Spring has sprung...

...And Gert is springing right along! We headed up to Frederick yesterday for a few hours of rolling around their River walk area. Mom and I love to look at that painted bridge up there - fascinating thing and we see something new everytime we go.

Decided to take Rita along on the journey although not sure how much enjoyment she got out of it. She's very timid around strange men and Frederick is full of them (really strange men...) so she spent a lot of time in Mom's lap. Both ladies got ice cream treats; Butter Pecan for Mom and a doggy sundae for Miss Rita (complete with 2 bones, hold the whipped cream please).

Rolled through an antique store where Mom told me the history of most of the items (see sorta has first person knowledge..). Saw a bunch of stuff we used to own up there. Spent a lot of time saying 'gee, I wonder where that is....' We have a HUGE attic so should get up there and get some stuff on eBay. John did organize it last year so at least it's walkable now.

I fear that our chicken coop has seen its last winter. Poor thing's roof is sinking. I think Mom and I will head out today and look at new sheds, which we'll have to get before we level the old coop. There's so much junk out there; wonder if I can have a 'chicken coop sale.' I know, for a fact, that there's an old motorcycle and at least 4 bikes out there that are useless - all of em!

Planning a REAL garden this year. It will be in the back 40 area which gets full sun and will be full of beans, zucchini, tomatoes, and other assorted sundries. Looking forward to going out back for produce this year. The deer fence I have planned should be more than enough to protect our harvest. I'm even considering laying a path so I can roll Mom out there and she can keep me company as I tend the thing. I'm ready for summer!

We have lift off!

Managed to get Gert moving again yesterday so we tottled on down to Montgomery Mall to roll aroud for a while, after we dropped off John's lunch (which he forgot) and after I turned around the car about half way there to get some shoes (it's not important to note whose shoes they were....).

Had some lunch at the mall - a kiddie meal suffices for Gert as it's just the right size.

Rolled over to Mom's favorite store, Crate and Barrel, where we found a blanket she loved but wouldn't buy. So, it's her Mother's Day present from me and, as you can see, we came home and broke it in, along with a fresh bourbon and coke.

Bobbi and John joined us for cocktail hour on the verandah (that's deck in Md speak) and a great afternoon/ (early) evening was had by all.

As an aside, I've made it into print on my friend Peggy's found money blog!

You'd think I'd be brigher...

I was feeling a bit badly about not letting mom get a new coffee cup and tray the other day (although we did buy yet another tray...) so, went back to return a lamp and ended up getting her a nice bone china coffee cup and another matching tray. Queenie was set up this morning. She was quite happy. She's got 3 trays now; that is IT!

Another day in paradise

Only a new convertible owner will put the top down in the snow! That's John in his new ride - it looks like the daddy to my mercedes. Beautiful car and already is proving to be a lot of fun.

Got Mom out yesterday to get her nails and toes done - about time . We headed off to the Home Place to look for new pictures for the newly redone kitchen but to no avail. I did, however, under much duress, buy her yet another tray on which I am to serve her coffee and snack in the afternoon (yes, those are her words, not mine). As we were going through the store, Mom was trying to buy about everything. Just as I seem to love tote bags, she's got a 'thing' for trays, pretty plates, and coffee mugs. Now, I have so many coffee mugs that I just purged the cabinet of the clunky ones - we both are into bone china (yes, we're fussy about our coffee cups). But, I noticed the amusement of the fellow shoppers as I, once again, took something out of her hand and said 'We really don't need that.' She'd grab it back with a 'Yes, we do.' Which explains why we now are the proud owners of another tray, another pair of scissors (well, we did need that....), some beautiful tea towels (didn't need) and a lamp which doesn't go with the green in the living room. And, we never got our pictures that we went in for. Figures.

Below pictures are proof that she can still make a mean chicken...

Another glorious weekend in Key West

So, got Mom set up with 5 caregivers so John and I could head out on a mini-vacation for 4 days to Key West. Gert and all the caregivers survived; in fact, Mom was pretty looking pretty good when I came home. What a relief as she didn't do so well last time we were gone - but that was a 7 day trip and that's just too long to leave her, even though Sharyn was here for all 7 days and Sharyn's as on point as I am.... Anyway, huge thanks this time around to Carina, Ruth Ann, Mark, Bobbi and, of course, Sophia. You guys make our lives so much easier, and pleasurable!

Anyway, John and I flew off to Fort Lauderdale Feb 26th and grabbed a car for the drive to Key West - sweet talked the counter agent into a Mustang convertible which was a joy to drive but not much fun in which to be a passenger. The passenger seat is almost bolted directly to the floor so the top of my nose was 'eye to eye' with the top of the dashboard. I looked like a 4 year old in a car seat too big! And, sadly, John got to drive on the way down....oh well...

We made just a few quick stops before shooting down to KW in 4 short hours - that car moved!

Weather was cool but certainly better than DC - days were around mid-60s until, of course, our last day when it was 72 at 8 am...

Got a great hotel room right off Elizabeth street, just 1 block up from the Conch Republic. Gorgeous B&B with a continental breakfast and complimentary top shelf happy hour thrown in. And, to make matters sweeter, I talked our way into $50 less per night than we originally book AND a bigger suite! Sweet it was! Hotel was the Key West Harbor Inn for future reference and the room was the Jamaica room. The thing had a shower to die for....

We kicked around Key West for a day and then decided to do the trip over to the Dry Tortugas on the 'Vomit Comet' - well, that's what the crew called the 78' catamaran, Sunny Days. The wind was blowing at 15-20, seas were high with 5-6' swells and, of the 25 passengers on board, there were only about 6 of us standing at the end. John and I were bright enough to fuel our bag with saltine crackers which are a thing of beauty when one's stomach is tossing to and fro. I shared some with a few other passengers before I realized that we were going to NEED them. And, forget about bloody mary's on that ship - ugh. The trip to the Dry Tortugas did spur an eHow though:

How to Prevent Motion Sickness

Here's another quick one I wrote up:

How to Save Money In Key West Florida

Fort Jefferson was awesome though as we kicked around the island for 4 hours before setting off back to KW. Sadly, we didn't get to snorkel which is, reportedly, fabulous snorkeling as the waters were too churned up and it was too cool out. The Gods were with us on the ride home though as the weather cleared and it was a much smoother ride.

We spent the 2 hours on the ride back sitting on the stern of the catamaran, talking to Andy, one of the mates. He had us in tears the whole way home with his stories. He also told us of the best place in KW to get fresh fish - Bo's Fish Wagon. So, of course, once we hit shore, it was time for that free happy hour, showers, and off to feed.

Now, if you're interested in high class restaurants on the water with tablecloths, candles and $14 martinis (yes, that's true...) don't even bother reading the rest of the paragraph. But, if you're like us and prefer the true island ambience, a local's paradise, and the freshest fish outside the water - here you go. The fish here was, bar none, the best fish I've ever in my life had. Grilled Mahi that was caught just hours before was lovingly prepared with their 'special' spices which Andy assured me was not just Old Bay and, man, it wasn't. Sadly, they don't sell the mix outside the restaurant or we would have been toting a lot home. John got his requisite burger which was the best on the island also. Great food and a wonderful time, sitting at the bar on the street watching the 'tourists' go by.

After dinner, we waddled off to Duvall Street where we took our places in the window of the Bull and Whistle for a few hours before hitting another couple of bars and calling it an early night around 8:30 or so. Went back to the room and collapsed, tired, full and happy. Until...

John and I both woke up at 2:45 am with one thought on our mind - PIZZA! Yes! We were in KW and HAD to have some Angelina's pizza! This is the best pizza in the northern hemisphere, only being bested by a slice I had somewhere in Scotland, or possibly France one time - it was downed with one of the best beers I've ever had, hence the loss of memory....

So, we climbed into our clothes and headed out to the streets right as the drunks were coming in. Angelina's closes at 3:30 am so we had plenty of time for slices and beer before slinking back to our hotel room for the rest of the night. Woke up at 7, fat and happy.

Basically spent 3 days doing the above, with some wandering the streets and shopping thrown in before heading to Ft. Lauderdale for the last night of our 4 day tour.

On thing I love about John is that he's as impulsive and adventurous as I am. So, as we talked, we devised a 'non-plan' - we decided to 'wing it' and cancelled the Ft. Lauderdale hotel (where we stayed last time) and just wander up Rt. 1 N until we found an oceanfront hotel for the night (hopefully with an oceanfront hot tub) so we did just that. We rolled into Pelican Cove on Deer Key and got a great room. Spent some time in the hot tub before heading up to get cleaned up for dinner. Had a magnificent time, standing on a pier on the Gulf side of the key watching a gorgeous sunset before heading off to another local spot for dinner. Alas, no dolphins or manatees in sight...

All in all, a great trip was had one more time. It's such a joy to have someone fun to travel with - truly a joy.

So, it's time to plan our next trip. We're thinking maybe of taking Mom to the outer banks in June for a week - that way, we can get a week 'away' and have Mom with us at the same time. It's a win-win situation! Or, there's that Baltimore cruise to Bermuda in July...Wherever we end up, we'll have a blast - just like this time. What fun!


Below is my favorite graffiti from this trip. KW has the best graffiti...

Meant to post about our last cruise...

..Time got away from me.

John and I had a very fun cruise over Thanksgiving to Grand Turk (gotta wonder what 'Little Turk' looks like), St. Maarten and Puerto Rico. I would not recommend the ship though - Holland America Westerdam; it just wasn't one of the nicer ships we've been on and even the food was not particularly good. The room, however, was a gorgeous upgrade with a great balcony - about 3x our normal size.

What struck me the most was, the moment we walked on board, I noticed that I was surrounded by 2,000 Gert and Joes. John was definitely one of the youngest passengers on board. We both spent most of the cruise helping these darling little old people. I was always picking up something or straightening lap blankets, etc. John would see these folks scratching their heads in front of the non-intuitive coffee machine every morning and would punch the right button or them. They were always most appreciative...

About the 5th day on board, I actually awoke earlier than John and went to get coffee - now, this was the first time I'd done it so, I'm sorta waking up, sorta scratching my head as I stand in front of this non-intuitive machine and punching 'buttons' on the machine that are not buttons. Quite sadly, and much to my dismay, a younger person came up to help me. I was appreciative...

We did have a great cruise and had these wonderful pictures taken. We both love these. We had so much fun. We have so much fun every single day. How wonderful!

Memories of Dad

Was just 'talking' to a 'friend' (whom I've never physically met) who is from eHow, the writing site I joined a year ago. I'm making around $125/month in residuals, which is not bad, considering I'm not all that active any longer and, ostensibly, I'll make $125/month for the rest of my life. Not a bad past time if you can even fake writing. Also, I just think it's sweet that I have these new 'friends' who check in on Gert very frequently. Joan and Peggy are always asking about her and they've never met her - cracks me up.

Anyway, I've been trying to unravel the 'secret' to writing online - you get money from the ads that are on the article. There's a lot of theories about how to draw in good ads, search engine optimization, etc. And, I think I have a handle on it as I'm getting steadily better until...

I write a crappy article about banana bread - really nothing special and, monetarily, according to the algorithm I've figured out, it shouldn't be earning much. In fact, it should be a real stinker. It's just a great recipe I wanted to share so I wrote it up. No search engine optimization, no keywords, no nuthin' except for a recipe for a fabulous banana bread.

Here it is:

How to Make a Light Banana Bread Recipe That Will Melt in Your Mouth

As you can see, it's really not all that special. It is, however, very good and, really surprisingly, it's making money (fast and a fair amount!). It basically defies everything I thought I'd unraveled; frustrating, to say the least.

So, I was lamenting such to my eHow friend, Peggy, and it dawned on me that my chasing the dream of unlocking making money on eHow writing was a lot like going to the horse track with Dad.

Dad and I would start off betting strictly off names and then, it would evolve into something like the below:

Lori: Hey, Dad! That horse, the brown one who won, took a dump right before the race.
Dad: Yeah?
Lori: Well, he was obviously lighter in his loafers

So, we'd watch the next horses come out and bet the one who just 'dumped.' Sure as shit (pun intended), he'd finish last. So, the next round would go:

Lori: Hey, Dad! Did you notice that the horse who won this race was brown too?
Dad: Yeah?
Lori: Well, maybe it's 'brown horse' day.

So, we'd bet the brown horse. Of course, the next horse who won would be grey but would be wearing purple colors.

Lori: Hey Dad! Did you notice that all of the horses who won so far are wearing purple?
Dad: HUGE LAUGH...and then we'd be off to bet purple,..and, of course, the blue horse would come in but the jockey's initials would match the last winning horse's jocket....ad nauseum.

We had us some fun.

I just read this to Mom and she said 'Get the number 5 in there somehow. Remember how we'd always bet the number 5?'

Ah, life. Watcha goin' do but laugh?

As an aside, here's some links to Peggy's web presence; she's pretty amusing:
A Good Book is Awaiting
Found Money in the Street
The Lint Filter
Examiner
Suite 101