Saturday, December 31: New Year's Eve in Jacksonville

My time here has been enjoyable. I think it is the first extended 'alone' time since ????? It was a beautiful day - 70's and sunny with some wind. The boats around the marina are still decorated with Christmas lights so it's still pretty festive.

The past month in Cleveland and California meant seeing family and friends. My mom came back to the farm for the first time in 2 1/2 years with all of my brothers able to make it also. Quite the celebration :-) It went well even though Mom didn't remember living there for 50 years - and she thoroughly enjoyed Solomon (Mandy's new baby). Christmas was celebrated at Matt and Wendy's place. There are lots of holiday pictures that I will put on Picassa web one of these days :-)

I had reserved a compact car from Enterprise for the weekend ($40 total and they picked me up at the marina - how do you beat that!). So I was surprised to find myself driving a small Ford SUV - perfect as we bought a dock box on Craig's list back at the end of November but the plan was to pick it up in St. Augustine by boat (about a day's travel down the ICW) but instead I was able to meet the person selling it half way and just picked it up. Perfect :-)

Tomorrow: Marialice arrives.

Friday, December 30: Back in Jacksonville

......well, at least one of us! I returned to the boat yesterday after spending a great 3 weeks in California. Christmas was fun with Rebecca joining us in Encinitas at Matt and Wendy's place. A good time was had by all! Steve has made serious progress with his arm - he has actually been able to sleep in a bed for the last week and hasn't had to get up at night to heat his arm to keep it from cramping up. The physical therapist group here work on his arm every day to break down the scar tissue that built up from the surgery and lack of use of the arm. Most days it sounds like torture to me as the therapist cranks on his arm to get the motion back. But he's doing great -- which is why he is still in CA. I came back for the Gator Bowl as Marialice is going to join me here in Jacksonville for the game. I'm thinking both teams (Ohio State and Florida) are kind of mediocre this year so it should be a great game, right?? Well, it'll at least be the first bowl game I've ever been to so should be fun! Marialice is making one of her famous "I'll be there a day and then dive back to Ohio" trips but the 2 days she's here will be enjoyable. Friday January 6th, I'll go back to Encinitas, Steve will finish up his therapy on Jan 13. Then it's off for a cross country drive back to Jacksonville. Matt and Wendy will be moving soon after (to Cherry Point NC) and will drive their other car to the East coast. Sounded like a win-win to me :-) Anyway, that's the plan. I'll put a few pictures up tomorrow or so just so Steve doesn't think I'm laying around not doing anything :-)