Tuesday

Well it was a long day starting with the fowl wake up around 5:00 AM, I managed to roll over and shut him out until nearly 6. I then did my quiet time and wrote this post before heading out on the bike for a couple hours of pickle ball at the rec. We had a small crowd to start with then reached about 10 players before they all dwindled down to 4 players by 10 o'clock. I then headed home to do some major gardening.I transplanted and thinned out some Bib lettuce, fertilized and hand watered until it was nearly lunch time.

Nancy and Amy had gone to Target for some shopping as they are getting ready to head for Kansas for the holidays. Now that Nancy's folks are in Michigan and Bobby's family is coming for Christmas breakfast this year we will have a rather small crowd for supper. We had even entertained the thought of making a fast trip to the cabin for a week or so after Christmas Day but the thought of getting snowed in squelched that rather quickly, especially with some rather cold and snowy weather on the way there as I write. Thursday for us is in the 60's for a high and down once again into the 40's at night. Time to cut the a/c off and once again open the windows.

Amy and the kiddos came for lunch and afterwards the kiddos and I played outside in the back yard. It was rather nice with a warm gentle breeze around 80 degrees. It felt as if the humidity was lessening and was down right nice even at that temp. The skies were clear with bright sunshine. It was going on 2 PM before they headed out for their naps and I needed to take a shower as we were heading to Bobby's to watch their kiddos for the evening as I knew it would be late when we got home.

We headed out around 3 PM and the road construction and traffic was just horrible, you can tell all of the "snowbirds" are back from up north. We took a short cut through Tampa because the interstate during rush hour is packed plus we wanted to stop at their Sam's Club near their residence off of Big Bend Road. We picked up a rotisserie chicken and a few other items which will save us a trip this week to our local one. This Sam's is brand new and huge and the lay out is great. We had a half hour or so to spare so we shopped around before heading just 10 minutes up the road.

Annsley and Gabriel were excited to see us and we had a super fun time. Gabe loves to play ball and of course Annsley is into her make believe world. Bob and Jill did dinner at P.F.Changs in Tampa(we have never been there) for Chinese cuisine and got back to the house around 9:30. I was starting to yawn as I have been turning the lights around 10 PM as 5-6 AM comes early. We got home around 10:30 so I had little to do before hitting hay. We had a fun time and Bob's little garden is doing great especially his tomato's. I picked a handful of cherry tomato's as his is really producing. I have several set on my plants but nothing like his as he gets full sun all day.

Well tomorrow(today as I write this post)is an infamous day in our history when in 1941 the Japanese Air Force bombed our Navy at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This action drew us (U.S.) into WWII. Take a moment and remember all those and their families who died on that day for our country. I have been to that infamous site where several ships lay at the bottom of the ocean with many of the sailors on board,still entombed in that watery grave. Its a very touching site with oil still bubbling to the surface from those ships sunk so long ago, least we never forget much like 9-11. We of all nations have done so much good for so many people have such scars to remind us there are folks out there who don't like our way of life. We must be vigilant for our children and grand children and we must re-evaluate those who we elect to lead our land and keep us safe from such atrocities and never apologize for being a nation that is a beacon of hope for many in this world. Having travelled to many places in the world and mingled with the common ordinary folk, America is still the beacon of Liberty for all. LATER