St Pete 32

Oct 18, 2012

I am so grateful for the loan of Karen's car, even though the air conditioning is broken.  And I can't figure out how to open the sunroof.  And it was close to 90 degrees today with bright sunshine.

With the windows wide open, I drove down to Bradenton to get my new debit card that was mailed to me.  Jim and I visited for a while.  Then I headed over to the movie theatre to meet Sandy.  She had left her favorite pillow at my house the other day, and I brought it back to her. 

We saw an amazing film: ARGO.  I highly recommend this movie, unless you can't take suspense.  This is the true story of the six Americans who hid at the home of the Canadian ambassador during the Iran hostage situation in 1980.  Ben Affleck directed and starred in the movie, and he deserves awards for both achievements.  Not knowing, or at least not remembering, this part of the hostage situation, I didn't know how the movie was going to end.  I won't give it away, but I was drained at the end of the movie.  Two other women who saw it said the same thing as they were leaving the theatre. 

I drove home and had to spend an hour at the pool to recover.  The movie was THAT powerful.

St Pete 31

Oct 17, 2012

I have made the most wonderful friends in Gulfport.  Karen is going to Atlanta for a week to support her daughter in the 60-mile Breast Cancer Awareness Walk, and she offered to let me use her car during her absence.  I was very touched by the offer.

George picked me up and brought me to Karen's house to get the car.  I followed him back to his office for a chiropractic adjustment.

Even though I had wheels, I needed to stay in the condo and do some things.  Another friend loaned me her sewing machine and I made some primitive repairs to clothing.

The big event of the day was swing dancing.  Geez, I love swing dancing!  The class starts at 7:00pm.  Sam, the instructor, starts with the basic step each week for newcomers.  I got there at 7:30 as he was showing a new step, which he does every week.  Then I danced my fool head off until 10:30 - that was late for me.  A friend I had met, Stone, who is a drummer in a Cajun-Zydeco band, stopped by to see me for a few minutes.  He knew where to find me.  He knew I was leaving soon and wanted to say goodbye to me.  Sweet.

St Pete 30

Oct 15 - 16, 2012

Oct 15
I got the house clean for my guest.  Sandy from Siesta Key came for an overnight.  As most of my friends know, I am not much of a cook.  It's not that I can't cook; it's that I have trouble thinking of what to cook.  Karen gave me a simple menu: saute garlic in olive oil with spinach and fresh tuna and put it over brown rice.  There's a fabulous fish store in Gulfport and I went there to get tuna chunks, which are about a third of the price of tuna steaks but are the same meat.

When Sandy arrived, we spent some time by the pool, overlooking the bay, sipping pinot noir.  Ah, life is good.  Then I made dinner, and we settled in for one of our favorite shows, Dancing with the Stars.  This season, winners from previous seasons are competing, so the dancing is superb. 

Oct 16

This morning I introduced Sandy to Gulfport.  Today was the Fresh Market - the sidewalks were lined with booths selling arts and crafts, food items, and fresh produce.  I saw many of my new Gulfport friends.  We walked down the city pier, which I've been wanting to do.  It was a glorious day - sunny and warm with a light breeze.

We sat outside to have a tasty lunch at Tangelo's.  First Vivi stopped by on her bicycle to chat, then her partner George stopped by on his bicycle.  Every time I go to Gulfport I feel like it's home.  I think I know more people there than in Grecia.

We stopped at Karen's because I wanted to show Sandy Karen's house and studio, which are coming along really well.  Geez, I still have not taken a picture of her house.  Karen bought it in a short sale one month ago and has been working hard to fix it up.  I'll miss Karen's housewarming party.  She's asking for cuttings of plants that she can start in her yard, so I chopped off a branch of a plumeria bush and will go plant it in her yard while she's gone next week.

St Pete 29

Oct 13 - 14, 2012

Oct 13
Even though I had a car, there wasn't anywhere I wanted to go, so I hung out by the pool.  I met a couple from Cape Cod who keep a place here.  He had a strong Massachusetts accent.  Do I sound like that?!

I didn't have anything planned for nighttime, either, so I called Karen and she was up for going to a beach bar for dinner and drinks and listening to music.  We went to Sunset Beach on Treasure Island and started at Caddy's.  The Paul Anthony Band was great!  They played oldies that we knew.  The club sandwich was just okay.  The sunset was spectacular.  I took a picture just before the big red sun was about to set. 

Then we went across the street to Ka-Tiki, where another band was playing.  Someone asked me to dance, but he didn't know how.  Karen offered to take a picture of a group of people, and one guy rewarded her with a beer, then came over and talked about how much money he had and how generous he was.  We called it a night shortly after that, but it was fun to spend an evening by the beach.


Oct 14
This was my fifth Sunday at First Unity and I was still moved by the service.  The focus was on the interconnectedness of life (which is a UU principle as well).  At the end of the service the children came in with some animals - mostly dogs and one bunny.  The animals seem to be hiding in this picture.

St Pete 28

Oct 11 - 12, 2012

Oct 11
I turned the car in early, so I hung around the house.  Nigel, the guy who wants to have extensive dental work done in Costa Rica, came over to pick my brain again.  This was the second time, and there's nothing left to pick now.  We sat by the pool enjoying the lovely day.


Oct 12

Friday - I rented another car for the weekend.  I love the weekend specials: $9.99/day plus tax.  I headed down to Sarasota for a lovely sail in Sarasota Bay with Ron on his 32' Island Packet.  He put it on autopilot going away from Marina Jack's (where he docks his boat) for a controlled sail at under 3 knots.  Then coming back with the easterly wind, we got up to 8 knots.  Woohoo!  We were moving.

Captain Ron

St Pete 27

Oct 10, 2012

I rented a car first thing in the morning, just for the day.  The people at Enterprise are so nice.  They know me and I know them, and they know that I like to drive the Dodge Avenger, so they give it to me whenever they can.

I headed south to Bradenton where I had to get a legal document, and while I was there, I stopped in to see my ex-husband and visited a short while.  He had just received my voting ballot.  I voted straight Democrat for the candidates, but then he had to explain to me the confusingly-written proposals.  Since I don't know what's going on in Manatee County, Jim made recommendations for me and I went along with them on the ballot. 

In Sarasota I returned some merchandise that I had bought, and stopped at a health food store for some awesome horseradish chicken salad.

I made it back up to Gulfport in time to play a round of cribbage with Karen, Marge and Marty.  Then I drove up to Visionworks to pick up my new and improved sunglasses and clear glasses.  The prescription feels right now.

Home for a quick nappypoo, and then I'm going swing dancing.  Woohoo!

St Pete 26

Oct 8 - 9, 2012

Oct 8

Bob and I drove along the coast to Madeira Beach to visit John's Pass Village.  It's a quaint area devoted to touristy stores.  I've been there a couple of times, and I thought Bob would enjoy it, and he did. 

Kilwin's, a great ice cream and fudge shoppe in Sarasota, has a branch on the boardwalk here, so we stopped and had some of each.  Ice cream and fudge didn't go well with Bob's beer. 

Then we went to downtown St Pete Beach to the movie theatre.  We were going to see Moonrise Kingdom, but the worker there said the sound quality was bad, so we went across the street to a bar where the people were friendly.  Back at the condo, Bob made spaghetti sauce that was very good. 

Oct 9
Bob took off this morning.  In the afternoon, George rode his bicycle over with Chinese food to share.  We spent a couple of hours by and in the pool, talking about marketing for his chiropractic practice and life in general.