Gertie the newscaster: Not...

So, I come into the living room tonight and Mom's watching the news. She informs me that Betty White died? What?? How'd she die? Mom's reply was 'I don't know but she died.' So, I get on the internet, all types of false deaths for the poor woman abound but none from today. So, I get suspicious....

I sit down and watch the news for a moment. Across the bottom of the screen is a message that Betty White was voted the entertainer of the year. Now, the woman has just been awarded the most prestigious award to an entertainer and Mom misread that as she died.

Poor woman (not sure if I'm talking about Betty White or Mom here....).

This is the FUNNIEST thing I've ever seen on the internet

JB is funny but not like this video

This was on Peggy's facebook - I seriously laughed out loud at this. Not just a 'lol' but, for those who know me, it was a BIG LOL. Too funny. You must watch it more than once to really see the whole thing as you'll be laughing through it the first time:
Click this link: Patty cake with cats

Gertie-ism #2004

So, by being the loyal followers of my blog that I know you are, we all know that Gertie is on oxygen when she's in bed or in her chair in the livingroom (this covers her about, oh, 20 hours a day...). Anyway, I heard her rustling around at 4 am yesterday morning so got up to see what she was up to. She wanted to know if the restaurant was open, having cycled back to getting up early, going back to bed after breakfast #1, getting up 3 hours later and having breakfast #2, going back to bed...etc, etc.

Anyway, I'm not too pleased with the 4am wake up call again although the truth is that I'm up then anyway. Just an early riser. But, I like having time alone or with John before I'm on call for the day.

So, this particular morning, I said she could come down and have coffee but I wasn't happy about it. As mom and I are drinking our morning java, Sharyn wanders downstairs and she wasn't too happy about the early hour coffee call either. We all drank our coffee and mom got up to go back to bed. I told her I'd be up in a minute to put her oxygen on for her. She stopped in her walker, turned around, peered at me and said:

Now, I know that the oxygen goes in my nose and not around my neck...

We laughed pretty good at that one, especially since she doesn't always know it goes in her nose and I never said a word (honest...) about wringing her little neck. My favorite non-nose oxygen related sight was when I came into the livingroom one day and the poor dear had the nosepiece up on her nose like it was eyeglasses. OMG - I dropped and rolled. Then there's the one where she tries to put it in her mouth. Ok, the woman is a bit daffy these days but, damn, she's still funny.

And, let me tell you, oxygen can be fun! I just looked on amazon and you can buy the stuff in a can! The stuff sure cures a hangover!


And, speaking of old people, here's a few ListMy5 articles that are really nice:
Top 5 things to do to help senior citizen neighbors
Top 5 ways to protect a senior citizen during flu season
Top 5 Christmas gifts for a senior citizen
Top 5 ways to entertain a senior citizen
Top 5 gift baskets under $20 for the elderly
Top 5 dating concerns of a senior citizen
Top 5 features of the new health care reform

If you're a caregiver, here's a few good books to bone up on keeping yourself, and your senior friend healthy and happy:

The Caregiver's Book: Caring for Another, Caring for Yourself

Key West Travels (and Travails)

My friend Robin, whom I've known since I was 10 (she'll say 11 but she's older than me and can't remember things as well as I can...) headed down to Key West last Saturday for a getaway. We both needed it - me taking care of Mom and Robin having all types of family problems. Her big brother, Doug, just died recently and she's dealing with that. And, the poor thing has now lost 3 siblings...life is not fair.

Anyway, the idea of the trip was first broached when John decided to take Kenny (his brother) and his mom and dad on a weeklong cruise. So, they booked it with the first port Key West. Woohoo! Right up my alley. I'm always happy to head back home! So, I asked Robin to come along and we booked Key West for the weekend so we'd have a few days, ostensibly meet John's ship for the day and hang around town, he'd go his way, Rob and I would come home. Ah, but, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Now, Robin and my plan went off without a hitch. We got to KW on Saturday, went over to a great place called Louie's Backyard which is off the beaten path but right on the water. Sat at the bar and had a glass of wine and a really good salmon crostini appetizer (that's a must-get-again if ever there). We waddled back into town, bar hopped a bit and end of day 1.

Day 2 found us pretty much doing the same thing as Day 1 except I went earring shopping happy - 5 pairs, can you believe it?! Yep, well, 6 pairs if you count the little silver pair I bought early in the day for a few bucks. Anyway, Robin and I did about every store (and a few bars) imaginable. Nightfall found us down at Sunset Pier for the Sunset Celebration which was a great time. We then headed to a place Robin had heard of called Better Than Sex. Now, this is a dessert place off Petronia (for those Key West saavy folks) and, the place is justly named (for some ). Better Than Sex specializes in after dinner fare, such as chocolate rimmed dessert wines, ports mixed with raspberry and this chocolate thing that we got that was incredibly good. The place is very dark, lit only with red candles. We sat at the bar and oogled the darling bartender who played up to the crowd. There were 5 ladies at the bar which should tell you how darling the bartender was. We played a couple of rounds of 'who'd you rather' with the other ladies and had a lot of laughs. End of day 2.

Now it gets interesting:

Day 3 what when John's cruise was to port in Key West. Robin and I got up, showered and dressed as we wanted to see the boat port. Well, we were at the port at 7:30 (after picking up an excellent Cuban coffee). It was fairly cool out (60s) and VERY WINDY! Here comes the interesting part. In the picture posted, see that boat out there? Doesn't really look like it's coming in to dock, does it? Well, it DIDN'T! Nope, it was too windy for it to dock so Key West closed its port to a total of 3 cruise ships for the day. John called and, when I asked him where he was (thinking maybe I was wrong and he docked somewhere else on the island - a fleeting thought with an island 2x4 miles and a boat nearly as long...). But, forever hopeful, I asked him where he was and the reply? 30 miles south of Key West. Shoot. Darn. Damn. Ah, oh well....

So, Monday found Robin and me waddling around as before but having a great time nonetheless. We ended up at one of the seedy male review shows after a few too many cocktails and then waddled our way home.

Tuesday went as planned and we returned home to DC. The trip though was a success. It was a lot of fun just reconnecting with an old friend. Robin and I hadn't traveled together since we were 18 or so (let's see, um, 10 years ago? Yeah, right...). We laughed a lot, we cried a bit - all in all, another wonderful weekend in the Keys.

Saturday is the new Fry Day!

Ok, so, John and I wanted something different for breakfast a few weekends ago - bacon and eggs just weren't going to cut it. I remembered a delicious breakfast entree that I had when I was in Edinborough, Scotland a few years back - Scotch eggs. Now, dear reader, don't judge unless you've had this. To make 5 scotch eggs, you need:

• 1 lb roll of sausage
• 5 shelled hardboiled eggs
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• Breadcrumbs
• A dusting of flour (I am drooling as I type this)
• A deep fat fryer (who actually has those anymore? Me...)

1. Divide sausage into 5 pieces and flatten well so you have 5 disks.
2. Wrap each egg in sausage (wet hands help). Close seams - you should have 5 large looking round things.
3. Add a dusting of flour to each sausage/egg round. Dip in egg. Roll in breadcrumbs.
4. Fry until dark brown (about 8 minutes) in 350F oil.

Holy moly! Now, one would NOT want to have scotch eggs probably more than once a year or I can pass you the name of a good cardiologist. 

So, after we fried the scotch eggs, we had all this hot oil and with John and I being ridiculous people, we set about frying everything we could possibly think of. We deep fried a pickle, a hot dog, a piece of salami, a homemade cheese stick (which was as delicious as the eggs), and, as we were running out of ideas, a homemade blintze. The hot dog was really the only loser of the group and the blintze was, if sacriligious, surprisingly delicious.

Happy Hanukkah!

Just love this pic of my folks

It dawned on me yesterday morning that that evening would be the first day of Hanukkah. Hmmmm...hadn't even really thought much about the holiday but mentioned it to Mom and she said she'd like to have some potato pancakes. Check. I can do that. I told her I'd mix some up to go with the meatloaf I had planned. She looked a bit disappointed and I knew what was coming. Brisket. She wanted brisket and potato latkes so, well, I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this.

So, we had a little impromptu Hanukkah dinner with Andi, Howie, Bobbi, John, Gert and me. These quick little pick-up dinners are actually a lot of fun. We certainly appreciated celebrating the holiday with these wonderful friends. I used my battery operated candles as the menorrah. Mom recited the prayer with me which was sweet, and surprising. It's interesting to me the things she has stored in her long term memory.

John surprised me a few weeks ago with an early Hanukkah present - the MacBook. LOVE the thing. Although, there has been a learning curve, it's about the most fun computer out there in my book (pun intended). Highly recommend it for anyone looking for a fun computer, maybe not the best in the world though in a business environment.

Anyway, Happy Hanukkah everybody! Hope the holiday season brings you much joy.

And, in the interest of self-promotion, here's a few links to some of my more recent online writing stuff:

Reasons to Use Battery Operated Candles
Tips For Shipping Presents
Tips to Host a Holiday Party
Hanukkah Songs
Questions to Ask Before Opening a Bank Account
Dessert Shooters For Christmas

And, in the interest of helping some of my internet writer friends, here's more fun links:
Games on Facebook
Desserts to Take to a Potluck
Gift Baskets Under 20 Dollars For the Elderly

Diabetic Clothing and Accessory Needs

It takes a village.

This post was actually drafted a few weeks ago so the news is not that new but thought it was important to post for a status update on dear Gert:

Had a bit of a hard time here lately as Mom's doctor (a nurse practitioner who is delightful actually) suggested oxygen 24/7. When we were in the office and she took mom's pulse ox and it came up at 86, I thought 'uh oh.' Sure enough, she's basically starving for breath if not on O2. Shoot...

Oh Hanukkah

Enjoying a day of friendship and wine at Sugarloaf Winery

So, as the Festival of Lights approaches, I was thinking that there aren't many Chanukah songs out there. This thought came to me because the lead list selected for a new site

On being thankful.

Rita is a huge Gertie fan, as am I

So, as Mom and I sit here Thanksgiving night watching The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (did I mention I've gotten a Netflix account?...), I'm thinking about how thankful I am for all that we have.

I ran over to Bobbi's today to gather her mother's excellent green beans, some mashed potatoes, and a delightful succotash mixture from Bobbi's family's Thanksgiving gathering. Mom and I were planning on heading to Ron's for a cocktail hour today but Nora has a cold and, well, it turns out that Gert wasn't going anywhere today anyway.

Luckily, we had a very small (read: very small) early Thanksgiving dinner last night. Just Bobbi, John, Mom and I were to share a turkey, stuffing, fresh rolls, drunken sweet potatoes, spirited Pumpkin pie, Apple and caramel crust pie, crack cookies, sausage and cheese puffs, and, um, cocktails. Mom and I cooked most of the day - emphasis on 'I', not so much on 'Mom' although she did direct me in a few details. I still hate touching a dead turkey (versus a live turkey..) so she talked me through the 'ugh, ewwwww' factor. Bird in oven, rolls rising, cocktails in hand, we napped, chatted, napped and chatted.

She Made It!

Mom sees Carina's and my light decorating touch

Well, October 28 marked Gert's 94th birthday and she's doing very well. Had a rather interesting exchange that morning around 5 am though when she was getting up for coffee.

Lori (enters Gert's bedroom, sits on the bed): Happy Birthday, Birthday GIRL!
Gert (through hangdog looking eyes that aren't quite focused): I didn't want to tell you but I didn't think I was going to make it.
Lori (aghast!): WHAT? You let me decorate this whole house for a Tiki party and you didn't THINK YOU WERE GOING TO MAKE IT?

 We both cracked up.

Now, in retrospect, I suppose I should have uttered words of encouragements like 'of course you were going to make it. I can see you easily sailing toward 97...' Something like that would have been nice but, then again, why try to change a relationship that is clearly working well.

Made her cupcakes as she requested, instead of a cake. Now, cupcakes, imho, are much more work than just popping 2 cake tins into the oven. And, messier too. I must have used every utensil in the kitchen trying to spoon the cake mixture into those stupid little cups. But, with Mom's 'help', they were done by 9:30 am. The icing is another issue. Suffice it to say that we now have a very tasty caramel dipping sauce for Saturday - the 'icing' didn't work too well. Will have to post the pics of her 'helping' - need to find the camera. It's around here somewhere!

Saturday In The Park...

Well, not quite a Saturday in the Park but that's the song from the 70s by, um....Bread maybe? Regardless, John, Mom and I actually spent 'Sunday at the Winery.' It was a gorgeous day this past Sunday and, after a whole lot of conjoling on our part, we got Mom up from her comfy chair and out to Sugarloaf Winery. She was cute as really didn't want to go and John and I actually resigned ourselves to going alone. We were in the car, heading out of the driveway when we backed up - it was just TOO gorgeous to leave my gorgeous Mom sitting in a chair for the day.

We came in the door and she was already headed up the stairs. I asked her where she was going and she kind of looked surprised and said 'I'm going upstairs to get dressed. I knew you'd come back for me.' Sure would have saved us a bit of pleading if she had just agreed the first time. Regardless, we were both delighted to have her come with us.

The winery just released their Chardonnay reserve which, albeit a bit pricey, was quite delicious. The three of us took the three little girl dogs along for the ride (we prefer a 1:1 ratio of humans to dogs for outings) and headed out around 2 to sit and sip. Sugarloaf winery is located right at the base of our teeny weeny Sugarloaf mountain and has live music on the weekends. Just the right amount of ambiance for a 2.5 hour outing. A great time was had by all. Mom got a bit of sun, talked to a few people who came to admire little Gizmo who was perched on her lap, and sipped some good wine.

A great day was had. Totally great, just as the pictures document!

A story about a tootsie roll...

Ok, I've found a new internet site on which to get residual earnings on writing, ListMyFive.com. My best ever internet friends, Peggy and Joan, are also not-so-willing participants at the site. I say not-so-willing as, collectively, we earn, oh, maybe 3 cents a day on articles. Yes, you read that right....3 cents a day COLLECTIVELY. Now, I appear to be ahead of the curve, having earned almost $3.75 this month alone (no, it's not going to carry me into my twilight years in Key West, but, dammit...it's a start). Anyway, I was lamenting with my pals about what I could do with my big ONE CENT earning today. I asked Peggy and Joan if there was even penny candy made these days.

Joan replied that they make a teeny weeny itsy bitsy tootsie roll - a mini, mini sized Tootsie roll which is sold at her local drug store. Somewhere back in the archives of my mind, I got to thinking about a Gert story...


When Mom was about 75 or so, Mom and Dad were driving from Phoenix to Las Vegas, a trip of around 5 hours. They were about half way there, and approaching a very small town called Nothing, Arizona, population 2 - Google today reports that the population of Nothing, Arizona is now 4 so someone was busy...

Anyway, Mom wanted Dad to stop in Nothing because she wanted to get a candy bar. Dad, being Dad,. really just wanted to get to Vegas and didn't want to stop but Mom pestered him and pestered him and, as was her wont, got her way. 'Fine' he said, we'll stop but he wasn't happy about it.

So, they went into the one and only store in Nothing, Arizona. Mom says it had one gas pump and a small store that sold pepsis, cokes, and potato chips and candy (the important part to the story is the 'candy' part).

Mom at that time wanted a candy and picked out a tootsie roll. You know the kind; they looked like something that was coming out of the body instead of going in...So, Dad got Mom a tootsie roll that she reports was older than she was. She went to bite down on it and her mouth was not round any longer; it was square. She had broken her jaw on a tootsie roll! Big bummer. Mom had to have her jaw wired, which I don't recall Dad complaining about, for a month or so. I'm not sure she ever got over that tootsie roll. That tootsie roll cost her $1500 she says. And, as she says at this very moment, "I don't like tootsie rolls anymore."

So, as her 94th birthday rapidly approaches, we at least know what NOT to get her!

Another glorious Key West weekend.

The house kitty (hated fish - go figure)

John and I had possibly the best time yet in Key West on this past trip - albeit, an expensive one! And, we thought this trip was going to be cheap! Well, it would have been if not for a few nice purchases...

Flew all the way in this time - view of 7 mile bridge

Found yet another very cheap airflight so took them up on it and flew all the way in. 4 short hours later, we were standing at our hotel off Duvall. We stayed at a new place for us, Hollinsted house, which was just delightful. Just a block off Duvall in the 600 block (half way between island ends), the house is made up of a variety of condos, some of which are simply devine.If you're going to Key West anytime soon, email me and I'll hook you up with Tracey, the owner of a few of the condos there. Got a great deal all the way around. The cat above is the house kitty, or so we thought. She appeared magically out of the bushes, usually yawning and looking for affection. She made JB look like a GIANT, which, of course, he is.

We walked the streets a lot this trip and even rented a little two person electric car in which to tool around for a day. Took us down some paths we'd not found earlier as we discussed where we'll be living one day. Met some great locals - 2 stand out in our minds. Houston and Suzie are both 5th generation (!) Conchs - born and raised in KW. Talked to them for quite a while. Houston's 87 year old mom lives next door and sounds like she's the opposite of my Mom. Houston was telling us some great tales about her complaints, etc, as she's a very crotchety old woman. I shared tales of my delightful Mother. I sure wish I could talk mom into moving to KW with me NOW but that ain't happening. Ah well, it will happen one day but I'm not rushing the future.

No, it's a LIVE rooster!

John and I decided to rent a boat again this trip and go looking for dolphins - no luck. We needed Bobbi, the official dolphin spotter with us. The ocean was rockier than last time we went out but we didn't really care. We headed out to the reef and moored up for an afternoon of conversation, cocktails and a few quick swims.

Tried a few really nice restaurants this time around. One of the great things about staying in a different part of the island is that we explored instead of going to the same old rounds we usually do. Sarabeth's owner, David, was a wonderful guy and, although dinner was good, we're thinking breakfast is even better. The last night there, we went to Cafe Marquesa which was probably the best restaurant I've ever been to, period. But, you'll pay for it too. The ambiance is great, food was outstanding, and the whole dining experience was worth the price.

Ah, but, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end so we flew home after just 3 days in paradise. But, the end of this trip starts the countdown to the next one which is already on the books. We'll be in Key West 4 times this year, which seems about right to us...

Love this shot!

I'm struck by how lucky I am

Ah, technology...

So, John hooked up a wireless connection between my computer and the big screen tv so I can now easily show Mom pictures and articles that people send over to show her. Went through and showed her pictures that I have categorizes as she and Dad. Ran across a few fun ones which I'll post here.

Mom and Rita always seem to have a connection

Not bad for a woman who didn't use to like dogs

Pic from the Beach house this summer

Gert and Gizmo have a fan club too

Red hats gave us much amusement

Rita is always an attentive listener..as is Gert

On other recent news, John, Mom and I went to see the Cirque de Soliel show here at National Harbor a few weeks ago. Amazing show although the first half was better than the second. We got handicapped parking which was great, wheeled her in, got her a beer and settled in the first row of the second tier. Wonderful seats to watch the show. They do such amazing stuff, it's hard to follow! My favorite part was this wormy thing that I really couldn't understand at all. It was, evidently, a single person inside this wormy suit and the thing moved in amazing ways. If you get a chance, catch the show. It's Ovo.

Love that Key West trip!

Getting ready to head to Key West this weekend for some much needed R&R. Supposed to be a wonderful weekend, weather-wise, and John and I will probably get a boat again as we had such a great time doing that in August. We're just going for a long weekend but the prices for flights all the way down can't be beat right now - $157 roundtrip out of Baltimore. Got another trip lined up for December and looking to plan KW in February next. We're rapidly adopting the island as our second home base which works well with the plan of retirement.

Here's the latest writings on the internet:


Top 5 Worst Places to Make Money Online

Top 5 Items to Include In a Soldier Care Package

Top 5 Symptoms of a Stroke

Top 5 Ann Rule Books

Top 5 Things That Should NOT Be Posted on Facebook

Top 5 Board Games

Top 5 Stupid Gestures   

Flintstones Characters

 

Crabs!

So, John surprised me yesterday by taking me crabbing for the day on the dock of the bay. It was too windy to go out on Namaste and jet ski season is past so I was WAY game for a day on the dock. He thoughtfully purchased 3 new crab traps, a bottle of good vodka, a picnic lunch, chicken necks (not part of the picnic lunch), string, and chips. So, we set up the traps, put up two chairs and proceeded to have a great time just waiting. 2 hours later, we had confirmation that the bay had a sense of humor as we had lost:

1 crab trap
1 chair (which we managed to fish back out of the bay)
The bag of chips (blew away)
2 cocktails
The bag the chair came in (same gust took the bag as the chips and cocktails...)
BUT, we had caught....um...4 crabs. FOUR crabs. Pitiful I tell ya! So, we decided to head over to the bridge where the locals were.

Off we went and set up our remaining traps off the bridge. I perused the catch of the local while John went to surprise me and buy some crabs from a man who had been down on our pier. While he was gone, I decided to take matters into my own hand and approached one of the friendly locals with a 20 spot. Got two gorgeous dozen crabs, #1 jimmies and beauties to boot. Was quite proud of myself until John came up beaming. Why the smile? He had gone down to the other man, and, for $20 had bought, well, five crabs. I suppose it was a case of supply and demand. Sweet gesture thought and well appreciated.

So, after an hour nap cozed up on Namaste, I headed back home where Mom, Sophia, Joni and Mark were awaiting our 'catch.' Cooked them up in 3 batches and they were delightful. Sat and chatted over a nice bottle of wine in the dining room, mom at every claw (!), the rest of us filled up on as much crab as we could eat. A wonderful night was had by all.

Here's a couple of articles about crabs:
How to Cook Crabs
How to Tell A Female Blue Crab From a Male Crab
How to Measure a Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab
How to Set A Table For A Crab Feast
How to Prepare A Crab Feast 
In a pinch, you might have to boil crab legs - yuck
How to cook crabs - works every time!
How to Order A Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Feast Online
How to Make a Crab Bisque
And, if you're not in the mood for crabs, how about some delicious Mexican enchiladas (only 4 ingredients!)

Cabin weekend

As I go about updating the blog, I was looking through pictures to trigger my memory of what we've done this summer. Turns out, we were sort of movers and shakers this summer - well, John and I were at least. Gert was more of a sitter. But, had a beautiful summer with many weekends spent on sailing or on the jet ski and a few very nice weekends at the cabin.

How to have a bad day on a sailboat...Another found post from last year...

That should be the eHow I write after viewing the disasterous results when this sailboat hit the Narrows Bridge over on Tilghman Island. NO - it was not Namaste II. John actually handles his boat quite well, as could be proven when we docked in a slip about 12" deep (that's the beauty of this boat - the engine can be raised and it can go in 12" of water - sweet). Anyway, it was a baaaaaad day for someone.... but a great day for us. Too N2 over to the island last weekend for a few cocktails at a Tiki bar. We just love sitting outside on the water - what a joy.

Our green bean produce count so far....Left over post from 7/2009

One. A single. A lone bean. One green bean - you read that right - 'ONE' green bean. One lonely bean, hanging by its lonesome. The rabbits must have missed it. Sucks. That's $500 a bean at last count.

We've harvested 4 tomatoes so far and, yes, Matee is chewing into one in the photo to the left. Who would ever think that a dog would salivate for a tomato? The little sucker ate the whole thing, except for the skin. She left the skin in pieces on the deck.

Dinner with Gert

Found this post hidden - never published so here 'tis:

John went up to his house in WV tonight, leaving the 'ladies' (there's a reason that's in quote but I'll never tell..) - anyway, he left the 'ladies' on our own. So, off I go for takeout for Gert and me (and the dogs - they always get leftovers). One stop at the sushi bar and one stop at the chinese restaurant later and Gert and I were chowing down on some really good soup and sushi (for me) and an egg roll (for her). Sat in the dining room and had a great evening for an hour and a half or so. These are the BEST times with Mom - sitting alone, just us, talking about the 'good old days.'

Mom told me that she made $5 a day for an 8 hour shift while working in St. Joe when she was 16. Now, by the time I was 15, I was earning a big $1.83/hour (minimum wage back in the day). Robin - still one of my favorite people in the world - was my 'boss' and made, I think, $.50 more an hour - an appreciable markup for, well, telling ME what to do...But, I digress...

We used to have just a ball at the Morningside Cleaners, working evenings after school and Saturdays, during the day. We even had our own groopies. Yes, we had it GOIN' on. And, in looking back, I'm so very glad that my parents instilled a work ethic in me. I took a crummy job at the cleaners and, well, I was to make the best of it. And, I did. Getting up on Saturday morning and going to work at 7 am when the rest of my friends were in bed (Robin included..after all, she was the boss...) set forth my lifelong love of the mornings. To this day, I'm happiest in the morning.

John and I both love the mornings - we get up around 4:30 or 5 am and have time in the hot tub with coffee before Gert starts stirring for the day. I've gotten in the habit of walking Killian early in the am and I think we both appreciate the great start of the day. Not a bad start at all...



'

Finally, a day with Bon Bons

Anyone who has cared for a child or an elderly parent knows that the old vision of housepeople (they can't be called housewives any longer) sitting on their butts on a cushy sofa while popping Bon Bons is an unattainable dream. Unless, of course, one buys Bon Bons, happens to get a rainy day and something good to watch on TV, and has an elderly parent. I have found Mom's (and Matee's) new favorite treat.

Among Mom's other favorite treats are crabs. Sadly, she gets every single claw so Bobbi and I are usually just handing them over when she looks at us with that hangdoggy look. She doesn't have to say a word as her look does it for her. We've had many nice crab feasts this summer. The picture documenting such here was from August when John and I bought some crabs off a couple of men who were crabbing off the bridge down by John's boat. They were totally delicious. Might have been the best crabs I've ever in my life had.

And, then, there's the many many happy hours spent with John, Bobbi and Mom on the back porch. Plates of cheese, pickles and crackers accompany a glass of sherry for Mom and more substantial beverages for us! Many wonderful times are  had here at this old house with that old lady...

Cheese and crackers keeps her happy too

More pictures from Key West...

I forgot my gorgeous new Nikon D5000 on the dining room table when I headed to the Keys so was lax in getting pictures. But, the below are a few samplings from phone pics (gotta love those Blackberries) and a few assorted cameras sent around to capture the moments.

One of my favorite ever pics of Sharyn. I'm so grateful for my good friends. And even more grateful that my good friends love each other. Sharyn and John have their own fan club ....

And then there's gorgeo
us Bobbi who I've finally started to listen to..