April Adventures with the BF....

The BF came home last Friday and we took a roundabout trip to Key West. First we zipped over to Orlando with the thought of checking out Epcot but it was late in the afternoon before we got there and $75 a pop for tickets is just more than we want to spend. We did pay $12 to park and then took the monorail ride around for a few minutes.

We left there and started the long drive down the costly Florida Turnpike to Miami. We spent the night in a lovely room at the Ramada Inn in Florida City. It's right at the beginning of US 1 that takes you down the Keys.
We headed out early Saturday Morning for the 3 hour drive to Key West where we had a reservation at the lovely Ambrosia Bed & Breakfast (title above links to their website). A wonderful and relaxing place. Ben could not have been nicer. We stayed in the Havana Cabana room. It has a very large jacuzzi bathtub that was just wonderful after our long drive and long day of walking Duval Street.

I'm working on a smilebox slide show with all of our pictures and I'll hopefully have that up soon.
It was such a special trip with my sweet & wonderful BF....Love you Bee ;-)

Tampa Downtown Market

My neighbor Paddy and I ventured to downtown Tampa to check out the Tampa Downtown Farmer's Market. It was a beautiful day, we found an excellent parking spot close by, and we had a really nice time checking out the vendors.
We could not find the actual "Dancing Goat" but the Dancing Goat lady was there selling her handmade soaps. Paddy bought some delicious Focaccia bread and shared half of the loaf with me. I had some this afternoon with some olive oil, salt & pepper. It was very good. I bought some smokey Paprika that I hope to use soon from a women selling spices . I always see Rachel Ray cooking with it on her show. I, also, picked up some fresh green beans and a couple of limes from the produce vendor.
After the market we went over to Channelside for a bite of lunch since Paddy had never been to Channelside. I gave her the short tour and she very kindly treated me to lunch at Thai Thani. It was very good and had just the right amount of spice for my tast buds.

After lunch we did a quick driving tour around Ybor City, then a drive down Central Avenue so that I could show her the beautiful old Hillsborough High School, and then it was back home.
If you have the chance go downtown to check out the Market before they close in May. They're opening from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm each Friday. Click on the Market photo above to link to their website.
Friday evening I went over to Clearwater to join my friends Kathy& Larry. We went to Safety Harbor to participate in the Third Friday Festival.
http://www.cityofsafetyharbor.com/index.asp?nid=317
More beautiful Florida Spring weather. It was a fun evening spending time with old friends, enjoying Lobster Bisque from a vendor, seeing how much attention little Marcel, their dog, got and enjoying some nice wine back at their lovely home. I slept very well last night.:-)

My "Real Life" profession is up and running.....

My long time friend, Kathy, and I have finally gotten our new website up and running as of last week. We are offering our services as Daily Money Managers in the Tampa Bay area. I'm in Tampa and she's in Clearwater. Who needs a Daily Money Mangers (DMM) you might be asking yourself?

If you are a busy professional or travel frequently we can help you make sure that your mortgage, rent, utilities, and credit card payments are paid on time each month. If you are not able to personally help your parents or a loved one because of your other family or career obligations or because you don't live close by, you can have peace of mind that their daily financial affairs are in order. If you are a Senior who finds that all of your paperwork is confusing. If you have a disability that makes it hard for you to write out your checks for bill payment. If you don't have the time nor inclination to put all of the paperwork together to give to your Accountant to have your taxes prepared.

In addition to our financial organization services, we provide Life Management concierge services. We can wait for the repairman/delivery person in your home, provide modified house sitting (waters plants, bring in mail, walk and feed pets, etc.), accompany senior citizens to doctor's appts. to be a "second voice" for you when needed, run personal errands for you.

We charge an hourly rate for our services. The amount of time necessary to complete your monthly personal services will depend on the complexity of your needs. Our fees are affordable and may well be offset by the savings we frequently generate from avoiding unnecessary fees and penalties.
Please check out our new website at www.MyPaperworkManagers.com

Birthday Week Celebrations continues....

I finally made a trip down to Ft. Myers this past weekend to visit with my friends Christina, Frank, & their lovely cat Chloe. She likes to sit in the sun as you can tell from this picture that I took of her. They treated me like a Birthday Princess while I was there.
My birthday celebration continues tomorrow when I go to see Lorraine for a massage that my sweet BF scheduled for me. It's been way to long since my last massage.

Jay's 40th Birthday Celebration......

My friend, Jay, turned 40 last Friday and his friends Ty, Tim, Gloria, & Dana threw a wonderful party for all of us to help him celebrate.