I’ve added all of the photos I took with my Panasonic camera to Picasa (an on-line photo service). That means they’re safe so I never have to worry about losing them and also they’re available for friends to view. There’s a link at the top of the rightmost menu or you can click here: 2012-13 Florida Photos. I’ll be adding more until we leave for Michigan in May.

Our doors were installed a week or so ago and it really made a difference. Top one shows the before (with older chairs too), below the new doors (and our Christmas tree).

We had a very nice Christmas!

Celebrating started Christmas Eve with a houseful of our close friends. (Some folks were out of town with their families, but we had about 20 who stopped in.)

We’d spent several days preparing. The lasagna was just as we’d hoped, and we had prepared lots of other stuff (rum cake, chicken wings, homemade candy, carmel popcorn and more). Our friends also contributed: meatballs, brisetta, strawberries, breads, chocolate cake, brownies, and other stuff. We were all pleasantly full. Everything was great!

After we ate, Ron entertained us with vocals (and John even helped him on one). Stephen offered us some humor and explanations of the Jewish religion. We had a group Christmas sing-along. And after doing some Christmas a non-Christmas tune (Sweet Caroline), someone mentioned line dancing, and the Country music started. The living room was ample for the whole crowd to dance (and we could have held twice as many, if we’d rolled up the area rugs).

The bar stayed open, and the crowd didn’t leave until nearly 10:00 (which is unheard of here).

Christmas was quiet but pleasant. (Beautiful weather).

At 4:00 we went wirh four other couples to our favorite spot on Tampa Bay, Sunset Grille at Little Harbor. We enjoyed a fabulous buffet with anything you might want. After enjoying a wonderful dessert table, we all headed over to Sherry and Bob’s.

Some of us played a card game while others chatted and watched TV. We ended up the evening with three kinds of pie! (And I’d lost 30 cents!!)

While at Little Harbor, we all were mesmerized by the wonderful sunsets.

I took a gazillion photos.

We’ve been enjoying lots of holiday parties. Saturday night was the Baby Boomers dinner and dance. Great times! Tonight the Michigan Club Christmas dinner.

It’s all been fun but we’ve also been distracted by the renovation of our condo.

The contractor started to install the new doors the middle of last week, but the first day was cut short because an electrician had to be called in to move an electrical box under the window and he couldn’t do it until the drywall was removed.

Finally Friday the doors were put in and they were better than expected. But during the cut-down of the block wall below the windows, an unbelievable amount of dust was generated and coated everything. Saturday the stucco guy showed up and did the outside work. Monday the trim on the doors was completed and the side window installed. The concrete guy has set the molds for the pouring of the patio which will happen on Thursday. Late afternoon (Monday) we started deep cleaning up to see if we could get rid of the dust and dirt. We’ve worked in small, manageable areas to get it all purged of the heavy dust layer.

Things were really looking great until this afternoon when our vacuum plugged up and then broke so the cleaning ground to a halt.

We are trying to get ready for our house full of friends on Christmas Eve but in order to get the place in order, we need to first vacuum and then scrub. (We’re using a carpet cleaner to do the heaviest of the scrubbing.) But with a broken vacuum it’s not possible. Hopefully John can get the vacuum going again tomorrow.

We have several appointments tomorrow and Thursday. But Friday-Sunday we should be able to work non-stop getting the house in order.

It’ll all come together. I’m confident.

Before and after photos will follow.

It’s encouraging because even the golfers have been stopping to tell us how great the new windows look and they’re only seeing them from the outside. We’re both really pleased!!

Obviously I didn’t win the power ball lottery.

But let’s see.. what’s been happening in the Skaryd household?

We saw the movie Kings Speech, attended a fun Kings Point 40th anniversary concert, took some dance lessons/classes, enjoyed karaoke on Tuesday. John had a chorus concert Wednesday (good job) followed by an afterglow party, Thursday a bunch of us had a lunchtime surprise birthday party for a friend (Marlene) and Rockin Rondezvous in the evening.

This morning I didn’t feel well (a cold and tooth ache). At 2:00 I had a dental appointment for 2 1/2 hours! I’m exhausted. The dentist (new to me) didn’t have to do the root canal which I’d expected but instead he removed a poor fitting crown (put on by my up-north dentist) and took care of a major problem which had developed under the crown. Then he had to rebuild the area and do a new crown. All in all it cost $1,360! (Some should be covered by insurance.) It was so nice to enjoy dinner without the tooth pain I’ve endured since late October.

I’m relieved to have it done.

This weekend we don’t have a lot on Saturday — just the golf cart parade followed by a winter festival in Sun City Center.

Sunday will be busier. The Sun City Center Methodist Church will feature it’s annual Christmas Contata at 10:55. We’ll go to one of the services. Then at noon we’re invited to a Christmas brunch. The host and hostess are at the opposite end of our condo (roof-mates). All of the neighbors are invited. I’m sure we’ll enjoy a lovely time.

Our Oldies but Goodies dance will be held Sunday evening with our friends. I’m looking forward to it.

I felt really rotten last night and credited a cold, but right now I am much better. It may just be allergies.

Life is good!!