New Year's Eve

It's almost 2019 - hard to believe.  Terry and I have been coming to The Villages for 11 years!

This morning we were moving slowly. I answered student questions, had breakfast and finished the crossword puzzle in the paper (Monday is always easy).

After breakfast, Terry and Mindy had a conference call for business - end of year stuff.

We had lunch and then went to the Dollar Tree for some things we had forgotten the other day.

Went into Kohl's too and I bought something, not sure that I am in love with it, so will still be looking.

Came home to celebrate New Year's Eve with champagne and shrimp on the patio.

Terry made us a delicious steak dinner with salad and sweet potatoes.  She also bought me a personalized piece of pecan pie.  She doesn't like pecan pie, but she knows that I do.

We are both resting and catching up with emails, blogs, etc.

A beautiful day in Paradise

Another beautiful day in The Villages.  In the 80's for most of the day!!

We both had somethings we wanted at the Flea Market (Market of Marion) and took a ride over there.  It was very quiet there. given it was a Sunday.  Of course, the snowbirds are not down yet.

We had lunch there (gourmet eating).

Stopped in at Beall's Outlet on Highway 42 and each bought something.  Terry got adorable sandals for a steal.  I got a top that I have not tried on with my slacks as yet.

I needed makeup so we stopped at Belk's.  Also looked around, but bought nothing else.

As we left Belk's we saw this car.  It was a Honda CRV.  Terry may have to buy some paint to doll up her CRV.

Needed to get a prescription filled and went to Walmart to pick it up.  Bought a few other things while we were there.  We needed copy paper and they had it, while Terry could not find it in  the other Walmart we went to yesterday..

Came home to do the mundane, eat leftovers, take out the garbage, Terry doing laundry, and both of us reading.

It's a tough life, but someone has to do it.

Color Us Exhausted

We got up fairly earliy.  Marilyn checked her student's emails and Terry checked our shopping lists.

We had nothing to eat for breakfast so went to the local place, Lil Bits, for breakfast.

After breakfast, we walked over to the nail salon and made an appointment for manicures and pedicures for January 2.  Later that same day, we go for haircut and dye (grey-grey go away).

Next stop was Dollar Tree for some household items and some personal items.

Walmart was next and we took two carts and were phoning each other as we shopped.

Came home to have a small bite of lunch and to rest for the next round.

Our caretaker said to go to Rohan Recreation Center for our credentials.  When we got there, they said no, not here!  So, as we suspected, we went back to Sumter Landing and got the credentials.  I think our caretaker got confused.  There is a pick up at Rohan after the new year at an event for new renters.

Got gas, and the price was so good, Terry had to take a photo.

Only once on the road did we pay over $2.00 for gas.

We next went to Publix and Terry went in to speed shop (she did not need me slowing her down).

We came home and had Publix yummy fried chicken for dinner.

We are reading two days worth of newspapers and I did laundry in between reading.

Driving Between Rain Drops

We left Atlanta in  a drizzle, it was raining hard when we looked out of the window before going down to breakfast.

Had to waive my hotel room key to get out of the parking lot.  Paid $10 a night for parking -that's a first for us.

Hit I-75 and it rained on and off for most of the ride.  Sometimes a drizzle, sometimes a downpour, and sometimes the sun tried to shine through.

Stopped at a McDonald's for lunch and the rain had stopped.   Got back into the car and it started again.

It stopped any time we had to go to the Rest Area and stopped all together when we hit the Florida line.

Stopped at the Welcome Center and got some brochures.  Dashboard said 84 degrees!

About 35 minutes from our exit, there was a tie up.  The overhead sign said 90 minutes to where we were to get off.  GPS got us off in Ocala and we took back roads to the house.  Of course, everyone else's GPS was telling them the same thing - SLOW GOING.

We finally arrived at the house and Clem greeted us.

We unpacked the car and I took some photo of how tight a squeeze it was in the car.

The trunk was full to the height of the seats in the back.

The back seat was that full too, as was the floor of the back seat!  That photo did not come out.

Went to Beef O'Brady's for dinner - we both had shrimp (Terry grilled and me fried)

Once we got Comcast to turn the Internet on and get the TV's working, I was in a foul mood.  That should have been done before we arrived.

Terry is unpacked, but I haven't really started.  Had to sign checks for the Township, etc.

Traffic, Mountains and Rain

We woke up early and got dressed and went down for breakfast.

We left at 7 a.m., Chicago time and 8 a.m. Eastern time.

There was a little rain,but nothing too awful. 

Terry drove after the mountains and was in the back-up traffic on I-24 before getting on to I-75.  Every years it's the same.  No reason for the back up, but always one.

Marilyn drove the rest of the way into Atlanta.  It started to seriously rain as we got off of I-85 to our hotel, Hyatt Place, Atlanta Airport South.

$10 to park - a first for us at a Hyatt Place.

Fortunately, they have a limited menu and WINE and we ate in their lobby as there was no way that we were going to get back into the car looking for food.

Terry had a little gastro problem before we left Chicago, so she was eating lightly on
Christmas and while we are on the road.  She says she is fine now!

On the Road Again

We left Terry's about 9 a.m., and everything fit into the car - a miracle!

We usually stop in Merrilliville, IN at the Holiday Inn Star Plaza or Denny's.  Guess what isn't there any more?  Just empty ground!

Found a McDonalds and used their washrooms.

Terry was trying to fix the seat and mirrors to her satisfaction and to her dismay, managed to get the side mirrors into the car wash position.  We had to read the book to undo that.  Also, had to read the book to get everything adjusted for her!

It got to be lunch time and we stopped at another McDonald's and it was so busy, no human was taking orders and they were 1/2 hour behind on filling the orders from the self ordering machine.  We left and ate some crackers that we had in the car.

By the time we got to Elizabethtown, KY, we were hungry.  Dropped our bags at Baymont Hotel and went across to the steak restaurant..  We had to send our steaks back, as they were not cooked properly.

We are getting ready for bed and it is only 8 p.m., KY time!

The weather looks like rain for the rest of the trip to Florida.

Family Christmas at Stacy's

We had a wonderful Christmas at Stacy's house.  She, Jessica and Mark had the house decorated for the holidays and it looked lovely.  Stacy made three lasagnas for 10 people!  Lots of food - yummy!

We exchanged white elephant gifts using a game Mindy developed - she made up the rules as we went along!  We did laugh a lot!!!

We also exchanged gift cards and Mindy developed a game for that too - that game went a little better.

We played another game - Would You Rather, that Mindy and Miranda purchased.  Strange game and we lost interest fast.

Below is a photo of the family (I hated the photos I was in so am just showing this one),

Our Christmas Holiday Starts

Our Christmas Holiday starts with lunch at Malnati's (instead of our usual Chinese dinner in a crowded restaurant).  We had a great lunch, with leftovers to take home.  They were not crowded and we lingered to exchange our scratch-off lottery tickets.  Ida was the big winner - $25 scratch off!