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Swimming with Dolphins!

I know when I am MIA for a few weeks the usual assumption is that nothing big is going on, nothing to update.  The last few weeks have been a bit of an exception.   

Sadly, I had to say goodbye to my great friend Andy last week.  Not a normal goodbye, because she is not a normal person!  She is an extraordinary friend to many and since her husband is a bit of a big shot...there was LOTS and LOTS of fanfare.

It was a parties, dinners, gatherings, limos, penthouses, canon shooting, bells ringing, saluting, pedicures, laughter and tears kind of time.  We all had a great week of celebrating their service but I must say, the following week was a bit melancholy as we adjusted to regular old life again.  

Nothing helps to push the melancholy away like a catamaran ride and a few dolphins!

Sometimes I take a photo of him just to prove that he was there!  To say he has been putting in some hours as of late would be like saying the water in Hawaii is kinda blue!

So we saw a few dolphins...

Just a few...

And maybe a turtle

Swimming so close that the kids were jumping off to swim with him.

My favorite shot of the day, "Two Sea Captains on a Boat"

Seems like you can always find a local who wants to share his love of Hawaii!

And why not.  There is a lot to love.  We had an amazing morning.  Of course we all jumped in and swam with the dolphins for a long time.  They swam just below us in pods for about an hour.  Big ones, little ones, playing, spinning, and talking!  Too bad I don't have an underwater camera but I do have a lot of shots to share, slideshow to come.

Oh yeah, then we got home, showered and changed quickly and walked across the street to catch the last quarter of the Pro Bowl game.  

Because we can.

Let it Grow

Since all my friends are posting about snow, I thought I would send them some flowers!  

Truth is, I was inspired to play with the new toy yesterday.  This stem of orchids is sitting on my table after I accidentally broke it off the plant almost 2 weeks ago.  They look as beautiful as they did that day, so I decided to take their picture.  One photo of flowers led to another, and another and well...here you go snow birds!

She Has Nothing!

I know we just finished Christmas AND Emily's birthday but we have a small plea for a sympathetic ear out there in blogger land.

  Emily played at a neighbors house on Saturday so I told her on Sunday her friend could play here.  It was then that I was informed that she would rather go back to her house because..."she has everything and I have nothing and it's not fair."  

The "nothingness" mostly involved a kitchen set up (that apparently Martha Stewart would be jealous of) so being the indulgent mother I am - I picked up a few extra boxes on my Costco run and had them make a kitchen.  You can see they are both miserable.  Poor thing holding her $100 doll, in front of her cubicle filled with nothingness in her playroom.  Sigh. 

Instead of having a designer original cool room she had to resort to self-decor from her latest American Girl Magazine.

You know, in the room where she and her doll have matching ensembles and hand stitched pillow cases from her Aunt.   

Which hardly makes up for her being forced to sleep in this bed...

So please dear friends and relatives, won't you take pity on my poor girl and send money for cool stuff right away?  Let's right this wrong - together we can make a difference.

oh, she may never live this one down ;)