"Rocks in My Ears"

Before I retired, Darryl called me one day to ask if we would consider keeping Amelia in November so that he could take Amy to New York City for her 40th birthday.  This is one of the reasons I wanted to retire.  It was nice to be able to say yes without consulting the calendar and figuring out who could sub for me at work.  So on November 6 we headed out for Baton Rouge.  

We arrived at their home around 3:00 Wednesday afternoon.  Darryl was working at home when he received a call from Amelia's school telling him that she was telling them that she had rocks in her ears.  They reported that she was not in any pain and Darryl asked if we would pick her up.  When we got there, I went in to get her and found that she was already back on the playground.  When I located her she was laughing and playing with some other children on the slide.  She continued to say that she had rocks in her ears but "don't worry, they don't hurt."  She didn't really mention this any more, but that night Darryl really checked her ears with a bright light and didn't see anything.

The first item on our agenda was joining Amelia for lunch at her school.  The lunches are catered by Picadilly and Amelia said, "They're really good, but I don't eat them."  Oh well, she carried her lunch and we ate the school lunch which was actually pretty good for a school lunch.  She was so excited to have us visit.  We met her teacher who was very nice and she asked about the rocks in Amelia's ears.  We told her that she appeared to be fine but said that she "couldn't remember" how she got the rocks in her ears.  The teacher said, "Oh, that means she did it."

When she got out of school on Thursday, we went to Chuck-E-Cheese which is what Amelia always says that she wants to do when we visit.  She came home with a new library book, "The Night Before Thanksgiving".  We read it at bedtime.  It was a story about children rescuing the turkeys from the farmer's axe by stuffing them under their shirts and taking them home.  I think we can give up any hope of Amelia eating turkey and dressing for Thanksgiving.  She was definitely sympathetic to the turkeys in the story.  We read it every night we were there.

By Saturday Bubba was getting a little restless so he decided to help Darryl out by raking some leaves.  Amelia was going with me to the grocery store until she spied Bubba working in the yard.  Then she announced that she wanted to stay home and help Paw-Paw and that she did.

Later Amelia wanted to "play" soccer so she and Bubba ran around in the yard kicking the ball.  She asked me if I wanted to play, but told me I would need to have on tennis shoes.  I told her that I didn't have any tennis shoes and she asked, "Because you're too old, Nana?"  I quickly explained to her that I had tennis shoes at home and I didn't think I was too old yet to wear tennis shoes.  She loved playing in the back yard.  It was a beautiful sunny day and I think we all enjoyed being outside.

That evening Amelia asked me to make her an Indian costume.  I remembered that she had made one in preschool the year before and I thought I might could copy that idea so I took a brown Cracker Barrel sack and went to work.  First I cut the headband and feathers out of the bag.  Amelia decorated them.  She wanted her Indian name to be "Horse Riding Lady".  Then I cut the vest out of the sack.  She decorated that and we put fringe on the bottom.  Lastly she threaded yarn through some pasta pieces for her necklace.

The next day was more of the same with a lot of time spent outside.  Amelia dressed herself that morning and located her bow and arrow so she was back to being an Indian again.

That morning I was inspired by Amy's new cookbook on Louisiana cooking to try making red beans and rice.  I had tried this one time before but it was way too spicy and we threw it out.  This recipe was more basic and I was sure it was going to be delicious.

I simmered my concoction all day long, but when we sat down to eat it was just okay -- not worth the trouble.  (Bubba suffered all night from eating it.)  Maybe we just aren't the cajun type of people.

Amelia's birthday is on November 12 so we decided to go ahead and give her the Legos set we had gotten her for one of her birthday presents and Bubba could help her put it together.

Look at all these pieces.  Didn't the box say it was for ages 6 - 12?  Anyway after determining that he had to follow the instructions, Bubba went to work and Amelia stayed by his side for the whole three hours it took to assemble this horse farm.

She was very pleased with the finished product.  She says that "horsies" are her favorite animals.

Amy and Darryl came in late Sunday night and Amelia was very happy to see them when she woke up Monday morning.  That evening we planned a "family" birthday party so we could celebrate with her before returning home.  Of course, she picked Chuck-E-Cheese again and her mom had a small birthday cake for the celebration.  

The next morning which was actually her birthday, we had hot doughnuts for breakfast.  She was excited about going to school because she was going to get a birthday visor, a pencil, and some stickers from her teacher.  Amy was taking cupcakes to school for her class and it was going to be a big day.

This is our sweet six year old.  It's hard to believe how fast she is growing up.  She has added so much joy to our lives.  I love it when she throws her arms around me and says, "Nana, I just love you so much."  Rest assured the feeling is mutual.

Note:  On Thursday evening while Amelia and I were watching tv, she reached up to her ear and pulled out a little rock.  After that I kept asking her if she could feel any more rocks in her ears.  Finally she said, "Can we just take a break from talking about that?"  So I will.

St. Andrews State Park

I'm going to post later about my Retirement Luncheon.  It took place on Tuesday, October 28.  The next day we loaded up and headed for St. Andrews State Park at Panama City Beach.  This was our first time at this park although many people have told us that it is a great campground.  We decided to try it and reserved site #147 without knowing anything about the layout of the park or what to expect.  We don't really care for the T.H. Stone State Park at Cape San Blas because the sites are too wooded and none of them even have a view of the water.  We were expecting pretty much the same at St. Andrews but were very pleasantly surprised.  Although when making the reservation, we saw nothing to indicate that we would even be in the vicinity of the water, this was the view in back of our trailer.

As we explored the park, we made note of several sites that would be nice to return to that are on the water.  I really enjoy a view of the water when camping.  

We rode over to the area known as the jetties.  This is a place that I went to when I was growing up to go swimming.  You don't have to worry about an undertow when swimming here.

The weather was beautiful Wednesday and Thursday.  On Thursday, we went around to a fishing pier located in the park.  This is the first time I've fished like this in many years and although we weren't doing that great, it was fun just being out and enjoying the beautiful weather.

On Friday, it rained and we just spent time reading and watching tv.  Bubba grilled steaks for supper and they were so good.  We also ate out a couple of times.

Every morning and evening, there were special visitors to the camp sites. 

This was a good time of the year to visit Panama City Beach.  The traffic was light and the weather was cool.  We will definitely return here.  Hopefully, Joe and Judy can make it next time.

How's It Going?

My first few days of retired life have been very pleasant.  On Monday, Bubba worked and I had the whole day to myself.  I got a pedicure and spent the morning shopping, mostly looking but I did get two new shirts to wear with jeans.

Tuesday, I washed several loads of clothes and spent time going through the boxes of stuff I cleaned out of my office at work.  I had a lot of pictures in frames of people I had worked with and I took those out of the frames and put them in an album.  Then I discarded a lot of old paperwork that I wouldn't need anymore. I also put out my fall decorations.  I walked on the treadmill which is something I'm going to try very hard to make a habit.

Wednesday, we went to Indian Pass to try some surf fishing and Bubba wanted to throw his cast net some.  We rode down on the beach which was fun and although we didn't catch any fish, the weather was beautiful and it was nice being outside to enjoy it.

I also walked on the treadmill and we rode our bicycles around the neighborhood some.

Tomorrow is a doctor's appointment for me and then we are going to buy groceries.

I love this life so far.  I wake up to the smell of coffee.  I have time to enjoy several cups before I get dressed.  I just feel free, like anything is a possibility.  We are planning our next camping trip and a trip to Baton Rouge to see family.  It's a good life.  I think I'm adjusting well.

That Day I've Been Waiting For

That day I've been waiting for finally arrived on Thursday, October 17, at approximately 10:30 AM.  Following a community breakfast event that I had promised my boss I would oversee, I was able to leave work for the last time.  The camper was hooked up and loaded.  All we had to do was change clothes and head out.  We had originally planned to meet Joe and Judy at the East Bank COE Campground but the government shut down caused us to change our plans and we met at Seminole State Park which is one of our favorites anyway.

About a week ago Bubba surprised me with a bicycle as a retirement gift.  I've been wanting one for a while.  Any one who says that not forgetting how to do something is like "riding a bicycle" is not exactly accurate.  I'm wobbly and if I look at something, I head towards it.  I'm getting a little better.  It is great exercise for me after years of sitting at a desk all day and I'm looking forward to riding around the various campgrounds we stay at on my shiny new orange bicycle.

The weather was pleasant and we spent time around the campfire catching up on all the news.

There were some s'mores and roasted marshmallows and boiled peanuts.
Guess who had marshmallows all over their face.

Our best meal, of course, was the fish that Bubba fried with the aid of his laser thermometer.  We had a platter full of flounder and mullet.

It just doesn't get any better than this.  Good food, good conversation, good times.  What a wonderful way to begin my retirement!

On the way home, we pulled into our favorite truck stop for lunch and discovered that we had another flat tire on the trailer.  Luckily we were in a good place for this to happen and it didn't take Bubba long to change it.  The trucker parked next to us offered to help although Bubba had the situation under control.  He gave me a pint of strawberries that he said were fresh from California.  We enjoyed them on our oatmeal later in the week.

This second flat helped us make the decision to replace all the tires on the trailer.  They don't have many miles on them, but they are old so that will be a priority next week.

Our Tennis Star

At the end of September, I took an extra day and we headed to Baton Rouge to spend a few days with family.  As usual Amelia seemed so happy to see us. She had a tennis lesson scheduled for Thursday afternoon and we were not going to go because last time she was more interested in what I was doing than what her teacher was saying.  She really wanted us to go and promised that she would pay attention.  It was really fun watching the little kids and their efforts to hit the ball.

She probably is better at this than I would be.  I really think her tennis outfit is cute, don't you?

After her lesson we stopped on a little bridge at the park for her to feed the turtles.  I've never seen so many turtles in one place before.  She was facinated by them.

In addition to watching a tennis lesson, we went to Chuck-E-Cheese on Friday for lunch.  I think we all enjoy this.  You get a meal and a lot of entertainment with a $20 investment.  That night when Amelia said her prayers, she said "And thank you for Chuck-E-Cheese coming and throwing out all those tickets for me to pick up."

Darryl began Saturday morning preparing to watch football in the afternoon.  I don't think he will miss a play with this set up.

Saturday evening we took Amelia to see "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" in 3D.  I was very proud of Bubba for going.  He hates animated movies.  I can't say that I loved the movie, but Amelia laughed out loud many times so I know that she did and that was what it was all about.

Our visit was over too soon and we headed home on Sunday.  That trip seems to get longer every time we make it.  We look forward to seeing them again in November.

Happy Birthday Bubba!

The morning of September 12 dawned bright and beautiful.  It was a special day.  Bubba was celebrating his big 70th birthday.  The birthday celebration was his choice -- he wanted to camp at Lake Seminole with Joe and Judy so that is what we were going to do.  This came as a big disappointment to Amy and me because we wanted to have a big family birthday dinner for him.  It was disappointing to Amelia because she stated that she wanted him to:
     Have a party and have 20 people come.  She said he needed
          20 party hats
               20 "Happy Birthday blowers"
                      Streamers
                            Pictures of Paw-Paw
                                  A Happy Birthday shirt for Paw-Paw.

Oh well, it was HIS birthday after all.  He ordered a new cast net for a birthday present and had already received it.  I had ordered him a coconut cake from a friend at work who has a bakery and that was going to be a surprise.  He loves coconut cake, but the ones I make are really rich so I was trying to get one similar to the ones his mother used to make.

My friend at work was supposed to call me when it arrived and I was going to go pick it up.  The plan was that I would tell Bubba I had to run back to work for just a few minutes to help her with a problem.  The call came and Bubba got so irritated because I was going back to work when we were supposed to be going camping.  He told me that if they could not do without me for just one day that I might as well get my retirement paperwork back and keep on working.  He was so annoyed that finally I just said, "Bubba, I'm going to pick up your birthday cake!"  "Oh," he said.  I came back with the most beautiful cake.  I'm sorry that I almost caused him to have a stroke.

Joe and Judy had arrived at Lake Seminole the night before.  We both had beautiful sites on the water.  After we got set up, we went over to their trailer where we enjoyed sandwiches and birthday cake for lunch.

Finally, he was surprised.  When he and Joe recently went kayaking with their sister, Azalea, at her lakeside home, he tried to get his kayak down to the water with a cart he had created using a handtruck with swim noodles attached to it.  Apparently Azalea thought his creation was pitiful because she called Joe and asked him to pick out a real kayak cart for Bubba and they could split the cost.

Bubba was surprised.  I was even surprised.  What a nice thing to do for their 70 year old brother.

The day included a call from Amy wishing him a happy birthday and then later a call from Amelia who sang "Happy Birthday" to him.  Their presents came in the mail earlier in the week.

We ate dinner that night at Papa Doc's Lakeside Grill.  This is the second time we've eaten there.  Both times have been really good.  We all ordered seafood and had a variety of delicious appetizers before the real food arrived.
We returned to camp and enjoyed visiting while we sat outside in Joe and Judy's screened "gazebo" which kept the bugs away.  Bubba truly enjoyed his birthday.  Thanks Joe and Judy for sharing with us.

In addition to several more really good meals, there was kayaking and fishing.

Some good relaxation.  Saturday was breezy and cool enough to make being outside comfortable.

All too soon, it was time to pack up and head for home.  The birthday cake was down to one last piece which Bubba was looking forward to eating for his breakfast.

Little bitty black ants were crawling on his cake.  I was going to throw it out, but he said he was going to eat it anyway and he did.  He said you couldn't even taste them.  I'm glad he enjoyed his birthday cake down to the very last bite.

It was a good weekend.  We're looking forward to being able to stay longer when I retire in October.  Every time we start home, we wish we could stay one more day.  Good times are ahead!

Just One of the Herd

Today was a day I had looked forward to for a long time.  It was the day I had marked on the calendar for going to the Social Security office and applying for my benefits.  I was excited, almost giddy.  I woke up at 4:00 this morning and could not go back to sleep.  The night before I had gathered all the documents and I was sure that I would have to produce.  I was ready.  I had read online that Friday was the best day to visit the Social Security office.  It was supposed to be their slowest day.  We arrived around 9:30.  Suffice it to say, it looked like this as we entered the waiting area.

It was packed.  All the chairs were filled and people were standing everywhere.  We took a number and I vowed that we were not leaving until I got what I had come for.  We waited and waited.  There were three windows and people were transacting their business with a person on the other side of the window.  How was I going to get all my questions answered like this?  Occasionally they would call someone to the back.  A big television screen in the front of the waiting area was proclaiming that you could do everything online, on your cell phone, or by phone.  I had already looked at doing it online, but we had the issue of Bubba getting set up for Medicare that I knew was not going to be something we could do online.

The room was filled with several annoying people.  There was one young man who wanted to shake hands and converse with everyone who entered.  Another disabled man was at one of the windows demanding to see a supervisor.  I heard a man behind me tell someone on his cell phone that he had been waiting two hours in "Social Security hell".

Finally my number was called and we went to window number two.  After giving the woman a little of my  information, she told me that I could call and complete the application for my benefits over the phone.  I couldn't believe it.  I waited an hour and a half to be told to call back.  I almost cried, but then she left the window for a minute and came back.  She was going to let me go back and see a real person to complete the process.  I don't know why she did that for me.  Maybe she saw how disappointed I was.  In any case, we waited standing for just a few more minutes and we were called by name and were allowed to enter into the office area.

The nicest lady helped us.  She answered all of our questions and got me signed up.  Bubba just has to mail in a form from my personnel office to get him into Medicare without a penalty.  

The sad thing is that she told us that they were moving to a new office soon and that when they did, they would all be behind windows like the three set up in the waiting area.  Even she was dismayed because it was going to be even more inpersonal.  I felt like I was part of a herd of cows all morning.

Finally we were finished and went to the Cheese Barn for a celebratory lunch.  I was exhausted and shaky.  I felt like I had been to the doctor and had some kind of surgery all morning.  When I got home, I slept for two hours in the recliner.

The good news is that I now know my official date.  I will officially retire from my job on October 31.  My last date at work may be October 17, but I will decide that a little later.  I know that being retired will require some getting used to, but I'm looking forward to being free to do what I want to do.  

It Finally Happened

Labor Day Weekend finds us with plans to venture into an area we have wanted to visit for a long time.  We headed for Cotton Hill Campground at Fort Gaines, Georgia.  This beautiful campground is on Lake Walter F. George which is also known as Lake Eufaula on the Alabama side.  This is the second Corps of Engineers campground we have stayed at and we have found both of them to be clean and well maintained.  The sites are paved so there is no problem getting level.

This was the view we enjoyed all weekend.

Saturday we got out and did some exploring.  We went into Eufaula which was about 30 minutes away and ate lunch.  We took a road that put us in a good location for a good photo op with the dam.

The weather forecast for the weekend was for rain.  It rained Friday night after we went to bed.  Then the rest of the weekend was pretty.  It was cool enough that we could enjoy sitting outside and the mosquitoes were not too bad.  We spent a lot of our time just reading.  We also played a rousing game of Scrabble and I finally beat Bubba by ten points.

We made some meal plans that didn't involve cooking outside due to the predicted bad weather.  We hardly ever forget any of our groceries because I make a list and we mark everything off as we pack it; however, as we began to get out the items needed for tacos I realized that we had forgotten the salsa.  We didn't have enough pioneer spirit to rough it and eat tacos without salsa so we got in the truck and drove seven miles to a little grocery store and bought the only jar of salsa they had and drove seven miles back.  It was worth it in my opinion.

We got up Monday morning and started home.  Our Magellan GPS died on us and we had to rely on a map and poorly marked roads to get home.  We realized that we made a wrong turn in Fort Gaines and were in the middle of nowhere when......it happened.  It was a loud and pop and Bubba said that we had blown a tire.  This was something he has dreaded every since we got the trailer.  Fortunately there was a paved driveway just ahead of us in front of a house and we pulled over on it and surveyed the damage.

As he started to change the tire, the young man from the house pulled up in his truck.  He got out and helped Bubba some with the task.  He was just as nice as he could be -- just an old country boy.  He was on his way to take some pears to his momma.  He gave us directions on how to get back to Highway 431 and we were home by noon and unpacked soon after.

Ever since we got the trailer, Bubba has worried about breaking down and having to deal with it.  It finally happened and was not the nightmare he had anticipated.  As we headed out he began to worry about what we would do if another tire went out and we didn't have a spare.  I told him that the chances of that happening twice in one morning were very slim and then I went to sleep without a worry in the world.  We all know that Bubba is a "glass half empty" kind of guy and I'm of the "glass half full" persuasion.  But, hey, it's worked for us for 47 years.  I will continue to work on him about this view until I win him over.  Wish me luck.

The Secret

Our outing to St. George Island and Manatee Springs was soon followed up by a visit from Amy and Amelia.  This was their last opportunity to come before schools starts for Amelia on August 20.  The day before their arrival I baked Amy a chocolate cake with seven layers and the richest, fudgiest frosting I had ever tasted --- and it was thick between the layers and the layers did not slide off on the counter when I wasn't looking.  In short, it was a good-looking cake.  In fact, it looked so good that Bubba and I just had to try a slice.  Bubba immediately pronounced it "too sweet".  I agreed, but not really.  Then I made a pound cake so that we would have an alternative dessert to the "too sweet" chocolate cake.  Y'all let me tell you the truth, that cake was addictive.  Amy and I could not leave it alone.  We left the pound cake for Bubba and stuck with the chocolate cake.  Amelia chose the white powdered sugar doughnuts for her sweet treat and really worked on them.

She was very pleased with the beds and immediately put her dolls, "Amelia" and "Lily" to bed in them.

When Bubba and I were pulling the beds out of the junk packed closet, I mentioned that there was a ladder that went with them.  Bubba didn't think we still had the ladder so we didn't pull everything out of the closet to look for it.  When Amelia talked to her dad on the phone, she told him about the beds and said, "I got bunk beds, but there is no ladder."  We were all surprised that she even thought about a ladder.  I mean, after all, it is not like the doll actually has to climb up on the bed.  Later that evening, I whispered a "secret" in her ear.  I told her that when Paw-Paw went to work on Monday, we would pull everything out of that junk closet and try to find the ladder.  She loved the idea of keeping a secret from Paw-Paw.  And on Monday we went to the closet to start the big secret search and after I had pulled out only two boxes, I looked over on a shelf and there was the ladder just lying there in plain sight.  I was relieved and Amelia was thrilled.  Now her bunk beds are complete

Although Amy probably doesn't believe this, we look forward to seeing her as well.  I try to fix some of her favorite "Momma" meals while she is with us.  In addition to the cake, I fixed Fried Chicken for one meal and Fried Shrimp for another.

We had several ideas about what we might do for entertainment.  We thought about going to Apalachicola for seafood, going to Shipwreck Island, or spending the night in the camper watching movies and eating popcorn.  Bubba voted thumbs down on most of these ideas.

In Bubba's defense, we really don't know a good seafood restaurant in Apalachicola, Shipwreck Island would be anticlimatic after Disneyland, and it was raining all the time which would have tracked a whole lot of mud into the camper.

Saturday night Amy, Amelia, and I went to Blountstown to eat at a new restaurant that I had been hearing good things about -- Tavern on the Hill.  Amy and I both ordered the rib-eye steak and it was seasoned well and was very tender.  Amelia had her usual grilled cheese.  There was a man playing acoustic guitar and that was a nice touch.

Amelia had spent the week before in California where she had been the center of attention as the only child with a group of Darryl's relatives who had gathered for his aunt's funeral.  While there she went to Disneyland and California Adventures.  By the time she made the trip to see us, she was tired.  I think she was happy to be just left alone to play.

On Tuesday before they left for home, Bubba wanted Amelia to go outside with him to look inside her tire swing.  A mama bird had built a nest there and Bubba had heard the little ones chirping when he went outside.

Amelia was so excited to see the little baby birds.  They were just little balls of down.  

This reminds me of a book I had when I was a little girl about Amelia's age.  I think the name of it was "Stepladder Babies".  I still remember the little poem that was on the first page of the book.                                     

                                                    We have a secret, just we three,
                                                       The robin, and I, and the sweet cherry-tree;
                                                         The bird told the tree, and the tree told me,
                                                            And nobody knows it but just us three.

This is a picture of the birds a week later. I wish Amelia was here to watch them grow.

I guess their visit mark the end of "summer". It is still raining and it is still hot. I'm back at work and things are back to normal for now. We have a couple of camping trips planned over the next month or so. We're hoping the weather will cooperate.

For those of you who thought my last blog was a little strange, I have to defend myself. I was attempting a different style of writing. I read a lot of books with two or three different things going on at the same so I was trying to be more creative. I guess I had better just stick to telling it like it is.