You haven’t heard from me because I was having Just a great week! I loved having Shyla here!!! and I think she was loving some down time in warm weather (since it was 20 something in NY).

Monday – She got in that night and I didn’t even get to pick her up at the airport. My friend had left his car in the parking garage when he flew out to Puerta Vallarta, and needed someone to drive it home. Even though she doesn’t drive much anymore and has become a public transportation officianado, Shyla volunteered. She wandered all over the parking garage looking for a blue Bronco – nowhere in sight!!! A quick call to PV informed us that it’s actually a Midnight Blue car – under the lovely yellow lights – which looked Midnight BLACK! She found it. Mission accomplished.

Tuesday – We walked to Dunedin (have I mentioned what a quaint little town this is?). Discovered a new favorite coffee shop and goofed off a bit

Dunedin Coffee – delicious! Everything is homemade and we talked to the owner a couple of times – cool guy. I really should go back for breakfast sometime.

Then we drove to Clearwater Beach, where she just HAD to get her feet wet. It was chilly!

And windy! We huddled under a shelter to wait for the sunset. Shy got bored and her artsy side came out.

I bet some of you ladies wish you had this option every now and then!

Wednesday – We finally got to try out Steve’s awesome court!!! The girls came over for some fun volleyball and even gave me some clinics! They really are trying to teach this old dog new tricks. I’ll admit, it was pretty cool when I got some slick shots in on them when we played – they were great teachers!

I’m loving it here! Thank you Steve and Linda for letting me stay in your apartment for a while!

I was talking to someone the other day about how they were fed out of boxes or frozen dinners as a child. My kids actually had to put up with Mom’s cooking, BUT I think it may have turned both of them into bigger Foodies than I have ever been. When shopping for Shyla to be here, I had my list all made up to cook her favorite meals. Well, I nailed breakfast, but then she informs me that she is trying to mix things up and be more adventurous with her food – how about Mediterranean? What?! Never have I ever made Mediterranean food, so I dubbed her my sous chef, and we created a yummy Mediterranean Chicken Paella!

Oh no! I must be getting desperate to spice this blog up! Food pics?! What next?

Cute bunnies!!!! (I would’ve used puppies but none were available). These have been bouncing around in the yard – is this what FL wild rabbits look like? I think they are escaped criminals. To this day I can’t see a white rabbit and not think of The Holy Grail.

On with the Shyla week. Thursday – Had to get more Dunedin coffee. Shyla went to visit a friend in St Pete’s. I walked to the gym. Then we went to a fabulous dinner at Crown & Bull in Dunedin. I figured it was a combination of 25th birthday, Thanksgivng, Christmas and New Years all rolled into one, so we splurged!

When we got back to the apartment, for some reason we started talking about line dancing (I do miss dancing), SO Shyla brought up the music. It was crazy! We couldn’t remember any of the steps! Nuts because I’ve only been gong 2.5 months and used to do them all the time! YouTube was very helpful (video was too big to load)

So many laughs! We were sweaty and exhausted, so we switched to cribbage. I wish I could find more people who play. It’s a good game.

She left Friday night, but not before this happened

I miss her. It was way too quiet Saturday morning.

It’s been odd being in one place for so long, and I still have one more week. I’m ready to hit the road again. It will be a bit crazy with Christmas, New Years, and a trip to Mexico, but the adventures of Diana and Cliff will resume soon. Blogs may be few and far between, but I am sure there will be some fun stories to tell!

Tip of the Day: I may have mentioned this previously, but even when you are living in a tiny place, it’s way too easy to lose stuff. Keys, chargers, socks, vitamins, and even Christmas cards! I swear I bought two of them while on the road, and now I can’t find them anywhere! Put every day things in their place, and if it’s something random, just leave it on your front passenger seat until you need it. Ugh