Busy, Busy Days in Florida

Toffee Brownie Trifle

My winters in Florida are fun and fine, although a bit too busy at times.  Last week I had the AC tech come to check my air conditioner on Monday. 

Tuesday I went to a Social Committee and potluck brunch - even had to cook - yikes!  Everyone liked my trifle, which makes it worthwhile to cook.

Wednesday I went to our big Health Fair.  Of course, I do what most people do - stocked up on pens, pads, jar openers, magnets, and other free goodies.  The best was a free ice cream at the end!

 

Thursday I took my friend, Judith Beckman, shoe-shopping.  That proved to be rather challenging but we finally had some luck.  The bad part was that in that outlet mall they had one of my favorite stores - Crocs.  I ended up buying several pairs of shoes for me.

 

I worked the Saturday Morning Coffee Hour.  That's OK except that - gasp - I had to be there at 8 a.m.  Setting an alarm ain't for retired people!!!

 

I had Judith come for lunch on Easter Sunday. I did it the easy way - got 2 dinners from Perkins restaurant.  We ate in the Florida room with the windows open and had a lovely afternoon.

I got a new computer recently so have spent many hours getting it set up.  You don't realize how many details you have set until they're not there.  There is a young man named David Cheney here in Savanna Club, who is my new computer guru.  He's sharp, pleasant, patient, and so knowledgeable.

 

Then the laundry does accumulate and dust sneaks its way into my house!  We're starting to get warm in the day so I'm enjoying tooling around on my golf cart. We were in a drought but thankfully it rained several days so things are green again.

 

On Tuesday I was especially busy because Gary was arriving Wednesday.  I went to the dermatologist, went to USPS to return something to Amazon, went to the HOA (Home Owners' Association) to have some copies made, went to the monitor's office to get a guest pass for Gary, returned 2 books to the library and got 2 more. Then I went to the golf shop to get some business cards.  

 

I came home and worked on the folders for our Welcome New Residents Meeting in October.  That's where I used the business cards and copies I had made.  (I won't be here so my co-chair, Sharon Jackson, will run it.)  

Savanna Club is the name of our 55+ community here in Port St. Lucie.  We have over 1,400 homes, a full golf course, 3 club houses with pools, LOTS of activities and almost 4,000 residents to "play" with. I enjoy informing our new residents about all the amenities at the New Residents' Meeting.

 

I also did some laundry and moved some clothes so Gary would have a little closet space. 

 

He arrived yesterday and I'm happy to observe that he's sleeping in. 

Tax season was especially grueling this year. Gary still isn't ready to retire but he might cut down his practice.... maybe....  People have no clue how intense tax season is for a tax accountant.

Now I'll be busy because during the time that he's here, we have one main objective:   We love to eat seafood in restaurants that are on the water.  We already tried a new place on the way home from the airport.  Gary had a shrimp and scallop sandwich and I had a Caribbean salad. 

That's about it for now for my leisurely life of retirement in Florida.  As they say,  "It's better to burn out than rust out."

Egg-Stuffing Parties

 (Click on any photo for a larger version.)

I had been talking to Gary every night on the phone about going to Egg Stuffing Parties. After a couple of weeks he finally asked,  "What is an egg-stuffing party?"

My Florida church, (First United Methodist of Port St. Lucie, FL), hosts an Eggstravaganza every spring for the community.   This has been going on more than 10 years.  

Children come for egg hunting and many activities, from face-painting to jump houses to photos with the Easter bunny to crafts and to free food. 
Everyone is given snow-cones, popcorn, hamburgers, hotdogs and drinks.  

OK, back to the Egg-Stuffing Parties. 

Our congregation contributes plastic eggs and candies.  The whole month before the Eggstraganza, volunteers volunteer to "stuff" the eggs with candies.

These egg-stuffing parties take place during the month of April every Wednesday for an hour in the morning and every Wednesday evening for an hour.

We can't use chocolate candies because they melt in the Florida sun.  If people forget and donate chocolate candy, the volunteers help out by eating the chocolates..... it's the least we can do!

 This year, we had a few youngsters to help collect the eggs as they're being filled.  They're home-schooled so it works well.

Young Hudson took filled eggs over to the counting station and brought us empty eggs and candy as needed.  What a trooper he was!

Hudson's older brother, Carter, helped wherever needed, which included counting the eggs.

 I hope this video will run for you.  We'll see.....

  Each bag holds 100 (or was it 200?) eggs. In any event, they fill the church van when we take them over to the park across the street.  
 
With this system, they can keep count.  I thought it was VERY well organized and I thoroughly enjoyed the egg-stuffing days!

Before we knew it, we received this little announcement in our e-blast and on our Facebook page.  We filled over 44,000 eggs!

 

2023 Sweetheart Dinner-Dance and Super Bowl Parties

Sweetheart Dance - February 4, 2023

Every year, all couples who live in Savanna Club who are celebrating their 50th Anniversary this year are honored with an elegant dinner-dance.  It was a lovely affair and also open to anyone who would like an elegant evening!

(Click on each photo for a larger version.)

 
Some of the couples renewing their vows.

Hors D'oeuvres

The bartenders seemed to enjoy their jobs!

Eleanor and John Gormley

Diane and Bill Comeau

Tracey Riggins, Ron and Tina Fritz
Would you guess that they're sisters?

Georgeann and Casey Krakowiecki

 Marilyn Kamp and Dan Kraft

Dan was our DJ and played dinner music on the piano.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 This event was hosted by The Social Committee

 

 

 

MaryMay Suter and Linda Houlihan

Sharon Jackson

A good time was had by all !!!!!

Superbowl Party - February 12, 2023

  Linda Houlihan, MaryMay Suter, Danielle Bower, Sharon Jackson

Now, I'm going to see if inserting a video works.

 

The large screens to view the game, to the chili cook-off, to the squares game, to the football throw, to corn hole, to yummy food, it was a fun party. 

 

p.s.  I don't even know who was playing!  Football isn't one of my interests.  Don't hate me because I'm Football Impaired!

Busy Week in Florida

Gary and I know that some people find it strange that he drives me to Florida just after Christmas and flies home.  Then, after tax season, he flies down, vacations for a week or so, and drives me back to Virginia. 

He says that if I would be there, he'd feel he should entertain me.  He has people in and out of his office all day long and the phone rings often.  So, his real work is done from 8 p.m. till 2 or 3 a.m. most every night.  

I thought I could help him if I were there and that wouldn't be bad but it's not what Gary wants.  He likes to see each client in person, twice in most cases.  He sees them when they bring their papers and again when they come to sign and pick up their completed tax documents.

I have a little house in a 55+ Community called Savanna Club in Port St. Lucie on the east coast of Florida.  There is a lot to do here and I keep busy.  Best of all, it's warm down here!!!

Last week was one of those typical wonderful busy weeks.

Monday  Built Upon the Sand
House Foundation Problem
Work was done on the base of my house.  It was starting to cave in in several places. After fixing it bit by bit, the time had come to get it repaired  properly.  There was a concrete base but it had disintegrated in many places. 

Still on Monday: Welcome Meeting

I had a meeting with my Vice-Chairs, Sharon Jackson and Sue Berger,  regarding the Welcome Meeting for new residents.  We hold this affair a few times a year.  I'm the chairperson but the November meeting will be led by Sharon and Sue, since I'll still be in VA.  I'll take the RSVPs and make the nametags.

Tuesday - I started the morning getting beautified at the beauty parlor.  Then in the evening, our Zoom Bible Study group met online.  We've kept it going for 2 years - even when we're in Virginia. 

Gary and I like this study group because we're working straight from the Bible.  Rita Etherington, our trusty leader, does a wonderful job keeping us focused. 

Zoom Bible Study  2022
Donna and Dave Waters, Doug and Jeanette Owens, Gary Suter, Allen and Rita (our leader) Etherington, MaryMay Suter, Pat and Rich Necklen

 

 

 

Wednesday -  Wacky Tacky Luncheon
Our Women's Club has over 300 members and we support many local charities.  Here are some highlights from our parade of tacky fashionists.

 

 

(Click each photo for larger view)

And the winner of the Most Wacky Tacky parade was................ none other than MaryMay Suter!

My jacket was pure red sequins but they don't show up in the photos.

Thursday
My Red Hat group, known as the "Hotsie Totsies", went to Stuart to Lady Ann's Tearoom for lunch.  I forgot to take pics but it was elegant.  This is what I had. I think it was pecan encrusted cod or something...

Friday - Gumbo Party with the Hattiitudes

Sylvia Foster invited us to her home and made 2 gumbo pots -  one with chicken and andouille sausage and one with shrimp and crab.  She had hot sauces on the side for those who wished to add to their dishes  We brought appetizers, wine, other beverages, and desserts.  It was a feast of food and conversation! 

BTW - (by the way) - Sylvia is from New Orleans so we got authentic gumbo!

Saturday - Computer Seminar

My computer guru here in Florida is John Grubb of Keystone Computer Concepts.  https://www.4kcc.com/  He gives Saturday morning seminars in Jensen Beach once a month.  I always learn something.

Sunday - 

Church- FUMC First United Methodist Church of Port St. Lucie, FL  This is a wonderful church and I especially like our ministers, Brian Carr from West Virginia and Rad Orlandi from Puerto Rico.     Puerto Rico - Robinson School Reconnections

 

Book Group - There are about 10 of us who read a chosen book, then get together and discuss it.  In February, we discussed This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger.  For March it was Golden Girl by Elin Hilderbrand.   Next month we are reading When The Apricots Bloom by Gina Wilkerson.

I really enjoy this group for 2 reasons:  It makes me read books and authors that I've never heard of and it's fun to hang out with lady friends and laugh.....not to mention, solve the problems of Savanna Club and of the world.

So ended a typical week in the winter version of my Snowbird Life.