Hello Everyone!!!
Well - It's May 2007
I want to say that I am very proud of my daughter, Lisa. She has overcome many obstacles in her life since we adopted her when she was 6 years old. She has become a stronger woman in the last 14 months and continues to grow. There are pictures of her three boys on the site who are active and healthy children. (Thank God!!)
Somehow this reminds us of 1998 when we had the many damaging fires and had to drive through the flames on the major highways on the East Coast. Again the state is under siege of the brush fires. The air quality here (just north of Tampa) is terrible so we feel for the people north of us in Florida and those in Georgia who are struggling and praying that many people don't lose their homes. It just reminds us that we have no control over the weather and the many stupid people who light fires when they are camping out and throwing cigarette butts out the car windows on tinder dry material. It is almost the rainy season here and we desperately need it. Most of the years we are waiting for the rain to help our grass and gardens but this year it is so much more important for the rain to arrive. Many people were actually hoping that the first named storm of the season - Andrea - would develop in to something bigger and bring lots of rain to the southeast to help put out the fires. (The storms without the lightening too!!!) We are not forgetting our neighbors to the northwest who are struggling with the floods, those who lost their lives and their entire town to the devastating tornado, the deluge of rain in the northeast and the fire in California that is affecting so many lives and their properties. We are, and we hope you all are too, keeping them all in your prayers.
We have made many changes to our house in the last few years. We have taken the carpeting out in all the rooms except the bedrooms and put down laminate. Oh my, I am so happy that someone invented that material. It is so easy to clean!!! We also have a new roof that we hope doesn't get removed by a hurricane, new air conditioning system, and are in the process of redoing the kitchen.
In our yard we now have many bird feeders, 2 birdbaths, a butterfly garden, a hummingbird feeder and lots of different plants to grow up and cover the fence. The little birds love to hide in the giant hibiscus and when there is a storm they actually hide under the leaves. We have seen many new birds this year that we missed in the last few years. We were sitting on the porch relaxing and Bob happened to notice out of the corner of his eye a hummingbird eating the seeds from the bottle brush tree. We had a few indigo buntings stop buy and eat for about 4 days. This birds has not been seen on the west coast of Florida for 20 years. We spoke to some friends about 5 miles inland and they enjoyed seeing them there too. We have a woodpecker family that comes back each year and our cardinals who bring their growing family here. We found out that if we do not keep the feeders full they come to the windows and peek in (absolutely driving the cats crazy) maybe to see if we are here. We have a giant honeysuckle, allamanda, a new honeysuckle, and a pineapple plant (I have my first pineapple growing). They are all plants that draw the birds and butterflies. Check out the pictures that Bob has been taking.
We have a new cat to add to our small menagerie. She was another rescue kitty. She was very afraid, at first, to walk on the floor. She would jump from furniture to furniture (even the high curio cabinets) to get to the kitchen counter to eat since she would not eat on the floor. We often caught her in the sink checking for dishes that might have some food left in them and even pulling out the drain stopper to see if there was anything on it. It broke our hearts to see this. But, as time has gone on, she isn't afraid of anything. She is a chunky, happy cat who has become brave enough to chase her older sister around. (the older cat was the queen of the animal family here and the 2 boys wouldn't mess with her).
In December I celebrated my 5th year on the job working with my wonderful population of challenged adults. We have grown so much in the last few years. We have more than 80 clients and almost 40 staff now. I never have a problem getting up and going to work because it is so rewarding and fun.
Bob's company is holding it's own. He works for a family owned builder and as you know real estate here (and the rest of the country) is very slow. Their houses and condos are beautiful. But, alas, the insurance continues to be a big issue here. The rates have been frozen but not until after our own insurance went from $700 and now near $2000. Hopefully we will not have a devastating hurricane season and the legislators will find it in their hearts to put the people first and let the insurance companies live off of their "profits" instead of taking so much from seniors on fixed incomes who have had to choose whether to keep insurance or pay for food and medicine. I have faith that Gov. Crist will actually be able to put the people first. It will hurt Florida's economy if it doesn't change soon
Bob and I continue to pray for our troops all over the world. We also pray that the smart intelligence people will find those who continue to want to hurt the people of this country and other people around the world.
We say and continue to say "GOD BLESS AMERICA".
Amen!!
Bob & Sue
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