Your prayers worked before - - -

Hello Everyone!
My dear friend, Julie, had to have an emergency heart surgery & C-section this past weekend. Luckily, she & her baby are recovering nicely at a hospital in NYC. PLEASE keep her & her family in your prayers.
Please welcome Maxwell Jules (a great strong name for such a strong boy)!

A couple of days later, my colleague, Vickie, had her first child, also a boy. She & her husband named him Jackson (another strong & awesome name!). I am thrilled for her & her family. PLEASE say a prayer for them as well.

In other news of the week, I did "repair" as best I could Gabby with the canvas boat cover repair kit I bought.
My colleague, Lynda, said it looks like duct tape - dear Lord, isn't that wonderful? I don't want to be judged by the way my vehicle looks, but now, I am quite certain there are a lot of people out there thinking I am a total dirt bag.
Humph.

While walking Zoe this week, I found this amazing little frog! Adorable.

And, the cat play house purchased months ago, is finally being used... Here is Stray Cat enjoying his new view... Too cute!

Ten months ago, I had requested your prayers for a friend - please know he has recovered phenomenally and is doing excellent.
Your prayers for him worked, so I am confident they will be powerful for Julie & her family and Vickie & her family.
Thank you.

Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at that time. - Oswald Chambers, Minister, 1874 - 1917

From NJ to Florida Via Maine: One Year in Florida, A Review.

June 6th marks the one year anniversary of our arrival in Florida.
Guess I can no longer consider myself new here.
Do you recall the trials experienced getting here? My posts of one year ago seem like a lifetime ago. Here are the highlights of the past year:

1. On June 2nd, 2008, we left our big farmhouse in Maine practically empty - with the exception of some bakery cases left in Abbracci.

On that rainy day, we began our trek to Florida with the F150 packed to the hills.

2. We made it to NJ safe & sound & enjoyed a quick visit with my family & three of the SHU-gals.

3. We stopped in NC after NJ, for another great family visit before heading to our final destination. Of course, we had truck trouble, which caused us to stay in GA before completing our journey.
Upon arrival to Ocala, Florida, things were not as we had hoped... including the devasting disaster of our ABF Rental Truck - where nearly all of our belongings were damaged during the move.

And, of course, the shipment of my VW didn't go free-of-issues, either.
But I refuse to digress...

4. After we got settled in, during that first month we did get to site-see a bit, which included Daytona, Clearwater (off of Tampa), & Universal Studios.

5. In between working for the folks we were living with & writing articles for an online paper, I got a job at the local mall, where, fortunately, the people I worked with were absolutely fabulous - making my "shifts" bearable.
All the while I continued interviewing for that much needed full-time job. Dunknow if you all recall but the one I thought that was "in the bag" with my previous employer fell through.

6. Thankfully, people like to visit Florida, so I had some great visits over the year. My Aunt & Uncle, Cheryl, Josetta & her family, Marcella (my sister) & her family, Anneliese & Laura, & BFF PJ.

7. Luckily, I got re-hired by my prior employer (1995-2005) & began my new career as an Auto Insurance Underwriter in late October.

8. I successfully completed a 5 month training course for this new job, while becoming friends with the wonderful employees I was training with.
Maria, the fashionista I posted about previously who introduced me to delicious Chipotle & pampered me with a pedicure at Christmastime; Lisa, she always makes me laugh, & she can read my thoughts just by looking in my eyes (scary!); Chad, the gregarious singer who will be getting married by year's end; Ben, the best dressed employee - he has the smarts of a future Forbes lister with a girlfriend who is just as smart & sweet; Ashley, the perky one I competed with at the "group" interview, luckily she has been recently placed on the team I am on; Brian, he teases me for all of SHU's failing sports - he drives a Hummer, although he looks more like he should drive a BMW or a Mustang (sorry! That's just what I think!).
And our beloved teachers, Jeanne & Terry. Of course, you can never judge a book by it's cover - Jeanne, at first came across downright mean to me but ended up being just the sweetest woman ever; Terry, who not only helped me with my Underwriting training but has greatly assisted me in my weight loss goals (he aspires to be a Fitness Trainer).
I wish I had a group shot of all of us, as I would include it here (with their permission).

9. I live in an absolutely beautiful apartment complex with lots of lux, including a gorgeous pool area.

10. I have had some crazy hair-raising issues, to say the least...

11. Recently visited Sandy Key Park Beach off of Tampa & it was just glorious. I adore living close to so many different beach areas...

12. Found two awesome ice cream shops: Bruster's & Cold Stone Creamery (c'mon, you didn't actually think this list would not include food!?). Bruster's has an awesome saying, "It will make your tongue jump out & slap your brains"!!!



13. Looking forward to the year ahead & grateful for all the past year taught me.

Be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful. -Buddha

P.S. If you noticed, #10 is missing. It is: "I have had some crazy hair issues, to say the least" - but I've wasted too much time trying to get it to post correctly with the photos & all... For some nutso reason my spacing is all weird on this post & #10 is mysteriously missing... Ugh! Sorry folks! :)

I just want a cupcake!!!

One of the things I miss about NJ, of course, has to do with food. Whether it is specific restaurants I miss, or certain groceries I used to buy which are somehow unavailable here in Florida.
Case in point.
For two weeks I have been craving like nutso Hostess Chocolate Cupcakes. Ya' know the kind with the cream inside & the squiggly decorative white icing on top? You must know what I am talking about?
Well, at most Gas & Sips in NJ (the little shops adjacent to gas stations), they carry small packages of these delightful cupcakes. You get two for under a dollar or something like that, when I was a kid, they were like 50 cents. Do you know what I am talking about?
So, since I've joined Gold's Gym, I have been eating like crazy. Dunknow what that is all about but I was determined to treat myself to a f'n Hostess Chocolate Cupcake. I stopped at a local convenience store, a CVS, & a gas station market. To my utter disbelief, no one carried the small Hostess pack I was craving.
WTF?
On my way home from Gold's, I stopped to get gas, I went inside the market (of course) in hopes to find what I had been looking for for TWO weeks.
They didn't have Hostess, but they did have a Spanish version.

Looks exactly the same, right?

When I got home I opened it in anticipation of devouring the yummy chocolate cupcakes. They were totally identical to Hostess.

Except... in taste... one bite... and I was running to the nearest garbage can.

Um, may look the same, but didn't taste the same. Dry, hard, & the chocolate tasted like chalk.

I guess I wasn't meant to have a cupcake after all. Had to settle for an apple.

Humph.

No day ends if it makes a memory. -Jackie Erickson

Where Did The Week Go?

As desperately as Florida needs rain right now, I am just about sick of it - it rained all week long & most of last week, too. We've been hit with insane thunderstorms & lightening like I've never encountered. Horrible driving conditions.
Speaking/Writing about driving & rain. Here is an update on the status of a 1997 VW Cabrio, known as Gabby the Cabby.
The storms have not been kind to dear old Gabby.
The rip that was somewhat harmless at last post about it has turned into a full blown catastrophe...

Um, yep, you can stick your hand right through the roof & get into the back... Lovely! See that there blue towel? It is attempting to catch the rain in a futile way to protect the leather backseats... Um, not working all that great - with all the rain we've been having, the towel gets soaking wet & I have to change it every day. Great!


I called multiple shops to figure out if this is fixable, of course, I've been told by all that it is not. I called a local upholstery shop for a quote on replacing just the exterior cover, & when the man got back to me with a price, he said, "Only $850".
Hmmm...
So, instead, I have recently ordered a canvas cover repair kit from Bass Pro Shops, it's for boat covers & the yard of canvas only comes in one colour - gray! Fabulous. Looking forward to the UPS man to deliver it in hopes of not letting Gabby suffer too much longer.

In brighter news, I recently got a raise at work! Wahoo!

Since there will be a wee bit extra money in the ol' paycheck, I have broken down & joined a gym.

I went 5 times this week & attended a few classes. My favorite being Zumba, the instructor was amazing - so full of energy. The music was great & my dancing, well, a little rusty... but oh, so much fun! :)
For some reason, I shied away from taking photos inside the gym, but did take this one of the woman's locker room. Haha!
It is quite a nice gym, with a woman's only section, a cinema room with cardio machines (where you can watch a movie while you work out!), a large weight lifting / cardio room, sauna, tanning beds, a juice bar, & of course, a merchandise area where they sell items like tanks, t's, shorts, etc.

I'll keep you posted on how I do. Since I kicked my exercise routine up a notch by going to a gym, I somehow can't stop eating - so, I didn't lose 1 pound this week... growl... I am very close to my "goal" weight, but fear I may eat all the way back up the scale... LOL.

Has this ever happened to you before?
Every week I purchase a Sunday paper, mostly in part because of the coupons. For $1.25 for the paper, I get approximately $5-$10 worth of coupons each week. Today, I bought the paper - & oddly, there were no coupons. Not one flier. Annoying.

Have a great week, Everyone!

Give me such courage and I can scale the hardest peaks alone, and transform every stumbling block into a stepping stone. - Gail Brook Burket, author.

My First Introduction to Downtown Orlando

Yesterday, I went to Downtown Orlando for the very first time. Being relatively new to Florida, anytime anyone mentioned "downtown" to me, I foolishly assumed they meant "Downtown Disney". Oops! My bad! Honestly, I had visited Florida over a dozen times before moving here, & I only knew the "tourist" Orlando & never realized there was a "Floridian" Orlando.
For those from New Jersey, think Summit. Think the Ironbound section of Newark. For those of you in Maine, think Portland.
Maria, & I volunteered to work at the Florida Music Festival. Our day started off with lunch at that wonderful burrito shop she introduced me to in January. Chipotle. Yum.
Then, off to the festival.

I saw some cool buildings:

Our employer had a booth set up at the entrance where we were giving away Ipod speakers, & entering folks into a contest to win an Xbox or a Macbook. For those of us not working the booth, we walked around as a "Street Team". It was a fun event to volunteer for. In the background played some wonderful local bands with awesome names like Shady People, & Don't Forget to Feed the Kids.
We had the Xbox hooked up at the booth so people could play...
Maria:

Our duties started at 2 & ended after 10pm. But the event was to go on well into the evening...
We were so busy I didn't take many good photos. Although, Kate texted me & requested I take a self-portrait to send her. Here it is with all my frizzies out from a 103 humid day.


Of course, there was something there to remind me of home & my SHU-Gals.

We ate dinner at a sandwich shop called Jimmy John's, where I had my first Italian sub since Abbracci, well, Jimmy John's doesn't put pepperoni on their's - but it was good nonetheless.

They had a great sign I really appreciated:

Totally reminded me of that line in "You've Got Mail" that Meg Ryan says "People are always telling me that change is good. But all that means is that something you didn't want to happen has happened".
Isn't that a fantastic line?

So, all-in-all, it was great night, with great people, at a great event. And now I can say, "I've been to Downtown Orlando"... and it's not Disney's.

We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. - Charles R. Swindoll (American Writer & Clergyman)

My first introduction to the Florida love bug.

I am not talking about the Jonas Brothers' song here.
I am also not talking about the 1968 movie with the Volkswagen Beetle.

I am talking about a bug that swarms during the month of May in Florida.

Have you ever seen these things?

I had my very first introduction on Saturday.

As I happily walked to the pool, towel & book in hand, I imagined myself relaxing on my comfy soft towel, & upon getting too hot taking a nice swim in the pool's cool water.
To my utter excitement, there was absolutely no one at the pool.

It was 10:30am, a balmy 90 degrees, very little wind, & lots of humidity.
Humph I think to myself. What are all those little flies doing? They were all swarmed in one area by the lounge chairs.

Odd, I think.
I walk over to a chair, get myself all set up, when suddenly I am surrounded by a swarm of these little flies as I am shooing them away from me, another woman walks into the pool area, & says simply, "Love bugs - they don't bite - they are just annoying".
She calmly opens her towel, places it on the lounge chair she has chosen, & lays down. Her eyes are closed, & the love bugs follow her. They are on her legs, her arms, her face, her belly. She doesn't even twitch.
In total amazement, I say to her, "How do you do that?"
She says, "I ignore them."
She lifts her head up & places her sunglasses on her forehead, inspecting me.
I have bugs on my legs & I am trying to take photos of them for you all to see.
With quiet assuredness, she speaks again to me, "You aren't from here, are you?"
I shrug my shoulders & ask, "Is it that obvious?"
She then sits up & explains it's Love Bug Season & they'll go away soon. They'll come back again come September.

Oh Joy.
With that, I decided to go swimming & forego sunbathing until the Love Bugs retreat.

Since I am determined to have a nice tan, this love bug encounter is making the tanning salon look more & more attractive to me!

Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year. But eventually, it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever. - Lance Armstrong.

I am copying Jules...

You all have heard me speak about my awesome friend, Jules, well, she just blogged about a website where you can have fun with photos. And I couldn't resist sharing it with you all because it is hilarious!
I was planning to just post about Florida-life with some new Florida photos - but these are way more comical...
I couldn't resist:


Never thought I'd see a corny tattoo of me on anyone!! Haha!



Check out the website, PhotoFunia, to create masterpieces using your own photographs.

Happy May, Everyone!

There is hope for the future, because God has a sense of humor, and we are funny to God. -Bill Cosby.