(Starting BD351 the boat was at Compass Cay, but we were in Florida)
April 1 through April 7
On Monday, April 1, 2013, we left Rick’s mother’s home in Ormond Beach headed to Palmetto. We made a short stop by my brother, Bill’s house/office, to catch up on family news. We told him that JP and Kellie are expecting a baby on October 18, 2013, which will give us a “grandbaby” and make Vanessa a “Big Sis”. He told us that his daughter, Christina, will be graduating from UF’s Dental College on May 17th and then plans to move to Chicago, to start working as a dentist. Right after she graduates, Bill, Mary, Christina, Shay and their “Grandma Joyce” will be taking a trip to Italy. Christina was there on a summer program and she is looking forward to showing them all around. Bill also told us that he and Mary plan to come over to visit us in the Bahamas for the week including Mary’s birthday August 13, 2013. We believe we will be back at Compass Cay at that time.
Rick saw a dermatologist on Wednesday. He had a spot removed from his nose and one from his head. A follow-up appointment was scheduled for April 24th, so it looks like we will be spending most of the month of April in Florida.
My niece, Melissa, her husband, Randy and son, Michael came over early Saturday afternoon to pick up the old Yamaha 175 IT motorcycle that Rick used to race. JP is happy to get it out of his garage and very glad that it is staying in the family. Michael worked a checkpoint in the Alligator Enduro last month along with his mother, grandfather and great-grandfather and now wants to have a motorcycle. So, they are going to fix it up for him. Michael will be 15 in August. After they left, we all went down to the Babies ‘R Us store in Sarasota. Kellie had registered on-line as an expectant mom and they called to say that they had a goody bag for her. Rick and I were amazed at all of the changes in baby things and at the prices!
Most of the rest of this first week “at home” was spent shopping and enjoying the company of friends and family.
April 8 through April 14
On Monday, April 8, 2013, I received word that I could get back on the County’s insurance program after our COBRA runs out at the end of May.
Every afternoon, Vanessa went from her current school (Manatee School of the Arts) to Palmetto High School for cheerleader training.
We ate at the club several times this week.
The results of the biopsy on the spot they removed from Rick’s nose last week were suspicious. So, they scheduled an appointment for him to see a surgeon this coming Monday morning.
Friday night Vanessa tried out for the cheerleading squad and she made it! She has another meeting with the JV cheerleading squad next Thursday evening. Kellie had asked me to bake a cake to have in the evening after the tryouts. She said it would either be a congratulations cake or a consolation cake. We were all glad it was CONGRATULATIONS!
We went shopping a couple more times this week.
Loan Rolle, from Compass Cay, was in the area on Sunday. We met him and his friend at the Yacht Club in the morning and then took them on a ride to show them the area. Then we returned to the club’s tiki bar where we met Bill and Ruth Baker for lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and visiting with friends. We said goodbye to Loan about 5:00 and headed home.
We heard from several friends and family via e-mail and celebrated Eileen’s birthday and Rick and Tammy’s anniversary on the 12th, Lorie’s birthday on the 13th and Eileen and Bill’s anniversary on the 14th .
April 15 through April 21
On Monday morning Rick went to his appointment with a plastic surgeon. By the end of the visit, April 25th had been set as the date for surgery on his nose for the pre-melanoma. The doctor said that he will have stitches for 5 days following the surgery, so we will now be in Florida for the whole month of April.
On Tuesday afternoon we visited with our financial advisor.
Wednesday morning we met with the retiree health benefits representative for Manatee County and I signed paperwork to go back to the County Government’s health insurance plan starting June 1. Then we drove over to Florida’s east coast’s Ormond Beach to visit with Rick’s mother and brother, Edward, who turned 48 today. We were joined for dinner at the Outback by Aunt Delores, Rick’s mother’s sister, and finished up at home with a birthday cake.
Thursday we did some shopping in the Daytona Beach area.
However, if you stay open-minded and patient, for sure there will be a nice cialis price respitecaresa.org and ethical Chinese that will understand the way you feel about things.
Friday morning we left Ormond Beach headed west on State Road 40 to the Ocala Forest to visit with my Dad overnight. His friend, Beverly, brought over a pizza which she cooked and we ate for lunch. Then we went down to the Eagles Club for a couple of drinks. We wished my niece, Christina a happy birthday via e-mail.
We returned to Palmetto in the early afternoon on Saturday. Vanessa told us that Kellie had become sick during the night and they had taken her to the hospital emergency room about 3 am. She was given medicine and a diagnosis of stomach flu. We wished Christina’s father, my brother Bill, a happy birthday via e-mail and finished up our evening at the Yacht Club for a wine dinner.
On Sunday, we went to the tiki bar to watch the NASCAR race and have lunch. But the love bugs were swarming so, we went inside to the lounge.
April 22 through April 30
On Monday, the 22nd, I wasn’t feeling just right, so I rested most of the day in bed. Rick drove up to Marine Max in Clearwater to pick up some parts that they had ordered for him.
On Tuesday we went to the Women’s Resource Center in Bradenton to drop off a three-piece woman’s business suit which Rick’s mother asked me to donate. Rick did more shopping, etc. One of his stops was at the yacht club where he saw Joe McClash putting the final touches on the S/V Wind Caller. He and Casey plan to start a two-month cruise tomorrow and we look forward to seeing them at Compass Cay around the middle of May.
On Wednesday afternoon, we went to see the dermatologist. He had prescribed some cream to put on Rick’s chest and back after removing the spots from his head and nose three weeks ago. Rick’s chest reacted to the cream, and the doctor said that he could stop applying it there. But, he told Rick to use the cream on his back for another week or two. He wants to see him again in six months. While there, we asked his assistant, and JP and Kellie’s good friend, Rebecca, if she would co-host the baby shower with me and she agreed to do so. Yea! That will be a great assistance to me, being out of town most of the time.
On Thursday afternoon Rick had the surgery on his nose. The doctor had decided to put him under for the surgery rather than use a local because the surgery was scheduled to last an hour and a half. After the surgery, they gave him a prescription for Tylenol 3 and for an antibiotic. The doctor scheduled an office visit on Wednesday, May 1 and said that he hoped to be able to remove the stitches then and release Rick. His discharge instructions included: Rest quietly for the rest of the day; keep your head elevated for 2 nights; no strenuous activity, pushing, pulling or bending over for a week; and limit activities that raise blood pressure for a week. He was in quite a bit of pain all night.
Friday, he was staying as calm and still as he could and still taking pain pills regularly.
On Saturday, Rick was feeling a little better. He asked me to drive him to West Marine to pick up some boat parts that had come in and then he wanted to get some lunch. We spent the rest of the day quietly at home.
On Sunday we decided to drive over to the Ocala Forest to pick up a necklace that I had left at Dad’s when we visited last week. We had a nice, short visit with him and then drove over to Ormond Beach to spend the night with Rick’s Mom and brother.
Monday morning we slept late and then had breakfast with them and left, headed back to Palmetto and looking forward to “Mexican Monday” with Bill and Ruth. At supper, Bill bought an ad for the Football program for his business, Baker’s Paint and Body, and we planned to get together on Wednesday night with more friends to go and have stone crabs for supper. Rick goes back to the surgeon on Wednesday morning, May 1, so we are hoping to leave Palmetto the next morning.
Tuesday was spent running around shopping for last minute things. We picked our granddaughter up after school and took her to the North River Care Pregnancy Center, where I used to volunteer, to sell an ad for the Palmetto High School Fall Football program. Then we went to the Bradenton Yacht Club to sell them an ad. We are very grateful to our friends and family who are helping Vanessa make her sales goal and get a discount on all of the uniform and equipment needs she will have this fall when she makes her JV cheerleading debut.
May 1 through May 6
Wednesday, May 1, found us back at the Plastic Surgeon’s office. He checked Rick’s nose and said that he did not want to remove the stitches just yet. There were a few red spots and he was afraid that there might be some infection. He gave Rick a prescription for stronger antibotics and a different cream to put on his nose. He scheduled a follow-up appointment on Friday afternoon. We enjoyed a great evening with friends eating our fill of stone crabs and then following up the meal with a few games of pool.
Thursday, we did more shopping and started packing.
Friday afternoon, the surgeon removed Rick’s stitches and released him. We called and got the first flight reservations available, which were on Monday afternoon. We decided to drive to Ft. Lauderdale on Sunday, visit with Barry and Janine in the afternoon/evening, and not have to make the long drive on Monday morning.
Saturday found us at a boat show at Regatta Pointe in Palmetto. We met our friends Bill and Ruth there and ran into other friends, Mark and Wanda at the Reef bar. On our way back to the car, there was a wedding just getting started at the bed and breakfast and we saw Rick’s former boss, Rose and her husband Ron. They came over to speak to us and told us that their niece, Mary was getting married to Eric. Later, in the parking lot, we saw the bride’s parents, Dave and Patty Hall, but they were hurriedly rushing after something, so didn’t really have time to talk. It was great getting to see so many friends and acquaintances. On the way home, we stopped to visit with friends in the neighborhood, Curt and Ann, but they were not home. Saturday night, we met Ken and Jackie for supper at the restaurant at Riviera Dunes.
We left Palmetto on Sunday, May 5, and decided to avoid the interstate highway. So we started east on Highway 70. We had not been over that road for several years and enjoyed seeing all of the changes along the way from Bradenton to Myakka City and Arcadia and continuing on all the way to Okeechobee. Here, State Road 70 intersected US Highway 441 South, so we decided to go in that direction. Funny, we have lived in Florida most of our lives, but we have really enjoyed taking the “back roads” around Florida on this trip. When we drove over to Ormond Beach, we took a by-pass around the Orlando Metropolitan area to the North. This by-pass has not yet been completed, so we just got off when the road ran out and followed our nose east until we found I-4. We were amazed to see one orchid grower after another along the country highway that we took. Today, along SR 70, and US 441, we saw lots of cattle ranches, sod farms and tree farms. From what we’ve seen on this trip, it looks like Florida’s ranchers, farmers and growers are “hanging in there.” We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale mid-afternoon and checked into the Embassy Suites Hotel. Rick called and left a message for Barry telling him that we were in town for the night and hoped to get to see him and Janine. Then, Rick set off for the “world’s largest West Marine Store” to see if there was anything else that he needed to buy while I stayed in the room and enjoyed a nice cup of hot tea. We went to the Atrium for cocktails in the evening and ran into several people that I know from working at Manatee County Government. They were attending the annual Florida Governor’s Hurricane Conference which starts tomorrow at the Convention Center down the street. It was nice to see Sharon, Candy and Don and it really is a small world. Then Barry and Janine picked us up and we went to a waterside restaurant called Coconuts. We had a great time catching up and the food was really good, too. They told us that they will be taking Sea Clef up to the Annapolis area at the beginning of June to meet the owners Ed and Karen.
Monday morning we went to the Water Maker Air Hanger and unloaded our “overweight luggage” and sat in their lobby until it was time to go. We cleared customs and immigration at Fresh Creek on Andros and re-boarded the plane to finish the trip to Staniel Cay, landing a few minutes before 3:00 p.m. We took a golf cart ride from the airport to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club where we waited, at the bar, for Tucker to pick us up in his boat. From the moment we stepped off of the plane¸ people were coming up to us and welcoming us “home” with hugs and handshakes. I must say that we really have come to feel that the Exumas are our home and we are certainly glad to be back.
