Hello from Tampa!

 Here I sit... in an empty classroom.

It will fill up shortly.

It's a nice facility and the people are super friendly

and accomodating.

But it's WAAAY too far from my house.

They are looking for an instructor,

but they are going to have to keep looking.

I think I'm headed back down south to Boynton Beach

to teach a 2-weekend class starting in January.

Of course, I have to get to January first.

Next weekend I'm back here for their 

4-day Friday thru Monday class.

Those are a KILLER!

Add a 4-hour drive on both ends of that

and its more than I'm willing to do

more than once to rescue them.

But, here I am.

I stopped at McDonald's this morning and had

the first egg mcmuffin I've eaten since covid.

Last night I ordered fish and chips at Applebees

on the app to just pick up, but it didn't seem to

go through, so I went in person to check.

After nearly 45 minutes of "I'll check".

Different person "I'll go see what's happening".

Different person "I'll go get a manager".

Different person "I'll see what's happening".

Different person "Here's your food".

No bill.

I don't know if I paid for it or not.

Sheesh.

I'll be eating at Wendy's tonight when I get

done here - which won't be until 9:30.

And then back on the road early in the

morning to beat the traffic and get home!

Tampa

 Sun is shining.

The weather is gorgeous.

Good thing.

I have to jump in Rod's truck and drive

across the state to Tampa to

substitute teach tomorrow and Sunday.

I just finished teaching the morning class.

I cut it short by an hour so I can get on the road.

So.......

See y'all!

Checking out the beach mid-hurricane.

The waves were BIG. (You just can't tell...)

And the tide was HIGH (and it was "low tide"...)

The previous high tide went all the way to the dunes!

Our poor banana tree post hurricane.

My poor sleepy husband post hurricane.

(grin)

Hurricane Nicole

 Remember the other day when I said we were

done with all the hurricane stuff for the year?

Surprise!!!

Introducing Hurricane Nicole.

She just sort of popped up out of nowhere.

We had Lisa and Matthew, but they

were headed down to Mexico.

And then, boom. There she was!

Right at this moment she is still a tropical storm,

but expected to be upgraded to a hurricane in an hour or so.

She looks pretty impressive, but we aren't expecting 

much from her here.

The properties on the beach are going to take a beating.

It's a full moon.

So high tide with a hurricane storm surge

is likely to be brutal.

Daytona is already loosing sea walls and property.

We are a little smarter down here and don't build 

right on the beach like they do, so we will loose some

sand, but just did that giant project last year where they

brought in $3million worth of sand to replenish our beaches.

And in other news.....

We re-elected the best governor we've ever had.

By a land-slide.

AND, we (and by we, I mean they, since I can't vote...)

finally replaced our Commissioner of Agriculture with

a man who ACTUALLY owns/grew up on a RANCH.

What a concept.

Sheesh.

So, yeah.

We're having a hurricane.

But whatever.

Everything is right with the world.

(grin)

Random Stuff

 This is what Kyle does when he's waiting

for them to cut more trees...

Silly man.

He was supposed to share some pictures he took

of a GIANT tree... I'll try to remember to get them tonight.

I followed this truck home from church yesterday.

The window sticker has an arrow and the words

"Position Open".

Hahahahaha.

I thought that was sad / funny / ingenious.

(I took the picture at a red light...)

The Elders helping clean out the storage unit.

Typical guys... lol.

They are all coming for dinner tonight.

I think I'm making Cowboy Grub.

And if I'm going to do that, I'd best get on it.

Gotta tidy the house (not that they will notice...

but hey, their Mom might ask... lol.)

I just finished teaching the morning session,

and then I did all the admin stuff, so now I'm

going to make some macaroni and cheese and then

tidy. 

(OK... really THIS is what I'm going to do...)

I'm nearly finished book #8.

(The final book in the series written by

my RS teacher, Trish Mercer.)

If you are looking for a good series to read,

check it out!

It's on Kindle Unlimited for free.

Or if you don't have Kindle Unlimited,

you can go to her website www.forestedgebooks.com

She says the book was a gift - she didn't write it.

It "wrote itself". She sat at her computer and 

typed as fast as she could because she wanted to

hear the story as much as the rest of us.

And because of that, she is giving it away as a gift.

You "can" purchase it on Amazon, but she 

donates all that $.

AND she sits in her walk-in closet of an evening

and is narrating it!!! It's available as a free audio book

through her website - you can download it and 

listen if you prefer.

It's about a mythical land - but very gospel centric.

Her premise was what did the gospel look like

on another planet - NOT earth where the Savior

reigned but didn't come personally?

And this was the outcome.

I found the first book a little slow, but I told

her I was reading it, so I couldn't quit.

And now I CAN'T quit.

(Just ask my poor husband!!)

I told her the other day I was really mad at her

because I'm having to stay up until 1 in the morning

and getting NOTHING done.

And it's all HER FAULT.

(grin)

She also wrote some really fun blog posts on her website.

A really insightful post about climbing Mt. Timp

before they moved away (again).

And now....

Off to finish the book.

(Not really, there's still 10 hours left according

to the little counter on my Kindle...)

And I'm GLAD!

It's one of those I want to hurry and read because

I want to hear the story, but I'm dreading finishing

because then it will be FINISHED.

Quite A Day!

 Friday was quite a day!

We started with a surprise rain shower.

Followed by a BEAUTIFUL rainbow!

It expanded to a FULL bow.

And if you look in each picture carefully,

it's a DOUBLE!

Rod was getting ready for work.

The back door was open all morning

(because the girl dogs were already in the dog yard)

and he said "Where is Beau?"

Who knows... he might be out back somewhere.

He'll be back in a minute,

but he never goes out the gate, so Rod left for work.

Then Kyle got up.

Then we chatted for awhile.

Then I took the trash can out to the road.

Then I visited with a neighbor for a minute.

Then I came back in.

Then Kyle had to go do a mulching job.

Where is Beau?????

We searched.

We looked out in the front yard.

(He sometimes "catches" a gopher tortoise and he

will stay and try to chew on it for EVER...)

We looked in the barn.

We looked in the back pastures.

We checked the garage.

(He sometimes gets shut in there by accident.)

We checked the tack room 

(I got some freeze dried food out and sometimes

he gets shut in THERE by accident.)

We went out and checked with the neighbor who

was still out there walking her dog.

We panicked.

And then Kyle found him.

He got locked in the dog yard with the other girls

by accident.

Sheesh.

There are negatives to having a dog who can't bark.

He can "chuff" but it doesn't make much noise....

Poor dog was all freaked out because the people

were calling and calling and calling and he was

trying to answer and he couldn't and he couldn't

get out and .... oh! the TRAUMA!

He was VERY happy to be rescued.

So Kyle left him and went to do a mulching job.

And then we left him and went to Walmart. (hahahaha)

And then we left him again and went to the BEACH!

Poor dog.

We have been going to the same beach for 3 years now.

And we often comment we should stop and

try out the Big Beach Burrito place.

So we did.

HOLY TOLEDO!

It was a BIG burrito!

And delicious!

And then we came home, did some stuff

around the house, Kyle got packed up for

this weekend's hurricane recovery (last one)

and then Rod got home.

We had dinner and then, at 10:55 Kyle said,

where did you put the meals I bought?

Ummmmm.....

(He bought a couple of Mountain House

freeze dried meals because I only did 3 kinds and

he wanted some variety... and they are EXPENSIVE!)

And yes, we left them at the store.

And the store closed at 11:00.

This morning I'm subbing for another instructor

who went on a CRUISE!

And now.... I'm going to the grocery store to 

see about getting either the meals or a refund or whatever.

FUN DAY!!!!!

TV Watching Dog

 Aunt Karen's dog, Riley, watches Bonanza!

(I'm pretty sure that's his favorite....)

(It's one of those old westerns...)

Beau has never been interested in the TV.

But yesterday I caught him watching!

He didn't watch for very long,

but Master Chef Australia caught

his attention for a few minutes there...

And then it was back to his nap.

This is where you find him when I'm working.

If I head down the hall to my office,

he dashes down there (so I don't close the door

and lock him out...)

and up into his chair for a snooze.

Those were 'Cille's chairs in her living room.

She would likely be appalled to see a DOG

sitting in them.

(And he likes to chew the buttons on the back...)

His chin spot is FILTHY.

But he's happy.

I only kick him out if he is snoring TOO loudly.

My students sometimes comment on the

"sleeping student".

I keep a picture of him in my power point

so I can share with the class... lol.

Silly dog.

Lots to Do

 I've been busy - seems like that is how

I start ALL my blog posts!

But... that's my life right now...

This week has been full of unusual things.

Like helping clean out a storage unit for a

sister who moved out of our ward 2 years ago.

One of the sister in our ward is a friend and

she volunteered to take care of it.

She and I went through a little bit of stuff on Wed.

I'm meeting the Elders from her ward on

(she's wasn't even in our ward boundaries...)

Wed morning at 8 and we will see what we can

go through.

But then that's it.

We have lots of options and none of them

include me going through all this stuff.

The storage unit is owned by the mother of 

Jim's high school girlfriend.

It's a really nice facility!

But... it's storage.

And it's pretty full.

(of bugs!)

Anyhow.

I DID get a walker and a couple of canes

that some of the women in the ward

would be happy to claim.

I'll be taking those to church with me on Sunday.

And yesterday I cleaned out my closet!

(Well... let's say I did half.)

This is embarassing.

I like to buy clothes.

I don't like to get rid of them.

I might get skinny enough to wear them again!

HA!!!!

We had a call out for size medium shirts and

size 3-5 pants for a non-member lady who escaped an abusive

situation and had literally only the clothes on her back.

So that was a good reason to get started.

I gave her a box full of shirts (and only 1 pair of

jeans - mine are all size 6...)

And then I boxed up 2 more boxes of shirts.

And a box of pants.

I have more pants to go through - probably another

2 boxes, maybe?

And I tossed out two bags of shoes / shirts / etc

that were beyond salvaging.

Those shoes / boots on the shelves are only there

so I can see them and decide what to do with them.

Most of them are going to the women's shelter.

I'll keep the boots and a black and a brown 

pair of loafers. That's all I need.

GOTTA get rid of this stuff.

We do NOT want to haul it all to Kansas!

(I DID find some long johns though - they

are staying! lol)

Yesterday I got a phone call from another non-member

lady who wanted us to pay their rent so they don't

lose their apartment.

Unfortunately, the Bishop wasn't able to help.

And I had to make that phone call.

It broke my heart.

And today I took some food pantry / self

reliance information to a sister in the ward,

then went back to the storage facility and picked

up the walker, canes and some truck ramps,

and then headed to Walmart for a few things we

need for this weekend.

(We are having a "friendsgiving" mingle on the 15th

and we need to post the flyers - I bought a barn board

frame to put it on in the foyer)

My counsellor (who I just found out is MOVING in January)

did a really good job making it.

More details to follow.... lol.

Whew!

I'm "off" (from teaching) next week, but I'm going

to use the time to do LOTS of prep cooking.

Need to get that freeze dryer full again. 

I gave it the week off, simply because I didn't 

have the time / energy to deal with it.

But the guys really enjoyed the freeze-dried meals

I sent with them on hurricane clean-up, so I

want to do more of those and fill up our larder.

And I need to make lunches for the guys for next week as well.

And finish my closet.

And I'm sure there's a bunch more stuff I'm forgetting.

But I'll remember when it's time.

Or too late.... 

Ha.