Day 33: Where's my Disney Parade?

Disney Parade

We are heading home to Florida today.  Plan was to get home tomorrow but George is on  a mission and I think he is ready to drive straight through.  He is usually not all that ready to get home but he seems to be in the mood today.  You know how great it is to get home after being on a long trip….there’s just no place like it! 

 

I've been on such a natural high this week that I was half expecting a Disney Parade waiting for me at the entrance to Stonecrest (HA)!

 

 

We have had an amazing trip and I owe it all to my wonderful husband who I love dearly.  George, thank you for your patience, your understanding, your love and all the special memories we shared on this trip!

 

Signing off for now…..

Day 32: Hurricane Karen...

What are the odds of a hurricane, bearing your name, forming on your birthday?  Well, it happened to me today!  George told me this first thing this morning.  Not that I wish wreaking havoc on anyone but, I'm so excited, I'm feeling like wreaking havoc today.  Here's why....I have an appointment with Victor, my former hairdresser, at his beautiful AVEDA salon, Free Spirit.  I love Victor and have missed him terribly....he's just one of those guys that has a wonderful "gift of gab" and people just gravitate to him.  Secondly, we're having dinner at the Damore's tonight and I get to spend time with "My Mary" as I call her.

John and Mary

 

I've received sooo many good wishes and Happy Birthday's on Facebook, phone, email, text and am so lucky to have so many wonderful friends.  THANKS to all of you for thinking of me on my day of wreaking havoc!  Oh, I also got a Happy Birthday email from mymedicare....what's up with that?  I bit of a surprise but still scratching my head on that one.

 

Victor !

Victor was waiting for me at the door, arms folded, and that wonderful smile of his.  After hugs and kisses, he showed me around the new and improved salon.  WOW....it really looks great and he has 27 employees now.  A far cry from the days when I went there and there was only 6 of them!  I met some of the new interns, including one that does facials...wish I had time for that. 

My hair is very dry and brittle and my man Victor fixed me right up.  My hair looks and feels great!!!



The Village of Deaton Creek

Damore's House

George finished work at 4:00 so we headed over to John and Mary Damore’s new home in The Village of Deaton Creek, a new Del Webb development in Hoschton, GA (pronounced “hoke-ston”).   It was a 30 mile drive so we were glad to get ahead of the traffic.  They bought a brand new “spec” home and it is just beautiful.  Mary has it all fixed up so nice and I just love the lay-out…perfect for them!  John was playing in a game at the ball field so George took off down to the Recreation Area while Mary showed me around the house.   It’s a very spacious 2 bedroom, 2 bath home with an open living/dining/kitchen and sitting area.  She has a large laundry room with a huge walk-in storage closet.   I’m amazed at how much closet and storage space she has.  We sat outside on the patio, which they plan to enlarge and/or screen in.

 

Mary, being Italian, fixed a scrumptious dinner of Stuffed Shells, made with fresh Ricotta cheese (no preservatives) that she bought in Michigan, Italian Gravy with meat, Grilled Brats, a big Italian Salad and Toasted Garlic Bread.  Oh my did we fill up!  I’m lovin’ these home-cooked meals!  My friend, Joan Gibbs, also lives in Deaton Creek and she stopped over for a short visit.  We “made her” sit down and have some dinner also.  Mary also fixed a really cool dessert made with vanilla ice cream and rice crispies (I think).  I gotta get this recipe.  After another long visit, it was time to say “good-bye for now”. 

 

Day 31: Pot Roast at the Krzaks!

 

Took Cornelia up on her offer last night to come over and do laundry.  What a relief!  The only negative about Twin Lakes is no laundry facility so I packed up and hauled our dirty laundry to her house.  She has a brand new, bright red Samsung washer/dryer which is totally awesome!  I’m giving her a Perfect 10 on her laundry room!   She is working from home the majority of the time now which gave us  a day to visit.  Once I got the laundry going, I took her to lunch at It’s About Thyme, a local fare right around the corner from their house.  Love, love, love it!  While waiting for your sandwich, you can shop for jewelry.  A local jewelry crafter has her wares displayed in a little nook of the café and she makes some really great stuff.  We had a great “girlfriend day” together that I will cherish.

 

 

I have lots of "Pat" friends but Pat Krzak (aka little Patty Iler as she sometimes refers to herself) is my long-time best friend.  We met in 1981 as single women making our mark in the big city of Atlanta some 32 years ago.  We were both proud owners of our first condo at Bentley Ridge in Marietta and became fast friends.  We met other single friends there and those were some of the most fun days of my life.   Not to go too far down memory lane but some of my best are:

• John Henry's and the "fire hose" incident!
• Assembling a BBQ grill in the clubhouse kitchen.
• Buckets of Margaritas at the pool.
• Chastain Park.
• Twist beads.
• Pat's wedding to Les (aka "Lef")

Mully

Pat and Les are cat lovers also and here is a picture of their cat Mully (short for Mulligan). 

I started playing golf because of Pat.  We were ALTA tennis partners, however, the reason we played tennis was because of the cute outfits.  Enough said.  After Pat married Les, however, she started playing golf and tennis was no longer fun for me so she coaxed me into playing golf.  We were both immediately hooked on golf and the rest is history.

 

Les serenading us...

 

We had dinner at their beautiful home where Les serenaded us with his guitar while Pat made a wonderful dinner of Pot Roast, Mashed Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus and a tomato salad.  Honestly, she makes the best pot roast I've ever put in mu mouth.  I have posted her recipe on this blog under PAGES/RECIPES (I hope I got it right).  She also  brought out a Chess Pie with a candle in honor of my birthday.  What a wonderful and special evening we had!  THANK YOU Pat and Les for a memorable evening and for being such fabulous friends!  We are sooo looking forward to entertaining y'all if and when you ever come to visit us in Florida.

Day 30: An evening with my Nephew...

I took off for my old neighborhood and drove by our former house.  The house and neighborhood looks good but the bushes needed pruning.  I really wanted to get out of the car and take care of that but….oh well.  Stopped by my old hair salon, Free Spirit, but my best bud Victor was not there, darn it.  However, I made an appointment for Thursday – can’t wait for that!  Did a little shopping at some of my favorite places and had a heck of a day.

David and the black cat

 

 

Drove over to David (my nephew) and Cornelia’s house which is only 8 miles from our campground in the Brookwood sub-division in Cumming.  Had a glass of wine and visited with them and Cornelia’s two sons, Jake and Josh.  My, have they grown! 

 

 

 

 

 

Jake and Daisy

Jake graduated from high school in the Spring and is contemplating what to do with his life. 

 

Josh and the striped cat

Brown Betty

Josh is a Junior, has a girlfriend that is a senior and plays LaCrosse.   They also have 6 cats!  Let’s see if I can remember…Daisy, Brown Betty (a gorgeous solid chocolate brown cat – never seen a solid brown cat), Wheezy, the black cat the striped cat and the itty bitty cat....see there, I remembered them all. 

 

Cornelia made a Blueberry Brie Crisp with Fig Preserves to munch on and it was so yummy.  Check out PAGES/RECIPES for her recipe. 

They took us to dinner at their favorite Italian restaurant Rosa Mia.  David recommended the Veal Piccata, which is what he and I ordered.  George had the Lasagne and Cornelia had Veal Marsala, which was the house specialty tonight.  The food was excellent.  I had enough left over for another meal so, yes,  I had them bag it up.  George also had some leftovers too which tells you that he was served a very healthy portion.   After dinner, we went back to their house until it was time to say good-bye for now.  It was so good to see them….it’s been way to long!