Happy May Day!

Senior Night celebration at the play last night, which included our very own senior Ansley. Thanks to Joy for the photo of my happy young'uns.

Graduation yesterday afternoon ahead of the play and over the mountain for Haley, who earned her Education Specialist degree.




Dad and I had lots of beaming smiles on our faces yesterday.

Life is definitely very good...especially for those who work for it.

Carry on...and keep smiling!

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Beauty and the Beast

Pardon me while I brag a little. Last night was the first of three performances of this famous Disney musical by our high school drama and ensemble students.

Sets, costumes, lighting, singing, dancing, and acting were all superb...especially since this is the first year we have had a drama department. And, we have a state-of-the-art brand spanking new Fine Arts Center!

Am I excited about this? You bet. This special senior is in the play, and did a fab job playing a villager and a napkin! Not that I am a bit prejudiced...



Ansley had so much fun performing, and gets to do it all over again tonight and tomorrow afternoon. She really has talent!

I'd like a cup or two of that energy, please.

This senior year is gonna fly by, baby girl. Enjoy it all! We love ya to the moon and back.

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9/11 Memorial

Despite the long overnight bus ride, the three tour buses arrived at the 9/11 Memorial pretty much on time for our ticketed entry.  We only had a few minutes to view the outside fountains and plaques before we entered the museum:

This is the view on the Right of two rescued beams:

The students were very respectful while touring through all the exhibits.  Since some of them are 9th graders, they were babies when this tragic event occurred back in 2001:

These are the very stairs used, or attempted to use, by so many in trying to escape the carnage:

Segment of radio and television antennae, North Tower:

Memorable symbol of the brave firefighters who died trying to save those trapped in the carnage:

View of our group gathering near the Survivors Tree on the grounds outside after touring the Museum:

This museum is a must see if you are ever in New York.  We must never forget this attack that killed almost 3,000 people, and severely affected too many families...and touched the hearts of people around the world.

God Bless America!

NYC and back!

Oh man, what a trip this was!

We left Mayberry on time Wednesday at 5, drove to our dinner destination in Asheville, and then the NOT fun began.  Bus #3 had a problem, so we sat until a replacement could be brought up from Atlanta, to be re-loaded with kids/bags, and off we go at 3a!  Of course this through off the whole Thursday schedule...but we adjusted.

Most of my photos are still in the camera, but here is one with my family all gussied up to go see Wicked...which was wicked good:

And another of us on the Hudson River boat tour, wearing our Forced Family Fun tee shirts:

We had two teens, mentioning NO names, who refused to (briefly) don the shirt for one stinking photo, till the baby mama said that if baby girl refused, she would have to wear the shirt ALL.DAY.LONG.  They know who doles out the dollars when they wanna buy something!  Ha.

There were no breakdowns heading south, but it was still a loooong trip.  Sleeping sitting up is practically impossible for me, but worth the inconvenience to share this wonderful experience with my gals.  I was in bed at 7:30, which is totally foreign to this body, but very welcome last night.

I will post more photos later.  Laundry comes first.  Bugger.

NY was great, but there's no place like HOME!

New York state of mind!

Internet Image

This is one of the most recognized images in the world, and one I will be seeing...soon!

This afternoon, three tour buses will depart Mayberry carrying the high school band and chorus for three fun-filled days in the Big Apple.  I am one of the 42 chaperones onboard.  Call me crazy, but I'm going!  All.Night.Long.  On a bus...with lots of teenagers.

Also going are Haley, Amy, and Faith, along with Ansley, Macey and lil Haley.  How could I let these gals go without me?!  No way.

The kids won't be performing anywhere while we are there, unlike the last band bus trip that MM and I took when Haley was in high school.  They will, instead, be participating in some workshops to sharpen their various skills.  Chaperones will be on their own in Times Square during the workshops...yay to that!

While in the "city that never sleeps," we will visit the 9/11 Memorial, enjoy a Radio City Music Stage Door Tour, visit Lincoln Center, China Town/Little Italy, take a boat tour, take a driving tour, AND see a Broadway play!  And walk our toes off!

I am hoping my BlogPress app will work (I deleted it/re-loaded/tested it last night and it worked); otherwise, I will only be posting via FB until we return home (tired) on Sunday.

All prayers for safe travel, sanity, and sore feet will be greatly appreciated!  And I also ask that all students behave, and not sneak out of the hotel, and get into trouble.  Amen.  TYVM.

Later, y'all!

Lavender Tea party

Marcie, Joy, Cathy, and me at the Lavender Tea party Saturday.

Testing the blogger phone app. Again.


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Prom and party

Haley invited me to go over to the resort for prom photos after I had attended an afternoon tea, so I jumped at the chance to see Ansley and some of her friends all gussied up.  Here is the prom beauty in her gorgeous gown, with lucky Grammie!  Sniff, sniff...this is her final HS prom.  I don't know how this child got so OLD!

She isn't old, but Cathy and I gave Joy a surprise birthday party recently to mark a milestone in her life...

She was a tad surprised when little Miss Eva walked into my house, singing that famous birthday song!  We got her good!!!  Sorry about that open mouth shot, Joy.  Stuff happens.

May all our surprises be this much fun...complete with good BBQ and cake.  Yeah baby!

So today is wash day; tomorrow is pack day...for me.  Only.  MM isn't going.  He will be left at home alone...with two kitties.

I don't think there will be any parties going on while I'm away, unless MM throws a little catnip around..

Ha.

Check back tomorrow for details.

Life is good, y'all!

BEEware of dandelions!

Image credit:  free Internet stock

I just learned today that dandelions provide early food for bees.  I never even thought about bees when I pulled two from near my front door the other day.  I am sooo sorry, guys.  I won’t destroy any more.  Spread that wonderful pollen, and create your delicious honey that we love.


So now we have been home (yay!) for just over a week, and had a few visiting family members here and a couple of birthday parties to celebrate.  More on those later.

Lynne, moi, Macey, Haley, Ansley, and Beth had a great time touring beautiful Gibbs Gardens last Tuesday.  This place is definitely on the list for a return visit.

Company is now gone, MM is back to fixing equipment of all sorts, and clearing a field for some friends.  And I now need to get back to my Moho emptying and cleaning duties.  Blah…that’s no fun, but its gotta get done, and I’m the woman for the job.  Clearing fields…men’s work.  Check.

Have yourselves a dandy day, and do your part to take care of our honey bee population!

Almost home!

Machines, as with the body, are only as strong as its weakest link. A mere fuse literally stopped us last night, fortunately as we were exiting the interstate.

Long story short, MM was able to diagnose and fix the problem, although it was a bugger to find.

By then it was very late, so since it was not a busy ramp and we were well out of the way of anyone, we crawled in bed and slept.

We are now going through Atlanta, and seeing some crazy driving! Home soon.

I'm grateful that MM is an excellent driver, but I'm still gonna be spotting for him!

Have yourselves a ginger peachy day. Ours will be sweet in about two hours!


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Friday stuff

Imagine Missy's exposed tummy, while reclining in my chair...

BlogPress fails to post one measly photo AGAIN! Urrrggghhh

Photo deleted. Second try:

Ha...y'all can see how much help Missy is being today. "Leave a message" seems to be her attitude, as usual.

My guy got all the patio painting done yesterday. Yaaaay! We are cleaning, washing, and stowing today, and plan to depart N in the morning. Hip, hip hooray to that!

My weather app shows me snow is expected in Mayberry Thursday. It won't last, if it happens at all. Oh well...

OK, break is over. Laundry is calling me. Back to the fun.

Happy Friday, y'all!

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Bee happy!

Look who we had dinner with last night...Bee and Kyle!  He is such a cutie...and oh so funny.  We laughed and laughed...and talked and talked.  And did manage to eat another fine dinner.  See y'all next winter.

MM gets a break on the rain this morning...we think.  He has a final (we hope) coat to put on the area where we had the moho parked, and just a small spot to top off here where are now parked.  Keep your fingers crossed.  He needs the patios to dry off, slap down the paint, then have four hours for the paint to dry before the 2p rain arrives.

I have coffee with some local ladies here in the park, and tonight we do a farewell dinner with Johnnie and Susan and the gang.

Depending on this paint project, we will head nawth either Friday or Saturday...if all goes well.  We plan; God laughs.

Logan is doing OK.  Mighty sore, of course, but grateful for his soreness.  He was mighty lucky.

Have yourselves a ginger peachy day.  We sure will!

Birthday gal!

Our firstborn Haley is having a birthday today, and we hope it is less exciting than yesterday!

Logan was pressure washing a building roof, and proceeded to mis-step and fall off!  A bush broke the painful fall, and hopefully helped matters.  Except for a few thorns.

He was mighty lucky--he only broke off the "wings" of four of his lumbar vertebrae.  He was given two pain pills and sent home.  I just now spoke with Haley; he is sore but has been up walking a bit this morning already.  She ordered him back to bed while she goes to get a script for the pain.  He is sore in places he didn't know he had, but a mighty lucky guy.  We prefer sore over worse scenarios.

So we are hoping Haley's birthday today will be a little less exciting than yesterday's experiences, bless Logan's heart.

We are all thankful Logan's guardian angel was watching over him, and we are grateful for all the prayers on their behalf.  He's gonna be down for awhile...slightly mobile but unable to work.  I see a lot of TV watching in his immediate future, interspersed with lots of boredom!  Poor baby.  Suck it up, buttercup.  You are alive...and able to walk...and able to get back to normal.

Life is precious, and VERY good, y'all.

Happy Birthday, Haley.  We love you bunches!!!

Monday stuff

So, Saturday morning was rain free and Moho Man decided we needed to close up and move to the other lot.

We moved, set up, then he got busy playing with the concrete slurry to finish up where we had been parked.

We enjoyed Easter service on Sunday, then dinner with Johnnie, Susan, and their various family members.

Now MM is back at work rolling on the first coat of concrete paint (remember this guy hates painting?) before rain arrives this afternoon.

Got to git-er done before the weekend. We leave then!

Life is good...when the rain holds off!

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Airplane tour

A friend of ours who flies for an on-demand airline texted MM to say that he would be at PBI Thursday night, and did we want a tour of a Global 6000 aircraft after the passengers departed.  Is the Pope still Catholic?  Of course we would love that!

MM got a run down of all the cockpit bells and whistles...

This is the aft view from the galley...

 Galley, looking toward the cockpit...

 MM enjoying the cushy seat...

 If one aircraft is good, two are even better!

So this is how the other half travels!  Beautiful and comfy...well equipped aircraft.  It would certainly be nice to travel this way, but no way could we afford such luxury.  We will stay happy with our little, relatively slow, aircraft!

Honey, would you like peanuts or pretzels?

It was great seeing our friend, and visiting with him and some of the crew later at the hotel.  They are all off duty today, and heading to their homes.

And us?  MM is washing the moho today (after a good rain), while I do inside duty.

Life is back to normal, complete with napping assistants nearby.

Have a thoughtful, thankful Good Friday, y'all!

Hello, Spring!

MM is still working on the two patios, bless his heart (knees and back!).

Yesterday, he rolled paint while I dabbed at the edges until we ran out of tan paint.

He applied a coat of the terra cotta paint to the "ugly" side, while I drove about an hour away to pick up more of the Sandstone Tan paint.

We will be back at it today, while it is still cool weather.

News flash:  it snowed in Mayberry Sunday night.  Of course it didn't stick, but still.  Brrr...

We like warm, but we definitely will be heading nawth pretty soon, warm weather or not.

Tonight is Taco Tuesday Trivia.  What's happening in your world?

My hard working man!

MM is re-surfacing our patio because some idiot past owner thought it would be cute to have dimples in the concrete.  WRONG.  Dimples hold water, which creates mildew that is sooo NOT attractive.

The light (now dry) area is what he did yesterday.  He is applying a thin coat of colored concrete (a concrete slurry) that is filling in those dimples and cracks.  The dark (wet) areas are today's work.  And tomorrow, he will continue on out a bit farther, as long as his knees and back hold out!

This is his practice area.  We have another lot here in the park that is rented out; said renters will be leaving this coming week, and he will then go work over there...where he has already pressure washed:

Not that it looks clean.

After the concrete is all cured, MM will apply a special paint to cover everything in a light brown color.

Then we will move the moho so that he can paint this spot...the same light brown color.

Got all that?

Did I also mention that MM HATES to paint?  Yes, he does.

At least this is a different kind of painting...not like he would have to be careful painting around windows and doors type of painting.  This is a slap it on kind of painting.  Check.  He can do this.

I will be the fetcher and water girl and push the roller helper in both projects.

We are a team...and we'll git-er-done.  And then go back to Mayberry.

Life is busy in windy paradise, y'all!

Voting rationale

Amy posted this on FB:

"Heading to vote and my son told us to vote for Trump so they put salt back in schools!!!"

That is profound reasoning by a 9 y/o. That is sorta the age some of the candidates are acting these days.

I just want this political hooha to be OVER and out.




I dislike politics, and no, I won't get into a political discussion here. Poke fun? Yeah. We might as well laugh at them, right?! Thanks for the giggles, Alex.

Life is good here in sunny paradise, y'all! Smiles...

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Aching muscles

What is that, you ask?

It is a new yoga mat, used yesterday while I stretched and challenged this old body for an hour and a half. Seriously.

Said body is rebelling today.

I will go back for another lesson tomorrow, which is unfortunately the last session here at the park. Bugger.

Now I do stretches every single morning, but not for that duration. Lesson learned and now imprinted in my poor muscles, letting me know I need to continue these challenges. Walking and bike riding certainly use muscles, and I do both...but yoga works on different muscles and uses more techniques that I need to be working on...a lot.

Meanwhile, KC needs me to cuddle with him for just a little while longer on the couch this morning, right?!

Have yourselves a wonderful Wednesday. I will.......eventually.


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Saturday snuggles

Brrr...it's 48 outside...and the heat is on. Now I know this is far better than the weather back in Mayberry, but we are in the land of palm trees!

I'm grateful for a few snuggles here on the couch by my girl.

It is a perfect morning for MM to do a little work outside before we meet Bob and Lynne for lunch. They are only passing through.

Tonight, MM and I are going to a musical show, a James Taylor/Carole King tribute. Oh boy, oh boy!

It's gonna be a great day, and that's a mighty fine thing.

Life is good here in paradise, y'all!


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Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my handsome boyfriend!

To him, it is just another day...but to all our family, it is a day to celebrate yet another year that we get to enjoy his sense of humor, his generosity, his annoyance (yes, he can be!), his fixing stuff, his wisdom, his love, and his hugs. He's my/our rock here on earth.

Keep on keeping on, Moho Man. We wanna keep you around a whole lot longer. We are confident the next 365 days will be a blast.

Love and hugs from all your Clan!

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Oh what a day!

Fifteen years ago:




And now, last week:



What an adventure their lives have been...and will for sure continue to be.

Dad and I are so blessed to have these critters in our crazy clan! They keep us smiling, entertained, confused, loved, and laughing.

Carry on.

We are along for the ride, and love y'all to the moon and beyond!

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Hello from WPB!

Alas, we are back at the Moho, with two happy kitties under foot. Literally. They missed us.

There is no turn down service; no waiter in the Main Dining Room; and certainly no chef to be found in this kitchen...unless I assume the position. And the only water we see outside are rain puddles from last night's thunder bumpers. We miss being on the ship. Sigh.

Reality has hit, although I still get to avoid cooking one more night, since Tuesday means Team Awesome and trivia...with dinner.



Speaking of awesome, we sure enjoyed the week of cruising with these two friends. We miss them already.

Life is soggy, but good!

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Farewell, San Juan!

Isn't the Main Dining Room lovely? All six of us liked this ship. Our servers were fantastic, taking excellent care of us. Any day on a cruise ship is a good one, right?

So, we six had breakfast together in the Windjammer, got goodbye hugs and kisses...then went to our respective cabins to pick up our bags and head out to the real world.

We were not impressed with the long lines to exit the cruise terminal. They had too few agents on duty, in our humble opinion. Not that they consulted us.

Now we are sitting at the airport awaiting our 1:30 flight to take us back to two kitties, happy we are not traveling to snow clad Mayberry! Brrr...

Forecast for Sunday: laundry!

Life is good, y'all!



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Now Grenada

The St Lucia post would post yesterday, so you get two today.

We are just off the ship and found a sports bar that will give out the password for the price of a beer. That works!

The sun is smiling on us, so we will enjoy the scenery and the lovely smell of spices in the air. This is a spice growing island, and I thank them for their many products. I wish I could enclose these smells, but imagine cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg........nice.

Tomorrow is our sea day en route back to San Juan. All good things must end, but the good life will continue.

WYWH!


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Wet St Lucia!

It has rained most all day, except for this brief spell:




We gals just enjoyed playing charades. Trivia later. Having fun!

Tomorrow we are in St. George, Grenada tomorrow. 86 here and snow on the ground in Mayberry!

WYWH! The sun is now popping out again...for a few minutes.

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Hello from St. Croix

Listening to island music as we shop along the pier. Having fun with Jerry and Clem, and Joan. MM and Dick are off to find Capt. Morgan! Arrrgh, matey.

Life is lively and good!

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Our yacht is waiting...

Hello, sunny St. Thomas! It is 81 and breezy here on our balcony. We are enjoying the water traffic as we finish our coffee.

Our travel companions were taking a ferry to the national park early, but we opted to have a lazy morning. We will go ashore shortly for a walkabout in this lovely port. We have been here many times, but still enjoy coming here.




Our stateroom here on Adventure of the Seas is much like all others. Our balcony is a bit different. The sides are solid metal for strength, and the part below the railing is solid metal as well, so there is only visibility above the railing. The enclosure also limits the breeze, but it is still nice out for us to enjoy the colorful scenery.

The promenade deck is truly lovely. I will take photos and post them, of course. There are a lot of open spaces on this ship, with loads of interesting decorations everywhere.

Incoming seaplane! MM is loving all this floating and flying traffic.

It is elegant night tonight. On super bowl Sunday. What were they thinking?!

Who's gonna win? Do you care?

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Juice bar morning

Hello from sunny San Juan!

We dropped our stuff off at the hotel and walked the few short down to the beach, and the gray clouds opened up, dashing our plans to find a local diner for local food.

The hotel restaurant was good but pricey, so our goal this morning was to find that local diner.

We ran upon this juice bar first, so here we sit waiting on an omelette and a stack of banana pancakes. MM is enjoying their free wifi...and ignoring the camera. This is quite an eclectic establishment.

Check out time is 11:00, so we will get a cab to the port and get onboard when able.

Now it is time to chow down on these:



Local coffee will sure get our day kick started!

Life is good...ciao, y'all! Adventure of the Seas is next.

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Rolling...

Good morning from the train that takes us to the bus, that takes us to the airport.

Yes, another adventure begins today as MM and I fly to Puerto Rico. Tomorrow, we board a ship that takes us to many interesting ports...all a saint something or other in name.

The weather in WPB is cooling down considerably, so it is a good week to be away. Heck, any week on a cruise is good, right?

Two kitties will miss us. They didn't like seeing the suitcases appear. They will be well loved while we are away.

Life is good, y'all...one cruise at a time.


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