Thursday, 12/01 – Saturday, 12/03

We did most of our Christmas shopping.  We also received notice that we got the rental house we wanted.  We met JP’s friend, Val, at the house to take photos and measurements.  We will move in sometime around December 16.  After seeing and measuring the house, we went furniture shopping and bought a living room suite and furniture for 3 bedrooms, as well as a couple of bar stools.  Saturday evening, we went to the Bradenton Yacht Club for an event they call Harbor Lights.  Most of the boats in the marina and along the wall are lit up for Christmas and many of the folks set up a table and serve cocktails and snacks.  We walked around all 52 slips and the wall and had lots to eat and drink, along with seeing many friends.  It was a very good time.

 Sunday 12/4/16 through Saturday 12/10/16

Sunday through Thursday were typical for us.

I went to see my GP.  We shopped for towel racks for the two guest baths in the rental home.  We watched Emma for about an hour.  We went shopping for dining room furniture.

Thursday morning found us on the road to the Ocala Forest.  Rick replaced the waterline to the ice maker while I did some much-needed cleaning.  I went into town in the afternoon to meet with the staff at the rehab center for an update on Dad’s health and then visited with him for a while.

On Friday, I did some more cleaning while Rick took Dad’s pickup truck to the dump.  In the afternoon, I went into town and picked Dad up to bring him out to the cabin for a few hours.

Dad is so much better than he was at this time last year.  He has gone through physical therapy and now receives “restorative care”.  This means that a staff member comes 4 or 5 times a week with a walker and walks with Dad around the facility.  When he got to the house, he didn’t use his wheelchair at all – only the walker.  And, when he got to the 3 steps at the front door, he picked up the walker and put it on the stoop and then walked up the stairs on his own.  He also told me that he ate some turkey with one of his friends at the center on Thanksgiving.  While we were spending Thanksgiving with our extended family, my brother, Rick, went up to the center to spend some time with him.  Dad was so ill last fall when he had MRSA.  It effected the muscles in his throat and everything he swallowed went into his lungs instead of his stomach.  To save his life, they put a feeding tube in him.  Since being at the rehabilitation center, he had therapy that restored his ability to swallow properly, but he says that food just doesn’t taste good anymore and he is never hungry.  So, he is satisfied with receiving his nourishment through the tube every night.  We took Dad back to the center in the evening and then drove back to Palmetto

We had received an e-mail from our daughter-in-law, Kellie, saying that they had bought us an early Christmas present and we should come to the house on Saturday, 12/10 to get it.  She said they were giving it to us early because they were afraid we would go out and buy it for ourselves.  We were very excited to receive a set of pots and pans and the utensils to use with them.  And, in fact, Rick had looked at several sets to buy for the new house earlier in the week – so they were smart to give it to us now.  We bought a dining room table with 8 chairs and a buffet/server to match.  It will be delivered with the other furniture on December 16^th.  In the evening, we joined Ken & Jackie at the yacht club to watch the annual holiday boat parade.  Rick wore the snowman costume (below) a couple of years ago in the boat parade when we rode on their boat “Snowman”.  This year, it was Ken wearing the costume.

Sunday 12/11/16 through Saturday 12/17/16

We went to the yacht club for the Sunday breakfast buffet.  While there, we made plans to with Ken and Jackie to go to the Gamble Mansion State Historic Site in Ellenton in the afternoon.  This antebellum mansion was home to Major Robert Gamble and headquarters of an extensive sugar plantation. It is the only surviving plantation house in South Florida.  Today, they had volunteers dressed in period dress all over the property and the mansion was decorated as it would have been at Christmas in the mid-1800’s.  The weather was nice and we enjoyed a couple of hours there. 

Then, we went to the Blu Mangrove to watch the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the New Orleans Saints.

On Monday, 12/12, we spent the morning at the Moffitt Cancer Center on the University of South Florida campus in Tampa.  The doctor told Rick that his blood tests looked really good and he thinks that the Keytruda infusions are helping.

Tuesday, 12/13 –  This evening we attended the monthly power fleet dinner meeting.  We had a “Chinese” gift exchange and Rick “stole” a bottle of rum cream from one of the others.  I chose one of the two gifts that we brought, a set of stemless wine glasses.  One says “Her Captain” and the other says “His Mermaid”.

Wednesday, 12/14 – We had an appointment with one of the investigators of the law firm who is handling Rick’s various claims related to his mesothelioma.  He brought with him approximately 20 affidavits for Rick to sign concerning different products that were in the Naval facilities at which he spent time as well as the ships that he was assigned to while serving during the Vietnam War in the late 60’s and early 70’s.

Thursday, 12/15 – We met with the agent for the owner of the home we are renting and received a key to the front door as well as two garage openers.  No worries friends, we will still be on the water.  See below the view from our new back yard.  We are on a small spring-fed lake in the subdivision called Woods of Moccasin Wallow.  While not a very appealing name, it is a nice new neighborhood.

Then, we spent most of the rest of the day moving things (mostly Christmas decorations) from JP’s house to the new house.  While JP and I went to the utilities office to transfer the existing water/sewer/garbage account to the rental home, Rick (with the help of Emma and Kellie) set up a herd of deer in the front garden. 

After JP and his girls left, we went by Furniture Warehouse to discuss tomorrow’s delivery and, while we were there, we picked out a fireplace/media center with towers for the great room.  

Friday, 12/16 –  Most of the furniture that we purchased for the new house was delivered today.  The two men who brought it had everything in and set up in 2 hours.  In the afternoon, we went to the cable office to make arrangements to get cable and internet installed.   

Saturday, 12/17 – The “cable guy” was finished with the installation by 2:00, but we had picked up a screw in one of our tires, so Rick went to Tire Kingdom to get it fixed. While he was gone, I decorated our new Christmas tree, lined some of the kitchen cabinets and made the three beds.  Then we hit the road on the way to Ormond Beach to stay two nights.
Don’t drive or operate any cialis on line purchasing here machinery soon after taking this medicine, one might feel blurred vision, nausea, facial flushing and headaches.

Sunday, December 19 thru Saturday, December 24, 2016

On Sunday, I raided the closets at Edward’s house and came up with kitchen towels, bath towels, shower curtains, bath mats, sheet sets and a comforter.  In addition to that, we picked up some china and silver that we had been storing in his garage.  We also got several things to hang on the wall or put into frames.  It was very successful “shopping trip”. 

Monday morning, we drove over to the cabin.  While I drove in to see Dad, Rick put the battery charger on his old 4-wheel-drive jeep that we are trying to sell.  We gave him a new Korean Veteran’s hat for Christmas.  This one will replace one that he loved so much he wore it out!  He was very happy with the gift and, also with the wall calendar that I brought with all of the family’s birthdates on it.  Rick and I drove to the new house to unload our car-full of “goodies”.  The drive from door to door only took 2 hours and 15 minutes.  We are pleased with that.  We unloaded the car and headed back to the boat.  We heard from our nephew, Mat, in Tennessee.  He is going to try to fly into Clearwater on Christmas afternoon and return to Tennessee on Tuesday morning.  We are thrilled.  We didn’t think he’d be able to get down until the day after Christmas.

Just as I was waking up on Tuesday, Rick crawled back in bed.  He has been using a new pain patch and up until now his only side effects have been feeling sleepy and itching.  He told me that he had hallucinations during the night and that he was nauseous, so he took the patch off and was feeling a little better.  It wasn’t long before he was getting some much-needed sleep.

On Wednesday morning, we moved the boat to its new home at the Bradenton Yacht Club, Slip #52.  Jackie came over to help us tie her up.  Then, Rick borrowed a pickup truck from Baker’s Paint and Body, picked up JP, and went to buy a TV for our new living room.  They also loaded up his bike from the marina and brought a ladder and shelving unit from JP’s as well as more pots and pans.  Kellie also sent some pine scent sticks to me, because I didn’t get a real tree.

Jackie and I had a successful shopping trip and got to the house just a few minutes before the guys. 

On Thursday, we moved some of our clothes off the boat to take to the house and we went shopping for food that we need for Christmas weekend.  We slept on the boat. 

Friday –  We drove to the house from the boat early in the morning to await our furniture delivery.  Unfortunately, one of the delivery men noticed that the top of one of the media center towers was defective.  They loaded it back in their truck and took it away.  Within an hour, we got a call from the customer service rep who told us that they would deliver a new tower tomorrow afternoon.  So, it looks like we might have a complete set of furniture for Christmas after all.  We spent most of today bringing things from the boat to the house.

Saturday, 12/24/16 – More shopping; polishing the silverware; and baking the pumpkin pie.  The second tower for the entertainment center was delivered and Edward arrived.  Rick injected the turkey with marinade.  We realized that we had not brought any carving knives from the boat so we planned to combine a drive to see the Christmas lights with a trip to the boat this evening.

Sunday, December 25 thru Saturday, December 31, 2016

Sunday, Christmas morning, Rick, Edward and I drove to JP’s Christmas morning.  We had a wonderful time opening gifts and stocking stuffers.  Just as we were about finished, Kellie’s parents and Uncle Jack came in and the gifting began all over again.  We returned to the house and started our preparations for this evening’s Christmas dinner.  Vanessa had to go to work at 1:00, so she wasn’t able to come to dinner.  Edward picked up our nephew Mat from the Clearwater airport, returning to the house just after 5:00 p.m.  He flies back to Knoxville Tuesday morning.  This was the first Christmas that I was able to use my mother’s china since she passed away in 2003. 

We are very blessed to have a close extended family and were very glad that we could spend this special time together.

12/26 – On Monday afternoon Rick, Edward, Mat and I went “bar hopping” in Pass-a-grille at the south end of St. Pete Beach.  We went to the Wharf where we had a couple of drinks while eating lobster bites and grouper nuggets.  Then, we went to the roof-top bar of the Hurricane where you have almost a 360-degree view of water around the south end of the peninsula.  After that we returned to Palmetto and stopped at the Blu Mangrove where JP joined me, his father, his uncle and his cousin.  They all had a nice visit. 

12/27 – We left the house at 5:15 a.m. on Tuesday to take Mat up to the Clearwater Airport to catch his Allegiant flight to Knoxville.  Edward left just after noon to return to Ormond Beach.  Rick and I had a busy, but quiet, afternoon and evening.

12/28 – On Wednesday, Rick and I drove to the Ocala Forest to pick up Dad’s mail; then went in to town for a short visit with him.  While visiting with him, we placed a call to his cousin, Maryanne, in Alabama.  She had left a message wishing him a Merry Christmas on his phone and was very pleased to actually get to talk to him today.  He also told me how much he appreciated the Christmas letter, with pictures, from his friend Ken Estabrook who now rides a very nice looking Indian motorcycle.  We returned to the house, in Palmetto, just after 4:00 and then hosted Ken and Jackie with her Mom, Gladys, for an impromptu lasagna dinner.  Gladys will be returning to her home in Georgia in the morning and we were so pleased that we were able to see her before she left.

12/29 –  On Thursday, we bought a printer for the house.

12/30 – Today we bought a 40-inch TV for the bedroom and a table and file cabinet for the office.  We went to the boat for the weekend on Friday evening.

Saturday, December 31, 2016 – We spent the last day of the year at the Bradenton Yacht Club.  Rick enjoyed a call from Compass Cay.  He got to talk to the owner, Tucker, his son Loan, Captain Barry and Tokkie.  Ken and Jackie brought their boat in on Saturday to spend the night, as did Bill and Ruth.  We enjoyed bringing in another new year with good friends sitting at a table for 12 with the Sosville’s, the Baker’s and John and Bonnie Manny with two couples that live across the street from them.  Unfortunately, Jackie fell hyperextending her right leg.  Her blood pressure was up and down – we think due to the pain, so she was transported by ambulance to the hospital.  Ken followed in our car.  He called to say that she had torn her hamstring but was being released.  They came back to the yacht club to get the keys to their house and some medicine just before midnight.  Rick gave Jackie a glass of champagne with which to toast the New Year and sent her on her way home.

Happy New Year