Grandkids! Graduation! Concert! Family!

We've had a busy two weeks! Off to visit the grandkids in NC and to attend the Princess's Dance Recital. Miss Thang promptly told her Mimi that she wanted to get through with this dance "stuff" and get on with horseback riding lessons on Marbles! She is definitely her Mimi's and Mother's child....and not the least bit girly girl. So enjoy the tutu picture...now it's boots and horses! We do have a new granddog...Bella came to live at the Edens' house. She's 6 months old and a delight! Of course, she's a half grown Great Dane, so who knows how big she'll eventually be! Jennifer and Chris were the hosts with the mostest. Molly and her clan came over and the kids played for hours in the yard. Tristan is the typical sullen teenager...or at least he will be on July 4th. He was such a delightful baby when he lived with us...I'm hoping that the Tristan I know and love comes back soon! Sebastian is a doll and a delight to be around. Molly and Leo have done a wonderful job with him...I just hope they survive Tristan! Molly...just remember...payback!

We came back Hwy 64 through Cashiers and Highlands, NC. It was a long drive but beautiful. So many of the rhododendrons were blooming. Once back, we attacked the yard with everything we had. We hacked and pruned and cut and rearranged, but still have miles to go before the yard is back to where we left it two years ago. This traveling constantly has really been fun, but we're paying for two years of neglect. The pool is gorgeous though...we actually got in one day when it was in the 80's and we'd been working in the yard. Today is cold...hopefully it will warm up soon so I can start my water aerobics!

Estelle and David came for Jessica's graduation this weekend. We had a great time even though the boys beat us in canasta! I thought we had won, but then Estelle redid her math...drat! I liked it better when she was off by a 1,000! Our beautiful niece graduated from Belmont on Saturday with high honors. We're so proud as are her parents. We had a great family dinner at The Acorn in Nashville. http://www.theacornrestaurant.com ..and I thought I knew all the good restaurants. It was fabulous...best Halibut I've ever had. We also had lunch after the graduation at Bosco's....great food and great company. http://www.boscosbeer.com/

After a short rest, it was off to the Billy Joel/Elton John concert! Oh my goodness...I've been listening to too much country music. I went crazy singing and dancing and screaming like I was in my 20's...unfortunately for me, I woke up today in my 60 year old body hoarse and screaming from pain and exhaustion!! The concert was incredible and worth the pain! We ate at Blackstone Brewery before the concert and had a blast. http://www.blackstonebrewery.com/ Our friends Mike and Donna and Lou and Cindy were just as crazy as we were...of course all of us stood up to help our knees more than the standing ovation Billy and Elton thought we were giving them! It was decidedly an older crowd trying to be rowdy like in our youth...there were going to be some major hangovers this morning....and no lighters, just the flash of digital cameras and phones. Not like the old days.

Today is a day of rest...we're in our comfortable clothes and really kicking back! Tomorrow it's Angels and Demons and more rest! We're too old to have this much fun! Big hugs from us to all of you! Still enjoying retirement, but may have to go back to work to rest up! Glad that The Oncology Group is still willing to keep me working a bit!

Rain, Rain and More Rain!

We're just back from Knoxville and Gatlinburg! Met Robert and Laurie, our friends from our Florida winter "home", for dinner at Carinos and then a walking tour of Gatlinburg! Haven't been there for a while to just saunter down the road! Fudge and mango tango ice cream! Yum. We went to Knoxville for the National Association of Hot Rods Show...we saw a few cars and then the rain drove us home early. Woody was soaked! I stayed in the car! He was bummed!

The pool is finally in! Yeah! We've been putting all the chemicals in...you know, Woody makes a great pool boy! It is the perfect size for us. Now it has to get warm, and we have to put in our screen door so we can get in from the porch. When it clears up, I'll post a picture.

I'm on Facebook now...you can teach an old dog new tricks! I still don't quite know how to use it, but we're all working on staying in touch. If you know how to use it, I'm on as Pat Hudson Edens.

Our May is crazy! NC to see the grandkids, Jessica's graduation, David and Estelle coming to visit for the graduation, Elton John and Billy Joel, Harrah's Cherokee Casino to see Miranda Lambert and a little work thrown in for good measure! Thank heaven for wonderful pet sitters! The boys may forget Mommy and Daddy! Tried to rent a car for all our road trips and the big ones were all booked...so I went to my friends at CarSmart here in Hendersonville and bought a Volvo S60! That'll show em...can't rent? just buy! We are going to do lots of shorter trips without the RV this summer, so of course we "needed" the car. and yes...we still have the Mustang, the truck and the RV!! We'll probably head out in the RV in August if it gets too hot here, or maybe not. Maybe just hit the pool.

Quiet night in H'ville in the rain...we're watching the NASCAR race from Richmond. Hope you all have a great week.

I've been remiss! Updates from H'ville!

I've been so remiss! Since my exciting birthday week, I've just been busy busy busy...so busy in fact that I just haven't updated you on our exciting life. So here goes.

First..we went to the Bristol Motor Speedway for my first NASCAR race...that's me by Tony Stewart's truck! I just love Tony...he's a cute little bad boy! As you can see from the actual race picture, our seats were fabulous. Thanks Ticketmaster! We also had lunch with the uncles, and I found this delightful little burro that wanted to come home with me. That would necessitate a farm and I'm not willing to give up travel just yet!

We're still celebrating tons of birthdays! Bill Petty had his very own McDonald's birthday party to celebrate a milestone birthday...just so he doesn't hate me, you figure it out. Cindy was the second of our bunch to turn another milestone birthday after mine in March. Donna is still to come in July! These 39 birthdays are tough!

We also had family day at the Sound's game to celebrate Easter. That's my beautiful Libby with Ozzie the mascot. Led got a little jealous but hey...Libby is a looker! Led's mom and Nick joined us. Other than the New Orleans' Zephyrs beating us in the 10th inning, it was a fabulous day. I'm not fond of baseball, but I love baseball games...especially the Cubs and the Sounds!

This being home is hard work...still no pool, but the yard is looking good. Hopefully if the weather will cooperate we'll get our pool soon. We have some more trips planned to NC for Riley's dance recital and then to Cherokee to see Miranda Lambert, gamble a little and shoot pictures of the Smokies in the spring! In June, we're going to the CMA summer fest to see Taylor Swift...it's good to have friends! We're in a luxury box with parking on the grounds!

Working a bit...CT and TX are my most recent...have to pay for all this travel! Will write more later!

Tap Shoes and Birthday Parties!

I don't know where to start! We've been home since the 20th of February and have been so busy that I've neglected my dear diary of retirement! My most fun things are too numerous to mention, but you know me! I'll try to recapture them for you. I am getting a pool, which you saw previously so we've spent hours working in the yard destroying my beautiful rose garden...hopefully it will arise a bit further back in the yard behind the pool!

Then...tahdah! I had three birthday parties! and I got presents!! and you know how I love parties and presents!!! My first party was with a huge (try full sheet!) cake decorated in Notre Dame colors and presented to me at McDonalds by my favorite husband. The fire marshall wouldn't let them put 60 candles...yes, I'm 60...so they had to use the little 6 and 0 candles...thank goodness or I would have singed my hair trying to blow out 60 candles. We fed everyone, including the wonderful staff at Mickey D's who take care of us so well every morning! My loving daughter came for lunch and brought me Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies!! A personal favorite. She does know her mommy. My next party was at Long Hollow Jamboree. Hence the tap shoes from my dear friends Bill and Jane. You must have tap shoes...you even see taps on cowboy boots!! We've started going to the Jamboree every Friday night to have dinner and dance..or try to dance. The cheeseburgers are devine and Woody loves the always gourmet "half pound of ground round"...he feels so cosmopolitan! Shades of Clinton in the 50's! Ask him about that! We've learned the two step and watch the cowboy cha cha but we're not quite ready to tackle that yet! I do the electric slide with Jane, which for those of you who don't know...it's an old line dance from the disco era countrified.

My third birthday party was with my cohorts in crime..our dinner club...three of the girls are turning 60 this year! Cindy in April, Donna in July and Holly in about 12 or 15 or 18 years! She lies about her age so we really don't know when she'll get around to 60...we do know she's much younger so we keep her around to bring us chocolate when we hit the nursing home! She's promised to visit. We had a wonderful dinner at Macaroni Grill, and then back to Donna and Mike's for cake and ice cream. We had a bonfire in the fire pit and watched Roy play with psycho cat! Psycho cat used to be really sweet until Emily left it too often with Mike! I think he did something to the cat! I got flamingo beach towels for the pool, a wonderful book and chocolates and great accessories for my guest bath! The only problem...I gave up chocolate candy for Lent so it's sitting and waiting for me to open on Easter. The older I get the more compliant with Lent I think I need to be...so I'll just wait on the candy!

Hugs to all of you! I'll try to do better with keeping you updated on the exciting life of Woody and Pat at home...rare though it is!

We're baaaaack!

I've been remiss...we got home from Florida on the 20th of February with snow and sleet in the forecast...luckily it missed us! Since we've been home, we've worked in the yard continuously and visited friends. My rose garden has been so neglected since we were gone all last summer! We lack mulching and then we wait for warmer weather to plant flowers! We are going to put in a pool since we're staying home for a while. That's my 60th birthday present from Woody! I'm thankful to have lived this long...every day is a blessing! We'll still travel, but short trips to places I want to see around Tennessee and Kentucky and NC. For those of you who know me well, I'm a Jack Daniels girl and have never been to Lynchburg, TN where it's made! That's on my agenda for the first sunny and warm day now that the yard is "laid by" as we say in the south. We're also planning a week or two or more in NC at Chris and Jennifer's beach house! Yeah! A free place to stay on the beach!!



I'm also going to work a bit more for The Oncology Group, a consulting group that specializes in oncology. While we're doing well now, if the market doesn't come back in the next 5-10 years, I may have to go back to my original plan for retirement...greeter at WalMart! Hopefully President Obama will get things heading in the right direction...if we can get everyone in Washington, DC to play nice with each other! I thought briefly, very briefly, about going to work for the government since healthcare reform is such a hot topic. It passed. Given that we pay almost $1500 a month for health insurance, I'm counting the days until November 17th when Woody turns 65 and is eligible for Medicare!!!



Since we're home, there is an open invitation to come visit! We have a fabulous guest suite...private bath, cable, pillowtop mattress...the whole 9 yards. So call, make a reservation and come on over to Hendersonville, TN! We'd love to see you!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope you've all had a wonderful Valentine's Day! This has been a quiet week...Woody had a bit of a virus and was in bed for a few days...so I shopped. Chicos was having a really good sale! There were tons of things I wanted, but not working means you don't need much! I really love the new shopping area in SanDestin. If you haven't been down here for a while, you won't believe all the new construction. HarborWalk is also a blast. Pat O'Brien's...yes, that one, and Commander's Palace have restaurants here in Destin now.

We aren't much into celebrating Valentine's, but we did book tickets for Bristol today! For those of you not in the know...that's a NASCAR race in March in Bristol, TN!! Let's see...Woody has me in a "trailer", living in a "trailer park" most of the time and, now, going to a NASCAR race!!! What is the world coming to? The interesting thing is that getting tickets to Bristol has been like getting tickets to see the Green Bay Packers play at home...apparently the economy is really hitting racing. The race is less than a month away and the tickets we got are really very good. We're going to stay in Rogersville which is where many of Woody's uncles live...so lunch with the uncles and racing. It should be a blast! I'm for Tony Stewart and Woody is for Dale, Jr.

We did manage to go out to dinner tonight, even though it was Valentine's Day...can you say, Taco Bell? seriously!! We just wanted a quick bite and no lines and no makeup. There was a Valentine's party tonight at the club house, but we just couldn't get moving to go. Besides...I don't think they would be playing our music if you get my drift! We're young for snow birds.

Only one more week and then home to Hendersonville...I'm ready to be home, but it better not be too cold! I can't wait to work in the yard. I've about convinced Woody that Canada this summer is not in our future. I just want to stay around home for a while...he's RV'd me out! I've been retired 27 months and have been away from home 20 months of that!! I want some short trips like to Lynchburg...I love Jack and I'm the only one in the world who hasn't been to Miss Mary BoBo's and the distillery. However, if it gets really hot, all bets are off. I do have two jobs pending...one in Alaska and one in Connecticut. We'll just have to see how the year goes.

See you soon!!

Seaside's Yard Sale

OK...Woody has not completely grown up! After wandering all over Destin looking, he finally got his 3D glasses and he and Harley watched Chuck in 3D and some of the commercials from the Superbowl.

The group pictures are our Mexican Train Dominos night after the Low Country Boil dinner in the "trailer park". We were out til midnite playing...now we're on the search for dominos with numbers rather than dots. It's a blast to play. These are all our good friends! We come every year and all of us have already made our reservations for next year. It's a great bunch.

We had a wonderful day today...Seaside was having their annual yard sale. On the way, we stopped at Lily Pad's in Grayton Beach which is one of our favorite shops. There are multiple booths with tons of good stuff! We had lunch at Great Southern Cafe in Seaside and had the best shrimp and grits I've ever eaten! I thought the ones in Ocean Isle, NC were good but these were better. We're getting close to H day...the day we leave for home. We are expecting that Estelle and David will be down in the next week or so. We're looking so forward to their visit. We're taking them to the Great Southern Cafe so we can all have shrimp and grits! I told you they were good.

We are still doing water aerobics three times a week and walking...still gaining weight! The food here is fabulous. We have eaten shrimp every way and last night at Dewey's I had ruby red's which are called "poor man's lobster". With drawn butter, I couldn't tell the difference...other than the fact that I got 1 lb for $15.95!! We still haven't been to Apalachicola for oysters, but are planning on Capt Anderson's next week in Panama City. I remember going there as a little girl with my parents and sisters. I can't believe that I've been coming down here over 50 years..supposedly my mother came down here when pregnant with me so that would be over 60 years! Yes, I'm sneaking up on my 60th birthday on March 6th! I certainly don't feel that old, and I'm not sure who that old woman in the mirror is!

We are so blessed to get to stay in Florida while TN is freezing cold! We've had a few days of cold weather, but for the most part, we have had jeans and sweatshirts and the top down. Life is good. It is a bit sad down here though...you can tell the recession is hitting. There are tons of houses and condos for sale and several of our friends that own shops are hurting. State Farm is completely pulling out of Florida so that just reinforced our decision not to buy a house here...it is impossible to get insurance. If you're down this way, be sure you go to Footprints on Hwy 98 (Emerald Coast Parkway) between the outlet mall and SanDestin on the left. Great stuff! We've also seen some of the high end restaurants close, but that hasn't hurt us too much! We love Dewey's and Buster's and Pompano Joe's. Great food at great prices. Frou Frou is not us since the market's down! Although I did just buy some more GE stock! It's a cinch that we're not getting any interest income so might as well day trade! See you all soon!

Another Day in Paradise!

Hope you're all having a wonderful week and that the ice storm isn't too bad!

As you can see, Woody is in the water...after a bit of wading, you get used to it. We're seeing tons of beach erosion and I'm not sure it's going to get much better. Currently, Destin Harbor is at 6 feet in depth and a few of the larger sailboats can't get out. The city and state are arguing with the Corps of Engineers and who knows who about funds for dredging. The frightening thing is that on Okaloosa Island they are talking about levying the homeowners to rebuild the beaches! How would you like to spend millions on a beachfront home and then have to pay to rebuild the beach. If you don't think climate is an issue, watch how this evolves! Without the dunes and beach, a hurricane with a storm surge will wipe this region out. Our beach in front of the RV park has been hit hard, and the waves and wind were so bad last week it snapped the beach volleyball pole. It was a big pole!

Did any of you watch The Last Templar on NBC Sunday night and Monday night? I loved the book, but this was the worst miniseries or movie I've ever seen...if what I saw was acting, I'm moving to Hollywood cause even I can do better! You know it was bad when Woody suggested we flip to the Bachelor at commercials! Things have been a bit lazy down here...mostly eating out, shopping, eating out, walking, eating out, water aerobics, and oh, eating out! Donna, you'll love this...I taught one of my friends down here how to knit a scarf!! Of course, that's all I know how to knit! I did buy lots of yarn to work on a blanket for Riley, but it will be next year before she gets it at the rate I'm going. Did break down and buy a new Bramin purse, but it's a small one to replace my wallet on a string like purse from Montana! This one is a bit more upscale.

Sunday we cleaned! Woody washed and waxed the whole coach...he said no one would believe it so I guess I should have taken a picture! Our neighbors have all been cleaning so we were shamed into it! I cleaned the carpets and then read magazines and watched him work. There is something romantic about a man working. My goal today was to update a presentation on international clinical trials but I didn't get too far! I'm trying to read the Final Rule in the Federal Register...boring! I think the government needs new writers so that normal people don't go into a coma trying to decipher their findings! My goal is to write two intellectual articles a year! I did submit an essay to AARP on Beans, Egalitarianism and Obama and an op-ed piece to the NY Times. I'm still blogging to the Washington Post and occasionally other sites on healthcare. Wish I could figure out how to make some of these pay!!

We lunched with Robert and Laurie from MN at a Thai buffet in Ft. Walton on Monday after water aerobics and the food was great. I love Pad Thai...the spicier the food the better. We still haven't found a convenient Thai restaurant near Hendersonville so we'll just save that for our winter solstice. Camping on the Gulf is really slow this year. The usual bunch on the hill still made it, but we beach people have lots of space! I guess the economy has been an issue, although you'd never know it by the restaurants and stores around here. Much of this area has military families, lots of pilots, and senior support staff and, of course, snowbirds! We hear the planes and the helicopters a lot along the beach and occasionally they come right over park. There is a bombing range north of Destin on the other side of Choctawhachee Bay and we can hear them too!

Big plans for tonight...heading to our favorite restaurant, Dewey Destin's, a little dumpy place on the bay! http://www.destinseafood.com/ It's been here forever. Supposedly they are opening a more upscale version in HarborWalk, but we like the original too much to change! We go around 4P, early bird special and all; split an appetizer and entree...then have Dippin Dots for dessert! Thursday we're having a Low Country Boil here in the park...$15 for the two of us and someone else does the work! My kind of dinner. Told you we eat alot!

Off we go to eat again...don't look for us to be slim and trim when we come home!