursday was the annual "Turd Toss". One of our new ladies had made up crowns for the king and queen and she even made one up for Mark (he started the whole thing). His says "Head Turd".

I've mentioned our turd toss before but here is how it works. Everyone takes their lawn chairs and lines either side of "Easy Street". Mark and Char have 2 "potties" (never used) that sit in the middle of the road. Each contestant is handed a turd (it used to be wet noodles inside a piece of pantihose but this year they were dry) and has to stand behind a predesignated line. They then attempt to toss the turd into the potty. The one who gets the most turds in the pot wins the crown. They will be celebrities in the park parade next year.

Believe it or not, I sunk the first turd for the ladies but lost out to my good friend, Sheila, who tossed in 4 out of 5. She is our new Queen Turd. Dick, one of our new park members, claimed Turd King. They were ceremoniously photographed sitting on the potties. The official turnout for our Turd Toss Day was about 100 people. Seniors do have a lot of time on their hands, don't they.

Linda, Chris, and Candy presented our Head Turd, Mark, with a kitty litter cake at the end of the contest. It's all made from food materials but set in a kitty litter pan. The kitty turds are melted tootsie rolls. He looked a little dubious when he saw it but it really was delicious.

In the evening we had our bi-monthly hamburger supper at the clubhouse and it was followed by entertainment provided by a gentleman who played the guitar and sang.

Lovely day!