Ketchup post. Lots of catch up.

I decided, after the long absence from our New England Adventure, that I needed to document how life has unfolded since then. After a brief check of the photos on my phone, it seems like I neglected to keep the chronicle of my life up to date, which is the only way I can guarantee I don't forget the special "days of our lives."

Savannah with 2 sets of grandparents!

 In mid-September we headed south and made a stop in North Carolina to celebrate Savannah's 11th birthday. We had a great time visiting and got to have a spectacular birthday dinner together. This lucky girl got to spend it, not only with her immediate family, but with both of her grandparents!

Even a rainbow to celebrate a special girl!
Good grief, Charlie Brown, she will be taller
than me before next birthday!

Dessert caused a bit of havoc on my insulin reserves, but it was well worth the sacrifice. I was unable to upload a video of her breaking the pinata, but believe me, it was a sight not worth missing. 

We don't often get to spend birthdays, watch plays or musical or dance performances with them, so anytime we visit is special and was worth the risk of extra insulin and running "high."

My fire cracker getting ready to break
her chocolate pinata!

We only arrived in Florida a couple of weeks before getting on the road again to spend Thanksgiving in St. Pete's Beach, FL. There, we would spend the holiday with three of my grandchildren and their mom, Meily, who would be flying into the area from snowy Colorado to spend the holiday with my ex's family. As usual, we were invited and welcomed with open arms to stay and celebrate the holiday together. As Meily worked in the Tampa office of the company she works for, I was able to take the girls to the pool or beach and spent some quality time as we enjoyed perfect weather. We went out for dinners as a group, got sand in our suits as a group and shared germs as a group!

Love this one with sisters holding hands.

Lola looking happy and beautiful.

Nina enjoying watching the boys stare at her.

Me with three of my five precious girls
on Cousins Aaron's and Karen's boat.

Confident and a cutie, Emma with Uncle Gregg.

A sunset from the balcony of the condo at St. Pete Beach, FL

Boston Market Turkey Dinner

The night before Thanksgiving found me with the start of a sinus infection that required a trip to an urgent care facility and a script to knock it out of my system. George ended up picking up my prescriptions along with two turkey dinners from a Boston Market. We were thankful for many things despite missing celebrating with family.

The next day we headed back to our Florida "home base" where I could recuperate and not infect anyone else. I missed out on "apartment hunting" with Meily, who is seriously considering relocating to the Tampa area to be closer to family!

I ended the month of November sneezing, coughing and miserable, but I had already finished my Christmas shopping on-line, had it all wrapped, boxed up and ready to ship out by December 1st. I tend to always be a step ahead, just in case!

Valentine Card Boxes for Lola and...

Emma. Early, but promised last April.

The extravagant Valentine Card Boxes were part of their Christmas gifts. I made them after seeing the ones they had used the year before. I promised I'd make them real pretty ones for next Valentine's day.

Almost forgot to include my new car!

Decided to buy after leasing two prior to this one.

Geo

As soon as we had arrived in Florida in November, I needed to trade in my Nissan, Sentra. That Sentra had been my second lease and I liked the car so much I decided to go ahead any buy this one.

George and I decided that December would be better. Bunion surgery, that was originally scheduled for the 3rd needed to be rescheduled to the 10th so I could recuperate from the sinus infection. After that I'd be spending the rest of the the year just resting and healing. Poor George would have the honor of being my caretaker. Life (as we knew it) was good.

Lucy, feeling bummed out after realizing
we didn't have apple pie for dessert on Turkey Day!

Deep thought for the day:  "Go ahead an make all your plans you like, but never forget that we are just pawns on the chess board of life." ~ vc

While this was written after the outbreak of the COVID-19 Pandemic, I had too much information to document leading up to this devastating time in history. Once we hit my "surgery" date, the story gets even more complicated before we reach the point of "LIFE AS WE KNEW IT."