I Didn't Make it to the Cover of a Magazine,

however, I did, after nearly six years of entering, make it to the cover of our Orlando, 2014 Historic Preservation calendar.  As I've done in the past, I attended the first ten minutes or so of the City Council meeting for the presentation, along with a group photograph including Mayor Buddy Dyer and all the winners. Had we stayed we would have seen this big news voted on. Thinking about it later, really, once the calendar is in use, my photo will not be seen again, unlike this year when I had both the month of April and December. Remind me why it was that I wanted to make the cover?

It is nice of them to validate your parking ticket for the garage which was full to the brim, causing me to finally park the Pilot on the 9th floor. Taking a few shots of the city while up there, here is a view of Orlando Utilities on the right-- the roof on their new building is chock full of solar panels. To the left is their old headquarters, which only recently opened as a W Hotel following extensive renovations.

According to the newspaper, it is quite nice inside which comes as no surprise. Looking West, here is the Amway Arena,

where the Magic play. It is so very hard to imagine they have been playing for 25 years now. Earlier in the day Angela called, asking me where the SunTrust building was.

It is very hard for me to believe, given as smart as she is, that she did not notice the building on the right. Both Bill and Dave work for SunTrust, although not in this building, rather Bill is in the Dr. Phillips branch, while David has his office on Park Avenue in Winter Park. Eventually, after extensive instructions from me, she found it, as I learned later after stopping at the new house to drop off one more print, which I think will finish up the "Gaillery", as they call it.

Anyway, the calendar is weak this year, mostly because the neighborhood was weak. I'll try not to let that influence my happiness at finally making the cover!

The morning, or at least two hours of it, was spent in a focus group on ovens, or rather, ranges. What do I mean by that? Well, it means, I, along with 18 other people were asked questions about the design, price, burner placement, how we would put pans on the stove top, what we thought of convection ovens, as well as induction cook tops. The moderator, named Robin was from London. I'm pretty sure the company paying us was LG, although I can't be certain. There were about a dozen ranges in the room, covered at first, then, once uncovered we were to look at them, and pick our favorites, over, and over, and over again. For my trouble I was paid $75---not too shabby. Heck, some days I drive all the way out to Winter Garden, set up, take down, spend eight hours, and don't even make that much, so it seemed like a win-win situation. Bruce asked to be taken out to dinner on the easy money. :)

I hope one day they choose the neighborhood where we saw this fantastic house,

except the calendar is black and white, so this house would not be a good candidate. Isn't it brilliant?

While Bruce and I watched Antiques Roadshow Monday night, a dragonfly kept buzzing around in the lampshade. You know what that means...

Finally he got free, landing on the wall, and staying there all night long. When I got up in the morning he was gone to parts unknown.

Bruce flew to Miami on Tuesday to check on his Yard House before flying to Houston this morning. Both the Seasons 52 and Capital Grille are nearly done, which is very exciting. Usually Bruce is overwhelmed with work around the holidays--we are so excited that this year that will not be the case.

Just think--Christmas is a mere 49 days away! Let the shopping begin...

A Done Deal

At 1:56 PM on April 6, 2012, I edited the Google Document by typing my name on the line. The contract seems to be a done deal. Good Friday indeed.

Of course, only time will tell, but at the moment I'm thinking positive and why not? After I hand over the discs with images, my part is done. If they sell anything, we are both winners. Seriously, is this crazy or what???

When I received the contract on Wednesday, or maybe Tuesday, can't remember, I was pretty much paralyzed, not knowing what to do. Whenever that is the case, I go to the folks who are smarter than I, namely Bruce and Matthew. Because Bruce was out of town, his ability to help was limited. Somehow, Matthew made time in his busy schedule to not only read the contract, but sent it along to a friend of his who is a copyright attorney. He also happens to be a very nice guy because he then looked it over, suggesting a few changes, followed by Matthew actually making those changes for me in the document. I'm pretty much clueless when it comes to all this.

They accepted and so did I--let the games begin!!

Because it seems as if I've spent so much time of late on the business side of photography, this morning early I told Bruce I'm heading out to see what I can see. Sometime recently I'd seen rows and rows of beautiful flowers planted at Lake Eola so I made that my first stop.

Early and overcast with the sun just beginning to peak through the clouds. Nearby at the amphitheater some folks were setting up for a Good Friday service, testing the microphones, preparing the stage and so on. There were teenagers involved and whenever there are boys, they oftentimes will harass the animals. Don't get mad thinking I'm generalizing, which I am, but tell me when was the last time you saw a girl hissing at a swan to make it mad?? This one would not take the bait!

Speaking of birds....Guess what? The other evening, only an hour or so after finishing my blog post saying how I was worried for my baby cardinals, we saw one of them. Sitting by the pool finishing our dinner, we saw a little bird flurry. Baby cardinal flew into the big windows of the sunroom, landing on the pool deck! My heart sank, in fact, I felt a little sick. I won't keep you in suspense, as far as we know he/she survived the accident. Because baby was not moving, Bruce got closer to check for injuries. This got our little birdie going, but not far--another run in with the window, landing just below this time.

Looks pretty good after taking two hits, don't you think? Cute as a little button if you ask me. Eventually, he flew into the bushes and that's the last we've seen of him. Just when I'm least expecting it, I'm sure he'll surface again. There goes that optimistic streak again!

After leaving Lake Eola, I drove the few blocks to the old Amway Arena. About two Sundays ago, they imploded the building with dynamite, or so I think that's what they used. The middle caved in leaving the rest behind.The workers were at it, tearing down what is remaining.

It is so weird seeing the entrance sign on the right--see what look like white sticks with entrance written on them just above the creati sign is. The plans call for something called a Creative Village which sounds somewhat interesting. We shall see what comes of it.

Did I tell you yet how much I like my new vehicle? What's not to like? There is actual carpet, as well as  Bluetooth, which is particularly cool. It is so amazing that even though my phone may be in my purse, it makes no difference. Well, duh Gail--that's what Bluetooth is. Anyway, very cool that music plays like magic.

Another thing I've neglected to mention is that Bruce is officially moving his office to our home. I am none too pleased about it but that's what Darden wants, and that's what Darden gets. I'm waiting patiently for him to run to the store so I can vacuum. I told him he could have my space, but he is happy in the sunroom. He promises to keep his voice down during phone calls if I promise not to vacuum while he's on a conference call. Will do.

It seemed as if it would never happen, after all, the oleanders have been in the ground for nearly a year, but finally they have bloomed. The orange color on the fence is the setting sun the other evening.

Oleanders normally bloom almost all year; the same can not be said for the Confederate Jasmine which visits just once a year, filling the air with their wonderful perfume.

This afternoon we finally got an excellent rainstorm which we sorely needed. Bonus factor--a cold front came with it as you might expect. Cold is a relative term here--the temperatures will retreat from the 90's down into the upper 70's which sound fantastic indeed.

Bruce just left for Office Depot so I must run to get my vacuuming done for the week. Because I work weekends, that is not an option for me. :)

Happy Easter dear ones,
Gail