A Tornado Watch and a Good Time

After a few weeks of staying at home for the weekend, we were ready for a weekend away.  This time we went to St. Joseph Peninsular State Park.  We had postponed our trip from the weekend before due to a bad weather forecast.  Around Tuesday of this week, it was starting to look like we were facing another stormy weekend; however, being the fearless campers that we are we decided to let nothing stop us this weekend.  We left right after lunch on Friday hoping to avoid getting rained on as we set up at our campsite.
When we arrived, we discovered that I had reserved a site that was going to be difficult to back into.  A fellow camper pulled up right behind us and proceeded to help Bubba with backing in.  Thankfully Bubba has greatly improved in this area and before too long, we were getting set up.  It did sprinkle on us a little bit, but not too much.  About the time Bubba got us all hooked up, a ranger came by and handed him this:

Oh great, it kind of made me think of the time we spent a hurricane on a shrimp boat in the middle of the bay.  Bubba went for a look around while I put things in order on the inside (getting the channels set up on the tv).  He soon came back and wanted me to go down to the beach with him to look at the waves.

The wind was really blowing and  the waves were white capping behind us.  That is a red flag warning against any swimming in these type seas.

And, of course, that dark spot is a young man who is paying no attention to the warning flag and going for a swim.  I was ready to go.  If he was going to be that foolish, I wasn't going to hang around to watch.

This is another picture of us by a tree.  You can tell we are getting a lot of use out of our new tripod.
We returned to the trailer and I fixed ham, eggs, and grits for supper.  The tornado watch ended by 8:00 and we were able to get a good night's sleep.  The next morning after some oatmeal and strawberries, we went back out for a walk.  We wanted to pick some sites for our next trip that would be easy to get into and closer to the gulf.  I want to be able to open the window and hear the waves crashing on the beach.  There are two areas for camping.  The first is the Gulf Breeze Campground and the second is the Shady Pines Campground.    The Gulf Breeze Campground seemed closer to the water, but the sites were also more crowded there.  Still we picked out several sites there that we liked. Then we picked out several sites that we liked in the Shady Pines Campground.  

Then we went back for another walk on the beach.  It was cold and windy, but still enjoyable.  People were surf fishing and had on coats, hats, hoods, and gloves.  (I wonder if my friend Mary Ellen likes fishing that much?)  

We saw a lot of birds.  There was a bird watching walk scheduled for Sunday morning with a ranger.  As we passed leaving today, I was surprised how many people had turned out for this event.

This pelican just swam around while we took his picture.

We had tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch.  Then we read and played Scrabble and of course.....

Bubba won again.  This is starting to really get to me.  The man can't spell.  How is he beating me every time????

This was his reward.  Maybe I would have played better if I had know that was going to be the prize!

For supper we had barbecued pork chops in the crock pot, baked potatoes, broccoli, and tomatoes.  It was good, but I'm looking forward to the weather warming up so we can grill outside again.

St Joseph Peninsular State Park is a great place to visit. We're really looking forward to going back this summer so we can enjoy the beach.  It is a good place to go and it has the bonus of not being that far away.  If the price of gas continues to rise, this is a place we can go without too much expense.  By the way, Florida State Parks give a 50% discount to senior citizens who are Florida residents. There are some definite advantages to getting older. I'm also glad we didn't postpone getting a travel trailer until I retired.  We are enjoying these little excursions so much and we have no doubt that we did the right thing.   

And the Mailman Came...

We have just concluded a really fun weekend and no camping was involved.  We had a visit from Amy and Amelia.  It had been two months since their visit at Christmas and we were yearning to see them.  (Amy thinks that we don't look forward to seeing her any more, but we do.)  This visit coincided with the upcoming Valentine's Day which made it even better.  It gave us an excuse to spoil Amelia a little bit.  To start the fun, I bought a mailbox and decorated it for Valentine's Day.

Then I bought a lot of little treats to put in it at different times throughout her visit.  I started with a little Strawberry Shortcake doll.

Amelia quickly caught on to this "game".  She was pleased no matter how big or small the treat in her mailbox.  She would enthusiastically exclaim, "Look, what I got!" about everything she found in the mailbox.

She got the movie, "Treasure Buddies" for one of her bigger treats.  I thought it was an awful movie, but she seemed to enjoy it very much.

In fact, she enjoyed it so much that she watched it both Thursday and Saturday night.  Both times with popcorn and chocolate milk.  Among the items found in the mailbox were books, M & Ms, craft supplies to make valentines, a picture to paint, colored pencils, a bracelet, princess rings, Tinker Bell socks, goldfish crackers, card games, but the item that brought us all a lot of laughter was this.

This little thing cost just $1.00.  When you press the button, the inside spins and lights up with all different colors.  Amelia announced that this was her "super powers."  She then explained to all of us what our parts were and what we were supposed to do.  All of us were bad guys of one sort or another and Amelia was the good guy with her "super powers".  We engaged in numerous battles, each time with the "super powers" making Amelia the winner.  Paw-Paw's weapon was the remote control, mine was an old cell phone, and Amy's weapon was a bottle of water.  We had to raise our weapons and fight to the finish, but we always succumbed to the "super powers".  At the conclusion of each battle, Amelia would raise her hands and announce, "I winned!"
Over the course of the weekend, we ate Mexican food in P.C., hamburgers at the local doughnut shop, and fried fish.  We also had pancakes two mornings in a row (Amelia's request.) 

We baked cookies.  I will confess that they were slice and bake, but Amelia enjoyed sprinkling them just as much as homemade.

We made "valentines" although Amelia had her own ideas about what they should look like

Amelia taught Paw-Paw how to play a game on the iPad.

One more pose with the "super powers" as she and her mom prepare to head home (I think her braids are so cute!)

It is always hard to say good bye to our girls.  We enjoyed the weekend so much and can't wait until next time.  We love you very much!

My Valentine

I wonder  how many people when they marry give enough thought to exactly what kind of person they are committing themselves to be with forever.  I know that I didn't.  I thought Bubba was really good looking (especially in his blue mohair sweaters) and smelled good.  He drove a blue corvette convertible and seemed to have enough money to pay for anything we chose to do on a date.  He came from a good family.  We were in love.  I know that I hadn't prayed for God's guidance in selecting the husband for me, but God was looking out for me even if I hadn't asked for his help.


As a young husband, Bubba worked hard at the paper mill.  We didn't have much money.  The payment on the corvette used up one whole $95.00 paycheck!  (I wrecked it a couple of weeks after the wedding.)  He painted on the side to pick up extra money.  We lived through years of paper mill rumors of shut downs.  During a lengthy strike at the mill, he bought a shrimp boat with my dad and shrimped for a living.  He built a two story addition onto our little house doing all the work himself.  During those early years, we had our ups and downs but he was always rock solid. Money was tight -- partly because he had the wisdom and good judgement to save for our future.  Sometimes we would argue, but we always forgave each other never holding a grudge.


As a father, Bubba was devoted.  Even though he had to get up early in the morning to go to work at the mill, he always got up with me during the night when Baby Amy woke up and would run down the stairs to the kitchen to warm her bottle and bring it back up.  Eventually we were able to move into a new home.  He continued to work at the mill and did some painting on the side.  That enabled me to be a stay-at-home mom.
He saw to it that Amy had a car while she was in high school. He never put anything he wanted first.  It was always Amy and me.   He encouraged her and financed a college education.  What a proud father he was when she graduated and then received her master's degree!  What an empty nest we had when she left for college and then later married!


Life is different now.  It's just the two of us.  The rumors of the paper mill shutting down came true and Bubba started a painting business of his own.  I called him the "painter to the stars" because he was the most desired painter around.  I guess even his customers recognized how special he is.  He eventually accepted a job at a shrimp processing plant doing their maintenance work.  He learned how to fix things that he would have never dreamed he could conquer.  Then the day came that he retired.


Since his retirement, Bubba has taken over the demands of the house so that I can finish out my time and retire.  Somewhere along the way, he started making my coffee every morning and bringing me a cup (or two or three).  He learned to cook and can now prepare as good a meal as I ever could, some even better.  He cleans the house and washes the clothes and keeps the yard work done. He buys our groceries. He does all this so that I don't have to do it on the weekends.


Bubba is an amazing grandfather.  He loves spending time with Amelia.  He gets excited about the "treats" we plan for her.  He loves talking about the cute things she does.


I don't want you to think he is perfect because he is not.  His only obvious flaw is that he worries.  He worries about trees falling on the house, the amount of oil in the car, the septic tank, pulling the trailer, identity theft, someone stealing his boat, traffic, weather, the price of gas, the running toilet, freezing weather, rotting wood, the roof leaking,  Amy, Darryl, Amelia, etc.  He worries about my health.  He worries about growing old.  (We are going to continue to work on that little flaw.)


Now, personally, I don't think I deserve this man but I thank God every day for him. There is a poem by Robert Browning that I have liked for many years.  It's a long poem and I admit I don't understand all of it but I do like the first part which says:

Grow old along with me!

The best is yet to be,

The last of life, for which the first was made:

Our times are in His hand

Who saith "A whole I planned,

Happy Valentine's Day, Bubba!

I'm glad you're mine.