A Work in Progress...

Monday, January 23, 2012

A January Sunday Boat Outing

The slideshow version!

A January Afternoon Boat Outing

Kevin and David rented a pontoon boat and were in need of a crew, so they invited us to go along and help trim the sail. I think most of us thought we were going to some kind of sale, but anyhow, it was a fun six hour excursion through some of the Suncoast Barrier Islands.

Our tour took us from Indian Shores down to Pass-A-Grille Beach and back again. We shoved off shortly after 10:10 AM

David was our skipper. He sure knows his stuff! An afternoon of smooth sailing thanks to Skipper! I've even forgotten about that slight bump when we pulled into the dock. David was great at minimizing the water coming over the bow whenever a speeding boat passed!

Landlubbers sitting a fore. (I have no idea if that is correct.)

When we broke for lunch, the rest of the crew voted to throw Wayne and me overboard when we took out our cloth napkins and metal forks from our picnic satchel. Fortunately no one suggested keelhauling us!

Bay Pines VA Hospital complex.

John's Pass

Spotted some dolphins along the way.

And a fine mist.

We heard rumor of Oprah having a home in this vicinity. We were hoping to catch a glimpse of Gayle or maybe Stedman.

Proud Mary?

The downtown St. Pete (unhappiest place in the US) skyline and Tropicana dome look fairly close!

This speeding boat didn't see us before passing.

Another dolphin sighting. There was a pod of them in this area.

Guess who is skippering this boat?

How nice of them to open this drawbridge for us! Maybe because we were standing with our hands raised above our heads?

This is the bridge we normally travel over to Sunset Beach on Treasure Island.

We landed back at the dock just after 4:00 PM. What a great way to spend a winter sunday in Florida! And what a great first day of complete retirement!

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Another Milestone!

Today marks my last day with Grow Financial FCU. I am surrendering that HQ badge today. That photo was taken when I was in orientation in October 2007, shortly after moving here to Florida.

We were all dressed like Charlie Chaplin this day. I just couldn't trim down my moustache.

A "pirate" for Halloween one year.

This was taken at my manager's house for our Christmas party. My introduction to holiday parties in Florida, in the back yard!

I think this one was from Christmas Eve 2007. After we got out at noon, I headed to the beach.
I first "retired" in 2004, but continued to work part time and full time off and on. Now it's time to do the full time retirement. Looking forward to it!!!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

MMMMMM! For a cool chilly winter night . . .

Discovered that feta cheese was BOGO at Publix this afternoon. Didn't realize I already had 3 and a half packages at home already! Hence, a tomato basil feta omelette with bruschetta, and tomato parmesan soup (new Progresso [also on sale] flavor). Had a side of lupini beans. Now all I need is some espresso and biscotti.
Good for a chilly winter night in Florida. OK, so 65 degrees isn't too chilly, I admit.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Tradition - Maybe a New One?

I put my tree up in early December. My tradition is to have "It's A Wonderful Life" playing as I decorate it. I've decided that I need a tradition movie for when I take the tree down. I was thinking of something having to do with the beginning of the year, or new beginnings, or something like that. The movie that came to mind is one that I don't own - "You Can't Take it With You". I like watching it whenever I can when it's on TCM. Like Wonderful Life, it was also directed by Frank Capra and it won Best Picture and Best Director in 1938 (8 years before Wonderful Life). But, because I didn't have it, I watched second best: Big Business!

And I'm not sure what was going on this year. Either my tree was the freshest of any I've ever had, and didn't shed a single needle, or all the needles dropped and disintegrated. Anyhow, my tree is down and so are all the holiday decorations. 2012: bring it!