Today I wasted $4 buying two Power Ball Lottery tickets for tonight’s drawing. The jackpot is over $550,000,000 for the winner(s). Of course the odds are astronomical, but it got me thinking.

What would I do with multi-millions?

I love our homes, so I really have no desire to move, but John said, he’d want to buy a bigger condo here. (Up north, I doubt if we’d move, but we’d certainly renovate our kitchen.)

I’d hire a full-time cleaning lady (both here and in Michigan) who would get things organized. And of course new furniture selected by a decorator would enhance our places.

Cars? I guess in Michigan, I’d want to get rid of our Malibu, but I do like our Jaguar here.

Toys? Maybe a tablet computer, but not jewelry, nor clothes (well maybe a few fashionable items).

I’d donate a sizable amount to our church here in Sun City Center, and to worthwhile causes like the local hospice and the Emergency Medical squad.

I would take care of my daughter, Kelly, (who has vowed that she’d be there to take care of me, if it is ever necessary.)

We don’t want to travel (although I’d probably fly out to visit Kelly in California) a couple times a year.

But day-to-day, I can’t imagine changing our lives. I love our community. I totally enjoy our friends. I wouldn’t want to ditch our life for something else. The way we live is perfect for us!

Now if money could guarantee good health. Unfortunately we’re not young and our we’ll be lucky to live another 25 years. Not long enough!!

But it’s fun to dream about what changes $550,000,000 would bring to our lives.

Kelly Left Saturday.

Life should settle down, but now that Thanksgiving’s over, we’ve REALLY been busy.

Sunday night was the Oldies but Goodies annual meeting and dance. Monday karaoke at the clubhouse followed by a dinner at the home of Renay and Tom and today (Tuesday), there was a pool party with a great band.

Tomorrow is Wednesday. Our plan is to go shopping in the a.m. and attend a dance lesson in the afternoon/early evening. Thursday it’s Rockin Rendezvous at 5:00 and a free movie (“Kings Speech”) at 7:30. Friday we can attend a dance lesson. Since we have nothing going over the weekend, I plan to get busy and decorate our place for the holidays.

I love our time here! I don’t think I’d want to stay year-round, but I don’t think I’ll be ready to go home in May. We’ll see.

I’m going to miss Kelly when she leaves. We’ll drop her off at Tampa International at about 4:00 this afternoon.

It’s been so much fun to have her here.

We shopped yesterday (black Friday) but not the traditional big box stores. Instead we went to re-sale and consignment shops. Her taste and mine are very similar. We laughed when I got “caught” in a top that had two fastened-together pieces which had to be put on with all the sleeves/arm openings lining up. Needless to say things didn’t work and I was tangled in a unmanageable mess. (That was one item which stayed at the store. I couldn’t imagine going through that each time I wanted to wear it.) But we got some cute things and didn’t spend much. Most importantly, it was fun and a memory I’ll have even after she’s left!

Today we have carefully planned out the time needed to get her to her flight.

I’m really been enjoying my time with my daughter, Kelly. She’s totally easy going and fun. We have enjoyed a nice dinner Sunday evening, going to a line-dance lesson Monday, some lazy pool time Tuesday, shopping at the Red Barn Flea Market Wednesday, watching the sunset and dining last night at Little Harbor, and today we’re having a great Thanksgiving. Our dinner will be fantastic. A 12-pound turkey is in the oven and it’ll be ready about 5:00. In addition to the turkey and dressing, we’ll have mashed potatoes and gravy, vegetables, cranberry sauce, relishes, rolls, pie, wine. If the smells indicate anything, we’re in for a wonderful meal.

This morning we served dinners to the community at our church. Kelly pitched in and helped too.

This evening we’ll wind up at Richard and Shelly Brooks. They had invited us to dinner, but since we’re cooking here, we’ll join them for some socializing.

We have a lot to be thankful for.

My daughter Kelly’s visiting us from Monterey, California!! She arrived yesterday afternoon, the airport pick-up took more time than we’d planned because of a delay in the luggage area. (For some reason it took almost an hour for the baggage to be delivered to the waiting debarked passengers).

Therefore we were late arriving for a Sunshine Kids dinner at the North Clubhouse, but the meal was lovely and it gave us a chance to unwind. I got to introduce Kelly to our friends.

After getting back to the condo, we had a relaxing girl-time evening. John was watching a football game so we sat on the bed in the master bedroom and talked and talked. It was very nice to feel relaxed and have time to share thoughts. At about midnight John went to bed, and we moved to the living room where we watched HGTV for another hour. It was fun seeing how our selections were similar and our attitudes the same. At 1:00, we headed to bed.

Today we will go to the line dance class and a little shopping. Don’t know if we’ll have time to get to the pool.

Kel’s still on West Coast time, so she’s sleeping in, but that’s fine. I’m sure she’ll keep me up tonight late.

Last night we gathered at the clubhouse for an evening of fun, music, dancing and friendship. What a wonderful bunch of folks!!

We ate and chatted and enjoyed dancing of every genre.

When he arrived, our friend, Richard, was enveloped with affection and support. (He’s recovering from a colonoscopy.)

Many of our group were there. We had a great time!

At one point, Caroline was nudged into the center of a circle while we all sang “Sweet Caroline” to her and shouted “Good times never seemed so good!” It’s a general heartfelt feeling.

We are definitely living the good life.

Our tiny bird (about 4″ tall) has continued to hang out at our living room window. She doesn’t bump into the glass. She just flies up and perches on the cross pieces and sills. This has now been going on for five days. Really unusual.

She’s become a fixture. I want her to continue visiting us.

After exploring various bird websites, I think I’ve identified her as a female prairie warbler.

We’ve attended dance classes, a karaoke evening, garage sale, presentation of all the clubs here, Rockin’ Rondezvous, and a fantastic Halloween party at the home of the Coopers. We’ve enjoyed lots of fun stuff here in Kings Point, Sun City Center.

The weather cooled down so we haven’t been at the pool much, but life’s grand and we’ve had a fun time.

But for the past couple of days we have had a tiny guest knocking at our window.

A little bird, part gray and part yellow came to our great room window early yesterday (Thursday). He flew at the window, but landed on the sill instead. It wasn’t like he’d hit it and was injured. He just flew up and then settled back onto the sill. He’s flown away many times, but always returns. So today was the second day, and he was there all day. I have a feeling he’ll be back tomorrow. We don’t know what’s wrong with him. He doesn’t appear hurt, but doesn’t leave. He keeps watching us through the window. And it’s not just one window, he’s moved from the living room to the bedroom, to the side living room window, the glass door, and back to the great room window.

What a cutie. A friend said maybe he’s a pet, but we tried to approach him and he doesn’t appear to like people.

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Saturday – He’s back! It’s day three of enjoying our little guy who is still watching us most of the time. (BTW the photo doesn’t really show that he’s yellow with dark patches. It’s obvious that he’s very young and his color is just beginning to show. In fact, around his beak, you can see fine down feathers.)