OK, so according to the list I have, the last update was sometime in January.  I didn't read it, but I was probably moaning about how fast time flies, now that we have retired.  Well, don't get your hopes up, I still am.  Retired, and simply not believing how fast the time flies. 

We have seen some pretty cool things while "stationed" here in Venice, FL.  Wildlife abounds, with sightings of osprey (sometimes with fish!), eagles, alligators, great blue herons, great snowy herons, egrets, armadillos (they are often called FL cockroaches because they are so prevalent), Red Shouldered hawks, Great Horned Owls, tree frogs, jumping fish (mullets, usually), dolphins, sea urchins, various shore birds, the rare American Swallowtail Kite (of which 4 (!!) are actually residents at our park), and probably a few more that I've either forgotten about or purposefully omitted because I do not know their names.  One of our coolest sightings was actually the launch of the space shuttle, Discovery.  We (all 3) trucked on down to the river and watched it burn a blazing trail into orbit, from some 300 miles away.  WOW.  It was really awesome & took our (at least MY) breath away.  I have it captured on film - haha, now THAT's and obsolete expression!! - and will post a link to it soon as I can get ithe video & snaps uploaded.

We have met some really neat people and I have learned some basic tricks to quilting.  Carla always told me I'd love it, if only I tried it, and she's right.  I am pretty decent at it (or so they tell me), and I do love it.  Only thing is, it gets really expensive, really fast.  I have sold many items at the 2 craft fairs held here at the park, and recouped most of my expenses, plus I still have a decent (Dick would say "overwhelming") stash of fabric remaining.  Our residents have come up a bunch of "could you....." requests, so I had to put some engineering skills to work, and yup, I could and did.  Then I sold 'em as quick as I could make 'em!  Actually, a bit quicker, as evidenced by the fact that I have an order for 4 items, only ONE of which has been completed. 

In addition, we have been dancing once a week in an Advanced class.  Oh, talk about challenging.  And mental stimulus!  Geepers, ain't nuthin' easy about THAT.  There's a standing joke that goes, we're dancing at C7 level (there really IS one, by the way)...but what we REALLY mean is, we C (see) 7 people standing in place, so we go to the 8th position, which is always vacant ('cuz that's where we're supposed to be!!).  I guess it's not really that funny in print, but for square dancers, it generally gets a laugh.  Sorry, and thanks for humoring me.  On Sunday, we went to a Federation dance, where people from all over the west coast of FL were gathered, and we danced an A tip at the end.  Fairly well, if I do say so myself, and with MUCH credit to our esteemed (and patient) caller-teacher(s).  We never made it up to Lakeland for the WinterFest, where we'd planned to go in Jan., but it simply wasn't in the budget at that time.

All this has been sandwiched in between working 2 days a week (I know, I know, but SOMEone's gotta do it), sometimes 3.  Once, it was even 4, for me, due to the "vacation" of one of the other couples.  I know, how does one who is always on vacation even GO on vacation?  I dunno, but they had a daughter's wedding (in Cuba, no less) to attend, so away from work they went.  Truth be told, we'da done same same.  Work here, as you may have gathered was not difficult - once I mastered Campground Manager and the price schedule.  Of course, now that I do have it down pat, it's been changed.  I guess that's my clue to leave soon!! haha.

Oh, yeah, another time waster (well, consumer, anyway) has been a virtual round robin of doctor appointments.  Since we were going to be here so long, we decided to take care of a few things that had been accumulating since we've been on the road.  Oh, like Dick's glaucoma, skin cancer & glaucoma checks, and my troublesome hip.  Naturally, all of Dick's conditions have been checked, treated & resolved, while my hip is still a work in progress.  Actually, it's more of a plateau than progress, but at least it's not keeping me up at night.  It does waken me, and physicall therapy is 3 times a week, and it's still very painful, but we anticipate some relief next Monday when I receive another injection in the joint.  Oh, I so can't wait.  Never thought I'd say such a thing (without sarcasm), but I truly am looking forward to it, as relief is promised.  I have likened the pain to things like a broomstick in my butt-cheek, or sometimes a hot knife.  Whatever, it's mighty-damned-painful, and it's very distracting.  It will also make traveling any distance an awful (and literal) pain-in-the-butt.  Because of it (the pain) and my ther py schedule, I was unable to visit our lovely twin daughters and their children up in Charlottesville.  Yep, you read that right - our other daughter gave birth to her first child on Feb. 11.  (It was a boy, for those of you with inquiring minds - Duncan Harvey Ferrell is his name.)  He's cute, from what I hear, and healthy too.

We did have a rough week just past, though...as most of you know by now, Sunny finally got too old and feeble to have much quality of life, and the decision was made to have her put to sleep.  It was not a pretty sight, but her last memory was being in my arms, eating the Greenies Pill Pockets - her very most favorite.  I was feeding her those to distract her from HER pain in the butt, a tranquilizer shot the vet said would burn.  And it must have, because she did stop eating for just a moment.  Then, she simply relaxed into a nice, deep slumber while in my lap.  I'll spare you all the rest, but suffice it to say, the vet was very compassionate and understanding and allowed us plenty of time to say goodbye.  He even made a clay impression of her paw so we could have a memento of her life.  We had her individually cremated & she was returned to us the very next day in a hand-carved wooden box, with a nameplate & everything.  She'll be journeying up to Chuck's mountain with us very soon, to join our other beloved doggies and all the previous Buzzies.

Very soon, as in 3 weeks or so.  Our time in Venice is rapidly drawing to a close and our contract is about up.  From here, we will travel north and east to Jacksonville, to visit Papa for a few days, then to Virginia Beach to see Dick's mom for a few days.  WATCH OUT, Debbra, we're coming YOUR way!!  With any luck, we will be able to visit some of our friends, too.  From there, we plan to go to Charlottesville & vist the kids & grands and watch Tabatha graduate from the University of Virginia.  Quite a significant feat, if you ask me, and we're really quite proud of her.

Where's Waldo going from there, you ask?  Well, Westward HO!  Ok, so I'm not a HO, but we're going West anyway.  To Port Aransas, TX.  We've been there before and really enjoyed the place.  Some of you may recall I've mentioned the stuffed, bacon-wrapped shrimp from Charlotte's?  Well, we'll be close!!  (haha - maybe too clo$e!!)  That's where the whooping cranes spend their winters and migrate FROM in late Feb.  Alas, we'll miss 'em AGAIN.  Oh, and the sand castle festival (see previous posting!) is held there, right on the beach where we'll be going, in mid-April, again, something we'll be missing.  Oh well, we'll get there in late May, just in time for the summer crowd to hit.  From what we understand, it's a fishing crowd, and the turnover is quite a bit more rapid than it is here.  Should be exciting, to say the least.  We should also be able to walk or ride bikes to all the local stores, and we'll keep Sunny's tag-along to transport laundry, groceries and such. 

We'll be hosting at On The Beach RV Park which is located, amazingly enough, right on the beach!  There's only a sand dune separating us from the water's edge.  We anticipate that will be hard on the rig, but I'm assured that Jose will be performing weekly wash-maintenance to mitigate the effects of the salt water & sea-fog.  (Hope he's reading this & notes that I will be other-wise occupied...hehe - I'm sure he assumes such occupation by now....if not, we've not been married long enough or he's not been paying attention.. Honey, I love you!!)

Well, I've rambled on long enough - see, if only I'd do this when it needed doing, and not save all this up for one shot, it'd be so much easier....but.....good intentions & the road pave & all.....

Much love to you all, and for some of you more fortunate souls, we'll be seeing you soon!!