Stuffy noses and cold house...

Can't sleep! My nose is stuffy and it must be 55 degrees in the house cause I haven't turned on the heat yet. Another winter commences in the deep south...I'm sitting in total darkness,fingers poised above the keys striking dully like so many crab pinchers fighting over tidbits of smelly old pieces of rotten bacon. Well, took a trip down memory lane with that last phrase.
My Grandfather slipping the pieces of bacon on the hook just so,and me holding my breath with baited anticipation watching him jerk a big fat blue crab out of the St. John's river in Green Cove Springs Florida,down that special dock in my Grandmother's back yard. It was a very long dock as docks go and it had cat-tails growing beside it. And some sort of tree that the carpenter ants would harvest because I saw them carting them off one time in little half-moon divets just like I had seen on the National Geographic show on television. It was warm and sunny and life was good when I was five. No paragraphs/No apologies!

Dinner and a ? movie...

Well, I just posted a rather long blog by my puney standards of late and at the end it said "error" and it did not get published so.. here it is in a nut shell- I had a nice time with my Aunt today. I went to her house with the fixins for chicken soup and made it while she talked to me in the kitchen and then we retired to the living room to watch a movie...but towards the end the DVD quit and we weren't able to watch the finale of Bourne Supremacy. The enter key is not working on this blog so I can't make a new paragraph. My Aunt and I are also going on a plane trip together to Washington to visit my brother,niece,and sister-in-law in May. I talked her into going and it is going to be so much fun to have her along, I can't wait!

Dinner and a Movie...

I had a dinner date with my Aunt Leah this evening. I made chicken soup and we noshed(sp?) on sweet pea pods while I was cutting everything up in her tidy kitchen framed by three big windows so that we could see the squirrels scampering around on the pecan trees in the backyard. Then we went out into the living room to watch Bourne Supremacy which I had rented for the occassion. Unfortunately just before the finale of the movie the DVD stopped and we could not get it going again no matter what we did so we wound up not seeing the ending. A good time was had by all though and I made enough soup for a small army and she made me take some of it home. For some reason the enter button is not working on this posting and I can't make a new paragraph! Oh, well! I am going to Washington State to see my brother and sister -in-law again in May and my Aunt Leah is flying up too with me for a visit. That is so neat! I can't wait!

La La La...live for today.

It was a good day today and I enjoyed my pets and James. Jennifer stopped by before church to use my dryer because hers is on the fritz. She is communicating again with me because she broke up with her boyfriend again. Well whatever the reason it's nice to see her.

My little bro called me today. He and Michelle were shopping at Baby's Are Us because Sophia's car seat is too small now and she needs another. She weighs 20lbs and is too long for the previous one. She is a little over ten months old now. She is SO LOUD over the phone. She is ADORABLE too.

I feel pretty and gay...la,la,la...

Well now! My little brother's wife is back home after a month being away visiting her ailing father in Alaska and my brother is SO happy again and I am happy for him too! And he said that my niece recognized him when he came home from work and that she is such a little person now. Not only that but the whole family wants to go to Disney World and Bermuda and I am invited. Don't know if I will go 'cause I don't like Disney or theme parks in general but Bermuda would be nice. It does mean that I will miss the fourth of July in Seattle which I was so looking forward to. Oh, well being in Bermuda on the fourth sounds nice.
I don't know, maybe I will stay in Jacksonville and go to Savannah with Eric and Michelle and Sophia if they stay after. I would like that.
On another note. I bought two pairs of running shoes, at the same time! Brooks, addiction 6 of course. That is my new favorite! Hurray tenna shoes!

exercise program and new diet

well, I started a program on the 1st. It is through e-diets.com. It is amazing the tools they have to share for only $3.99 a week. They give you workable menues,.recipes,grocery lists and tailor it to what diet you want and what exercise program you want. It is the Bob Green fellow that is Oprah Winfrey's personal trainer. I am following the heart smart diet and the Bob Green total Body workout although I think I'll just change to his walking program and stretching untill I am limber enough for strengh training. So far I've lost three lbs. It is raining in torrents here and we are experiencing flooding so I haven't gotten a refridgerator nor have I been able to walk a mile yet. I am walking to James' as usual.

Pf_flyer

Tenna shoes

When I was young I thought my Mother was saying "tenna shoes" rather than what she was really saying which was Tennis shoes. To this day I call all athletic shoes and especially sneakers "Tenna" shoes. I got a new pair the other day and boy do they feel great! They feel like walking on clouds! I washed them today because it has been raining lately and when I took out the liners and turned them underneath they said "clouds" :-)

Family Reunion at the cemetary

Sunday we had a family reunion at the Turknett cemetary. Fewer people showed up than I thought would be there and I thought there would be more children running around. There were about twenty six people there total. They brought enough food for a dozen more I'd say. There was three kinds of chicken. Two pasta salads. Two potato salads. Two kinds of dips,one mexican the other ranch with veggies. Lots of desserts. I had a small brownie.

My Great uncle Karl was there and uncle Dale who didn't know who I was untill my name was mentioned and then he gave me a hug. Cousin Ray didn't know who I was at all. I explained the lineage to him. I'm four years older than him and last saw him for my great grandmothers funeral in 1971.

All the women my age and older had gained weight and had gotten short hair cuts! I did not feel like the odd man out at all this time. Has to do with the effexor 75mg I am taking as well. I did not rehash interactions like I used to do all my life. I had a genuinely good time.

I didn't think it was an appropriate time to mention the papers our lawyer drew up for my uncle Robert's Kids too sign about the title to the house. I'll talk to them about that some other time. Anyway...it was a perfect spring day! I joked that it was too bad we hadn't waited untill easter and then we could have hid eggs for the kids except there were only three there. Two three year old twins and one eleven year old all grandchildren of my mothers cousin Gail,my second cousin. The grandchildren are my fourth cousins.

Well I go to Washington state on April 1st! Yipee! Am looking forward to seeing my niece.

I saw a pretty little bird yesterday and today at the same curve in the road. It had chartreuse green head and shoulders and neck and grey and white feathers. It was very small and came quite close too me before flying to a pittosporom bush. This is the first time I've ever seen this bird. I think I'll go to Chamblain's Book Mine and see if they have any used books on florida birds with color plates.

Well, that's it for now.

Correction: the little bird has a yellow throat and breast and chartreuse colored head and back. I was able to see it a little better on the next walk. It is so pretty!