I have been hanging out on Facebook. . . .

. . .and wasting away my computer time over there. I haven't forgot that I need to keep up with my blog, there's just not enough time in the day! Well, since I have been away - it has been raining everyday here in the sunshine state. Have no fear, it rains for an hour or so - usually in the afternoon - then clears up and the sun shines again. I have to mow the grass about every five days, but that's OK, I have a ride-on mower and a I-POD, so it is not like real work! I am growing cherry tomatoes this summer in my "earth box" even though I was advised by the experts that it is too hot. I am out there everyday spraying the plants for bugs and picking off caterpillars. That part is not much fun. So the other day I see this thing perched on my fence. I mistook it for a leaf until I looked a little closer. The leaf even moved with the wind. I was amazed at this bug. I had never seen one of these, and it let me get really close before it began to move slowly away. I think it is called a "Katydid" but I would have to consult with "Florida Cracker" to be sure. I was really impressed with nature upon seeing this cool bug! How do you suppose he finds Mrs. Katydid? I bet he has to look through a lot of leaves!

Great time in NYC

We spent four days in New York City. My brother & sister-in-law were up there visiting their grown daughter & her husband who live there. We stayed in mid-Manhattan, while my brother was dog sitting on the upper east side, and my niece lives in the village. It was fun getting together everyday via subway, bus, or taxi or just plain "walking your ass off". So many things have changed since I was last in the city. The most noticeable difference was that the honk honk honk honk of cars was gone! I remember everyone always honking. I found out the they finally passed a law to stop the honking - $350. fine! I still heard honking, but not near like it used to be. The taxi drivers are still the wildest drivers I have EVER seen, and I admire their skill as they weave through traffic at a high rate of speed. There are 13,000 cabs in NYC and I love traveling in them! We also honed our subway skills and went uptown, downtown & all around on them. The most difficult thing about that is finding the station entrances, so we finally got a map. We also got a three day pass for the Grey Line tour bus. It makes you seem like a real tourist; even though I was born there - I am a tourist after this long. The good thing about the bus is that you can get on & off as many times as you like, so we used that a lot to get around & go shopping.

We visited the site of the World Trade Center disaster and St. Paul's Church memorial. It was shocking to see a construction site in place of the tallest building that we used to stand on top of. The church is an old historical site itself, that now has many pictures and mementos of September 11.

We went to Rockefeller Center and went to the "top of the rock". It is cheaper that going to the Empire State Building (I have done that plenty of times) and it is much less crowded. You can see all of New York (including the Empire State Building) from 70 floors up and it was great. On Sunday we went to beautiful Central Park and saw the dance skaters. This is a club that meets every weekend to skate in the park. It is a real collection of characters just getting their grove on and doing their own thing - It was great.

The weather was in the mid 70's when we were there. We had a great time and plan to visit again SOON. Next time we will take the boys with us.

NYC is truly one of the greatest cities in the world!

Vacation!

We are headed to New York City for the 4th of July! I can't wait, I haven't been there in 20 years. I will post lots of pics when I get back. Be careful with those fireworks!