I believe

I do believe in miracles altho admit in my own life they've happened rarely. We each define miracles differently as Oxford in its definition acknowledges:

miracle
• noun 1 an extraordinary and welcome event attributed to a divine agency. 2 a remarkable and very welcome occurrence. 3 an outstanding example, specimen, or achievement.

— ORIGIN Latin miraculum ‘object of wonder’.

My object of wonder was a miraculous recovery of goods. I'd been shopping for pillows last Sunday at Sears, and my next stop was at Pier One where I bought a tacky little ring, a bracelet and an evening purse, all on sale. But once back home, I got busy, stuffing the pillows into their cases and prepping the house for my soon to arrive guest. I meant to show my hubby my purchases but time and busy-ness precluded that and it wasn't until after my guest arrived that I thought to dig out my latest buys. They were not to be found. Not under the bed, not in the closet, not in any drawer, not, not, not.

My guest, ever logical, had me retrace all my steps. Retracing my steps in itself is a miracle as "memory serves" is an expression that no longer applies to me. But I did recall putting my Pier One bag in with the pillows to carry them into the house more easily. Well then, my bag must still be in the Sears bag. Where is the Sears bag? Well, it's over at the local charity, the Gulf Hospice, where we weekly deposit all our plastic bags for them to bag their clients' goods. Now that happened on Monday; it was now Friday.

Being an optimist, I go to the Gulf Hospice and enquire. The ladies check all the bags. Nothing. But the manager asks what I lost; I describe the items. "Here's one," she says taking me over to the jewellry counter where my bracelet is hanging still with the Pier One original sales tag and the discount tag! Amazing. "Give me a minute," she says then returns with a big bag of jewellry which contains, miraculously, my evening bag and ring!

Now understand that Gulf Hospice is an extremely busy second hand store, with all kinds of goodies at very cheap prices. It's incredible that my items weren't sold in minutes. Or maybe it was Divine Intervention. Or maybe my taste is sooooo tacky, that one one else in their right mind would buy my stuff even at bargain prices!!

Christmas 2009

2009 was our first Christmas in Florida and I faced it with some trepidation. Yes, we are here by choice, having chosen a temperate clime over a frigid one, but that also meant choosing to leave family and our own little traditions behind at a very special time of year.

But friends, old and new, made the days before, during and after Christmas a joy. The marvels of modern technology too meant we could communicate with our loved ones to share the joy of Christmas season.

I practiced Christmas carols daily on my new piano, and my friend from down the street dropped in regularly as well to practice her piano carols and we actually played some duets which I really enjoyed.

We attended a Living Christmas Tree concert and enjoyed looking at the spectacle (similar to the one pictured here ) as well as listening to the many carols, old and new, which the “tree” presented. There were also short skits and scenarios representing various aspects of the Christmas story, all very entrancing.

Friends made sure that early in December we enjoyed a good, old homemade turkey dinner replete with all the fixin’s including very potent rum balls! Boy, was it every good!

Friends made sure we were invited to a pre-Christmas party, where we enjoyed meeting new people, renewing our acquaintance with others and sampling a wonderful table groaning with a variety of decadent hors d’oeuvres!

Friends made sure we had a Canadian friendship Christmas Eve...we both invited other friends over to our place to share an evening of music, singing, conversation and good food and drink. That it was the “White Lake contingent” but for a few other Canadians and Americans, was lovely.

Hubby made sure we attended an almost midnight mass...so it started at 9pm but the well-practised choir made sure we enjoyed and participated in singing carols for an hour with the occasional solo by very good singers, a trumpeter (female!) and a flutist. Then the actual mass began, and although everyone was in warm weather attire - I was sleeveless! (no parkas or tuques to be seen), it could have been a Christmas Eve mass anywhere.

Friends made sure we went out to a lovely restaurant for Christmas dinner and again, turkey, dressing, all the trimmings made sure our tummies felt the usual over-stuffing despite our annual best of intentions! And the margaritas were an added touch!

Floridians are like people all around the world when it comes to Christmas lights. The home and store displays were spectacular! Some homes have actual poinsettia TREES! Beautiful. So, there’s no snow but there is still plenty of beauty for the eye to soak up. And in the dark, one barely misses the lights’ reflection on snow.

Our tree was the smallest tree we’ve ever had (a tiny fake evergreen, festooned in pink and gold). But it twinkled merrily and red candles, a flaming red poinsettia (a gift from our neighbours), cookies from friends and my painting of a great big Christmas tree on our patio door, all added to the festive look of our condo. Our neighbour festooned our joint condo with outdoor lights which illuminated our corner of the street, always a welcome sight driving home at night after being out dancing.

One thing I didn’t miss was the trepidation of driving in the snow...and I breath a sigh of relief as I write that.

So, in sum, Christmas in Florida ain’t half bad. It came and went as it always does, too quickly. We enjoyed each other, our family and friends, and our little home-away-from-home albeit in somewhat different ways from what we are used to. But the fellowship of Christmas remained intact as did the spiritual celebration. After all, isn’t that what it’s all about?

The above image is thanks to Dave Dieter / Huntsville Times.

No more mortgage hunting

Now, where was I? Oh, yes...we'd looked at a fixer-upper. And decided after 1) seeing it and 2) after the cruise that yes, we'd like to buy. But as you know, you cruise - you lose! We should have made our move right after point 1! Someone made a successful bid the very day we looked. So you guessed it, we lost out. Now there are at least 18 units for sale here, some on MLS, some privately. We made a contract offer with another lady but were refused.

So, despite our yearnings, we're going to follow our investment counsellor's advice and sit tight and rent again next year. So far, we've maybe 3 or 4 choices (2 for sure, 2 iffy). We have decided to rent one upper on the water, with a kitchen balcony facing the morning sun and a lanai facing the evening sunset. The best part is it has a King in the Master Bedroom, and a queen in the guest room. Why is that the best part? Because you have to sleep 7 or 8 hours as do your guests and if no one is comfie, then you're in a dud. The orientation to the sun is also important as we are Canadians looking (like geckos) to bask in the sun! The price is a consideration but you get what you pay for so for us, that's just part of the whole negotiation. That it be furnished is a must as we only bring clothes and golf clubs down with us (and occasionally a piano, or a living room set).

So, now we actually relax (people who know me will doubt this) and enjoy what Florida has to offer. No more real estate conniving...it's a hard addiction to give up but I AM TRYING!!!!

...and in the news

You gotta wonder about the state of the world when this is a front page headline in our local Florida paper:

GUNS ARE RIDING HIGH ON HOLIDAY GIFT LISTS by Drew Harwell (take note especially of the last 7 paragraphs!!)

Then...
Female whooping crane shot in Indiana - story by Barbara Behrendt The cranes are half way in their journey south to Florida...I wish them Godspeed and good luck. Pray no idiot interferes.

As for the concept of being here first...wanna know what happens to wandering gators? According to Rita Farlow’s article(St. Pete Times), trapper Charles Carpenter, who corraled a reptile on someone's patio and loaded it onto a trailer, said the gator weighed "a couple hundred pounds" and likely came from nearby Lake Tarpon.
Carpenter said he wasn't sure of the alligator's gender.
"I asked it how much it weighed and it wouldn't tell me, so it was probably a girl," he said.
Nuisance gators are "processed for their meat and hide," said commission spokesman Gary Morse. Or, as Carpenter put it: "It's headed to the restaurant prep area."

So now you’re hungry...according to this book Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer’s latest book: “On average, Americans eat the equivalent of 21,000 entire animals in a lifetime—one for every letter on the last five pages.”

Kinda turns you off, eh?

And if you’re a golfer...my bad! This article reveals he true nature of the loch Ness monster:

"In November, researchers roaming the depths of Scotland's Loch Ness in a submarine, looking for the legendary monster, reported finding mainly "hundreds of thousands" of golf balls at the bottom, from popular use of the lake as a driving range. A recent Danish Golf Association report lamented the slow decomposition of golf balls (taking 100 to 1,000 years), and one U.K. legislator has called golf balls "humanity's signature litter." [CNN, 11-10-09]

So if we can create bio-degradable tees why the heck can't we do something similar with golf balls!!???

That was an excerpt from "News of the Weird". Read more of Chuck Shepherd’s news of the weird.

And finally, someone getting the Christmas spirit a tad wrong: this article by Mike Morris of the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution describing an Elf who caused a mall evacuation...yeah, Santa's not really into bombs!

What a world!!! But there is some good news...kids and dogs still love to play. Catch this cute video from the Dec. 11/09 Bonnie Hunt show

Hit the Wall

Not proud of it but here's my wall climbing effort aboard the Monarch of the Seas. Thankfully a lady snapped these and offered to send them to me. Thank you, Sheri!