A Thankful Post

Hi All -

Sorry for the recent radio silence. We did not have much going on, and I was fighting a case of Strep throat, or something quite like it, so we didn't have much that was share-worthy.

Anyhow, I am doing much better, thank you. 

Last week, Glenn went to Atlanta Monday through Thursday for staff training, and then flew to Miami for a meeting there before coming home on Friday. On Thursday, I went to see the new Hunger Games movie with Lisha and a bunch of friends at a fancy theater called Cinebistro.

Here are a couple pics from Glenn's work adventures. This is his Miami office, where they staged a thank you picture for getting 300,000 nationwide participants in that CPS3 study.

Gotta love a random pilgrim.

Glenn also went to the Hope Lodge this week. The last time he was there, he and some volunteers had created some special ceiling tiles for the patients there - some of them are now up in the ceiling. Neat idea!

While Glenn was gone, I took it upon myself to hang some patio lights around the lanai, since it is now dark so early. They aren't Xmas lights, but I think they have a festive feel.

So speaking of the great outdoors, I understand that you Western PA folks are bracing for a big winter storm. So maybe these will make you feel a little warmer. We went to our favorite rooftop pool on Saturday - it was a picture perfect day. We are so grateful for beautiful days in November!

Here are some of the surrounding views.

Below is a view of the hotel's lobby. Mom and Dad, this is where yinz guys will be staying in January.

And, as always, the pups say, "Hi!"

"Life is good."

Hope you all have a great week planned. Glenn and I are off  work Thursday and Friday, and Lisha and Chad have invited us to Thanksgiving dinner followed by a viewing of the Steeler's game. We'll keep our fingers crossed.

I stole this from the web, but I thought it was a nice wrap up for the blog.

Love to you all!

Caladesi Island, Hunter's Green, and Blanket Dog

Hi All -

This past Saturday, Glenn and I took the pups on an extra long walk in our neighborhood and discovered some lovely houses / areas along the river that we hadn't seen before.

It was a lovely 2.5 mile walk. Later, Glenn went to a Relay in Hunter's Green which is outside of Orlando. I opted to stay here and buy a sweater, since 97% of our winter clothing is packed away in our long term storage pod. It can get a bit chilly now in the evenings.

Glenn said the Relay was a lot of fun. This group set up their tent to be the Love Boat. They even had Captain Steubing, Gopher, and my favorite - Isaac!

Sunday, we decided to pack a lunch and go to Caladesi Island. We went to Honeymoon Beach and then took a ferry ride over to this natural island, which was once rated the best beach in the US.

The beach was beautiful, but really I thought it was almost identical to Honeymoon Beach, so why pay for the extra trip over? Anyway, Glenn was just taking his first bite of a sandwich I had packed him, when a very aggressive seagull literally ripped it out of his mouth and flew away with it. Luckily, I had packed 2 sandwiches, but we've never seen seagulls be that aggressive before. We saw another girl toss her lunch and run in the other direction.

It was like a scene from "The Birds."

One of the culprits, looking very innocent.

Anyway, as you can see, it was quite cloudy and the winds made it rather cold. We may be past beach season now. Or at least next time, I am taking a sweatshirt.

Back at home, Deuce was quite content staying huddled under a blanket.

So that's it for now.  We're supposed to get a bit of a cold snap this week (temps in the 60s) but no snow like you guys are getting. Stay warm like blanket dog!

Halloween and Lettuce Lake, Part Deux

Greetings all!

It is hard to believe it is November already. Especially considering it is sunny and in the 80s down here. The only telltale sign is that it now gets dark around 6:00 at night, which is going to make walking the dogs even more of an adventure.  But I digress....

Anyway, we don't have a lot of news to share, except that I have recently undergone a slew of medical tests and it appears that, as I always suspected, the sunshine is making me healthier. :-)

Last Thursday was Halloween. They had a costume contest at work, and my friend Julie dressed as Bob Ross, that painter guy who was known for painting happy trees and fluffy clouds on TV. I think she looks pretty amazing...(although she'd kill me if she knew I posted this...)

And, of course, here's her dog Pops dressed as a shark - we can't tell if he is supposed to be a shark or is being eaten by a shark.

Here, we didn't dress up and only got one trick-or-treater - a baby in a stroller accompanied by, no kidding, about 15 adults (have you heard of helicopter parents? This was a helicopter extended family). Otherwise, we basically hid in the house with the lights off.

We did, however, take the dogs on a walk, and were treated to a really cool Halloween sky.

Sunday, we returned to Lettuce Lake Park, this time taking the dogs. You aren't allowed to take dogs on the boardwalk (where we saw the alligators), but there are lots of gorgeous trails through the woods there. We walked for about 2 and a half miles.

We also attempted to get a "family selfie" but the dogs weren't cooperating very well.

Although, this one is kinda funny...

Signing off from Tampa! Woof! Woof!