A note from the Sunshine State

I love the sunshine and warm temperatures here in Florida but it is amazing how quickly one thinks of this as the norm. Is it really still cold and wintery in Ohio?? 

With Steve working 12-14 hour days I have had to keep myself busy. Not hard here at the LongBoat Key Club. Plenty of reading on the beach, tennis, golf and biking. I would add that there is a  little shopping in the area too, but those of you that know me well know how much time I have spent doing that. Yesterday brought the first rain we have had in over 2 weeks. I performed some of the mundane household chores around our little suite that the daily maid service doesn't perform. Washed clothes, threw away newspapers, and spent some time doing paperwork. Yes Jessica I finally finished your California taxes. Today rain is again in the forecast. I will probably trek across the bridge into Sarasota and spend some more time at Mom and Dad's. Tuesday night is BINGO at their mobile home park and although I have not won yet Mom is the lucky one and she enjoys having me tag along.

 I miss home and there is a growing list of things that should be getting done there that can not be handled from Florida. Belmont has reopened and the summer activities are being planned. Our normal kickoff to the golf season is our Masters Party. We opted not to have it this year because of the uncertainty about our return date from Florida. Not that the prep time is significant, but I think I might be going a little crazy at this point trying to complete the preparations from here. I am sure there is someone out there feeling left off the invitation list this year that doesn't realize there is no party.

I miss my time with AJ. Jesi posted pictures of him at the circus yesterday and it made me miss him even more. I have been skyping with Mike and that helps me feel better about how he is handling our time away. Very capably I might add. Last week on skype, he told me I could move down here because he is fine. Of course that was after I told him he needed a haircut and I wanted to see it cut before we got home. He still needs a Mom!

Off to the tennis court now. Rain must be forecast for later today.

A Birthday Dinner... not quite

We had the pleasure of joining Jim and Lois and their host Jean, the night before Jim turned 90. We dined at Jeans club in Sarasota and ate birthday cake. And as the band played music and wished Jim a happy birthday he took part in a hula hoop competition. Does this look like a ninety year young person or what!! A good time was had by all and hopefully this is only the beginning of a celebratory ninetieth year for Jim.

A Happy Day

Going back to December 31st you can read my resolution to try to get back into running. I thought about doing some 5k races and maybe even a 10k with the idea that having a goal would make skipping a workout harder. As I looked at the race calendars I saw the First Watch race in Sarasota during our stay here. Only problem was that it was a Half Marathon. That is 13.1 miles. I pondered on it pretty much the month of January and ended up signing up because it is advertised as a walker friendly course. I knew I had enough time to train for a walking event and maybe throw in a few jogs. And running a hlaf marathon had always been a kind of bucket list thing I thought about trying. The goal would be to finish the race and it would be nice to shoot for 15 minute miles. The course was to be open for 4 hours so I felt pretty comfotable about being able to finish. As the event drew nearer I worried that I had taken on a little more than I could accomplish. My longest practice walk/run on the treadmill at home had been just 10 miles. And the treadmill is suppose to be easier than outdoors. Yesterday was spent in thinking "what have I gotten myself into". But as I surfed the web on last minute ideas I read one that stuck with me. "Whatever you do don't talk yourself out of the race". The last thing I looked at last night on the race website was a box to postpone your entry to next year. I might have thought about it but I didn't click on it.

So at 5:30AM this morning...which thank you daylight saving time was 4:30AM on the clock in our room I got up and set about my December goal. There were 2200 half marathoners along with another 200 relay teams at the start. I placed myself with the walkers who were all well back from the actual starting line. It was cold and dark but Steve was there with lots of positive thoughts for me as well as the advice "DO NOT GO OUT TOO FAST". I followed the advice and walked pretty much the first 6 miles. I was amazed at how well I felt so from that point on I started adding a little jogging mixed with the walking. I felt great at the 12 mile mark and walked under the finish line at 3 hours 6 minutes and 45 seconds. BUT my true time as posted was 3 hours and 3 minutes. The new technology has a computer chip on your bib that computes when you cross the starting line and when you finish. Pretty cool. Now I think I need to do another half marathon and break the 3 hours. I know I could have run more but I was sticking to the plan of being able to finish and I did.

Steve had the camera and of course as any good event planner would know there will be professional photos available, so look for more pictures. Thanks for all of you that knew I was doing this and didn't think I was crazy.

P.S. The calories burned chart shows that approximately 100 calories are burned per mile...hummmm..I think I'll be enjoying something special tonight.

Another year has passed

Yesterday marked the third anniversary of John's death. It still is brutally close in my memory. The details remain as vivid as if it were yesterday. But thank goodness life has continued to move on. There were many thoughts of John yesterday but we were fortunate to be with wonderful friends and family. We started the day in Atlanta with our friends Tom and Julie and ended the day in Florida with my Mom and Dad. Along the way we talked to Mike and Jessica and texted with Kim. All caring people that have shared in this journey of living, loving, and losing. Thanks for always being there even when you might not have known the part you were playing.

Thought for today has to be;

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”

Mahatma Gandhi

Office with a View

AJ and I spent yesterday together visiting the Imagination Station (old COSI) and then we had lunch with Steve at his office. AJ has been to the office before and he loves looking at downtown from high above the city. Of course Grampa has to have some games and toys to play with so Steve is teaching AJ the card game of War. AJ also got on the computer and was disappointed that Grampa doesn't have any games on his laptop. Poor Steve uses it to work.

In Like a Lamb....?????

The saying goes if March comes in like a lamb it will go out like a lion. Today was pretty normal for the averages of March 1st. It was a pretty day though with sunshine and melting. Hopefully most of our bad winter weather is gone. It is time for golf. I do not want to return from Florida in April and have to endure another snow storm. As it stands now we are leaving Friday and will return on April 3. Spring can not come too soon.