Christmas in Florida

This poem was sent to us in a Christmas card  by my sister and brother in law, Kim and Jim. I love it!

DSH finally has a boat.

 This has been a dream of my hubby's for many years. To get a boat and sail away. Well it isn't exactly a sail boat, and it is small enough to fit in the garage, but it is still a boat.

He used to tell me he had a three point plan for retirement:

1. Hike the Appalachian Trail. 
2. Sell the house in VB and buy a sailboat to live on while exploring the coast of USA.
3. Buy a small house way out in the woods, away from electricity, cell phones and the internet.

He retired first in 2006 and I retired in 2011. I had no real plans for retirement, except to enjoy NOT WORKING, so I was willing to give his plan a try.  The results so far:

• DSH completed #1, in 2007. He left for 6 months, while having a great hike in the woods. I met up with him a few times during the summer and got to meet his fellow hikers.

• We did sell the house and buy a small house, but it is in a neighborhood with palm trees, no woods...

•  I was not sure I wanted to sail away with him until he became more experienced in boating...I am better at floating in the pool than swimming for my life.

As I wrote in a previous post, we had Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant near a marina where there were boats for sale. When we came home, DSH started looking on the Web for info about boats, found this one in the neighboring town, checked it out and bought it. It is a great little starter boat so he can learn his way around the local waters and do a little fishing as well. Lucky the guy we bought it from was willing to bring it here and put it in our garage, because our truck didn't have a tow hitch on it yet.

 While waiting for the hitch  DSH got to know the GPS and fish finder better, as well as cleaning all the exteriors.

This is how it looks with the bimini up.

Does he look happy? He is and so is my sister's hubby who loves to fish.

I am not a person who likes to fish, but after taking the boat out for the first time, DSH told me about the different wildlife he was able to see nearby, like dolphins, rays, and pelicans. That sounds neat, so stay turned for future adventures where I actually go out on the boat with him.

Christmas Town

On Sunday, Dec. 16, my sister Angie and I went to Christmas Town in Busch Gardens, Tampa. We arrived as the day guests were leaving about 5. Parking was a breeze and there were no lines getting through the ticket area.  Before the sun set we enjoyed the gardens.

After the sun set, the lights came on and the park was turned into a snowy wonderland, with snow machines mounted on poles, causing flakes to fall from above periodically. There were areas for kids to throw snowballs, make snowmen, and ride on tubes down hills of snow. Christmas Carols and songs played nonstop in the background. We rode the Sing Along Train around the park, singing as loud as we wanted. There were giraffes and gazelles(I think) still roaming around in the dark. I felt a little bad for the animals who were blinded by the flash from phone cameras.

 I was impressed in how much Christ was in Christmas Town. We listened to a presentation of songs and story from The Three Kings,who explained the meaning of the gifts brought to the Christ child. We heard concerts by a Christian praise band and ended the evening with a concert by Jars of Clay.

no baby in the manger yet

This picture is of the life size Nativity scene that was made out of flowers and greenery. The path to it was a covered bridge with candle filled lanterns hanging from the ceiling and on the walls.







This living statue angel looked like a real statue and startled people who walked by as she moved.