Meet "TWEETY"

On Tuesday, December 29^th, Frank took me up to Stuart, where he owns a home.  The plan was for me to clean out the spa and clean the back porch while he cut the grass and worked in the yard. Frank decided he would rather have me go to Walmart and get cleaning supplies and some provisions than clean the porch, as he didn’t think the grass needed to be cut just yet.

This plan worked out great, as he had laundry to do and I had brought some laundry of mine. (The washer in my place has been broken for five months – it leaks gallons of water onto the floor) 

I’m standing in the laundry room waiting for the rinse cycle when I spot what looks like an old bike.  It was filthy and pitted from the elements but her lines were just BEAUTIFUL.  She reminded me of the bike I had when I was about 12 years old.  As I’m admiring the bike, I realize that it has GEARS.  I don’t remember if my bike had gears or not but if it did, there were only three gears.  This bike had a control on the handle similar to a throttle on a motorcycle and I could tell it had quite a few gears. The body color is lemon chiffon yellow and she has whitewall tires.  BIG tires, too.  And a big seat – not the pubic killer like on the mountain bike.

I forgot about the bike, as we were going out to dinner.  Frank was the recipient of a relaxing massage and an early bedtime, as he hadn’t slept since getting off work at 7 a.m. Then, the next day, it was up to Melbourne to have lunch with Charlene and Charles.  Afterwards, we hit a produce market and a natural foods store.  Then to Publix, where we picked up the ingredients for Chicken Caesar Salad.  After a yummy dinner, we hopped into the spa for an hour or two. After a shower to rinse off the chlorine, we slept like babies.

The next morning, Frank had one more load to do.  When I got his clothes out of the dryer, my eyes fell on the bike again and my tummy did a little flip because she was just so beautiful.  I finally asked Frank about the bike.  He said he had bought it for an old girlfriend but she couldn’t ride it so he kept it after they split up.  I’m thinking “couldn’t ride it????” How could anybody NOT ride it.  He says “do you want to ride it?”  Hell YES, say I.  I take off down the street and I get that old feeling that I used to get when I was 12, riding down the street with the wind in my hair and not a care in the world – free from earthly bounds. (And parental supervision, I’m sure)
 

When I get back, Frank says, “so would you like it?” (I’m certain he meant to use it, not to have it) YAY, I’m thinking – I LOVE that bike and ask him if we can bring it back to Hollywood.  He says “sure”. YAY again. On the way out, he stops at a bike shop and gets the support rack for two collapsible side baskets for the back.  It already has a removable basket in the front.

When I got home, I washed and dried her and proceeded to scrub the pitting off.  Frank was able to get rid of it completely, but I think it takes a strong hand and some elbow grease.  I’ve been steadily working on it and will continue until it’s perfect.  I’m going to get streamers for the handlebars and ribbons for the front basket. And a water bottle holder. And a bell. And a rear view mirror. Can you tell I’m excited??? I can’t WAIT to take her to the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk soon.  Too bad it’s cold right now. Soon, though.

 

Want to know why I called her “Tweety”??? Because she’s yellow and she came from my tweety!!  (Get it? “sweetie”)

So...Here's TWEETY

 

O WHERE O WHERE HAVE THE HOLIDAYS GONE?????

They seemed to come and go in an instant.  Thanksgiving was spent at Mom’s, celebrating her 83^rd birthday on the 25^th. Corrie and I stayed overnight and had Thanksgiving dinner with them.  I cooked.  It’s really hard to come up with a menu for people who don’t eat vegetables.  Every single thing was a carbohydrate: mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, rolls, gravy, cranberry sauce.  I ate more carbs in one day than I do in a week!

 The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas was spent working for the Red Cross and planning the annual “Volunteer Appreciation” event.  Fortunately, I had a helper who was able to get plenty of donations for raffle prizes.  Mostly restaurant certificates, but some nice hotel stays.  The Westin Diplomat gave us two nights.  VERY generous.  Then, a day spa gave us a certificate for a hair wash and blow dry.  What’s that worth??? $5? I was embarrassed to give it away, so I put it together in a prize package.

Frank went with me to the event, even though he had to work that night.  I got a Certificate of Appreciation for my work with Community Disaster Education program and won a couple of raffle prizes – one was a backpack crammed with Red Cross stuff.  Just my luck.  Oh well, I was able to “re-gift” a couple of things, like a Red Cross first aid kit.  Crap – my whole vehicle is one big first aid kit.

On Christmas Eve, Frank and I took off for Markham Park.  It’s a HUGE park located west of Ft. Lauderdale and right next to the Everglades.  We took bikes but no kayaks.  What one must appreciate is that we both drive SUV’s and they were BOTH filled to the gills.  Frank put up the tent, I blew up the mattress and “made the bed”, and Ginger did what she does so well – tangle up the cord on the leash.

We had picked out a recipe for Christmas Eve dinner.  Just a simple pot of corn on the cob, shrimp, Brussels sprouts, garlic and turkey sausage seasoned with Old Bay.  Problem is, I forgot the turkey sausage.  I had bought two pounds of homemade sausage from the Delaware Chicken Farm but it had fallen out of the package and sat overnight in the car.  I threw it out. As I am attempting to boil the water in the bottom of the HUGE stock pot, I realized that the shrimp weren’t getting cooked, so I threw in some olive oil and called it stir fry.

After dinner, Frank made a nice fire and we just enjoyed the outdoors and each others’ company.  Ginger was Ginger.  Bedtime comes early in the Everglades.  The first night was too warm to sleep inside the sleeping bags, so we slept on top.

Christmas morning, we had mimosas with a breakfast of roast beef hash, eggs, toast and fruit.  The park was closed to the public on Christmas Day and we had the whole place to ourselves.  I had stuffed Ginger in to her carrier (that attaches to me), climbed on Frank’s mountain bike and off we went.  Ginger seemed to enjoy having the wind in her ears and we went all through the park. We even went up on top of the levee that separates the park from the Everglades. I was uncomfortable, as there was a lot of loose gravel and my balance was already skewed because of Ginger hanging from my neck, so we stuck to the roads within the park.  We took a two hour bike ride and still didn’t cover all of the park.  

The day was so (literally) short, that we didn’t start dinner until it was almost dark.  I had brought some Matchlight charcoal that Steve probably had for ten years or more and it wouldn’t light.  That is, until we dumped the coals out under a tree and started over.  Then, they turned into beautiful glowing embers, of course.  Frank finally got the charcoal going, thanks to some wood from the fire and we were able to cook dinner – filet mignon, lobster, asparagus and salad.  YUM.

Christmas night was chilly and I was sure glad I packed warm clothes for both me and Ginger.  We had another fire and Frank had a Patron marguerite and I had a couple of Grey Goose martinis. YUM again.

The weather the next day (the day after Christmas) was funny.  It drizzled a little, the sun came out a little, it was cool for a while, then it was warm for a while. After breakfast, we headed out on the bikes again.  We stopped at the dog park, which is HUGE.  They have a giant fenced in area for big dogs and a smaller area for little dogs.  They even have doggy water fountains, structures to climb on, benches for humans and they even provide litter bags.  Of course, Ginger won’t leave my side.  She’s just not interested in socializing with dogs at all.  It was funny, at one point there was a “sniffing train” of about five dogs in a row, all sniffing each others’ butts. It was tons of fun just watching the other dogs.

After a stop at the dog park, we headed to the remote controlled airplane field.  There must have been about 20 planes – all shapes and sizes, even jets. There was also a Christmas tree decorated with airplane parts.  I took a picture for dad – I think he’ll enjoy it.   

We watched the planes for about two hours and struck up conversations with other people.  It was really a fun time.  We should have gone to the remote control boat portion of the lake but just forgot about it.  

When I tried to stuff Ginger back in her carrier, she wanted no part of it.  Frank suggested that we let her run beside us.  Since he was handling the bike much better than I, he took her leash. There we were, us on the bikes and Ginger running beside us on her leash.  One car went by and the occupants yelled “give that dog a skateboard”.  It was hilarious and she loved it.  By the time I went to stuff her into the carrier again, she was pooped and all too happy to get in!  Dinner was Frank’s country style ribs and a salad.  Once again, a nice fire and bedtime.

It took us over two hours to pack up and we were both glad that we didn’t have very far to go to get home.  Frank had to work that night, so he needed to get some sleep.  I think he slept very well.

Would I go again??? YOU BETCHA! Stay tuned for the next adventure.

This and That

As I grow older, it is evident to me that if I don't write stuff down, I don't remember it. Thus - I am going to attempt to keep up with this blog more often. Besides, I have a lot of friends that don't want to sign up to Facebook but would like to know what's happening in my life. So, if you're one of those, enjoy!

Below are some pictures and videos that chronicle the time between when I last wrote and the end of 2009.










 This is the TranSyberian Orchestra concert

An Iguana on a kayak trip

My favorite place to be - Hollywood Beach, right across from the organic market.

 

My second favorite place to be - Ocean Alley on the Broadwalk in Hollywood Beach.  Breakfast, Lunch, Cocktails, Dinner, "hangin' out"m, whatever - it matters not. It's the ambiance and the people watching!

Here's a picture of me on a Disaster Action Call responding to a fire.

And my chronicle wouldn't be complete without some pictures of Ginger.

GINGER IS ON YOUTUBE

The Yorkshire Terrorist of the century is now featured on youtube. If the link doesn't work, you can just search for ginger tuxedo or even yorkshire terrier. Enjoy.

A Visit From Gypsy

I get a call on Monday from Gypsy "I'm coming to visit - TONIGHT" Yikes. I had a class at the Red Cross until 9 and Steve had a meeting, so neither of us were going to be home until late. "No problem" says Gypsy - "I have a friend I can stay with tonight and you can meet me at Haulover in the morning". So, Tuesday morning, I pack a cooler and head to Haulover Beach. (The nude beach) There she was with this big fat ugly guy. I am thinking to myself "what's up with that?". As it turns out, he's a pretty nice guy and he teaches the concealed weapons class. So, I've s"et it up that Max, Jimbo and I can get our CWP's, maybe next week, for $50 each! We had been there a couple of hours when this blond god walks by and says to Gypsy "I like your hat." After he walks by, we say to each other (in girl look language) "this one is NOT getting away". So, she flirts with him when he walks back by, oblivious to poor old George. So, the god stops and talks to us. As he was leaving, he had to put a towel in front of him - it was very obvious that he liked her a lot. Later, after George left, he comes over and spends a couple of hours talking to Gypsy. The outcome is that he took her to The Trapeze that night AND again on Saturday night! He was at the beach on Saturday, as were we. I met so many people that day. Also, Harry & Sonia (two swingers I know from OA) were there and Harry cured my touch deprivation. What was funny was that there were about six couples who were going to Trapeze that night, so Lou knew other people at the club. We went shopping at thrift stores and consignment shops on Wednesday. I got a beautiful georgette dress and a pair of brand new Italian jeans whose original price wads $245! I only paid $11 for them. I bought them to wear to fires, too! They'll look great with my Disaster Action Team tshirt! (for the Red Cross, of course) Thursday, we had lunch with Mo, which was nice. I miss spending time with him. He just got back from Montana and was leaving for Texas the next day. I can't believe it has been a year and a half since we were on his boat. I had so many hopes of time with him. But - business and family come first. I'm nothing more to him than a diversion. On Friday, we went back to Haulover but got chairs and an umbrella this time. Friday night, we rented some movies and I made lamb chops, asparagus and a spinich salad for dinner. Saturday found us back at Haulover and I must say it was the best time I've had at the beach since I've been here. I was sorry to see her go on Sunday, but she had a really good time at Trapeze. I watched "Knowing" again, with Nicolas Cage. Tomorrow, I'm going diving with my cowboy bud, then up to Pompano Beach to have my tanks inspected and refilled. They only charge $14 for the inspection and nitrox fill, AND they will do it while I wait. The other shops wanted me to leave them for 3 to 5 days. How can I do that when I never know when I'm going diving again? Anyway, Cowboy would like to do the Venice megladon tooth dive, so it looks like that will happen soon. I need to make up Saturday night to Max - we were supposed to go to Artwalk in Hollywood, but I was too tired and didn't even call him. Not good. Maybe a nice home cooked dinner would work. Who knows what September will hold? A hurricane, I hope...the Red Cross is really hurting for contributions. (Plus I get to work in the Emergency Operations Center)