Saturday before Easter and here I sit thinking about all that I should be doing and not having the energy to do any of it :)  Grocery store, make ahead dishes for tomorrows dinner, color eggs, put out a few Easter decorations....the list goes on.  We got up at 7:45am and walked 3 miles, came home and had coffee and read the paper...now I feel like I could go for a nap.

My sister and I and 3 other friends are going to a dinner theatre play this afternoon.  "Something About Susan" at an Italian American dinner theatre.  We try to get together once a month and do something.  I think next month we'll paint our own pottery!!  Last month is was another play.  Have to meet Sis at 3pm. What am I doing blogging when I have so much to do between now and then?  :)

Okay....cowgirl up...pull on the boots and get moving!!  The weather here in Palm Harbor, FL has taken a nice turn toward cool and breezy.  Love it.  We drove to Sunset Beach in Tarpon Springs yesterday afternoon - as the cool front was moving in - and watched all of the kite surfers in the water.  Talk about AMAZING and BEAUTIFUL!!!  It's the perfect spot for kite surfing and the weather was cooperating....and there were about 75 kite surfers there.  Awesome.  I took over 100 pictures!!

So you get the idea....wayyyyyy cool.  I bet it takes tons of strength too!  I'd love to try this some time.  I'm not a huge fan of heights...so hopefully it wouldn't pull me too high into the air!!  I'd freak!!!! Some of these guys and gals were catching major air and doing flips and stuff....um....no thanks.  I'd just like to fly through the water!  I'll let you know if/when I give it a try...if I survive it.

We skyped with our precious grand daughter.  She'll be two the end of May and she's so funny, smart and  just wonderful.  She looks at the computer now and says "Mimi, Pap-Pap" while pointing to the screen.  This means she wants to Skype with us.  Isn't she smart?  She lives in Quantico, VA and we're in FL - so we Skype several times most weeks.  I have to sing to her......"The Wheels on the Bus" and "The Eeensy Weensy Spider".  She does all the hand motions...jumping ahead to the next one before we complete the one we're on.  She's too funny!!  Then she gives herself a hand. :)

That's her and Pap-Pap on the beach back in February when she came for a visit.  What fun we had!!

So my Saturday is rapidly waning....and I have tons to do.....starting with making the bed!!  Must run.  Come back soon....recipes tomorrow for the pork roast I'm making for our Easter dinner.  Yum.  My sister is bringing two girls from her church for dinner.  Nice menu planned...I love to cook!!!  Okay...shutting up now and getting a move on!!!

Busy in my studio!

I'm a lucky girl!  I have a lovely art studio in my home...it is my "woman cave"...LOL.  I paint, scrapbook and sew in my studio.  I can make a big mess (something I'm really good at) and clean it up later!  I bought an old hutch at the thrift for $40 that provides tons o' storage!  I bought inexpensive shelves at Walmart and hollow doors at Lowes to make craft tables.  It's awesome and didn't cost me an arm and a leg :)

So there are some pictures of my special space....my creative, happy, amazing, girlie place!!

Here are some of my creations.....

yeah....I was on a bit of a Mermaid kick awhile back.  Anyhooooo....you get the picture. I love to paint!

Okay....a bit about me.  The hubster and I retired effective January 1, 2012 and headed South!!  We lived in Northern Va. and have relocated to Palm Harbor, Fl.  Can I say the weather has been FABULOUS!!  Winter...what winter?  We were stand-up paddle boarding on New Years Day!!  I fell in and the water was WARM!!  What's NOT to love about Florida?  Okay, okay....I know....check back with me in June, July and August....if I haven't melted by then!!  I'm "at that age"....okay?  I have plenty of "private summers" if ya know what I mean!  Hee Hee.  Not as bad as they used to be...but the hot flashes still come!

So we have a 24 year old son, Evan, who is a US Marine Sgt. SO PROUD!!  FOUR deployments in 5 years...our Marine has been busy!  He's married to our beautiful and brave daughter-in-law, Kristen and they have our first grand daughter, Ryan Savannah.....who turns TWO the end of May!  Where did the past two years go?  She's practically perfect in every way and can do no wrong!!  We are proud Mimi and Pap-Pap for sure!!

Our precious daughter, Caitlyn, is a college Jr. in South Carolina.  She's studying to be an elementary school teacher and we could not be more proud of her!!  She works and studies hard - and burns the candle at both ends with her friends too!  What college student gets enough rest??  Not ours!!  She brought home 8 of her "best" friends for spring break week about 3 weeks ago...what fun we all had!!  I felt like a short order cook and hubster put up a covered "gazebo" thingy on our ground level deck and filled it with outdoor furniture.  Then he purchased a fire pit - so the kids could have s'mores and sit around the fire at night.  They LOVED their week at "camp Rinkenberg" - LOL.  We loved having a house full of kiddos!

So that's it in a nutshell....busy empty nesters.  We stand up paddle board, walk our chocolate lab, Bauz, for an hour each morning, ride our bikes for 12-14 miles most days and just love the out doors!!  The beach is just around the corner and our home is across the street from a 'trail' that goes for 45 miles from Tarpon Springs, Fl to St. Petersburg, Fl.

Oh....did I mention that we painted our home BRIGHT TEAL green with a HOT PINK front door???  Yup...we did!!  We are NOT beige people!

TA DA!!!  Don't you just love it?  We sure do.  I've since hung a few fishing buoys and put lights on the palm trees out front.  True "beach" house!!

So I'll be "blogging" about interior decorating, crafting and painting and anything else that strikes my fancy...and hopefully yours too!!  Until next time....... Cherie