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Hurricane Michael, (Blogtober Day 10)
Please keep the Panhandle in your thoughts. Hurricane Michael came ashore today at nearly a Category 5 and I’m afraid that daylight is going to reveal a horrific sight. Panama City was a favorite vacation spot when my friends and I were kids, and I fear that the area won’t be the same for a long, long time.
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Tuesday Takeover (Blogtober Day 9)
Hey Y’all,
I am the first Tuesday Takeover at A Gal’s Best Friend. Click on that link and take a look. It’s all about raising Puppies with a Purpose.
See ya over there!
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If you want your hubby to cook dinner, buy him a flame thrower. (Blogtober Day 8)
It has been a running joke in my house that when my husband doesn’t know what to get me for Christmas, he defaults to a kitchen gadget…usually one that he wants me to use to cook him something specific. Case in point, the Anova Sous Vide machine. (This is not sponsored, btw, however, if they want to reach out, I probably wouldn’t say no) . Anyway, he had been talking about this sous vide thing for a while, and knowing what was coming, I specifically told him to not buy me any kitchen gadget that he really wanted for himself. He didn’t listen. What shows up under the tree three years ago…yep that sous vide machine. I got pissed, he got mad, and he had to do some super last minute Christmas shopping that included a trip to the Apple store and the jewelry store. (We had opened these presents early as Amanda had to work over Christmas and we were headed to Atlanta.) Anyway, after that apology, we began to use it and it really does make a great steak. What we have been doing is using ziplock bags, the water displacement method and a stock pot. Last week, after our latest sous vide, he began to ‘wonder how a blow torch would work on the steaks.” I knew what was coming, but didn’t say anything because I really didn’t want to think about what might be showing up on my doorstep.
Two days later (thanks Amazon Prime) a stack of packages show up. Want to guess what was in those packages? A FoodSaver vacuum sealer, a specialized container for the water, a rack for the bags of meat, and…a flamethrower. Overboard much? I told him that I would pick up the steaks, but he was on his own. After thirty minute, reading the instructions three times, and watching two YouTube videos, we finally figured out the vacuum sealer, popped the meat in the bags and then in the water, and we were off to the races. Once they were done, Joel took great pleasure in playing with fire. Dinner was delicious. The steaks were perfect and tender, Joel did a great job with the flamethrower, and the baked potatoes were a great side. So ladies, and gentlemen, if you want your significant other to cook dinner, just buy a a flame thrower.
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Weekending (Blogtober Days 6 &7)
I was remiss in posting yesterday, but hopefully this will make up for it. I shot Puppy Raiser Day at Southeastern Guide Dogs yesterday. Puppy Raiser day happens with a dog is matched with a handler and the people that raised the dog gets to come meet the new handler and see the pup that they raised. Here Mendy (on the right) is looking down at Wrigley, a Golden Retriever, that she raised. To the left is Wrigley’s new handler. They became fast friends and I know they will continue to stay in contact.
Today, I met up with Chip and Chris and Irwin to take some photos of Irwin before he goes back for formal training in a couple of week. We headed up to Tampa to the Riverwalk area and explored Armature Works and had lunch at Ulele.
The guy up top is real and is pedaling his bike to make gin.
So serious 
Can I play with you? 
I love Dad. 
Cute alert! 
Irwin makes a friend. While we were waiting for our table at Ulele, Irwin made a friend and showed off his cuteness.
My lunch, Chip’s lunch and Chip’s Frose’
Fire roasted chicken, saffron risotto and wilted spinach. 
Beet Salad 
Frose’ 
Dog sculptures and a Humpty Dumpty sits atop Ulele…hope he doesn’t have a great fall!
Around Ulele, there are these vintage storybook characters. The owner of the restaurant spent $100,000 restoring them after he bought the characters from the now closed Fairyland area at Lowry Park Zoo. I loved seeing these decorating the area. In addition to Humpty Dumpty, there’s the Three Little Pigs, Jack and Beanstalk and Alice in Wonderland. I highly suggest that you get to Ulele a little earlier than you plan to eat and explore. It’s so pretty and peaceful. You forget that you are in the middle of Tampa.
Well, that was my weekend. I have a guest blogger post going up on another blog soon. I’ll let you know when that’s up and you can check that out. Hope everyone had a great weekend and I’ll see you tomorrow!
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Go Back….to the MSC Seaside (Blogtober Day 5)
I have a very long overdue blog post on our 25th Anniversary Cruise that we went on back in April. Planned and hosted by the amazing Chip Barker over at Oceans and Lands Custom Travel Planners, it was the absolute perfect vacation. We are planning another trip soon on either the Seaside or the Meraviglia. We can’t wait to Go Back…in the mean time, for a sneak peek of the ship, take a look at this video that Chip sent me as we were prepping for our trip. My photos and a long post on my trip will be up soon.
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Photo of the Day (Blogtober Day 4)
Meet Freyja, aka Mama Freyja. She is a six year old retired breeder from Southeastern Guide Dogs. She is queen of the house and she knows it. (Taken with my iPhone X) . We brought her home at eight weeks of age, raised her as puppy raisers, sent her back for training. She came home three weeks later chosen as a breeder and had three litters before she retired. Her babies have all grown up to be guide dogs, service dogs, ambassador dogs, and breeder dogs as well. We love her to pieces.
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Blogtober, dog, dog photography, Florida, Kiki Mac Photography, Knitting, photography, Southeastern Guide Dogs
Ten Things About Me. (Blogtober Day 3)
Ten things about me, that are probably ten things too many.
I am a Leap Year baby. Yep, born on Feb. 29, 1972 (you can do the math) I celebrate my birthday on non-Leap Years on the 28th. It causes all sorts of computer chaos when filling out forms.I was born in
and lived within 20 minutes of my parents until I was 30 years old and I was dragged kicking and screaming to 
when my husband took a job here. That was 16 years ago and I’m still not over it.One of my hobbies is
I own Kiki Mac Photography in Florida.I also like to
We raise
for Southeastern Guide Dogs. I drink way too much unsweet
(minus the lemon).
I go by our local
so much during the week, that the barista starts my order when I pull up. (Trenta Black iced tea, unsweet, no water)I teach at my daughter’s old high school
I took my very first
on the MSC Seaside last April and can’t wait to do it again. (Psss… call my friend Chip at Oceans and Lands Custom Travel In 2005 the previous version of this blog had a write up in
talking about a knitalong and swap I hosting that revolved around hurricane season.
Ok, that’s ten things about me. All random, but it was fun finding all the clipart. I’d love to find out more about people, so leave a comment with your ten things, or send me a link to your blog!
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Fantasy vs. Reality (blogtober day 2)
I love Fall. I love the idea of Fall. I love the crunchy leaves, I love the long sleeve shirts, I love the boots, and the scarves and the wood smoke, and the bonfires..and record scratch…..I live in Florida. Southwest Florida to be exact—where Mother Nature is having a hot flash and thinks we all need Summer to continue.
My idea of what Fall should look like.
What Florida looks like for the next week…well, the next two weeks.
There’s so much wrong with this picture. Ninety! Ninety degrees in OCTOBER! This is ridiculous. This is July and August weather. We should be in the 80s by now. Alas, this is what I get for living in the tropics, or this year, an extra bonus– red tide that prevents us from going near the beaches. So, what’s a Fall-loving gal to do?
She decorates the outside of her classroom.
Voila! Instant Fall. My students thought I was nuts, but my coworkers love it.
On a positive note, I am headed to Washington D.C. next weekend for a conference and maybe I’ll get a little bit of Fall weather. I won’t have much time to sightsee, but I’m going to try and get to the National Archives and maybe the Mall. For all of you who live in areas that don’t get much Fall weather, what do you do to make it feel like Fall?
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Apparently I am insane.
I guess I don’t have enough to do so I thought, hey why not. It’s been nearly a year since my last post and I am in what one might call a ‘slump’. I’m so busy with everything at work that I feel like I have forgotten what it is like to be creative. I”m hoping that this will jumpstart my writing again and this will also be interesting because I will be traveling twice this month, so that might be a challenge getting posts up. What is that challenge? Well, the challenge is to blog every day for a month. Thirty-one posts in one month when I haven’t blogged since November 10th-ish of last year. I’m trying to plan the next week of posts, so if there is anything you’d like to read, drop me a comment.
