Sunday in Florida

[carolb]

Gmorning all

Wow, I'm so glad I made the decision to come to FL this winter! Adventures with Donna, "at home" with Irmi & Steve, & now camped at my sister's! Yep, she was in FL all week, & I wasn't going to contact her--she can be a bit testy about things. But Steve encouraged me to be a sport, so I spent Fri aftn/eve with her & her DH, turned out really great. They left Sat a.m., but she invited me to stay on her property for the duration of my visit. SO now I have a real house for real showers, laundry & fresh water for my HB. Anyway, I may stay here til mid Dec, since I'll still have a couple months or more to be a "desert rat." Oh, in "exchange," I'm painting her bed & bath rooms...

Catherine, Gabby is getting married to the French man? How did I miss that! But how wonderful to welcome an "international" into your family--you know a little about that, don't you Kathleen, great to see you back & so happy to hear that things are going well for you,

So many of you doing fun stuff, won't keep you any longer...Y'all have a great day & be safe always

[Redetotry]

Good Morning all, It has turned gray, gloomy and quite chilly here after a beautiful Thanksgiving Day of sun and temps in the mid-sixties . We have been lucky to have really nice weather most days this fall until now. We had two Thanksgiving dinners and I indulged in more than my normal consumption of desserts. My little Andy hasn't responded as well as we had hoped to medication and continues to cough so he is having ex rays tomorrow. My friend brought him chicken soup yesterday and it certainly revived his appetite.
Carolb sounds as though you were guided in the right direction from the start on this trip. I hope you enjoy your stay with all the conveniences.

I just saw this over on FB about how growing up used to be and though I would share the last paragraphs. How well I remember the Safety Arm and I find myself doing this with the dogs.

And our parents told us to stay outside and play... all day
long. Oh, no, no electronics to soothe and comfort. And if you
came back inside... you were doing chores!
And car seats - oh, please! Mom threw you in the back seat
and you hung on. If you were lucky, you got the "Safety Arm"
across the chest at the last moment if she had to stop suddenly,
and if your head hit the dashboard, well that was your fault for
calling "shot gun" in the first place!!!!
See! That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have
got it too easy. You're spoiled rotten! You guys wouldn't have
lasted five minutes back in 1980 or any time before!!

[grammynmaggie]

Good morning Carolb & BJ... and all to come... I wondered where you have been Carol I miss you when you're not posting... and BJ I was loving it when I could play outside all day long sure is food for thought about what kids would do today if told that... and today I will be doing not much I am still working on those gift card ornaments and cleaning up some what in my craft room so I can't find my Christmas stuff to decorate and also to make craft items.... I did my laundry yesterday so I guess I'll be watching football today.... I made some yummy protein bars I will post the recipe as soon as I can write it down because mostly it's throwing this and that in ...and it's all in my head...lol... have a fun filled day & B safe...donna

[avalen]

Good morning ladies
Catching up on chores to be ready for that back to work Monday. Its been a great long weekend! BJ, I too remember playing out all day, only coming in to eat and go poddy.
Most of my days were spent with rollar skates on my feet, or I was climbing the black
walnut trees or digging in the empty field. There were also those days we draped my dads paint tarp over the picnic table and benches to make a fort. ahhhh memories.
Y'all have a great day, be safe and be warm

[cnq50b]

Good morning!

BJ, I loved what you posted... Times sure have changed haven't they. We were told to come home when the street lights came on at the park. We played with our friends & just hung out on the swings & play equipment until then. And in winter, once we were bundled up to go out, we had to stay out - at least for more than a few minutes to make it worth the time in getting us all ready - with boots & gloves & hats & scarves.

Ava, Roller skating & climbing trees. Loved it. We built our forts inside in the winter with sheets & blankets commandeering the entire living room making different rooms & passages - what fun!

Carolb, Painting for your place to park & continuing to make things better for someone else. You truly are a gift. Glad you went ahead & got in touch with your sister & had a good time. Yes, my Gaby is marrying her French young man. He really is very sweet - and also very French. Marriage will be an adventure in blending the US, Bolivian & French cultures. Its been a fairy-tale romance & I'm praying for an 'happy-ever-after' ending. Won't always be easy but at least they are starting out totally & absolutely in love with each other.

Thnk I'll run to the dog beach (to exercise the van ) once it warms up a little more here. Sadie was so good last time, even if there are more people there, I'll be comfortable letting her off-leash to run & play. Got my 10,000 steps in yesterday. I don't think it's totally accurate (had 33 steps in when I woke up this morning) - but it does challenge a person to get out, park a little further from stores & take Sadie on longer walks than usual. Not sure I'll be this successful on workdays but at least it is something to aim for & gets me out more than I might have otherwise. We'll see if the novelty wears off or if the enthusiasm grows.

Well, better get started.
Enjoy this beautiful day!
Catherine

[gingerK]

Good morning gals

BJ, I had a laugh at the end of what you posted about childhood, wouldn't last long in the 80's!!! How about the 50's, or 60's? The 80's seems so recent to me.

Having a few friends over for lunch, of course DH is cooking! I just run errands and do the set up work.

Good to see everyone has had a nice holiday, now you all take good care!
Kathy

[Acadianmom]

Carolb, glad you found a place to camp and something to keep you busy. lol I don't remember you saying you had a sister in Florida.

I liked to read when I was a kid and I remember hiding so I could read and not do chores. Almost every Christmas we would each get what we called an Indian Blanket. They were cheap blankets from Sears with indian print. Those were ours to do what ever we wanted. Make tents or hammocks or drag each other around. Can you see a kid today liking something like that. I remember mother buying us an old Army tent at the Army Surplus store. We were in heaven. I can still remember what that old greasy thing smelled like. We even dug a hole in the back yard, lined it with the tent and made a pool. Not a very big pool, but something to get wet in. We were like a bunch of beavers.

We still laugh at some of the things my older boy did. He was always up to something. When the younger one was born he was deathly allergic to fire ants and couldn't be out without someone watching him. He was allowed to stay in the house and watch tv way too much. You can see a big difference in the way they turned out.

I went to the mall yesterday to pick up a present for the Christmas party coming up. There were a lot of people and the clerk said it was worse yesterday. I can tell you I'm not doing much Christmas shopping. I think I'll make some sausage and cheese balls for this weekend. That's something that can be frozen. If I get real ambitious I'll make cake balls.

Martha

[Rufflesgurl]

Good morning all. It's another sunny, clear and cool day here in North central CA - it's 62 in the house.

Linda

[MelissaD]

Morning all,

BJ's post has me chuckling. We rode in the beds of pickups, rode our bikes everywhere (miles from home). Dad would hook the seatbelts in the back seat together to make a long belt then using old belts hook us to the seatbelt to hold us in place until we could wear a seat belt. Seatbelts were to keep us separated not so much a safety issue. Had a "boat" of an old station wagon and riding curled up in blankets in the back was a treat. We'd spend hours exploring the woods and creek at the end of the cul-de-sac. We dug holes in the garden when it was not planted. My brothers built tree houses and bought used bike parts off the garbage man (ran a used bike shop off what other threw out) to make their own bikes. If you did something stupid and got hurt, you'd get patched up and asked, well, what did you learn?

[JudyJB]

It drives me nuts to see kids escorted to a "play session" three or four houses from their homes! We were tossed out of the house and told to go play, so our mothers could enjoy some peace and quiet. It also kept the house cleaner for longer! We also rode our bikes miles from home and played in woods, picked wild strawberries in a field with a bull, and climbed huge trees--very little of which our parents knew about. And in fact, when I was 12, I was sent along as a companion to my 11 year old cousin on the train from Detroit to Chicago to visit her elderly aunt. Today, they would arrest our parents for raising "free range" kids. we had fun and were relatively responsible and learned to take care of ourselves. I broke almost all the rules, but mostly my parents never found out.

Now, my infamous brother was hesitant and did everything our parents told him to do. He ate what he was told to eat and played nice. Never climbed trees or went very far from home. And look at how differently we each turned out!!

I am at Willow Beach, AZ, which is about 15 miles down the Colorado River from Hoover Dam in the middle of dry hills and not much else, except the river and the Black Canyon. Love it here!!