Goonie
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Since it's been quite awhile since I visited, I thought I'd drop in here for minute to say "Hi, I am...back!".
I haven't been online very much since I left last spring or early summer. After I bugged out, I spent most of the warm weather out in my gardens....workin' some but mostly just sittin' and enjoying them! As the weather turned and the seasons changed, we went to some Bluegrass Festivals in the Fall. Then in December we went to Nashville and stayed at the Gaylord Opryland Resort for a week....one of our favorite places to visit! Took in a few Christmas shows, went to the Oakridge Boys Christmas dinner and concert, and a 'meet & greet' with them beforehand. Our table was directly in front of the stage, and right in the center...best seats in the house! Had front row seats for the Rockettes' Christmas show, as well as for the Grand Ole Opry! Enjoyed some great food and got to spend some time with some of our friends who work there. Also made a couple of new friends while we were there.
We stayed home through January..the IL weather is too unpredictable to make plans for much then. So spent some time tinkering around on my model railroad layout....my money-pit! Ha!
In February we headed south as we normally do, and stayed a couple of days in Jacksonville Beach, FL. Then we drove south from there to Ormond Beach for a couple of weeks. We met up with some of our friends while we were there, and went out to eat together a few times. On the 24th we drove down just north of Titusville to watch the Space Shuttle Discovery blast-off!!! We found a great little seafood restaurant, right on the intercoastal waterway, and sat out on the deck, ate dinner, and watched the shuttle head into space!!! AWESOME!!!!
On our way home from FL, we stopped in Nashville at the Opryland Resort again for almost a week. Visited with our friends, ate some more great food, and went to the Grand Ole Opry again! We also went downtown exploring a little bit.
We were home less than a week, and then headed up to Schaumburg (a northwest 'burb of Chicago) for a 3 day Bluegrass Festival....LOTS of really good music! We ran into several of our friends up there too!
We came home Sunday, and since it was the 1st day of Spring, I decided to do a little clean-up out in the gardens...then went ahead and planted up a couple of different mesclun mixes! They were supposed to take 10-15 days to germinate, but they were popping up after only 5 days!!!
I LOVE Spring!!!
Wallet-wise....everything is doing OK or at least so-so....although CD rates SUCK! We just had a CD mature last week, and rolled it into a new one....at least the rate this time is better than what that CD had been...amazingly! This one is 2.02% APY....certainly not great, but better than a lot!
The gooder financial news that I got this year, was that my health insurance premiums DROPPED 8%!!! I was shocked! I called to make sure it wasn't a typo! It wasn't! (BCBSIL)
Other than that, we went on several day trips to shows, plays, and concerts. And we've been planning out our gardens for this year....soooo many choices of interesting new plants to try! Plus, I've been working on putting together plans for some more trips, and making reservations and what not. We've pretty much given up traveling with tour groups and bus groups.....tired of the herd!!!
When we travel, I plan for driving between 350-450 miles per day. We don't have to get an early start, and we still usually reach our hotel between 2:30 and 3:00 o'clock in the afternoon. That way we have a chance to relax for a while or grab a nap, and then go for a nice, leisurely dinner. Then we watch a little TV, hit the pillows at our usual time, and then after a nice breakfast we hit the road again about 8:00 a.m.
Life is GREAT!!!
I haven't been online very much since I left last spring or early summer. After I bugged out, I spent most of the warm weather out in my gardens....workin' some but mostly just sittin' and enjoying them! As the weather turned and the seasons changed, we went to some Bluegrass Festivals in the Fall. Then in December we went to Nashville and stayed at the Gaylord Opryland Resort for a week....one of our favorite places to visit! Took in a few Christmas shows, went to the Oakridge Boys Christmas dinner and concert, and a 'meet & greet' with them beforehand. Our table was directly in front of the stage, and right in the center...best seats in the house! Had front row seats for the Rockettes' Christmas show, as well as for the Grand Ole Opry! Enjoyed some great food and got to spend some time with some of our friends who work there. Also made a couple of new friends while we were there.
We stayed home through January..the IL weather is too unpredictable to make plans for much then. So spent some time tinkering around on my model railroad layout....my money-pit! Ha!
In February we headed south as we normally do, and stayed a couple of days in Jacksonville Beach, FL. Then we drove south from there to Ormond Beach for a couple of weeks. We met up with some of our friends while we were there, and went out to eat together a few times. On the 24th we drove down just north of Titusville to watch the Space Shuttle Discovery blast-off!!! We found a great little seafood restaurant, right on the intercoastal waterway, and sat out on the deck, ate dinner, and watched the shuttle head into space!!! AWESOME!!!!
On our way home from FL, we stopped in Nashville at the Opryland Resort again for almost a week. Visited with our friends, ate some more great food, and went to the Grand Ole Opry again! We also went downtown exploring a little bit.
We were home less than a week, and then headed up to Schaumburg (a northwest 'burb of Chicago) for a 3 day Bluegrass Festival....LOTS of really good music! We ran into several of our friends up there too!
We came home Sunday, and since it was the 1st day of Spring, I decided to do a little clean-up out in the gardens...then went ahead and planted up a couple of different mesclun mixes! They were supposed to take 10-15 days to germinate, but they were popping up after only 5 days!!!
I LOVE Spring!!!
Wallet-wise....everything is doing OK or at least so-so....although CD rates SUCK! We just had a CD mature last week, and rolled it into a new one....at least the rate this time is better than what that CD had been...amazingly! This one is 2.02% APY....certainly not great, but better than a lot!
The gooder financial news that I got this year, was that my health insurance premiums DROPPED 8%!!! I was shocked! I called to make sure it wasn't a typo! It wasn't! (BCBSIL)
Other than that, we went on several day trips to shows, plays, and concerts. And we've been planning out our gardens for this year....soooo many choices of interesting new plants to try! Plus, I've been working on putting together plans for some more trips, and making reservations and what not. We've pretty much given up traveling with tour groups and bus groups.....tired of the herd!!!
When we travel, I plan for driving between 350-450 miles per day. We don't have to get an early start, and we still usually reach our hotel between 2:30 and 3:00 o'clock in the afternoon. That way we have a chance to relax for a while or grab a nap, and then go for a nice, leisurely dinner. Then we watch a little TV, hit the pillows at our usual time, and then after a nice breakfast we hit the road again about 8:00 a.m.
Life is GREAT!!!