February 18, 2012: Tampa, Zephyrhills,and Bartow, Florida

My Mom and I had decided that we needed to go on this trip to Florida to check out the areas once again to see if this is where we wanted to move.     We had a nice flight on Air Tran from Grand Rapids to Tampa.   Jeanne and her husband, Kevin, drove us to the airport which was so nice.   It made it so much easier.     We got to Tampa and picked up our rental car through Dollar Rental. I was shocked that the cost of the rental car for a week was going to be $575.   Roughly $194 of that cost was just for taxes.    I think I need to be in the car rental business.    


We drove to Zephyrhills to the Heartland Assisted Living Center to visit Norm.    He was waiting in his wheel chair at the door for us with a big appreciative smile.      


We took him to lunch at Chilis.  He told us this was the last restaurant he took Grandma to before she moved back to Michigan 2 years ago.      We had a nice waitress and meal.      Norm was using his walker to get around.     I took him to the bathroom and waited for him outside.     


Then, we went to Grandma's mobile home to check it out.  It hasn't been lived in for 2 years.  We were shocked that most of the furniture was still in there.   We were expecting it to be empty.    The ceiling in the living room had mold and looked very bad.    We were shocked at how much the trailer had deteriorated.   


Norm had some bathroom issues and had to use the bathroom immediately. We didn't know what to do, as the water was shut off. My mom went to the neighbors to find someone to help, but no one was home. Meanwhile, Norm had exploded all over the floor and toilet and in his pants.    I helped clean him up.   The smell made me throw up in the garbage can.  We didn't have any toilet paper so used what tissues that were there.     Poor Norm felt so bad.       This happened about 3 separate times. What a mess to clean up.    Mom found the neighbor, Theresa, who came over to turn on the water, so I was able to flush the toilet and wash my hands.


Theresa has been taking care of Grandma's neighbor, Ruth, every day.   


Then, we went to see the memorial stone that Norm had made for Grandma.  It is over at Betmar on the other side near this Canadian flag.   


Norm's niece, Cheryl, stopped by the memorial to meet us.    She is 67 yrs old and never been married.  She has 2 sisters who have never been married.  They all live in Chicago.      Cheryl is such a sweetheart. She has been taking care of Norm's 7 rental properties, plus his house, and him.     She comes to Florida for 1 1/2 months and then goes back to Chicago for 1 1/2 months.    


We dropped Norm off at his home and then followed Cheryl back to Norm's house for a 2 night stay.  


We had plans to meet my high school friend, Leah Engle, in Lakeland.  We hadn't seen her new town home she got there so that was nice to see.  Leah took us to this wonderful restaurant in Bartow called "Stanford Inn".   It was a fancy restaurant inside an old house.  The food was excellent.     Then, we went back to Leah's house and got to meet her dog, Misha, whom she has been taking to obedience classes.   Misha showed us all of her tricks.    Leah took us on a tour of her new home which was very nice.      

February 4, 2012: April, Matthew, and Cyrus Come to Town

I was so excited to hear that Matthew was finally coming back to Michigan for a visit. Unfortunately, the reason for his visit was due to the passing of his Grandma Tomasiewicz.     Matthew's father passed away a few years ago which was very sad.    


Matthew has always been like a little brother to me.  When we lived on Lawnel Avenue, he used to come over to our house almost every day and I would play baseball, kick ball, play video games, ride bikes, get ice cream, and go to the movies.    I remember one time when he was a kid and he said he was so sad that I was going away to college, as he couldn't come over.   


I had been trying for several days to get something set up so we could go visit with them.     They stayed the last week at his mother, Patty's house.      My mom and I went for a visit.    Little Cyrus is such a doll. He is almost 15 months old.   Cyrus was born in November 2010.    


Matthew was in the Navy and then decided he wanted to be in the Army.     He has been stationed in Afghanistan since last July.    He is supposed to come back to the states this coming July which will be good.     He would like to finish with the army in the next couple of years and move back to Michigan.  They were going to look at properties up north, near where he lived with his father.    

We brought Cyrus a cute shorts and top and a pillow pet.   It was cute watching him open up his present.     Patty looked so happy having them all here for a visit.

December 18, 2011: Bridge Young Adult Christmas Party

I joined the Bridge Young Adult group through church a few years ago. I hadn't been able to go to many of the events, but wanted to get involved more with this group of young people.    Alicia Belrose and I went to Matthew and Heather Conlin's house in Spring Lake for the 2nd Annual Crazy Christmas Sweater Party.      Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend last year.


My co-workers, Donna Syers and Linda Borgerding, found a bunch of cute things in their sewing rooms and put them on the Christmas sweater I found at Hope's Outlet.     I went around to several of those stores for a crazy looking sweater and this is the only place that even had a Christmas sweater, so I grabbed it.
Donna and Linda spent one morning sewing on all of the pieces to the sweater. It sure was crazy looking.


I wore it to this church Christmas party.   I ended up being the winner of the crazy Christmas sweater contest which was fantastic.  I met some nice people at the party and enjoyed some good food.

November 1, 2011: New 2011 Honda CRV

I decided to go to the local Honda dealership to look at the Honda CRV, which is the car I have always wanted.    I took a test drive of the car and got a quote on it.  I wasn't sure if I would be approved for a loan, given the fact, I had just finished a credit counseling program and wasn't sure what was my current credit score. I told God that if I was meant to get this car, then I would be approved for my own loan at the 1.9% interest rate. If I didn't get it at that interest rate, then it wasn't for me.   I was shocked to find out that my credit score was just high enough to get my own loan, as well as the 1.9% interest rate.   I told my mom about it, as I didn't want to buy the car without her approval.   She reluctantly agreed to let me get it, so we went back to the dealership to look at colors. Originally, I was going to get black, but then my mom convinced me to get the metallic gray, as it wouldn't show the dirt as much, so that is what I bought.       I did enjoy my Honda Civic when I had it and was very thankful I was able to pay it off the year before.    The dealership gave me $11,000 for the trade-in value which helped me out.      I was so excited to go pick up my new dream car.      

September 23, 2011: Josh Maitner's Painting

One of my co-workers, Josh Maitner, is an artist. I have always wanted him to paint me a piece of work to hang above my sofa in my next home.     It turned out great.   I looked at a bunch of his work on his facebook page and saw one that caught my eye.       He charged me $300 for it.  I can't wait to put it on my wall.

September 17, 2011: Hampton Green Farm

My mom and I went to a charity benefit at Hampton Green Farm at 5440 E. Farr Rd. in Fruitport.  We went to this about 7 years ago, but my mom wanted to go back again.     We paid $10 and had a nice meal and horse show.   The couple who own this farm stay here from May to mid October and then take the horses down to Wellington, Florida from October to May.   The horse show was very nice.  Then, we took a tour through the stables and got to pet the horses.  Some of the horses were very friendly.     One of the horses grabbed the scarf I had on and tried to eat it.      I had a hard time getting the scarf out of his mouth.    Luckily, a nice man helped me out.

Each horse had a window to look out of into the pasture.      I still have this memory of one of the horses looking out the window at me when we went outside.      It was as if he was not wanting me to go.    

September 11, 2011: Our Photo Shoot with Minda Schouten-Floyd in Grand Rapids

My friend, Betsy's daughter, Minda, started a photography business so I decided to have her take some pictures of my Mom, Maggie, and I in downtown Grand Rapids.    I picked the last day of the Art Prize which probably wasn't the best thing to do, as it was so crowded.    It was a beautiful, sunny autumn day, which was fantastic.     It was nice to be able to walk around Art Prize after the photo shoot.    Maggie had a good time, too.