hereandthere

Pick Me!

2011-09-20T09:07:00.000-07:00

I would love to be the winner of "My Memories Suite Digital Scrapbooking software." Maybe then I could get all my pictures organized. I would love to put together some books from some recent trips we have taken. Also I could start a scrapbook on our new adventure ~ the farm.

Where does the time go?

2010-08-20T09:35:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been so long since I have written anything. It has been a busy year. We moved into our new house in Destin so if we didn't have workers, we had company. Hopefully this year we won't have as much company but I wouldn't count on it. We seem to be booked for the fall so we are taking "reservations" for the spring.

The kids continue to go about their business and are all doing well. Brad has moved a little closer so maybe we'll see him more ~ from NYC to Chicago. Still works lots of hours and has a busy social life. LOL Jeff (jr) is progressing well in his job. They gave him a big raise when he told them he found another job. He has decided to stay with the money. Michelle is loving Las Vegas and is busy with Junior League. Brooke has just come back from being at the beach all summer. Time to go meet her new little kids for the year.

Hope I come back here more than once a year.

Doreen

Green Acres Not For Me

2009-07-13T14:50:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-14T22:33:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-23T11:24:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-05-23T11:12:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-04T21:19:00.000-07:00

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

Special Young Woman

2009-05-04T20:52:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-11T22:27:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-05T14:36:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-03T12:00:00.001-07:00

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

2009-03-15T20:30:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-06T15:26:00.000-08:00

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

2009-03-06T11:50:00.001-08:00

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.

Update on new house

2009-01-26T18:41:00.000-08:00

Here is an update for those who want to see pictures of the house.This is the front of the house from the road.Inside the front door is the living room. The family room is on the left side of the house. The kitchen is off the family room.

This is the master bedroom which is on the right side of the house.

Back of the house.

Still lots to do but it's coming along.

Chinese New Year

2009-01-26T18:20:00.000-08:00

Jeff and I went to PF Changs for lunch to celebrate the Chinese New Year. YUM

It doesn't take much to amuse us these days.A little hot and sour soup and a chicken rice bowl.Of course you have to have fortune cookies.Jeff got the creativity fortune. Now he wants to do arts and crafts.

??????

Just wanted to share today's temperature with all the northerners.

The Good Old Days

2009-01-12T05:55:00.000-08:00

This weekend we had a chili supper at our Louisville home. These our some of our very first friends from when we moved here in the early 80's. We lived in a neighborhood called Plainview. We spent many hours together playing tennis, sitting at the pool, working in the garden and watching our kids' swim meets. You could always count on them to lend a helping hand. We always have a great time when we get together.

Our Christmas Holiday

2008-12-26T07:10:00.000-08:00

Michelle, Brooke, Jeff and I headed to Milwaukee the morning of December 23rd to visit family. Brad met us at the airport coming from New York.

We knew Milwaukee had snow but we had forgotten what real snow is.

We spent the 23rd with my brother Jim and his family.

On the 24th we spent the day with Jeff's family.

After 2 days of eating and drinking way too much we headed back to Kentucky. It sure was good to be with family.

Hope your Holiday was as enjoyable as ours.

Doreen

Something new for us

2008-11-29T20:49:00.000-08:00

One day while Jeff was on the pier he spotted a crab. As he talked about it with his golf buddies he found out that lots of people catch them and eat 'em. Let's try it. I love crab. He purchased a crab trap from the local tackle shop and on Wednesday evening he and Brad put the Thanksgiving turkey's neck in the the trap.

They went over to the house (in the dark) and lowered it into the water. Next morning we all went over to check on the trap. We only had one. We left it in the water and checked it again later that day -- 3 more. We were too full from Thanksgiving dinner so we decided to leave them in there until Friday. When Jeff and Brad pulled it up we had one more -- 4 blue crabs and one stone crab. I didn't know there were stone crabs this far north. Stone crab claws are the best.

We did some research on how to prepare them and decided to steam them outside on the grill.

After steaming them in beer, vinegar and Old Bay Seasoning they were ready to dump on a pile of newspapers. Now what?? You start by breaking the apron off and lift the top shell off. Remove the gills and break down the center. Now all the crab meat is exposed and you just start eating. No butter necessary. The stone crab was the best. You would have to have a lot more crabs if you were going to make this a meal but they sure were good.

More Than Fishing

2008-11-29T08:01:00.000-08:00

The Eckmann family went fishing in the bay on Friday. Our guide Jason took us deep into the Choctawhatchee Bay. It was beautiful.

We had to catch our own bait -- well Jason caught the bait with a net as Captain Brooke drove the boat. She was in her glory. He took us down a narrow bayou that was very peaceful. As Jason was getting everybody's hook ready I was admiring the setting. Wait -- is that a nest in the tree?

Yep -- not just one nest but there were two nests. What is that sitting in that tree? I got the camera out and put on the BIG lens. Looks like an eagle. Jason said it could be an osprey. I looked in my camera case and I had binoculars.

Focus -- Focus Oh my gosh not one eagle but two eagles. As everybody fished I watched the eagles. What a sight. We or should I say the family was fishing for trout. Brooke caught the biggest. Wait what is that in the water? Two dolphins. Jason was not pleased because he said they eat the fish we are trying to catch. I didn't care -- they are incredible creatures.

Bonus Bonus Bonus

2008-11-11T06:25:00.000-08:00

I love penny slots. Sunday evening Jeff and I went to Horseshoe Casino in Indiana. I got my usual $200 from Jeff and headed to the penny slots. I know they don't pay but they are so much fun AND ADDICTING. My friend Pam suggested I go to her cascading shopping machine. I headed that way and of course somebody else was on it so I sat down beside her waiting for her to leave the machine. As I waited I put in $50 in the Great Wall machine. I have played it before but it never did anything for me but it wanted to play Sunday night -- bonus after bonus. Bonuses are the best part of slots. I was playing $.60 at a time -- that's 30 lines times 2. High roller. hahaha

That's $143.50 for a $.60 bet on one bonus. I cashed out since I more than doubled my money and put in a another $50. I got it up to $89 when it started to cool down -- time to move machines. It was a good night.

Treats not Tricks

2008-10-31T09:04:00.000-07:00

All of the stash

Tootsie Rolls

Little bags

More little bags

Even more little bags

Bats

Mummy candy bars

Little pumpkins

I'm ready for the trick or treaters. All the candy has been decorated. I asked my builder about how many treaters we'll have and he said somewhere between 100 and 120. After he saw all my candy decorated he told me I have too much time on my hands. REALLY!!??!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Destin Fishing Rodeo

2008-10-31T07:49:00.000-07:00

Air Show

Crowd waiting for the fishing boats to come in.

Marlin
Caught by a teenage boy

Fish from same boat that caught the Marlin

Huge Dolphin

Not Flipper

Jeff went on a boat yesterday but they didn't get any BIG fish but he had a good time.

The Decorator or The Make-up Artist

2008-10-30T08:38:00.000-07:00

Danny was here this week to help us with the new house. He is so talented. He was Winston Salem's first "male" make-up artist. He decided I needed a new look. He was inspired by a waitress we had seen in a restaurant the day before.

Now I can't wait to see what he does with my hair.

Good thing it's Halloween week. hahaha I did not leave the house looking like that but we did laugh a lot.

visitors and more visitors

2008-10-18T15:26:00.000-07:00

Pam, Pete and her grandson Lennon were in Destin for Pete's fall break. Seems like only yesterday Lennon was born. He's five now and can swim like a fish.

We took the boat out to look for dolphins. The gulf was pretty rough so we headed for the bay. We saw 6 different groups of dolphins. I just never get tired of seeing them.

Late Thursday night or should I say Friday morning we were surprised to see Brooke and her friend Michelle at the door. Brooke had Friday off from school and couldn't stand that we saw dolphins earlier in the week so she came for a quick visit.

VROOM VROOM

2008-10-04T06:45:00.000-07:00

My brother Mike and sister-in-law Denise came for an overnight visit. They met up with their friends Chuck and Peg in Selma Alabama for a bike rally this weekend. You would never guess the guys are wardens at Federal Prisons. We had lots of laughs remembering the old days. Mike lives in Texas and Chuck lives in Pennsylvania.

Ryder Cup Party

2008-10-01T12:16:00.000-07:00

Better late than never. We were back in Louisville for the Ryder Cup.

We had some friends in from different places. In this picture is Joe and Lou Ann from Winston Salem. (far left) Next to me is Scott from Milwaukee.

Susan and Russell are from Winston Salem

Jim and Debi are from Austin

Later in the evening we hosted a dinner for the Reynolds people. Lilly's catered it. YUM

The banana cake is to die for. Brad came in for the weekend with his girlfriend, Kristen. They couldn't wait to dive into the cake.

GOOD TO BE BACK

2008-09-11T20:58:00.000-07:00

We are back in Kentucky. On our way out this morning I heard on the radio that Okaloosa Island was flooded and 98 was closed. What?? There is just water and sand on each side of the road. Ike was leaving a mark on Destin. When we turned on the TV tonight we saw that Destin was having waves 20 feet high. Gustav was closer and I don't think it turned up the water as much as Ike. Those waves tear up the beaches. When will hurricane season be over?

New Car

2008-09-10T13:23:00.000-07:00

We got a new car that gets great mileage. It goes 20 miles per hour and the air conditioning depends on the weather.

Dinner Tonight

2008-09-09T17:40:00.000-07:00

YUM YUM YUM

Tonight I took sliced french bread and put homemade pesto on each slice of bread. I added a couple slices of smoked turkey, few chunks of feta cheese and roasted red pepper. Topped it with the other slice of bread and grilled it on the panini grill.

I got my new grill from Walmart for less than $35.

Back of the house

2008-09-07T17:54:00.000-07:00

We took a boat out on Saturday and got some pictures of the back of the house. The left of the picture is the master bedroom. The right is the outside kitchen .

The picture below is the right side of the house. On the left is the beach bar, right behind is the secret garden and the back unattached part is an extra garage with exercise room.

The sun was very intense yesterday. It was in the high 80's but felt like 100. Michelle and I got burnt. Michelle more than I since she works during the day and I'm a retired stay at home Mom.

Destin Beach

2008-09-02T16:07:00.000-07:00

Even though Gustave "missed" Destin, it had a big effect on our beaches Monday afternoon.

This is what the water usually looks like.

CALM AND PRETTY

Danny's Visit

2008-09-01T06:41:00.000-07:00

We have been working hard on the house. Our decorator from North Carolina was down to visit us for a few days. He has such a great eye for design but he had to resort to choking Jeff once in a while.

We spent one whole day picking tile and flooring . There sure is a lot of new stuff on the market. There will be some bling around the house and pebbles are suppose to feel good on the feet. I can't wait until all the different things come together.

Danny could hardly control himself when he got Jeff to agree put a fan in the exercise room.

Stay away Gustav

2008-08-24T17:21:00.000-07:00

Last week it was Fay -- this week it's Gustav. We only got about an inch of rain with Fay and not any high winds. The whole town was in a tizzy worried about the 8 to 10 inches of rain we were going to get and the high winds were going to keep people from getting out of town. If the winds get to 50 mph they shut the bridges until they can check them out which usually takes 2 days. In order for us to leave we have to cross a bridge at some point. A builder working on our new house told Jeff that we wouldn't have any problems with the house -- it is built solid. I don't think we'll stick around to find out. We have been through hurricane Hugo when we lived in Charlotte. Charlotte is several hours off the coast and we saw houses flattened in our neighborhood. We'll be watching the weather channel real close.

2008-08-11T07:43:00.000-07:00

Poor Jeff!! On Sunday morning Jeff was going to do a little yard work in Florida. When he went out the garage door he met up with a not so friendly snake. The thing coiled up and hissed. Didn't take Jeff long to run for cover. He said it was about 2 feet long and fat. He did a little research and came to the conclusion it was a cottonmouth snake. Can't have any of them hanging around so got his trusty BB gun. He got the snake with the first shot and put him in a bucket. After he called me to tell me about his adventure he went back out to find his snake had been moving around in the bucket. I know Jeff won't be doing any yard work in the near future.

2008-08-03T20:28:00.001-07:00

That's about how my week went. I was the one doing the whining. A few people were pushing the wrong buttons.

YUM

2008-07-23T18:33:00.000-07:00

Tried a new restaurant tonight. Commander's Palace has just come to Destin. They are a famous restaurant from New Orleans. The food was great and the price wasn't too bad. They're located in the Emerald Grande -- right where the flag is in the picture. The Emerald Grande is a condo and retail development right on Destin Harbor. Pat O'Briens (also from New Orleans) is the building on the far left and Harry T's is just in front of Commander's Palace. When all the building done, it will be a busy place with lots of entertainment and restaurants. Something else for us to do.

Headed North

2008-07-23T13:37:00.000-07:00

Last week Jeff and I had Budder while Brooke vacationed in Destin. He is spoiled and we did all we could to spoil him more except he did not sleep in our bed. I do have my limits.

I'm headed north tomorrow. Brooke and I have another KCD camp next week. Should be fun. It's a good way for me to get rid of some of my crafts that someday I'll get to. hahaha

I can't believe we are headed into August. Where did the time go? It has been so hot down here. The sun seems more intense. It's hard to go from the car to BEALLS but ya just have to do it. Bealls has such good sales -- it's like they pay you to take their stuff. I haven't been shopping (treasure hunting) much because we have been working on picking out stuff for the house. Yesterday we rode thru neighborhoods looking at front doors and picked one from a book. Go figure -- should have saved the gas. Had to cancel a piece of furniture I picked out for the morning room that is upstairs because we couldn't get it up the stairs or in the elevator. Only way to get it in the house would be a crane thru a window -- NOW. I just hope the cabinet person can build it for me. It looked like an amoire but it had a little kitchen inside.

Looks like the sun is trying to peek out again so that means I'm headed to the pool.

2008-07-17T19:47:00.000-07:00

Today we took the KCD teachers out on a boat in the ocean. Capt. Jeff did a fine job finding the dolphins. There were 8 - 10 dolphins -- mamas thru babies. Got some great pictures. The dolphins played around our boat for about 40 minutes. They were so close we could have touched them. Brooke directed us to Crab Island. The water is very shallow so people get out of there boats to play.

2008-07-17T05:30:00.000-07:00

This is the front of the new house. Master bedroom is on the right. Living room, dining room and Jeff's office are in the middle. Left side is kitchen, family room and garage. Building on left is the exercise room and an extra garage.

2008-07-17T05:24:00.000-07:00

This is the back of the house. On the left is the master bedroom. On the right is the beach bar. The pool will go right in the middle of the back by the pillars. This is our pier -- we'll change the sea wall when we do the yard. I don't want any of that grass. We have been talking about doing a beach where you can drive a jet ski right up on land. Life is good.

2008-07-17T05:22:00.000-07:00

And this is the view of the water from the back of the house. Life is real good.