One more sleep…

 

It’s a beautifully perfect day to finish up the stowing and stuff in order to depart tomorrow.  Tomorrow!

We both got lotsa chores done yesterday and rewarded ourselves with meeting the Empress for an early dinner.  She is looking and feeling great.  We’re gonna miss her!

And tonight we will sup with Team Awesome and say farewell to all of them.  Bugger.  Did I tell y’all that we placed second last week, losing by one measly point?  Not that we care…much.

Ole Man Winter isn’t entirely gone from Mayberry, but I will manage to stay warm and just enjoy being HOME.  There are soccer games to attend, end of school doings, family and friends to see…yep, home sounds mighty fine.

This is what the patio will look like by dinner time:

Woohoo!

Life is good (but busy), y’all!

Kiddo selfie!

 

Aww, what a nice birthday celebration for Queenie Haley last night.  Amy cooked dinner for everyone.  She is such a good sister.  Thanks for the group selfie. Smooches to all…real ones on Thursday!

So today is stowing and cleaning day, and whatever else we need to do in preparation for Wednesday departure.  Yes, northbound on Wednesday for sure…with lots to get done between now and then, but we are in a git-er-done mode.  Well, all except for our two furry assistants, despite the fact that we have promised them outside freedom as soon as we get home!  They give us that “leave a message” look.  Cattitude—they haz it!

OK, break is over.  Back to work.

Life is good, y’all!

Birthday Queen!

Look who is having a birthday…Haley!

You’ve come a long way, our first born…wife, mother, teacher, daughter, friend.

You are still a keeper and a cutie!

Enjoy your birthday season.  See you soon to continue the celebration.

Love you bunches,

Mom and Dad

TBT–Irish heritage

MM has mostly Irish DNA in his family tree, through both parents.  This is his grandfather Edward on his Mom’s Haley side:

And Grandma Alice, wife of Edward:

Alice died of pneumonia quite young, leaving Edward alone to raise these gals (mother Margaret is on R) and their older brother, Arthur:

Three other Haley children in the family (two boys, one girl) also died very young. 

Some strong DNA was passed down from all these folks, well, except for Arthur and Catherine (long braid).  They never had children; only Margaret and Leone continued the Haley line, producing a total of seven children. 

Sadly, there is no one left of the older generations to help identify a lot of photos that I have, so they shall remain anonymous in all likelihood. 

Keep those memories going, Peaches.  History needs preserving.

Happy Thursday, y’all!

My girls!

 

Grumps and I missed seeing our girl Macey perform last night at her jazz band concert.  The kids who comprised this special band got to work with a professional jazz quartet all afternoon prior to the performance.  This was an extra curricular activity that required these kids to arrive at the high school at 7a for practice each morning leading up to this performance (did I mention that Macey is still in middle school?!).  Yep, and she is already captain of the percussion section.  That’s our Macey, poor thang!

Haley took Ansley over to beautiful Berry College last weekend for a college day presentation.  Hard to believe our first grandchild is already looking at colleges!  Spring break will be consumed with looking at even more colleges in a couple of weeks.  Ansley plays clarinet in the HS band; both girls are in chorus…and keep their parents mighty busy with various activities.

Speaking of Berry College, check out the eagles and eaglets on their webcam:  http://georgiawildlife.com/berryeaglecam

They are fascinating to watch!

Life is good, y’all!

Cousins and other kin…

 

Lil Haley had a role in a local play, so most all the family from both sides showed up for the final performance yesterday.  Sniff, sniff…G & G were missing, and so was Alex, home with the flu his lil bro passed on to him.  Thanks for sharing, bro!  Cute kids, BTW.

We have thoroughly enjoyed having Bob and Lynne here.  We’ve shared cooking, gone out to eat, grilled, played marbles, played Rummikub, walked the park, had lunch with Jimmy and Cathy…and the fun isn’t over.  Yet.

Today, Lynne and I plan to do a little girlie shopping.  The guys can entertain themselves.  Tonight, we are meeting Jose and Sarah for dinner.  Jose worked for the guys for many, many years when we were in the gravel business here, and we love getting together with them and any of their young’uns when we can.

I talked with the Empress last night, and she is doing very well.  Of course!

Staying connected with family and friends rates high on our important list.  We still have a few more folks to see before we head north—next week!  Yikes, we are running out of time.

Life is as good as you make it folks.  Surround yourself with happy people.  We sure do!

Oh, happy Spring!

And happy Bee news. Cat's text this morning said that Bee is doing great, and the meds have pain under control. She has the best nurse ever (I agree!). She should be able to go home after the PA sees her this morning.

That will be terrific news!

Bob and Lynne arrived at the park yesterday, hankering for a taste of Cuban food, so we had a yummy dinner at Havana's last night.

Life is good...and a tad warm...here in paradise.

Have you found Spring yet?

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Bee update!

Text from Cat:

Just saw the doc. Went great! He said she's going to love it.
She will be in PACU for at least another 1 ½ hours.

Woohoo!!! So good to hear this!

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Bee in surgery

I have been texting with Cat, and just learned that Bee's surgery began at 10, so she doesn't expect to hear anything until maybe 4:30. Cat has a book to keep her occupied, and the clock to watch...time slowly pass.

Our family always believes no news is good news!

Later gator...


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TBT–future pilot, plus…

Brian and sweet lab Ginger asleep en route in the air from GA to FL a looong time ago.

And now, he is a pelote, pylot, pileit…um, he can fly a plane, and so can Jason!  We are mighty proud of our flyboys:

I told them I would yield my co-pilot seat any time they want to fly with dad, something I would only do for another pilot.  Oh, the places they will go!

So today we need to say some prayers for Empress Bee and her surgical team.  She had to be at the hospital this morning at 5:30, and she even had the forethought to text me at 5a Cat’s phone number (forgetting that I already had it).  It is a 7 hour procedure, so I will post when I have an update, here and on FB.

Have yourself a ginger peachy Thursday, y’all!

Awesome friends

I found on Facebook a high school classmate of mine, and we finally met for lunch Monday.  She has not attended any of the class reunions, so we haven’t seen each other since graduation…many years ago.  We had a LOT of catching up to do.  And will definitely get together next winter when MM and I come back down here.

Team Awesome did well last night at Trivia, and reigned most of the evening up until the very last question.  Bugger.  We had lots of fun and laughs…placing second…winning a $10 gift card for the team.

MM took the selfie, but eased himself out of the photo, and I see that Susan is missing.  Oops…

We celebrated in style, complete with green beer.  Everyone enjoyed being Irish for the day.

Hello, Wednesday.  We are in paradise, so it will undoubtedly be another ginger peachy day.  Life is definitely good, y’all!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

MM and I had dinner with the Empress last night and did exchange lotsa hugs.  This is a busy week for her.

When we got back to the moho, our neighbors beckoned for us to come over and join them.  We had a great time, despite the pauses for translation.  Oh, Haley called while we were there, so I put the phone on speaker and neighbor France had a short conversation with Haley.  She was most complimentary of Haley’s French!  She said that Haley spoke “proper Parisian French.”  She’d better—we paid good money for her to learn that stuff!

Team Awesome will be going strong tonight…as usual…powered by a wee bit of beer.  It’s the least we can do to honor St. Pat.

Wear your green today so that you won’t get pinched.

Cheers!

Oh, the learning curve!

Maintenance Man discovered the Prius would not crank Saturday. What the heck! Nothing was left on. Hmmm...it was only the 12 volt battery, and he hooked up an auxiliary charger to juice it up while he checked out the newly received car manual.

Whoa...that smart key needs to be 20' away from the vehicle, he learned, otherwise it is constantly transmitting back and forth to the car, draining the inside battery. Yessiree, it sure did. Our key rack is by the front door, about 3' away from the car. We moved that key far away from the door.

MM is loving figuring out what all the car will do...and not do. Boys and toys!

We are having lunch today with a high school classmate of mine that I haven't seen since graduation a loong time ago. We have a lot of catching up to do! More later.

Life is good in paradise, but KC is sure needing to get home and get outside to work off some of his winter fluff, bless his heart!

Happy Monday, y'all!

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Brunch at Nick's

The toad had an airbag recall, so we picked it up this morning and are enjoying brunch at Nick's, without the Empress. Sorry, we didn't know we were gonna wind up here.


Since it is brunch, I am having a Greek omelette, and it is good.

MM has to find an auto parts store;
I am going to get a haircut. Having two vehicles is mighty convenient!

Boys 2; girls 1 at marbles last night. The crockpot chicken taco chili was a big hit. Max and Kathy hit the road northbound this morning, so we have to find new game players...that speak English!

That is our Friday in paradise. Oh, we do get to see the Empress tonight. That will certainly top off our day, y'all!

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TBT–Smiley faces

 

I think I was about 4 in this photo.  That “cow lick” never went away:

Haley at 4 (Brian was 2):

And Amy at 4 (I think):

It would have been helpful to have these photos accurately date labeled.  The actual photos are in Mayberry.  I am in WPB.  Bugger.  Fortunately, Brian now wears shirts that fit him better than this one did.  And Haley will let me know if my age guesses are wrong.  Regardless, MM and I made cute kids.  And we still like them!

Keep on smiling, y’all!

Team (and boy) Awesome!

After Will’s soccer game last Saturday, Aunt Haley offered to take him to get a donut and asked him if he wanted to go to a certain bakery/eatery place for his treat.

He said no, that he would rather go to Ingles…….because they have a better selection!  Smart boy.  He is always thinking and observing.  And they took home donuts for everyone.  He shares.

Team Awesome lived up to its name last night, taking first place!   We won a $20 gift card, so it will be used next week for the team.  Do you know what is the LEAST printed monetary bill (other than the $2 bill)?  A $50 bill.  We missed that one, but only by one zero.  MM and I were the only ones at the table who knew in which sport could be found the word peleton.  This knowledge redeemed us, since we majorly suck on movie and TV stuff!  It was all fun, and the beer was cold.  My Gorgonzola salad needed more of the main ingredient, and I’m not talking about the green part!

I did good with walking yesterday and got an “award” for hitting 5K steps.  We have rain now, so it may mess me up today.  Bugger.

Live, laugh, love………and walk, y’all!

Cowboy Stew

Cowboy Stew

6-8 servings

2 lbs ground beef
1/4 lb bacon
L can pork and beans, undrained
L onion, chopped
catsup
brown sugar

Cook bacon in large skillet; remove and place on paper towels to drain off fat.  Sauté onions in bacon fat, then drain onions.  Brown beef in bacon fat, then drain off all the fat.

Add bacon and onions to the browned meat, adding some catsup and brown sugar to taste.  Can also add a small can of tomatoes, barbecue sauce, tomato sauce...whatever consistency/taste that pleases your cowboy!

~~

Well, the stew I mentioned yesterday really doesn’t have a recipe, so I had to think about the how-to when asked for it.

When I made the potato soup Saturday, I went ahead and cooked extra bacon and onions for another dish, not knowing what I was going to make; therefore, last night’s ground beef didn’t get browned in the bacon fat.  It wasn’t as good as usual, so don’t miss that step.  Max and Kathy liked it (and wanted the recipe), so here it is.

Bon appetit, y’all!  Giddy up…

Finger update and other stuff

Well, my hard headed BF listened to me and went to the clinic yesterday, after I pointed out that the back of his hand above the hurty finger was a lovely shade of RED.

He is on antibiotic pills and a cream, so hopefully, this will get cleared up soon.

It might be a good idea for MM and Missy to go sit outside the next time I vacuum.  That will save us a whole bunch of money!

Our silly wee boys loved their recent “Whoville” hairdo day, and I thank Amy for sharing this with me.  I miss those bundles of energy!

Grumps says for them to enjoy that hair while they have it!

Max and Kathy are coming over to play marbles on this sunny day.

Have yourselves a ginger peachy Sunday.  I’m making cowboy stew for dinner…ground beef, tomato sauce, bacon, onions, pork and beans.  I hope they like it!

Togetherness

I only had about 3 seconds to grab my phone and snap proof that these two got cozy on my desk to share bird TV.  If only they had stayed there.  KC promptly moved to a different bird station, but Missy stayed…until I fired up the vacuum.  MM’s desk is immediately to the R of this view, with the windshield right behind him.  These locations are important points to explain the next event.

The noise drove Missy to a flight to the safety of her windshield bed behind the front curtain, via MM’s lap.

Being the good daddy he is, MM tried to grab Missy to comfort her.  She bit his middle R finger deeply, left a few scratches, and quickly hid in her concealed bed.  And MM’s finger is now swollen and hurty.  Of course he didn’t go clean out the wound when it happened.  It bled, so he thought that was gonna get the germs out.  Silly man.

He couldn’t even shuffle the cards when we played marbles yesterday afternoon with Ray, Lois and another couple (they came over here to the park).  Guys 2: Girls 1.  We need a rematch!
But MM got 48 miles per gallon on the way home in the “new” Prius, so he was pleased with that.  Yes, at 6’4” he fits very well inside.  Bee, I will be driving it back to Mayberry while he hauls our toad behind the Moho.  The Prius, unfortunately, can’t be towed four-wheels down.  We do have some future travel plans, using the Prius.

It is raining here, which is pretty much predicted for all day (do I go use the *boring* treadmill, or walk and ppl watch at the mall or Sam’s to get my steps done?).  We have tickets at the rec hall for a cowboy cookout tonight (chicken/ribs), so I’m thinking of making some potato soup for lunch.  Yeah, that sounds good.

Missy is snuggling and watching TV with MM, so I think all is forgiven.  He can still handle the two remotes, even with his hurty finger, so he’s a happy guy.  I will take him some warm, Epsom salts water to soak his finger in while they laze abed.  He needs all fingers working.

Life is never dull here in Paradise, y’all!

Look at this!

We seem to be the owner of this '06 Prius! Low mileage, back-up camera, smart key, runs well. MM is excited.

Off we go.

Zoom, zoom.

Life is good, y'all!


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TBT–my guys!

 

This is my BF when he was about 3 years old, with his father seen in the background by the front tire.  I’m sure MM was there to help Don.

Below is son Brian, MM’s very own helper…also at the age of about 3:

That ‘74 Datsun is still around, parked up at the shop.  More importantly, both boys are still around…only a whole lot taller.

I love my boys!  And I love looking at these old photos.  We’ve had lots of miles and smiles since these photos were taken.  God willing, the journey will continue for a long, long time.

Live.  Love.  Laugh…often!  We do.

Windy Wednesday

 

March has arrived and is blowing the palm fronds all around us…and leaves off the oak tree behind us.  MM fires up his handy dandy leaf blower and does his almost daily cleaning of the patio.  That is a “blue” job, but he also is good about hanging out the towels to dry after I have run the washer.  We are enjoying the sunshine for sure.

Yesterday, I tackled my “pink” job of balancing the funds and paying the bills, plus a few other boring chores.  I say this because it cut into my fitness time and I didn’t make my (current) daily step goal of 3K.  Yes, I have joined the Fitbit gang, not to keep up with anyone, but to challenge myself to keep moving…and to use different sets of muscles, and to see my sleep patterns.

This morning there was a big fat zero on steps taken, even after being awake and moving around for awhile—it was time to recharge the battery for the first time.  I am obviously still learning how this thing works.  So I charged the battery and took the opportunity to change from the black band to the lime green band (not a color I wear), hence the inspiration to post the photo of the little green frog above.

I seek a kaleidoscope of color in my world.  Doesn’t everyone?  Who needs boring?!  Not me.

OK…I’ve been sitting too long.  It’s time to get moving.

Bike or walk?  Hmmm…

What are YOU doing today?  Get moving, y’all!

J is for John!

Look who is back in Florida--Sharon and Allen!

We just had breakfast with these special friends. They head back to Mayberry and cold weather on Sunday.

The sun is shining. Birds are chirping, and my mouth is doing fine.

Life is good, y'all! WYWH!!!

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