For Judi

Judi said she can't see Crabby's face.  Is this better?  All the rest of the photos must be on Paul's phone.

Sorry, but I can't figure out the comments.  It worked in 2010, because lots of people left comments back then.  I thought I fixed it in September and Mom even sent a "Test" comment, but it seems to just go back.

St. Petersburg, Oct. 2011

Judi will think I am copying her, and I sortof am...this is a little crab candleholder that a friend gave me for my deck in Florida.  So of course we had to take all sorts of pictures with him to show her how much fun he was having.  In this picture, Crabby is enjoying a mojito at the Yacht Club.  He's really back in his element; Colorado was just too cold for him.

We flew out of Denver in a snow/sleet storm, and it rained off and on the first day we were in Florida, but after that the weather was spectacular!  We went to HomeGoods and RoomsToGo on the rainy day, and then had dinner with our friends Leslie & Russell that night.  The rest of the time we did a "whole lotta nothin," which included hanging out at the pool and just relaxing on our deck.  Read a couple of good books, and had some great seafood.  If I could retire and move there tomorrow I would.

June - Finally Summer!

I tried to post some pictures when were were down in Florida in the middle of May, but Blogger wouldn't let me. So I'll post May now and June next.

Paul's parents came over from Ft. Lauderdale for my birthday. This is Paul's dad with a "bucket o' beers." He thought it was so cool.




















And here is me, with the next night's appetizers. Note the fancy cardboard box for a coffee table with the sprig of plastic flowers in the center. I'm not the "hostess with the most-est" for nothing!















We bought some kayaks online and had them shipped to my friend Leslie's house before we went back down to FL. Had a little mixup because they didn't ship a paddle that was supposed to be included with mine, but Amazon was amazing and immediately credited me the cost of a paddle we had to buy. HIGHLY recommend Amazon.

Here they are: mine is the little one. It dumped me out almost every time I tried to get in off the dock, and I ended up getting stitches when I cut my leg on a barnacle on the piling. Had a cute medic at the ED, though. So all is forgiven, and the kayak and I are still friends. But next time we go down I'm buying a ladder so I can climb down to the water instead of trying to balance from 3 feet up.















Here is Paul headed out fishing. His kayak is bigger, with places for his fishing rod. Right after this he caught some sort of a trout, and while he was trying to get it reeled in (the kayak doesn't have brakes so the fish tows you around a little), a bunch of dolphins (the mammal) started circling and trying to get the fish. Paul said it was a little freaky - not knowing if he'd hook a dolphin and get towed out to sea! At least that's his story...I never actually SAW the rumored dolphins.



But I did see a manatee in our canal. Paul came running up the stairs yelling, "Manatee! Manatee!" Didn't get pictures, but it was right in our boat slip when he was getting out of the kayak. That I DID see.

Happy Sunday -- it is finally snowing! I know the East Coast and lots of other places in the U.S. have had way more than their share of snow, but here in Colorado, we haven't had a whole lot. The ski areas are open, but the conditions leave a lot to be desired. Hopefully from here on out it won't stop until April. With all the beetle-killed trees, we are going to have an interesting summer if we don't get a LOT more snow.

We went to Florida for Valentine's Day/Presidents Day/Mardi Gras. It was still pretty chilly (for Florida - 60s), but the sun was out, and so were we. Here's me having lunch at the Pier.

And here's my Valentine's Day present. Isn't it awesome? Paul does good work. I think it's Tanzenite and Australian Opal...I don't really care; it's just pretty.
This next one isn't a very good picture because I took it with my Blackberry, but I think you can see the ears....

This is Samson, who has never shown ANY interest in the TV at all. But two nights ago we were watching the Ice Dancing during the Olympics, and he was fascinated. He watched and watched, and kept jumping up to "touch" the skaters. Once Ice Dancing was done, so was he.
Nothing more to post. Have a great rest of your weekend everyone!
T.

More Florida Pics

Paul and Bob with their "Cubanos"

****

Les and Bob finding sea urchins on the beach

****

Kite Boarders

*****

Student Drum Core at the Saturday Farmer's Market

(They had great moves; I didn't capture their flair!)

****

Birthday in Florida

We spent Paul's birthday in Florida with my sister Leslie and her husband Bobby. It was Bobby's birthday the following Friday, so we had lots of celebrating to do.

First Beer of the Trip

(or maybe it was the 2nd, whose is that on the floor?)

******

Leslie Testing Out Her Camera

******

Sponge Docks in Tarpon Springs

******

Sisters at Lunch

(I look like a poodle; darn humidity!)

******

Beach Day at Pass-a-Grille Beach

******

More pictures to come...I've reached Blogger's size limit!

Long Overdue Update

Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know I need to get better about posting. One of the social media pieces I just read stressed the importance of consistent and timely blog postings. The problem is, most of the time, nothing really happens around here. To us, anyway.

I do have a couple of things I can write about now. We spent Thanksgiving in Florida, and it was heavenly. We got Paul a TV so he could watch football on T-Day, and I cooked a ham and scalloped potatoes for Paul's brother Neal and his wife Eva and their son Michael who came down from New York. The next night we went down to Straub Park to watch the lighting of the Christmas tree. Very cold for St. Petersburg -- but then I always seem to bring the cold weather with me!

Here's a picture of the sunset off our deck:

Had a great time and can't wait to go back.

This last weekend, I spent Sunday up at Fremont Pass (by Leadville, CO) for an Avalanche Training Seminar put on by the Summit Rescue Group. Talk about going from one extreme to another! It was -15 degrees wind chill. Here's a great shot of the volunteers around Rescue One. Kindof gives you an idea about what kind of a day it was...

But I had a great time and learned a lot. And I LOVE my new Sorel Glacier boots! They are rated to 100 below zero, and worth every penny! The only thing that got cold was my hands, so I need to do some research on new gloves. I need something where I can get my finger(s) out to take pictures, but not expose my whole hand.

Ideas, anyone????

T.