Today

We went for a long drive. We started out just going to a nearby hardware store to get some keys cut.........because...........last night we went to church and then out to dinner. On the way into town to pick up Aunt Peggy and Great Grandma Grace we noticed that the wind was furious. As we passed Weber's the garbage cans were blowing across the highway. Then up ahead, we saw brake lights coming on. As we commenced slowly up the highway, while I contemplated phoning the ladies to say we might be late, we noticed that a very large roll of irrigation pipe had blown out of a field, over a fence and onto the highway...and were feeling glad that there didn't appear to be any cars involved and at least it happened before we got that far. Then, a short distance away there was a large tree down and blocking one lane of the highway. It had fallen down and taken down a hydro pole and wires with it. The traffic was staying in the clear lane, so we continued into town, collected the ladies and went to church. After church we went out to dinner with the ladies as well as Granny, Gramps, Aunt Cecile and Uncle Mark. We had a nice time and a good meal. After dinner we dropped off the ladies and headed home. As we came up the highway we noticed that the places along the road were un-lit and thought oh-oh. Sure enough when we got to our house, no power, therefore no garage door opener working and we didn't have a key. We called Kev-Inn, but he didn't have a key either. Oh Dear! What to do??? Finally Poppa decided to borrow a screwdriver from the neighbour and try to break the latch on the basement window. He actually managed to do this and take the window out. I offered to crawl in but he thought I was too short to drop to the floor.....so.....in he went. He kinda got stuck half way through, but managed to get in. Just as he was falling through the window the power came on. So....today we went for a drive to get some keys made to keep in the cars. The drive turned out to be an all day affair on a dreary day when there wasn't much else to do anyway. A nice day.

I believe Munchie is still mulling over what to be when he grows up and is giving some consideration to being a trucker. He has heard that the pay is good, but the work is sometimes tiring..so he put on his trucker sleepers just in case he got tired. Then he got his little truck out and proceeded to look quite pleased with himself and his new idea.

Meanwihile...

...I bet you are wondering why there has been no mention of knitting in ages! Trust me, it isn't because I haven't been knitting. I was part way finished a new pair of socks for Granny when I received a request to knit a blanket for a special baby. So I have been working on that. I am using Bernat Baby Sport. It is reasonably priced, lovely and soft and comes in huge skeins so that only one is required to make a nice sized baby blanket. The pattern has arrows and cables and is interesting without being too challenging (that means I can still watch TV while knitting). Blankets are fun to make - once you get in the groove you just keep knitting. Hopefully I will have this done in a couple of weeks and can get back to Granny's socks.

I packaged up Auntie Colleen's socks today and hope to deliver them Monday. Those were the ones with the cuff in primary colours.....I hope she still likes them!

Speaking of knitting - which tends to make a person think of cool weather...it has been kind of chilly lately and the other day Squeegie donned his cap before we went out. This caused Taffy to want her hood up and the end result was kind of cute.

Three Day Work Week

I thought I'd post this picture of bath time at Nanna's house on the Easter weekend, just because I like it - we both had fun - I got soaked and Munchie got nice and clean and smelled so good when we were finished. He had great fun eating his tub toys and splashing while I attempted to give him his bath. I found myself kind of rusty at that business - but we managed anyway.

Since I am working only three days per week now, I find myself with Thursday and Friday freed up. So yesterday (Thursday) I accompanied Poppa to Toronto for some visiting. We stopped in to see Denis & Liz (the cousins we met in Florida a couple of times). Denis was out on the road someplace, but we visited for a few minutes with Liz, Andre, Ashlee and little Matthew. Matthew is three months older than our little Munchkin and it was a treat to see him.

Then we went over to visit Poppa's other cousin - George, who live in an extended care facility. We found him doing quite well. It was the first time I had seen his "new" place and it was quite pleasant.

We followed that visit with one to Poppa's Aunt Rita who lives in a retirement home. She has a lovely little apartment where she gets her meals in a common dining room, but has her own space. Her building is fairly new and is very nice - including amenities such as a very large hot tub, mail boxes - just like a fancy apartment building.

Our last scheduled stop was Munchkin's house. Shortly after we arrived Poppa went to the specialty coffee shop to get a treat for Mama and himself. This left me with some quality time with little Munchkin - we played nicely and practiced climbing on the coffee table. I found him to be quite adept at this, except for the fact that he forgot sometimes to hold on and that could have been catastrophic if Nanna hadn't been holding on to him! When Poppa returned with the coffee, Mama took a few minutes and just relaxed while Munchie and I played. As soon as Poppa finished his coffee he took over - so Mama and I did some laundry and had a chat.

We arrived home about 8:30pm to find a message on the phone saying that Great Gramma Robert had been returned to her "home" at Leisure World...which was good news. Poppa went over to visit her today and found her feeling quite well and very happy to be home.

April 5, 2009

Before retiring for the night in Bowling Green I received an e-mail to contact Kev-Inn. He had a message for us to call Poppa's brother - to find out that Great Gramma Robert had suffered a heart attack. Oh Dear! According to our source, she was resting comfortably and was stable and everything seemed to be under control. So, we got up bright and early and got on our way. Poppa was getting tired of driving, so we crossed the border into Canada with the intention of stopping in London, Ont. for the night and heading home the next day. When we arrived in London there was no room at any of the hotels since there was a sporting event going on there. Sigh! So we headed north a little further and stayed overnight in Woodstock.

The next morning everything at home was still ok, so we decided to explore the city of Woodstock to see what it was like. We visited a grocery store and toured around the city, and left for home in the early afternoon. I think we were trying to prolong the vacation for as long as possible before getting back to the real world.

Anyway we arrived home late in the day. Kev-Inn had been out to the house and turned on the hot water tank and turned up the thermostat - so it was toasty and we could get cleaned up. However, there was nothing in the house to eat so we snuck out for dinner and some groceries. By the time we did that it was time to turn in. Unlike last year there was no snow in our neighbourhood when we drove in our driveway.

All good things must come to an end - we awoke the next morning with 6 inches of snow in the driveway! Yuk! We holed up and stayed indoors all day. But - I did call work and was invited to return the next day.

So - I did. And that brings us pretty much up-to-date - with the exception of Great Gramma Robert. When she had the heart attack she fell against her bed and bashed her head. You just would not believe the lump she has on her forehead....it is huge to say the least. She was in hospital for about two weeks and they sent her to a big medical center in Newmarket, where they placed an internal pacemaker. She came back to Orillia the same day, and after a couple of days in hospital here she was allowed to return to her place. Unfortunately, the next day she was taken back to the hospital after suffering a bad spell - and as of now she is still there. She was resting comfortably and seemed in good spirits tonight - although wishing she could get back to own bed. There were no beds available so she is still in the Emergency department.

Now the snow is gone again and today it was raining and extremely windy and chilly. I sure do miss Florida!

Munchkin is flourishing! He was at our place for Easter and once again found Poppa to be his favourite thing at Nanna's house. He is almost crawling....he can wriggle around any place he wants to go and is adept at grabbing whatever he sees - he especially seemed to like Poppa's glasses. He is trying to climb everywhere - but forgets to hold on once he is up......and plop.......down he goes, but never complains, just rolls over and starts again! What a cutie. While he was at our place he managed to sit himself up and stay sitting - for the first time! He sat in the high chair and had a jar of baby bananas - for the first time! He didn't even flinch at the bananas - acted like he had been eating them forever. He was much more interested in the tiny taste of sweet potato that Poppa fed him. He went for a walk in his brand, new umbrella stroller with Poppa and Mama and complained about the bright sunshine in his eyes. But, all too soon it was time for him to go home and get rested up for his trip to the doctor for another "shot". So Poppa packed him into the car and we waved good bye.

April 3, 2009

We woke up early on the 3rd of April - turned on the GPS and discovered that we had only about 2-1/2 hours to travel to Memphis. So - we got ready and hopped into the car for the next leg of our adventure. It didn't seem like too long before we started seeing signs directing us to Memphis, but were somewhat surprised that there were no signs indicating that Graceland was there. In fact it was a good thing that we had our GPS because there were no signs on the road into Memphis at all. Nonetheless, we were soon on Elvis Presley Blvd. and heading to our destination. Again - not much signage on the road - just a small one indicating that Graceland parking was on the right. So we pulled into the lot and found ourselves a space, crossed a little bridge and found the main entrance. After purchasing tour tickets we boarded a little bus to take us to the mansion.

We were not allowed to take pictures inside the house unless we declined to use a flash and I had no idea how to do that. Unfortunately we were almost finished that portion of our tour before a kindly, young man on security detail showed me how. Of course, at that point I started madly taking shots. The house was smaller than I imagined, but then, the public only saw portions of the downstairs and none of the upstairs. I recognized all the furniture from photos I had seen in magazines and on television. You've surely seen (for instance) that long white sofa - it was there! The kitchen was much smaller than I would have thought and the interesting thing was that they had a tape of Lisa Marie speaking and she was saying that there was always staff available to make meals any time of day or night. The tour included a look at the "movie room", the "jungle room", his parent's bedroom, the bowling alley, the pool room, Vernon's (Elvis' Dad) office and the little smoke house that Elvis converted into a shooting range. That portion of the tour ended at the Meditation Garden where Elvis' remains are buried alongside his parents and grandmother. It also includes a memorial stone for his little twin brother who died at birth. That was probably the most touching part of the tour for me. At that point I was feeling sooo glad to be there.

The other side of the road was the site of several museums devoted to Elvis. We got to tour his airplanes. There are two. A larger one called the Lisa Marie is outfitted with a lounge, and office which doubles as a bedroom with a pullout sofa, a bedroom for Elvis and two bathrooms - one for Elvis and another for whomever else is onboard. The smaller plane was mainly used by Colonel Parker when they were on tour - it holds ten people and is called the Hound Dog II. Of course (Poppa's favourite museum) we toured the car museum - and I'll tell you there are some pretty amazing vehicles there! There was also a movie memorabilia museum, a platinum, gold, silver record museum (which is pretty amazing since there was also a couple of other sites containing even more of these). There was a Private Presley museum displaying memorabilia and uniforms worn by Elvis during his stint in the military. I should warn anyone thinking of visiting. Graceland is VERY commercialized - be prepared. Having said that, I am sooooo glad we went - another dream come true. It was definitely a good and enjoyable and moving experience.

Since we were done our tour in good time we decided to head up the road in a northeast direction this time and get just a little closer to home before we turned in for the night, someplace in north eastern Tennessee - called Bowling Green.

And just because it is important here is a pic of little Munchkin, taken around the day that we were strolling the grounds and enjoying ourselves at Graceland. He is modelling the very latest in orange jumpsuits. The small fuzzy object is one of his toys. Her name is Ella and she is an elephant that he received before he was even born - from his Gramma. I think they both look stunningly adorable.

April 2, 2009

On the 1st of April we started to gather our stuff together to pack the car for the trip home. None of us were particularly anxious to vacate the villa in Florida to head north to Canada where spring was not yet sprung. But nevertheless, we were looking forward to visiting Graceland the home of the King of Rock and Roll, Mr.Elvis Presley. I have long been a fan and it was going to be a dream come true. The picture shows the very last things to be loaded before we left the Villa. You know - the essentials - my knitting, my computer, my purse, some Kleenex and, of course, Squeegie & Taffy!

So we headed out on the morning of the 2nd and pointed the car in a north-west direction to begin our rather long trek to the western tip of Tennessee. When we reached Alabama we noticed a sign saying we had entered the Central Time Zone and presto! we had gained an extra hour of daylight and therefore travelling time. We made a quick stop to make sure what time it was and then drove until we reached Jasper, Alabama and decided it was time to stop for the night. Alabama is a beautiful state with mountains and greenery. We were all quite tired and had an early night. We still had about four hours to drive to reach Graceland, but the weather had been perfect for the entire day of driving and we were looking forward to the following day.

We were also starting to look forward to seeing our little Munchkin who kept growing and smiling the whole time we had been away. For the first time ever, he rode in the stroller without the infant seat attached. He looks like such a little man!

Not Much Time

Hello There! Yes - I'm here, but I haven't had much time it seems. Today Munchkin is here with Mama and Dada. He is having a nap right now, so I thought I'd take a minute. I've been getting some pictures and should have some latest and greatest shots for you soon.

Poppa got my wireless up and running and I am sitting in the parlour typing........such fun! I can visit and surf and watch television all at the same time...or post a blog while I'm sitting in bed..........whoohoo! What a blast!

Tomorrow we are doing the Easter dinner thing. Right now I think there will be Grandma Grace, Aunt Peggy, Mama, Dada, Munchkin and of course, Poppa and myself. Hopefully when that is done I will have a few minutes to download pictures and recap our vacation.

I have already been back to work and at this point it is actually enjoyable. I'm currently working three days a week - how much closer to perfect can it get?

April 4, 2009

Wow! What a trip! We are in Woodstock, Ont. tonight and it feels good to be back in our home and native land - well except for the coats and shivers! I will post pics and comments of our trip back to the great almost frozen north after I arrive home. The networks at these hotels are not always the safest - and I sure don't want to jeopardize this laptop! So for now, I'll say good night and hop into bed. I'll be back soon!

Just thought I'd add this one picture for you to brighten your day with this cherubic smile!

Quick Note

We're up and preparing for a long drive! Poppa is finishing his morning procedures - I am supposed to be getting the bears dressed. Granny & Gramps are also getting ready. I will try to post while we're on the road! Later!

Kiss the Palm Trees Goodbye

We went for our last swim this afternoon. I'm sure going to miss that pool! The temperature today reached 94F and the water felt great! Gramps has a wonderful swim set with a view of my favourite Florida sight - palm trees!

We're all packed...the car is full! I'm guessing the gas mileage on the trip home is not going to be as good as it was coming down. What did I buy you ask? Well....I bought a small printer for my laptop. It takes up a lot of space and is heavy.....honest. Well, all right, Munchie may not need to buy any clothes at all until next winter. Poppa is going to be very well dressed, and I may have gotten a thing or two for myself.

Last night we went to Bob Evans for supper because we - well we just didn't feel like making it here. Tonight we went to the Olive Garden where we wished Granny a happy early birthday. She had a lot of mashed potatoes with her meal and seemed pleased with it all. We all got back to the villa feeling rather stuffed, but managed to get the car packed anyway - whew!

Tomorrow we expect to be off bright and early and on our way to the west end of Tennessee. Hopefully the weather isn't too bad - they are calling for severe storms in part of the country we have to pass through.

Munchkin is doing all sorts of strange things these days. I sent a little sleeper with lion feet and he has been roaring a lot. Apparently he also feels the need to try and pick the little critters off the sleepers. Mama caught him doing this and teased him until he laughed for her. More interesting - I hear he is starting to get up on his hands and knees and "skooch" across the floor. Skooch is Mama's word. I understand it to mean that he isn't really crawling, but is managing to wriggle around just the same.