Listening to CD audio books on long trips is wonderful! We ate sandwiches and the picnic goodies that Renee insisted we carry (actually I ate the 2 pieces of chocolate rum cake….) and we have unpacked into the very messy Miami house! Pontoon boat will be floating at 4pm on a beautiful sunny day! God bless you and fill you with the joy that is Christmas!
Hi dear ones. It is a very quiet time… Between Christmas and New Years. I hear a lot of kids outside playing and harried Moms taking them in for much needed naps! We will be on the road again today going home to put the pontoon boat in the water and enjoy some Miami weather and maybe make some noise on the lake New Years Eve before heading south for Dr Hill’s big New Year’s Day luncheon! Chuck wishes we could be on the road all the time as he found a cowboy movie channel at Renees and we watched the Alamo twice. One Alamo was directed and produced by John Wayne with John Wayne as Davy Crockett…. that did not work for me. John Wayne is not Davy Crockett. Billy Bob Thornton is. We watched a wonderful movie called The Christmas Cottage about Thomas Kincade and why he fills his paintings with light. Renee and I enjoyed it, and Chuck watched quietly…. (no guns, no horses, sigh he said). This is the end of movie time. Chuck said it is rainy outside… We watched the weather report last night and apparently there is some cold weather up north and on the national weather map, Florida was green… So dear friends, once again, stay warm and safe. Hope you do not get "the winter cold" I’m feeling much better and am relieved I did not have to fight the bronchial coughing and take antibiotics. My white blood cells listened to me. We’re still in Christmas until the Wise Men come so… stay vigilent! God bless you! Love and Happy preparation for New Year.
I sat outside after Mass this morning in Orlando; a wondrous circle of sunlight and high white clouds encircling me. The warm breeze filled me and I prayed that my cold would be healed! I’ve been snorting and coughing since we left the Paparellis and I hope I haven’t infected too many people! Today, Sunday of the Holy Family, we thanked God for showing us the beautiful Holy Family we will one day join when we will enjoy “the rewards of your house.†I pray today for those families who have been broken by death, by anger, by meanness of spirit, and I pray that we will know that we are destined for the arms of God. How do we know our destiny? Prophets, Apostles, and Jesus himself said so. Read psalm 98: “All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of Godâ€. So, all we have to do is look! One of the readings in Mass was from Saint Paul to the Colossians and it described us as if we were dressing in layers: “put on …compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is the bond of perfection.†Beautiful, yes? When Simeon saw the child Jesus, Simeon said: “Now Lord you can let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation…which you have prepared in sight of all the peoples†Let us today bear witness to what we have seen and what we know in our hearts. Dig around deep if you need to, and come up with the love and warmth that is there. Let the darkness go; let the light shine! Happy Christmas and happy hearts. God bless you.
Tonight Mark’s sister Mimi is visiting for dinner! Dog is very exited and ham and sweet potatoes are on the menu. I’m excited too for that is a fav food of mine! It’s cold out there and we will be packing up to go visit Sarah at her gallery in Neptune Beach tomorrow. God bless our dear families! Love Susie
Merry Christmas week to my dears from Hilton Head, South Carolina! Karla, Chuck and I were mentally going through the fridge and freezer and Chuck said we should make chicken soup with the chicken we took as left overs from the fried chicken at Dillard’s restaurant. "Add a little onion," Chuck said "and that will do it!" So Karla and I went out to the kitchen and poured a little wine and began to assemble "stoup". I fried up some chopped onion and celery, defrosted a little bit of left over soup from the freezer, chopped mushrooms, added broth and the leftover little bit of macaroni and cheese from last night… some spices… stir and drink the wine. When I next opened the lid, Karla said, "This is what Rachel Ray calls ‘Stoup’".  It’s thick and smells wonderful. There is a bald eagle in a tree right outside and 3 merganser ducks swimming in the rain. We went out to lunch at a lovely french restaurant with a fire place and ate beautiful food! Lucky me, I have jeans with elastic in the waist!   Happy Happy Christmas!
We arrived at the "cabin" where the bride slept on the night before her wedding and we began to set out plates and things for the wedding and then there was some screaming and the able groom rushed into where the ladies were and he valiantly killed a spider. OUT! the women shouted and off he ran. He disappeared and then the bride disappeared to get into her amazing wedding dress at a room with a fire place. Pictures, pictures, pictures as Kerri made the grand entrance. Kerri was a vision in a flowing white dress with a red sash and a red bow with streamers down the back. And red heels! Abby was lovely as maid of honor in a red dress and the groom and his man Nathan were resplendent in beautiful tuxes with red vests and black converse sneakers. Aunt Susie read the "unity cross ceremony" and then I read a meditation based on a verse from the 1st letter of Saint John; "Beloved, let us love one another as love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God." Chuck said I projected well and all the rest of the ceremony was beautiful. We ended the day with another "all you can eat" dinner… burp and then Chuck and I went our separate ways back to our room. God bless the new couple! today we drive down to Hilton Head to visit Karla and Mark until Christmas Eve. Stay warm my dears. Love Susie
We’re in "a meadows room" at Dillard House on the North Carolina line. We look out over a fenced meadow, then pine trees and some other leafless, brown trees, and then mountains! very beautiful. We left the heat off and snuggled, but Chuck had freezing feet this morning so I put on the heat. My sister Donna is due to arrive soon and then we are going to "all you can eat" lunch….. brrrrrr and Yum!
Say a prayer for my step Brother Bill Harlan who passed away yesterday surrounded by his children; angels sang him to his rest. He had colon cancer and survived about 10 years. Bill was a very happy man and he loved his children very much. God bless you Bill.
When dressing in a high rise apartment building one doesn’t know if it’s cold. It LOOKS cold…I stepped out on the balcony, and IT IS cold! so I got some long sleeved Izod shirts and have one on with a tee shirt, and I’ll carry several other layers… I absolutely hate to put on coats and scarves inside a building. So then I get out into the wind on the ground level and "whoooooooosh!!! whoa!" it’s the wind that gets me! I then put on the coats and scarves! That’s the trouble with living in Miami all my life. I run around in a tee shirt period. When I hang out the laundry the hot wind dries it in seconds… my mother said she left Pittsburgh because she hung out laundry and it came in frozen and dirty. I guess if everyone felt the way I do, Florida would be full of people and break off and float away. We ate coffee cake and coffee and are doing a final wash of sheets and then…. heading north on 441 into the mountains. Dillard House and "all you can eat dinner" here we come. Need elastic pants. Love Susie
Waiting for Christmas! It’s cold and windy here (NW side of ATL). We have been playing all day with Julia’s little 10 month old baby Charles (so we have under one roof, Chuck, Charlie and Charles). Kathy and I took Charles to the Ace hardware which I think is owned by elves as it has lots of fun stuff to buy and we bought Christmas socks for the baby! He immediately set to trying to take them off but he’s a little too little yet. soon, Julia! I took Julia’s baby stroller downstairs to her car and I went "woooooooh!" As it felt like the several times I went to the car to get stuff in Mom’s parking lot in Cleveland. Good grief! I haven’t seen weather report, but will check as we are headed to the Georgia North Carolina line tomorrow. We have boots, jeans, gloves, scarves and jackets with fur! Party tonight at the Paparellis and then… off to my nephew Michael and Kerri’s wedding in Dillard. Love and God bless as we await the amazing beauty that is Christmas! Love Susie
I can’t think of any. South Florida flower that I am, accustomed to the dew of our 90% humidity and heat, I can feel my skin drying up from 50% humidity and 65 degree weather that our host and hostess heat against. Kathy and Charlie Paparelli’s new home is beautiful! The children have all left the nest, except for the final baby Nick who attends school at Alabama and is home now for Christmas break, but we haven’t seen him yet! Apparently young people sleep a lot in the morning. Here’s another thing I don’t really know about… teenagers and the quantities of sleep and food they consume! We are having a quiet morning, like on the cruise ship: fresh brewed coffee, sunny seats on deck 9 (Kathy’s condo is on the 9th floor), lovely deck chairs in Charlie’s den, plenty of good books to read. Can’t complain! Grandmother Kathy will be bringing her first grand baby here (Kathy is baby sitting until Julia retires to be a full time Mom this Thursday). We will then swing into full party mode playing with a 10 month old, then Kathy and I will have a Bible study this evening while the boys (Chuck and Charlie) go out. We’ve been playing with a new travel idea that has my mind reeling! Lisa (second Paparelli daughter) will be married here in Atlanta on July 18. We arrive in Tampa/Sarasota from our 2 ½ month vacation cruising and in England on July 16th. Our car will be at our cousins Laura and Dennis in North Port, Florida near Sarasota. Can you see what’s coming? Why not, while we’re at it, come straight to Atlanta for Lisa’s wedding and then… head north via Boone and New Hampshire to get to the submarine convention on Labor Day in Pittsburgh. Chuck actually hatched this idea when I told him we would have to miss Lisa’s wedding due to being on the trip… So dear readers, I’m not kidding, we are Peabody nuts. Someone should put out a product. Love and kisses! Susie