A Miami Morning

This past April 17th (my birthday) I along with my best friend Cher, went to Miami, Fl. for a week of fun in the sun! It was great there........wonderful weather, blue skys, no humidity (the locals say this is the best time to come, as it gets very humid in the middle of the summer) and white sandy beaches.
We did the tourist thing, when on a Casino gambling boat (where I won money!) and shopped around South Beach.......let me tell you, there is some SERIOUS money down there!
This picture is what I saw every morning when I woke up out of my hotel window...swaying palm trees, the blue sky, the beach, sometimes an early morning jogger going by. It was so peaceful and quite. Cher and I would sit out on the balcony in the mornings and just take the beautiful scenery in.

Felix

This is my cat Felix, he is a big boy, about 20lbs. He has the life, a real "mama's" boy........spoiled rotten!
He came with me from Virginia with his brother BooBoo (who is now deceased, and boy do I miss him!)

Little Nanny

Here is another picture of my Nanny, isn't she cute!

Nanny and her bird

Nanny and her bird are just about inseparable.......she would rather live with animals and she said she is going to animal heaven when she dies.....I believe it!

My grandmother has contributed for over 50 years to the foundations, institutions and any other cause for the prevention and cruelty to animals. Any pets she has had in her life time has been loved and spoiled rightly!

At about 4'2", she is a dynamo at her age of 96. Her mind is still very sharp (once in a while she forgets things, but don't we all).....it is the body that is slow and unsteady now. But she still gets around and goes grocery shopping every Sunday (with the help of her neice Judy that picks her up in her car, my Nanny can't drive anymore.......and believe me you wouldn't want her too! She is bad enough with a shopping cart, ramming others and pushing them out of the way in the grocery store).

I LOVE HER!!

Trip to RI to see "the girls"

My Mom
This is the building that my Mom and Grandmother live in, it is for older, retired folks.

Saturday around noon, Cher and I took off for RI to visit with my Mom and Grandmother again. We hadn't seen them in about 3 weeks since last weekend we were just getting back from Virginia.

We had a nice visit and Nanny (my grandmother ) made a Wonderful! beef soup. Yum!! At 96 yrs old, she can still cook up a mean dish! She has always loved to cook and has always been great at it. My Mom's cooking is ok, not as good as her Moms. Sorry Mom!!

Here are a few pictures............

Update on the most adorable couple in the world..

Joey and Erin went to the Founder's Dinner and Dance in Roanoke Virginia last Saturday night (Oct. 15th (when I was flying back to Massachusetts from Roanoke).

They sent me a picture of them there........aren't they the most adorable!!

They are just the cutest!!

Mr. Bailey and his family

Yesterday Cher and I went to RI to visit with the girls again (pictures to follow in next Blog) on the way home we met up with 2 of our very dear friends, Mary and Deb.

We had the best time! We met at Longhorns in West Springfield for dinner (critics corner: the place was spacious and clean, the service was "annoying" and the food honestly wasn't the greatest - for stating "fresh steaks never frozen". The steaks were bland, kinda like dull cardboard........the potato was good though :) (never can mess up a good baked potato) but the "Buds" visit was the best! Cher and I got there around 6:30PM and Mary and Deb had already gotten there and had our table ready.
We ate, drank and talked til about 10:30PM........shut the place down just about! It was the company that was so great. We have not seen Mary and Deb in quite a while and got to catch up on how they and their family's are doing. And talk about families.......there is a new addition to their family, Mr. Bailey (in the center of the picture, isn't he handsome!) and Ms. Brandy, there she is smiling in the picture, she is so proud of her little family.........and then the new "baby" of the family Ms. Amazing Grace! she is adorable!!! Gracie for short she is called, but she is an Amazing Grace, cuz she almost didn't survive when she came into this world. But with LOTS of LOVE, CARING, and CONCERN (and many sleepless nights) she made it......isn't she AMAZING!
It was a GREAT night and Cher and I can't wait to do it again! Mary and Deb, you're the best!!

Some shots of Cher

Traveling on the Blue Ridge Parkway we decided to take some pictures of our adventure.

The car I had rented was very nice, as you can see Ms. Cher is modeling it for us.

It is a 2005 Chevrolet Malibu..........nice ride! Something to consider when I decide to purchase a new car in the future.

I've been looking at the new Chrysler.......ya never know :)

But for right now, I have MORE IMPORTANT things to save my money for in the future.......good things are happening ahead!!!

The cutest couple in the world!!

So here they are.............the cutest couple in the world! At least I think so........being "Mom"

My Joey and Erin, dancing together on a Friday night at Floyd County Country Store.

We all had a great time, and you can see by the smile on their faces that they were having a great time with each other!


Aren't they just the cutest!!

Where do you go Pee in the middle of the mountains?

Arrg! Cher and I were driving the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway, having a great time, enjoying the solitude and the scenery...........we had also been drinking coffee earlier and then diet cokes........you know what must happen next!

Well let me tell ya, we were looking and looking for a port-a-johnny, a rest stop with a restroom.........or by the time my eyeballs were floating......a big bush!!

Low and behold at the top of the mountain, which let me tell you the Blue Ridge Parkway is MILES long...........we FINALLY found a picnic area that had a bathroom! (Tourist note: there is only one bathroom facility on the Blue Ridge Parkway).....so I turned in and parked the car.......
Well here I am doing my rendition of the "peepee: dance. Cher wanted to take a picture and I just wanted to get in there! I must say, for a rustic bathroom, it was quite nice........clean with all the amenities (toilet paper, paper towels and soap! Real clean too :)

Anyway, this was just another stop on our journey in Virginia..........later!!

And then there's Claude...

This is Claude, he is a Lama. He is kinda shy, he was hiding behind a hay bale when I first met him. But I slowly coaxed him out for a picture. Isn't he the cutest!! He belongs to the Paulette family, dear friends of my son Joey. Mr. Paulette works at Virginia Tech and manages the farm for the college, all 1700 acres! They have goats to but they were up on a mountain hidden behind some trees so I didn't get to meet them, but I could hear them Baaing off in the distance.

Also there were the sheep! They were BAAAAING.....and Baaaing!! wanting to be fed. They were so cute and so strong! I didn't realize how strong sheep were until I was trying to hold their feeding bowl as they ate. They would push and nudge each other out of the way to get the grain.

More updates from my trip to Virginia later!!

More pictures from Virginia

Ahh..............still enjoying the memories of my trip to Virginia.


Here are a few of the highlights, I hope you enjoy! Here are some from Floyd, Virginia, the best little knee slappin', tobacco chewin', foot stomping, tooth grinnin', and you might win a Ham too! place in western Virginia.

Back from Good Ole Virginia

Well I am back from Virginia and had the best time with my son! Everything was beautiful there, the sun shining, nice fluffy clouds........the mountains everywhere.
The flights were nice, nothing eventful. I love to fly anyway, it is one of the most relaxing things to me (they need to do something with the seats though....kinda squished).

Cher and I flew from Hartford, CT. to Charlotte, N.C. and then into Roanoke, VA. Rented a car (very nice one I might add) and headed towards Christiansburg, VA. to the hotel we were staying at....the Howard Johnson's Express Inn (I would NOT recommend it). But it was a place to "hang our hats" and sleep. Joey (my son) had to work since he had just gotten back from a vacation in Hawaii, so during the day Cher and I took in the sights of the GREAT Virginia Tech. campus, the sights of Blacksburg and Christiansburg, and went for a sightseeing tour of the BlueRidge Parkway.

I got to meet Erin!! She is adorable, sweet and a wonderful young woman. I can see why my son Joey is so taken with her. They make such a cute couple. I was so happy to meet her and get to know her. I also got to meet her family, we all went out for dinner and had a great time! So much to do and see in the short amount of time I was there, but I was so glad to be back in Virginia!
A few highlights were also meeting some of Joey's friends (Wednesday night get together at Joey's house with dinner fixin's) and the Paulettes, a very nice southern family that has "adopted" my son and taken him under their wings. I also got to meet some of their "pets", 2 dogs, some sheep and a Lama named Claude. He was a little shy but did let me take his picture.
Then off to Floyd! You have not lived unless you have been to Floyd, VA. It is a cute little southern town nestled in the mountains of western Virginia. There is a store there in the center of town and every Friday night they have an honest to goodness Blue Grass Hoe Down! It was great! So much foot stompin', hand clappin' , heehawin", it was a blast!
Saturday morning Joey and Erin ran a 5K while Cher and I watched :) No going for these 2 "old" ladies.
I was exhausted when we got home (late Saturday night) that Cher and I didn't do much of anything but lay around all Sunday. We had gone hiking to the Cascades hours before our flight took off and we were sore! the next day.
I will be posting some of the pictures of my trip to VA.
It was WONDERFUL! to see my son again, and can't wait til he comes here for Christmas with Erin!

My "monkeys" and Virginia

Well the weekend is finally here.YaY! It is rainy here this weekend but I don't mind a bit, I am thinking of this coming week and going to Virginia! Going to visit my son Joey, meet Erin and go to Floyd's! Can't wait to get back to the land of "y'alls" and southern comfort.

The picture is of my 2 "monkeys" my sons, I keep it on my desk at work and Mr. Monkey watches over them. I look at it everyday and think of them.......LOVE them!!

Today (Saturday) my plans are to get ready for VA! Gotta go get my nails done and a little shopping (clothes.......as I have gained weight!) Also need to print out my airline tickets and the itinerary.

Have a great weekend and I'm on my way to VA!!

Aloha from Hawaii

So my son has sent me a beautiful postcard from Hawaii, where for the past week he has been with friends. His BLOG has kept me updated as to what he has been doing and where he has been going........I am so happy that he has had this opportunity to go there and be with friends.

I am leaving Oct. 12th to go to Virginia to see him! Haven't been back to VA in over 2 years........can't wait!!

Weekend happenings

So the weekend was busy and went well. Saturday as planned, Cher and I went to visit "the girls". I brought my Mom a new Swifter Sweeper to help with all the cleaning of the birdseed that gets all over from my grandmothers bird. Also brought her a few more books, she loves to read and I go all over the place trying to find her books she hasn't read yet. Left Cranston, RI around 4PM, and headed to the University of Rhode Island to visit with Cher's neice Amanda. URI is a beautiful campus right next to the ocean! The 3 of us went to Narragansett to have dinner at a seaside resturant called "Turtle Soup" excellent place with good food. Headed back to Easthampton that evening after dropping Amanda back at her door, arriving home around 11PM.

Sunday morning was a morning of leisure, then in the afternoon off to the BIG E! Emily ended up not going as her and Julia had to babysit, so it was just Cher and I.
We had a great time, the weather was perfect, saw the parade, had lunch at the Lion's Club (always for a good cause).......checked out all the vendors, saw a great show from the People's Republic of China.....balancing, chairs, plates, and each other! It was fantastic! Ended up the evening by watching the concert of Taylor Dayne. She sang some of the "oldies" from the 80's and a few new songs that are coming out in her latest CD.

Monday I had my first bike ride on my new bike!! Just around the block, but it is a start.........gotta get the ole legs in shape for the bike trails......again hopefully this coming weekend I will get to the trail.

Back to work tomorrow.............yay *sigh* :)