I am in Jacksonville!

I arrived at my parents' home last night at 7:30 after two and a half hours of white-knuckle driving through thick fog and black darkness. Traffic was smooth and everyone drove sanely. Mom walked out to the car and was I her surprised at how magnifint she looks!! She was dressed so sophisticated and smart looking, her eyes were bright and it was clear that she felt well and was very proud of herself, as she has gained to almost her goal weight.

Our Friend Norman

We've seen a lot of a good friend lately. Last weekend, Norman was at the local breakfast place. He goes there often enough that everyone knows his name, sees him coming, and starts his breakfast! This evening, Mark and I were headed to another of Norman's haunts, Sonny's BBQ. On our way, Mark suggested we give Norm a call, to see if he was there. I called, and he made it to the restaurant in record time! The economy must be picking up, because we've never seen this place so crowded. I placed a request for a table and was told that it would be a 45 minute wait! Instead, we chose to eat at the bar, with freezing a/c blowing down on our heads. Thanks, Norm, for trading places with me. You are a real gentleman. Dinner was good, the company, even better.

Daytona Patty

Mark and I shopped on Saturday at U.S. Toys for some posters for Patty's new classroom. We got quite a few, and so we could give them to Patty for her first day with her students (today), she and Jon drove down from Jacksonville, and Mark and I drove up from Orlando and we met in Daytona yesterday. No school on Martin Luther King holiday. We had lunch and I enjoyed a nice steak salad at Longhorn's Steakhouse together. Besides the posters, I brought along an orchid with beautiful white flowers, as well as a nice sized potted palm plant, both donations from a local nursery, for Patty's classroom. She was thrilled! It was a nice visit. I wish we lived closer.