Gasparilla Festivities

The rest of our time here in St Petersburg/Tampa Bay is about enjoying this beautiful place that we are living in. Enjoying the fact that it is 80 degrees outside in January, that people can drink in the middle of the day and that people will do anything for ... beads. This is the story of Gasparilla.
So there was once this pirate names Gasper. He, supposedly, was one of the people to first settle in this area. He came to the bay around 1900 ... I have to look it up. Anyway, this last weekend in January is always celebrated... Gasparilla. We, thus far, had never been to the festivities. This year we decided to check it out. I'm glad that we did. We had a ton of fun. :) These are some pictures.

Ginger Post Op

Ginger has officially had more surgery than either Justin or myself. She came back from the vet today looking so sad and helpless. Her incision is quite small sealed on the skin with 2 small staples. She seems fine but a little "altered." We have to give her these pills that are "antiinflammatory" -- hope that she likes them. :)
It's so sad to watch her...

Doggie Heaven, Part Deux

Michelle & I made our way down to the Vinoy Dog Park for the 2nd time in nearby St. Petersburg. The weather was beautiful (a record 80 degrees in January?!), and Ginger had a wonderful time making new friends and rolling around in the dirt. She also got to meet our friend Allen's Jack Russel named Scrappy. The park is separated by small and large breeds, as you can see by the beautiful golden retrievers above. Ginger did fine (on a leash) interacting with the larger canines, and towards the end met an eager male french poodle who wanted to be more than just friends :-) Fortunately, as per his owner, "Don't worry he's shooting blanks!" (aka he was neutered). Speaking of which, we're picking Ginger up from the vet tonight as she was spayed earlier this morning ... we were quite anxious making this decision, but we felt it was in her best interest in the long run. We'll have her running around soon once she's fully recovered. Enjoy!!

Any recommendations?

Hi everybody. We are doing well. Working hard and trying to play harder (with the dog ... :) ).
We're calling for any ideas or recommendations. Ginger is going to be having her first (and hopefully only) surgery next week (Tuesday 1/24) - spaying. This is the responsible thing for us to do. I am sorry for those of you that want her to have many many babies. The vet says that she'll be good to go in a few days after the procedure but the books and the paperwork the vet gave us says it takes about 8-11 days to recover. Ideas?
Thanks!!!

Back from Vacation

I've been wondering... is it really vacation if you go back home (where you grew up?). I'm going to say yes. Justin and I just got back from almost a week back in Las Vegas. This has become our annual winter trip back to see the family and just relax. We had a spectacular time. We enjoyed spending a lot of time with my grandparents and the rest of my family. Overall we did a lot of EATING, SLEEPING, and good 'ole relaxing. I'm attaching some of the pictures. The first pictures ( above) were taken on our trip to the Strip - Bellagio (my favorite hotel. There is a conservatory there that gets redone every few months based on the holidays and seasons. Up now is an asian teahouse theme. It was very colorful. The other pictures are from a store in the hotel that makes very fine chocolates. The first is a very crazy cute wedding cake. The second picture is a chocolate fountain. I took a bunch of shots... just too yummy to pass up. Apparently you can buy thing for them to dip in the fountain. I wonder if they would let me use my fingers. :)
Family shots follow. A few at dinner and then at my grandparents house with their adorable dog Cassie... lady Cassie. The final picture is taken hours before we came back to Florida and were relaxing with my dad and his wife Adrienne. A great trip!!!

Dinner with David and Gretchen

A great dinner with David and Gretchen. Yumm...

Entertaining!

Ginger was quite the little hostess tonight. We had Justin's aunts and uncles visiting the house for a dinner party. Of course, I took this occasion (as I do oftentimes) to try out my cooking on unknowning house-guests. Overall, a big success. Ginger was on her best behavior (well sort of). We took some nice pictures. These are a few. Love ya Bernie, Ruth, Arline and Seymour!!!

So now it's 2006. Here's to welcoming another new year. Lots of new and exciting things to look forward to (hopefully):

1. End of the war
2. Troops coming back home
3. Cure for cancers (all of 'em!)
4. Chocolate cake without calories


Well, we can all hope. Looking forward to a new year filled with new experiences and new friends and remembering to keep old ones close.

To spread it along: My new year resolution -- BETTER POSTURE. Get on me about it... you have permission!!!!