Boo Hoo

We had to leave The Villages this morning and head to Atlanta.

With a few little traffic tie ups - nothing significant, it took us 8 hours to get here.

We stopped for lunch at a McDonalds (they charged us 30 cents for two cups of water)!  I guess as a stockholder I should not be too upset - but, really!!!

We checked into the Hyatt Place at Perimeter Center and will be here for four nights unless the Gods of winter change their minds. We hope to get home by Wednesday.

We had dinner at Sweet Tomatoes tonight and had too much to eat.

We stopped at the Georgia Welcome Center and got some tourist brochures and will plan out things to do for the next few days.

Of course, Terry is excited Shark Tank is on tonight.

Cinderella

We felt like Cinderella today, cleaning the house, washing and vacuuming floors, etc.

We thought after that we deserved a break so we went to the Mallory Country Club and shared a salad and a veggie pizza.

The day was a little overcast, but it was beautiful sitting by the golf course.

Terry did not think to take a photo until we were half way through the pizza!

 

 

We left Mallory and went to Sumter Landing and walked around.  It was Market Night and some of the vendors were already set up.  The entertainment had not started, but it is always a pleasant walk.

 

 

We recycled a few days worth of newspapers and then came home.

 

 

We packed up the trunk.  I don't think we could get a piece of paper in there!

 

 

We put some things on the back floor and will wait until tomorrow to put our travel suitcases, food, coats, etc. into the car itself.  We really do need a van - probably a maxi van would work well.

 

 

We keep checking the weather.  It will probably be Wednesday before we get home.  We'll hole up in Atlanta as it looks right now.

Lazy Day

We spent most of the morning reviewing the weather and discussing what our strategy for going home will be.

We could not find a hotel in The Villages for the weekend - so scratch plan A .

On to plan B.  Friday we move to Atlanta for 4 nights - go to Louisville for a night and Wednesday home.

Stay tuned - our plans are J-ello!

Rest of day working, eating, reading.  

Did I mention it poured all day long.

Last Nice Day Before We Leave

They are predicting rain for the next two days so today was the perfect day to go out and enjoy the weather.

We decided to go to Eaton's Beach Sandbar and Grill, on Lake Weir, in Weirsdale.  We left a message for Diane to see if she wanted to join us (Tom is in Chicago helping their daughter, Cheri).

She had just come off of the golf course but wanted to join us, but, had to go home and get her car.  We met her at Beall's Outlet on Highway 42.  BTW:  Terry bought a few things while waiting for Diane.  We all also went into the store again after lunch and all bought a few things.

We had a nice lunch.  The menu is a little strange.  Terry and I both had cheeseburgers (Terry had bacon on hers and could have had peanut butter on it also - she declined the peanut butter).

BTW:  I was looking at a jar of peanut butter the other day and it said "made with peanuts" -dah!

We sat where we could look at the water.  The table near the water that we originally sat at had a bar the interfered with a view of the water so we moved to a table where we could see the water.  The outside was really not outside as it had plastic "windows."

 

 

We looked at the weather and thought that we might be better off leaving on Thursday, rather than our originally scheduled Friday.  However, when we told that to Mindy she said they were expecting 6 inches of snow over the weekend - oops!

 

 

We now are leaving on Friday and may go somewhere to chill out for a few days until the route home is without snow and ice.  Stay tuned!

 

 

Of course, we watched Shark Tank tonight.  One of the people told two of the Sharks that THEY were out!!  He did not like their offers.

Conference Calls Galore

After breakfast, I participated in a two-hour conference call as a member of the North Shore-Barrington Association of REALTORS' Government Affairs Committee meeting.

After the meeting, Terry and I had a quick lunch and headed to do some errands. 

We recycled our newspapers at the Temple and then headed to shred some documents that Terry had.  We went to Pack and Ship, who advertised that they shred.  However, someone comes on Thursdays with a truck and picks up their shredding, which resides in some sort of box until then.  Terry was concerned about using them, since this was sensitive client information.  So, we went to Office Depot, where she was able to shred the documents herself.  It was inexpensive and she felt better doing it that way.

We wandered into Cracker Barrel to look at the store part, but did not find anything that we wanted to buy.

It was Market Night at Spanish Springs and Rocky and The Rollers were there as the entertainment, and even though there was the threat of rain, the place was packed.  I bought another chain for a necklace that I had purchased at Sumter's Market Night.

We stopped at Publix for lottery tickets and a few fill-in items.

After dinner, Terry and I both had conference calls.  I called into the Township for the Board meeting and Terry is on a conference call with AADMM.

We are watching the weather carefully for our trip home.  We are hoping to leave on Friday, but could leave on Thursday if we needed to.  We cannot stay any later as we don't think the lady who is renting the house for March wants to share it with us!

I think the weather here for the next few days is not going to be good as we heard on the radio that they are rescheduling Wednesday's Strawberry Festival, which is a big event.  I guess the weather is getting us ready to go home!
 

Mah Jongg Tournament

After lunch we headed out to a Mah Jongg Tournament to benefit the American Cancer Society, held at Colony Cottage Recreation Center.  Our friend, Joy, had told us about this event and she was there also.  The event was in memory of a gal, Mary Beth, who died from breast cancer and was run by her friends.

In previous years,  Mary Beth used to run a similar event.

Sitting Area at Colony Cottage

Invitation to the Event

Terry's envelope

 

 

 

The instructions were for each person to bring their mah jongg card and, if they had one, to bring a pusher.  The recreation center had mah jongg sets.  There were 21 tables of 4 each.  When we arrived we were each given an envelope with our name.  It told us what position we would play.  Terry's envelope said Seat D (mine said Seat C).  We both started out at table 17.  After 4 games of mah jongg, we each moved to the table designated in round 2.  Terry moved to Table 15, I moved to table 19.  We played another round of 4 games and then moved to the next table for the last round of 4 games.  The person sitting at Seat A was the score keeper.

 

We each also got a raffle ticket (they had a raffle prize for each person).

 

You could also buy 50/50 tickets (the winner was our friend Joy's friend and she won $140).

 

They also had tickets you could buy to try to win special baskets, wine, etc.  You put your tickets into the bucket in front of the basket or item you hoped to win.

 

They had snacks and beverages and asked for a donation to offset the cost of the snacks and beverages.

 

Each round of four games was 55 minutes.  That is playing fairly quickly.  It was for intermediate and better players!

 

The rules were in each person's envelope.  Basically you got the value of the hand if you got mah jongg, 10 bonus points if you picked your own mah jongg.  20 points for a jokeless hand (unless it was a singles or pairs hand).

 

Penalties for player who discarded the winning tile. Minus 10 points if winning player had no or one exposure.  Two exposures was minus 20 points to the person who discarded the mah jongg tile.  Minus 25 points for the player who discarded the mah jongg tile if there were 3 exposures.

 

For a wall game all players got 10 points.  If a player's hand had been declared dead during the game, that person got no points.

 

If the 4th game in the round was not completed when the horn sounded, all players got 0 points.

 

There was a 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize - all monetary prizes.  WE DID NOT WIN ANY OF THESE.

 

We came home and had our leftover salad, from yesterday's lunch at Too Jays, and are now reading.

 

Below is a photo of the type of palm tree that Terry likes that she had tried to explain to our friend Fran.  If you notice, it looks like a pineapple.

 



 

 

BTW:  For those of you who know our friend, Janet, who had open heart surgery this week, you'll be happy to know that she is doing very well.  We've talked with her for the past two days and she'll be leaving the hospital for rehab soon!  We told her today that she would not have liked the tournament as they played too fast.

Sumter landing Craft Show

We met Diane at Sumter Landing for the craft fair.  It had threatened rain but turned into a HOT day.

I took a photo of a dog being wheeled in a stroller!

 

I got this far in the blog last night and Comcast went out - TV, Internet, the works.  We called and their recorded message said that they were having technical difficulties!

After walking around at the craft fair, we went for salads at Too Jays.   There was a small wait for a table, but we were seated within 10 minutes.

In the parking lot, we traded items - Diane had our mail (our last boxes for this year) and we had a bottle of wine that we had meant to bring to her home when we had dinner there but forgot.

We came home to do some work, read, and watch the Olympics.

 

Rainy Day

This morning I got up at the crack of dawn to do some work before I had to leave to go to Leesburg to take my car in to Plaza Cadillac for a safety check for our trip home next week.

Terry was working all morning and was still at it when I returned.

I did some work during the afternoon and then did some reading.

It started to pour and pour and pour, so we made an executive decision to not go to Temple this evening, as you park on the grass and the grass was sure to be a muddy field.

After dinner, Terry went back to work and I went to Temple (via computer, seeing services at our home Temple).  It was an early service, which worked out perfectly.

Some friends were blessed for their 50th anniversary (Paula and Marshall) and some teens spoke about their trip to Washington, D. C. to lobby for causes of interest to the Jewish community.

One of the daughters of our current Sisterhood Co-President spoke about nets in Africa to prevent malaria and was passionate and eloquent, as were the other speakers.  Way to go Ashley.

I said Kaddish for our grandfather, Robert Glazer, via the computer!

I'm going to go back to reading.  Terry seems to be tied to her computer.

President Wilson

Started the morning by going to have a pedicure at a local shop, and buying some gas.  It's amazing how much gas we use just tooling around.

Terry was busy working when I left and was still at it when I returned.

We had a quick lunch and then went to get a car wash.

The baby gets a wash and is under the tent getting dried.

 

  We stopped at Publix for a few things to tide us over until we have to leave.

 

Rested and then changed clothes to go to a program at Seabreeze Recreation Center.

 

How beautiful it is to do nothing and rest afterwards!

Seabreeze sitting area



Another sitting area at Seabreeze 

 

The program was a husband and wife who do programs about presidents and their wives.  Tonight was President Wilson and his two wives.

 



 

 

I did not remember that Woodrow Wilson had an election victory similar to 2000 when Bush won over Gore, with much vote counting, etc.  I also did not remember that he had been President of Princeton.  The second wife is on the left (more stylish) with the first wife (who died) on the right.

 

Watching ice dancing at the Olympics.

 

Beautiful Day

I was on a conference call for part of the morning with my fellow directors of the Association of Illinois Real Estate Educators. 

Terry was busy working for The Paperwork Assistants for most of the morning and into the early afternoon.  Mindy, take note!!

We finally left the house and went for a ride to a local K-Mart but did not find what we were looking for.

From there we went to Spanish Springs.  It was market night and we walked around.  Terry picked up a little gift for our friend Janet, who had open-heart surgery today.  Her daughter texted that she was out of surgery and in ICU.  The doctor said she did "well."

After sitting listening to the music and watching the line dancers, we decided to go to the Greek Restaurant and sit outside and do more listening and watching while eating gyros.  The gyros were not as good as I had remembered them from last year.

We are now watching the Olympics.

The Dorels

We went to the beauty shop at noon today and we are duly shorn and dyed (oh, you thought our hair color is natural - ooops).

Went for a quick bite at the Bagel Restaurant in the shopping center and it was nice enough to sit outside and eat.

 

 

 

 

The car parked in front of me had the cutest stick figures in the window, I just had to take a photo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went to Dollar Tree to pick up at few items and to get some boxes.  We are going to have to ship some summer things home as our suitcases cannot accommodate everything we each purchased.

 

 

We came home to get dressed to go to the Chicagoland Club.  Tonight, the member seating was by first name.  At our table the member women were all named Diane!  Gloria and Lynn joined us.  One couple was from Crystal Lake and the other one was from Arlington Heights.

 

 

We were charged with bringing chips and dips!  Easy enough task, which we performed well.  We also brought our own wine.

 

The entertainment was the Dorels.  An African American singing group - all Village residents.  It was a very nice evening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Past our bedtime

Quiet day, mostly working and reading.

We went to Joyce and Jim's for dinner and to play cards.  We did not get home until after 11 - past our bedtime!

Off to bed - nighty, night!

Arts and Crafts

Quiet morning - working and reading.

After lunch we went to the Coconut Cove Recreation Center for an Arts and Crafts Show.  They had some very nice art work and jewelry for sale.  Terry bought a few things, I bought nothing.

We went for a walk at Spanish Springs and went in and out of stores.

Came home to more work and reading, dinner, and then the Olympics Ice Dancing.

Arlene a perfectly good unused name

Today we left the house after lunch to go grocery shopping and to Walgreens.

Walgreens sent me a coupon good for $5 off of a $10 purchase for talking with a druggist.  There was no line at the drug counter so I showed the coupon to the druggist (a young man).  He had not seen the coupon before and said okay - I said "we've talked"  he said yes!

We bought a few things and Terry got her makeup - for $5 off - great deal!  Thanks Walgreens.

Went to Aldi's and Publix to shop for tonight and for the Chicagoland Club (on Tuesday).

I went over to Diane and Tom's for Terry's mail (yea - Des Plaines Post Office), while Terry waited for our guests-Barb and Bernie.

Barb and Terry worked together at Shell Oil (before Terry's kids were born).  Terry was officially known as Arlene in those days. Always, known as Terry at home.  Barb still thinks of her as Arlene-hard habit to break!

Olympics are on but half listening while writing the blog.

Laughter on the 23rd Floor

Today we spent most of the day working and reading until it was time to go to Diane and Tom's for a delicious dinner.

After dinner, we went to see Laughter on the 23rd Floor, about the writers for the Sid Caesar Show, written by Neil Simon.  They had a video tape of a couple of bits from the actual shows - it was fun.

Below is a link to a video of the writers for the actual show talking about the show.  "Uncle" Aaron Ruben (our aunt's brother) is fourth from the left in the bottom photo.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/6305235295/ref=mw_dp_img_2_z?in=2&is=l



Watching Jason Brown skate at the Olympics.  He's from Highland Park and OSRUI (our Reform Jewish Camp in Wisconsin).  He did well, but doesn't have a quad jump and made a few mistakes, but came in 9th!

Love Letters

Today, we went to the Savannah Center to see the play Love Letters.  Performed by two Village Actors, who read the letters between a boy/man and girl/woman over a 50+ year period.

They did a great job and it was a wonderful afternoon.

It was a bring your own lunch event and we brought our cheese sandwiches and chips and they had beverages and cookies.

From there we went to Anthony's to take advantage of our 40% off discount (from yesterday's fashion show).  I bought a pair of jeans and Terry bought two pairs of slacks.  None of which needs shortening, something that never happens at home.

We took a ride to Sumter but a lot of the vendors were not there are it was too cold.  We went to Cody's for dinner and were there in time for the early-bird special.  I had a great prime rib and Terry had a steak. The dinners came with a bottomless salad and great warm rolls.  We ate every last bite.

If we were drinking people, we could have had drinks 2-for-one.

Stopped at Chase Bank to make a deposit (drive thru open until 6 P.M. - how great is that)!

We are both working and Terry is doing laundry.  I did mine this morning before leaving for the play.

We are watching the news and then hope to see the Olympics.

Fashions Galore

Terry weighed in this morning, took all of 5 minutes.  I ran into Belk's to get a pair of earrings and we were off to meet friends at a fashion show.

Today was a fashion show at the Cattle Barron, with Anthony's Fashions and CHAMPAGNE!

Diane, Joyce, Karen and Gloria joined us.  It was a lot of fun and we enjoyed our lunch and CHAMPAGNE. 

We also got discount certificates from Anthony's and may have to visit there tomorrow (the certificates are good for 40% for today and tomorrow)!

We forgot to take a photo of the ladies at the luncheon!

Came home to read and do some work.

We are now watching the Olympics, and keeping track of the storms that are hitting Florida.  Thunderstorms are in the area.  Cannot believe what is happening in Atlanta and the Carolinas.

Did I mention that last night we watched the Olympics after watching 2 hours of Shark Tank.  I think this is another 12-step program that we need to enter!

Cedar Key

Met our landlord's Mom and Sister today and gave them a garage-door opener so they could put some of the mother's boxes in the garage.  She is moving into an independent living place not too far from us.  She lives in a villa not too far from us, and is selling it.

Terry had read about Cedar Key in a book titled Forgotten Florida.  Well, there was a reason for it to be forgotten!

To say that it was a sleepy little town and run down would put it mildly.

We drove about 2 hours to get there, on the most boring of two-lane highways (thanks MapQuest).  No washrooms until we hit the outskirts of Cedar Key and a Chevron Gas Station was our salvation.

Into town we went!  What a disappointment.   We found a place to have lunch and sat outside.  The most exciting part was changing tables because it was too sunny at the first table.

As Terry was paying the bill, the waitress mentioned that she had won a PIG in a raffle!  Now, tell me, who raffles off a pig?  Also, would buys the raffle tickets for a pig????  She said she did not know that the pig was the prize.  I'm wondering if it was the booby prize.  The first prize was probably a trip out of the town.

Here are some photos of our view while eating our fried shrimp.  BTW:  Sea Breeze makes a good shrimp lunch.  The place was virtually dead.

Did you notice that we are both wearing stripes?

We went home via the GPS (thanks Gypsy) and the route was much prettier, with large horse farms.

Stopped at Walmart for a few things and then came home.

Sad Day

My day starting with a call from Mary Kay that her husband, my friend Bill, had passed away last night.  While it was expected, it is still hard to adjust to the thought.  His funeral will be next week, I feel awful that I cannot be there.

I was busy on the telephone finding out information about Bill's service to the REALTOR community that Mary Kay needed for the death notice.

Terry was busy on a long conference call with Mindy and two of their employees.

We finally both came up for air and had a quick lunch.

We recycled our newspapers at the Temple and then went to Beall's Outlet.  Terry bought out the place - so don't even think of going to the one on 441/27.  At one point I said - "who are you and what did you do to my sister."  She isn't generally a shopper!  Here are the tops that she bought:

 

 

 

This last one she bought at Anthony's last week

 

There were three more that she has decided to take back!

We went to Aldi's and Terry went in to shop while I made some telephone calls.

Our friend from Temple, Annette, called to say that her daughter-in-law Linda's uncle was my friend Marlene's significant other.  You may recall from an earlier post that he passed away last week after an auto accident in Lincolnwood.  Small world!

Spoke  with Marlene again tonight and she is hanging in there - lots of frustrations.  The car is still being examined, etc. etc. 

After dinner, I participated in the Township meeting.  Short meeting.  Chuck said it was ten below zero and more snow was on the way!  What a great winter to be in Florida.

The sun is OUT!

Today, we had sunshine and it got up to the low 70's!  Now, that's the Florida that we love.

Because we had bought tickets for a play that the Lake Miona Theatre Group put on, we got FREE tickets for a Taste of Broadway this afternoon. 

The first half was some scenes from Glengarry Glen Ross (David Mamet) and the second half was Love, Loss, and What I Wore, by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron.  Loved the second half - it was so engaging - five women talking about their lives and what they wore.

 

 

From Lake Miona, we went to Brownwood (the third square) to walk and see the new restaurants and shops.  Such a nice day, it was fun to just walk and see the progress being made there.  A number of stores have been built and are awaiting their new tenants.

Came home to further enjoy the day.  I went outside and sat at the new table out there.  Had some wine, and read.  Terry came out and found it too cool so she read in the sunroom.

 

 

 

 

We had dinner and are watching the Olympics.  Jason Brown, the skater from Highland Park, and a camper at our Reform Jewish Camp,, came in fourth in the free skate.  We are hoping that they will show that event tonight.

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

OK, it is not snow, but we have had rain most of this week - enough already!

We drove to the Tampa area to meet Betty's step daughter, Elyse, and her family, at the Brandon Mall.  We had a nice lunch, at Grillsmith, and enjoyed catching up with them.

Mark and Elyse

Katya enjoying her dessert

 

On the way home from Tampa, I had Terry take a photo of a highway sign, marking an exit that is named for someone by the name of Bruce Downs, who has a Blvd off of I 75 named for him.  I know a Bruce Downs (different middle initial).

 

 

 

We got back to The Villages in time for me to make a deposit at Chase Bank, with 10 minutes to spare.

 

Mindy called and we had a nice talk (on speaker, so Terry could participate in the conversation).  We knew that Miranda was in a voice competition today and wanted to know how it went.  She sang a duet with a friend, Maddie.  The got a 1 - which is the highest.  Way to go Miranda!

 

Maddie and Miranda

 

Miranda and Mindy were shopping and saw the dress that Maddie is wearing and bought it for her!

 

We've had dinner and will be watching the Ice Skating at the Olympics.

 



Neither Rain Nor Sleet Nor Dark of Night

It was a cold, rainy day, but we ventured forth to one of our favorite craft fairs at the Holiday Travel RV Resort, in Leesburg.

We felt sorry for the outdoor vendors, but enjoyed the vendors in the recreation building and the tent.

Terry bought a pair of earrings and I bought a microwave hot pad shaped to fit a bowl that can go into the microwave making it easier to get the bowl out of the microwave without burning yourself!

 

The bowl is ours - used for illustration purposes

 

 

Terry had bought a couple at another craft fair.

 

 

We then went to T. J. Max.  Terry bought an ear bud/microphone in order to better listen to some conference calls that she is participating in next week.

 

I bought a blouse.

 

Both of our forwarded mail packages, from our respective post offices, came today!!!!  Wonder of Wonders.  Neither rain, nor sleet, nor dark of night....

 



 

Atlantic City Boys

Terry and I were home all day.  We both did laundry and Terry cooked and cleaned for a good part of the morning - bless her heart.

I was participating in a conference call as a member of the North Shore-Barrington Association of REALTORS' Board of  Directors for a good part of the morning and into the early afternoon.

Since it was raining, we did not go out until it was time to go to the Savannah Center to hear the Atlantic City Boys.

 

It was a high energy show, similar to the Jersey Boys that we had seen in Chicago a few years ago.

Just received word that a friend's significant other was killed in a car accident in Evanston yesterday.

Rain???

We waited this morning to see if it was going to rain, as predicted.  After lunch, we decided to venture out and take a ride to Cedar Key, since there was no rain.

On our way, it looked threatening, so we changed gears and went to look at a new restaurant on Lake Weir: Eaton's Beach Sandbar and Grill, that was suggested by a friend.  We will go there when the weather is better, but at least we know where it is.

We headed toward Ocala to do an errand, and it started to rain, so we tubed that idea and instead went to Belk's to get my makeup - it was a Clinique gift day!!!  Did I mention that I bought two sweaters - they were on sale and the store almost paid me to take them!

Of course, it had stopped raining!  We went grocery shopping and then went to have dinner at Olive Garden.  We now have leftovers for dinner tomorrow night!


That's not us in the photo, but I thought we needed a photo for the blog!

I spent the evening reading materials for the North Shore Barrington Board of REALTORS Board of Directors' meeting, which I will call into tomorrow morning.

Fashions Galore

After stopping at the mail box to mail our deposit check for next year at The Villages, and an envelope for the Township, we were off to pick up a high-school friend, Patti, at Sumter Landing.

Patti lives a bit south of us and only has a golf cart available to her, but she knows how to get to Sumter Landing.  We met at Sweetbay's Grocery Store's parking lot and loaded her folding chair into the car and we were off.

We were headed to an outdoor fashion show at Spanish Springs, put on by all of the stores in that square.  We met Diane there and set our selves up.  But, our location proved to be too sunny so we moved into the shade for the rest of the morning.

Every program had a number of it and you could win a prize if your number was called- this was mine - it was a loser!

A  photo of the Gazebo - the models walked up there and then through the audience.

Patti and Diane before we moved out of the sun

 

 

 

After the show, Diane had to go home and prepare to play golf. 

 

We went for lunch at Tera del Sol Country Club and had a delightful lunch sitting on their screened porch.

 



 

 

 

My mail (sent from Skokie on 1/29) finally arrived!!!!  I spent the rest of the afternoon opening mail.

 

Terry did some laundry and took a walk.

 

We had our Mexican left overs for dinner and are getting ready to look at....wait for it......

Shark Tank, two hours worth!  Terry just corrected me and said it is four hours - OMG!