Limo Ride to Dinner at Mermaid's

RMargie, Marjie and Sandy
Kendal, Shawn, Joe
Shawn and Kendal
Ellen, Sandy and Margie, gasp! I'm not the only!
Braden's buddy, Braden, Shawn
Ellen, Shawn and Sandy studying the menu
Kendal and Beth
Shawn, huggers, and Joe


Limo ride to Mermaid's Cigar and Wine Bar in Rockport Texas, Friday, Dec. 30, 2011. This is an interesting and creative joint. It is like a ship on the inside, tastefully decorated with mermaids. The Mermaid Rest Room has a leathery snake skin wall paper. The Humidor room is well stocked with cigars and wine. I was worried about the smoke but no smoking in the dining room during the dinner hour. They just started serving food on Friday and Saturday nights. Mostly steak. We were the only customers, 15 of us. They need more practice on cooking and serving food. They knew we were coming, they might have made the cups of butter, sour cream, green onions and bacon done up in advance. The steaks were average at best. Rolls and baked potatoes were good. Apple pie included with the meal was excellent.

Kendal slept on the way to dinner, threw up the rest of the night. After each time she said I feel great now. She is so knocked up. Told her so, she got even paler then. This is going to be fun.

This was a great night with friends, Shawn did all the work, and we had a wonderful time. We are so fortunate in our friends here in Port A.

Susan's 49th Birthday

Beth, Susan and Rhonda
Rhonda, Susan's mother Carlene, and Susan
Devon and Carlie made the cake
A blue bird from Beth
Javiar, the chef


We have spent a lot of time with Susan, Javier and family, at Christmas this year. The first pics that I have taken. The candid shots tell a different story than the posed pictures. Everyone looks worried and sad, for good reason with Susan's surgery scheduled for Jan. 5.

Nothing Much Happening

Early December day, flat and beautiful beach, and no one to enjoy it.

Carlie and Susan the night of her band concert, which was excellent.


I guess I am a bit behind on my blog. I thought I did a Port A blog, guess not.

So we got here on Nov. 28. The weather has been windy, cold, hot, rainy and foggy, not in any particular order. The birding ponds were nearly empty when we got here, now they are filling up a little, maybe a quarter full. I have seen some egrets and roseate spoonbills. A few coots.

When it was hot here, the red tide came back in, it is a type of algae that takes the air out of the water, killing fish. It also is air born, so an offshore wind spreads it all over and everyone is coughing and congested. Allergies for all! They had red tide very bad here this fall and summer, and people had to stay inside with the air conditioning running. Plus it was wicked hot.

We have been busy with friends. It was great to see Susan and see for myself how good she looks and feels after 5 month of chemo. She says she has never felt better or happier, we think it is from all the prayers flying her way. Her surgery (double M) was scheduled for Dec. 26, but then someone remembered Xmas, and they closed surgery at the hospital except for emergencies (huh? when is Xmas a surprise?). Now it is scheduled for Jan. 5, perfecting timing for her new deductible to kick in. Thankfully, her folks are paying it.

We have been seeing our old friends and making new ones. New friends Denny and Debbie are from Missouri and very nice. That must be a nice state, good people there.

Have been forgetting my camera, but will get pictures.

Grandpa and Grandma's Helpful Babysitting

Not sure what the arm signals are, but they insisted on this pictureNot sure if he is upstairs, I heard a whistle
Finding Grandpa
where is he?

The Keenan house is perfect for playing hide and go seek.

Emily wanted to try whipped cream, hiss hiss


This dessert is scary good
Molten chocolate volcano cake is a big hit
Chocolate was flying
A Fireman disagreement. Emily wants to drive.

Jerry's Magnificant Deer Camp

Paul's deer blind
Bar view
The front of the camp
The mantle in the great room, a mountain lion, elk and coyote. And the lion is legal, it is quite old.

The great room viewed from the stage.


Jerry is a great host and his camp is beautiful and interesting. He is known far and wide for his parties with lots of music and great food and drinks and a free ride home. This is part of the bar.

South Bend Visit

il

The kids were all coughing and had runny noses. We were both coated with at least a billion germs, but are hoping for good health. Fun to watch Charlie play, we haven't much experience with little boys. He is very imaginative, loves Woody from Toy Story and dinosaurs.

Julia is reading a lot now, she knows numbers and words and loves to play on the computer. She and Charlie are both slender and fast!

Ellie is at the perfect baby age, not moving around and getting into trouble, she is smiley and funny, she says "high five" and puts her hand out for me. Andrea is my witness.

Loon Lodge - Louie's Deer Camp

Paul visiting
A fireside chat

A truly pathetic trophy wall, Louie was robbed of the big racks a few years ago.
The bunk room

This is Louie and his deer camp, Loon Lodge, has been around since the 1940s with few improvements. It is a family tradition.

Letter Revisited - The Meds, The Meds!

So I called the doctor's office and they called in a script for me, I pick it up today for $47. What a surprise when I get the mail when I get home and there is a three month supply of those very same pills!! They were going to send them out on November 16. No one knows what is going on at Medco. Arrrgh

Roger and Beverly's Wedding Reception

Roger and Beverly taking a kissing lesson.

Roger, Lance and Paul

Roger dancing with Dawn, his oldest daughter.

Me and Roger and the buck he shot last year

A Letter To My Daughter

Dear Julie,

I have had get Anna a BD card on my list for over a week and it still isn't done. We will call her on her birthday and find one asap and send it. We have been crazy busy. Have a lull in the action coming up as Dad will be at deer camp a lot until we go. I only have to finish doll bedding, pack for the winter and try to remember everything.

Now I am thinking of Emily's BD too. So basically, I need to think of interesting little gifts for all the kids. Not noisy or little pieces or annoying at all. Hummmm.

I was trying a new diabetes med through October, then the insurance company decided not to pay for it. It worked ok. So I finally deciphered the message from the mail order drug co. that something wasn't going to be sent, gave me a prescription # that wasn't in my records. Lawyers must write their emails, it is all a big secret. How do dumb people figure it out? Don't just say, "your cheap ass insurance company won't pay for the new drug, call your doc and ask for a different one." Just allude that something isn't coming, guess what it might be.

Part two, the doc also had me take more of my old drug, so I ran out of it , He had ordered a new script of a larger dosage. They won't fill it until it is time. They did say Nov. 6, on Nov. 6 they changed it to Nov. 16. No one knew that before then? Again I get a secretive phone call with a script # that is secret. I won't get this before we leave for Texas.

So today I have to go a round with the doctor's office and try to explain some of this to the girl, who clearly doesn't care, and beg for a script for a month's supply and pay for it myself. Then I have to perfectly time changing my address with the drug company so pills will arrive in TX and not be lost in Post Office/ Medco limbo for several months. Dumb people don't have a chance.

I exchanged several sarcastic emails about this with various machines at Medco, they apparently don't have the sarcasm chip in their mother board.

Last week I got a new new diabetes drug to replace the lovely expensive Januvia drug, and I appreciate it's kick ass attitude. Sometimes I get to drink orange juice to raise my blood sugar. A treat as I never drink it. I expect to lose some weight with this! And have energy.

So as you can see, I have been busy swearing at inanimate machines and laying awake thinking of revenge instead of buying daring little girls birthday cards.

Last night we had friends for dinner so I could clean the whole house and hide all my projects so as to give the appearance that I am organized and give a shit. Paul helped a lot, vacuumed an acre of carpet, tidied. He was a cleaning trooper. We had a great time, very good friends, dry turkey that wouldn't reach 180 degrees. And the whole point of this paragraph, a wonderful easy recipe I tried. Nut Brown Butter on steamed broccoli. It is a French recipe that translates to Nut Brown Butter. For a pound of broccoli you put 3 Tablespoons of butter in a pan and cook it till it is brown and tasty, pour it over the broccoli. It was incredible, so tasty and easy. I am thinking of other vegetables to try it on.

This email is nearly a blog. I think I need to post it.

Love, Mom

November Sunrises

A gray and pink morning
Saturday at 8 am, 26 degrees, ran out in my bathrobe and crocks. Too pretty to resist.
Cannot resist taking sunrise photos, they are always a little different, and beautiful

A Few More Pics from the Weekend

Emily, Ellie and Julie

Anna and baby Ellie. Don't anyone smile!