"You can keep the ball."

HAPPY EASATER

I went to the eye doctor yesterday for my six month exam.  Several years ago I got shingles and they landed in my left eye.  What a pain in more ways than one.  Ten years later and I still need three different eye drops daily twice a day.    Anyway  one of my eyes has changed and I need new glasses.  I want to use my same frames as they were comfortable and expensive to purchase before.  Now  I must wait about two weeks before they will be ready.   This should be fun!  So don't be surprised  if the spelling is off for a while.  So, in two weeks I'll have a new tooth and new glasses.  Waaa Whooo!   You won't recognize me.  Now if I could grow a few inches, I'd be looking good.  

It's hard to believe Easter is here already.  The last five months have just flown by and soon we will be on the  road again.   When we get that ansy feeling, it's time to start rolling again.   We are going to Easter service tonight and will join friends having a Easter brunch poolside tomorrow.  If I think of it, I'll bring my camera.    Later afternoon we are having a traditionally Easter dinner.  

 

    Bob and I wish you a blessed and happy Easter. 

Easter - the resurrection of Christ

Holy Moly

Here's a picture of a public toilet in HOUSTON

 
Now that you have seen the outside view of the Toilet,

Just spend another moment scrolling down to see how it looks from inside.!

 

 
 That's made entirely out of one-way glass. No one can see you in there, but when you are inside, it looks like you're sitting in a clear glass box.

Would you / could you use it ???

Lazy Week-end

Last night we played Hand & Foot with neighbors Chuck and Evelyn.  They will be leaving here April 7th to return home in Michigan.   

 Today we hunted the  flea market here for things we couldn't live without.    This flea market  is a 55 acres facility with over 1600 booths all under one covered roof.   This is a gold mine for the owners.     They charge $400 per 4 weeks for a spot plus electricity.  95% of the vendors only carry new items.   They are open Fridays, Saturdays and Sunday only.  We bought a few items and got a price from a vendor for 15 new cribbage boards for the park.    After all this exercise we stopped for diner on the way home.  

 Our youngest son just called to tell us he still has his legs, meaning that at 39 he can still score goals in hockey.   He got 6 goals in this week-end tournament.   He may never out grow hockey!  

 Tonight is cribbage night and we have to get going early tomorrow morning to go back to Mexico for more dental work.   Catch you all later.

What ever

  Yesterday was such a busy day for us.  Besides that it was one of my favorite holidays, we had a full schedule.   We had our yearly physicals and it looks like we are good for another year.  

 From there we went to get our taxes done but they were closed.  Good grief, teach us to wait so long.   We had an street  meeting next and then off to the center for corned beef and cabbage dinner followed by a show.  Toe tapping, hand clapping fiddlers, I loved it.  

  Bob went golfing this morning and I finished off the rest of the soda bread.   Now that meant I had  to walk up to the broomstick exercise class.   I had to finished it to save Bob's waistline.   I am so good to him.  

The park is beginning to thin out.  Canadians can only stay out of the country for so long.  They have to purchase extra health insurance when they come to the states for the winter.  I guess it is very expensive as they get older.   By the end of the month  50% of folks will be heading home.  

We have not routed out our travel plans.  I think we will start out going to Utah and sometime this summer be in New England.   Utah is such a beautiful state and I want to do a little genealogy while there..I have such illusive relatives.  

 I went to bingo tonight but didn't win.   Had a few laughs and the walk home was a delight, such a nice sweet smell of the orange blossoms.  

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day.    May you be blessed
with good health, happiness and continued prosperity!

Did You Know?
- There are 34 million U.S. residents who claim Irish ancestry. This number is almost nine times the population of Ireland itself (3.9 million). Irish is the nation’s second most frequently reported ancestry, trailing only German.

- There are three states in which Irish is the leading ancestry group: Delaware, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Irish is among the top five ancestries in every state but two (Hawaii and New Mexico).

- There are 54 counties where Irish is the largest observed ancestry group. Forty-four of these counties are in the Northeast, with 14 in New York, 11 in Massachusetts and five in New Jersey.

- In Middlesex County, Mass., 348,978 residents are of Irish ancestry. Among the 54 counties where Irish is the largest observed ancestry group, Middlesex had the highest population of Irish-Americans, with Norfolk County, Mass., second, with 203,285.

- A total of 4.8 million immigrants from Ireland have been admitted to the U.S. for lawful permanent residence since fiscal year 1820, the earliest year for which official immigration records exist. By fiscal year 1870, about half of these immigrants were admitted for lawful permanent residence. Only Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and Mexico have had more immigrants admitted for permanent residence to the United States than Ireland.

- The value of U.S. imports from the Republic of Ireland during a recent 10-month period (January-October 2004) was $23 billion. Meanwhile, the United States exported $6.6 billion worth of goods to Ireland.

- There are nine places in the United States that share the name of Ireland’s capital, Dublin. Since Census 2000, Dublin, Calif., has surpassed Dublin, Ohio, as the most populous of these places (35,581 compared with 33,606 as of July 1, 2003).

Data courtesy of the U.S. Census Bureau

Click here: St. Patrick's Day Greeting Card ~ RiverSongs Irish Greetings

  Irish Soda Bread    This bread does not  require kneading.  So good. 3 C sifted flour 4 teas baking power 1 teas salt 1/3 c sugar 1 tablespoon caraway seeds 1 c raisins 1 c mild and a little extra   Mix all , adding the milk last, mixing to the consistency of whipped potatoes. Flour a board and kneed lightly, about 1 minute. Put in a greased pan ( 8 or 9 inch round or square cake pan),  With a sharp knife , make a slice in the top. Bake 45 minutes in a 375 oven.     Danny Boy  

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Irish Blessings    

One of my favorite holidays is St. Patrick's Day.  My father was Irish and he was always very proud of it.  I remember as a small child he would take me into Boston for the big parade and then to the South End for the gathering of the family clan.  There was plenty of food and dancing.  It was a sense of belonging and happy times.  Corned beef and cabbage, soda bread, and black pudding.  

Irish music was blasting from the record player and some even did the Irish jig.  It was an all day and into the night  gathering for us.  But I suspect it started days before we arrived and continued after we left.    My mother never came with us but  I suspect that she as an English women could only take so much of the Irish at a time.  LOL  

 I'll leave you with a few  Irish blessings.  

 May you live as long as you want,
And never want as long as you live.  

 May you have warm words on a cold evening,
A full moon on a dark night,
And the road downhill all the way to your door.

 
May your neighbors respect you,
Trouble neglect you,
The angels protect you,
And heaven accept you.

  God Bless  

      

Los Algodones, Mexico

Yesterday we went to Los Algodones, Mexico with friends Mary and Chuck for the day.   It took only 4 hours which included stopping for breakfast.  Algodones is only 10 miles from Yuma,  Arizona.  It has a variety of local merchants and restaurants.  Vendors are lined up on each side of the sidewalks selling a wide variety of merchandise.    Hand embroider clothing, jewelry, linens, lawn ornaments, wood carving,leather items and racy t-shirts.

  The most popular draw here to Mexico is the health  care providers offering an affordable alternative to  our own high costs.   This is a very small area that can be walked seeing everything in about 1 hour maybe 15 minutes more.  In this small area nestled with shops and cantinas there are at least 40 dentists, 9 optical shops, doctors and surgeons and a dermatologist.  Now if all these medical folks don't help you to feel better there is a good number of liquor stores.  Cheap booze seems to be a big draw here also.   

 I had a dental check up with a dentist recommended to me by friends and was pleased with his up to date equipment and cleanliness of his office.  His diplomas on the wall were from the U.S. as were his wife's, who is also a dentist.  The office was full of Americans having a wide variety of work done.  The wait was long as they were behind but time passed quickly chatting with everyone there.    Bottom line, I need a tooth pulled!  Oh how I dislike going to the dentist.  Boo hoo.  I wish I had bought some of that cheapo booze to make myself feel better. LOL   Have an appointment next Monday.

Not much going on here

Bob has bronchitis and is on a new to us antibiotic called a Ketek Pac.  In the past when he has had bronchitis he had a Z Pac which we don't think is as strong as this new one, although it worked well.  This new one has sat Bob right on his butt for four days now.  All he does is sleep, which is not like Bob at all.  He is the type of guy that is always in motion, got to be doing something.  I hope he feels better soon.

I received the following by email yesterday.  Check it out.

Typoglycemia.  Don't delete this because it looks
 weird. Believe it or not you can read it.
 
 I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd
 waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan
 mnid. Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde
 Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer inwaht oredr the ltteers
 in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the
 frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset
 can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit
 a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not
 raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
 Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas thought slpeling was
 ipmorantt.

Have a great week-end and remember to be kind to each other.