Apricity South 2

January 2, 2026 - Friday

A little bit warmer today, but no swimming at 54 degrees. I wore my new Wildcat sweatshirt on my walk and was comfortable. We went to the Elks for lunch and heard about their New Year’s Eve party. It was pretty impressive - $70/ticket, 80 tickets sold, live 5-piece band, carving stations of beef, chicken and fish, impressive dessert buffet, metallic confetti, 2 champagne toasts at 8 and midnight, etc. They had a blast and Carita (she prefers Boots) had a lot to do with it as the bar manager. When she is bartending, she never stops moving - stocking the coolers, cutting lemons and limes, cooking food in the kitchen, selling tickets for the numerous promos they do, and more. When Jimmy came in, he proceeded to tell us all about how she used to work for him when he was the Exalted Ruler in another lodge. He was also a deputy, fire and rescue paramedic, owned property in Tempe, AZ sight unseen, winner of $96K at the Elks in one month, gone on 116 cruises, and the list goes on. He sure can tell a good story and keep you laughing too…

January 3, 2026 - Saturday

What a glorious day - 70 degrees with a nice breeze to cool me as I walk in the warm sunshine. I am getting responses to my jam session proposal - need to do one more push… So far there is a 12-string acoustic guitar, harmonica, electric drum set, guitar, bass, singers and ukuleles so far.  

Got in the weeds with the year-end stuff… 

January 4, 2026 - Sunday

Did an early morning trip to Publix to take advantage of the Buy One Get One sale throughout the store! Every department had many BOGO’s and much of it is regular items for us. It was a thrill to save $98 in a grocery store! 

My watch said it was 65 degrees when I walked, but it was so foggy that it was almost misty with droplets kissing my face - glad I wore my light sweater. By the time I finished, the sun was peeking out of very dark clouds and I had to take my sweater off. Oy! A new feature on my smart watch tells me at the end of a mile how much time it took me (probably in the latest update). I don’t pay a lot of attention to it as I am always listening to something, but today it said I did a 20-minute-mile. All I know is it is better than I have been doing in the low 20’s, but it felt good to have the feedback. Now I can try to improve - ugh! 

Speaking of listening to things - If I already talked about this, I apologize, BUT it’s worth mentioning again. The latest book I am listening to is The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon, NYT Best Seller and Book of the Year at NPR. I even listened to it twice - that’s how much I love the whole concept, the amazing usage of words, and that it is based on the life of a renowned midwife/healer of the 18th century. She literally wrote herself into history by keeping a journal of all births (over 1000) and deaths, crimes and debacles in her home town of Hallowell, Maine. On top of that, the performers are the author and Jane Oppenheimer - they did an outstanding job of “telling” this complicated story. In the end of the book, Ariel delivers a 27-minute chapter, Author’s Notes, where she gives us a peak inside her head about authoring this book. If you must read, rather than listen, I’m not sure it will have the same impact, but it is a MUST “READ.”   

January 5, 2026 - Monday

It was 60 degrees at 9am, so we had water aerobics. It felt really good. My water buddy, Betty, and I linger longer to chat about this and that. She and Joe finished their jigsaw puzzle, as did we, so we swapped them. My kitchen table is taken again.

Went to line dancing and got more potential names for the jam. Need to set up a kickoff meeting soon. Waiting to hear from the Activity Committee.

The Art Club displayed these pictures for the month. Mother Teresa was done by Linda, a fellow dancer and uke player.  Talented lady…

January 6, 2026 - Tuesday

Not much going on today. Walked and worked on the puzzle. 

January 7, 2026 - Wednesday

There was a 2-hour ice delay back home. Here, the pool was so nice with the sun shining down on us. Update - they called school off for the day.  

Worked on the puzzle, did laundry, and went to the Elks for lunch.  Members were there getting ready for their first wine tasting event. Cindy in the kitchen will have to prepare charcuterie board and “little bites” for all. A two-piece band will be there to entertain. They come to Florida from Texas for 3 months and while here, the Elks contracts them for Martini night on the last Thursday of the month. 

Carol was hitting the tab pull machine pretty hard today. 

January 8, 2025 - Thursday

I got out for my walk before we went to our ukulele meetup. It felt good to be playing with the group again. We really have a lot of fun. Rich is liking it so much, he ordered a Luna! That’s the thing about Ukelekes - you can’t have enough of them! I, however, am perfectly happy with my Luna and banjolele!

I’m actually cooking something tonight - yellow saffron rice to have with the chicken Rich is cooking… been a while, but I think I can do it.

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