Learning More PhotoShop

Just as I was walking out the door Andy called to say Riley was running a fever and they were taking him to the doctor's. So I had the day off. Spent most of it doing the first lesson in my new Digital Scrapbook class. It took most of the day with some tv watching and laundry thrown in. Here are the fruits of my labors. Lots of new techniques in this weeks lesson.


Chris was actually in the house for about an hour today, I was awake and home. That hasn't happened in a while. He has tomorrow off and big plans have been made.

Dan had one of the busiest days he's had in a long time, looks like tomorrow will be the same. They are starting to get jobs from a couple of the new stores around here. Sure would be nice if one would open in Saint Cloud.

Not much to write about when you spend the day sitting in front of the computer. Hard to believe that is what I did for my last four years in the Navy.

Chicks, Gators, Eggs, and Birthdays

Riley sure is a creature of habit, woke up at 0700, just like during the week at his house. Had his breakfast of a banana and cheerios. Decided to have a quick bath in the kitchen sink (Riley not me). We were doing just fine until I decided to use the sprayer and it had the residual cold water in it and Riley didn't like that one bit. Put a quick end to the bath but he was all clean and hair was washed. Got dressed and we were off for our walk.

Started down the berm first. Riley on Grampa's shoulders and me pulling the stroller behind me. We wanted to see the sandhill crane chick and we almost missed the family. We were looking for the nest but ran into Mum, Dad, Tammy and Luke and they showed us where the mama, dad and baby were hanging out.

Talked for a bit and watched the three sandhill cranes. It was very funny and cute when a group of cranes flew over, made lots of noise, this caused the mama sandhill crane to go crazy and call to her chick. The chick stood up very straight and ran right to mama. The daddy was acting very brave defending his little family.

We all continued on our way. We walked a bit more and came across a gator in the water, it looked about two feet long. Just sat there for a bit, then we must have come into his field of view because off he went in a flash.

When we got back to the sidewalk, Riley went into the stroller and wasn't very happy about it, so we played matador and bull. Grampa was the matador and Riley and I were the bull. This took his mind off being in the stroller and we continued on our walk. No more wildlife sightings on the rest of the walk.

We were off to Publix to do Sunday shopping. Then it was home to get ready to go to Tammy's. Why does one little boy need so much stuff?

The first order of business was the Easter Egg Hunt. That was a real show. Andy was helping Riley and the first egg they went after was in the birdbath and Riley was much more interested in the ceramic frog in the birdbath and really didn't want to pick up the egg but he finally caught on and started picking up eggs. The eggs had candy and coins and everyone made out. Thought all the eggs but one had been found and the kids were looking for that last elusive egg when Andy remembered he had put one in his pocket, so we all had a good laugh about that.

Lunch was next. Honey-baked ham and turkey, pasta salad, potato salad, cucumbers, water and potato rolls, it was all great. Food always tastes so good when you eat at a picnic table.

Got everything cleared and Breann had her choice - cake or presents - she chose presents. She decided she was going to play a game while opening her presents, try to guess what they are before she actually opens them. I think she guessed two out of the four, so not to bad.

Cake was next. Sang Happy Birthday to Breann and Dennis and Dennis got to cut the cake and a mighty fine job he did. Another great Publix cake. We had just finished up, almost everything was cleared and it started raining and not just a few sprinkles a good downpour.

By this time Riley was getting very tired so they packed up and headed home. We were right behind them after Tammy downloaded my pictures from today to her computer.

Guess it only rained at Tammy's house because when we got home we were done dry. Could have used some, maybe later.

Spent the afternoon taking it easy, watched the race and that was about it.

Dare I say it, another great weekend.

Busy, Busy Day

The DirecTV guy was coming between 0800-1200 so while we were waiting for him we started on some of the things that needed to be done around the house. I was working on editing photos and getting them uploaded to scrapbookpictures.com so I could place an order before the end of the month. Dan was doing the fan, found our our fan was a very old model and the remote receiver couldn't be replaced, so we need a new fan. Add that to our list of places to go later.

The DirecTV guy called at 0830 and said he was on his way, well he pulled into the yard about three minutes later. We figured he was down at the corner of Pine Tree and Cord when he called. He worked so much faster then the other technician. Had to run all new cable, it is a double cable and he got it right in, replace the box in the attic, checked out all his work and ordered a new HD Receiver for us that will be arriving by FEDEX in two days. He was gone in about 45 minutes. It was great, where was he for our first installation?

This meant we could get on with our errands earlier than I thought. First was Staples, so nice to have one right here in Saint Cloud. I needed a new blade for my cutter. BJ's for kitty litter. Lowe's for a new fan, Dan knew which brand he wanted (or rather which he didn't want) so it made for an easy selection.

Over to the Loop. Parked at Michael's and walked to Kohl's, they were having a sale and I wanted to check it out. Found two shirts for me, one for Nikki and a scrapbook. Michael's was next on the list but having found the scrapbook at Kohl's we didn't need to stop in there.

Continued on to Chipotle's for lunch, we both got the crispy tacos with chicken, great again. We arrived at just the right time because we walked right up and ordered. By the time we sat down the line was to the door.

Stopped by Panera for some bread and snacks. Then we headed to Andy and Nikki's to drop off the shirt. Nikki is all stuffy and getting kind of hoarse. They are going into Universal tonight so we will have Riley for the night.

On the way home stopped at Pinch-A-Penny for chlorine and then it was home to wait for Riley.

I played some Mario Galaxy and defeated Bowser, finally, that opened up a bunch more levels for me to play.

Andy, Nikki and Riley came over. Talked for a bit and they were off for an evening of fun at Universal and we were set for a tiring evening with a very energetic little boy, how can he keep going like that? We had a plan though, first it was off to the lake front to take a walk, couldn't get over the number of people down there. All sorts of picnics and bbq's going on, also a wedding on one of the piers. Had a very pleasant walk, Riley rode on Grampa's shoulders for a while and didn't like it one bit when he had to go back in the stroller, but he got over it.



After our walk it was off to Dairy Queen for supper. Riley had the chicken strip kid's meal and of course the part he liked best was the ice cream for dessert.



Got home at about 1830, changed Riley into his pajama's and after chasing him round and round the house, Grampa and I took turns, he was ready for bed. He was upset for about 30 seconds and then I didn't hear a sound from him. Now it is time for us to go to bed because he just tires us out.

Riley was suppose to sleep late today but whenever we think that he is up at his normal time, which he was today. For some reason breakfast took a long time this morning. It was nothing special, a banana and some Ohs cereal. But we were finally ready to head out to WalMart.

Went out to load Riley in the car and what do we see but a wild turkey. Can't believe I didn't have the camera. My hands were full, had just locked the front door and there was no way I would get back inside and get the camera before the turkey disappeared.

Did our Friday morning shopping and then it was off to WW. Just being five minutes later than usual made all the difference in the time it took me to weigh in. Most Fridays we are in and out in five minutes but today I was sixth in line and it took just about 25 minutes. Some lady at the front of the line was signing up for the monthly pass and just wasn't understanding about going home and completing the process at weightwatcher.com. The real problem was she just wasn't listening but finally everything was resolved and the line was moving. At least after all that I had a good week, down a pound (got rid of the pesky pound from last week).

Got home and Riley got to play in his favorite thing, any kind of box. Today it just happened to be the diaper box.


Then he got a bit cranky but I guess it was because he was tired. Went down for his nap at 1000 and went right to sleep. Hasn't gone down that early in a while (at least since last Friday when he fell asleep on the way home from WW, but I'm not counting that).

Riley slept just over two hours and was very funny when he woke up. He was just laying down in the crib and I tickled him and covered him with his blanket and played "Where's Riley". We did this for about 15 minutes and then he was ready to get up.

Had raviolis for lunch and while he was eating Tammy and GG arrived to deliver the crib from Cheri. Also got a bumper pad and a musical fish crib toy. Thank you so much Cheri.

Riley decided he was done eating and wanted to get down and visit with Tammy and GG. He really liked the musical toy and played with it for quite a while.

Riley decided he needed a snack so we went and got a slice of cheese. Came out of the kitchen and Riley was turning around and fell, I think he hit one of the screws on the floor divider between the kitchen and dining area because I went to pick him up and there was blood running down his head. There is a nice little gouge and it is forming a nice goose egg. The bleeding stopped right away. What bother Riley the most was me trying to hold him still so I could see what was going on. He was fine in a few minutes and forgot it even happened. Well, Tammy and GG left shortly after that, enough excitement for one afternoon. Enough for me, too.

Spent the rest of the afternoon playing with the musical crib toy and the farm animals. He just happened to be in my lap when Andy drove up and he got so excited I thought he would fly right off my lap if he could.

Got home and the remote receiver in our fan isn't working so Dan will be changing that out tomorrow. Rest of the night should be pretty quiet.

I Really Am Working On It

Got the ball rolling early today. First on the list was coloring my hair, did that as soon as I got up and was ready to take my shower at 0600. Started going through my clothes to see what I can get rid of. Then I move on to one of my least favorite chores but most important and I learned that the hard way, backing up and transferring pictures and documents to the external hard drive and dvds. It had only been about 2 weeks since I last did this so it didn't take all that long. I also copied my March Blog entries to a Word document.

Dan was home today because the AC guy was coming. Dan called to verify our appointment, which was anytime today and found there had been a mix up and they thought they were suppose to be here next Thursday. We were lucky because the dispatcher added us to today's schedule and the technician showed up at 1030. This was just the yearly check and freon charge.

I've also been working on the Year-in-Review Album. I'm halfway done with the journaling, should be finishing it up soon. That is the title page at the top of the entry.

Took a ride to the Scrapbook store in Hunter's Creek and the one behind the Florida Mall. It's been awhile since I'd been to the one behind the Mall and they have really improved their inventory. Really liking the way it is turning out, very simply.

Spent the rest of the afternoon at home. Scrapbooked, did laundry, and played some Mario Galaxy. I know you are all very jealous.

Who's Birthday Is It Today?

Well I guess the Birthday Boy is Dennis. Have a great one.


Riley was up at his regular time, so we were ready to go for our walk pretty early. That made it a perfect day to head down to the lake front. It was a good thing we did because we ran into GG, Jagee and Luke. They were done with their walk and heading to do errands when they saw us walking, so they pulled over to visit. Talked for a bit and then we were all on our way.

Riley and I walked out on the pier. It was very windy out there. We also got a good look at how rough the water was. Riley really wanted to get closer to the water, probably in it but I told him it was way to cold. Of course that explanation satisfied him completely and we were on our way. By the time we got back to the car we were warming up and the coats came off. Such a beautiful day to be outside.

Got back to the apartment and it was time for snack, always a favorite part of our morning.

Today's toy-of-the-day is his Fisher Price barn and animals. He can identify the animals and brings them to me when I ask. We we have lots of fun with that.

Then we heard someone lock the doors of their car and I glanced out the window (didn't even leave my seat) to see if it was anyone we knew. Well Riley looked at me as if to say, "Well is it Mommy or Daddy". I told him it was no one we knew. For some reason he didn't believe me so he came over and grabbed my hand and took me to the door so we could go outside and be sure it was no one we knew. I pointed out the cars I knew and told him no one we knew had just driven up and this time he was happy. So we went back inside.

Down for his nap at 1130 and today was a very long nap, he didn't get up until 1430. By this time he was very hungry. Ate all his grilled cheese, had two animal crackers and some goldfish. Then we played for the rest of the afternoon.

Got spoiled with Andy getting home early and today he didn't call to say he was on his was until about 1535 or so. I still got home before five so that wasn't to bad.

Edited to Add: Sitting here minding my own business (really Dan had been warning me about this for 5 minutes) when I hear BOOM BOOM and the house shakes and I jump about 10 feet. Never fails to amaze how loud the sonic booms are when the Space Shuttle flies right over the house. The last couple of landings we have heard nothing because of the flight path.

Happy Belated Birthday

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to Breann. I was trying so hard not to miss your birthday but somehow the 24th crept up on me and pass me by. I hope you had a great day and see you soon.

Had a tired boy today, Riley slept until 0800 so we got a late start to our day. Finally headed out on our walk at about 9, sure was a nice day. It was on the cool side but we were dressed for the weather and enjoyed the crisp breeze. Not much going on in the neighborhood, the ducks were chasing each other and that was the excitement of the walk. Decided to extend our walk a bit, so went to the BP Station. The store has changed to an AM PM, I guess the name was all that changed because the inside of the store looks the same.



Looking pretty handsome in his long pants and boots. So good he had to do the chicken dance with the hamster dressed as a chicken. This thing has given us hours of enjoyment so far.


Nap time has been evolving since the time change and with Riley sleeping late it was almost noon before he went down. I put him down when I always have, this really isn't a time, it's more when he starts rubbing his eyes and yawning. Now instead of falling right to sleep he has laid in his crib and talked and babbled away. Not upset or anything and about a 1/2 hour later he falls asleep.

He got up at about 1400 and had a grilled cheese sandwich and Andy called just as he was finishing up. So I had a pretty short afternoon, I could get use to these hours.

I'm really starting to feel better, just have to get rid of the stuffy nose and everything else will clear right up. I'm saying this weekend I will be 100% again.

Da Plane!

It's a bird, it's a plane, no it's Superman, oh wait it is a plane. Riley spots anything that flies over us when we are walking and we have to check it out. Had a pretty good walk today. The sprinklers must be on a different schedule then they use to be (maybe the time change) because we got caught today. They aren't suppose to sprinkle the sidewalk but a couple are misaligned and sprayed us. Riley thought it was pretty funny.

Had a pretty quiet day. Riley spent most of the morning putting stuff in the pail I got him for his Easter Basket this year. Put stuff in, walk around, dump stuff out, start all over again.

He also thought it was pretty funny when I would clear my throat or sneeze. Because of my cold I'm still hoarse and everything sounds strange, so Riley would just laugh and laugh. Takes after Chris in this respect because for the last two days, every time I talk to Chris he laughs at me.

Got a nice surprise this afternoon, Andy was home a bit early so I got to go home and take it easy.

Hoping I feel better tomorrow, not feeling really bad but by mid afternoon I start getting tired. I will go to bed early tonight with hopes of being over this tomorrow. I know it will be gone by weeks end because that is how it usually works.

Happy Easter

Riley and I did this Easter setup last week and had a great time doing it. Once I got the ones of him in the basket and just let him go and do what he wanted we got some good shots. They are in the album I sent from Kodak Gallery.

I didn't get to see the lion dressed up as the Easter Bunny but Dad got this shot for me. I'll have to check to see what other holidays we will be seeing a dressed up lion. I really like this.

Well I hope the Easter Bunny brought you everything you wanted. I know our house was full of good things.

Did some early morning shopping at Wal-Mart and then it was time to do chores. Got them done or at least started. Laundry won't be done until about 1900.

We had a get together today, including an Easter Egg Hunt for Riley. It was Tammy, Tom, Mum, Dad, Andy, Nikki, Riley, Dan and I. Once everyone arrived I put out the eggs for Riley to find, or more like look around the living room and see how many you can see. There were only six eggs and Riley finally collected them all. Sometime or really most of the time he was more interested in the things around the eggs but we convinced him to get the eggs and a few actually went into his basket.
We had sandwiches for lunch, everyone made their own, so everyone got just what they wanted. Cake and cherry pie with ice cream and cool whip for dessert. I know a very strange combination but when I pick up the cake, Publix Easter Egg cake, it looked very small and I would have hated to run out so I also got the pie. It was enjoyed by all especially Riley who had a free for all with a spoonful of cool whip. Of course this was after cake and ice cream.


Got everything all cleaned up and Dan, Tom and Andy went to play Zelda. Dan was having problems defeating one of the levels and Andy just marched right through it and Dan can continue on his merry way.

The rest of us sat in the living room, watched Riley and talked, love these get togethers. It was getting to be time for naps, not sure who needed one more; Riley, Grampa (Dan) or Jagee (Dad).

Spent the afternoon watching some of my recorded shows, uploading pictures and updating my blog.

This was a great weekend, I think I've been saying that a lot lately. Since we have decided we should be doing things on the weekend and not just sitting around the house we have had boatloads of fun.

We Went to the Animal Fair...

Or at least to the Brevard Zoo. We had a great time, certainly will be doing a re-visit in the near future. Got there just before opening time and got our tickets. Then spent the rest of the time following Riley around while he explored everything.

When we entered the zoo everyone seemed to be heading to the right, so we went left to Expedition Africa. There were so many things to see. The highlight here was the rhinos rolling in the mud. They all took their turn and were covered from head to tail.

Just as we arrived the giraffes were walking off. They can come and go as they please and right now they are constantly going back to the barn to check on the baby that was born two weeks ago. (Video about the baby.) There are now five giraffes, the mom and dad, 2 year-old brother, an aunt and the baby. We waited a bit to see if they would come back because we had tickets to feed them, but they didn't make their way back to the viewing area. Now, for our trivia of the day. Do you know what a group of giraffes is called, neither did we. It is a tower, very fitting wouldn't you say?

Off we went to Australia Asia area. Lots of birds here. Feed the lorikeets, that was pretty exciting. The birds were very gentle and never pecked at us just wanted the food (pureed fruit, smelled very sweet). The other birds we saw included black swans, emus, cassowaries, kookaburras and parrots.

The train station was next and the train didn't leave for about 30 minutes, so we got a drink, fed some birds and just took a rest. Nice train ride we were seeing most of the animals from the back of their displays. There was an ostrich that just kind of followed the train as we went.

Wild Florida was next and it was starting to get a few more people. Saw a bobcat, lots of hawks, alligators, otters, and red wolves.

La Selva, the rainforests of South America is where we saw the vultures being fed. Learned all about the hierarchy of the vultures. The king vulture is first on the scene, largest with the strongest beak. Then the black vulture, it's beak is built to tear tendons and sinew. Last are the turkey vulture, they clean everything up.

We made a trip back to the giraffes to see if they were in the feeding area and again they were on the other side. The volunteer told us to save our tickets and use them the next time we came so we decided that is what we would do.

Time for lunch, headed to Dairy Queen but found this one only had a very limited food menu so decided to go to Crisper's which was right next door. Riley had fallen asleep on the ride from the zoo and then slept all through lunch. This is very unlike him and surprised us all. We then walked back to Dairy Queen for dessert, because that is what I had really wanted.

Time to head home and go shopping at Publix seeing as how they are closed tomorrow.

Spent the rest of the evening going through pictures and doing laundry.

Here is a link for some of the pictures I took today.

Do You Hear What I Hear?

I sure hope not because my left ear has been ringing since I got up this morning. And not just a low ring, no full blast, why can't everyone else hear it? I will admit the ringing is better than the pain I woke up with at 0017 this morning. It was so bad I got up and took some motrin. I guess you have figured out that I am sick. Don't feel real bad but the stuffy nose and head and horse voice could lead to anything, I'm hoping this is the worse.

Riley was already awake when I got to the apartment and he was ready for breakfast. So he got a banana and toast with peanut butter. Because we were ready so early decided to do Wal-Mart first today. Should have made a list because my brain wasn't working very well. We wandered around the store and picked up the normal Friday things.

We were heading to Sonic and drove by the gas station, no one was there and gas was $3.18 ($3.15 with a Wal-Mart gift card, which is what I use) so it was a good time to get gas. Then on to Sonic for my soda.

This week was the end of a good thing because I was up a pound. I have consulted with my experts (that would be Tammy and Mum) and it has been decided I gained because I'm not feeling well. That's our story and we're sticking to it.

I knew Riley wasn't up to snuff because he was very quiet on the drive home and when we got to the apartment he was sound asleep.

Carried him into the house, took off his jacket and laid him in the crib. He turned right over and went back to sleep. I kept thinking I was hearing him cry, so I finally had to get the baby monitor because it was driving me crazy, must be the ear ringing.

Well, Riley ended up taking a 2 1/2 hour nap, getting up at about 1130. Drank a cup of juice right down, must have been thirsty. He had turkey and vegetable ravioli for lunch.

This is really different from his normal schedule so I don't know how the evening will go for Andy and Nikki.

Going to spend the evening taking it easy and feeling better, using the power of positive thinking.

Raining

Back to everyone going to work, the only thing strange is that I'm watching Riley on a Thursday. His daycare is on Spring Break (never heard of this) this week so no daycare for him.

Both of us have progress to very runny noses and horse voices, hoping it doesn't go much further. We had a very quiet morning. No walk because it was raining out. This really disappointed Riley, he grabbed my hand and pulled me to the door twice because he wanted to go out. Both times I picked him up and we went outside and watched the rain, even walked out into it. Which Riley thought was very funny and it didn't really prove to him why we couldn't go for a walk. Hopefully it will clear up and we can go this afternoon.

I'm trying to break Riley in as my photography assistant. He sat with me and read my Shutterbug magazine. I'm sure it was the colorful pictures and not my riveting commentary. I showed him the $10,000 camera he could buy me when he gets his first job.

I think his cold was getting to him, yawning and rubbing his eyes earlier then usual but didn't go down for his nap until about 1100, his normal time. He still tossed and turned for a while before he fell asleep. He hit the 2 1/2 hour time on his nap and I had to check on him, this is what I found and I couldn't resist taking a picture. He still slept for a bit more.

After his nap we did get out for our walk, it was very nice out and the breeze was cool so that made for a great walk. Still no baby ducks, pretty sure something got them.

My good news for the day or rather Nikki's good news. She had her 90 day review yesterday (it was a bit early) and they like how she is working out and gave her $1.00 an hour raise. Good Job!

That's it for today, would really like to just go to bed but it is way to early. My cold is just making me tired and I'm finding it hard to keep my eyes open.

Unexpected

Got an unexpected day off. I was about half way to Andy and Nikki's when my phone rang and it was Andy. He was all set to go to work, walking out to the car when his stomach decided it didn't want it's breakfast anymore. So back into the apartment and a day off from work for him. Seeing as how I was on my way, asked if there was anything thing he needed. So I was off to Wal-Mart to pick up some Day-Quil, the cure-all for what ails you.

I thought that this early in the morning (0645) would be a good time to hit Wal-Mart and it would have been but all five people in the store decided to check out at the same time and there was only one register open. At least everyone only had a couple of items each so the line moved pretty fast.

Dropped the meds off with Andy. I decided if I went home I wouldn't get out for my walk today so I headed down to the lakefront. It is a pretty busy place no matter what time you get there. I walked from the end to the marina and I'm glad I went that far because I ran into Mum, Dad, and Luke. If I had turned around where we usually do I would have missed them. So we walked back to my car and had a nice visit.



I headed home after that. Spent the day working on my Year in Review Album. I know you don't believe there really is such a thing. Today I got all the pictures mounted on the pages (25 in all) and started doing the embellishments and journaling. It should go much faster now.

Also watched some of my recorded shows and started watching Jericho on the computer. One down and five to go, until next week when there is a new one to watch. Would like to catch up before the season is over. Played Mario Galaxy on the Wii also, didn't get any further than I was, trying to defeat Bowser for the first time. I'm getting the hang of what I'm suppose to do so maybe next time I give it a try.

Dan had a long day and didn't get home until 1800, he wasn't hungry so he missed out on the spaghetti I made for dinner. It was pretty good. Guess we will be having it for dinner tomorrow night, too.

Sunset

Had just completed my post for the day, walked through the kitchen on my way to the living room all set to play some Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii and I happened to look out the window and saw this sunset. Couldn't let it go undocumented so here it is for your enjoyment.

My Tree

So it really isn't my tree, but I look at it almost everyday when we go for walks and probably take a picture or two every time we walk by it. I just like the way it looks and how it changes from day to day in different light. Just one of those things, can't really explain it but it makes me happy.

Had a short day today, but Riley and I still got a lot in while I was there. Short day because Nikki had her doctor's appointment and it was time for the glucose test that takes forever. First she had a baseline blood test drawn then she drank the yummy drink and then had more blood drawn for the next 3 hours. By this time it wasn't even worth driving to work because it would have almost been quiting time so I got an early day out of it.

Now for my moment of the day. Andy and I had been phoning each other back and forth. I had dropped off a DVD full of pictures this morning and their computers found nothing on the disk. So we were just trying to figure it out. Then I couldn't get my cd writer to recognize any disks, just those typical computer problems that drive you crazy. Somewhere along the way I realized I hadn't heard from Chris today so I dial his number and while the phone was ringing it popped into my head that Andy and I hadn't finished one of our conversations. So the phone gets answered, I say "We hadn't finished our talk about the zoo." A voice says, "Okay?" And I continue to talk and then I realize that wasn't Andy's voice it was Chris's. So even though I called Chris and wanted to talk to him, I was just talking away to Andy. Well Chris and I had a good laugh about that and went on with our own conversation.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

This lion is at the lake front and I don't know if they decorate him for every holiday or just Saint Patrick's Day but it made me smile when I saw it.

We had a good walk, still pretty breezy but when you turn around and the wind is to your back it gets pretty warm as you are walking. We didn't see anything of interest, it is to late by the time Riley and I make it to the lake front for our walk and we can't go along the berm with the stroller so we miss seeing the sand hill cranes sitting on their nests.

Stopped at WalMart on the way home to pick up a few things and there were quite a few people there, unusual for 0930 on a weekday. At least there were plenty of registers open and we didn't have to wait.


This is Riley favorite book of all time. When he opened his toy chest today it was right on top and he give his little whoooaaa sound and I knew we would be reading it all day and we did. It only has about four pages that actually have words but he likes the way they sound and go together so we read it over and over.

No nap for Riley today, put him down at his now usual time and I thought he had gone to sleep but about a 1/2 hour later I heard him talking in there so I let him go for a while but he just got louder and louder instead of quieter and quieter. So I went in and got him. He had a grilled cheese for lunch and he ate almost all of it.

Pretty boring afternoon although he did spend a lot of time yawning and rubbing his eyes but he sure didn't want to lay down and take a nap. Right before Andy got home, Riley grabbed my hand and lead me into his room and looked longingly at his crib (ok maybe that was wishful thinking) so we did the nap thing and I put him down. I guess he did sleep for a while from what Andy said when he call. Maybe it was just enough so he can start going to bed at his regular time and get back to the way things were before the time change. We'll have to see.

Memory Lane

I really hadn't planned on spending my day scanning in slides but for some reason I picked up one of the boxes and started looking at them and the next thing I knew I had spent about 3 hours scanning and editing about 60 slides. Here are just a few.

This one was taken in December 1986, we were all crowded into Mum and Dad's house for Christmas. We each had a bedroom and Kathi got to go home to Orlando. We had such a good time. This was the trip where everyone was so sure that Andy didn't exist because he was such a good baby and slept all the time.


These two I pulled out a box and said, "Wonder who that kid is?" and when I started looking closely I figured out it was Andy at about 2 - 3 years old and then I realized this is pretty much what Riley is going to look like in another year or so, because he is already on his way. So many things the same.

This is EPCOT in 1985, sure has changed. Hard to believe how much everything has grown up around SpaceShip Earth.


This is from our trip to Niagara Falls, it was taken from the top of the tower on the Canadian side of the falls. I had forgotten that we even had these pictures and there were lots of beautiful one.




These of course are all whirly-gigs from mum and dad's backyard, you must have made hundreds over the course of the years, Dad.

All these pictures just brought back so many memories, and there are so many more that I still have to go through and decide which ones to scan. Just can't do them all.

We did get out for our walk this morning, went the Publix one again. Not much interesting today. Dan took the rest of the day easy, he hurt one of his ribs and he's trying to give it time to heal.

Hope everyone had a great weekend and let me highly recommend getting out some photo albums and looking through them. Always such a good time.

A Beautiful Saturday in Florida

Started our day with a walk at the lake front. It was a bit more blustery than I was expecting, glad I had my sweater with me. Walked the sidewalk first and then the berm by the water. Lots of bunnies out today, not just near the center parking lot where we usually see them but all along the walk. The sand hill cranes were just sitting on their nests. Not as lucky as Dad to catch them turning their eggs.

No errands to do this morning so we went straight to Sonic for Dan's breakfast and home for my breakfast. One of my favorites, Cheerios and strawberries.

I spent the rest of the morning balancing the checkbook and paying bills. I try hard to remember to print out a statement each month but I seem to forget. Luckily I only had two months to do and I had kept up with entering all my transactions into Money on the computer, sometimes I forget that, too.

Spent some time in my craft room working the never ending year in review album, it really is coming along.

By this time it was time to head over to Andy and Nikki's, we are taking them to lunch for their anniversary. When we got there, they still had their yard sale table set up but the neighborhood seemed pretty quiet. They sold some stuff which was good because that means that stuff is out of the apartment never to return. Got what was left all boxed up for the next time.

Then it was off to Mimi's Cafe for lunch. I expected it to be busier than it was. Even though it was about 1300, I guess that is still early for the weekend. We all had great meals, Riley really enjoyed his mini corn dogs and anything else he could snag from other dishes. None of us ate our full meals, besides being huge serving we knew we were going to have dessert.

Our next stop was BJ's to pick up a few things, most important was pretzels. The huge container we got a couple of weeks ago was almost empty and I would hate to run out.

Dropped off Andy, Nikki and Riley, I bet there were a couple of naps taken in that house.

We got home and the race was just getting ready to start because of a rain delay. Just after half the race was completed the race was red flagged for rain again and I don't know what the status is right now. They are racing in Bristol, TN this weekend.

All Good Things Must Come to an End...

...but not this week, lost another .8 lbs, may not seem like a lot but any amount that is down especially if it is more then 1/2 a pound is good.


This was the sunrise that I caught today. Went out to get the folding table from the car (Andy and Nikki's apartment complex is having a community yard sale tomorrow) this is what I saw and of course had to get the camera and shoot a few shots.

Had a good time shopping at Wal-Mart today. Riley really got the waving down, he waved when people waved to him and when they would say bye-bye, it was all very cute. He also was very lovey and kept giving me hugs.

Here he is getting ready for snack time, don't you love his new shoes. He isn't to fond of them because he can't kick them off but I really like not having to put shoes on every time we get out of the car. He is also getting very piggy at snack time, I just share my snack with him and he use to just take a very small bite off the end. Well today he had to shove most of it in his mouth before I could stop him. But he ate it all and didn't make a mess.


This is what he looks like after a nap, usually he makes some noise and when I go in he kind of snuggles down in the bed for a couple of seconds and then he will sit up and finally he'll stand up and want out.

He was up from his nap earlier then the rest of the week so I decided we would go for a walk before he had lunch and I guess that was alright with him because as soon as I set the stroller up he climbed right in and was ready to go. We were duck hunting again and we saw this duck that looks like it's calling for babies but there were none. Decided to walked over to the townhouses behind the apartments and see what they have at their pond. There was nothing, not a bird or turtle in sight. The area over there is much smaller then I thought and the sidewalks are cobblestone, so that made for a bumpy ride. There are more buildings going in and there is room many more.


This chair was just out in the middle of one of the undeveloped areas, looked like it was in good condition and that someone had been using it. Just a strange sight to see as we were walking along.

Got back to the apartment and Riley ate a good lunch, leftover ravioli and a grilled cheese sandwich. Two of his favorite foods. We spent the afternoon playing, at one point every single toy and book were spread out on the floor, just a sign that we were having a good time.

Can't believe it is Friday already, the weeks go by so fast. Nikki will be 30 weeks along tomorrow. Kaleigh Grace will be here before we know it.

I Think We Can Communicate With Aliens!

Didn't know that we would be getting a dish this big, but there it sits on the corner of the house looking like it could tip the garage over. The DirecTV guy was pretty prompt today. We had an arrive time of between 0800 and 1200, he rand the doorbell at 0905. Don't think he realized how big of a job it would be, thank goodness Dan was here to help. Lots of time in the attic and a lot of yelling from the living room to the attic, but the cable finally got pulled and everything set up. Took about two hours and then he was on his merry way.

Now I have to set up everything again. Start from scratch with my shows that I record. Didn't have to watch all the shows I had recorded because I went online and saw which shows have the full programs available to be watched anytime and this is what I will do. Have to get use to the new guide and the way everything works. It is more like the Brighthouse setup so I'm kind of use to that, using Andy's and Nikki's.

The rest of the day was spent doing laundry and working in my room. Also making sure all of February's pictures are backed up and on DVD. Just need to upload some so I can get prints, because I really like to have pictures available.

Dan did a bunch of stuff around the house, pool, mowed the lawn and some other things.

Pretty quiet day, just the way I like it.