PCE

Palm City Elementary is the best school in the world, according to Dylan! Today was his first day back to school, and we went along because Dylan was the TV announcer this morning. Every morning they have a child announce the date, weather, special events, lunch room menu, etc. Dylan's been doing it for the last few weeks. He's pretty good at it too. (I may be prejudiced.) Today's announcement was pre-recorded before vacation.Dylan also had art (inspired by Henri Matisse) displayed in the office. His is the one in the upper left corner. (Brag, brag)

Drew Christopher

Today is the birthday of Drew Christopher Charland, son of Shelly and Chris.

7 lbs. 13 oz., born Jan. 7, 2008

This baby has been eagerly anticipated by the whole family and the whole Central Grade School!

Congratulations to Shelly, Chris, grandparents, and especially to Drew. Can't wait for the pictures!

Here in Florida it's Dylan's last day of Winter Vacation. The thing he most wanted to do was to play miniature golf (he has always called it immature golf!). So Laurie, Dick and Dylan went off to do the golf thing, with a stop at Dairy Queen afterwards. I stayed at Laurie's and read my book (Secret Life of Bees) and watched Guiding Light for the first time since Dec. 18th. Nothing has changed much on the show!

Laurie and Dylan helped me do about six quests on W.O.W. It was very much fun, and Dylan is very, very helpful - thanks Mister D.

We watched the National Championship Game until it became obvious that LSU was going to win. Those Buckeyes were supposed to uphold the honor of the Big Ten, but they failed us miserably!

Okeechobee

Lake Okeechobee

The Big Lake

Lake O

There are many names for Lake Okeechobee. We drove out there today to do some serious caching in that area. Laurie has been there before, and she knew where some good ones were. I think we found about 10 altogether. It was a nice day - cool temperatures and only a few sprinkles. There were spectacular clouds - Florida has great cloud displays.

There's one place by the lake where bikers like to congregate, especially on Sunday - Port Mayaca Lock. It was really shocking to see so many bikers in that one area. I'm not sure what the attraction is, but one of the fish camps out that way looks like a dealership - there are so many bikes parked there. I think they all just like to look at each others' bikes or something.

At Port Mayaca: Reflections, and a huge alligator!
At one point in our drive around the area, we found the Basswood Estates. It was hilarious because the B had been removed from the signs on each side of the road, and another B had been painted onto the concrete to take its place. Try to steal that! Dylan figured out why kids would steal that B :)

Here are Dick's logs:

Found it 1/6/2008 You found 'Buster' Ferrell (Traditional Cache)
We joined the sharkie crew for an afternoon at "The Lake". Although, like everyone else in America, we had heard much about Okeechobee, we had never before visited. We greatly enjoyed the experience. Your caches gave us a wonderful feel for the history of the area. We ran out of time before we could do them all. That just means we will have to schedule a return trip during our Florida stay. Thanks for adding to our fun afternoon.

Found it 1/6/2008 You found 'Buster' Ferrell (The Next Generation) (Traditional Cache)
We didn't stop in, the owner was much too busy this Sunday afternoon. Just signed the log and drove on. TFTC

Found it 1/6/2008 You found Okeechobee School #1 (Traditional Cache)
When we planned a caching expedition with the sharkie crew, this was our main target cache. Mrs Sharkie had scored this cache some time ago and wanted to show her retired school teacher parents the two caches at schools out here. We enjoyed scoping out the names of the graduates and agree that the Board of Ed blew it when they cut off the owner's class from being listed on the sidewalk. After our exploration we signed the log and drove on. TFTC

Found it 1/6/2008 You found Underwater Damage (Virtual Cache)

We joined the sharkie crew for an afternoon at "The Lake". Although, like everyone else in America, we had heard much about Okeechobee, we had never before visited. We greatly enjoyed the experience. The youngest sharkie enjoyed "firing" the ordnance. We spent quite a bit of time enjoying downtown Okeechobee. Thanks for showing it to us.
Email with answers sent.

Found it 1/6/2008 You found Williams Family Cattle Drive 1937 (Traditional Cache)
Found it and signed the log. Not my favorite type of hide. [The clue was "You will not be shocked, even though it may seem like it" - we're all thinking that this sets a bad precedent.]

Found it 1/6/2008 You found 'Mater Ditches (Traditional Cache)
Found it, grabbed it, signed the log, and ran. The lawn maintenance guy was watching. When he was distracted, found it, grabbed it, signed the log, and ran.

Found it 1/6/2008 You found The Speckled Perch (Traditional Cache)
A quandary, how does one hide a regular sized container in an urban area, highlighting a specific location? We liked the history and the location, just didn't love the hide. Probably just a squeamish snow bird. Signed the log and left our card. Thanks for more of the history of this unique part of Florida.

Found it 1/6/2008 You found Okeechobee Cowboys (Traditional Cache)
Didn't understand the clue but found it anyway. Signed the new log (Thanks Butterdish)and left a lady bug. TFTC

Found it 1/6/2008 You found Tantie Schoolhouse (Traditional Cache)
The second schoolhouse cache that were the main goals of our caching afternoon. We enjoyed the visit. We found the plaque from the boat launch amusing and the school interesting. The cache was a disaster, the contents were a sodden mess and the area is crying for CITO. We threw out the old soggy and unreadable paper and left a new log in a small zip lock. Also left a glass lady bug and a pencil. Took a bag of trash from the area of the fence row. Thanks for another history lesson.

At this last cache there was a huge hill of fire ants - one of several we saw today. It's fascinating to watch them when the hill is disturbed.

Summerfield

This is the entrance to the Summerfield community - there were beautiful Christmas lights all around the entrance area.
Please note that the entrance gate is closed, but he exit gate on the other side stands wide open. Anybody could easily drive over there and enter without a code.
Here's our place - 6900 Warwick Lane - with Subie in the garage.
The backyard has its own grapefruit tree - we haven't tried it yet.
We have a long list of complaints about our place (and I don't think we're particularly picky, either!) Let's see - off the top of my head...ants, spiders, dirty and dusty bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living room, ants in microwave, food particles in microwave, no internet upon arrival, broken sink in 2nd bathroom, broken floor mop, defective dishwasher, and if I thought longer I could come up with more.

This is the first time that this elderly lady has rented out this place - I think there should have been more oversight by the real estate agent before it was approved for rental. We're basically happy because we're only 10 minutes away from Laurie and we spend a lot of time over there, but let's just say that it could be better.

Wildlife, Steiger Style

Lunch at Duffy's yay!

We trekked away to Busch's Wildlife Sanctuary on the Loxahatchee River. They specialize in rescuing injured wild animals and birds plus wildlife-type pets that people can no longer handle. Nancy, Dylan, Jana, Laurie

Touring the enclosures, we saw bald eagles, golden eagles, wood storks, bobcats, and panthers. They had the panthers in small enclosures because there are 2 new baby cougars in the large space, and they don't want to chance a disaster by putting the large and small cats together right away. We walked past a cypress swamp and had a good view of the cypress knees.

At 3 o'clock in the amphitheater there was a really good presentation of 5 different animals. We learned about the history of each animal, a little bit about typical characteristics of those animals, and we had a chance to touch or pet all of them except for the red-tailed hawk. The animals we saw today were the alligator, the rat snake, possum, skunk and hawk.
Here's Dylan with the ratsnake.

Florida bobcats are smaller and thinner than our River Road bobcats. The foxes, on the other hand, were fluffy with lush and shiny coats. Dylan's favorite animal is the albino raccoon which he calls Marshmallow. The raccoon is really a lot more beige than he is white - he looks like a toasted Marshmallow. Overall, I think we all liked the wildcats the best: cougars, panthers, and bobcats.

Meanwhile, back home in Summerfield, we found a different kind of wildlife right in our neighborhood!Summerfield Sandhill Cranes!

The Victors

Dick wanted to go to the Capital One Bowl in Orlando. My position was, what chance do we have playing against last year's National Champion and this year's Heisman trophy-winning running quarterback? So we didn't go. Well.....

WE WON !! The score was 41-35 - unbelievable! It was totally unexpected, and so, very, very enjoyable. The team was rested and healthy, and remarkably able to keep up with Florida. Yee-haw! And as Dick said, we didn't have the long drive home.

U-M Edges Florida in Bowl Game, Sends Carr Out a Winner
January 1, 2008 Site: Orlando, Fla. (Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium)
Event: Capital One Bowl
Score: Michigan 41, #9 Florida 35
Records: U-M (9-4), Florida (9-4)
Attendance: 69,748
Next U-M Event: Season completed
ORLANDO, Fla. -- The University of Michigan football team sent its seniors out and head coach Lloyd Carr into retirement with an emotional victory over ninth-ranked Florida in the 2008 Capital One Bowl, played New Year's Day at Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium. The Wolverines (9-4) concluded the game with 524 yards of total offense, including 373 through the air to seven different receivers. The game marked Carr's 162nd and final game as Michigan head coach. He finishes his 13-year head coaching career with a 122-40 overall record and six bowl victories (6-7).

A peaceful moment with Dylan during a most exciting day!

New Year's Eve

Kyle had spent the night with Dylan, so when we decided to go see "The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep" today. we invited Kyle to come with. (After all, they've been "best friends since kindergarten!")

The movie was most enjoyable - it had a bit of ET flavor, some WWII history, a dash of Scottish lifestyle and military lifestyle, and childhood fantasy. My favorite part was when Angus was riding on Crusoe's back in Loch Ness. The scary part is when the cannons are shooting at him - they must have thought he was a submarine. It was a really nice, family friendly movie - it may become a classic.

We met Chip and Dick at Carrabba's for New Year's Eve dinner - it was very mellow and satisfying. We did have to wait a while to be seated despite the call-ahead seating thing, but then again there were 7 of us and it was New Year's Eve, so it was totally understandable. I had a great time.

Jonathan Stick-in-the-mud

This was the big group geocaching day. The 10 caches that were found were all in Jonathan Dickinson State Park, which Laurie calls Jonathan Stick-in-the-mud just for fun. The Gillespies, the Hyatts, the Pratts and Dick all went out in a great group to walk the trails and also do a little bushwhacking. Dick reported that Dylan enjoyed playing with a stick - hitting trees and such- but the geocaching, not so much. The caching expedition lasted from about noon until about 4:30. It ended because the Steelers game was on and had to be watched. :)World's largest ammo can in the woods! This one was a kids' cache.

Jana and I stayed home and relaxed - reading, talking, watching TV and just chilling.

The Spree

Dick gave us a shopping spree for Christmas, and today was Spree Day. The Palm Beach Gardens Mall was our target.

We went to lunch at P.F. Chang's - it was quite busy, but we were seated right away. Our waitress was a little spacey, but she was fun and the food was delicious. Have you ever heard of a lettuce wrap?

Lane Bryant was next, and Jana and I had a ton of fun. They were having great sales. We especially liked the buy two, get two free sale :)

Over at the mall we had coffee at the food court and did some excellent people watching. We spent the rest of our time and money at Sephora, which explains why the 3 of us are glowing now more than usual !!

We went to the Cobb Theater at "Downtown" to see Sweeney Todd (rhymes with Oh My God!) I wanted to see it because it had a long run on Broadway, and it's famous, and it starred Johnny Depp. But gee whiz, it's really hard for me to classify it as entertainment. Jana could actually identify some parts that are considered humorous. Laurie and I just looked away from the multiple throat slashings. Jana pointed out that the slashings were theatrical and not realistic, but....holy cow!

Red Tide Beach Day

Dick and I went to Stuart Beach on Hutchinson Island with Laurie, Dylan and Jana. The weather was gorgeous, but there was something in the water called the Red Tide. It's a growth of algae that's a real irritant, both in the water and onshore. We all were coughing, eyes watering, and noses running. It's just an irritant to people, but it can be deadly to sea creatures. We heard that as many as 46 manatees may have died this week because of it.

Jana and Dylan enjoyed the water anyway!

Laurie and I stayed on the sand, and Dick was the official photographer with his new Nikon which we all love!
Around the corner and down the road is the Oceanographic Center with nice displays and a cute gift shop. There is a huge tank there filled with stingrays. At 3 p.m. there's a nature talk about stingrays, and an opportunity for anyone who wants to participate to feed fish to the stingrays! Laurie and Jana were the only two of us who tried it.
Just down the road from the Oceanographic Center is the House of Refuge at Gilbert's Bar. It's the only house of refuge still standing. These place were a lot like the life-saving stations along the Great Lakes. After storms, the keepers would search the nearby beaches for survivors of boat wrecks and provide them with refuge. It was an interesting place in a beautiful setting.
A professional photographer was on the beach while we were there trying to take pictures of a small group of people. They had to scrap the photo session - everybody was wheezing and coughing because of the Red Tide, and it was enough to ruin all of the shots!

Bye Bye Tom

Laurie drove Tom down to the airport in West Palm Beach for his flight to NYC. He's meeting Brandi there, and they have a lot of fun things planned. They have tickets to see Spamalot on Broadway, and for the Dresden Dolls on New Year's Eve. They also want to take in the Museum of Modern Art, and who knows what all. It should be a great time.

We babysat Dylan at our "villa" while Laurie was gone. Jana and Dylan tried out the hot tub, and it got good reviews.

We tried a bit of geocaching in the afternoon - tried to find "The Monster of the Deep", but we were skunked. It's a six stage multi-cache, and we're stymied on the third stage. Don't you hate that?
We consoled ourselves with ice cream at Kilwin's in Stuart. They have Mackinac Island Fudge and Traverse City Cherry flavors!

The Manatee Observation and Educational Center

Tom's last full day in Florida - he wanted to see some manatees. First we had lunch at the Tiki Bar and Restaurant. It was a very Florida place full of atmosphere and local color right on the ocean.

Then we were off to the Manatee Center in Ft. Pierce . We looked and looked, but no manatees. At 3 p.m. we went on the Indian River Lagoon Boat Tour on a very large pontoon boat. We saw dolphins jumping and that almost made up for not seeing manatees.
It was a great day - good weather, fun, educational, and everybody went.

MERRY FLORIDA CHRISTMAS

For the first time in 10 years our whole family was together for Christmas! Laurie and Chip's tree was big and beautiful, and loaded with presents. The house was decorated and very Christmasy. Surprisingly, everybody slept in until around 7:30 - I can remember our kids getting up at 5 a.m.

The best part was watching Dylan opening his things and playing with his RoboQuad. (He named it Roboquaddie.) Everybody enjoyed everything, and we only had 2 things that had to be sent back (bike shorts & telescope). Dick got a new point-and-shoot digital camera, and he'll turn into a professional photog in no time.

Chip cooked the turkey on the grill, and it turned out great! They don't do stuffing, so it only took about 4 hours. Laurie slaved away in the kitchen most of the day - Laurie and Chip did everything - they wouldn't even let me set the table! It felt strange (in a good way).
Dinner was delicious - especially that sweet potato casserole, right Dylan? We ate in the dining room and the new table and chairs are wonderful - spacious and comfortable. Laurie said at Thanksgiving that she felt like Grandma was sitting on her shoulder.

In Which We Arrive!

We have arrived in Palm City/Stuart! As a sign I once saw said, "Hep Hep Beret" !!

Our Florida place is in a development called Summerfield by the Champs Golf Course near US 1 and Cove Road. It's an older development - I can't tell how old, but in our "golf villa" things show signs of wear. We have three bedrooms and two baths, lots of space and lots of cloisets. It's well stocked and furnished. We really have everything we need. The one thing that's missing is an internet connection, which is very high on our priority list because we each brought a laptop, so the first thing we'll have to work on is getting the modem hooked up.

Debbie, the real estate lady, agreed to meet with us a couple of hours early because we got here sooner than we expected. She was glad because she had just found out that her office party was scheduled for the time of our original meeting! Wouldn't want to miss that! :) Laurie came with us to meet with Debbie at our house, and it got Laurie's official Okie Dokie. We got the keys, the garage door opener, and the gate code. I think that we'll be comfortable here.

Afterwards, Laurie went down to Ft. Lauderdale to pick Jana up at the airport while we were unpacking and getting acclimated. The plane was delayed for almost an hour, but other than that it was an uneventful flight and we were jumping with joy to see her - Tom arrived here on the 21st, so now we're all here.

Jana will stay with us, except for Christmas Eve when we're all sleeping at Laurie's to wait for Santa.

Findlay, Chattanooga, & Columbus (GA)

Our Christmas Odyssey -

First Day - Drove to Doug's to drop off Christmas presents - had a good cookie and a good cup of coffee, chatted a bit, and headed for Findlay. Had a free night at the Findlay Quality Inn.

Second Day - On to Chattanooga (is that the choo choo?) and the Comfort Inn.

Third Day - here we are in Columbus, Georgia - another free night - at the Comfort Inn.
Columbus is just across the Chattahoochee River from Phenix, Alabama - so we were able to find caches in two different States, and leave our coin in each State. Phenix has a beautiful riverwalk all decorated with Christmas lights.

I-75 Observances:

1. Trucking is the lifeblood of this country. There are so many trucks up and down I-75 that it boggles your mind. You actually get used to having them blow your doors off when they pass.

2. The Nissan Murano is a very nice looking car. Dick questions whether it can pull the boat.

3. The Ford Escape is the car I want next - wider wheel base than the Explorer, and more fuel efficient. Dick questions whether it can pull the boat.

4. Michigan bathrooms are generally cleaner than the bathrooms available to travellers south of Ohio.

5. Ohio is too flat.

6. When Dick is wearing his Michigan regalia, people talk to you about it. They either used to live in Michigan, have a relative who's a big fan and has season tickets, or hate Michigan with a passion. One man jokingly told Dick that there was a dirty spot on his jacket (pointing to the M). Today in Georgia a man said, "Watch that Gators game!" Yoicks.

7. On Interstate Highways, signs for tunnels are red. We don't have red Interstate signs where I come from!

8. Ohio is too gray and foggy.

9. Tennessee fans are stuck with a really ugly shade of orange for their athletic teams. Denver fans used to be called the Orange Crush and their shade of orange was Halloweeny. Tennessee orange looks like peach yogurt.

10. Georgia State Troopers have police cars that flash and blink in horizontal blue strips - all the time....at every opportunity - they love their blue flashers!

11. The gas and lodging signs along the interstate are a big help to the traveller.

12. Dick still likes to blink his lights at trucks who are signalling lane changes, and once today one of them even blinked back to say thanks. It reminds me of when the kids used to pump their arms at truckers to get them to blow their horns!

13. Tennessee has a long stretch of an area prone to fog. They have every electronic device known to modern man set up to warn motorists of foggy conditions. It wasn't foggy when we passed by.

14. Ohio is not scenic. Cinncinnati is a mess to drive through.

15. Kentucky and Tennessee are very scenic - beautiful stretches of highway.

16. Nine hours is too long for us to drive in one day. Seven hours is more doable. We once drove from Belleville to the Florida State line in 22 hours straight.

17. Try to avoid Atlanta.

18. Can't avoid Ohio. Dick says that Ohio is like Kansas - you have to drive through it to get somewhere else.

12 Days of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Here's an old Christmas standby that you won't want to miss. It's 3 and a half minutes long, but you have to watch the whole thing! My cousin Ken sent me this bit of Christmas cheer!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Warmth

It was a gray, damp and drizzly day - not exactly freezing rain, but very close. Later, thankfully, it turned to snow.

When we arrived at Tim and Susie's for lunch, it was a relief to walk into their riverside home. It was warm, there was beautiful Christmas music, a nice hot wood stove, and Christmasy folk art from floor to ceiling. It was just like Dorothy opening the door and seeing things in color! We all made a yummy type of egg roll - we rolled them up and Susie fried them in the FryBaby. We had a delicious lunch, some good local champagne, toured the new addition, exchanged gifts and gossip, and the whole visit had a real Christmas feeling.

Thanks, Tim and Susie. Happy Holidays and safe travels.

The Goose is Getting Fat

Christmas is coming,
The geese are getting fat,
Please put a penny
In the old man's hat.
If you haven't got a penny,
A ha'penny will do,
If you haven't got a ha'penny,
Then God bless you.

Christmas is coming,
lights are on the tree,
Hang up your stocking for Santa Claus to see.
If you you haven't got a stocking,
a little sock will do;
If you haven't got a little sock,
God bless you!

Christmas is coming,
the season of good cheer,
Let's all sing a carol for the brand-new year!
If you haven't got a carol,
a jolly song will do;
If you haven't got a jolly song,
God... bless... you...!

We'll be spending Christmas and January in Florida this year! We've rented a house in Stuart, which is 10 minutes from Laurie. We're leaving here on Dec. 19th (after a dental appointment) and driving down. We have the house from Dec. 23 to Jan. 31. We're having our mail forwarded to Laurie's address.

Tom will arrive on Dec. 21st, and Jana on the 23rd. Jana will be staying with us, and Tom will be at Laurie's. Jana's staying until after New Year's Day, but Tom is going to spend New Year's Eve in NYC.

Dick kind of wanted to go Michigan's Bowl Game (Capital One Bowl, Orlando) but we talked him out of it. What chance do we have against last year's National Champions? Plus, those North Florida Bowl games just don't have the hoopla, fun, and excitement of the Rose Bowl, for instance. We've gone down there a couple of times, and it was disappointing.

We can be reached by cell - 231-392-1773 or through Laurie 772-463-0288. We don't have the phone number for our house yet.

It should be an awesome Christmas. We haven't had Christmas together since 1997, the year that Dylan was born.

Turkey Preparation

My annual physical was at 8:30 this morning and it took an hour and a half! Dr. Burke is nothing if not thorough! He pronounced me healthy as a horse. Evidently my mobility problems are mostly caused by persistent nerve damage which is healing at its own slow pace. We had breakfast at the Green House Cafe, and then came home to meet Tim and Susie! We had a good visit, with ice cream and cookies to boot - kind of a nice combination!

The plumber showed up to try to fix the faucet in Dick's tub, which hasn't been working properly. We found out that the broken part isn't made any longer, and a hole will probably have to be cut in the wall to get access for replacing the old faucet.

Then it was time to cook the giblets, chop the onions, make the jello salad, and bake the pie. It's just going to be the two of us this year, but we're doing the whole bit - the turkey is just smaller, that's all. The table looks nice, and at Tom's they were selling beautiful roses for $7/dozen - who could resist that?

Tomorrow I want us to just enjoy the parades, the football, and the dinner.

Lloyd Carr

Lloyd Carr retired as Michigan head football coach this morning. He's been at the Univ. for 27 years, 13 as Head Coach. We're sorry to see him go but happy in the realization that he has many years ahead of him to enjoy living! Dick knew Lloyd when he taught and coached at Belleville many moons ago. Lloyd used to come to the annual End of the World party at Glen's sometimes. That was always memorable and fun. My best memory of Lloyd was years ago on I-75 we were heading north, and he passed us waving frantically to get our attention. He's a nice person. He helped us get our 4 seats together in the stadium - we used to have 2 and 2 separated by quite a few rows. We know that there are good things ahead for him.

It Could Have Been Better

The only thing worse than losing to Ohio State in Columbus is losing to Ohio State at home in Michigan Stadium.

The only thing worse than losing to Ohio State at home is losing to Ohio State at home in the rain.

The only thing worse than losing to Ohio State at home in the rain is losing to Ohio State at home in the rain when the temperature is 38 degrees F.

The only thing worse than losing to Ohio State at home in the cold, cold rain is losing to Ohio State at home in the cold, cold rain and dropping your mittens into a puddle.

The only thing worse than losing to Ohio State at home in the cold, cold rain with wet, wet mittens is losing to Ohio State at home in the cold, cold rain with wet, wet mittens and having your team play so poorly.

We were cold, we were wet, we were so disappointed - it was dismal.
Here's an excerpt from a Maryland Elementary School Talent Show:
I'll bet our team could have beaten their team!

U-M Falls to Ohio State in Big Ten Championship Game
On a cold, wet afternoon at Michigan Stadium, the No. 23 Michigan football team dropped a 14-3 decision to No. 7 Ohio State on Saturday, Nov. 17, in a contest that decided the Big Ten's outright champion of 2007. The Wolverines took an early 3-0 lead on K.C. Lopata's 33-yard field goal toward the end of the first quarter, but Ohio State, behind Chris Well's 222 yards rushing, scored touchdowns in the second and third quarters and held the Wolverines to 91 net yards. Tim Jamison had three tackles for loss to pace the U-M defense.

Luckily, Resourceful Richard had packed hand warmers, ponchos and a blanket so that we were not totally drenched, we were merely soggy and dripping. When I put my head down, water from my poncho hood ran down onto my knees. Did I mention that it was cold? I was wearing four layers on top and two layers on my legs, and double socks. At 12:25 to go in the 4th quarter I was chilled through and it was only the shame of it all that prevented my leaving early.

Once it was over and we were back in the car, we luxuriated in dry layers of clothing, heated seats, and the blessed heater. Thank you, Subaru.

When we went back after the tickets on Friday morning we should have stayed home. Oh, but then we wouldn't have seen Reiko and her boys, so forget it.