Apparently I Don't Exist!!

My friend, Linda, tried to friend me today on Facebook and it said that I didn't exist!! Hey FB, I hate to tell you but I do exist. When I tried to enroll again using the same name and email address, I was told that someone already was using that address. Yeah--ME!! So, I don't exist but my email address does. This is making me crazy!

Can't Get On

Hey there all. For those of you who are Facebook friends--for some reason I haven't been able to get on FB since yesterday. Don't know why. I just wanted you all to know why I haven't been posting or taking care of my farm, my island or my cafe.

We are heading to Disney World this morning and won't be back until Wednesday evening. Our friend, Bob, is here from Michigan and hasn't been to WDW in years--if ever.

Sure hope I can get FB working!

This Way Thurs-Way--Signs Along the Way

This Way Thurs-Way is all about photos of signs, paths and things pertaining to being on the road. When you are done looking at my picture, why don't you hop on over to This Way Thurs-Way and check out some others.

When we were in San Diego, we went to Torrey Pines National Preserve for a hike. The area is beautiful but obviously a bit dangerous.

Grandkids

As promised, here are some grandkid pictures. Some I took in San Diego. Some I "stole" from my son's Facebook.

Sam doing what he loves most--snowboarding.

My beautiful granddaughter.

Noah enjoying a snack.

Ninja Noah

"I'll be under my shirt if you need me."

Noah with his beachcombing treasure. Water for his sand castle.

Luka building his sandcastle.

Ethan and Luka working together--sort of.

Luka jumping.

Buddies--sometimes.

Dirty hands.

The do enjoy each other's company once in awhile.

Stained Glass

When we were in San Diego, Karen, Chuck, Noah and I went to Old Town for a couple of hours. It's always so much fun looking around. I saw this beautiful stained glass window. Wish I had room for it!

When I looked again, I found that something had been added to the picture!

Mellow Yellow Monday-Old Town

I love this meme called Mellow Yellow Monday. Lots of yellow pictures to brighten up a Monday. After you look at mine, hop on over and see lots more.

We just returned from a 10 day visit to my daughter's who lives in San Diego. I always love going to Old Town because of the bright colors--especially the reds and of course the yellow. Here are a couple of shots I took while there

Back Home

Well, I'm back, somewhat over my jet lag, somewhat rested, and somewhat back in the swing of things. We had a great time and did lots of different things this time since we've already done all the touristy stuff--or a lot of it! This is going to be a really long post so you may have to read it in installments. LOL

We left for San Diego on Tuesday the 12th. We were to fly out at 6:30 but thanks to the really bad cold spell in Florida, our plane developed ice on the wings. And believe it or not, Ft. Myers airport doesn't have de-icing equipment. (Gee, I wonder why?) After we all got on the plane and settled in, our captain announced that we couldn't take off until the sun came up and melted the ice off the wings. So, we were allowed to get off again. I knew that we were going to miss our connecting flight in Houston so I made reservations for the next available flight. This meant a 5 hour layover in Houston. Ugh. Oh well, as my grandson, Sam, said--It beats a layover in Atlanta's airport. And he was right. (Hate the Atlanta airport!). Anyway, we finally took off about 8:00 after sitting on the tarmac with our wings pointed to the sun. And we got to Houston 20 minutes after our original connecting flight took off. We finally made it to San Diego about 5:00. Karen picked us up and took us home. After some talk, some dinner, some playing with the kids, some unpacking etc--we both went to bed at about 8:30 their time--exhausted!
One thing I always ask for when we go to Karen's is a "girls day out". So on Wednesday, Karen and I went to the Gaslamp district for lunch. We wandered around, hit a couple of shops, had lunch at an Irish Pub, hit more shops and headed home.

Michael had Thursday off work, so we all headed to Torrey Pines State Preserve for a hike. It was a gorgeous day-probably the best of the whole time we were there. Took tons of pictures.On Friday, Karen, Chuck and I took the kids to the LaJolla beach. It was chilly and blustery with high surf advisory but it was still a nice day on the beach. Lots of "surfer dudes". The kids had a ball building sand castles and playing with seaweed whips.That evening, Karen, Chuck and I went to see Jesus Christ Superstar--my birthday present. The show starred Ted Neeley who played Jesus in the movie 30 years ago! Ok, so he was a bit stiff--alright--a LOT stiff, and his voice wasn't what it used to be but he could still hit those high notes when necessary. As Karen said, he has played Jesus for longer than Jesus played Jesus. Anyway, we still enjoyed it.On Saturday we went house hunting with Karen. We hit a couple of houses. One house was kind of what Karen wanted but needed another bedroom or office. The other house wasn't quite what she wanted but had a gorgeous view of San Diego. Too bad one house couldn't go on the other lot!Karen had been promising Noah a trip to Old Town to the Rock Shop since his birthday so that afternoon, Chuck, Karen, Noah and I headed to Old Town. I have always loved wandering around there. Noah got the rocks he wanted, I got a new sun catcher for my deck, and then we headed to one of the restaurants for Margaritas and Nachos. Yum.That evening we drove to Chula Vista to meet the Farmers. I have been reading her blog, The Farmer Files, for sometime now and we finally got the chance to meet her, her hubby and Son #1 and Son #2. Son #3 was sleeping so I didn't get to cuddle him. Oh well. We thoroughly enjoyed sitting around their outdoor firepit, making S'Mores, and getting to know each other.On Sunday, Michael and Noah did some Daddy/Son stuff while Chuck, Karen and I took the twins to the Wild Animal Park. I really love both the San Diego Zoo and the WA Park. We hadn't been to the park in a couple of years so I wanted to go back. We had a great day. We didn't have a stroller so the boys walked most of the way--when we weren't carrying them! Monday was my 72nd birthday! Geez, I don't feel that old. Karen baked the yummiest cake! And Noah made me a birthday card. And Chuck gave me a bottle of red adult beverage. It was a great birthday. That takes us up through Monday. Monday was also the start of what I called "Monsoon Rains" in California. So, we pretty much stayed in the rest of the week. Karen, Chuck and I did go out to a movie one afternoon and saw Sherlock Holmes. We got totally soaked running from the theatre to the car. The rest of the time, we watched movies at home, played on the computer, got my requested In N Out Burgers etc. Karen took us to the airport Friday morning at 4:15 to catch our 6:30 flight. The day before many of the flights in and out had been cancelled because of high winds. Luckily, we didn't have that problem Friday so we got out on time, made our connecting flight, and got into Ft. Myers at 4:45 our time--and it was raining! Good old Mother Nature.

Anyway, we had a great time but it is always good to come home. Thanks Karen and Michael for a great time. I will post more pictures of the kids in another post later on.

Heading West

Tomorrow morning, bright and early, we will be winging our way west to San Diego. Ever since my daughter moved there 3 years ago, we have tried to get out there once in the winter and once in the summer. We didn't go last summer because of selling the house. Karen did come to Findlay for a few days but we haven't seen Michael and the kids since last January. A whole year is a long time not seeing the grandkids! Especially when they are that little and growing like weeds. Hope I recognize them!

I probably won't be blogging much but we will be taking our laptop with us so I can download pictures and maybe--just maybe--post a few here along the way. I'm sure I will be spending a lot more time on Facebook than here so if you are on FB and want to catch up with me look for Nancy Brooks Runta and friend me.

More later--gotta go pack, clean house, run to the bank, the post office etc etc etc.

Sure hope it's warmer there than it is here in Florida!

BUSY!!!

Sorry I haven't been blogging lately. I've been BUSY:
1. Going on rescues of various species--four legged and winged.
2. Picking up various species from area vets.
3. Cleaning many dirty cages and carriers of various kinds of poop!
4. Shopping for warm clothes. I don't have a lot of winter type clothes down here. I know I shouldn't complain because it is a lot colder and snowier elsewhere. But hey, that's why I moved here. No cold!
5. Tending crops and animals on Farmville. It was beginning to take over my life, I swear, so I got rid of practically all of my animals so that cuts down a lot of time--thank goodness. My belated New Years resolution is to spend far less time playing Facebook games. It's waaaayyyy too addictive!
6. And getting ready to wing my way to San Diego next week to see my grandkids and their parents. Sorry, Karen, grandkids always come first.
7. Booking reservations for Walt Disney World for when our friend, Bob, visits us the beginning of February. Man, it's nice to be a Florida resident which gets you perks when it comes to cheap rooms.

So, that explains why I haven't been blogging much lately. I'm taking my "pooter" with me to San Diego so maybe--just maybe--I will post a time or two.

Catching Up

Forgive me for not posting for awhile. What with Christmas and family and friends visiting, I didn't have a lot of spare time. So, I thought I would catch you up a bit.

First of all, there's nothing like Christmas on Sanibel. Every business decorates. Unfortunately I didn't get a lot of pictures but here are a few from Jerry's Shopping Center.

The tree at Edison Mall was gorgeous also.

Dave, Ann, Sam and Erin came the evening of the 23rd. On Christmas Eve, we went to Doc Ford's for dinner. Since lots of people had made reservations, we had to eat outdoors but with heaters and bug spray--we didn't mind at all.

Forgive the blurry picture but it's the only one I have of the family on Christmas Eve.

My fish sandwich. Yummy.

Doc Ford's Nachos

Doc's Beach Bread--to die for!

Taquitoes.

Since the grandparents slept in, we didn't open presents until about 9:30.

Sam, Ann, Erin and Dave

Since we had Thanksgiving dinner at Steve and Diana's (our friends), Christmas dinner was at our house. We also invited our next door neighbor who was alone. We had 9 people on our deck. Luckily the weather was great for eating outside. Don't know where we would have all fit inside! I didn't get any pictures of our meal but got a picture of Diana and me. Since Erin made the 7th grade basketball team at her school, she and I went shopping to find some new basketball shoes for her. Part of my Christmas present to her. Unfortunately we didn't find any shoes but we did see these Afro Ducks. Ann and Erin flew back to Ohio on the 29th since Ann had to be at work on the 30th and Erin wanted to go to a New Year's Eve party. On the 30th, our friends Rick and Marta and our godkids Eric and Kelly joined us. That afternoon we watched our beloved BG Falcons in their bowl game against the Idaho Vandals. It was a great game but unfortunately we lost by 1 lousy point! Everyone left yesterday so now I am kind of going through withdrawal. But we will be going out to San Diego on the 12th to see our daughter, son in law and grandsons. Can't wait. We will come home on the 22nd and on the 24th our friend, Bob, comes for 2 weeks. Busy, busy, busy--but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Happy New Years everyone.