A Little Adventure For Me

Jillian here. Happy March. I went on a little adventure last weekend to a conference in Orlando and got to spend some time with my son and his family. It was fun, but exhausting as the drive is always a pain- about 7 hours each way. AND when I stay at my son’s, since they took down the mattress in their guest room, they put up a blow up bed. And it tends to lose air in the night, so I have to keep turning on the motor to re-blow it up to the full air setting or it’s like trying to crawl out of a bowl of soup when I have to take my mid-night trips to the bathroom. LOL – so, good rest is hard to get. AND one time on the first night, in the dark, I turned the motor switch the wrong way and ended up flat on the cold, wood floor. That was insane, but at least I could get it back full of air in short order. 🙂 And then my hip hurt. Woe was me. 🙂

While my daughter-in-law was out with her mother’s group on Thursday night, my son, grandson and I went for ice cream to a place called Jeremiah’s. Their logo is a frog from the “Jeremiah was a bull frog” song- my son, the architect, is the designer for a number of them as they move from a regional company to expanding with franchises in a number of states, so I wanted to check them out as we don’t have them here.

The first morning I was there, when my grandson woke, the first thing he said was, “Where’s Nonna?” His mom told him I was in the kitchen. He said, “I want to see Nonna.” She said, “Let’s change your diaper first.” He said, “No. See Nonna first.” That made my heart sing. He’s a sweetie AND he likes me! 🙂

The hotel where I stayed one night during the conference has inside balconies and you can actually go out on them. There’s a rail but no safety measures. I was on the 7th floor. The lawyer in me was screaming inside at the risk factor there. LOL

While at the conference, I attended a dinner for the former state officers of the organization and the theme was Mardi Gras. We all got beads and masks so I took them home for my grandson. He had a blast with them- putting them on his mom, dad and me.

It was a great visit–too short– and I’m dragging my tailfeathers this week at work, but I wouldn’t trade sleep for time with these people I love.

Praying for the people in the Ukraine who are being bombed and losing loved ones while they live in terror. I can’t even imagine their fear and anxiety and grief.

October Already? WOW!

Jillian here. Wow. Another month turned over on the calendar last night and here we are entering the fourth quarter of a very speedily passing year. Cripes, before you know it, I’ll be having another birthday! Of course, I don’t mind them since I usually get gift cards to book stores! What could be better than that?

I have zero fall pictures because here in Florida, it hasn’t arrived yet weather-wise although we have actually had some evenings in the 60s and will have the 50s this weekend (that’s Fahrenheit for you guys over the pond)- this will be magnificent and I will wallow in it by going outside and flopping on the still-green grass.

When I was in Paris in August, it was in the 50s at night and I was really digging it. My son and I went on a Seine river cruise and the cool air was divine. As we waited for our boat to arrive, I was amazed at how many different craft were on the river- a lot of them were dining cruises. Here’s some shots of them since Kit wanted to see some more Paris pictures. How cool that I could segue my post with that, huh? LOL!

Paris, a Mime, and a Crowd

Jillian here. My son and I had a wonderful trip to France(for the most part) but I came home with a horrible cold/cough. I’m feeling better now but it was a tough week or so after I got home since I … Continue reading →

August Already? Really?

Jillian here. Is it just me or is this year speeding by? I can barely believe it’s already the 8th month of the year. Wow.

Exciting things coming up this month. The first was I got my cast off and am healed and for that, I’m grateful. The second is that I’m heading out on the 13th on a mother/son adventure to Paris. I’m excited but a little torn about it since I always, always have some craziness at the  office before I take off on a trip like this so I’m wondering what that’s going to be (lol) and I’m also dreading that long overnight flight. I absolutely love being new places and exploring wonderful things  but man, I hate the getting there part.

Anyone have any advice on what not to miss in Paris? I know all the major things but maybe some hidden jewel? I’m looking forward to picking up some Napoleon research books as I may be participating in an anthology commemorating the 200th anniversary of Waterloo in June of next year. I’ve  been invited and I accepted but I need to write the story by December so we’ll see (no contract signed!) how I do. I think I can knock it out since it’s only 20,000 words (yeah right, ONLY). 

And pictures, of course I’m looking forward to playing with my camera and getting some great shots.  Son and I usually compete with our photography on trips. We both love it so.

Ice and Snow? In Florida?

Hey, Jillian here. We’ve had a quite interesting last couple of weeks around here. First, my son got a new job in Providence, Rhode Island which necessitated him coming home (a ten hour drive) to bring his wife’s household goods to our house to add to the ones in our garage (that have been there since he went to England for his master’s degree) and put them all in a U-Haul to drive them up to RI. They came up from near Ft. Lauderdale on the day that the winter storm arrived so spent a good three hours (of the 9) driving in icy rain (good practice for RI).

The day after they got here, the whole city was shut down due to icy roads and the temperature didn’t get over 17 degrees Farenheit so none of it melted- we do not have snow/ice equipment here as it rarely is needed. My son and his wife closed the garage door to sort through his things but it was still super cold in there for them. It was pretty funny when they opened and closed the doors to dart out and put a load of stuff in the U-Haul. We sure aren’t used to brr temperatures like those.

The travelers left for Rhode Island along with my husband towing the U-Haul with his truck on Thursday. I told them I had visions of them having to live in it as they reserved an apartment sight unseen by using Zillow. Well, guess what? When they got there on Saturday, after 22 hours of driving, the place looked nothing like the pictures on Zillow and they refused to rent it. So, they didn’t get a place until Monday of this week and it’s been snowing up there. They got to pack in the ice and snow and also to unpack in even worse conditions. I’m just glad I had to work! LOL!

The day before the ice/snow was 69 degrees and after the three days of under freezing temps from Tues-Fri, it was 69 again by Sunday. It’s been a wild winter. Today it’s 60s but will be 32 tonight. Fun.