Grr....grumble

I just returned from the dentist...again.  This time it was to replace the temporary crowns with permanent ones.  Par for me, it's never that simple...two crowns are in, the third one has to be remade. So after two plus hours of being scraped, poked, pushed, and x-rayed I still need to go back for more. (You know you've been there a long time when they offer you a smoothie and some Advil.)

I'm toast.  My head hurts.  My jaw hurts.  My gums hurt.  Everything that was on my to do list for today ain't gonna be happenin'.

Off to read more of The Nightingale (awesome book, by the way) followed by long a nap.

Miscellaneous Musings

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Meg likes high school and seems to be adjusting well.  There could be an issue with the math teacher/class (what's new?) but we're giving it a bit of time before opting for a change.  Open House is tonight and I'm anxious to meet her teachers.



***
Bitzy is growing and doing well.  With Meg now in school, I do however feel like a puppy wrangler. "Bitzy, no.  Bitzy, come here.  Bitzy, leave her (Jasmine) alone."  All. Day. Long.  I'm not loving the whole "take her outside every hour" thing but she is doing remarkably well.  On those occasions when she has to go more often, she uses the pee pads 90% of the time.  Not too bad for such a tiny pup but it certainly has put a major cramp in my daily routine.



***
Fin is a now a master at pulling up.  He also loves his food.  Jay sent me this picture of him taken immediately after he'd consumed an entire mango.

That popsicle like thingie is actually a newfangled eating "utensil."  You fill it with soft foods (such as bananas, mangos, etc) and then he knaws on the mesh. It's a way of letting him feed himself without fear of choking.  And oh yeah, it makes a huge mess.  LOL!!!  But as you can see, he's once again pretty darned proud of himself.  


***
My week has consisted of doing laundry, shopping for appropriate school attire, running errands, filling out a gazillion school forms and oh yeah, puppy wrangling.  In fact, I need to see what the little monster is up to right now.  It's way too quiet in here.

Book Club

My girlfriend, affectionately known to me as Chica, and I go way back.  All the way to 1991, in fact, when we met at a Miami research lab where we were both employed.  My family left the area in 1997 but Chica and I have maintained a close friendship for almost 25 years.  She joined a local (to her) book club last year and it sounded like so much fun.  After meeting her book club friends in June I was invited to join.  My first meeting was this past Saturday and given that Chica lives an hour and a half away we've decided to make it a girl's weekend once a month.

The meetings places vary and each member takes a turn as host.  Each month the new host chooses a book and is responsible for the meeting.  Sometimes they take place in their home.  Other times they may be at a restaurant or at some local event, etc.  This past Saturday we met at at restaurant in the Villages of Gulfstream Park in Miami.  Beautiful place!  Upon entering you pass by this massive statue.  And I do mean massive.

We met at Brio, an Italian restaurant.  Great peach bellinis.  (I'm gonna like this crowd.  We enjoyed many pitchers of this delicious concoction.)

The book this time around was The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Phillip Sendker.  It has an almost 5 star review status on Amazon but as a group, we were very mixed.  Personally I gave it  3 stars on Goodreads.  It was ok but I certainly didn't love it.  What I do love however is that this club will "force" me to read a nice variety of books that I would not otherwise pick out myself.  And what a great group of ladies!  I thoroughly enjoyed myself and look forward to getting to know them all. (There are twenty members in all but only thirteen at this particular meeting.)

After lunch Chica and I did a bit of shopping.  A store new to me is Charming Charlie's.  O.M.G.  It's a fashion accessory store that is all organized by color.  I was mesmorized and ectastic upon entering. LOL!!

Very inexpensive too.  I bought a necklace and matching pair of earrings, a cami and a pouch/clutch for all of $28.  Fun, fun, fun!

Later that evening Chica and I went to the Hard Rock Seminole Casino.  We only wandered through the actual casino, spending our time primarily in the outdoor shopping/eatery area.   Since lunch was Italian, we chose Mexican for dinner.

Cheers Chica!

Our next meeting is Sept. 12th where we will be discussing The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah.  I've heard many good things about this one so I'm anxious to get started.

It's Official

Yep, starting today my baby girl is officially a high schooler.

She came home from orientation on Friday with very mixed feelings about the block schedule, her classes/teachers and the new dress code.  This morning wasn't without it's usual back to school drama so I'm sure hoping she has a good first day.

The Many Adventures of FinMan

I received some new photos and videos yesterday.  Fin's Adventureland has expanded to the backyard and I'm a bit jealous.

Plenty of shade, just enough water to cool you off, and the ability to kick back and enjoy a cool beverage without ever leaving the pool.

Totally Awesome!

Happenings

Since my visit last week this little guy has learned a new trick.  (Sorry for the poor photo quality.  I actually pulled it from a video clip.)

He has learned to pull himself up and is quite proud of his new feat.




As for Aunt Meg news, she got this yesterday.

Freshman Orientation is tomorrow.  School starts on Monday.  This is really happening.

A Day with Fin

As I mentioned last week, I was asked to help out with Fin last week while Jay did some car shopping.  I was up and out of the house at 7:30 AM, arriving just after 10:00.  I hope Jay and Colleen don't mind but I have to share this photo in order to set the scene.

This is what I saw upon entering their living room.

I have a feeling that my reaction is similar to what others have upon entering JulieWorld. ROFLMAO!



Fin and I had a great day.  But boy is he ever one busy little guy.

After a while he did start to get fussy but nothing that a little Winnie the Pooh can't fix.

We played hard and slept hard.  Not only did we have a great day together but his daddy had a very successful day car shopping.

At this point, it was just past 7:00 PM and my day was done.  I arrived home around 9:30, one very tired but very happy grandma.







 

Illinois - Part 4

I have a few more Illinois photos that I'd like to share before I move on to "regular" life. Today's post centers around food.

I had a list of places I wanted to visit during our stay, two of which were food establishments.  First on the list was the local pizza parlor that I frequented as a child and teen.  They've managed to stay in business for over 40 years by 'not messing with a good thing' and everyone who grew up there always has it on their list of "must eats" when they return home.

I absolutely LOVE this pizza.  Thin crust but not that burnt brick oven stuff that so popular right now.

For true locals though the only way to eat it is to smother it with French dressing.  

It hasn't changed in forty years and boy do I miss it already.  *sigh*

I also had to visit the mom and pop ice cream shop that I worked at as a teen. I was so happy to see that it's still  a thriving, family run business.  My favorite treat?  Lemon soft serve ice cream, caramel syrup, and crunchies.  I was so excited to see that they still had these crunchies!

 

The lemon we sold in the seventies did not have this bright yellow color but the taste hasn't changed.  I was not disappointed.  Meg loved their ice cream too so we made a second visit before heading out of town.  

A rather unexpected surprise was a new restaurant located in a renovated old hotel.  It had a historic yet trendy vibe, much like that of what you'd see in a much larger city.  Beef is king in the midwest but they did have shrimp and grits on the menu.  Being from Florida I didn't have high expectations but I can honestly say it was one of THE BEST things I have ever eaten.  Absolutely delicious!

  

I'm missing this a lot already as well.  LOL!

And lastly, my cousin introduced me to a very yummy adult beverage.  It was a mix of root beer beer (yes, a root beer flavored beer) and RumChata.  The result is an adult root beer float.  Now that's my kind of dessert.   

I have Rum Chata in my bar stash but now I am on the search for this root beer beer.  Hopefully our local Total Wine carries it.  :-)  

I'm suddenly very hungry right now.  

On Duty

I am on Grandma Duty today so I'm on my way out the door to spend the day with Fin Man.  Jay is wanting to go car shopping and would prefer not to have to wrangle the little guy in the process. (Imagine that?  LOL!!!)  I will be returning home this evening since Meg's long awaited plantation shutters are being installed first thing tomorrow morning.

Also a Big Happy Birthday to my Daddy!  (If you don't hear from me, it's because I've got my hands very, very full.  *smile*)

Illinois - Part 3

My cousin's lake is very well stocked with bass and bluegill and Meg spent many hours fishing off the dock.

She managed to catch several bluegill like this little guy....

And this significantly larger one....

But when it came to getting them off the hook she received help from her six year old cousin.








When she consulted my cousin as to the best bait for bass he offered to take her out on the lake.

She never did catch the elusive bass but she certainly had a wonderful time trying.

Illinois - Part 2

As I mentioned yesterday, my cousin and his family live in the country.  The family business is cattle so my little "city" girl got a glimpse of farm life.

On their property they have chickens, guineas and turkeys.  Mr. Tom Turkey especially liked to come visit us on the porch.

He was like a parrot.  If you "gobbled" at him, he would gobble back at you.  :-)




Meg eventually braved a peek into the hen house.

There were also geese in nearby fields....

and cows....

and haybales...

and corn.  Lots and lots of corn.  We had the opportunity to pick sweet corn one afternoon for dinner later that evening.  It's even more fun when you get to ride in a Polaris to a neighboring farm.

And finally, just a bit of childhood nostalgia.  I have very fond memories of playing with these as a kid.

I still love cattails.


What I couldn't photograph was the smell of the fresh air.  It was absolutely refreshing.

Illinois - Part 1

I'm finally getting around to editing my photos from our recent trip to my hometown in Illinois.  The visit was long overdue (over twenty years) and my aunt, uncle and cousins were such gracious hosts. We had an absolutely fabulous time!

My extended family live in the country a few miles outside of town.  My cousin and his wife recently built a country resort of sorts behind their main house.  It consists of a large party/guest house with a beautiful lakeside porch and this awesome piece of construction......  

I mean seriously...is this not AMAZING?  We had a blast!  

My cousin's daughters, ages six and eight, spend nearly every waking minute in the water and they couldn't wait to have Meg join them.  Meg, however, required a lot of convincing.  

Not even jumping from the upper deck was enough to entice her.

It wasn't until I made the second story plunge into the water that Meg finally decided it was ok.  (For the record, I made three jumps that day....all totally sober. *wink* Apparently I'm getting very adventurous in my old age.)  The three of them spent many hours enjoying the lake during our stay.  

If indoor activities are more your thing, my cousin also has a regulation size shuffleboard table.  This was an entirely new thing to all of us and so much fun to play.

Country life sure has changed since I was a kid.  

"Riding Shotgun"

When you're seven and a half months old every day is an adventure.    This week Fin discovered the joy of sitting upright in a shopping cart.

The look on his face when he realized he was "riding in the front seat" is priceless.

Notice that he's wearing his shark outfit that Grandma bought him.  :-)



This latest photo totally cracks me up.  I thought perhaps he was a Super Hero. Meg guessed candy corn.  Turns out his mama put him in leg warmers because his little knees are raw from crawling. LOL!

Olivia Newton-John and Jane Fonda would be very proud.

Around Here...

Sorry for my absence but it's been a very hectic week around here. Interspersed between my regular errands and social engagements (*wink*) have been two trips to the dentist (Meg), two trips to the orthodontist, two trips to the vet and one trip to West Palm to get this darling little addition to our family.

This is the photo we received when we made the inquiry.  I'm sorry....but how could anyone resist this little face?

Bitzy (aka, Little Bit) became part of our family on Monday.  She is a Morkie, a cross between a 4 lb Yorkshire Terrier and a 6 lb Maltese.  As of yesterday Bitzy weighed in at a whopping 2.25 lbs.

Jasmine, our 9 lb Malticon (a cross between an 8 lb Bichon Frise and a 5 lb Maltese) did not quite know what to think at first.  She was extremely wary, always making a wide berth around this new little fluffy ball of fur.

Within twenty-four hours though she came around and now they are the best of girlfriends.






There is still no sign of Sparky.  We all believe that he was far too heavy (16 lbs) and way too feisty (ask anyone who met him) to have fallen victim to a wild animal.  It's definitely perplexing.  Meg and I are choosing to "live in JulieWorld", hoping that he is safe and sound with a new family.