Green Acres Not For Me

The beginning of July I got bit by a yellow fly. I had four bites on my left hand -- boy did they itch. The next morning my hand and arm was swollen so I made my way to the immediate care center. A week later with some medication I was better.

Saturday afternoon I thought I would relax in the pool so I put on my hat and got on my raft but I could feel something on my head. I brushed it but still could feel something so I brushed it again. The thing jumped in the pool on my legs -- you have never seen anybody move so fast. I screamed and started running for the stairs with this creature swimming after me. In the water it swam like a snake. Did I mention Jeff and I just watched untamed and uncut on the animal channel where a cobra was on. I was sure it was going to bite me. Jeff came running to my rescue only to find out it was a 3 inch lizard. Geez lost 30 years of my life in a matter of minutes.

Saturday night Jeff and I went to the new house where I watched the sunset from the solana (and got 2 more yellow fly bites). aaahhhh Came home to about 2000 ants crawling on the front of our house. Where did they come from? Jeff nuked them and now our house glows in the dark.Late Sunday afternoon I went out to the pool to do a little exercise and relax. I got in and got out just as fast screaming for Jeff. A snake in my pool. How dare the bugger!!! My hero doesn't like snakes either. He got his shovel and slapped it as it swam -- knocked him silly. I hope it's mother doesn't come looking for us.

Maybe we should be building a condo in the sky.

Dolphin

Michelle came to Destin for a few days. She had never seen the dolphins up close so we took the boat out Sunday morning.
The big dolphin were slapping their tails.

This woman in her kayak just sat there as the dolphin swam around her.

They were real close to our boat. Several of the dolphin were rolling in the water which was fun to watch. A baby dolphin was jumping out of the water. Very cool but I missed every one with my camera.

Furniture

Last week while we were in Louisville we got a call from the sales lady from the furniture store where we purchased lots of stuff. "You better take delivery of your furniture because with the economy the way it is.... we might go out of business." What? was my reply. We are talking about a large furniture company from Hickory North Carolina -- the furniture capital. They loaded up a 53 foot trailer and headed our way. Where are we going to put this stuff -- the house won't be done until the beginning of August? Our builder quickly secured our gym/garage to put it in there. He will get the air conditioning on this week.

This is how much room we have left for the load that comes Monday morning. Where will we put that load? Always some drama.

Swimming Anyone?

This picture is of the new pool from my office deck. The section on the left will have a shallow end to put lawn chairs in the water. The section on the right will have a LARGE spa to exercise all winter long without heating the whole pool. It seems to be larger than we thought but then again the whole house is larger than we thought.

Banana Nut Bread

Went to a party on Saturday and one of the guests brought the hostess this treat. Some people are so clever.

Special Young Woman

Sunday was a special day for this young woman. She was baptized and we celebrated her 21st birthday with dinner at Ramsi's. I have known Anita since she was in 5th grade. She is one of the many girls I have mentored thru Girl Scouts. After she aged out of Girl Scouts we continued to stay close. Her family -- I have nothing good to say about them so I won't say anything. Anita is strong and determined to succeed. She has hit more than her share of bumps in the road. I went with her Sunday morning to her church as she committed her life to God. Sad that her family didn't show but that's not unusual. It was the first time I was in an all black church -- Amen Brother. I'm proud of you Anita.

This Ain't No Fish Tale

On Saturday Jeff and I took the boat out to the ocean for the first time this year. I always forget how awesome it is. Today wasn't any different. It was a little rough in Destin so we went to Sandestin where the water was a little calmer. We spotted a few dolphin. I was very happy because they hung around near the boat. We saw about 10 dolphin as we just idled in the water. After about 30 minutes Jeff had had enough. Not me I could stay all day but said OK Captain.




As we headed back toward Destin -- splash -- a dolphin jumped out of the water. Dang I missed it.

Dang I missed it again but.....

there had to be 30 dolphin swimming around us. Sides -- back -- front -- they were everywhere.

I have never seen dolphin lift their tails and slap it on the water. Awesome.

There were babies swimming with their moms but I didn't get a picture. Moms had them close by their side and wouldn't let them get near the boat. They are much darker in color than the others.

As Mr. Rogers would say, What a wonderful day in the neighborhood.

Make New Friends

On Wednesday evening we were invited to one of Jeff's golf buddie's house for dinner. A small dinner party he told me, just 5 couples. They live on the same bay as us but their view is incredible. WOW All you see is water when you walk in the front door. We were entertained by David Seering (http://www.davidseering.com/). He has played for 3 Presidents -- need I say more? Danny Trace, the chef from Commander's Palace (http://www.commanderspalace.com/destin/index.php) made the meal right in the host's kitchen. While we sipped on wine we listened to David play and sampled a few appetizers -- mushroom mousse on toasted french bread, tuna sushi and European cheese. We then went to the dining room for our first course -- turtle soup with sherry. I've never had turtle soup, just the name gives me the willies, but it was so good. Next was a salad -- a slice of red tomato, yellow tomato, fried green tomato, a few field greens with fresh basil topped with lump crab meat. YUM Next came stone ground grits topped with crawfish in a brown creole sauce. Again YUM. I thought that was the main course -- nope -- out comes a 12 ounce black angus filet sitting on a bed of mashed potatoes topped with caramelized onions. I took one bite and screamed uncle. I just couldn't eat one more bite. I got a doggy bag for my filet. It really wasn't a doggy bag but a bird made out of foil -- first class all the way. Next we moved back out to the swimming pool area for more music and dessert. There wasn't a song David didn't know. Commander's signature dessert is a bread pudding souffle topped with whiskey sauce. Double YUM. How could there be anymore? Out comes creole cheesecake to share and each couple got a piece of island spiced rum cake to take home. With each course was a different wine. That is more wine than I've had in a long time. What great new friends. The more we drank the friendly we all became. hahaha What a lovely evening. Where is my camera when I need it?

But Keep The Old

I first met Deb our freshman year at New Berlin High School in Wisconsin -- that was 1968. We have remained friends for 40 years. Last week Deb came down to Florida to visit for a few days. It rained all but 2 afternoons but it didn't matter we had lots to talk about. Do you remember ..........? We had lots of laughs. Who would have known when we were in high school how are lives would have turned out. We are both grateful for our high school sweetheart husbands and our families.
Hope our friendship stays like we just finished high school for our next 40 years. Thanks Deb

Go Cards

Last Monday Jeff and I went to New York to visit Brad in his new city. He lives in a tiny expensive apartment at 53rd and 8th Avenue. He works just a few blocks away at 48th and Broadway in Times Square. It's a good thing he lives so close because he works anywhere from 80 to 100 hours a week and is on call 24/7. Michelle also came to New York for 3 days to meet her new boss. She was on her way to India for a 2 week vacation. The Big East Basketball tournament is played at Madison Square Garden. Our Louisville Cardinals are in the Big East.

The Cards are the Big East champs of the regular season. Here they are getting the trophy at the beginning of the first game.After many hours of watching basketball the Cards won the tournament Saturday night against Syracuse. T Will is cutting down the net.

Brad and Doreen

Jeff and Doreen

Long time coach Denny Crum was great with the fans. Denny is in the white sweater vest.These are bad pictures because I only had my cell phone.

Huff and Puff

I hope the big bad Wolf doesn't come to our house. The trim is foam. That's right this house is made of foam. Jeff and I were shocked when we saw the foam. After they put the coats of stucco on it becomes very hard -- like rock hard.

Cooking Commander's Style

Destin has a new restaurant in town that comes from New Orleans. Recently they have had Saturday cooking demos -- for free. I know a good deal when I see one so for 3 Saturdays I would drag Jeff to these demos with me. The chef would make an appetizer or salad, main entree and dessert. Wait that's not all -- their bar man would prepare a drink to go with each food that was served. With all this knowledge I thought we needed to put it to use. We invited some L'ville friends over to watch the basketball game and have some lunch. We served Shrimp Remoulade before the game. More than 3 ingredients takes longer than you think. The chef said you need to use shrimp with the heads on because it gives a much better flavor.

Finished plate and it was so good

At half time we had the main entree. It was Cajun all the way. We made Gumbo with shrimp, crab, sausage and chicken. Emeril would have been proud.

Commander's Palace has incredible food. I might just have to make some of the other recipes we got. The meal ended with some warm gooey brownies. Plus my CARDS won.