Welcome Back, Yach. Thanks for sharing photos. I think.
LOL. You skinny little gorgeous thing you! And a big hunky DH to boot. And to top it off, you're a grandma.
I'm turning a lovely shade of GREEN.

Karen

What Karen said!!! LOL

I'm glad you had a such a great vacation. There's just something about vacations and waiting laundry that goes together. Hope you get caught up soon. Welcome back.

Hi Yachter. I agree with Karen too. LOL Glad you had such a good time and glad you are back on here with us. Have fun catching up on all the posts (and with the laundry too.) Luvs

Glad you had a good time!!! Did you take your gkids with you or do they live in Fla? And Yachter, since you put your pics on the net....would you tell us your name, or something other than Yachter to call you??LOL.
Have fun with the wash.....it's the ironing that I hate!

Kathleen, I keep reminding folks (on GJ anyway) that it would be nice if they'd do a 'real' My Page on themselves so we can know one another better and easier. Its wonderful to learn more about each other since we all become so close thru these forums. I know that all of you here and also on GJ have become like a second family to me, so I just soak up anything anyone wants to share along the way.
Karen

Karen, thanks for the kind words, but I'm skinny by nature, nothing I do to keep "fit" I am a junk food eater and I rarely take a good photo!!!!

Kathleen, my name is Lori. We love Florida, hope to move there someday (hoping, hoping, hoping) my son is looking into jobs there & if he finds one, we'll all move! I love HOT weather, hate winters, so being stuck in the midwest is not pleasant for me at all! Our grandson is very athletic, loves most sports & has unbelievable balance, he learned to do a "skim board" while there & also he wake boards here & skate boards, so he'd love it there year round! We like the gulf side, hardly any bugs & the humidity just doesn't seem as bad as on the ocean side of Florida. He is our oldest & closest to us, so he's like our own, he is here almost daily, so there is no way I'd move unless he went with us!

Lori, I hope your family gets to make the move to FL. Good luck! And our grandchildren do have a way of just stealing our hearts. And there's certainly nothing wrong with your pic above! LOL

Ah, Lori, pretty name! I hope it all works out for you. For the longest time I thought you lived in CA, I read and hear it is good house hunting time in Fla. My mom had a place in Pompano Beach and I have several friends who love Sarasota where they live, but they are golfers. And another who loves Venice. I have only been to the Pompano side, and Disney which is in the middle,
Ok, so would all your kids move too, or just son and family?? I only have one and there was talk of him transf to Chic, and I would be so upset. We would never see them. It is great you get to see your gkids so often.
Hoping your Fla dreams come true!

Welcome back, you all look like you were having a blast! I'm like you I hate winter weather! I would prefer a warmer year round climate too. I hope you get your dream of living there.

Kathleen, Sandi & Judith, yes we are hoping son can relocate before I'm too old to enjoy Fla and have to live thru too many more midwest winters!!!

My one son would relocate, the other one hates hot weather & so does his wife, so we'd be commuting back several times a year to see them & the three girls. I am close to all my gkids, but see the one sons more than the other due to where they live, I do miss not seeing the others as much too though!!

Kathleen, you sure wouldn't want to move to Chicago to follow your son, you'd be in this horrible Ill. weather like me, but I know what you mean about being devistated if they did move! There are good paying jobs in the midwest, so I suppose that keeps a lot of people here unfortunately!!

Still trying to catch up with posts, summer is just so busy for me!

Lori, I am not moving. We built this house as our retirement house, and that's it! I have never lived more than an hour from where I grew up. Actually I lived in the same town for almost 50 yrs!
My son won't be moving to Ill, or at least it doesn't seem so. I don't think his wife would go, her family is all here. She is expecting their 4th, and doesn't plan to go back to work till the kids are older, (a long way off) but I think she would go back to work( she is an attorney too) if it was a choice of that or moving to Ill.
I have many friends who have moved to Fla. They figure their kids can come there to visit, and it is always nice to come to L.I. in the summer for a visit. There are always cottages available for rent for the summer. I wouldn't want to have to stay for a long period with my kids. I like peace and quiet!
I hope it all works out for you. I don't blame you not liking the winters there.

Yachter, I was born and raised in Missouri so I know exactly what you mean about the winters in the Midwest. Grew up on a farm, so sometimes the roads would be so drifted we couldn't get out for a day or so. I'm not crazy about board games to this day because that was all my brothers and I had to do during those times. Wish I had a dollar for every Monopoly game I played! LOL However, the Spring and Fall seasons were wonderful there. And I loved all the trees, streams and wildlife.

I've only been to Florida once and that was in August! Needless to say, the heat and humidity were awful---so now I have no desire to go back. I'm sure it is much nicer during other seasons--but I couldn't breathe in August! LOL Guess I'm too used to Calif. weather now. Luvs

Ahhhhhh Florida - what a wonderful place. Lived there for about two years while in the Navy. It was my first time away from home, a quaint small town in Western MA where not much ever happened.

Luvs, you make me giggle - you're in CA and you think FL is hot!!! I will admit it does get that way but I have to tell you that the one time I was in CA in 85, my sis and I went shopping downtown on the 4th of July. It was 101 deg. and just scorching hot out. The sweat was pouring off my face and I told my sis we'd have to go shopping in the stores with A/C cause I just couldn't take the heat anymore.

Either State though, fantastic places to visit and/or live. Coming from a small town (and living in ND for years where it's mostly flat farm land) and then going to the "Big City" is a thrill for anyone. Went to Disneyland and Disneyworld and a lot of the attractions and it was awesome.

You are all right, it can get hot in Florida. I live in the Panhandle and this week the temps are in the high eighties. We all have air conditioning in homes, cars, work, etc., so it is nice to just go out and sit in the swing - but I do like a breeze when I am out there. All through the winter I complained because of the cold - absolutely hate cold weather - so now I can't complain about heat. We have the most beautiful beaches - only about 20 minutes from my house. The sand is sugary white and the water is clear blue-green. I use to go there when I was younger but don't look so hot in a swim suit anymore so I only go when we have guests, prefer the privacy of the pool now. After many years as a Navy wife and traveling all over, I still wanted to come home to Florida to retire - but I love seeing the North during October when the leaves change and there is a nip of cold in the air. Only been to California once and thought it was beautiful but soooo many people.

LOL Crafty--did I imply that California is not hot? That would be pretty silly of me since a good portion of the state is desert! ;o)

Nope, we get our share of hot weather, usually a couple of months above 100 degrees, but it is usually a drier heat, and it usually cools down allot at night. During the day, I just plan on staying inside from 11:00 to 4:00 when it is super hot like that. Good computer or painting time. ;o)

It was the heat and humidity combined that had me unable to breathe even at night in the air conditioned room! Thought I was going to have my first ever panic attack!

And would you believe DH's convention is there in August AGAIN--but I'm not going with him this time! Instead I'll be re-experiencing a Midwest summer-- and the humidity there. LOL
Let's hope I can breathe okay at least.

I think all places have their good things and not so good things with the weather--and we usually adapt wherever we are. And all places have their own special beauty too.

PF, you are right--sooo many people here--wonder why that is?

Luvs