Our New Condo

Our offer has been accepted for this condo in Palm City!

We are very excited.

Laurie made us a New Condo Movie:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ew-C5-ndAc

Dynamic Driver Dylan!

We made an offer on the Quail Meadow condo.  Met with Deb and signed all of the papers and wrote the good faith check, and now we wait to hear the counter offer.


Today is the day that Dylan got his learner's permit!

 It was very exciting, and he was extremely pleased and gratified.  We met them at the Traditions Olive Garden.  Dylan drove up and parked, just like a pro  :)  After a nice early dinner, he drove all the way home to Hammock Creek, smiling all of the way.  A memorable event for all of us!

We are leaving Florida on Friday morning.  We had planned to stay until Sunday because there was such bad weather up north.  A bad blood test changed our minds.  I just cannot imagine what is going on in my bloodstream.  My hemoglobin is at 8.7 (supposed to be 12), and my platelet count, which was 61 last week, is now 17.1 (supposed to be 100 - 150).  The doctor here wants me to see a hematologist, but I don't want to start some big medical project down here in Florida, so I'm taking my weekly CBC  results back home to Dr. Burke and see what he says.  I'll see him in T.C. next Thursday.  We have been busy packing.

UPDATE:  There is no dire emergency.  The nurse at Treasure Coast Primary Care misread the test results and gave me the wrong numbers...  We are relieved but a little miffed as well.  She caused us a lot of anxiety and we changed our travel plans because of her mistake. Asi es la vida.

We debated whether to stay or go, but we were influenced by Downton Abbey, in which the family debated whether to take Sybil to the Hospital or not, and you know what happened to her!

Deb just called with a counter offer - we made a counter counter offer.  Waiting to hear results!

Quail Meadow

With Laurie, watched the episode of Downton Abbey in which Sybil dies of eclampsia.

Went with the realtor to look at condos again.  We finished up at the Quail Meadow one that we like so well.  Laurie filmed and measured and we explored and investigated, and I believe that this will be our condo.  Laurie determined that the furniture that we liked at Rooms to Go will fit.

Then off to Panera for supper and then back to Laurie's for an early birthday present opening.  Happy Early Birthday Laurie!

Quail Meadow, cheap but cute :

Jupiter Island

Laurie took us on a trip to Jupiter Island  to walk on a new trail that she and Chip had found bicycling on the day that Dylan did the beach clean-up.  It's a great, paved trail right along the water in front of some enormous and beautiful homes.  In  the parking lot by the Jupiter Club, we were next to an Aston Martin Rapide.  Laurie thinks it was a $250,000 car.  It was a glorious day.

After the walk, we drove through Jupiter Island, which is a beautiful drive - such lovely landscaping and beautiful homes.

We wanted to have lunch at Guanabana, but it was so crowded that we opted to leave.  Instead we went to the Duffy's on Indiantown Road.  Yum.

Super Saturday

WOW scenarios in the morning

Lunch at Laurie's

Ride to Bathtub Beach and House of Refuge

Two weddings on the ocean today

Indian River Park

geocaches

Dinner at Sailor's Return

Watch Mythbusters

Friday

Breakfast at Olympia Diner

Nice ride north to Port St. Lucie

Gillespies for dinner at Piper's Landing - kielbasa and cabbage

Congratulations Dylan!

Last year, at Hidden Oaks Middle School, when Dylan was in the 8th grade, he got two perfect scores on the FCAT. One was in Reading, and the other was in Math! Tonight those perfect score achievers were honored at a ceremony at nearby Jensen Beach High School. We are so proud of him, our buttons are bursting! After the ceremony, we all went out to dinner at Flanigan's. Yaaay!

Patiently waiting to be introduced

Grandma's blurry photo after D. received his certificates

Richard Blanco's Inaugural Poem

My favorite part of the Inaugural Ceremony was the recitation of this poem by the author, Richard Blanco:

"One Today"

One sun rose on us today, kindled over our shores,
peeking over the Smokies, greeting the faces
of the Great Lakes, spreading a simple truth
across the Great Plains, then charging across the Rockies.
One light, waking up rooftops, under each one, a story
told by our silent gestures moving behind windows.

My face, your face, millions of faces in morning's mirrors,
each one yawning to life, crescendoing into our day:
pencil-yellow school buses, the rhythm of traffic lights,
fruit stands: apples, limes, and oranges arrayed like rainbows
begging our praise. Silver trucks heavy with oil or paper—
bricks or milk, teeming over highways alongside us,
on our way to clean tables, read ledgers, or save lives—
to teach geometry, or ring-up groceries as my mother did
for twenty years, so I could write this poem.

All of us as vital as the one light we move through,
the same light on blackboards with lessons for the day:
equations to solve, history to question, or atoms imagined,
the "I have a dream" we keep dreaming,
or the impossible vocabulary of sorrow that won't explain
the empty desks of twenty children marked absent
today, and forever. Many prayers, but one light
breathing color into stained glass windows,
life into the faces of bronze statues, warmth
onto the steps of our museums and park benches
as mothers watch children slide into the day.

One ground. Our ground, rooting us to every stalk
of corn, every head of wheat sown by sweat
and hands, hands gleaning coal or planting windmills
in deserts and hilltops that keep us warm, hands
digging trenches, routing pipes and cables, hands
as worn as my father's cutting sugarcane
so my brother and I could have books and shoes.

The dust of farms and deserts, cities and plains
mingled by one wind—our breath. Breathe. Hear it
through the day's gorgeous din of honking cabs,
buses launching down avenues, the symphony
of footsteps, guitars, and screeching subways,
the unexpected song bird on your clothes line.

Hear: squeaky playground swings, trains whistling,
or whispers across café tables, Hear: the doors we open
for each other all day, saying: hello, shalom,
buon giorno, howdy, namaste, or buenos días
in the language my mother taught me—in every language
spoken into one wind carrying our lives
without prejudice, as these words break from my lips.

One sky: since the Appalachians and Sierras claimed
their majesty, and the Mississippi and Colorado worked
their way to the sea. Thank the work of our hands:
weaving steel into bridges, finishing one more report
for the boss on time, stitching another wound
or uniform, the first brush stroke on a portrait,
or the last floor on the Freedom Tower
jutting into a sky that yields to our resilience.

One sky, toward which we sometimes lift our eyes
tired from work: some days guessing at the weather
of our lives, some days giving thanks for a love
that loves you back, sometimes praising a mother
who knew how to give, or forgiving a father
who couldn't give what you wanted.

We head home: through the gloss of rain or weight
of snow, or the plum blush of dusk, but always—home,
always under one sky, our sky. And always one moon
like a silent drum tapping on every rooftop
and every window, of one country—all of us—
facing the stars
hope—a new constellation
waiting for us to map it,
waiting for us to name it—together.

MLK Day, Inauguration Celebration, and More Caching Than You Can Shake a Stick At

Happy Martin Luther King Day!  Happy Inauguration Day!

I was feeling a little out of sorts today, so I stayed home and watched all of the Inaugural coverage while Dick went caching with the Gillespies.

Dick's logs:
                             

01/22/2013	You found Bridge to Nowhere		Visit Log
I noticed that the CO checked and replaced this cache immediately after I posted a DNF. That is commendable maintenance. I put it near the top of my list and came down today with Sharkie Crew to show her the area and find some caches she hadn't seen before. Thanks for the cache and for demonstrating how responsible cache ownership is preformed.
01/21/2013	You found Colossus of Rhodes		Visit Log
Last of the group to find this one. I was tied up logging the previous find on the iPad. I'm getting better but I don't think I'll ever be able to walk, talk, and log all at the same time. I think that maybe I should just take notes and log the find when I get back home.
01/21/2013	You found "Bond, James Bond"		Visit Log
No bug in cache. No pen either. We left a pen and traded sigs. We all enjoyed walking the loop. Had to explain what we were doing to a group of mounted muggles. TFTC
01/21/2013	You found Poker Run 6 - Four of a Kind		Visit Log
First find of the day with Sharkie Crew & Zoroan. We decided to do this short loop. Nice walk on a beautiful day.
01/21/2013	You found Sterope		Visit Log
Damp. Signed for Zoroan, Sharkie Crew, and Basswood Bend
01/21/2013	You found Lighthouse of Alexandria		Visit Log
Who lives here? Zoroan made the find, Sharkie signed for all with a Basswood pen. TFTC
01/21/2013	You found Junkers Ju 187		Visit Log
Mrs Sharkie spotted it
01/21/2013	You found Lorrie's Boeing 737		Visit Log
The CO misspelled the name, it's Laurie. Out with the Sharkies, they are both with AA.
01/21/2013	You found Fisher XP-75 / P-75 Eagle		Visit Log
And the rain came down again. On the trail with Zoroan and the Sharkie Crew.
01/21/2013	You found Douglas C-47 Skytrain / Dakota		Visit Log
Wish I'd worn rubber boots. It sure did rain!
01/21/2013	You found Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress		Visit Log
A nice overcast day. Mr Sharkie made the find

Asti

For several days, Jana has been dealing with a very sick cat.  Asti is 14 years old, and is suffering from several infections.  She's been in the "hospital for three for four days.

Today the end came for poor Asti, and Jana had to step up and make that decision - always a tough challenge.  This is the email she just sent to the family:

The End of the Story
During yesterday's visit, Asti was chipper and affectionate, purry and adventurous and talkative.  I was with her for about 2 1/2 hours, and then she kinda hit the wall and got real sleepy so they hooked her IV back up and I was planning to come back at 10 this morning.

But this morning I got a call from Dr. Tan, the weekend not-quite-so-bedside-mannery vet, to say she hadn't done well overnight, and she thinks it's time, and she has an opening at 11:40 and do I want to be there and do I want the ashes.

I was confused, but I said of course I want to be there, and we could talk about ashes when I came in, and I got my bewildered self over there.  Their reception people ushered me discreetly into an exam room as soon as I came in the door, and I read every inch of the 'cat breeds of the world' poster 3 times during the excruciating wait for them to bring her to me.

But everything changed when she came in the room.  Her breathing was labored, and she didn't acknowledge my presence even after they left us alone.  Dr. Tan came in and said the evening tech had called her last night to say she was drooling a lot and having trouble breathing, so Dr. Tan had them remove the IV because it sounded like the lungs were full of fluid.

She left me alone to spend some time with her, but the way she was heaving for each breath, honestly I just wanted it to be over quickly.  She didn't want to be held, she didn't respond to being touched.  A completely different cat than she was yesterday (and I am so glad we had yesterday!).

The actual mechanics of the thing were fast and peaceful.  I had one tiny sob, but I held it together.  Dr. Tan was as comforting as her brisk, efficient manner allows her to be.  As soon as it was done, Asti felt different under my hand.  It was unambiguous that the thing that made her Asti was no longer there, and now it was the body of a dead cat.  So when Dr. Tan asked if I wanted to be alone with her for a while, I said no thank you.

Blendi texted to see how I was holding up.  I told him "I feel numb.  I feel like a different person, like there is a before I went through this me, and an after me.  I feel old, and tired, and empty and sad.  But no guilt or regrets."

I think that's as good as can be expected.

Inauguration

Since it's Sunday, Obama's inauguration was very low key today - the hullaballoo will be tomorrow.  Coincidentally, it will be Martin Luther King Day, which seems super appropriate to me.

Laurie, Chip and Dick went back over to Cacheapalooza today - it's not raining, and there were many things that they wanted to do.  Dylan is still not feeling well, so he stayed home, and I stayed with him.

Our guys got back around 3:30, and Dick and I came home to rest.

Dick  and Laurie found these:

      CP7 Flash Mob      Florida      Visit Log
         01/20/2013     Ranger Rick's Band of Seven: Critter #7     
         01/20/2013     Timelords      Florida     
         01/20/2013     Even Burns Me Anagram      Florida     
         01/20/2013     Ranger Rick's Band of Seven Passport Stash

Cacheapalooza 7

Cacheapalooza 7 turned out to be a dud, unfortunately.  It's just a shame that all the planning and effort that goes into planning this event can be nullified by rain.  We did manage to find the Ranger Rick series of caches before the deluge began.  We had our picnic in a pavilion in the rain, but under cover and shivering.

01/19/2013	You attended Cacheapalooza 7		Visit Log
We came down from Palm City with the Sharkie Crew and Zoroan. This is the reason we extend our Xmas vacation into January. This year it turned out that we were the only team from the Wolverine state unlike past Cacheapaloozas. We were out on the trail when the rain came and we got soaked. The consensus was that we go home and get dry. It turns out that we just aren't dedicated enough Geocachers any longer to cache in the rain. Thanks to all the folks who put in the time and effort to make this event the success it always is.
01/19/2013	You found Ranger Rick's Band of Seven: Critter #1		Visit Log
Raining harder. We were getting soaked, then cold, so we convinced the Sharkies to call it a day. We drove back home to get dry and warm after this find.
01/19/2013	You found Ranger Rick's Band of Seven: Critter #2		Visit Log
Mrs Sharkie went back to get the car while the Bends waited under the umbrella. Got Mrs Bend, who had run low on fuel, in the cachemobile and we made the find.  The rain is coming down harder and we left the bumbershoot at the car. It's hard to cache with an iPad when it's raining.
01/19/2013	You found Ranger Rick's Band of Seven: Critter #4		Visit Log
Using iPad. I'm getting better. Mrs Sharkie taught me how to cut and paste. Now if she can just teach me how to spell.
01/19/2013	You found Ranger Rick's Band of Seven: Critter #3		Visit Log
Using iPad. I'm getting better. Caching with Mrs sharkie who is helping us with the tool.
01/19/2013	You found Ranger Rick's Band of Seven: Critter #5		Visit Log
Using iPad. I'm getting better.
01/19/2013	You found Ranger Rick's Band of Seven: Critter #6		Visit Log
Found at cacheapalooza 7                 Back at Loch Lane, we dried off, freshened up, and rested.  Then over to Laurie's where we negged going back to Jonathan Dickinson State Park because it was still raining.  We watched a great movie, Super 8.  I had never heard of it before, but it was such fun to watch.  Perfect for a rainy day.                   Movie Info  In the summer of 1979, a group of friends in a small Ohio town witness a     catastrophic train crash while making a super 8 movie and soon suspect that it  was not an accident. Shortly after, unusual disappearances and inexplicable events begin to take place in town, and the local Deputy tries to uncover the truth - something more terrifying than any of them could have imagined. -- (C)

Looky Loo

We've been toying with the idea of buying a place of our own in the Palm City/Stuart area.  We've contacted Debbie, our realtor, and she has sent many suggestions.  Laurie is also helping us search.  This morning we drove over to the east end of Cove Road in the Hobe Sound area to look at some  neighborhoods like Heritage Ridge and Fairway Villas  Those two were quite old - wood construction and asphalt shingles, for instance.  There was one house there that was well situated, looked well-maintained, and had a great view out the back.

There are a couple of homes that we want to look at in The Meadows on Waterfall Trace in Palm City, but Debbie will have to take us - it's gated.

Stopped off at Laurie's to use her WiFi.  She got me hooked on the loremaster line of quests, and I completed five or six of the achievements.  It's very much fun.

Laurie went to PCE for Susan's farewell event, and the rest of us had Subway for lunch.  Dylan stayed home from school today - sore throatiness.  He really doesn't feel well.

Later, Laurie drove us around Martin Downs to look at a home on Westlake in the Eagle Lake section. It looks quite nice, and I love the location - it's right in the center of Palm City.

Spaghetti and meatballs for supper (thanks, Laurie), a little TV and we called it a day.

Ambulance in the A.M.

Woke up to flashing lights and heavy engine noises across the street here on Loch Lane  (6:30 a.m.)  An ambulance and a fire truck, no sirens.  Couldn't tell what was happening.  We went outside to investigate - seems to be the husband in the ambulance and his wife preparing to follow in her car.  Not a good way for anyone to start their day!


Late lunch at TooJays.  Before the food arrived, Dylan texted that it was raining at South Fork and tennis was called off.  Chip left to go pick him up.  The food was good.  They boxed up Chip's order, and Laurie got some soup to go for Dylan.

Back at Laurie's we watched Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.  Then Laurie, Dylan and I got an achievement and a really nice staff on WoW.  So much fun.

Off to Publix to buy beverages for Cachepalooza this weekend, to the bank for cash, and back to Loch Lane to watch Michigan play Minnesota.  Our team has to start a new winning streak tonight.  Go Blue.

Manero's

Laurie at work - had to take limo to Miami

Over to Laurie's so Dick could help Chip remove a hump of dirt in the backyard - pulled up sod, smoothed lump and replaced sod.

I used wifi

home for lunch and rest

back to Laurie's - she's home now.  Dylan comes home from school - feels sick - skipped tennis

Out to dinner at Manero's - world's best oriental grilled chicken salad - fantastic

Panera Tuesday

Decided to get some laundry done today since there's not much else going on today.

We went for lunch at Panera Bread to use their WiFi - we're paying through the nose for the iPad hotspot at home.  Too bad - it's Tuesday - no World of Warcraft - they shut down every Tuesday for "maintenance".  Not sure what that means!

Dick went caching with Chip - I stayed home to fold.

01/15/2013	You found  The Giraffe in Low Grass!		Visit Log
Caching with Mr Sharkie made the find quickly and took nothing, left jack squat. TFTC
01/15/2013	You found  1-95 Southbound Stretch!		Visit Log
While Mr Sharkie drove, I attempted to find the cache using the iPad mini the kids gave me for xmas. I had to switch to our trusty Garmin. The learning curve for the iPad is proving to be a bit sharp for me. Took nothing, left our pen. TFTC
01/15/2013	You found  Travel Bugs Need Hugs		Visit Log
While Mr Sharkie drove, I attempted to use the new iPad mini to find and log a few caches. The learning curve is still too sharp for me. Switched to the 62 and made the find. Took 0, left our flashlight. TFTC
01/15/2013	You found  Green Farm TB & Geocoin Hotel		Visit Log
Came out today with Mr Sharkie to visit this cache and launch our latest coin. Found it using the new iPad mini but still can't use it for logging the find. Thanks for placing this here. Took nothing, no trackables in the cache. Left our coin and our pen.