Opening Day

Welcome to my first blog entry!

My Dad's visit is drawing to a close. He leaves tomorrow at noon. While we dread his departure, I undertand that he is anxious to return to his home in Dumas, Arkansas. We enjoyed the last month with him and especially appreciated spending Thanksgiving together. So many holidays in Alaska were spent away from family that every occassion spent with family is special. Eddie is going to miss his Papaw's continuous belly rubs.

Dad was able to spend a week down in Arcadia, FL visiting his only remaining sibling - Aunt Flossie. Dad made a quick trip last April to help Aunt Flossie celebrate her 90th birthday. We hoped to take her out for a birthday dinner but when we arrived (it's about two hours from our house in Clearwater to her house in Arcadia) she had not only made her own birthday cake but was preparing a dinner for 15 people!

Jerry is busy attaching icicle lights to our eaves and I am in the process of decorating the Christmas tree. We are picking up Jerry's mom in a couple hours and meeting my Mom and Aunt Hellen (yes, that is how it is spelled) at a Polish restaurant. None of us have ever been to a Polish restaurant so it took some talking to get everyone to agree but I've heard that Polish food is a well-kept secret. I'll let you know ;) I am looking forward to seeing my Aunt Hellen. She arrived at my mom's yesterday.

I talked my Dad into a surprize outing last night only telling him that we would be outside and would get a little exercise while having a good time. I took him to the St. Petersburg Shufflboard Club. They have a special hours of 7 - 11pm on Friday nights and since the temperature was perfect, I thought it would be a fun father-daughter activity. For the first time in 5 months, they were rained out! Too bad because a photographer/reporter from Southern Living magazine was there to take photos of the courts and people, all illuminated by the white Christmas lights.