Day Three HOME

 We left the La Quinta Inn, Elizabethtown, KY, at 8 a.m.  Early for us.

We did potty stops, and McDonalds for lunch (Terry wanted a hamburger).

We thought we'd get an afternoon snack at another McDonalds (sundaes), but alas the sign said "coming soon."  We probably didn't need the calories any how.

We had smooth sailing and were going about 70 MPH most of the way.  We got to Terry's house about 2 P.M., and Marilyn got home about 2:30 P.M. and a neighbor helped her get her suitcases and the cart filled with stuff upstairs.

After getting everything into our houses, we both went to Mariano's for some groceries and ran into each other there.  Marilyn also stopped at the Skokie Post Office to get her mail that was being held.  Marilyn told the counter person (Diamond) that they had done an excellent job, unlike Des Plaines.  Terry will visit with Des Plaines Post Office tomorrow!

On the Way Home Day Two

When Terry went to take a shower, the water would not turn on, and all she got sentiment.  They had turned off the water!!!!  The toilet worked and the sink worked.  She was not pleased and they gave us a 50% discount on the room.

We had a nice breakfast at the Hyatt Place, in Smyrna, GA, and then left the hotel at 8:00 a.m.!

We had stops for potty breaks and gas.

We had lunch at a Cracker Barrel and then stopped at another Cracker Barrel down the road so Terry could get a gift for a neighbor.

We had no traffic jam at I-75 and I-24!

It was a day of clear sailing and nice weather.

We checked into LaQuinta Inn, Elizabethtown, KY and then went to dinner at Ruby Tuesdays.  Had to check out the gift shop at another Cracker Barrel after dinner.

At 8 p.m., we will go on Sisterhood's Book Club.  The book Remarkably Bright Creatures was one that we both enjoyed.

On the Way Home

 We left the house in The Villages at 8:30 a.m., and it was in the 80's

About an hour out of The Villages, it started to pour and Terry read that there was a tornado warning until 3 p.m.

We drove past that area and it was sunny the rest of the way.

We stopped at Love's for gas and lunch there at Hardees.

The traffic was slow in some spots, but for the most part we sailed along.

We got to the hotel about 4:30 p.m., and went over to Carrabba's  for dinner.

We are at the Hyatt Place in Smyrna, GA and resting and watching HGTV.

Beautiful Day, though windy

 It was another beautiful day, though windy.

We finished our packing, except for our hotel bags, computers, etc. which go onto the back seat.

After lunch, we went to the hospital re-sell shop and Terry donated three tops, and the plastic bags we had accumulated.

We came back to the house and backed the car up in the driveway and loaded everything that needed to go into the "trunk." The garage is too narrow to take our suitcases along the sides when the car is in the garage.

We finished everything in the freezer and tomorrow will finish and/or toss everything left in the refrigerator.  The garbage goes out to the curb on Monday evenings, for Tuesday morning pick up.  So, the landlords will have to get rid of the garbage that we leave.

We watched Jeopardy which was a rerun, but new to us.

  

Another Beautiful Day - Beauty Shop and Irish Program

 It was a beautiful day - we are soaking it in!

We went to see Vanessa, our beautician, who made us "beautiful!"

We went home to change clothes and meet the group at Laurel Manor.   It was the Lynn Haven Neighbors.  Everyone brought food - it was a lot of food.

    Cheri, Diane, Tom

Barbara and Garrett

Mary Something, Friend of Karen's, and Karen

Entertainer - Irish, but we don't remember his name

Another Beautiful Day, Meetings for Marilyn and Concert

 Marilyn had a day full of meetings.  It started with IDFPR (our licensing agency), which got a late start as they were waiting to have a quorum.  Marilyn attends the meeting remotely, and reports on it for the school for whom she teaches.

Next was the Contracts Committee of the North Shore Barrington Assoc. of REALTORS.

Terry was busy working at her desk for most of the day.

Terry made us lunch and we watched Nancy Levy's funeral.  Nancy was the wife of Chuck Levy, who was the Township Clerk while Marilyn was the Supervisor.

Finally, we went to St. Tim's Catholic Church and heard a marvelous concert. Most of the singers had been performers on Broadway.  Bill Dougherty was the accompanist.

Grant Norman

A Beautiful Day and Some Shopping and Packing Up

 After breakfast, we ran over to the Hospital Thrift Shoppe and Terry again found two tops for $1 each!

We then went to Sam's Club to get something for Friday night, when we are going to Lynnhaven Neighbors.  This time they had roll ups, so we will be bringing those.

When we got back we packed up the box that we leave at Diane and Tom's.

At 3:30 we watched Jeopardy.

We had our ribs for dinner - yummy!!!

We are set to watch Jeopardy at 7 p.m. and again at 9 p.m.

Stress Test and Ribs

 We both had breakfast and only Marilyn had lunch, as Terry was not to eat before her stress test.

We arrived at Dr. Garcia's Office for Terry to have a stress test.  It was 2 p.m.  They did the test in stages and in between Terry came out and visited with Marilyn in the waiting room.  It was a stress test without the treadmill.

Marilyn had brought some crackers for Terry for afterward, but they gave her water and then some cookies and coffee between sessions.

When she was done, we headed to Oakwood Express for ribs.  Terry took two photos - one without Marilyn, and that's the one we will use here.

They get you in and out quickly.  We could have been home earlier had there not been a train - make that two trains that impeded our going home.  Terry and Mindy talked business while we waited for the trains to pass.

We will be going onto Barry Bradford's presentation about Julie Roberts.

We recorded Jeopardy so hope to catch that too.

And the Prize Goes to The Des Plaines, IL Post Office

Yes, today the Des Plaines Post Office has topped even themselves in incompetence!

Today, we took our corporate taxes to the Lady Lake Post Office to send it via Certified Mail.  While there Terry inquired about her overnight package that did not arrive.  The Counter Man said that it was returned on Saturday for insufficient address.  Lady Lake Post Office telephone number did not work and calls went into the 800# which is a nightmare when we tried calling today.

When we got back into the car, Terry got a text message that the package was being returned for insufficient address at 2 p.m. TODAY.  Marilyn suggested that she go back into the post office since it had to be in the building as it was just a few minutes after 2 p.m.

She got a Supervisor by the name of Brian, who found out that Brian, the carrier, had just scanned the envelope and was on his way back into the post office.  We waited about 15 minutes and Terry got her mail.  Below is how it was addressed - NO STREET ADDRESS and an apartment number that she cannot get removed from the premium forwarded info.

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Earlier in the day, Marilyn had gotten a text message that her box was forwarded to another address at 12 p.m. on March 9, in Lady Lake, because the forwarding instructions or because the address or Zip Code on the label was incorrect.  Then she got a message that the package was delivered.  Of course, there was no problem with the address because Skokie has smart people working there.

Terry has spent a lot of time doing her corporate taxes and Marilyn's corporate taxes.  THANKS TERRY.

Marilyn has signed up for a program on Jewish Food at 7 p.m.

Sunday, March 9, 2025

 Forgot to write the blog.  We just went to see Barbara and Bernie Lindquist, at the rehab where Barbara is, at Buffalo Crossing.

They had girl scout cookies and a pumpkin pie ready to serve us.  I had a piece of the pie and Terry had a cookie.  That was so sweet of them.

We came home and that was our exciting day!

Spanish Springs, Laurel Manor

 We left the house somewhat early and went to Spanish Springs for the market they call Mercado.  We bought nothing.

Next was Laurel Manor and a craft show.  Marilyn bought an eye glass case for her sunglasses, and Terry bought two pocket tissue holders for Marilyn.

We next went to Dollar Tree and Terry bought something for under her computer to get air circulating.

Publix was our last stop for some things to tide us over until we leave.

Again, the Des Plaines Post Office wins the prize - Terry just got notice AGAIN that her mail which was to be overnighted, on Thursday- since it did not go out on Wednesday, that it was sent back for an improper address.

We both tried the Des Plaines Post Office and they finally answered on Marilyn's phone.  Terry also had called the 800# to register a complaint.  We could NOT reach the Lady Lake Post Office as it was closed.

Marilyn's package is also wandering around - it was in Lake Mary, Florida last we heard.

Terry's been working on taxes and we both have been reading.

Taxes and Lease for 2026

 Terry worked on Paperwork Assistants Corporate taxes most of the morning.  .

Marilyn did laundry and stayed out of her way

Shirley (the landlady) came with next year's lease.  Which we signed.

Plaza Cadillac came with Marilyn's car and took back the loaner.  There is no longer the noise when you turn on the air conditioning and the air works great.

After a quick bite - we finished the breakfast bread that Joy had brought (from Publix) when she came to dinner.  OMG it was so good!!!!!

We left to go to a play at Hacienda Recreation Center.  The room were the play was the Carmen Miranda room - Terry had to take a photo.  The man in the green shirt, and the little grey-haired lady next to him that you can barely see are Diane and Tom's friends Barbara and Garret.

The play was probably the worst that we have seen in The Villages.  We left at Intermission.  Diane and Tom called later and said if they could have left they would have.  But there was a whole group of friends who went to see the play.  Diane, Tom, Joyce, Gloria, Barbara, Garret and Karen.

We came home in time to see the end of Jeopardy.

Keith Hancock and Marilyn had a long conversation about some mutual friends who are not doing well.

Thursday, March 6, 2025 Another Frustrating Day

 We stayed in most of the day, until we heard from Cadillac that the car would be ready about 4:30. 

When we got there,  they reported that in trying to recharge the Freon in the air conditioner, it became obvious that there was a problem in the compressor and it was failing.

We are now having them replace the compressor. It's cheaper than a new car.  We don't want to have a problem on the way home.

Marilyn thinks she has that right - both parts (compressor and condenser) were replaced - think the order is correct, but not sure.

We kept the loaner and they are to deliver Marilyn's car tomorrow and take back the loaner.

The loaner was easier to drive when they turned off the  feature where the dashboard appeared on the windshield.

We stopped at Home Depot on the way home for Terry to see if they had an air flow thingy for her laptop.  It appears as if they don't carry it in the store, but only online.  She found something to improvise with among the broiler pieces.

Yes, we had wine with dinner and then watched Jeopardy.  Marilyn fell asleep on the recliner until 1:45!

Frustrating Day

 We left the house early to go to Plaza Cadillac to have the car checked for road worthiness before we leave for home.  We listened to Bagman, a podcast by Rachael Maddow. on the way there.  The podcast is about Spiro Agnew.  We listened to the end after lunch.

I mentioned to them that there was a fluttering sound-  on the dashboard.  Seems that the condenser needs to be replaced.  You don't want to know how much that will cost!  

Since they had to order the part and it is a 4.5 hour process once they have the part, they gave us a loaner.

On the way home, in the loaner car, we encountered a rain storm where we could barely see in front of us.

Came home - had lunch and napped.

At 4 p.m., we heard Heather Cox Richardson and Simon Rosenberg talk about the country for an organization called Commit to Democracy.  They were excellent.  A lot of work needs to be done to protect our democracy.

We started listening to Main Justice and then paused the podcast for Jeopardy.  

Listened to the end of Main Justice after Jeopardy.

At 9 p.m., there was another Jeopardy - Celebrity Jeopardy.  Again, we did not know the celebrities.

Nice Day, a Little Cool

 Our newspaper was not on the driveway this morning, had to call the newspaper.  A cordial lady answered and said she'd have the paper delivered and then called back to see if we had it.  So impressed!

We went onto our Temple's Symposium this week where Rabbi Goldstein's husband, Jacob Leizman, who is a Rabbi at North Shore Congregation Israel was the speaker again this week.

Around 4:30, we left to go to Spanish Springs Town Square to see what was happening at Market Night.  It was pathetic, only about six vendors.  We just walked around the square and came home.

Sitting near the living room windows, Marilyn heard a loud noise.  Seems our friends were back and on our lawn.  Terry took a picture.  She was afraid to get too close as they seemed aggressive.

After dinner, we went on Barry Bradford's program about 2000 (25 years ago)!  It was very interesting.

We then both went on the protest site and heard two Democrat Members of Congress just before the State of the Union Address.  WE ARE NOT LISTENING TO THE STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS.

We struck out

 Terry went to AAA thinking she's get some maps (she threw out the old ones).  No luck, they did not have the maps she wanted.

While Terry was at AAA, Marilyn was in line for a car wash, but the line was not moving, so she aborted the car wash.  Met up with Terry and came home. We vacuumed the car ourselves and hopefully Cadillac will give it a wash when we are there on Wednesday.

We then had a 3 p.m. Zoom with our cousin, Jeff, and an attorney from Israel.  That was also not too promising.

Next we went to Laurel Manor hoping that Terry could download the tax program.  There was no Internet access (their Internet must have been down).

Diane called to ask if we wanted to go to Chicagoland Ladies, on March 11th, but Terry is having her stress test that day.

Hopefully, Jeopardy will be on this evening.

Sunday, March 2nd - forgot to write the blog last night

 We left the house at 10:00 to go to The Markets of Marion so Marilyn could replace the sunglasses that she lost in front of Terry's doctor's office.  Still working on getting a case for them.

From the Flea Market, we went to Eisenhower Recreation Center for a Glass Fusion Show.  We bought nothing.  There was another Glass Fusion Show at Seabreeze that we also went to.  We bought nothing there.  Terry said "note to self, don't attend Glass Fusion Shows."

We came home, napped, and then Joy Gaftman came over for dinner.  Terry made a good dinner of chicken, rice, veggies, rolls, and Key Lime Pie for dessert.  Of course, we forgot to take a photo.  The photo below is from our dinner with Joy at Glenview Country Club.  Joy brought us something from Publix called Breakfast Bread - OMG to die for!

After Joy left, we played the recording of the Red Carpet part of the Oscars.  We did not know most of those people highlighted.

Lazy Day and a Little Cooler

 We had a lazy morning and finally got our act together to go to get our Premium Forwarded Mail at the Postal Station, got gas and then Terry shopped at Publix

After dinner, we watched Jeopardy.  Marilyn cannot tell you who won, as she took a little rest during the end of the program.

Terry opened her mail.  Marilyn is waiting until tomorrow.

That's all of the excitement for the day!

Another Beautiful Day and Family Leaves

THIS IS NO PURCHASE DAY - AN ECONOMIC BOYCOTT DAY! 

We redeemed our cards from Christmas.  First one is from Miranda, Second one is from Mindy.

We left the house about 12:30 to get them to the bus for the ride to the airport.  Good thing we left early as a number of the streets at Sumter Landing were closed off.  Marilyn kept saying this is ridiculous and they all were mocking her. The plan was to get them there by 1p.m. for the 1:15 p.m. bus!  We made it!!!

We came back to the house to do laundry.  Terry also cleaned and washed up the bathrooms and moved her stuff back to her bedroom while Marilyn moved her stuff back to her bedroom.

After dinner, we went onto our Temple's Services.  It was the service in the round and only Cantor Frost and Rabbi Sherman led the service, along with some musicians.

Miranda had showed us how to record a program, so  Marilyn recorded Jeopardy and we watched that after the services.

Got a text from Mindy that they safely landed and Miranda did not get ill as they did not experience the turbulence that they had on the way to Florida.

Nice Day with Family

 Beautiful day for our family to enjoy.

We had a delightful lox, bagel, cream cheese breakfast at home.

Then we left the house to show them the squares and walked around Brownwood.

While at Brownwood we sat on a bench waiting for Miranda while she made a stop at Dunkin.

We next went to lunch at Bonify Country Club.

We came home and rested before deciding what to do about dinner.  Diane and Tom stopped by with our tickets for a few events for next month.

As we were leaving to go to dinner, these two were visiting on a neighbor's lawn.  They are Sand Hill Cranes.

We went to Target and then Panera for a light dinner.  

Came home and watched Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, which Miranda had recorded.

Apple pie and ice cream topped off the day.

No photos of Miranda as I did not have her permission to include her photo.

, Family, Doctor, Eating, Shopping

 Terry and Marilyn left Mindy and Miranda sleeping and went to Rivers Medical to meet with Justin for a review of Terry's medical tests so far.  So far, she is fine!  Good News.  

We came back to the house and Mindy and Miranda got up and we all had a bite to eat and left the house to go shopping.

We started at the hospital resale shop where Terry got two tops. The rest of us were empty handed. We also donated some plastic bags to them, and Terry donated a pair of shoes. 

T.J. Max was calling to Miranda so that was the next stop, as well as Beall's Outlet (next door), we all were empty handed there too.

Next was Eaton's Beach for lunch.  Mindy and Terry took the obligatory photo in the big chair.

After lunch we went to Marie Rose and Terry and Miranda bought something.  Mindy and Marilyn were empty handed.

We came back to the house to rest and have dinner.  Terry made chicken, salad and rolls - excellent.

We watched Jeopardy and some are watching Survivor while Marilyn is typing this.

Family Visits

After breakfast, we went onto our Temple's Symposium.  Rabbi Goldstein's husband was the speaker.

 After lunch, we left the house to run some errands - Dollar Tree and Walmart for a prescription.  This is after doing multiple loads of laundry in preparation for our visitors.

We then drove to Winter Garden to Cindy and Pete Schroeder's house to pick up Mindy and Miranda, who went to Epcot for the day.

We stopped at a Walmart over in Winter Garden since we were early to pick the kids up.

We drove back and had intended to go to Oakwood for ribs.  However, since we had some groceries in the car, we went to the house first and then went out to Glenview Country Club for dinner and ate on the porch.

Rainy Day, Cleaning, Funeral and Mail

Today was a rainy day and we stayed in to do laundry and clean the house.

We both tried calling the Lady Lake Post Office to get Terry's package delivered.  Neither of us got through to them.

Ethel Kikoler stopped by to drop off a check.  They leave on Friday to go back to Chicago.  😒

At one o'clock we attended John Offenberg's Funeral virtually.  John was a great guy and the husband of our friend Barbara.  That was another Shiva that we contributed to even though we could not be there in person.  Rabbi Goldstein did the funeral and Rabbi Sherman sang the prayers (no Cantor was present).

Guess whose package was at the postal station with Marilyn's package!  Right, Terry's package.  Miracles of Miracles.

Mindy reported that they were on their flight to Orlando. They have landed! We pick them up tomorrow at Mindy's Friend Cindy's. home in Winter Garden.

Sunday in The Villages - Show Time

 After lunch, we left to go to the Gem and Mineral Show at Seabreeze Recreation Center.  We did not buy anything!

Most of the exhibitors had gems you could buy and make your own stuff.  Not our thing.

We then killed some time by going to Dollar Tree for some cards, then got some gas, and went to Willie's Boutique (Goodwill) and Marilyn got three tops - total $26.  A steal!

Kudo's to the Des Plaines Post Office.  This year wins them the most unusual prize.  Every year, we think they cannot top their incompetence, but every year they surprise us.  Today, Terry got a text and an email related to her tracking number - saying the package was going to be returned for insufficient address.  Calling the Lady Lake Post Office was useless so she tried the Supervisor Number at Des Plaines and wonder of wonder, someone answered and attempted to solve the problem.  She'll call Lady Lake, FL  Post Office tomorrow morning and see what the situation might be.

We next went to pick up our grocery order at Walmart.

Lazy Day

 We stayed in our jammies for a good part of the morning - finally got dressed but did not leave the house.

Terry is feeling better!!!

Some day ask about the key-lime pie we finished off!

Marilyn spent a good part of the day reading the next book club book, which she is enjoying. Remarkably Bright Creatures.

Cool Day and Terry under the weather

 Terry was not feeling too well (from the infection and medication) and her blood pressure was very low, we cancelled our weekend plans.

Diane and Tom used our tickets for Three Tenors + One and met Ethel and Steve there and had dinner together at Panera.

We also were supposed to have a dinner party tomorrow night that we had to cancel.

We did leave the house to go to Walmart to pick up a new prescription/antibiotic for Terry.  Hopefully she will tolerate this one better.

Marilyn cracked the face on her telephone and bought a new glass for it at Five Below and took it to   UBreakIFix and within minutes she was in and out.  The telephone was as good as new.

Cool Day We Never Left the House

It was in the 50's this morning and got up to the 60's today.  Cool for Florida.

We both went onto Sally's class about politics - Terry in the "office" Marilyn on her I-Pad in the living room.

After lunch, Marilyn had a Zoom meeting of a committee for the North Shore - Barrington Assoc. of REALTORS that went a couple of hours.

We were supposed to Zoom with a group of friends tonight, but Terry was under the weather and we cancelled the Zoom.

That was our excitement for the day!

Busy Day and Rain

 We were up early AGAIN so Terry could go to Rivers Medical.  They prescribed an antibiotic which we will pick up at Walmart.

From there, we went to KeKe's for breakfast.  Terry's treat! We have leftovers!

We next went to Dollar Tree and then Five Below - which is next door.  

From there we went to Sam's Club and bought a few things.

We came home and Marilyn went onto a training Zoom session for FPC's (Federal Political Coordinators), conducted by the National Association of REALTORS.

Bernie (our landlord) came to put new lightbulbs in the "office" fixture.

Marilyn watched Joyce Vance and Patt Morrison - a program that was yesterday and was recorded.

We left for Walmart and Marilyn dropped Terry off at the Pharmacy Door and went to get the grocery order put into the car.  It was raining by this time.  After getting the groceries, Marilyn went back to get Terry at the Pharmacy Door.

After dinner, we both went on a program with Author Lisa Barr, sponsored by the National Council of Jewish Women-North Shore Chapter.  She was speaking about her new book The Goddess of Warsaw.

Doctors, Tests, Shopping, 50 Years Ago

After lunch, we went back to River's Medicine for Terry to have more tests.  We have to go back tomorrow morning, because they could not do a simple test on the same day as the other test.

Somehow Marilyn lost her car sunglasses and case.  We don't know where they disappeared to.  They may have fallen out of the car - we don't know.

From there we went to Dollar Tree and then Aldi.  Since, we forgot to get one item at Dollar Tree, we went back, but they were out of the item.

After dinner, we went on Barry Bradford's program about 1975 (50 years ago).  Very interesting program.

 

Happy Presidents Day, Mah Jongg, and Book Club

 Happy Presidents Day.  We are willing to celebrate a lot of presidents with one exception!!!!!

Terry got a call from River's Medical asking her to come in for another test on Wednesday morning, in addition to her appointment at 2:30 tomorrow.  Are we having fun yet????

In the morning, Diane called and asked if we could substitute in her mahjongg game today- we said yes.

After lunch, we went to Diane's and met her friend Pat and played mahjongg.  Pat did not win even one hand.

Tonight, Sisterhood's Book Club is talking about the book Go As a River, by Shelley Read.  Neither of us finished the book.  The discussion should be interesting.  We both read a scathing review of the book, the author of the review HATED the book.