TAX JUNK SORTED ✅ … Two days of organizing paperwork for our CPA. My eyeballs are bugging out. 😳
Meanwhile … Mark handled the kitchen and cooked up a big batch of chicken meals for Belize and Wyatt plus chicken soup for we humans.
Tonight we’re meeting up with the Fam for burgers … photo op maybe?
Florida’s in for several days of COLD 🥶 overnight. Mark covered a few of our plants.
More later.
Tropical few days here in North Central Florida but … tomorrow rain is forecast ahead of a few very cold days!
Bonnie & Roger had snow in Oklahoma and the Scotties loved it!
Ha! You’d think that’s a black and white picture!
More tomorrow!
Yes, ‘tis I beginning a B L A B for the past few weeks.
After a quiet New Year’s Eve, spent home with the kids, we prepped for our pal, Bonnie’s visit from Oklahoma. She arrived Sunday the 11th for four nights. Her plan was to have Wyatt bred (frozen) for later use. Unfortunately, the plans with the Vet all went awry. The office had openings, but the veterinarian was away for the month of January. It seems the receptionist was not on the ball when making the appointment. Anyway, we had a wonderful time with Bonnie here and met with Diane and Kris at Applebee’s for Monday the 12th. We played some dominoes and the last game Bonnie won. You’ve got to go home a winner!!!
There was a funny mixup with Sue and Wayne. We thought THEY invited us over for wine on Wednesday. Well, on the drive there I got a text from Sue asking “where are you?” And I said “about two minutes away.” She said “from where?” 😂 As it turned out, she was standing outside our front door, our Scotties barking, wondering where we were. And … we were driving to her house for wine. So, we turned around and I had to run into Walmart’s booze store in the cold rain to pick up a couple bottles of wine. Anyway, we had a good visit and a few laughs.
Bonnie with Belize & Wyatt. ❤️🐾
Our friend Linda (Nancy’s travel friend) bought a house in Del Webb, nearby. This past Sunday we went to see what she had bought. It’s a lovely home fully furnished with some high-end decor. Linda’s already painting the bedroom and replacing some carpet but otherwise going to enjoy the community and “fix-up” bit by bit. We took a bottle of bubbly, little snack muffins and a vase of flowers for her. It’ll be nice having her closer by for playing Catan, etc.
Belize had a Christmas miracle! The bladder incontinence stopped after the early December chemotherapy. She hasn’t had to wear pants for about six weeks. It’s been wonderful freedom for her and us. Yesterday, the 19th, we took her in for a bout of pancreatitis probably brought on from too many treats and fun! During the test for pancreatitis, Dr. Curtis found four large tumors in Belize’s lungs. (Egg sized!) That was an absolute shock to us. She has been walking about a quarter mile daily and then riding in her stroller for a rest. Once she is rested for a while, she would often walk the last block home. Anyway, she is back at the vet today for a consultation to see if we could start a different round of chemotherapy every 3-4 weeks to reduce the size of the lung tumors. This was devastating news to us. If the ultrasound goes well today, she’ll have a different chemotherapy before we pick her up around 5:30 or 6 o’clock tonight. That poor little doggy has been to hell and back, but I’ll tell you, she has so much spirit and spunk. You wouldn’t know she’s going through anything.
In other news, Diane is in the country of Panama with a friend poking around looking at property. I know she is very disillusioned with the way our country has gone in the past few years. I guess it’s always good to have an escape route. Meanwhile, Kris is here looking after the Homestead and their two dogs!
We’ve had it unusually cold, January. Actually, the weather has been up and down like a roller coaster. We had 80° for one week and then in the 30s overnight and this week a high of about 60. According to the weatherman, our cold snap is coming to an end and none too soon!
This is my main Christmas gift from Mark. I didn’t remember if I had put a photo in the last blog. But we did use it one afternoon and really enjoyed it.
This picture was from January’s Yaya’s group at Carol’s house in Scottish Highlands. It was quite a distance for me to drive, and a pitch black night. I may not go until we have daylight savings time again.
Just before the cold snap, I cut these roses from my front island garden. Quite nice for January.
I think that’s it for now!
CHRISTMAS PICS
Kris is ELF (?) 😂
Diane dressed us for cooking (although I was banned from the kitchen!)
Eternity Knots in pretty glass from RanDawn for Sue & Diane!
Diane brought “hats” … we had fun!!! Sue looked great!
🎶 He wears it well 😂 You should’ve been a blonde Randy.
Wayne was happy to have his turn with macramé “hair.”
Dawn owned the look!
It was a joyous day with good company … delish foods and “99” card game which Sue won! $6.50 I think. 😂
Today was relaxing for us … a little tidy up; some tablecloths in the washer.
All the family donated clothing for the homeless that was being organized by a neighbor. Tasha popped over and we loaded up her trunk. There’s forecast two cold nights this coming week so heavy jackets, socks and hats were needed.
That’s it for today!
Merry Christmas y’all … I hope your day is going smoothly!
As many know, the kitchen is not generally kind to me. Mark likes to putter around in there and I clean up.
Well … Mark went for a shower and I began setting up the serving dishes for tonight’s dinner. Easy peasy, right.
Then, I opened an Atkins chocolate shake for my quick lunch, took a gulp, noticed the coffee pot in the drying rack. While the right hand fussed about with the twisted cord my left hand imitated my right (ambidextrous) and poured the chocolate shake onto the countertop, lower cabinets and floor!!!
That was a major mess to clean up!!! I no sooner completed mopping up when the butter dish caught my eye. I gave it a good soapy wash up and grabbed a paper towel to dry it. Well the darn thing flew out of my hands and smashed to the tile floor! 🥹
By the time Mark walked barefoot into the kitchen I was putting the vacuum away … and heard him cussing! 🤬
So I picked glass out of his heel and am now BANNED from the kitchen for the duration of today. 😆
Wishing love, peace, happiness, health and prosperity for Christmas and the coming new year! 🎄🎅🏼
Not a bad pic for a couple of Seenagers 🤩 … Mark’s had a bit much sunshine and my hair’s over my nose. 🥂
It’s nearly Christmas 🎄 and what have we accomplished in 2025? 🤪 It’s been one heck of a year!
Not many Christmas cards were written this season. Lovely to receive but … I couldn’t create a Scottie antics card without 🪽 Robbie’s 🐾 presence. We miss him so much.
March was a flight to Asheville to celebrate Nephew Jeremy’s fabulous wedding!
The biggie in 2025 was our personal household move! We loved our Harbor Shores home, the neighborhood and longtime friends. Of course over that length of time there were big changes! New neighbors became friends as several moved away. Then … our Nancy opted for an easier lifestyle 25 minutes away … and we helped with some painting at her new home.
Next I think, was Diane & Kris wanting a lifestyle change. That gave Mark and me a challenge! We were driving 1 1/2 hours each trip helping to remodel their chosen place and ready the other for sale. That took care of mid-March to mid-July! Whew!
Family lunch at Leesburg’s Ski Beach in May!
While all that moving business was going on my head was on a swivel. Diane showed me 3 homes in Spruce Creek. I liked the neighborhood but the homes were too “small” for us. I looked at 2 in The Villages … but no fences allowed for the Scots. Walking them 6 times a day was too much. (It was a brutally hot summer.) One Villages home I liked … but no privacy. Kissing lanais was the terminology. 🤨
So … I announced we’d stay where we were another 5 years!!! Right 🙄. The universe had other plans for us.
Google found a home matching my needs and piqued my interest. Diane showed me on a Thursday … I mentioned it to Mark and put an offer in Friday. Negotiating took til Monday. 🤪
Then the work of prepping our Harbor Shores home for sale became real … real fast! 😂 We listed it with Kelty Realty and John found us a buyer right away. Of course Mrs. R. B. was sold … the first time since I was 19 years young without a BOAT!!! 😳
Our “new” home needed a lot of maintenance catch-up along with a new roof, electrical work, plumbing repairs all before we could obtain occupancy home insurance!!! THAT was a busy month! Anyway, August 19th we officially moved into our nicely redone “big enough” home.
September 10th we embarked on making new connections by attending a dinner and dance, joined a few groups and became one with the new lifestyle.
Losing Robbie literally in 2 hours October 4th to ruptured liver cancer was the worst. We were shocked and devastated. Plans for his 15th birthday were underway. It was heartbreaking.
In early November we blew the budget and went on a 10 day cruise. (We needed the break from the year to date.) The K’s joined us along with Wayne’s cousin Tony and his wife Janny plus their friends from Taiwan. That made us a group of 8 and we had a blast!
Nancy came to stay and dog-sat Belize and Wyatt. The kids were spoiled and loved it all apparently. We came home renewed and ready for the holiday season.
Diane & Kris hosted Thanksgiving with family and friends. It was a wonderfully chaotic time with a couple of games played. Their new place functioned perfectly!
Golf Cart Christmas parade night
Now it’s nearly Christmas and I’m finally getting this wrapped up. 😂🎅🏼 “Not a moment to spare!” (Randy’s Nanny’s saying!)
Mark and I are hosting family Christmas dinner in our new (to us) home. Sue, Wayne, Diane, Kris, Dawn & Randy will be here!
Merry Christmas y’all and our very best wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2026! 🥂❤️
