A rolling stone gathers no moss

I survived Christmas 2008! AND I have finished the Christmas knitting that didn't quite get done in time for the actual day. Yea!

Since Christmas, I've been engaged in a whirlwind of travel. The day after, Jeff and the girls took a plane for Vero Beach, Florida, while I drove down to Lexington to pick up my folks and drive down to Vero. Next time, I'm flying. I can't believe how long it took to drive to Florida ... of course, stopping every 10 minutes to either eat or go to the bathroom didn't help. Still, we had a good visit while we drove ... and drove ... and drove.

When we got to Vero, Mom and Dad and I went to see McKee Gardens, which I had been told was a fantastic botanical garden. They omitted to say: "50 years ago." Over time, the acreage has been whittled down to the point that the gardens are only a shadow of their former glory. It was pretty, but nothing spectacular.

And what was there was spoiled by what I can only conclude was an inconceived attempt to attract attention to the gardens. A "famous" glass artist had put art everywhere. These little guys were totally gay in every way. I felt it detracted from the natural beauty of the place, even though the glasswork itself was not unattractive.

At Vero, we lazed around and ate good seafood and generally had a good time. At midnight on New Year's Eve, the girls had their traditional dip in the ocean with their clothes on. They're crazy!

After Jeff and the girls had to go home, Mom and Dad and I stayed an extra week and went over to Orlando to Disney World. I couldn't believe that Mom walked all the way to the back of Epcot and also around Animal Kingdom. She was amazing! Dad and I were so proud of her.

On the way home, we again drove and drove and drove -- but this time we took three days instead of two and went home by way of Hilton Head. In the middle of it all, I came down with a strep throat type disease and had to get antibiotics from a clinic in Hilton Head. I was pretty miserable for a couple of days.

We finally made it home on Sunday night and I stayed with Mom and Dad overnight before driving home the next morning.

The following Friday, Kate and I took off for New York. One of her Christmas gifts was the chance to go to New York and see "Equus," so she and I drove up to Columbus to catch a cheap flight to the Big Apple. The play was excellent and Kate really enjoyed it. The next day we spent in the Garment District, shopping around. We found a great vintage clothing store called "The Family Jewels" and she found a gorgeous pink dress there that will be perfect for the upcoming Valentine's Dance. We even got to go to a sample show of furs -- but we didn't buy anything there.

Our room at the Hilton was lovely.

I would have liked to have gone to the Metropolitan Art Museum, but Kate wasn't eager to go and we sort of ran out of time. Or at least we thought we did. The next day, when our plane was weather delayed by three hours, we wished we could have spent that time at the Met! All in all though we had a good time and we made a point of NOT going to any chain restaurants (Whenever Jeff travels with us, he insists on eating at Pizza Hut and McDonalds the whole time. )