Moments and people that make you appreciate life

Friday night Chris and I drove to south Florida to visit my uncle and aunt.  We did not get there until late, which meant we only got a few hours of sleep before waking up at 5 a.m. to go bait fishing.  My uncle had a charter fishing trip later in the morning, so we went out early with him to help him catch bait fish.  Although we were tired, we had a wonderful time!

Gorgeous view!

Sleepy but happy!

My uncle prepping the the fishing rods

Some of the fish we helped catch.

Me (looking very tired) and my uncle with his silly hat to protect him from the sun.
(My hat helped keep my hair from blowing all over the place.)

On Saturday afternoon, we went to my Aunt Nora's mom's birthday party.  Her mom, Dolores is such a wonderful and sweet woman.  I was very excited to celebrate her birthday with her!  We had a party at her home and hung out and relaxed all afternoon.  Her huge yellow lab, Elvis, even enjoyed a swim with the kids.  I had the pleasure of meeting Dolores's neighbor, Rose.  Rose cracked me up!  She is Russian and had the most adorable accent!  She even told us that the best way to clean a floor is with vodka!  Rose and I talked for a long time, and she really gave me a whole new perspective on life.  I found out that Rose was in a concentration camp when she was only 10 years old, which is where she lost her parents.  Her life story was so heart-wrenching, and it really got to me.  Rose shared with me relationship advice and so many stories.  She even adopted me as her grand-daughter, and she is now my grandma Rose.  I love it!

Delicious sweet blueberry wine.
from Keel and Curley in Plant City, FL.

Elvis keeping cool in the heat

One of the appetizers Chris and I helped prepare.
Mozzarella, basil, and tomatoes.

The birthday girl and her wonderful cake prepared by the beautiful girl carrying the cake.

The birthday girl blew out all of the candles!

Aunt Nora, her mom (the birthday girl), and her brother.

Rose and myself
(The humidity and my hair were not getting along.)

Dolores also had the most beautiful orchids and a few other types of flowers that I could not help but take pictures of them.  I also learned that my cute baby pineapple is what my uncle refers to as a "fake pineapple".  That cute little guy is as big as he is going to get.  My other pineapple plant that I have had for about 3.5 years now will hopefully give me a full-size edible pineapple... one day.  I have a picture of a pineapple from my uncle and aunt's back yard, to show you all what a full size pineapple plant looks like.  I also took pictures of different varieties of palm trees, just so I could point out my absolute favorite... the foxtail palm.  It is adorable, and I want to have one in my yard one day.  I also took pictures of two trees in Rose's yard, an avocado and mango tree.

Roses the birthday girl received, which I loved!

Little pineapple

Big pineapple

My favorite is on the left.

My favorite type of palm tree!

Avocado Tree

Avocado tree

Mango tree

Mango tree

Sunday was Father's day, which is never an easy day for me.  This was my 5th Father's Day without my dad, but as always he was with me in my heart and memories.  My dad was one of the few people who just really "got me".  He understood the way I think and was one of the few people I could talk to about anything.  He was the first person I went to for advice. 

I have always been fortunate in that I have had other family and friends who I have been close to who have also really understood me.  Two of those people are my Uncle Bill (aka UB, my dad's little brother) and his wife, my Aunt Nora.  I love them both so much.I have always been able to talk to them about anything and ask them for advice.  When I lost my dad, they continued to be there for me, and there is no way I could ever express how much they mean to me.  While no one will ever take the place of my dad, my Uncle Bill feels like the next best thing.  I even plan to have him walk me down the aisle one day.  So while Father's Day was difficult, I was happy to spend it with my amazing family.  Before Chris and I headed home, we all watched the movie Invictus, which I loved.  I recommend it!

Me and my daddy

My tongue is sticking out

My favorite picture of my dad.  He just looks so happy.
Bob and Flash are the two pups.

It's dark, but this is a picture of my dad and UB, taken Thanksgiving 2004.

On a lighter note, yesterday Chris's sister, Jessica, came over to return our key (she took care of the kitties while we were gone).  We made a delicious Jessica Pizza!  It was a white pizza with tons of garlic, some hot red pepper, ricotta, mushrooms, tomatoes, fresh basil, and an Italian cheese blend.  And while we are on the topic of good food, I made a delicious dinner for myself tonight.  I grilled portabello mushrooms (one for dinner and one for lunch tomorrow) and filled it with sauted onions, again lots of garlic, zucchini, a little bit of black olive, and spinach.  Then I topped it with a little left-over italian cheese blend.  So delicious!  I cannot wait for lunch tomorrow!

Finally, I did not run this weekend, but I did go for a very early 6 mile run with Caitlin.  The first three miles I was tired and did not feel awake yet, but the last three felt really good.  The entire run time was 1:08:42 for an average of 11:27.  It was very, very humid, and we were both soaked by the end of the run.  It felt good to take an ice cold shower when we finished.  We have a 4 mile run planned for the morning.

I hope that you all had as wonderful of a weekend as I did.  And Happy Late Father's Day to all the dads out there.