I had every intention of getting off to a good start on my blogging, however, my computer woes continue. Just when I'd decided I could not take it anymore and was going to buy a new computer, of all things, the Apple guy talked me out of it! Plus, he made all kinds of calls to help me which, of course took hours. And it ain't over yet, but I'm closer to a resolution. Enough so that I am giving it a go now. And what exciting things I have to report! Or, perhaps I should say they were exciting to me!
Seriously though, I wonder if I'm getting too old to have a blog? I hope not because when the computer is working as it should, I still love writing and sharing. What the heck, 2019, here we come.
In my last post, gifts from Matt were shown off because I said they had come the farthest, however, that was wrong by a long shot. Alissa and Jon, during their fantastic trip to Iceland, bought a beautiful blanket for me, carrying it back in their luggage to Austin, followed by the same to Orlando. Without further ado, here is the well traveled blanket.
Such a fantastic match for our quilt, right? One thing about them is they are seriously low key, happy to just hang out for the most part. We spent a lot of time watching college bowl games, doing crossword puzzles, and occasionally eating out. Here we were at 7bites using the gift card Fallon and Bill gave them.
That look on Jon boy's face says a lot about how in love he remains. :)
While they were getting some much needed rest in the mornings, I took to my bike, looking for birds and was not disappointed during a visit to the Orlando Wetlands off Mills Ave. I showed you a Limpkin before, but I think it is such a handsome bird, here is yet another shot. You decide.
As I continued my walk, along came a man coming towards me carrying a tripod on his shoulder with the biggest lens I think I've ever seen in person. I asked him if he'd seen anything and indeed he had. A pair of owls, which he kindly pointed out amongst all of the Winter cypress branches. Gray and gloomy, paired with more branches than you can count, makes for a mediocre photo, but, well you know me and owls....
Unlike the multitude of bare trees we saw in Vancouver, here there are but a few that lose their leaves, and in this instance, needles of the shedding Cypress trees which litter the ground.
The photo below of the Wetlands Park, taken ten days after the start of Winter, is about as "Autumny" as it gets in Florida, or at least in our part of the state.
On the 30th it was time to take the tree down. Not because we weren't still in love with it, but many of the needles were brown and it just seemed the prudent thing to do. In addition to our Christmas boxes, we also got three big tubs of mementoes belonging to Jonathan from our storage unit. He made himself comfortable and began going through the boxes while we dismantled the tree.
Both outcomes were good--Christmas is a thing of the past in the Peck household, and Jonathan was able to donate one tub of pristine books to the Orlando Public Library's young people department because he knows one of the librarians there and called to see if they would be interested in his collection. So exciting that they will be of use!
While not nearly as cheerful as the former occupant of this space, Alissa put together the awesome pole lamp I received as a Christmas gift from Dave and Michelle.
December 31 arrived and with it, the end of my time as a 64 year old. It was a super warm day, as they all have been for the last week with the air conditioner running full time. Yeesh! I want some chilly weather! Jonathan bought us subs for lunch, thus I've now had a Publix sub three times. Troy came with the fan deck of paints for me to choose the kitchen cabinet color, a bit of a daunting task, but I am so ready for it to be done, I won't mess around choosing. Unfortunately, he won't start the job for a bit now, but the end is in sight.
In a fantastic coincidence, while I was having a lovely birthday chat with Mat via facetime, the flowers he'd ordered arrived and boy howdy, is it cute, and clever too. I've never seen anything quite like it before. So great to be able to show him how cheerful it is in real time!
Then, the unthinkable happened--a surprise birthday party, hosted by Dave and Michelle, for you know who! Carol called while we were getting ready for what I thought was a New Year's Eve party, making us a bit late, so I sent Jon and Alissa down first. I was never so shocked when they opened the door, greeting me with huge balloons reminding me that I'd turned 65! Do I have much photographic evidence? Sadly, no because the lighting was very dim and my camera could not keep up, however, I will show you what I have.
Michelle went all out on the decorations, the food, and oh my gosh, a chocolate birthday cake to die for. It even had gold sparkly stuff on it to go with the glam theme!
Plus, there were gifts as seen beside their tree. Oh my goodness it was so nice of them.
Other folks took plenty of photos, however, I've not figured out what to do with them as they are on my phone.
Here is a link to some Michelle took should you be interested. At one point, I was sat down in the chair you see beside Jonathan and my family all said a few words about me including, a video made by Tom of Matt from Trafalgar Square! We all watched in amazement as Michelle played it on their gigantic television. If I can find it again, I will share it next time.
There was shrimp, sliders, cheese, cookies, champagne, and well too much to name really. Pam got to meet the other Peck family members and I think she's smitten. Oh yeah, hats and noise makers too. And I can say with confidence it is the first time I've worn a tiara!
Honestly, it was so wonderful, there really are no words. Bruce said the next day, how could we ever thank them enough? I don't really know. Because of the date, I rarely pay much attention to my birthday and certainly there are no parties specifically for me, the last one being when I was in elementary school and Maureen was in charge of the party. To say that I am humbled is putting it mildly. :)
And now we are nearly caught up, that is except for a January 2nd field trip that I will show you soon. I sat down to write this yesterday, however, the hours spent on the phone with Apple kept me from finishing. But now I have, and it seems as if between three different Apple folks, I might be back in business. Time will tell.
Happy New Year to one and all!
your friend,
Gail
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