A Place for Everything...

and everything in its place was something we tried to do for most of our married life. Of course there were exceptions throughout the years, especially when we had a houseful of four young boys, however, that was long ago and this is now. Frankly, I underestimated how challenging I would find this move on many levels, the least of which is I can't find things. Foremost is the fact that we spent so many years on Gem Mary Court making it our home, starting anew, well, it's definitely harder than I thought it would be. Just typing that sentence I realized that it is ME that has to adjust my attitude, not our situation, which is great, just different. Perhaps I am still missing Vancouver with the cooler temperatures, little humidity and wide sidewalks?

Wide sidewalks? What's that all about? Here's what it is about...riding my bike has been quite challenging, especially along Michigan which I must travel if I am to go anywhere. No bike lanes, and riding in the street is not an option what with the traffic barreling along at 40+miles per hour. I take to the sidewalk, illegal as that is, yet, the sidewalk is often less than two feet wide because some brilliant soul decided to put massive, and I do mean massive, power poles in part of the sidewalk. Then there are the bus shelters planted in the middle of the sidewalk. Oy vey!

The fridge is leaking again, and it is, once again raining cats and dogs. In fact, yesterday afternoon I sat down to write and then the storm came along,  prompting me to shut off my computer and Bruce unplugged it for good measure. Seriously loud thunder and lightening raged for several hours during which time Bruce had a conference call with his work colleagues in Vancouver who could hear the storm over the phone it was so loud. Count them amazed as no such thing exists in that fair city. Of course they do have serious fog, wildfire smoke, rain, and snow. Pick your poison, right?

Enough already. I sound like a spoiled brat, don't I?

Friday afternoon we paid a visit to Monica for Bruce to have his hair cut. Mine looks terrible, but as I explained to Monica, it will just have to do for now as I am swimming most days and the chlorine will do highlights no favor. Then again, maybe I am out of sorts because my hair looks bad? I didn't think of that before, but maybe I should. Plus, with the stormy weather, our fun afternoon visits to the pool have come to a screeching halt. But I digress. Why pray tell did I come along? Bruce is not enjoying the Orlando driving experience any more than I am so we take turns. As we'd not had a decent lunch, from there we went to one of our favorites, Chuy's where they have that crazy happy hour with a free taco bar included.
Although it seems crazy, somehow it works for them and us. Should you ever be tempted to think you have too much on your walls, pay Chuy's a visit and there is a good chance you might think to add more to your walls. Possibly mobiles too. Or maybe not.

Most every night you can find folks hanging down at the pool, not swimming, but socializing and doing some sunset watching. We joined the group on Friday night, but unfortunately I left my camera at home. That is until I saw that it was going to turn into quite the show, at which point I hightailed it back to the condo, grabbing my camera and walking back as fast as I could. While I missed the high point, it was still pretty darn good.

What I neglected to mention is that there is also a nightly show including a colony of bats flying out of the gazebo at dusk, and if you look very carefully, you will see I caught one of them in the top right corner of the frame. I vow to do better.

We interrupt this whiny post to say that, much to my utter delight, we have finally seen the otters in the lake. I was looking out the window as I type and, by golly, I saw the two of them moving all over, up and down, as they went fishing. It was all I could do to tear myself away from watching them from the shoreline! Unfortunately, I am shooting towards the sun, so we shall see if any photos are good. Another day.

Saturday Bruce tackled another small project on my request list. A few years ago I bought those mid-century type dressers from our friend Mary who found them at an auction. Baby blue, I used them successfully in my sewing room. Well, since that was not happening in our new place, I am using one in the entryway that looks like this with the chest moved.

Bruce set up his sanding and painting area in our little courtyard.

Necessity, being the mother of invention, he managed to find a way to make the small area work, one piece at a time.

BTW--still no birds, but I'm not losing hope yet! A small problem with this set up is the ever present possibility of rain, so once all the parts were painted, we carefully brought them inside for drying. And here you have it, although the color doesn't really ring true in this photograph!

Benjamin Moore, Deep Teal, I am thrilled, although looking at the picture, I'm going to have to do better with the stuff on top, something is wrong with the scale of things.

Saturday night, once again, found us at Pam and Glen's house, this time for a surprise 65th birthday party for Oren. Lisa somehow managed to keep the whole thing a secret, so much so that he hardly knew the party was for him, even after arriving. Of course, once they brought out a walker, he began to understand.

This group was having quite the lively conversation about college football; the season start is just around the corner. I am definitely looking forward to many lively conversations surrounding this topic.

Apparently there is a baker nearby that does a fantastic job as evidenced by the cake below.

Oren, Lisa, and Bunker, with candles that look like wine corks.

I certainly cannot complain about this aspect of being home as it has been so great being with our friends again. Speaking of friends, Sunday, as we were driving home from church, Bruce's phone rang and it was Jeff, asking if we would like to join he and Lori for brunch at White Wolf Cafe? You bet, so we turned around to meet them there. My heart swelled as I met Lori for the first time. For years, following the death of his wife, dating has been a challenge, to say the least, but if my intuition has any merit, I think he's found his match in Lori.

I missed my opportunity to meet her during our time home in March as my tummy kept me home. Now, there is no reason to not see them again soon even if they are die-hard Florida Gator fans. :)

In the afternoon, David came by for a visit, bringing along Grace, their almost one year old dog who is cute as a button. Bruce, David and I sat out back, enjoying the breeze coming in off of the lake. Not long after leaving, he called and asked if he could bring us dinner? Well, who says no to that? Having one of our sons so close is a real blessing for many reasons. Had it not been for David's help, our time in Vancouver would not have gone nearly as smooth. Hooray for Dave!

If the sunrise over the lake is not enough to keep a girl happy, the full moon the other night was so bright, I merely took the reflection.

On a side note, as I was coming in the back door after taking this, I called out to Bruce, please come quickly! A tiny snake lay on the tile, which goes to show you, you have to take the good with the bad, a reminder that I need to keep my focus on all things positive. Before long, things will all fall into place as they generally do.

your friend,

Gail

p.s. White Wolf was way better than I remembered.