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| Yesterday was Tom’s niece Laurie’s birthday. Instead of a traditional birthday cake, Laurie opted for a fruit tart. She looked good. |
After yesterday’s big shopping trip and putting everything away, we feel organized with our tiny house tidy without clutter. It feels good to be settled in for a while. We’ve certainly been on the move for the last several months.
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| Several residents of the RV park decorate their golf carts to participate in the annual. Christmas parade through the neighborhood. |
Regardless of how we’ve felt, we’ve continued to participate in family get-togethers and activities. Last night was no exception when Mary and Eugene’s daughter Laurie (Tom’s niece) arrived with Craig to celebrate her birthday.
They have a holiday home for about an hour from here. It was a pleasure to see both of them, and all nine of us had an enjoyable time. The evening ended with us playing a hysterical game app on Laurie’s phone called “Heads Up,” a US-only game with questions about US culture. We did a lot of laughing.
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| This classic car zoomed by during the parade. (I am still learning to use my phone’s camera. Please bear with me). |
This morning, we’re returning the rental car to the Phoenix Airport and will be using sister Margie’s Cadillac, which she so generously offered to us during our lengthy stay. This saves us hundreds of dollars. I will follow Tom to the airport while he drops off the car.
From there, we’ll find a restaurant on the return drive and stop for a late lunch. Yesterday, we cooked steaks on the grill around 3:00 pm and didn’t bother making any dinner instead of snacking on some tidbits at Mary and Eugene’s home.
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| More golf carts came around the corner as we all cheered. |
Honestly, with the small kitchen, I have no interest in cooking. Yesterday we’d purchased many items for leisurely meals, things we can cook on the grill with a side of a few vegetables and rice for Tom. Today, we’ll stop at a market to purchase snack foods to offer when everyone comes to our place to hang out.
For some odd reason, I’ve lost interest in cooking these past few months. In essence, it’s been since I had the surgery last February. Standing in the kitchen for hours holds no appeal to me anymore.
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| Preoccupied in conversation, I almost missed this shot. Excuse the lack of clarity. |
Once we leave the US at the end of January, we won’t purchase groceries or cook for at least three months, two in India and another 29 nights on the cruise from Mumbai to Greenwich (UK). From there, we’ve yet to book anything but will do so in the next few months.
For now, we prefer to settle back and not engage in lengthy and time-consuming research as to what we plan to do once we arrive in Greenwich. We’ll have a little over six months to fill until our next cruise from Lisbon to Cape Town (providing we receive the required visa waiver).
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| Santa and Mrs. Claus were sitting on the back of this golf cart. |
Should the waiver come through, most likely, we’ll spend the six months in and around Europe, where we’ve spent little time overall. As wildlife and nature enthusiasts, Europe, although an amazing draw for most tourists, holds less interest than many other parts of the world.
Now, we’re off to the airport, lunch, and a little more shopping.
We’ll be back with more tomorrow.
Have a splendid day!
Photo from one year ago today, December 11, 2018:
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| This is Cupid with a heart-shaped marking on her throat. She particularly loved the lucerne we’d purchased for the garden. For more photos, please click here. |