Memorial Day 2010

Amidst all of your joyous celebrations today, please remember the fallen soldiers who have died for our country's freedom...

Pea soup and other fun (?) stuff.....

Memorial Day weekend is here and the cover has been taken off of my pool. My pool that has been sitting dormant all fall, winter, and spring except for some occasional chlorine tablets and a couple of hours/day with the pump going.

So, as you can imagine....the water now looks like thick, dark, pea soup. UGH.

In an effort to try and do it myself and save a little money, I have scrubbed, brushed,back-washed, and chemicalized it all.

It is still quite green this morning.

Ah, fun in the summertime for a pool owner!

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Friday night Dave and I went to hear the Alabama Symphony Orchestra play and see a show called: "Classical Mystery Tour". It consists of four Beatle look-a-likes who tour around the world playing all of our favorite Fab Four tunes with the local symphony playing in the background. You might want to check it out to see if it comes to your town...it will be worth it!

They sing, play guitars and piano as well as do costume changes during the sets to add even more authenticity to the music. Our 60+ (groan) bodies were (slowly) rockin' and a rollin' to the great old Beatles songs.

It was totally awesome and took us back to a time long ago when we were young...

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I find myself still "fighting" with the backyard squirrels as they continue to find new ways to get to my bird food. My old "squirrel free" feeder was being held together by duct tape and love so I purchased a new one that has perches going up and down it at different levels. It also has a tray at the bottom to catch the falling seeds. The birds seem to love it....and so do the squirrels!

I sat in the house and watched a big ole squirrel just perched on the tray having his breakfast,lunch, or dinner of bird food. He looked quite content as he munched away...

So, I have now moved the feeder down the tree limb as far away from the tree trunk as I could so that the squirrels won't have a "jumping off" point. I will just have to wait and see if that works. So far so good....stay tuned!

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As you can imagine, I am still trying to get back into some semblance of reality since my incredibly delightful Girlie beach trip. This reentry is not always so easy as life, laundry and other chores await me.

So, every once in a while I try to daydream about lazily relaxing to the sounds of the Gulf while the soft breezes cool me off from the warm summer heat. Care to join me?

Ahhhhhhh. : )

(view from the condo...)

Empty beach chairs....

Every day the lifeguards set up six chairs and two umbrellas for us. How wonderful to head out to the beach, knowing that this set up was ready and waiting for us. Some days a few of us headed down to sit and enjoy the wonderful Gulf breezes in the shade of the umbrella....A couple of us even ventured out into the water for a swim...but, mostly we would sit and talk about anything and everything...just enjoying our time together.

But, for this photo, I had to be satisfied just taking a picture of the empty chairs...because as the official "photographer" of the beach trip....the rule was that I wasn't to take any bathing suit photos of the Girlies for "publication"......so, you will just have to use your imagination here...and, trust me that the chairs were filled with laughter, relaxation, and, especially, love.

All good things must come to an end....

One last sunset...five and a half days of love with my dear friends....heartwarming talks....lots of laughter....mah jongg games....beautiful views....unbelievably delicious food...hugs, hugs, hugs.....wine and popcorn on the beach...lying on our beach chairs and not wanting the day to end...this and so much more marked my "Girlie Trip 2010"...

Love you all...

The Girlies...and me.

One more day.......

OK. We are trying not to think about it...BUT, tomorrow is our very last day here at the beach.

While everyone kind of did "their thing" today...I decided to head down to the beach since that isn't something that I can do at home. Sitting under the umbrella, I sat on the beach chair and relaxed...while "people watching"...one of my favorite past times.

One comes to realize that people come in all shapes and sizes...and, while at the beach...anything goes! Very interesting and amazing all at the same time. I can't help but wonder: "What are they thinking?!"

Of course, they could be saying the very same thing about me. : )

A sign that one of the other Girlies is up is when you smell the coffee brewing....

...and, then the day begins.

One by one we each make our way to the kitchen for a cup of coffee....or, a bowl of cereal with some fruit...etc.

It is such a nice way to start the day...

We sit and talk. Some of the talk is light and fluffy...and, then much of it becomes full of emotion as we recount many of the things that have transpired in the last few years.

Two of the six of us have had to deal with cancer and that still weighs heavy on our minds. There have been divorces and challenges that we have dealt with together...helping each other through some rough times.

We discuss our children, grandchildren, and the men in our lives. We talk about our dreams and wishes. We touch upon feelings that linger within each of us.

"Remember when...?" one of us will ask...and then the stories flow.

But, most of all, we speak about the love and admiration that we all have for each other. Some of us are brought to tears...and some of us find laughter in the stories.

But, most of all, our hearts are open to each other and this enduring friendship that we have.

How lucky we are to be a part of this circle of love...

Another day in paradise...

Day two at the beach with the Girlies and all is well.

The morning was spent talking (what a surprise!)...and, then, we finally decided to go down to the beach.

Truth be told....none of us really wanted to put our bathing suits on ! That is always a difficult thing after a long fall, winter and spring.

Once down there, we settled in on our chairs...some under the umbrellas and the others out in the warm sun. It was absolutely wonderful.

The ocean was clear and warm and a couple of us ventured out into it...that is, until someone said that the saw some sting rays....and, that did it for our swim.

But, there is nothing like the ocean breeze to totally relax you and make you forget all else that is going on in the world.

I'm not coming back to reality for four more days.... : )

Have you ever laughed so hard that you cried?!?!

We did today... as we drove down to the beach.

We covered every topic possible in the less than 5 hour drive and the laughter was a great endorphin rush.

Once we arrived at our friend's beautiful condo we had another good laugh as we tried to get to the 19th floor. We had a special code that we needed to use to get the elevator to our floor...and, no matter what we did, we couldn't get there. Instead, we continued to ride up and down to all of the floors with the exception of the 19th! As the elevator doors opened on each floor we kept seeing the same people who were trying to get on...they kept seeing these crazy women (us) who were laughing so much...that no one was brave enough to get on with us. The doors would close and then the journey would continue....up and down...up and down.....up and....

When we finally managed to get to our floor, we were greeted with a lovely lunch of crab claws, shrimp, jumbo lump crabmeat, salad, etc. etc. Delicious.

Chilled wine was opened...and, the beach trip began.

Ahhhhhhh....

I turned my clothes pink in the washer today....and, I don't even care.

It is raining cats and dogs outside...and, it doesn't bother me a bit.

The carpenter accidentally ripped some of my new carpeting yesterday....and, I'm not giving it another thought.

Why?

Because tomorrow morning I am heading down to the beach with five Girlies for some wonderful relaxation, a little Mah Jongg, lots of good eating and drinking, a ton of good books to read, my "Miracle" bathing suits, and some much-needed GIRLIE TIME!

Tomorrow cannot get here soon enough!

Stories from the beach to come....xoxo

Painting day at Grammie's!

...and the results that I proudly displayed on my wall!

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up. ~Pablo Picasso

I woke up this morning missing two little voices saying: "Grammie, I'm up!"

Around 6:00 a.m. every morning I would have the sweetest alarm clocks in my house. First, Owen would tip toe into my room and softly say, "Grammie, I'm up". He would then go into a complete description of what our day would be. "First, we will brush our teeth...then we will change into our clothes...then we will have breakfast....then we will play! Okay Grammie?" he would say.

Shortly thereafter I would hear Audrey's cute voice on the intercom saying, "Grammie, I up! Grammie, I up!".

I loved, loved, loved my mornings with the two of them...what a special time.

Oh, how I miss those faces....