Our Newest Addition

The Lazy J welcomes a new addition...Isn't he the cutest thing??? OK Grandkids..put your heads together for a new name!! He is about a year old and still a little nervous, but I am sure will be at home in no time! Until he receives his formal name from the grandkids, WB will have to do...We already love you, Booger!!

St. Anthony's Triathlon

On April 26, the most prestigious St. Anthony's Triathlon was held in St. Petersburg. Men and women from all over the country come to participate in this, as individuals, and teams. Adam, had , in the past, been a part of a team, where he had swum the first leg, .9 of a mile in the Gulf off Spa Beach and the Vinoy Basin. One of his teammates would then ride the 25 mile bike portion, and another teammate would run the 7.5mi portion. This year, Adam trained to do the individual triathlon.

For the first time in the history of the St. Anthony's, we awoke to the news that the "rescue" kayaks could not handle the rough waters, and the swimming portion was cancelled to all participants except the pro athletes. Of course, for the triathlete who excels on the bike and running portion, this was great news! But to those, like Adam, who excels in the swimming portion...not too great.

I met up with Adam and Lori around 6:30 and watched, in awe, as these wonderful athletes, including, my son, proceeded to bike and run around the Northeast section of St. Pete. Kudos to all who participated... I used to think basketball players were the athletes who had to be in the best shape, what with all the running, jumping, etc. for a long period of time.....No Longer...The triathlete cannot be surpassed in physical conditioning and mental toughness. I was truly IMPRESSED!!


CONGRATULATIONS #510...YOU 'DE BOMB!!!

Easter Sunday

Wow! What an exciting Easter morning! At sunrise, our granddaughter, Ruthie was baptized in the Gulf, with our son, Adam assisting, and the youth of our church were leading a sunrise service here on our property, down by the lake. Dean and I had to split up for the morning...he remained here and I packed up all his grandfather's love to take down with me to St. Pete.
My Daddy, loves Sunrise services, so he had to choose which one to attend. He went with me to Ruthie's baptism. At almost 91, he chose to head for the beach with. I know God was taking care of us, as before we trekked all the way across the sand to the water, a bench, appeared, where he could sit and enjoy the service. Most of you know that macular degeneration has robbed him of most of his sight, but so many memories abide for him at the beach.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

As a child in the 20's, his father took the family often...it was a short distance from Orlando, where he was raised. Later, he attended the Daytona 500, which originally was raced on that same beach. As a husband and father, he took his own beach loving family....he would go back and forth from Eustis to New Smyrna...while we would spend weeks, sometimes, depending on his golf game( He could really "hustle" our local undertaker!), and vacations for the owners of the motel. (Mama and Daddy would run the units, while they vacationed, in exchange for a week.) Our mother truly loved the beach, as do I....

Dean reports that the Sunrise Service in Monticello was also spectacular, as nearly 70 worshippers enjoyed songs by our youth, the beautiful pink sky behind the pecan trees, and sausage biscuits for breakfast.

Thank you God, for your Son and your beautiful world filled with beautiful people.

Springtime

I have a couple of things to update...the ACC basketball tourney and the Las Vegas trip......BUT Baxter insists that I welcome springtime with this picture of him enjoying the beauty of all the spring blossoms!! So I will update later..

Disney's Princess Run

This past weekend, I ended up in Orlando, with my "bud" Elaine, to watch the Disney Half- marathon....the Princess Run! Janet Lynn was going to be there, but ended up making a "Grandma Run" to South Carolina, to watch grandson Jackson, while his parents got over the "flu"! So, Janet, Thanks for letting me take your place!

First of all, let me say...I am in awe of all the young and older ladies who participated....over 7500, with almost 200 "Princesses". Yes, over 200 of the runners were dressed in some type of "Princess" running garb!! As you can see, Elaine and I just HAD to get Tiaras, as well....Those got turned over to Granddaughter, Ellie at lunchtime!

We were part of the chEARing squad for Elaine's daughter, Erica...my daughter-in-law, Lori, and Becky Stoutamire's daughter, Casey. I think we did a great job...although we missed getting any GREAT pictures, because of their blinding speed...and our inability to pick them out of the BIG crowd...Alltel kept us informed with text messages as they passed the various waypoints in the race!

They all had a "Royal" Race and finished strong and proudly, the 13.1 miles that wound through the Magic Kingdom known as Disney!

I was thoroughly impressed with the entire experience... We spoke to folks in the chEARing squads...husbands from Michigan and West Palm Beach, mothers from Canada, Texas and Florida so on and so on. Heard stories about their runners, who like ours, were students, professionals, moms, wives....all wonderful ladies, who had the courage to begin the journey which led them to this race!

Elaine and I met up with Adam, Lori, Rusty and Ellie for lunch at Arby's on their way back to St. Pete, and mine back to Monticello....You see, during this spring forward time, the race began at 7AM, and we were all safely back home by the same afternoon!!

Again....I salute Lori, Erica, Casey and all the wonderful ladies who had the courage to begin this journey.... and the Disney crew, who always puts on a great event....and the Fairy Godmother, who with a Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo, sprinkled Fairy Dust...and to all the vendors in the Expo who showed me more running apparel than I even KNEW existed !! My favorite shirt????? the one that said, "Does this shirt make my butt look FAST?"

Day on the Farm

You are looking at two of the three deer that love to graze in the pasture behind the cabin...actually, the field that Dean planted for them...on any given day, you can spot the deer AND the resident turkey that feeds nearby...however, this past weekend when Margaret was gone and Dean was in St. Pete, Daddy and I had the place to ourselves. We spotted some animals that were not where they belonged....the COWS!!

You see, they normally frolic and play in the fenced pastures to the east of the house....well, I glanced out my window, and noticed a couple of cows and babies who were contentedly grazing on the clover in the back yard, near the pool. I was on the phone with Dean who had just arrived safely in St. Pete, and I asked him to call Gary Tuten, the cows' daddy, and I would try to herd them back in through the gate that they had appeared to "crash" through, until Gary could get there.

It was warm that day, and I jumped into the "mule" ready to gather in a few cows.....when I backed out of the garage, I was shocked to see that it wasn't just a few cows, but most of the herd that were grazing all over the front, back, and side yards..stretching up to and around the barn. For a fleeting moment....I pictured myself saddling up Salty and corralling the group...driving them back through the gate...Thankfully, that was all that was....a fleeting moment..

I did spend about 15 minutes racing foolishly around small groups of cows and babies...waving my hands and shouting "YeeHaw", but they were not even mildly interested in my display of cowgirl skills!! In that time, I actually managed to drive 6 of them back into their pasture, with only about 80 more to go...At this rate, well, sundown was coming!!

At last, I spotted Gary near the other gate, where he had parked, and was now out of his truck, on foot, displaying his cowboy skills of waving his hat and shouting "Hoop...Hoop" or some such cow lingo!! Seems they appreciated his skills much better...and the whole herd at ONCE came down the fence line and back into the pasture! I leaped out of the parked mule and closed the gate behind them...this is when I learned the most valuable lesson of the day.....never, I repeat, NEVER go cow herding barefooted. Those of you have been around cows KNOW why!!

Gary fixed the gate, reprimanded his "children", and the day ended without any more incidents!!! I returned my cow herding "mule", to the garage and spent the next 15 minutes sterilizing and cleaning my "stinking" feet!!

Adam, I just wanted to ask you...when I stepped in it, I said "CRUD"!! Is that OK to say...kind of like "Oh Jimminy?"

St. Augustine

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

For Dean's birthday, this year, we took a trip to St. Augustine. We had seen the city as children, but of course, those memories were rather "old". We stayed on St. Augustine Beach, and though it was cold, we walked everyday. This beach is wide enough for cars to drive on, and it was the first time I can remember walking on the beach in a trenchcoat and furlined boots!!!
The "oldest town" in America provided us with lots of "touristy" moments. Of course, I had to visit the oldest school house. I didn't realize friends, they had a time out room back in those days...It was a little room under the stairwell!! I think the most interesting buildings were the museums and Flagler College...They used to be magnificent hotels across the street from each other...You had to rent your room for 90 days, whether you stayed that long or not! Flagler built one...they had spas, pools,restaurants, etc.... They were quite the showplaces in their day, and still beautiful today!
There were many good places to eat...even the Columbia has a restaurant there. A local favorite was also ours...Osteens...great shrimp!!