'Tis the Season....

It's Holiday Party time.....which means a few extra dollars catering. I have known Val Brady for 34 years. We first meet when we both worked together at "Fran O'Briens". Val now has her own catering company and whenever she needs someone to tend bar, I am her go to girl. This time a friend of mine needed a caterer and Val got the job.

I have known Donna and Alan for about 2 years now. They travel to South Africa every winter and I take care of their two dogs. They are such wonderful people. They have had such an extraordinary life, but remain humble.

Their home is something out of Architectural Digest. They have acquired artifacts from all around the world and their home is the perfect showcase. Once again my photos do not do justice.

The party was from 2-4, which was shorter than the time it took to setup and break down. Donna is very sensible, "It's after lunch and before dinner, we won't need tons of food". She and Alan also hired a pianist to play all the great old classics, with a few White Christmas's for the holiday theme. It was the perfect touch.

Val's table, as always, looked scrumptous. Crab dip, prime rib sliders ,cheeses from around the world (Whole Foods), fresh salmon, and sweet bite size treats from one of the best local bakeries. Everyone loved the food.

I had to throw this last photo in because I am such of fan of oriental carpets. Theirs come from Turkey, South Africa and a number of other countries. Mine came from Arnold.

Black Cloud

I pride myself on being a positive person. I am a firm believer that if you are positive, you attract positiveness and positivity. Well in the last month it seems like a black cloud has attached itself to me, but I am staying upbeat to get through it.

No sooner do I blog about polarized sunglasses taking the place of love then my sunglasses crack at the nose. This would be understandable if I sat or stepped on them, but I pulled them out of my pocket to run my errands du jour and voila. I'm guessing the gods did not appreciate my comparison with love. I have sent them back to Maui Jim's with 10.00 and fingers crossed.

Next I am heading up to bed for the evening with a full glass of water, and see something on my desk that needs to go upstairs with me. I grab it with the same hand that my water is in and 2 seconds later the full glass of water is saturating my 11 month old Apple Macbook.

F...!!!! I wipe everything down as I watch the screen fade to black. I continue with the toweling off, cursing my butter fingers. I go to bed promising my first born to all the computer gods.

The next morning I turn the computer on, and the screen comes up and I am over the moon. One week later I insert a disc and nothing happens except a funny noise coming from within. I take the computer into the Apple Store and explain the details to the clerk. He sends it to the Apple repair store. The next day I get a call explaining that my computer has been....and I quote, "Catastrophically Compromised". The mother board will cost 800.00 to replace. They send it back....still compromised.

Now losing the apple is no big deal. It was always more computer than I would ever master. It was all the photos and music that it contained. All my trips..... Panama, Costa Rica, Tuscon, Hawaii and all my weekend getaways in between. I have come close to calling Terry a few times for a disc, but I'm sure he can do without that, so I won't bother him. I never really blogged about those trips, so I don't even have blog photos. Oh well...

I have since bought a Toshiba with Windows and love it. I actually know how to use all the extras.

This whole experience has made me miss the good old days. When I used to spill things on my desk all I had to worry about were a few pages sticking together. Some of my old address books are priceless.

There have been a million other little inconvieneces, but I have spent enough time whinning. I will now go put my big girl panties on and start my day.

Do you like my new shoes?

Farewell My Friend.

Donna and I spent a lovely evening with friends for Thanksgiving. The conversation was lively and we even got to sneak in a game of pool with the boys. There was plenty of food and we both came home with full bellies. We hit the hay early, because Donna had an early flight home.
They say, "Home is where the heart is", and I think this trip made it clear for Donna, that Apalachicola is now home. I am truly happy that Donna has found a happiness in Florida that eluded her here. The quaint, quiet lifestyle just fits her perfectly. She has settled in like a puppy to it's litter mate, and I for one am thrilled. Happiness often by passes those who make a lifetime searching for it. This story has a happy ending.
I am just glad for skype, email, facebook, phones and scrabble..... even with all that I can't help but feel a small void. Love you.

Party On.

The day after Donna's birthday celebration at the Chart House, Donna and I went to a friends house to celebrate their birthday...oh yeah, Donna's too.

Mick and Gisella went to South America on the mission with us. Actually Gisella is the driving force behind most of the Colombia mission work. We had a wonderful evening talking about missions past and one coming up in August. This mission will take us to Cuzco, Peru.

As much as I would like to polish off my halo, and say this is a totally altruistic move on my part, the truth is Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail have been on my bucket list for awhile now. And hey...if I can do a little good along the way, why not? Mick and Gisella had hiked the trail and had photos to prove it. Donna has already said that she would be taking the train, 1st Class no less. I feel like if I took the train I would be missing out on an adventure of a lifetime. Of course it's easy to feel like that now, I'm sure around day 2 of hiking straight uphill,sleeping outside, not bathing and barely being able to breathe in that impossible altitude, I will be rethinking my need for adventure. Anyone out there want to join me?