March 2015

Little Manatee River State Park

Wimauma, FL

March began with a crazy pattern of weather from temperature lows in the 30s that had us not only running our fireplace but also a small portable heater and highs close to 90 resulting in having to have the air conditioner on all day.

With the arrival of volunteers John and Darlene, who we had co-worked with during our previous work stint at Little Manatee River State Park, the socializing heated up.  Our unofficial activities directors got us out of our rut of just settling in to watch TV at night.

 

 

 

 

 

We attended the Strawberry Festival held annually in Plant City. 

 

 

 

When we first arrived a little after 10AM it was very overcast and chilly. 

  As the day wore on the crowds increased and it warmed up.

 

 

After browsing through all the livestock

 

 

and vendor exhibits

 

 

we sat down anticipating eating a delicious funnel cake. 

 BUT the cake looked better than it tasted.  The outer edges were okay but once we reached the middle we discovered it wasn’t cooked well.

On the 8^th we drove an hour south to my brother and sister-in-law’s house where they hosted a dinner in honor of Monte’s birthday.  His actual birthday is on the 13^th.

When we first arrived, my brother Jon was attempting to catch fish using a casting net.

  He caught a tilapia but threw it back in the water.

 

After a delicious dinner Monte blew out the candles on his cake. 

Happy Birthday Sweetie.

 

 

My parents and I flew to Arizona on the 11^th of the month for a ten day visit with my daughter and granddaughters.

 

 

Every time we visit we have a themed party.  Past parties included an English Tea, Hawaiian Luau and a Western Hoe Down. 

 

 

 

This time around we had a Princess Party. 

 

 

 

 In lieu of tiaras we opted to go with a more fairylike headband.

Even my dad got in the festive mood. 

Mom 

Kennedy and Daphne 

Daphne, mom Renee, and Kennedy

 Unfortunately my mom got sick during the visit.  After a couple of days of coughing and difficulty breathing she asked to be taken to the CVS Minute Clinic.  The Nurse Practitioner suggested we go to Urgent Care because she thought mom should get a chest X-ray.

All they did at the Urgent Care we went to was look at mom’s throat and prescribe an antibiotic for strep throat.  The course of treatment was completed in 5 days.  Instead of feeling better her breathing was so labored she had difficulty catching her breath just walking from the bedroom to kitchen. 

It was time to do what we should have done in the first place-go to the Emergency Room at the local hospital.

Mom was admitted with pneumonia.  That was on Tuesday.  We were scheduled to fly home on Saturday.   It was looking iffy for her to be released in time for our flight.  Luckily by Friday her breathing had improved enough to be discharged from the hospital and given the okay to fly home the next day.

This is the amount of meds she was given prescriptions for when discharged.

So while it hadn’t been a great visit I did enjoy spending time with my daughter and granddaughters (and their new dog).

Kennedy 

Daphne 

I also attended a ceremony at the twins’ school where they each received an honor roll certificate.

The flight home SUCKED-we experienced turbulence over Texas that really scared me. 

 

 

 I was so relieved when we touched down in Tampa and excited to see Monte again after 10 days apart. 

I ended up getting sick (I am convinced I picked up a bug on the plane with so many people hacking away) and spent the next 5 days in bed.

The last Friday of the month we joined our co-hosts from Little Manatee River State Park, Joe and Joann for a dinner out at Anna Maria’s Oyster Bar.  

The place is a goldmine.  Despite the torrential rain we had a 40 minute wait to be seated and it was only 4PM.

A lot of things happened in March that sucked so I am hoping we will have much better days in April.