I've Been Away Far Too Long...

They tell me I'm missed! I guess that is because I have been away for 3 long months! That is unusual for me. I usually sit down at the computer at least once a week and write "something!" But, I guess my head has been elsewhere these past few months.

My hubby and I did take a trip the end of February. It was an amazing adventure. First, we drove up to Vancouver, BC in Canada to participate in the craziness of the 2010 Winter Olympics held there. We were privileged to get tickets to the Women's Gold Medal Curling Match and the Closing Ceremonies. Neither one of us knew that much about curling, but we certainly learned while watching an amazing match between Canada and Sweden.
It was a very close game, that was tied at the end of the 10th "end" (similar to frames and lines in bowling) and so they had to play one more. Right up to the end, it was anybody's match! But Sweden pulled it off with an amazing last minute hit that put two of their stones in the circle, knocking Canada out. Canada had one last throw, and missed their mark. What an exciting finish!
Our stay in Vancouver was a party every day! We discovered that Canada's main past-time (besides Hockey) is drinking beer! I've never seen so many beer drinkers in one place in my life. They are funny to watch.

Dean got to ski on Whistler mountain,
while I roamed the village below. That was one exciting place to be, also. Everywhere, there were giant screens, televising the events that were currently going on in Vancouver and on the mountain. We watched the men's Canadian Curling team win the gold medal and we watched some amazing downhill events, as well. And everywhere, it was a party!

The closing ceremonies were amazing. It was exciting to be in the seats with all of our props, participating in the whole event. The whole experience was electrical! I have never felt so much energy from so many people in my life.

After the Olympics adventure, we drove to Portland and caught a plane to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Dean had promised me sunshine after the cold of Canada, but it was an interesting phenomenon! It was actually warmer in Vancouver than it was in Ft. Lauderdale! There was a cold front passing through and we got caught in the middle of it. Well, that was true for the first three days, after that, the sun came out and I got my promised sunshine.

We had an amazing time in Florida. We took a short cruise over to Nassau in the Bahamas and spent a day on the island. It was a wonderful adventure. We got to "play" with the Dolphins and have our pictures taken with our new friend.
I got to go to the spa (on the ship) and had a wonderful hot lava rock massage and had my hair braided like the natives. What a wonderful adventure.






Back in Ft. Lauderdale, we visited the Butterfly World and watched the beautiful butterflies flit around in the beautiful gardens. We also saw humming birds, lorikeets
(one liked Dean so much, he stayed on his shoulder for quite a while, eating his shirt!), parrots, a number of other birds and beautiful flowers. Next, we went to the Everglades and rode on a big hover boat through the saw grass and saw an alligator. We learned that alligators don't attack, because their vision is so poor, but they will snap at anything that comes close to their big mouths.
I choose to stay away, anyway -- they just look way too scary to me!

Since we've been home, we have just been "catching up" with work and home upkeep. It has rained and rained and rained just about every day since we returned and all I wanted to do at first, was go back to Florida!

Catch up with more, later...