Valentino's!

The team I was on for the first quarter of the year won our referral contest and we got to go out to dinner on Thursday after work! We went to one of my favorite places here in St Pete . . . Valentino's! A good time was had by all, from the homemade Valentino Chips, the sangria, the entrees and the tiramisu and Zeppoli!

My Chicken Francese . . .

Valentine's Weekend

We're still in the midst of our cold spell here in Florida. Day times are getting into the low 50s. On Saturday night my work group had a bar-b-que at Michelle's and Randy's to say goodbye to Erika, who is leaving us at the St. Pete branch to go to headquarters.

Pork roast by Randy! Main dish and salad table.

Desserts; not all there yet.

Cannoli Cake from Mazzaro's

My plate.

Michelle and Randy.

Molly

Lynn, looking serious.

Tracy with her Dreamsicle drink!

Cheers! Robert and Jelena

Wayne playing Daddy to Marty, Erika's and Aaron's son.

Gelato, our dessert on Valentine's Day.

A Weekend in January

The weather has gotten back to normal for this time of year; daytime highs around 70 degrees.

I picked these tangelos in Wayne's backyard on Saturday. The rose is from his yard too.

Wayne baked the two layers of the coconut cake. The cake took 3 sticks of the butter and the frosting took another 3. Did I tell you I started back at the gym last week?

Then we headed over to Rosalie's and James' wedding. I work with Rose. It was a nice celebration. Good food and lots of fun!

A bunch of my co-workers. I'm saving most of the other pictures for blackmail.

All the Single Ladies dance for Nadia!

Linda and Louie came to visit on Sunday morning. We went to Cafe Alma for brunch and then back to my apartment for conversation and coconut cake!

Wayne makes another fantastic coconut cake!

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 is a Coming . . .

About a month or so back, our manager sent out an email asking us various questions about our favorites, such as favorite candy, snack, store, restaurant, etc. This morning our manager and assistant manager and teller supervisor came bearing gifts for each of us. A bag of our "favorite things"!

Cape Cod Russet potato chips, dark chocolate candy, extra strong coffee (name blurred to protect the innocent), Starbucks gift card and a lottery card (I won a buck!).



An updated photo. Gifts for the girls under the tree. Mia and Gina will be here tomorrow!!!


P.S. A year ago today I totalled my Jeep!

Color Code: Purple

Our credit union provides us with company shirts to wear on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Monday is green, Wednesday is white, Friday is black, and Saturday is white again. Tuesdays and Thursdays we're on our own.

Yesterday at work a couple of the other tellers thought that we should do a color theme day today, and the color was purple. Now, I have this purple (family) shirt that I've had for a couple of years but have only worn several times because it needs to be ironed. So, wanting to participate, I dug the shirt out of the closet and ironed it last night.

My schedule for today called for me going in at 1:00 pm. And, what do you know? I was the only one in purple.

The Vault is Closed

Yesterday was my last day working at the Operations Center of the credit union. Fortunately, there were no problems with any of the projects I work on during my normal routine and all went smoothly. WHEW! It was a busy day . . . with a break for cake and farewells in mid-afternoon. As I handed over my keys, it hit me again, that another chapter had ended.

Afterwards, I met up with the group that I worked with at the Albany branch of the credit union. They wanted to say their good-byes and took me to dinner. Because the wait at Chili's was so long, we headed up Wolf Road to Firkin & Fox Pub. Another first for me. A delicious reuben, but no fresh mint for a mojito. I had a lot of fun working with this crew. Lots of laughs, great hours and a sweet 8 minute commute.

A quick stop at BJs to buy more packing tape, then off to a final Friday night of hanging out with buddies. These are friends I sure will miss. But, onward. My bags are almost all packed.

Another Day of Packing, with a fine Dinner Chaser

Some of my co-workers from the unit I work in at the credit union took me to dinner tonight. After a day of packing some more, taking a walk and turning in my E-ZPass tags, I was ready for it. And, for the first time, I didn't order Bang Bang Chicken and Shrimp!!! I had a delicious pasta dish of angel hair with "grilled shrimp, fresh asparagus, shiitake mushrooms, oven roasted tomatoes and parmesan in a delicious garlic sauce" followed by Lemoncello Cream Torte, which consists of: "Layers of vanilla cake and lemon mascarpone cream topped with streusel and served with strawberries and whipped cream". Buuuuuurrrrrpppppp! I won't have to eat for the rest of the week!