12/26/14 - On 12/24, we went to the produce market and got lots of produce and a few other items.  We got our first taste of fresh strawberries and they are delicious.  We were determined to find some eggnog but had to go to two different stores before we found some.   The rest of the afternoon was uneventful but it was quite windy most of the day and in the evening we did get a little rain but did not last long.

12/25 - we had a wonderful dinner of chicken, sweet potatoes, collard greens.  We then left for Sarasota and attended a local parade with my first cousin and her family.  We went back to her house for alittle over an hour and then went to see the movie "Big Eyes".  It was really good.

Today we are going back to Anna Maria island for a sunset seafood dinner.  Dinner will be early since the sun sets at 5:45pm so planning a very light lunch.

12/23/14 - On 12/22, we went to church and then had lunch with a first cousin and her family on the yutzy side.  We spent the afternoon playing games and then got some pizza for dinner. It was a wonderful day and so good to get re-acquainted with her four girls and the one son-in-law.  They left this morning to spend the holidays with family in Ohio.

Today, we have a dinner date and game night with a first cousin on the Beachy side.  It will be nice to spend the evening with family.  Otherwise, we have not had much activity.  It was predicted that we would have rain for the three days but now it has changed to just Christmas Eve.

12/19/14 - On 12/18 - around noon we finally got the call that the RV was ready for pick up.  It had been 10 days since I put her in the shop.  Aunt Esther and I drove up to Tampa and picked up the RV and then she followed me back to Bradenton to make sure there wasn't any problems.  I needed to get gas so drove into a gas station and on the far right were only two pumps with diesel so I pulled up behind a car that was pumping from the pump next door to the diesel and she pulled out, I started to pull in when this car all of a sudden was backing into my space and he decided to pump gas!! I was stunned.  Well, I waited and then pumped my gas after he left.  Never acknowledged that I was even there.

We got home, parked her and set her up.  The guy came over from next door and fixed my water heater leak.  We did then move some things over but did not finish.  Tired and off to bed.

12/19/14 - Today we finished moving from the cabin, did some laundry, cleaned the RV and checked for leaks and there were none but then had a problem with the commode not holding water so I had an appointment with the mobile repair guy and he had to put in a new rubber plug and we were set to go.  I ran the generator, the air conditioner and the heater to make sure everything is finally working. I hope things will work now for quite a while.  We plan to move to Largo by the end of the month.

12/17/14  - The last couple of days have not been very eventful.  I changed our plans for Monday 12/15 since I thought I would get the RV back but later learned that there were some more issues.  We then decided to go visit Anna Maria Island.  We found a city pier with a restaurant at the end.  It was a very interesting place and a small beach.  We then drove all the way down to south Sarasota before driving back to the mainland.

On 12/16, I spent all day with a cousin of mine that I have been active with a circle letter that includes three of us cousins since 1979.  It was such a good day because she shows me all of her area including places of work, churches, place were people lived, several farm markets.  We had lunch and ended the day with a Dairy Queen blizzard.  It will now make so much sense when she writes things in her letter.  We went back to her house and there her mother and daughter came over and I learned to play a marble game.  We had so much fun and it was a wonderful day for me.

Today, we did a load of laundry and then decided to try the Bradenton Beach.  We got out to the beach with umbrella, chairs, books and drinks.  It started out a nice day but by 4:00pm, the wind arrived and it got very cool so we packed up and came home.  Now the evening will including playing on the computer and crocheting an afghan.

12/12/14 - On Tuesday 12/9, I had to go back to the dentist.  I had another fracture on the upper denture and it needed repair.  We then did laundry and just stayed around the cabin since I had NO teeth until 3:30pm.  I also got the bad news that the RV had a fuel pump/fuel injector problem and it would need to be replace for a LOT of money but still thought that we would be able to get it back on Friday since the pump was in the area.

On 12/10, We went to a place called the Red Barn which is a flea market and large produce farm market.  It was really interesting and we found a lot of fresh vegetables and in the evening we drove to Sarasota for Chinese dinner with some of my relatives that were still here from Ohio but will be leaving this week end. There was eleven of us.  As we were driving around the parking lot looking for the restaurant, we were spotted by a first cousin on the paternal side of the family who did not even know we were here!!.  She followed us through the parking lot and then we found the restaurant and she parked next to us.  We were so surprised because we did not know she was invited to the dinner party.  We soon learned that she was shopping at the grocery store and just by total accident saw us drive around the parking lot.  We talked a short time in the parking lot and made some plans for next week.

12/11 - We drove back to Sarasota and toured the Ringling Museum.  It was very interesting.  There was a circus museum, a building that had a miniture total circus set up with all the "behind the scenes", animals,  workers and the big tent for the show.  There was a mansion on the property which was their summer home and a huge art museum.  We spent all day there.

12/12 - We did not make any plans because we were hoping for word from Tampa regarding the RV.  When I did not get any word, I called to learn that they had everything repair but when they took her out for a spin, she died and had to be towed back to the shop.  I learned that Monday will probably be the earliest.  I just hope that everything will be repaired.  We did run errands then since we knew that we would not be going to Tampa

12/08/14 - Since my last post, I have attended a 90th birthday on 12/6.  It was well attended and the birthday girl was quite surprised because about 9 or so were from out of town and most of them traveled from cental Ohio.  It was so much fun to see her so surprised.  It was very nice to catch up with my Ohio relatives.  On 12/7, Aunt Esther and I had to work all day to move from the RV to the cabin.  I never realized how much stuff we had to carry over for one week. We moved all the freezer and refrigerator stuff and then cleaned it out since I didn't want the truck shop to have to plug the RV in during the time that they  had it.  We had to put our stuff down below in storage since I would be driving to Tampa.  Next was to empty out all the tanks, turn off the propane and get everything ready for travel on Monday morning.  We were so tired but then I went to an ice cream and cake party with my Ohio relatives.  It was very nice to see some of them again before they left this morning.

12/8 - We left this morning for Tampa.  The GPS failed me and I got off the freeway and went to turn around in a parking lot and discuss with Aunt Esther how we should go when the engine lights came on and failed.  A few minutes later, it started and we headed out and were once again lost so I called Kenworth Trucking and got good directions and we finally made it.  Of course, it took a while to get registered and then we left and headed back to Bradenton.  On our way back, we stopped off and did some shopping at Costco.  This afternoon, we just rested.

12/05/14 - On 11/30, we went to church, had a left over family dinner and played some games.  On 12/1,  the two aunts went shopping while I stayed at home with the uncle.  Monday night we went out for mexican food which was very good.  On 12/2, we relaxed most of the day but in the evening my aunt had four tickets to a dinner theatre which was playing "White Christmas".   It was very nicely done.  On 12/3, we left at 7:40am for the airport to catch the plane back to Tampa.  We had a great flight and drive back to Tampa.

12/5/14 - On 12/4, we went grocery shopping since we did not have much left in the refrigerator.  We confirmed that we could have the cabin for the week while the RV is in the shop in Tampa. 

12/5/14 - Today, we did some shopping at Target and late afternoon yesterday, I learned that I had a leak in the hot water tank so now I need to get that repaired.  Today, I made some calls and now have an appointment to repair that after the RV comes back from Tampa.  I am trying to get things repaired since we are thinking about moving to another part of Florida by the first of the year.

12/05/14 - On 11/27 - We left at 5:30am for Tampa, Florida to catch a plane to Phoenix, Arizona for 7 days.  We had a great flight and around 3:00pm we sat at a family table of 9 for a big Thanksgiving dinner.  It included two aunts, an uncle, two first cousins and one has a wife and two second cousins.

My aunt and uncle were celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary.  On Friday, 11/28 some of us went black Friday shopping and some of us went to a HUGE craft show and then had lunch at a cafe.  It was so nice to spend time with family.

On 11/29, some went to the wild animal park in the morning and the two aunts went back to the craft fair while I stayed at home with the uncle. We got all dressed up for the sit down dinner that was planned.  Dinner was served at 5:45pm.  Their daughter Robyn had been planning this huge event for at least a year.  She did a wonderful job and the dinner and whole evening was delightful.  After dinner we did take some pictures and I have included two pictures:

                                           Lee Schlabach Family.  Two sons, spouses
                                                  and daughter

                                            Two granddaughters that were to attend.