Learning to Line Dance

Yesterday a friend of Lynn's from her library days in Milwaukee came to visit. Her name is Lois and among other things she is very involved in a dance group in Milwaukee called The Roselettes. They dance out of the Clinton Rose Senior Center in Milwaukee. She came prepared to teach Lynn and I two simple dances. Lynn wanted to use disco music and this is how it all turned out.

Biloxi Casinos

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After we left San Antonio to go to Florida we decided to stay a couple nights at a casino in Biloxi, Mississippi. It was quite interesting to us for several reasons. First, we were impressed by the effects of hurricanes from several years ago (especially Katrina). There are many vacant lots along the beachfront that may have only 1 or 2 trees that are leaning but still standing. There seem to be places where there were obviously buildings (condos, motels, etc.??) and the parking lots or parts of them are still there. Some of the lots have big for sale signs on them. There are some beautiful old homes that have new coats of paint but they have withstood decades of storms. They are on higher ground and also some are on stilts. There is some construction still going on to repair a few buildings but the beach highway seems to have been repaired by now. The public beach is still being worked on in some areas. I walked along the beach for about a mile across from our hotel and took some pictures.

My funnel fries for breakfast at the Den

As I was taking the elevator down to go for my walk, I shared it with a bellhop and we exchanged pleasantries. I told him I was going for a walk on the beach "to get some sand in my shoes." He exclaimed," In your shoes! You need to get those shoes off and run that sand through your toes!" I was afraid it was too cold for that but after I got down there I HAD to try it! There was a family in bare feet there and they warned me the water was very cold. I was surprised to find out how warm it really was! I walked the whole way in the water and my feet didn't ache a bit!

A family playing with the birds at the beach.

A gull hunting on the beach

My second reason of interest is the casinos. We made our reservation online for a casino called Treasure Bay. It is about 2 miles south of the highway that runs from I-10 down to the beach highway, so is kind of away from any other casino. It is not a really big casino but is quite nice with a big buffet, an expensive dining room and lounge on the top (9th) floor overlooking the beach and gulf, and a small cafe (called the Den) that is open 24 hours. It has 2 pools in the courtyard, an upper and lower pool. The room was fairly good sized and had 2 flat screened TVs, one in the room and one on the wall in the bathroom!!! The most interesting thing about this casino, though, is the artwork and decor. I couldn't take pictures in the casino, unfortunately, but did get pictures of the chandelier. No kidding, they had Chihulys like the ones at Bellagio on the walls of the main casino! The walls of the casinos downstairs and in the Den had very tasteful modern art and sculptures! The Den had surprisingly good food. Bob was not too impressed with this casino ("too small and not the right machines") although they had a deal where if you joined the Players Club the first day you were a member you could lose up to $100 and they would put it back on your card and you could spend it again the next day. (We did take advantage of this deal and of course lost our money a second time, too).

One of two Chihuly chandeliers at Treasure Bay

A closer view of the middle section and bottom of the chandelier

Looking from the upper pool down to the lower pool

Now looking back up from the lower to the upper pool

The next day we decided to check out the most prestigious casino along that part of the coast, the Beau Rivage. It could compete with the "big guys" in Las Vegas, I think. Maybe not the really pricey ones but still very big and glitzy with with many fine restaurants, a theater, a huge buffet, and "the right kind of machines". They had a non-smoking area and a non-smoking poker room besides the other poker area including roulette and bacarat tables. We spent an afternoon there and Bob actually came out ahead. All in all we broke even for our stay. We had a snack while there and walked out on a balcony overlooking their private marina (closed but I'm not sure if it is because it is winter or due to needing repairs--although there was no construction going on there and it looked ok to me.)

The marina at Beau Rivage

First days in Florida

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Here we are in Lake Placid, FL. Today is sunny and nice but chilly. It is supposed to go down to 19 degrees tonight!!!! They have already had several big frosts this winter and the palm trees, banana trees and other plants are looking pretty sad. So much for global warming! Anyhoo, I still haven't got out my summer clothes. Maybe by Sunday......

Sand Crane pecking the bay window in master bedroom!

Sand Crane in the sun

Today, Lynn and I are going to try to ride a bike Rhonda lent them to see if it will work with Lynn's arthritic knees. I think I can do it since I rode bikes with Kim when we were in Maryland. I have a feeling there will be a photo op involved, though.

Lynn and Bill have been having problems with their window replacements. I can't believe what the window people did! They tore out the marble window sills in order to put in the windows (without even mentioning they would have to do it.) and then just left the windows without finishing the hole where the sills were!!! They then refused to do anything else because it was not in the contract but, by the way, they did have another business that could finish them! What a rip off!!! I can sit here at the computer and see daylight under the window in the bedroom. They didn't even seal the windows!

Damaged bathroom window. Notice the gazebo out the window

Bedroom damaged window

The way the windows should look.

Yesterday morning, Rhonda (neighbor across the street) came over to say hello and have a cup of coffee. She is a real puzzle person and and we got going on a puzzle she and Lynn had started a few weeks ago and we couldn't stop! Finally about 2 PM we forced ourselves to stop! Here's how far we got!

The dog puzzle

Well, Lynn and I are off to get groceries before the window people come back to seal the windows which they didn't do the first time.

A picture Album of our trip

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Here are the pictures I took up at Holly Lake Ranch near Tyler, Texas. they are in no particular order since they have changed the picture thingy and I can't cut and paste anymore!

Three Valentines on valentine weekend!

Two Valentines!

The four grand valentines!




Steak dinner for Valentines Day

Holly Lake. Notice how foggy it is with a nasty cold and rainy wind! No self respecting alligator would show his teeth in this weather!

Alyssa's quillow bed

Samara's jacuzzi bed

Natalie's and Samara's beds in the bathroom

Working on a puzzle. I love the light on this picture!

Below is my wet and cold butt after our artsy picture! See later golf pics.

Just before the ladies came to take their pictures standing on their hands (see the last blog)

LOOK AT THOSE PRETTY GOLF BALLS!

The artsy golf picture of us laying on cold and wet carpeting

Nice putting everyone!

Water hazard on the golf course. There were swans on this pond but they were camera shy.

Alyssa shows off her decorated cookie at the coloring contest.

Samara is decorating her cookie.

The coloring contest winners with their prizes and pictures.

Alyssa, Samara, and another little girl

VView out our bedroom door with several inches of snow on the patio!

Valentine's Weekend Getaway!

Last weekend we took a little trip to a timeshare of Micah and Kim's near Tyler Texas. It was called Holly Lake Ranch. Due to Kim having class until 4:30 and Alyssa having gymnastics after school on Friday we didn't get away until 6:30 Friday night. It was a 6 1/2 hour drive so we didn't get up there until 12:30 that night.

As we got nearer to Tyler we encountered what looked like a lot of snow on the ground!!! It was cold but not snowing and the roads were pretty much dry except in spots. There was about 3-4 inches of snow on our steps going up into the condo. I was really surprised at how snowy it was up there. It is in a woods and quite beautiful in that area. There are several lakes and a river. there are cabins all around the property and some very beautiful homes along the lakes and golf course.

The next morning Micah and Kim had to go to an informational meeting which took 4 hours so Alyssa and Samara and I went to the Activities Center for some fun! ( It was very cold, wet and snowy outside) They entered a coloring contest and each won first place in their age group . Then they had fun decorating Valentine cookies provided by the center. We decided we needed to explore a little so we took a walk up to a small lake and fountain on the golf course--still covered with snow and water! We had to avoid deep puddles and lots of mud. Anyway, we were on the way back to our cabin when some young women stopped and wanted to take pictures of Alyssa and Samara standing on their hands. I thought, " Whoa, what is going on here!", but they were fun loving types and they explained that they were on a scavenger hunt! As they left they said, "We're off to find a girl in a wedding dress!" Sounds like a fun kind of a scavenger hunt to me.

After Micah and Kim got back we went over to the Activities Center and played games. Grampa came over at 5 for dinner. They had live music (a man singing and playing his guitar--not bad, either) they had a catfish dinner special for the whole family and we got it. After we got home, we watched some olympics and then the kids went to bed. Erin came about 10:30. Here are some pictures of the kids' sleeping arrangements.

The next day continued to be cold, foggy and a bit windy. We drove around the area looking at the lakes and lovely homes nestled in the woods. We had lunch at the condo and then watched some more olympics. Finally we thought it had cleared up enough to go out and play some mini golf with the kids. Kim had to do school work and Bob chose to stay in but the rest of us played! That evening, Bob made steaks for us and we had a great dinner. The next morning we left early to come back home. It was a fun time and I think this would be a great place to go in spring or summer. There is swimming, boating, fishing, golfing and tons of hiking trails through the woods! It is not quite what I would call a romantic setting for Valentines day but definitely a very family oriented vacation spot.

The picture posting button doesn't seem to be working today on this post so I guess I'll have to post them on a separate blog!

Ash Wednesday

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday and I was thinking about the good old days at "Jefferson Jailhouse". (The elementary school we attended through 6th grade). Our school was very near a private Catholic school (St. Mathias) and the community we lived in was predominately Catholic. On Ash Wednesday as I recall it, our Backwoods neighborhood kids (6-8 kids) and the teachers were about the only ones there for a couple of hours in the morning! Around 10 AM all the other kids came rolling in with ashes on their foreheads. I even remember some of them still had those ashes on their foreheads a few days later!!!


We had some real doozies at that school! No one wanted to have their desk near those kids, you can be sure! The girls in that family even had pierced ears with hoops in them!!!! Horror of horrors! In those days the only people we knew who had pierced ears were gypsies! Really, no one had pierced ears and it was considered dirty and "bad" to have them. (I'm guessing that the dirty part was very local due to this family). Now even I have pierced ears but not before a lot of coaxing from my children and because I do like just a small diamond stud in my ears. My dire predictions about how my ears would become infected and fall off were partially true. I did have lots of infections and finally had to have them redone before I got rid of the infections.

Tomorrow I will be talking about our Valentine weekend trip to Holly Lake Ranch so today I want to post a really cool picture we took to pique your curiosity. Also to try out my new computer's possibilities for pictures. ( another story for this blog).

Making my valentines

I'm making my valentines the easy way ! I love Smilebox. It is so easy to do and they look so good when I finish. It is also free for the basic one. Sometimes I do pay the $3 for the premium one so there won't be any advertising and you can make it full screen and the person who receives it can save the pictures. My only problem is I can't figure out the music very well. I have a feeling it has to do with copyrights, though. Now I seem to be having trouble with this smile box that I entered on the blogger! I can't write anywhere except here and I can't change the color or underlining either! Oh well, here is what I am sending to all the family. Oh, I changed the music to a jazzy version of Daydream Believer for the valentines I sent.

Make a Smilebox greeting