As the one who has more time on his hands (?) and being a child of the depression (well, I heard a lot about the Depression growing up) I always try to recycle costume parts into something new and different that doesn’t cost too much (I’m always conscious of a budget since it’s a one time flash in the pan.) What to do?

A few years ago I had taken some robes that we had bought in Los Angeles’ Chinatown embroidered with dragons on the backs and trimmed them with some really nice Brocade fabrics so that we could go to another Halloween party. Yes, I still retained some of the skills I had developed when I made and designed clothing in Hollywood in the late 60’s for my company, Just, Larry.) We had a few dragon kites in the garage that we use on the patio to help frighten off the birds from eating the Koi, so maybe we could put them on sticks and… but, wait, if the kites are on sticks we’d have to spend the whole night trying to juggle kit sticks and drinks and tickets for drinks and..  Ok, what if I mounted the dragon kites on our heads and we went as Chinese Dragon Kites! Francisco felt like with the large wing span we might have problems in the crowded space of the party, so we tied the dragon wings back and for the first time in his life he was a very tall guy! I then scoured the internet for ideas on dragon makeup.

With a few flashing Christmas lights in the dragons mouths and a 2011 All Hallows Eve Chinese Dragon Kite costume was born.

New Storage

Lots has taken place since the last post. Summer is here; hurricane season is here again, but it seems that it’s the middle of the country that is being hit with bad weather. We’ve just had our first rain, but Montana has been drenched and Missouri has been blown away. We still love living in Florida!

It took months while Larry’s poor car sat out in the driveway, but the garage finally got re-organized, new storage units went in and the old went into the rubbish heap. The great green thing about that is here you put it on the street and someone will claim it, whisking it away to a new life. Now there is a pretty well organized garage and boxes and boxes were filled for an eventual Yard Sale. The only task left in the garage is putting in a new ladder into the attic space.

Old Planter

Then there was the new deck. Since we bought the house there has been a brick planter built with the house under the front window. It was attractive except that it wouldn’t grow plants! There was such an overhand on the house and the Grand Oak prevented enough sunlight from getting to it. Apparently May who owned the house planted Mother-in-Law Tongue which can grow nearly in darkness! It looked bad, just a dirt trough at the entrance to the house. Not a pretty sight! And, what did it say about us!

New Deck/Porch

Larry got this great idea of building a deck/porch over it. I place of retreat and one of those front areas that every southern home needs where we can sit drinking Mint Juleps and shouting out to our neighbors as they passed by. Francisco had a better idea, why not take out the planter entirely and build the deck/porch level with the front stoup.

Flower Bed

We’re talking real hard work since the house and the attached planter were so well built! But, after sledge hammers and wedges (and one new handle for the sledge hammer!) we got it disassembled and a brand new, composite board deck built. And, it beautiful but more importantly, it’s a great cool place to sit, cocktail in hand watching the birds in the birdbaths and the lizards in the flowers. It almost feels like retirement!

But, there’s no rest for the wicked so we cleaned out the back yard of all the dead winter kill, cleaned the Koi pond filter twice (a really disgusting job) and rebuilt the back fence, planted new grass borders and…

The Koi Pond

Yes, it’s non-stop On Idlewild so we finally had a garage sale. Our friend Bebe came over the night before and helped us price things and there were a LOT of things. She said price low so we had great things for just pennies – even a couple of boxes marked “one cent per item”. Can you make money this way? Well, there was so much stuff and so many people that we even sold the Chinese Rosewood Dining Table that we loved but was in the way and we want new stuff! It was a tremendous, if exhausting, success. We made $1200!!

It was time for the beach and to enjoy the summer…

This sign is located near Highway 101 at the Riverview Drive junction

OK, well here is the thing. I’ve mentioned to people that when I first started selling real estate in the South Bay area I stopped one day at an intersection and happened to look up to the top of this long pole and saw a sign. It was very sobering, but when I would tell people about it, I think they thought I might be making it up.

It was in the Gibsonton area of Tampa Bay, just north of the Alafia River. Gibsonton is this very special place that has been the winter home of carnivals and carnival people for many years – remember the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus has their home several miles south of here at Sarasota, Florida.

"...Could Bring Water This High..." at about 15 or 20 feet!

Well, yesterday Francisco and I were down there, north of the river looking at a potential listing, and there was the sign again. This time it was off the main highway, but on a major feeder road. Note that Francisco and the car are dwarfed by the height of the sign.

Now, that is sobering!

OK. We did have a great New Year’s Eve. We were invited to Chris & Doug’s annual party and ended up staying to see the New Year in and the celebration, officially, of our 29th year completed together. Next year we should have that big 30th year celebration!

Happy New Year to everyone. May the year bless you with good health, enough wealth and love enough to make life wonderful!

This is our nutcracker collection.. sorry to say that this year there was no new addition to our gathering of nutcracker… So next year I will have to just purchase twice as many.. =)

With just the lights on the tree, it's a work in progress.

This is the first post of what will be the annual Holiday letter.

The tree is nearly decorated and the lights are lite. We’re running around crazy, as usual, and just ignoring that the holidays are here. Well, we always have 12 more days of Christmas because we celebrate the Epiphany on the 12th Day of Christmas.

Stay tuned and plugged in!

The tree is mostly decorated, just some more icicles to go! Note the green plants through the window!

This angel ornament is from my angel daughter, Lainee Gram.

Someone and Simone

Looking back over this year’s activities, I’m kinda at a loss as to what we did with the whole year. I know we were busy with lot of things constantly happening, but from the first of the year to the last, it just seems like a blur and my calendar doesn’t help much!

You can click any of the pictures to make the image bigger.

There was a party this year on January 2 for your anniversary (January 1) and we had a whole lot of friends there. It was great with lots of food and people staying on into the night from what was planed as an afternoon affair! It was a good time and we are so very appreciative of the people who call us friends. It turned out to be pretty cold, a weather condition that is being repeated far too often here in sunny Florida (I hope you hear me, Lord!). When people first arrived we were able to go outside and enjoy the day, but as the afternoon moved toward evening it was even too chilly to have our French doors open to the food on the lanai! Yikes!

Leslie is a co-worker with Francisco at Home Depot

It seemed a year of too many responsibilities. Francisco was working hard and ranking as a top salesperson at the Contractor’s Desk of Home Depot, but he wasn’t getting much recognition for all that hard work, just complains: you’re not making your calls, do this, go there. It would be a big shock to Home Depot management when he gets recruited to leave that job later in the year. Duh! What’s wrong with managers who just don’t know one of the basics about management: Don’t overlook all the praiseworthy things an employee does for the one negative you can harp at him for. The best managers are the ones who realize they are just employees, too, with just a little different responsibilities. Wake up, you’all!

Ernie's good side (:}, Naldo and Larry

At some point Francisco’s nephew-by-marriage (not Francisco’s marriage, but his niece’s) came to Tampa on business – he’s the sales manager for Bosch Tankless Water Heaters – and took us out to dinner at the Columbia Restaurant. It was the first time we had met Russ and after the initial discomfort, we had a great time with him.

Tampa's oldest eating establishment which lays claim to being the oldest in Florida.

Oh, Larry was also President of FAMA (Florida Association of Master Appraisers)!

Larry spend the year in, oh, so many meetings. Monthly he was on an important committee with the Greater Tampa Association of Realtors (GTAR) which really was a great education making the work very rewarding. He was also President of the Business Guild of Seminole Heights (BGoSH) with monthly Board meetings, quarterly General Meetings and many community meetings like Form Based Zoning and the Sunday Morning Market which took tons of time with very little reward! And, he attended Seminars on everything he could think of that might make him a better real estate salesperson. He also had a lot more time for studies since there wasn’t a lot of property selling. He took on a lot more property management responsibilities as well.

Eric, Stephen, Francisco & Larry

And there was always the beach!!

It could be really cold setting up the BGoSH tent in the early morning!

These Whooping Cranes were standing around in the CostCo parking lot. What beauties!

A significant piece of art at Ella's cafe is at the entrance where there is a sculpture of a horse, rolling in the dirt.

Francisco at at a beach bar in Gulf Port.

March 29 was Francisco birthday and a property closing for Larry as well. We went out to dinner, but I can’t even remember where! (I think it was Ella’s Americana Folk Art Cafe).

The end of the year was much more active. Francisco was recruited by Lowe’s to work at their Contractors Desk so there would be lots of new stuff to learn, more managers to complain about (!) and a longer drive; but, there would be a lot more benefits as well.

July would find us in Montana, first at the Centennial Celebration of Larry’s hometown, Broadus, and then for an unbelievable stay in at the mountain “cabin” of their friends, Bob & Mike. We were joined by our good friends from Seattle, Billy and Kurt. It was a very special few days!

The sign at the Montana Bar reads: "Don't Talk About Yourself. We'll Do That When You Leave."

Kurt fell into the stream we were crossing and had to dry out his socks!

Larry would begin his last year as BGoSH President and begin the next year as a Vice Chair for an important GTAR committee (which appointment includes the following year as the Chair of that same committee and more meetings!) He would still be the President of the Florida Association of Master Appraisers (FAMA).

I don't know where these costumes come from, but they are always creative! Francisco's got a major tear before we left, so safety pins and a festive sash covered up the holes!

Would we miss the chance to dress up for Halloween? Not a chance. The private party we attended had 2200 invited guests and the theme was Fantasies.

Josh is the sweetest waiter in Tampa.

Larry also had another birthday (Nov.20). Francisco took him to Street Car Charlie’s for his favorite waiter, Josh; and, then to Michael & Mathew’s condo for a joint birthday celebration.

Decorated with things from the yard (except the gourds) and straw on the ground (from their Halloween decor)

Thanksgiving follows the birthday, so it’s time to pile the kids into the car… oh, no, we left the kid at home. We spend another special holiday with the Pijuans. Lot’s of food, wine and friends. I think there were 18 guests and the table was outside in the yard decorated with things from the yard; a very traditional setting.

Ines, Demi & Francisco in Miami.

At some point Francisco’s brother, Demi, and his girlfriend, Esperanza (Hope) came for their annual visit. We always have a nice visit with them – eat lots of food, drink a little beer. Near the end of the year they would get pregnant, but loss the baby.

And, it’s Christmas again, followed by our 29th Anniversary and on to Epiphany when the whole things plays out again!

Happy New Year to you all!

Sharing the blowing out of the birthday candles.

Larry in the same Gulf Port bar.