Thanksgiving thoughts, November 2016

So, here we are on November 24th, 2016 and personally I feel I have a lot to be thankful for.  My health is not perfect but the VA says I’m serviceable :), my youngest son David and his friend Ashley moved into their new home yesterday (about a mile away, plenty close enough for us to visit them and the granddogs Jorge and Justice), and the list goes on and on.  This year we didn’t make it to Connecticut as planned but we might do it next summer. We still camp at least monthly with our camping group www.spacecoastsams.org and feel very blessed living in Florida where we can get out more.  New England weather is not for sissies and advanced dotage does temper you a bit. The heat is easier to deal with than the cold, ice, snow and winter gloom.  We’re fortunate that two of the three kids followed us to Florida. Like us Joanna and David have acclimated very nicely here, and Tony and his friend Alissa plan on retiring here.  Looks like the great Payette migration is peaking. Our grandparents immigrated from Sherbrooke Canada to Lebanon New Hampshire...my father left New Hampshire and moved South till he rooted in East Hartford CT.  My older brother Fred was the first to go further South….to Florida, and his family has stayed here.  We arrived in 2012.  Not to be mauldin but we’ll be here until our last stop in the new National Cemetery  here in Titusville.  There are worst places to end up :), but for today I’m grateful for a lot….the family, the friends make the journey a good one.

Rocket launch get-together on Mel's deck overlooking KSC....

A "Catch Up" post of sorts...

We've been busy, what with camping with our Space Coast Sams, the Snowbird friends flocking in, the local theater scene being in full bloom, and mostly the good news with David and Ashley....they close on their new home tomorrow!  It's only a mile or so from us, so close enough to visit them and the grand-dogs Jorge and Justice.  The VA has pronounced me fit as a fiddle, so there's a good chance we'll make our long delayed visit to CT next summer.  The weather is Florida Winter like (currently 48 outside, but will warm to high 70's)...so all is normal there:).

Really enjoyed "Meet Me In Saint Louis" yesterday at the Cocoa Theater.

Today we had to put down our main puss Timothy....16 years old or so.....

We had to put down our main cat Timothy today....complications of Renal failure. He was 16 and a "man about town" who loved to visit the neighbors here in Titus Village.  At home in Preston CT he used to follow me down the 600 foot driveway to the road and mailbox while I picked up the mail, or the newspaper early morning....and never ventured onto the road...followed me back up to the house.  A FINE cat for sure.

Just in from the Florida Good Sam Fall Rally in Eustis FL....

We just got in from the Florida Fall Rally in Eustis FL with 5 member rigs of our Space Coast Sams group. Photo's and snaps here: https://goo.gl/photos/UQaDtQLBYCM9HBty9

Our next outing in December will be to Bushnell FL....We'll attend the Wreaths Across America ceremonies at the Florida National Cemetery and then have our Christmas festivities back at the campground.

Thursday morning, Hurricane Matthew on horizon...

Hurricane Matthew is scheduled to pop us good this evening and overnight.  Joanna and David cleared off the upper deck (our bedroom looks like Plantland :) ), and we've done the grocery shopping.  Lots of food on hand along with some ice, beer and wine etc.  This morning I have to go out and bring in the outside plants at risk (I have several orchids we've attached to the palm trees) and move the inside plants away from the inside of the Florida room.  It's all a bit unnerving in that we've never experienced a hurricane here, and from talking to friends and neighbors not too many have.  It seems everyone in Florida is from somewhere else.... We do have a neighbor that got hit hard here in 2004 and it cost him $175,000 in damages and 7 months in a hotel while being re-built...that is scary!!

My long delayed stress test with the VA was supposed to be this morning, but the VA has closed their Viera Clinic until Tuesday because of the coming storm. Also, our camping chapter Space Coast Sams had a camp-out scheduled for the Sanlan RV Resort.....and we rescheduled that until the weekend of October 20th.  Joanna works at CVS in Merritt Island and she'll be off for a few days as they've evacuated all the barrier islands including Merritt Island.  David's restaurant Shilo's has also closed for three days....people here are taking this upcoming storm VERY seriously.

In other developments it looks like we might get one of our guest rooms back, as David is in the process of purchasing a home here in Titusville, just a few miles from our digs here in Titus Village.  He's very excited about it, as he should be. He'll be sharing his home with his significant other and their two pooches Jorge and Justice.

Change 22...NOT going to CT in September the way it looks..

We just posted this note to friends and relatives in CT....

ALL:  

We will not be traveling North in early September as planned earlier.  As I might have mentioned I have some tests coming up and it's not possible to get it done in time to leave as planned.  I'm disappointed, in that we haven't been to CT since we relocated here in 2012, but I'll get over it.  I've had no major symptoms since my angina incidents so feel pretty confident we'll get on the road in the coming year....might even go North in the summer months when all the rest of the Floridians escape :).  

There are worst places to be stuck...so to speak.  It will finally start to cool off in a few months, the regional theater is starting up with a bang, and the flowers are in bloom :).  

Cheers!

Bob Payette