Settling In

 

Wesley Chapel Florida (high 90, low 69)

We’ve spent our days since our return visiting with Mom and trying to get caught up on some of the many chores we neglected while in the Keys.

First and foremost is to have the driveshaft disconnect repaired, but we were unable to get an appointment until next Wednesday. JoBeth gave us a suggestion that maybe a bolt came loose, and it might be something we could fix ourselves.  Since we recently had problem with the bolts connecting the hitch to the truck, we decided we would feel better to have that re-inspected too, so we’ll just let the experts figure it all out. 

Al is trying to reorganize things here and make initial preparations for our (hopefully) summer in the mountains. He’s been outside a lot the past few days, but has started complaining about the “heebie jeebies.”  That is code for poison ivy.  We’re pretty sure he hasn’t touched any, but apparently there is some growing nearby. He is extremely sensitive to it and all it takes is for him to be near it.   This morning he is again complaining of the heebie jeebies, and now he found some small blisters on his arms, and he’s starting to feel bad.   He has a prescription for prednisone that he got several years ago and has saved for emergencies. He’s about ready to start taking that.  Poor Al.

While we were in the Keys, we ate out a lot and did very little cooking.   I don’t know why, but I couldn’t seem to muster the enthusiasm to cook while we were there. I guess it was  because we were so busy all the time.  Now that we’re back here in Tampa, I’m trying to cook and get back into a more healthy way of eating.  We completely went off of our plant based/vegan eating and both of us gained weight.  I made a nice stir last night and we both really enjoyed it.  Unfortunately, last night someone mentioned Cuban Sandwiches and we remembered a really good place we discovered right before we left here in January.  Now we have a craving for a Cuban!

There have been a few changes here at Quail Run while we were gone.  The best change is that they got a new internet Wi-Fi system. It’s free and appears to be much better than the old one.  We signed back onto Netflix and during a rainy day the other day, started watching season 2 of House of Cards. 

The second improvement here is a new pool.  They tore down the disgusting old pool and are in the process of building a new one.  The problem with that, is they took out the old pool in February and the new one is still not complete yet.  The snowbirds were livid that there was no pool this winter and  I don’t blame them.  I don’t know who is building this pool, but I do know that when we put in a pool in our Tampa house many years ago, it took two weeks from start to finish.

We’ve been spending time with Mom, but I needed a one day break from her.   My Mother is/was the sweetest person you could ever meet, but as she gets older, she’s getting a tad cranky and more than a little stubborn.  I was trying to explain something to her that might keep her from falling again.  She didn’t understand what I was trying to tell her (because she wouldn’t let me finish what I was saying), so I finally gave up.  Maybe I need to remind her of how stubborn her own mother got as she got older, or maybe I need to keep my mouth shut and deal with it.   :)

A wonderful cool front arrived and it got down to 59 degrees last night.  I had to drag out an extra blanket and my heating pad, but it sure felt good to sleep with the window open.

Nothing much fun going on here.  We went to the boat show today at the fairgrounds.   We’re not interested in getting a new boat, but they have some nice vendors to visit.  We also  have passes to the zoo, so maybe we’ll have to get back there and see how much the two baby elephants have grown.  There are some nice rivers close by so we may even get in a paddle or two. The Weeki-Wachee is wonderful this time of year, and we’ve even seen manatee there in June.

 

We’re starting to get anxious to head back to the mountains, but I’m not sure when we’ll head north, but it will probably be dictated by the possibility of a hurricane.   We have a few folks that are coming up to Blairsville to stay in our other RV site.  Two couples are other RV bloggers and one couple are Tampa friends that I worked with at USAA. I’m not going to spill the beans on who the RV bloggers are, but you know them and we can’t wait to actually meet them!