Happy New Year

Friday, January 1, 2016, I fixed a corn casserole and we joined friends for supper.  Ken and Jackie provided stone crab claws, Bill and Ruth brought cheese grits, and Rick and Sydney Shaurette, also staying at the club on their boat, provided a scrumptious crisp green salad.  John and Betsy S. were still hanging out at the tiki bar, so they joined us as well.  It was a lovely way to start the New Year with good friends.

On Saturday, January 2, I started out my day by going to Essentials of Bradenton for a whole body deep tissue massage ( http://essentialsofbradenton.com ).  JP and Kellie gave me a gift card for Christmas and I couldn’t wait to use it.  When I got back to the club, we ate lunch with Bill and Ruth at the tiki bar before they left to go back home.  Then we went over to our friends, Steve and Joy Fredrick’s for supper.  They will be flying back to Antiqua next week to get their sailboat, Ocean Angel, out of storage and ready for another six months of sailing.  This year they plan to spend at least a month in St. Martin while they have their rigging replaced.

On Sunday, January 3, the winds were too high for us to feel comfortable taking “On the Hook” up the river to our home port, so we made arrangements to leave the boat at the yacht club for a couple more days.  Rick took the outside Christmas decorations down before it started raining and I took care of the decorations inside the boat which we took with us to store at the cabin the Ocala National Forest on Monday, January 4.  I visited with Dad on Monday afternoon and then again on Tuesday, 1/5, morning before we drove back to Palmetto.  We had lunch at the yacht club and settled in for the night, hoping that the wind would die down enough for us to move the boat back into our slip at Riviera Dunes tomorrow afternoon.  The wind did not die down on Wednesday, January 6, so I left Rick on the boat tied to the wall at the yacht club.  Our friend, Steve Fredrick, is the guest speaker at the Sail Fleet dinner meeting tonight, so Rick will attend that while I am back in Ocala.  On Thursday, 1/7, I met with an Elder Law attorney in Ocala in the morning.  She will be drafting a letter for Dad to sign making me a co-trustee so that I can instruct his financial advisors to transfer money to cover his Rehabilitation Center expenses.  Also, in the afternoon, I had a “mobile notary” come in to notarize some forms that his financial advisors sent that allow them to talk to me about his IRA.  I saw Dad again on Friday, 1/8, morning before returning to Palmetto.  (For anyone interested, it is approximately 120 miles from the boat to the Rehab Center and another 20 miles from the rehab center to Dad’s cabin where we stay.)  Rick and I met Bill and Ruth for supper at the Riverside Café.  They have taken in her mother’s dog.  Her sister is taking care of their mother and can’t handle the blind dog as well, so Bill and Ruth have taken “Scooter” to live with them.  Scooter has the same parents as their two dogs, “Boots” and “Gizmo”.  They had taken Scooter up to Tampa this afternoon to a vet that specializes in animal eyesight.  Unfortunately, he told them that nothing could be done to improve Scooter’s eyesight.  Saturday, 1/9/16, Rick and I ran some errands; bought a lock for his new bicycle and went to the boat surplus store to find a light cover to replace one on the back of the boat.  While Rick was exchanging a couple of things, I got my hair cut.  It started raining about 3:00 as another cold front moved through the area.  But, we braved the rain to drive to the yacht club to attend the Power Fleet dinner meeting where we visited with Ken and Jackie as well as other friends. 

After church on Sunday, 1/10, we met Bill and Ruth for a late lunch.  Then we all returned to the Blu Mangrove.  I was so tired that I left the three of them at the bar and I went back to the boat for a nap that lasted all night long! Rick and I returned to Ocala on Monday, 1/11.  The head of the Restorative Care program came to see me and Dad in the afternoon at the rehab center.  She said that she would be putting him on a walking schedule (2 days one week and 3 days the next).  I told her that he might give her a hard time, but I would do all I could to encourage him.  She said that at the very least, she needed to get him out of bed today to get his weight.  She went into his room alone and next thing I knew, he was dressed and she was wheeling him down the hall to the room with the scales.  That is the most distance he has ventured from his bed for over a week.  Of course, he went right back to bed when he returned to the room reporting that he now weighs 135 pounds.  She said that she would return tomorrow afternoon (when it was warmer) to take him on a walk (using a walker).  Rick and I watched the college national championship football game that night (and into the morning).  We were rooting for the ACC team (Clemson) to beat the SEC team (Alabama), but unfortunately Alabama pulled it out winning by 5 points.  So, I made the best of it by off-handedly claiming the victory for FSU, since Alabama’s quarterback used to go to FSU.  He transferred to ‘bama because he was sitting on the FSU bench behind Heisman Trophy winner and now NFL Buccaneers’ quarterback, Jameis Winston.  We returned to Palmetto on Tuesday 1/12, afternoon after I had a short visit with Dad.  Just as I was leaving, I reminded him that he was supposed to go for a walk this afternoon with the pretty lady who came in yesterday and took him to weigh, but his response was “I’m not getting out of this bed!”  We have a gage indicating a problem with the pressure in one of our engines, so after returning to the boat, Rick set out to find a mechanic who could take a look at it.  Because we weren’t sure that we could get it checked out/fixed by Friday, we cancelled our reservations to take the boat to the yacht club for the weekend.     Wednesday, 1/13, was overcast and breezy.  We met Bill, Ruth, Faz and Jen at the Blu Mangrove bar for a drink, which turned into supper.  Faz and the Blu Mangrove was featured on the new newscast on our local ABC station.  You can see the video at http://www.mysuncoast.com/dining/videos – Click on Blu Mangrove.  Faz had the waiter bring out the colossal stone crab claws that he planned to have on the show.  See the fuzzy picture below.

I left Palmetto on Thursday, 1/14, and drove to Ocala to visit with Dad seeing him again on Friday, 1/15, before returning to Palmetto for the long weekend.  We ate supper with the Bakers at the Riverside Café that night.  We went to JP’s house for lunch on Saturday, 1/16, and then got ready for the Bradenton Yacht Club’s 2016 Commodore’s Gala that evening.  Our commodore this year, Mark Berté and his wife Denise, are a very nice, laid-back kind of couple.  So, instead of formal, the dress for the evening was upscale casual.  The food was delicious, the decorations were lovely, the company was great and the Billy Rice Band was very good too!  Everyone, including Rick and me, enjoyed the dancing very much.  We left when the band quit playing at 11:00 p.m.  I didn’t get any really good pictures, but below are a few to memorialize our evening.

Unfortunately, we had a weather event move into the area just as the party was breaking up.  We had ridden with Bill and Ruth and she loaned us an umbrella to use to get back to the boat, but we still got very wet walking back to our slip in the wind and rain.  The weather worsened all night long and we awoke on Sunday, 1/17, to lots of wind and the sad news that during the night a tornado hit just east of town, in Duette, destroying a home and killing two people.  There was also a lot of damage in Sarasota, just south of us, with over 17,000 people out of power in the morning.  

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Monday, 1/18, was the Martin Luther King holiday and it was cold and breezy all day long.  We took the day off.  Rick got off the boat to ride the bike that JP and Kellie gave him for Christmas, but other than that, we just stayed on board and relaxed.  I was so relaxed, I never even got out of my pajamas.  We left the boat on Tuesday, 1/19, driving to Ocala.  I had a short visit with Dad in the afternoon.  It is still cold in Florida – what we consider cold, anyway.  The highs are in the 50’s and Ocala is further north than Palmetto, so the lows will be in the 30’s for the next few nights.  I saw Dad for a short time on Wednesday morning, 1/20, and then we drove over to Ormond Beach to visit with Rick’s mother and brother for the afternoon.  After eating supper, we returned to the cabin in the forest.  On Thursday, 1/21, Dad sat in a wheel chair to visit with me for at least an hour.  He was back in bed when I left.  When we got back to Palmetto, Rick received an e-mail from one of the attorneys handling our Mesothelioma compensation suit.  He said that he has been notified that we have a trial date set for the end of September. 

On Friday, January 22, 2016, we drove to Tampa to the Moffitt Cancer Center on the USF Campus.  Dr. Tan told Rick that his cancer continues to grow.  Today’s CT scan showed it was 1 cm in diameter which is still relatively small, but now measureable.  He told us that Moffitt is in the process of negotiating for a new clinical trial with the Bayer Company.  The contract should be signed within the next few weeks.  He says that in earlier trials, the patients have experienced a 50% success rate.  He showed us the CT scan and there is more fluid in Rick’s lungs than two months ago, both at the top and bottom of the left lung.  He gave him a couple of prescriptions for pain.  Rick agreed to try to get accepted into this new clinical trial and the doctor said that he would have the coordinator call when the trial is open for participants.  He said that this new drug, anetumab ravtansine, would be administered by IV infusion – but it will not be chemotherapy and; therefore, should have no side-effects.  Rick will have to go for tests weekly for the first month and then get the infusion once every three weeks for as long as it continues to help. If Rick does not get into this trial, Dr. Tan said that there is another trial that he could qualify for, but it is chemotherapy along with all of the expected side effects.  We returned to the boat just after noon in the rain and wind.  Florida is getting just a little dab of weather this weekend compared to the rest of the East Coast of the US where they expect two feet of snow to fall in the Washington D.C. area overnight.  We are getting rain and wind with an increased possibility of tornadoes.  When this front moves through later today, our temperatures will drop with highs in the 50’s for the next few days and continued windy weather.  We had an early dinner with friends, Ken and Jackie, and started planning our trip together to Compass Cay near the end of February. 

Saturday, 1/23, was super windy.  We had a wonderful supper and lots of catching up with our friends, Randy and Pauldie that evening at their home.  Sunday, 1/24, the high in Palmetto was predicted to be 54 with a low of 39, but at least it wasn’t as windy as the last couple of days.  After church, Rick walked over to the Manatee Convention and Civic Center to check out a small boat show.  We met friends at the Blu Mangrove later in the afternoon to watch the professional football playoff games.

We were on the road again Monday, 1/25, driving north on I-75 to Ocala.  I dropped Rick off at the cabin and went to visit with Dad for a while.  He signed a letter authorizing and automatic bank draft to pay for his room and board at the Rehabilitation Center as it does not look like he will ever leave there.  And we talked about making me a co-trustee on his investments to make it easier for me to handle his business for him.  While I was visiting with Dad, Rick was firming up our reservations to fly home to Compass Cay.  We will fly on Watermaker Air out of the Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport on Friday, February 19 and will be staying in the Lilly House on Compass Cay until we return to Ft. Lauderdale on the afternoon flight, Saturday, February 27^th.  After a short visit with Dad on Tuesday, 1/26, we drove south on I-75 returning to Palmetto.  We had lunch with our son, JP, and his 2-year-old daughter, Emma, and then returned to the boat where Rick facilitated while Jamie made some repairs in the engine room.  I made arrangements with my other granddaughter, (17-year-old) Vanessa, to pick her up in the early evening for us to go to rehearsal for the Easter Contata that our church will be presenting on March 20.  Wednesday, 1/27, was rainy and breezy.  We stayed inside most of the day.  It continued to rain over most of Florida on Thursday, 1/28.  I drove to Ocala and stopped to see Dad for a couple of hours and then drove out east on SR 40 to get to the cabin in the forest.  I went in to the rehab center early on Friday, 1/29, to accompany Dad to see a cardiac doctor.  Unfortunately, when we arrived we were told that the doctor had left the practice and the appointment had been cancelled.  They apologized for not calling us and said that there was another cardiologist who could see Dad, but not until next week.  So, we scheduled an appointment for next Thursday afternoon and called for the handicap transport bus to return to pick us up,  After I got Dad settled back at the rehab center, I drove to Palmetto.  Rick called when I was about a half-hour away to let me know that Bill and Ruth were picking him up at the marina at noon and they were going to a pizza place for lunch.  I told him that I’d meet him there.  We went back to the boat after lunch and them met them again at the Blu Mangrove for an early supper.  On Saturday, 1/30, we went to the yacht club for a late lunch then went to the house to pick up our mail.  We met Ken and Jackie at the yacht club for an early supper and to discuss our upcoming trip to Compass Cay.  We talked about the possibility of staying over one night in the Ft. Lauderdale area so that we could get together for supper with Tokkie and Gail.  They are there outfitting his new boat.  We met Bill and Ruth for brunch at Pier 22 on the south side of the Manatee River in Bradenton and then moved to the Blu Mangrove for drinks and a lite supper.

On Tuesday, 12/1, I wrapped some Christmas presents in the afternoon after visiting with Dad in the morning.  On Wednesday, 12/2, I was joined at the rehabilitation center with my brother, Bill, and sister-in-law, Mary.  After our visit, we went by the cabin for a short time and then Rick and I and Bill and Mary drove east on State Road 40 to have lunch at the Blackwater Inn on the Saint Johns River.  You can learn more about this location at their website www.blackwaterinn.com

We said our goodbyes after lunch and they continued on to the Daytona Beach area to see our niece, Melissa and her son, Michael, and then go to choir practice at the church they attended when they lived in the area.   On Thursday, 12/3, Rick and I went in to town after I returned from visiting with Dad to buy a tabletop Christmas tree and some other decorations for the cabin.

 On Friday, 12/4, I visited with Dad in the morning.  It has become our habit to work on one crossword puzzle each morning.  I dropped off a Christmas package for him on my way back to the cabin to be mailed to a friend’s grandson, Wesley. 

After that, Rick and I drove to Ormond Beach to spend the night with his mother and brother.  She had asked me last week to take her Christmas shopping for her “boys” the next time I was there.  On Saturday, 12/5, it didn’t take long for her to pick up the gifts she wanted.  Then Rick and I went to the store to buy a Keurig Coffee maker with the gift card that she gave him for his birthday.  In the afternoon we watched conference championship football games on TV while a pork roast gave the house a wonderful smell as it cooked in the crockpot.  We returned to the cabin in the early evening in time to watch the ACC Championship game where the #1 Clemson Tigers beat the North Carolina Tarheels. 

We slept late on Sunday, 12/6.  Rick drove me in to the rehab center and then went to do a little “stocking stuffer” shopping.  We ate lunch on the way back to the cabin and then watched pro ball in the afternoon.  I visited with Dad on Monday morning, 12/7, and was disappointed to learn that the center’s dietitian has put him back on the feeding tube for 20 hours per day.  This decision was based upon the fact that he continues to lose weight.  He now weighs 136 pounds.  Although he can safely eat and drink anything he wants, he just doesn’t have any desire to eat. 

Rick and I returned to Palmetto in the afternoon and joined Kellie at Vanessa’s Christmas concert at Manatee High School that evening.  After the concert, Kellie went home while Rick and I took Vanessa out to eat a late supper at O’Bricks in Bradenton. On Tuesday, 12/8, Rick went to see the doctor for a general check-up and I went to the dentist.   We met Bill at Ruth at the Blu Mangrove Restaurant for lunch.  When we told Bill that we were going to buy a couple of toys to donate to the Toys for Tots collection at the yacht club tonight, he asked Rick to buy a couple for him to donate as well.  We took the 4 toys with us to the Bradenton Yacht Club’s Power Fleet dinner meeting where we received a raffle ticket for each donation.  At the end of the evening, Bill’s ticket won a bottle of red wine in thanks for the donation to Toys for Tots.  On Wednesday, 12/9, I paid a few of Dad’s medical bills that I had brought with me.  We met Bill and Ruth for supper at the Riverside Café where we gave them the bottle that they won.  

I left Rick at the boat on Thursday, 12/10, and drove to Ocala to the Rehabilitation Center to spend the afternoon with Dad.  Then, I stopped by the grocery store on the way to the cabin to pick up some pineapple juice for him.  (One of the few things that we have found that he likes.)  The evening was spent going over more of Dad’s bills, playing a few games on the computer and updating the diary that I use for the blog. I visited with Dad on Friday, 12/11, morning before driving back to Palmetto.  We met Bill and Ruth for supper at the Riverside Café.

I slept late on Saturday, 12/12, Rick and I ran some errands in the afternoon and then went to the Bradenton Yacht Club to meet Ken and Jackie and their daughters and sons-in-law for a scrumptious buffet dinner and to watch the annual lighted boat parade.   I have included just one picture.  There were 17 boats in this year’s parade.

One of Jackie’s daughters won a raffle of 4 tickets to a football game at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando next Saturday.  After church on Sunday, 12/13, we met Bill and Ruth at the tiki bar of the Reef and Grille restaurant to have a bite to eat and watch the Buccaneers play the Saints.  Unfortunately, the Bucs lost to the Saints by one touchdown’s score.  We had some delicious chicken wings from the Blu Mangrove for supper.

Monday morning, 12/14, Rick and I drove to the Ocala Health Rehabilitation Center, where Rick dropped me off just before noon.  While Dad and I were visiting, an old family friend and neighbor, Carol Martin, stopped by the cabin to see Rick.  When he told her that he was trying to find a place to fix the brakes on Dad’s truck, she suggested Taylor’s garage.  After she left, Rick went looking for this garage out in the forest on County Road 314 about 7 miles south of State Road 40 (the main highway between Ormond Beach and Ocala.)  Mr. Taylor said that he could go to work on the truck right away if Rick brought it in the next day.  Rick drove the 20 miles back into the rehab center from the cabin later in the afternoon to pick me up and we stopped for an early supper at Sonny’s Barbeque on the way back out into the forest.  On Tuesday, 12/15, we had a brief visit from Laura Swartz (another neighbor) before  dropping off Dad’s truck at Taylor’s garage and continuing on to the Rehab Center.  I was surprised to find that Nick and Linda Krupa were early visitors to Dad this morning.  Dad raced motorcycles for many years and Nick raced in many of the same events.  They also were members of the same motorcycle club in Daytona Beach as well.  Dad recognized Nick and Linda but he was very confused about many of the things going on around him.  He seemed much better yesterday.  I brought in two Christmas cards that had come in the mail.  One was from Tim, Janine and Tara Langford.  It had a beautiful picture of Tara (their daughter) with snow in her hair.  When they came to visit Dad on the day after Thanksgiving, they told us that she was in Russia teaching thanks to a Fulbright scholarship.  It looked like the picture was taken in Russia.  He also received a “newsy” card from a fellow who worked many years for the telephone company (as did Dad).  Ken Estabrook and his wife Barbara included many pictures of themselves with their family members and riding through the mountains on their motorcycle.

I left when Dad went into physical therapy around 10:30 and we returned to Palmetto.  We visited with JP and Emma for a short time in the afternoon.  He ran in a 50K ultra marathon over the weekend.  He did well, running 31.5miles in 5 and half hours.  I called one of Dad’s old telephone company friends, Bob Wimmer, to give him a report on Dad’s progress.   I spoke to Dad’s friend, Beverly, on Wednesday, 12/16, morning.  She told me that her daughter had told her that Wesley called the rehab center to thank Dad for the Christmas present that he sent but it didn’t seem like Dad recognized them.  Rick and I have decided to declare Wednesday’s as “Us” days.  We will try to do something different or special on this day of the week.  This Wednesday, 12/17, Rick surprised me by taking me up to St. Petersburg Beach for lunch at the Wharf Restaurant in Pass-a-grille. 

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The Wharf Pass-A-Grille

2001 Pass-A-Grille Way

St. Pete Beach, FL 33706

(727) 367-9469

Their website, http://wharfrestaurant.org  says, “Come by Boat, Car or Trolley!”

This is not a fancy place by any stretch of the imagination, but what a pleasant lunch we had sitting on the outside porch overlooking the intracoastal waterway that runs between the small town of Pass-a-grille and an island called Vina del Mar.  The area holds many pleasant memories for us.  We lived on Vina del Mar for about a year in 1983/84 after moving from Tallahasee to the St. Petersburg area.  Rick was working for the cable company at the St. Pete office and I was working as a construction secretary for the company building the public safety complex in Bradenton for the Manatee County Board of County Commissioners.  After lunch, we drove over the bridge onto the island and by the house that we rented all those years ago.  The landlady never would do anything to repair it when we lived there and it looks like she has continued that policy through the years- ugh!  But, the weather was beautiful with temperatures in the 80s and we really enjoyed our afternoon together.

We were back on the road Thursday, 12/17, morning driving to the Ocala Forest to pick up Dad’s truck with new brakes and calipers on both the front and back ends.  I followed Rick back to the cabin and then went in to visit with Dad.  Among other things, Rick spent a little time watching the squirrels and their antics on the “squirligig” that he built in a tree near the front porch.

You will probably have to click on the picture to enlarge it to see the details of this contraption.  Years ago, Dad built a more refined version of this.  Rick took a small part of a 2×4 and nailed it to the tree.  Then he bolted a 3 or 4 foot board to that.  The bolt allows the wood to swing all the way around.  He attached pieces of wire to the each end.  He buys dried corn from the local feed store, drills a whole in each ear and then bolts them on.  The squirrel goes from the tree down to the balanced board then makes his way to the end of the board (which causes it to tilt down).  Then the squirrel reaches as far as he can to get to the ear of corn to eat.  It gets pretty funny when two squirrel are on it at the same time, often causing it to “helicopter” and slinging the squirrels through the air with a safe landing on the ground.  Dad named the original “Squirligig” after a back-yard merry-go-round that my brother and I played on in the late 50s.  It was called a whirligig.  I found a picture of one on the internet.

As you pushed with your feet and pulled with your hands, the entire seating arrangement went around in circles.  That is what Dad related his “Spinning Squirrel Feeder” to. Rick drove back in to Ocala to join me in a meeting with the Rehabilitation Center Staff later that afternoon.  They went over all of the medications that Dad is taking and told us of some specific health problems.  The gentlemen who is over all of the therapists said that Dad is close to being independent, but his fall risk remains above normal.  He climbs stairs well and has completely recovered his ability to swallow.  He just doesn’t have much interest in eating.  He has been losing weight so is on a 2700 calorie per day diet.  Dad never did eat a lot, so I cannot imagine that he will ever consume that many calories.  They have started weaning him again from the continuous feeding in the hopes that he will regain some appetite.  If he doesn’t eat a meal, then he will receive liquid food through the feeding tube manually.   After the first of the year he will no longer receive physical and occupational therapy but will continue with speech therapy three times a week.  The social services director said that she would make arrangements for the medical equipment that we would need should we decide to bring him home at the end of January.  That would include a hospital bed (he must be propped up at a 45 degree angle because of the feeding tube), a walker and a wheel chair.  If he returns home to live, he will need nursing care 24/7.  They gave me a list of local agencies to contact regarding hiring.  I told them that Dad does not feel as though he is ready to go home yet.  I want to hold off on making a final decision in that regard until after he sees a cardiologist on January 29^th.  After December 30^th, his room and board will cost $230/day plus the cost of doctors, therapy, meds and liquid food.  I stopped at Dad’s bank on the way in to the rehab center on Friday, 12/19, morning.  The officer in the bank with which I have been working needed to make a copy of Dad’s trust document and also needed a copy of Mom’s death certificate.  (Mom died in 2003.) 

Rick and I returned to Palmetto on Friday afternoon.  We invited Ken and Jackie to join us at the marina’s twice-a-month cocktail and appetizers party on the dock.  We had received an e-mail from the harbormaster’s office telling us that they would also be announcing winners of the first annual boat decorating contest.  Much to our surprise and delight, we were awarded the 3^rd place prize.  It is a beautiful sculpture made by one of the guys who works in the marina.

It is called an ant casting and is made by pouring melted aluminum down into an ant hill.  The metal hardens and then the fellow digs it out of the ground.  The one we won is powder-coated red and reminds us of some of the coral that we used to see in the Bahamas.  On Saturday, 12/21, Rick shopped for something he needed to do a repair on the boat.  After church on Sunday, 12/20, we did some more shopping and then joined Bill and Ruth and Faz for supper at Carmen’s Italian Cafe, 515 27th St E, Bradenton, FL 34208 (just off of Manatee Avenue East, aka SR64) www.carmensitaliancafe.com before going to the Sarasota Airport to pick up Ruth’s brother, Ron.  Amazingly, the flight got in early, so we found him standing on the curb waiting for us.  Then, it was time for a nightcap at Cork’s Cigar Bar in downtown Bradenton.  Cork’s Cigar Bar is located at 424 12th St W, Bradenton, Florida.  You can learn more about it by going to their website at www.corkscigarbar.com On Monday, 12/21, Rick went to some of the boat surplus places in the area to see if he could find a new/used windshield wiper for the boat while I stayed on the boat to clean, cook, and compute.  Tuesday morning, 12/22, I finished my Christmas shopping and then in the afternoon, I finished wrapping everything.   On Wednesday, 12/23, Rick and I separated all of the packages and put them into bags to take to JP’s house, Rick’s Mom’s house, and to Dad.  We loaded up all the gifts for JP’s house and went to pick up Vanessa just before noon.  Then, we went to the grocery store to pick up the last of the things we needed for our “family Christmas Eve” dinner as well as ingredients to make cookies.  In the afternoon, Vanessa and I made sugar cookies and decorated them along with chocolate chip cookies (for her Dad) and after we took her home, I made some peanut butter cookies to round out our assortment.  We met Bill and Ruth at the River Reef and Grille for supper Wednesday night.  On Christmas Eve, Thursday, 12/24, Rick and I spent a quiet morning preparing to go over to JP’s house.  We had told Kellie that we would buy a Honey Ham for tonight’s dinner.  Rick picked it up at 7 a.m.  In the afternoon, at JP’s house, I warmed up the ham, made a green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, macaroni and cheese, baked beans and a Caprese salad.  Kellie’s Mom, Judy, brought Hawaiian roles along with four homemade pies (maple pecan, lemon meringue, sweet potato, and chocolate cream).  All of the food was good and we enjoyed watching them exchange their Christmas gifts after supper.  We spent the night at the house so that we could be up early when the girls woke up for Christmas morning surprises.

Friday, 12/25.  Merry Christmas to all.  We had a wonderful Christmas morning exchanging gifts and stocking stuffers with JP, Kellie, Vanessa and Emma.  JP and Kellie surprised Rick with a new bicycle.   Then Rick and I drove over to his mother’s home in Ormond Beach along with Vanessa where we exchanged gifts with Mom, Edward, and our nephew Mat.

On Saturday, 12/26, Rick, Vanessa and I drove from Ormond Beach over to the Ocala National Forest.  I left them at the cabin while I went in to the rehab center to visit with Dad.  We all visited with Dad out on the patio on Sunday, 12/27, before driving back to Palmetto where there was another round of gift opening by JP, Kellie and Emma of the presents sent over from Rick’s mother, aka “Grandma Apple”.  Then, Rick and I went to the Reef and Grille for some lunch and to watch the second half of the Buccaneers football game.  We slept on our boat tonight.  On Monday, 12/28, I left Rick at JP’s while I drove back to Ocala, stopping in to see Dad at the rehab center for a few hours before going out into the forest to the cabin.  On Tuesday, 12/29, I talked to Rick.  He said that when he tried to warm up the engines on the boat this morning, one of the engines would not start.  So, he was waiting for a new battery to be delivered from Northside Auto in Palmetto.  He said that the wind was down and he hoped to move the boat to the Yacht Club this afternoon after the new battery was installed.  I did paperwork concerning Dad in the afternoon, then drove over to Ormond Beach to have supper with Mom and Edward.  Rick sent an e-mail letting me know that he was now at the yacht club on the boat.  I saw Dad for a while on Wednesday morning, 12/30.  He was eating cottage cheese and fruit when I left to drive back to Palmetto.  I got stuck in a traffic jam on the interstate and what should have been a two-hour drive took five hours.  We ate supper in the club.   We ate lunch in the club on Thursday, 12/31.   As we left to walk back to the boat, we saw our friends, Steve and Joy Fredrick, with their entire family out by the pool.  Their grandkids had all been swimming (the temperature was in the 80’s).  They told us that all of their company was leaving on Saturday morning and invited us over for supper Saturday night.  They will be flying back to Antiqua in a week to re-board their sailboat, Ocean Angel, and continue on their grand adventure.  At 7:00 p.m. the Bradenton Yacht Club’s New Year’s Eve festivities began with cocktails and appetizers.  We sat at a table for 10, including us, Bill and Ruth Baker, Ken and Jackie Sosville, John and Bonnie Manny and Ray and Elaine Barr.  We have cruised many times with all of these folks.  The dinners were delicious and we started drinking Moet Champagne pretty early finishing off at midnight with a toast to the New Year.  We also managed to get a few dances in between the eating a drinking.