Dinner with Friends

We had dinner with friends tonight. I have known Cathy for about 6 years now. She was one of the first people I met at CROW. She was the one who sent Mr. Snowbird and I to Lehigh Animal Medical Center twice in one day! That is about 2 hours round trip! Anyway, she was recently married to Paul Cola, a wonderful man who I've met before but got to know better tonight.

Cathy invited us to dinner at their house in Cape Coral. They live on one of the many canals in CC and have a gorgeous lanai overlooking their canal. We sat, drank, reminisced, drank, ate, drank, talked, drank--well you get the idea. But, before we did all that, we had a tour of their house. They are collectors!! And I do mean COLLECTORS! Would you believe a signed Babe Ruth baseball? Would you believe a signed Abraham Lincoln document? Would you believe a signed Barbra Steisand shirt? etc etc etc. Their entire house is like a museum!! I could have spent the entire evening just looking at the items hanging on their walls. And with a name like Cola, you know that they had tons of Coca Cola items on the walls too!

They do have a lot of their items for sale. Sooooo, if you are interested please check out their blog and their website.

And Paul and Cathy, thanks for a great evening. We had a ball!!!

Did You Feel That?

There was a 5.2 earthquake early this morning with the epicenter near Allendale, Illinois with a 4.6 aftershock at about 11:00 AM. Allendale is where my great grandparents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins lived out their lives, where my mother and brother was born, and where my dad and stepmother lived until they died. This is the same little tiny town of about 500 souls that was practically wiped off the map in January 1989 by an F4 tornado. I'm thinking this poor little town is jinxed! Jinxed because of the earthquake and tornado not because all of my ancestors were born there!! :-)

Wordless Wednesday--Gently.

My twin grandsons are fascinated with flowers. I couldn't pick just one picture so went for several.

Enjoy more Wordless Wednesdays at Wordless Wednesday and 5 Minutes for Mom

Also, I know you are all busy checking out everyone's Wordless Wednesday but take the time to bookmark me and drop back to check out my blog. I am a retired Special Ed teacher who now spends most of her time on Sanibel Island, Florida volunteering for a Wildlife hospital rescuing and rehabbing wildlife. I even dumpster dive for injured Raccoons!! I am also the proud grandma of 5 wonderful grandkids and brag about them often!! OK, enough about me. Back to Wordless Wednesday.

YUM!!

Yesterday was CROW's 28th Annual Taste of the Islands. Approximately 4,000 people entered the gates to partake of fantastic food, marvelous music and of course, adult beverages. (There were also beverages for those who don't partake in the adult variety).


14 of the island restaurants took part. When you entered the area, you bought tickets which were $1 each. Then you use these tickets to purchase food and beverage. Each restaurant had a booth and had one or two of their specialties. To name just a few: Shrimp Burritos, Clam Chowder in a bread bowl, Crabcakes, watermelon, ice cream, and desserts to die for.

I worked in the CROW Gift Shop booth and Mr. Snowbird worked in the beverage tent from 11:00-3:00. I sold stuffed animals. He served up beer--and got to sample as he served. I had to buy my beverages. Hmmmm. Not quite fair here.


The Gift Shop booth was next to the judges area so we had to watch them get to sample each and every one of those delicious goodies. After we got off work we bought some food and sat at a picnic table right behind the judges area. Another couple was there who knew one of the judges. They had been there all day getting the leftovers. Geez, I wish I had known this earlier!! Anyway, they let us sample one of the desserts. It was melted chocolate and peanut butter pressed between what looked like two very thin slices of bread and then was grilled. OH MY!! My mouth waters just thinking about it. We only got a bite then but later when they were cleaning up, they brought two more slices over to us and asked if we wanted them. Are you nuts?? Of course we wanted them. And we gobbled them down.

It was a great day. The sun was out for part of the day but then it became cloudy. Even though rain was predicted, there was no rain. (Weather here is practically impossible to predict.) People seemed to really enjoy themselves. And of course, all of the proceeds went to help our patients.

What To Write When You Can't Think Of Anything To Write About

This has been kind of a lazy week. Monday morning, Diana and her friends, Kitty and Vicki who are visiting from Louisville, picked me up and we went to the beach. That afternoon, I did laundry. Since I don't have a washer or dryer, this means hauling it down to the laundry room, hoping to find some free washers and then fighting for a dryer or two. Monday evening we went on a boat cruise on Tarpon Bay with Diana, Steve, Kitty and Vicki. This was pretty much the same trip we took a couple of weeks ago except that it was just before sunset and all of the birds were returning to the rookery islands out in the Bay. Pretty neat. We then went for dinner at Jerry's which is a really great restaurant and the most inexpensive one on the island. Great food, great service and great prices. Where else can you get a $2.00 glass of Cabernet?

Tuesday morning we went to Rounds at CROW and had breakfast at Jerry's. Again, great food, great service and great prices. We were VERTS on Tuesday afternoon and drove about 100 hours going to Lehigh for a mama Opossum and her 5 babies, to Miracle Mile in Ft. Myers to drop off a couple of cages, and to Kindness East on Cape Coral to drop off some cages and pick up a baby Grackle. We dropped our charges off at CROW, headed home, changed clothes and headed to the Community Center. Tuesday night was the CROW Volunteer Appreciation Dinner. Diana and I were both on the committee although all I really did was pass out Volunteer shirts. Diana did a lot more work and even roped Kitty and Vicki into helping. We all sat together at the dinner along with Dr. Amber, Robyn Johnson who used to work at CROW but went back to people nursing and Cathy, another friend of ours from CROW. Robyn was the recipient of the 2nd Annual Staff Award. She worked there for about 10 years and is missed every single day!! Each of the volunteers received, along with the thanks, a Volunteer T shirt, a video of some patients which Dr. Amber filmed a couple of years ago, a jar of candy and some artificial roses with a not saying "Volunteers are unpaid. Not because they are worthless but because they are priceless." They also had a raffle and I won a bottle of wine. Yum! The band was great. I really wanted to dance but no one else was so I'm not about to be the only one!

Yesterday, I cleaned out closets getting rid of things I haven't worn in a year--and making room for any goodies which I might want to add to my wardrobe:) And of course I enjoyed my deck and all of the critters coming and going--mostly fish and turtles. But the snake was back as was the little Cardinal.

Today was my six month trip to my dermatologist. It was just a year ago that I had a malignant skin cancer removed from my shoulder. This means every six months I get a chest xray and trot off to see my dermatologist and oncologist. I was all clear today!! Yay!! I have a huge 10 inch long zig zag scar on my shoulder since my surgery last year but as Dr. Harris said today, "It is better to have a big scar and be alive than to have no scar and be dead." I couldn't agree with him more!!!

Starting tomorrow my life will pretty much revolve around CROW. Tomorrow, we pick up bins at Annie's. Saturday afternoon, I feed baby birds and work in the clinic. Sunday, is CROW's Taste of the Islands. I'm working the CROW Gift Shop Booth and Mr. Snowbird is working in the adult beverage tent serving up beer and margaritas. Monday, we are subbing and picking up bins again. Tuesday, we go to rounds and are VERTs. And Wednesday, we are working in the Gift Shop. Of course Friday we pick up bins and Saturday it's back to baby birds. So, I guess for the next few days, my life belongs to CROW.

I started this out saying it has been a lazy week but when I look back I guess it hasn't been so lazy and obviously the week ahead won't be lazy at all.

This and That

OK, so I haven't written for a few days. I've been busy. I've been relaxing. I've been lazy. Take your pick.



THIS:
Dave, Sam and Erin left Tuesday night from the Punta Gorda Airport--probably the tiniest airport in existence! Even so, their tickets told them to get there 2 hours early. The kids decided they wanted their last meal to be at Schnappers-a great hotdog, burger, pizza, you name it--take out place on Sanibel. Yummy food. We ate, went back home for them to change into their winter togs, and headed for the airport which is about an hour's drive. We got there about 2 1/2 hours early. Dave went to check in and found that his suitcase was 10 pounds too heavy. Apparently some wet clothes, shoes, and Sam's X Box added a bit of weight. So they did some creative re-packing. The X Box, controllers, games, etc went in Sam's carry on. And whatever he had in his bag went in the big bag. They figured they might get checked at Security but they couldn't help it. And sure enough, they pulled Sam's bag out, opened it up, took out the X Box and ran it through xray. They finally decided that he wasn't a miniature terrorist, just an avid game player. Then they checked Erin's bag and opened it up looking for something. I have no idea what but they finally let her go through. Dave had no problem since he only had his computer. Anyway, the last we saw of them, they were headed to the tiny waiting room in the tiny airport to wait 2 hours to board their plane. Last I heard, they made it home safe and sound. We had a great visit with them. The kids were not looking forward to going back to school. They have been coming to Sanibel since they were infants and look on this as their second (or third if you count their other grandma's) home.



THAT
I've been watching the scale a lot this winter and I've noticed that it has steadily gone up since I arrived here last October. Could it be eating out too much? Could it be that it is only a few steps from the computer to the fridge? Could it be that we haven't been doing any exercising whatsoever? So Wednesday morning I decided enough was enough! It was time to start walking again. Afterall, we have a beautiful beach to walk on. Granted it has been very crowded lately since half the world has discovered Sanibel and tend to flock here by the droves in the winter. But crowded or not, we went walking. There are mile markers on the beach which makes it handy to see how far you have walked. Lucky because my pedometer gave up the ghost! Anyway, we walked a mile and a half up the beach towards the lighthouse. That means that we have to walk a mile and a half back, right?? My back was grumbling a bit when I got home but I made it. Yesterday, same 3 miles. Back grumbled but not too bad. Today, I decided I wanted to see more of the nature around here so we walked down Bailey Road to Bay Road. Bay Road goes through the Mangroves. Lots of wildlife--Ospreys, Marsh Rabbits, Ducks, Piliated Woodpeckers, Boattail Grackels, etc. Since we were walking on pavement instead of sand, it was my legs that started hurting today. But we managed 3 miles again. And did I mention that it is in the 80's here with HIGH humidity. And did I mention that the very thought of humidity makes me sweat--oops sorry--perspire. Profusely!! So, I was a sopping puddle when I got back home. I've been cutting out snacks, no sweets, drinking lots of liquids, eating lots of veggies and fruits. And guess what? I stepped on the scale---and---I haven't lost an ounce since Wednesday morning! Grrrr. I know, I know--stick with it. I will but I sure would like to see that scale drop a few pounds.

So, there you have it. As you can see, we have been doing this and that this week.

Wordless Wednesday-Baa, Baa, Black Sheep

Enjoy more Wordless Wednesdays at Wordless Wednesday and 5 Minutes for Mom

Also, I know you are all busy checking out everyone's Wordless Wednesday but take the time to bookmark me and drop back to check out my blog. I am a retired Special Ed teacher who now spends most of her time on Sanibel Island, Florida volunteering for a Wildlife hospital rescuing and rehabbing wildlife. I even dumpster dive for injured Raccoons!! I am also the proud grandma of 5 wonderful grandkids and brag about them often!! OK, enough about me. Back to Wordless Wednesday.