Can you believe how young we looked 47 years ago today??
Here we are at our surprise 40th wedding anniversary.
Here we are on our 40th with on of our ushers, my maid of honor and our best man.
Here we are on our 44th anniversary.Obviously when you live in SW Florida, you are living in the Land of Old People! Now mind you, I do NOT consider myself part of this group. But, I do live in a trailer park where the average age is probably 75!!. And yes, old people can have fun.
Once or twice a year, our street has a block party. Everyone gathers with a chair, a dish to pass, and of course your adult beverage of choice.
And boy, do we eat!!
We have several musicians on our street so we always have a great sing along.
We even have those that know the gestures that go along with "The Unicorn".
Last fall I bought a bird feeder and put it out by our deck. It took several months before any birds started to come around but every once in awhile I would spot a bird out there. Tonight we were eating out on the deck and were soon being scolded by a pair of Grackles, a pair of doves, and a gorgeous little Painted Bunting. They were very upset because we were sitting too near to the feeder and it obviously was feeding time! The doves weren't into getting their pictures taken but I did get the others. A year or so ago, I released a young Grackle from our deck. He had grown up at the animal hospital. I keep wondering if one of these guys was the one I released.
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!! I also have a blog called Branches and Roots where I talk about genealogy and my ancestors. OK, enough about me. Back to Wordless Wednesday.
Enjoy more Wordless Wednesdays at Wordless Wednesday.
I can't go anywhere anymore without taking my camera and thinking about what would make a good blog post. Yesterday we were out walking and came across this really neat vintage car. Of course when I saw the red hood, I knew what I would be posting on Ruby Tuesday this week.
OK, I know you are all busy checking out everyone's Ruby Tuesday 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 which is a Sanctuary Island for wildlife. I volunteer for a wildlife hospital. I am also the proud grandma of 5 wonderful grandkids and brag about them often!! I also have a blog called Branches and Roots where I talk about genealogy and my ancestors. OK, enough about me. So if you really want to see red go to Work of the Poet
Awhile back, I found this great meme called Camera Critters. I love the pictures and decided that with my wealth of critter pictures down here in SW Florida, I would join in and I have for several weeks now. I would like to have you hop on over to Camera Critters. There you can either sign up for your own post for Camera Critters or see lots and lots of other great critter pics. So, now that you've done that--here is my critter for the day.
It is a very interesting fact that we have no squirrels on Sanibel. I know there are people who wholeheartedly dislike squirrels. I rather like them. In fact I have been a mother to many a baby squirrel at the wildlife hospital where I volunteer. How can you not look into that little face and smile? Awhile back I found the following picture online. I love this picture and it does show how a baby squirrel is fed. I did not take this picture! This is not me feeding a baby squirrel!!!
That being said--I did take the following pictures. These were taken at Corkscrew Swamp on two different occasions. 
On August 5, 2000, my daughter married the man of her dreams. And if I had to go out and choose a son in law of my dreams--he would be it! We first met Michael when he showed up on our front porch, unannounced, and said that he was a friend of Karen's. Luckily in a phone call from California a few days earlier, she had mentioned that she had met this really nice guy who wanted to be a doctor. She had no idea that he was stopping in Findlay to meet us. He was just passing through on the way to the Cleveland area to check out some medical schools and decided to stop in and introduce himself. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Michael is a great daddy. And unlike most daddies he has actually delivered all three of his children. Noah was the first baby that he delivered. Michael was a resident so Karen's doctor was standing by but when the time came, Michael stepped in. How cool is that? And of course when the time came for the twins to be born, he again was there to deliver them.
So, Michael--thank you for being the man of our daughter's dreams, for being the best son in law one could ask for, for being the guy who not only delivered our grandkids but is the best daddy going, for being Dr. Mike on the few occasions that we have needed you, and for just being you. Happy Birthday and may you enjoy many, many more. Ok, so Gayle at The White House (the one in Fairbanks) tagged me several weeks ago with the Friends Award. Isn't it purty??
Well, actually it is and I'm sorry, Gayle, that it has taken me so long to respond. The following words came along with the Friends Award.
"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these kind writers."
When you pass the award along please include these guidelines. I am to choose eight friends to share this with."
Ok, so what I'm going to do is name a few blogs that display friendship. And I'm going to break the rules--I'm not naming 8. My bloggy friend circle is rather small and I think many of the blogs I read have been named already by Gayle. But I still would like to bestow the Friends Award on them and if they wish to write about it--fantastic. If they wish to accept the award in silence--also fantastic.
The definition of self-aggrandizement is thus--"an act undertaken to increase your own power and influence or to draw attention to your own importance". I have got to say that most of the blogs I read totally lack self-aggrandizement. Here are a few of my favorite bloggers who totally lack self-aggrandizement. (Don't ya just love that word?)
#1.
ChrisC and JonJ at Our Vanilla Life. I discovered this blog through Tink. Chris and Jon live in Tampa and love the beach as much as I do. Lately they have been sharing pictures of some of the beaches around them. Gorgeous shots. ChrisC does amazing projects with shells and has a blog about that aspect of her life also.
#2. Kathleen at Southern Artistic Touch. I'm not sure how I discovered Kathleen. I actually think she discovered me first. Kathleen is a grandma, like me. Her blog is what I would describe as eclectic. She blogs about a little bit of everything--cooking, grandson, family, weather, food (oh my you should look at the pictures of her cooking!), etc. I really enjoy reading her blog and would love to sample some of her cooking. Did I mention she cooks!!!
#3. Mary the Teach at Work of the Poet I found this blog because she started the Ruby Tuesday meme. Again, she has lots of great posts but I love checking into her blog because she is forever changing the picture on her header and each and every one is different and beautiful. Go check her out and join in on the Ruby Tuesday meme. It's lots of fun.
Ok, I could name Tink and Tootie too but Gayle already got them. So, I won't do it again--but do go check out their blogs. I love them!! And I could name Gail at Shedding the Wolf but I won't. I should as pay back for tagging me in the next Tag I'm It that I got!! But go check her out too. I love it when she goes on a baking bender and posts pictures of the goodies she has baked.
Ok, so here is Tag #2--thanks to Gail mentioned above. The "rules" of this Tag are as follows: "I must take a self portrait of me, of course, and post it on my blog. Not just any old portrait, but a right here, right now, as I am portrait. No leaving the room to make myself beautimous, no primping or changing clothes. Nothing. Just right here, right now." Since I got this last night, I took the picture right away. The camera was sitting right beside me so I was still sitting at the computer when I took it. I HATE having my picture taken and to have to take one of myself is even worse!! But here you have it--in my full glory. And I'm not going to pass on this tag because I already tagged a bunch of people in this post and I don't want everyone and their brother to hate me. OK?
So are you ready for this???
43 years ago today, Gemini 8 docked in space. The commander was Neil Armstrong and it was the first time a manned spacecraft had docked in space. So, how do I remember this you might ask. I remember it because my two year old son, David, sat on my lap the entire day watching it unfold on TV. He sat there, that is, until we had to drop him off at a friend's house then proceed on to the hospital to deliver his baby sister, Karen Renee. I don't remember the dates of any of the other space launches but I sure remember this one.
Where does one start when describing my daughter? First of all, she is my baby and always will be. She is unique, one of a kind. She is loving, caring, artistic, organized, adventurous, nurturing, inquisitive, talented, smart, funny, kind, a great friend, a forgiving sister (LOL), a loving wife, a fantastic mother, and the best daughter a mother could possibly ask for.
Sometimes she leaned on her brother and sometimes he leaned on her.
Here she is with her brother and her Grandma Olive who lived in Illinois. We spent many Christmases and Easters visiting Grandma Olive.
Before she was a mom, she was an aunt.
Then, along came Michael, the love of her life. She waited for just the right guy and got him. 
Then she became a mom. First to Noah.
Then to Ethan.
And an hour after Ethan, to Luka.
Her version of My Three Sons.
In my last Stuff post, I discussed the BGSU Hockey Team. I said at that time that there was a rumor about doing away with the hockey team. Well, that rumor REALLY took off this week and apparently it isn't just a rumor. BGSU, like other institutions and businesses, is having a rough go of it during these times. So, it seems that BG is going to cut some academic and athletic programs and apparently BG Hockey and the Ice Arena is high on the list. They just bought out the football coach's contract for god knows how much money because they weren't happy with his performance. They are building a brand new basketball arena, thanks to private donations. They had set money aside for much, much needed renovations on the Ice Arena. From what I understand they had even collected donations from some of the better heeled alumni for the arena. But now, they have decided not to fix the arena. They just hired a new president for the university--who by the way, makes almost as much money as President Obama does! A Dr. Cartwright--or as some people are calling her, Dr. Cartwrong. She came to us from Kent State University where she also wiped out the hockey program--and the band! BG Hockey is one of the most, if not THE most, popular sports on campus. Yeah, they have fallen on hard times due to a coach who doesn't deal well with his players. But the hockey team alumni is like a Who's Who in the field of hockey. Two Hobey Baker winners (like the Heisman of hockey), many NHL players, coaches or GM's, olympic champions, and home ice to Scott Hamilton and this year's USA Figure Skating champion, Alissa Czisny.
Oh and before I forget--the hockey team won the NCAA championship in 1984. The only BGSU sport to ever do that and the only BGSU sport who will ever do that!
The arena also serves the community of Bowling Green. (Ohio not Kentucky!). The Ice Arena has the only Curling ice for miles and miles around. The High School Hockey team practices and plays there and have won numerous state titles. The Youth Hockey teams practice and play there. Our godson grew up on that ice playing youth then HS hockey. My son skated for a whole season on that ice as the BGSU mascot, Freddie Falcon. I spent many, many, many hours in that arena watching our godson, our son, and the college hockey team. Many of the boys on the team became like family to me.
So now, it seems, that the hockey team and quite possibly the Ice Arena could become just a memory and programs like the one above could become collector's items. How very sad for so many reasons. And how sad for the University who is going to lose LOTS of pledges and donations from LOTS of disgruntled and disappointed alumni, students, and friends of BG Hockey.
If any of you are on Facebook, you might look at one of the groups called Save BGSU Hockey. It started this week and already there are 5,960 friends on there. And trust me, not all of these are BG fans or students. Many of those signed up come from other universities. This isn't just a local thing. This has gone national.
Anyway, so much for my rant. This whole thing just makes me sick--and very, very sad.
Awhile back, I found this great meme called Camera Critters. I love the pictures and decided that with my wealth of critter pictures down here in SW Florida, I would join in and I have for several weeks now. I would like to have you hop on over to Camera Critters. There you can either sign up for your own post for Camera Critters or see lots and lots of other great critter pics. So, now that you've done that--here is my critter for the day.
When you live in Florida, chances are whenever you see a pond or a lake, you will see an alligator. And yes, they do have a mouth full of teeth. And when they show those teeth, they almost--ALMOST--look like they are smiling. Here are a bunch of pictures I have taken of smiling alligators in the Everglades, here on Sanibel, and up in St. Augustine.
