Summer is Almost Here.....

Happy spring everybody! The weather down here is summer-like, temperatures have been in the 90's for a couple of weeks. We are desperately in need of rain, though. Wildfires are popping up all over central Florida. Three homes have been destroyed and several acres of forrest. Fortunately, not serious injuries, though.

We are keeping busy. The "Mickey Mamas" had our April "meeting," really a pool party with lots of laughter, food and drink.

April 30th we also finally went to Disney World - it only took us a year and a half to go (it's about 5 miles from the house). We had a really good time.

The same day we went to Disney, we got a call that Bill became a grandfather again! Del & Debbie had a son named Colby William that morning, weighing in at 3 1/2 pounds (6 weeks early). They are all doing well, Debbie is recuperating, and Colby should be able to come home from the hospital within the next couple of weeks. He is beautiful!!

Celebration had the annual pie festival and the exotic car show last month -- both were a huge success. The car show was a benefit for the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Next week is the Jazz & Jerk festival in town, that should be a lot of fun, with food from the Jerk Shack and beer from Mulligan's Pub. Mulligan's just opened a few weeks ago, and it has become our new hang-out., It is a genuine Irish pub with Guinness on tap. There is also live music several nights a week. We go with friends and sing along -- it is a great time for all.

My son Nikolaus is graduating from high school next month, so we will be traveling up there for a few days and hopefully we will get to see some of you. Bill's daughter Denise is coming down here the end of the week. It will be nice for Bill to see here and his other grandchildren. Looking forward to seeing anyone who visits down here, so give us a call if you're coming down and we'll have you over for dinner. Take care!

Springtime 2006 in Celebration

Hey everyone.....sorry I haven't updated in a while, we've had a lot going on. Bill has gotten a job at a local dry cleaner. It started out as picking up at a few local hotels and dropping off at the plant, Monday through Friday. It would take about 1 1/2 hours.

Now he is working full time at the cleaners from 7:30 - 6:00, Mon. - Fri. and 9:00 - 12:00 on Saturday. I go and visit him sometimes, we play Scrabble, I sew buttons on shirts (Bill has no idea how to do that), or we have lunch together.

Also, on a more serious note, my dad passed away on March 10th, after a brief battle with lung cancer. He has suffered with many other health problems for the last 30+ years, including kidney stones, migraines, and a debilitating back injury since I was a child. I don't think I ever remember a day when my dad was truly healthy, but he has seriously declined over the last 10 years, and the last 2 weeks have been the worst. However, he is now no longer suffering and my mother no longer has to care for him day and night along with her own full-time job. She has been incredible through this entire experience -- I give her a ton of credit, she is amazing. It was nice to see all of my sisters together, and my uncle Ray (daddy's brother) and aunt Pat came down from Ohio; and my mother's brother, uncle Jerry, from Daytona came over for the funeral.

We Love Winter in Florida!

Hey everybody. We've been busy enjoying our surroundings -- our weather has been wonderful!! Here's a couple of photos around town compared with some my son Nikolaus sent me of him and his ski club from school -- "enjoying" their weather.
Boy are we soooo glad we don't have to put up with that anymore!







Bill has gotten a new job: He picks up laundry from several hotels and then delivers them to the cleaners. It takes us about an hour to hour-and-a-half. We are usually done by 10:30 a.m. Then we have the rest of the day to ourselves. I go with him when I'm feeling up to it -- I make a great navigator. The cleaners where Bill drops off the laundry is right near SeaWorld, so we think Friday we'll go visit Shamu. Because we are Florida residents, we can "pay for a day and visit all year." So we can visit several times a year and stay for just a little while. We can also get a discount for friends and family with our annual tickets, so come on down for a visit!! Hope to see and hear from you all soon.

Help for American Stroke Association

This young man, Victor Tangi of Celebration, is raising money for the American Stroke Association.... If able, please help him raise the money he needs to reach his goal and complete the marathon! Look for his link on the blog here. Thanks you!

My Personal Page

Welcome to the Donation Page of VICTOR TANGI
Stroke Champion ($750.00 +)
Stroke Winner ($500.00 +)
Stroke Partner ($262.00 +)
Stroke Advocate ($131.00 +)
Stroke Friend ($100.00 +)
Stroke Supporter ($75.00 +)
Stroke Leader ($50.00 +)
Biggest Fan ($25.00 +)
My Fundraising Goal:$4,900.00
Money Raised to Date:$175.00

Join me in the fight against stroke - and help save lives!
Help me fight our nation's 3rd leading killer - Stroke!
Hello everyone and thanks for stopping by my page. As you can see, I have joined forces with the American Stroke Association, to help raise funds for research and education on strokes. I am trying to help give back on a large scale and will be dedicating lots of time over the next six months to take my passion for running to the next level. I can use all the support I can get so thanks again for stopping by!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Happy NewYear everyone!! Hope you all enjoyed your holiday and are returning to normal. We are almost done putting all our decorations away, just a couple inside ones to go. Next ones to go up are for St. Patty's day.
We spent New Year's Eve with our friends the Nefers--in their hot tub outside. We LOVE Florida weather. It was easy to tell when midnight was, as all the theme parks around us set off their fireworks, it was exciting! We had a herd of wild turkeys in our back alley, they came so close to Bill & I, it was incredible.
We also went downtown between Christmas & New Year to check out the "snow" on Market St. The tourists and local children where having a great time. There were also horse-drawn carriages offering rides around Celebration to see the lights, it has been quite festive in our little "Bubble", we enjoy it so much. We are getting back to our regular routine, Bill is back riding his bike and walking. I go walking with him when I can, but have been having a lot of pain lately. We are supposed to get some cold weather this weekend, 34 at night; 55 - 60 during the day, but then by Monday we should be back in the mid-70's. That's much better for us!! We miss you all, keep in touch.

Merry Christmas

Hi everybody! Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas...... We had a great day together -- we missed our family but we had each other. We talked to most of the family, and everyone seems to be well. Wish we could have been with you all, but know you are in our thoughts. (Pics are with my new Christmas present -- Bill knew I was interested in doing some photography, so he set me up. He's the best.) Hope to hear from you all soon -- Happy Holidays!!!! By the way, the bunny ears were a gift from one of my new friends here in town -- long story, call if you're interested!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.....

This is the wreath that Jewel made for me last Christmas -- prominently displayed on our back door. Right next to our "Shewbridge, 65 Flagler Ave." sign,



We had a great time decorating the house -- aside from the back pain -- because it wasn't cold!! We could get used to decorating with shorts and t-shirts on............

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.....

Decorations around our house, it looks so beautiful at night with all the lights on............

It's Christmas Time....

A "Celebration" of Christmas...... Decorations around town. We'll try to post some pictures of the houses around here at night!

It's Christmas Time....

Well, hi there everybody! We've been so busy since we got back from Connecticut that I haven't been able to get on here to update. Lorie hasn't been feeling very well -- lots of pain in back, neck, and migraines, been spending a lot of time lying down. We finally got a doctor down here, so she's able to get some medications to help, we can't believe the cost of some of the prescriptions -- can't wait until we qualify for Medicare. We've even considered going to Canada. Now we understand why some people without insurance have to decide between food or medication. But that is a whole other issue ... When up to it, we have been decorating the house for Christmas, and doing our shopping & shipping! Celebration is looking quite festive, in all her holiday glory. It is "snowing" downtown every day at 6:00pm, 7:00pm, 8:00pm and 9:00pm. The kids are having a ball -- lots of tourists too. We've been visiting with our neighbors and sharing in the holiday celebrations. We miss all of you and wish we could be there for the Christmas, but the airfare was ridiculous, and it is WAY too cold up there!!
Hope you all are well and you have a very merry Christmas and a happy, healthy new year!!!