Between the Holidays

Mmm - Mmm - Mmm! Panettone loaf.




And I got this handy little robot from Linda and Louie to sweep up the crumbs!





Signs advertising First Night celebrations on New Year's Eve. We may check that out this year. At least it's warmer than those Eve's up there in Albany!

Saturday morning market. Checking out the glass garden.

We took a walk around the Pier. Lots of tourists and pelicans.

Downtown Tampa as seen from the Pier in downtown St. Pete.

Inside the Pier building.

We went to a holiday house party on Friday night and another one on Sunday night. The Sunday night party had one of those grab bag gift exchanges where you could steal others' gifts. I drew number 1 and got to switch right at the very end. I LOVE snickerdoodles, so I had to steal this one!

Christmas in Clearwater

In looking at the title of this post, I'm reminded that I haven't heard "Christmas in Kilarney" even once on the radio this year!

We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Clearwater. It was a quiet celebration. Knowing how much I like to eat, I thought I'd post a picture of the food items I got in my Christmas stocking.
I found Panettone in a loaf form instead of the round this year and it sliced much better for the toaster!

The weather has been in the 80s during the daytime these past coupld of days, so in the afternoon we went to Clearwater Beach for about an hour, just to walk around. There were quite a few people there. Some even ventured into the water.

Christmas on the beach . . .

When we got back we had our Christmas dinner: lasagna left over from last weekend when Mia and Gina visited, brown sugar coated ham, mixed veggies and potatoes and pepper jack biscuits. Wayne picked those oranges in his backyard this afternoon.

Gifts at Work and other Shots

There have been a lot of gifts flying around at work. When we got in this morning, our branch manager gave us each a key ring with a handmade nickname on it for each of us. Some very funny stuff! We all also got a $25 gift card from Publix. Members have been bringing in gifts too. We got some candy today and each got a card for a free half hour massage, and a Holiday Cash Florida Lottery ticket. Lucky me...I won $25!

These are some random shots that I took on my walk with Mia and Gina on Sunday night before they left to go back home to Orlando.

This Westie was a Christmas gift I got for Gina at the Pawsitively Posh Pooch Pet Boutique located on 4th Street N near me. Ain't he cute?

"Christmas Day" with Mia and Gina

Ah, pretend Christmas morning...still all the fun! We got up around 7:30 am and opened our gifts. Gina got a Christmas Westie! At 7:32 am we were all done opening gifts. No, we stretched it out till almost 7:50 am!

I got this Florida Santa from Ray and Iz. It matches the Island Santa I got for myself last year! I love it!!!

We went to church at 10:00 am. Then around noon we headed down to the Vinoy for our Christmas Feast!

This is the salad station.

Gina with her "breakfast" station plate. Mia with hers.

My plate from the meat station.

My plate from the fruit and cheese station.

Our three dessert plates. By this time we were absolutely stuffed.

As we were leaving the dining room, the manager asked us where my other daughter was. I told him that she was spending the Christmas season out west. He breathed a sigh of relief and said that when they saw us come in, they thought that they would run out of crab legs like they did last year when we ate there.

Early afternoon sky, downtown Saint Petersburg, from the Vinoy Resort deck.

The pool area on the deck.

Back at the apartment for a short nap. We opened the windows and turned on the ceiling fans.