Life in a small town

Yesterday we got a message from our friend Scott. His cousin Vince will be turning 50 on May 19th. That also happens to be the day his son is graduating from high school up in Tennessee. Vince is an electrician and recently the company he works for went out of business...so money has been pretty tight lately. He has been stressed out worrying about not just how he's going to keep up with all the bills that keep coming, (even when work is not)...but also feeling bad that he wouldn't be able to make the trip up to see his son graduate.

(Amanda just graduated from Nursing school and Courtney graduates from Mel High next week...they were celebrating too) So, Scott came up with a plan. He asked all the guys who regularly get together at Longdoggers I think I spell this differently every time I write about it...haha to help make this a special birthday for Vinnie. He asked anyone who was interested in helping out to donate whatever amount they were comfortable with...meanwhile he looked on line and found an airline ticket and car rental and figured anything above and beyond would/could go for extras. The response was as expected...everyone wanted to help. Vinnie is a kind-hearted guy; he's always willing to lend a hand and do what he can for friends or family. Right now he's having a tough time and even though he would NEVER want to ask anyone for anything...he definitely needs a "little help from his friends" (as the song says).

Vince, Scott, Mark and Mike

Of course Al was more than happy to be in on the surprise. We all got together as usual at Longdoggers. Mark made sure Vinnie came...he met up with him earlier in the evening, then casually suggested they should stop by LD as everyone was going to be there. Since these guys stop by almost every afternoon,... (though not necessarily the whole group) it was not anything for Vinnie to get suspicious about.(that and the fact that his actual birthday isn't until the 19th) Vinnie made his way around, then sat down to talk to me. He and John had worked together this week...so we were talking about that. Meanwhile I'm thinking...that at some point Al is supposed to come out and surprise Vinnie with a pie in the face, so I don't want to get too close...hahah. (Scott and John were both thinking..."Perfect...he's talking to Anne, that will keep him busy"...they know we are both talkers...haha)

Well...Al came up behind him and put a handful of whipped cream in his face. (as you can see...I managed to duck out of the way safely! haha) Everyone whipped out a camera or cell photo or whatever...it was funny. Wish I had a picture of everyone taking pictures! Everyone shouted "Happy Birthday!!!"...and Vinnie laughed. Scott handed him the card...but didn't have his glasses with him...so he didn't open it at first. Everyone was waiting...so I told him...you need to read the card...Les loaned him his glasses. When he opened the card...He was completely overwhelmed....he broke down...and there were more than a few teary eyes in the group.After a minute or two I leaned in and said "So this will be a good 50th birthday don't you think?" He looked at me and said.."The best ever." He really couldn't even talk for a few minutes because he was so overcome with emotion.There were lots of cheers, lots of hugs and LOTS and LOTS of smiles! At one point later in the evning, he said to me "I swear in all my 50 years, this is the best birthday ever!" It was so much fun to be a part of it! Earlier this week...actually last week, on Saturday it was Melbourne Beach's annual Founder's Day celebration. There were all the usual activities going on...races...(on land and in the river), Arts and Crafts, a "Talent" show for the kids (I use that term loosely...hahah, something about cute little 9 yr old girls "singing" "I got got my bottle of Jack...I ain't coming back..." that just doesn't do it for me...hahha), a hot dog eating contest, skateboarding demonstration. etc. Everyone in town comes out and it's always a fun time. I walked around for a bit...got a t-shirt, chatted with friends...and tried to keep cool. It was HOT!

Donated some $ to Indialantic Elementary School Odyssey of the Mind team...who are going to Nationals in Ames,Iowa. (a friend has a daughter on the team)

And just enjoyed the day...until I had to go home and cool off! haha

That's what I like about living in a place like Indialantic or Melbourne Beach...it's a small town...and it's like an episode of Cheers on any given day!

Amanda's celebration!

John left for the Bahamas early Friday morning. He, Charlie and Shane are hoping to come back with some fish...specifically some Yellowfin Tuna! Luckily for me...even though he was gone...I had plans for Friday night.

Amanda just earned her Nursing Degree and the Roy's were having a celebration in her honor. (Mike is like me...always looking for an excuse to have a get-together) A party at their house means lots of fresh fish and plenty of good food. And friends.

Mike grilled a variety of fish and had Chris man the fryer. I opted for the fried...I know the grilled is better for you...but that fresh fried fish is soooo good. Tim had some of his specialty Venison poppers....marinated venison wrapped around a jalapeno pepper and cooked on a hot grill.( I have tried them...and it was better that I had expected...but one was enough for me.....since I am not really a fan of jalapenos or venison)

All of Denise's sisters were there as well as her mom...so that was nice for Amanda. (Mike's reltives were all at the last gathering a couple of weeks ago)

Amanda did very well in all her classes and she has a job lined up...so everyone is very proud of her. It was great to be part of the celebration.

I made Banana bars and Christmas Crunchies. (Amanda said she liked coconut...so I chose that recipe) I am happy to report that more than one person came up to me and said..."I think that might be the best cookie I have ever eaten!" As you can see...I'm still sort of redeeming myself from the cheese wafer/mistaken cookie incident. hahaha

Trying to stay awake...

I tend to doze off at night when I am watching TV. Thank goodness for the rewind capability...haha I often rewind two or three times during the hour...haha But...I think I have met my match................

This was Haze (Brenna's dog) the other night. He hopped onto the love seat just before my show started...so I took another chair. I stayed awake for the entire episode...as you can see ...he did not. Maybe it's the chair????????????????????????????????????????????????haha P.S. I don't think I look quite like him when I doze off.

Sunday John and I went over to the Bob Carr Theater in Orlando to see The Lion King. It was good....as expected. I think I enjoyed it more than John...but he liked it too. We got there early...(what a surprise...haha) which was part of our plan. We decided to go across the street to the Sheraton Hotel for lunch, since the show didn't start until 1pm. The only thing open was the Sports Bar...so it was kind of an odd set-up as far as the tables go. We took one of the last two tops...rather than sit at a high table with a high stool..(....because then I feel like some little kid sitting on a big old chair)Shortly after we arrived, a group of four women came in. Three were older and one looked to be about our age, maybe a little younger. Well she seemed to be take an interest in John (Ellen must be right...haha)...haha She was staring at him as they came by...and then did some kind of little curtsey or something as they passed out table. A little weird...Hello! did she not see me sitting there with him??? Well...as luck would have it...they took a booth that faced out into the main seating area...looking right down on our table. John tried his best to avoid eye contact...and we finished up and headed over to the theater. We found our great seats...front row, Balcony Left. Right near where a couple of the cast members came up to perform at the start and later on in the show. Gazelle (?)at first and later on it was a young lady with "birds". We were near the end of the row.....relaxing till just a few minutes before the show when we planned to take a last minute trip to the restroom. Well...guess who ended up sitting in our row. Out of the whole theater...however many thousand seats...the four women ended up in our row! John said it was destiny...hahaha. He didn't want to get up and go to the bathroom....told me if he did...and she followed...I better follow her! hahaha She left him alone...actually sat at the end of the group....but that was weird. hahaha

We finally got a little bit of rain Sunday evening....making a nice sunset.

Saturday was the annual Melbourne Art Festival. I went to check it out. Saw a few things I liked...but didn't buy anything. David had a couple of pieces picked for judging...so that was good. Too bad....he didn't win anything....but he did sell some pieces....and it was nice to have two new pieces get selected for judging...maybe one will win something when he makes his way across the US this summer starting at the Reston show in a couple of weeks.

I enjoyed watching the people looking at his artwork...that's always fun. One guy said to his friends "Wow...it's like your mind just exploded onto the canvas!" haha...

I didn't hang around too long...because it was HOT! In the shade was tolerable...but it was really just hot. That and the fact that I really was trying not to spend any money...I figured I be better off at home. If I had other people with me...I might have walked around a bit longer...but in spite of the fact that there were a lot of people there...I didn't see too many people I knew. There were a lot of events going on around town... including a fish tournament at Captain Hiram's...which is where a lot of our friends were. Coming up next...lots of graduation celebrations! Austin from UF, Courtney from Mel High and Amanda from the Nursing Program at B.C.C. Looking forward to all the fun!

We have had the best weather during this past week. We had record lows earlier in the week...and it was wonderful! Waking up to temperatures in the upper 40's in late April...doesn't happen very often in Indialantic! The days have been sunny, breezy and there's hardly a cloud in the sky.

Taking Kiena for a walk...I had to snap a couple of photos. Love the way the morning light is shining on the flowers and trees.

I'm enjoying the morning before I head in to work this afternoon.

This weekend should be a bit warmer...but just as nice; and that's a good thing because it's time for the annual Melbourne Art Festival. David is in the show this year...so that means I have a spot to camp out and watch everyone going by! haha Then Sunday, John and I are heading over to Orlando to see The Lion King. I've seen it (with Megan) but John has not...so I'm looking forward to seeing it with him. I love the costumes!...like giant puppets....

Earlier in the week we had dinner at the Roy's house. Mike's friend is back in town...from Pittsburgh, and they've been out fishing all week/ last weekend. Mike cooked up some mahi mahi, his lobster casserole, and there was some smoked fish dip. Chris made some coconut shrimp...freshly toasted coconut and freshly caught shrimp...that was my favorite thing I ate!

Enjoying the back yard and the nice weather.

and the friends.

Art Party

First of all let me say I downloaded these pictures in the order that I wanted them...however the computer rearranged them...I don't know why sometimes it keeps them in the order I want...sometimes it doesn't...

Last night my brother David had an art party at a friends house. Chris M. works with Bridget and he often hosts events and fundraisers at his home. It's not a huge house...but it has a great kitchen and back porch, pool area and bar and summer kitchen. Pretty nice set up for parties. There were probably 50-75 people there at any given time, as well as boxes full of prints and art work...and there was plenty of room to get around. I guess Chris had mentioned several times that they should have a party at his place...and this time David took him up on it. It was a strange weekend as far as the weather goes...reports were calling for 100% percipitation...and we had bad thunderstorms and lots of rain Friday night...but yesterday was quiet all day/night....until after midnight. Actually the cloud cover cooled things down and made it rather pleasant. The house would have held everyone comfortably...but the porch/pool area certainly was nice...and people enjoyed being out there.

Some of Bridget's co-workers were there...including Richard in the first photo...who not only works with Bridget...but also worked with my mother for many years. He knew Bridget and David for several years before he realized that "Doris" was David's mother. He also works with a friend we grew up with on Oak Ridge Drive...Roberta Van Dusen. He never knew they all knew each other! It's a small world!

Bridget and I were snapping photos. In this one David's friend Kim (his first girlfriend in high school), Bridget, Kim's husband Bert and Kim's mother (who still loves David)all groaned when the flash went off. All four of them at the same time..".Agggh...you need to take another one...we weren't ready." It was funny. The one above it...including me...was the one we took next...Destin took it for us.

Brenna and her friend Josh, who helped her move all her stuff down to Florida. He is a nice guy...and a computer "geek" "guru"...whatever you want to call him. As soon as we walked through the door...David snagged him...to troubleshoot a problem he was having with his I-pad app used to process credit cards...Josh was more than willing to take on the challenge..and several minutes later...between Josh and Brenna...they had things up and running. David finally relaxed! I have to give the guy credit...two days ago he didn't know any of us...except Brenna....but he walked right in and just like that he fit right in.

David's neighbors who often take Maisy out for walks with their two dachshunds

...Bill, Jill and her sister, Charla. They have known David for years...their parents lived across the street...before Jill and Bill moved in.

At one ponit durint the evening Chris organized a group around the pool table for some sort of dice game. Everyone pitched in a specified amount of money and then from what I gathered...you rolled the dice. Depending on what you rolled.... determined whether the dice were to be passed to the person on your left or your right. after a certain amount of time one person would win the whole "pot"....with the idea that they were to use it to buy a piece of art work from David. Clever! and fun! Bridget taking pictures.

Destin and her friend Julian. We had a lot of laughs.

Chris the guy who hosted the party...in his kitchen. He was making Mojitos...and there was a selection of wines and beers, soda and water. something for everyone.

He made this solid ice bowl for the shrimp and cocktail sauce...then almost forgot to put them out. He also had pizza dough readily made and available for anyone who wanted to make their own pizza. The counter had a whole selection of toppings(mushrooms, peppers, onions, pineapple, chicken to name a few) to choose from...you rolled your dough, put on what you wanted then brought it out to the oven on the porch to cook it. Yum! He also had assorted chips and candies and homemade bruschetta that he was passing around. It was really very nice!

Some things I like

I recently spotted these books coming across the desk. I like these quirky illustrations....and it's kind of fun because all the lines are raised up so you can feel them. You can have fun moving your finger(s) along the wiggly lines.

Tom's Tweet is one I may use with the 1st graders. It's a little too long for a Story time group...especially if they are restless...hahah It is a rhyming book, which I always like...but it's also got a lot of words you don't hear everyday. Tom the cat is out hunting for breakfast when he comes across a little bird. He's all ready to eat but... "Dadburn it! said Tom "You're too skinny to eat. Why your nothing but feather and bone." He started to leave...but the shivering tweet looked so frightened. Unhappy. Alone. .... and it goes on like that.Turns out Tom is a "softie" and Mama Cat puts him to work. Cute! The next one caught my eye because I have a thing for Alphabet books. I don't know why...but I like prints, books etc with letters of the Alphabet on them. Ask my kids... This is about some alphabet peas (first I thought they were ants...) who work and play with the ABC's.Each picture shows them do letter related jobs and/or activities. It's kind of fun. I like the details.

This book by Taback is so cute! I LOVE the colorful illustrations and the kids enjoyed "guessing" what animal was going to appear next.

I liked the way the picture appeared one section at a time. I joked with the kids...when it was obviously a cat...I'd say...maybe it's a horse, etc. They laughed.

The author has several books like this...Dianne and I decided right away that we "needed" all of them!

Next week...................chickens!