My US Visit

Well, it's taken me a while but better late than never. I was in the US from December 9th to February 24th, and my timing couldn't have been better. While I was away, Amsterdam had the worst winter on record during the past 30 years. Record low temperatures and snowfall started almost from the time I left. Now central Florida didn't exactly have a mild winter either, but compared to what was experienced in Amsterdam and other parts of the world, I'll take what I had in Orlando! As a matter-of-fact, the first 2 weeks were beautiful, with sunshine and warmth creating great times on the tennis court.
It was a little strange at first being home. Marc, who was renting part of the house since January 2008 had moved out in July, so the house was empty. I figured this was a good time to clean it and do some repairs. The fridge was empty, so let's tilt that over slightly and vacuum the coils and all that under there. Cleaning only the front intake area since it was purchased in '94 left many mondo-dust bunnies packed around every nook and cranny. It took a very long time and many different angles to clean. Top to bottom I cleaned for days. The car started up fine this time, so I wasn't stranded like I was last summer. I made a promise I wouldn't shop at Sam's, and it made sense that I didn't to avoid surplus food when I left. I immediately started to think about how to go about finding another person or persons to rent part of the house to. This was THE major task that had to be done while I was back. I also had things to buy to take back, clear out the garage, transfer VHS tapes to DVD, and planned to visit with family and friends.
Radhika arrived a little over a week after I came in, and worked from the Orlando office, actually occupying her same Trustreet/GE office she had before leaving in '07 for Amsterdam. We visited with friends and she got to hang a little with her "girlie-girl posse". A few days before Christmas, her Mom and my sister and nephew arrived from New Jersey and Tallahassee, respectively. We drove over to Tampa where we met up with her oldest sister Dolly and Dolly's husband, John, her other sister Poonam, husband Umesh and their boys Akshay and Abishek, and John's Mom Joanne and step-brother, Brian. We had a fun 3 1/2 days playing volleyball and ping pong, pool lounging, eating and drinking, and sailing the seas on a pirate ship. Those pictures are in an album when you clink on the link to the right. On the 26th, John and Dolly went on a short cruise, Joanne and Brian visited with friends they knew in Florida, and the rest of us went back to Orlando. Helen and Lee went back to Tallahassee, and Poonam and her family came over to Orlando from Tampa. Before everyones departure on New Years Day, there were visits to Kennedy Space Center, Gatorland, and Universal Studios. Everyone had a good time. It had been 5 years since everyone had been together at once. Dolly's plan came together nicely. But it was an adjustment for me to be back in an empty, quiet house. I continued my tasks and then got an email from Dolly and John that they were coming back from their cruise in the early morning and their flight out of Tampa wasn't until early evening. So I drove over and met them at the port of Tampa. We hung out in Ybor City, had a nice lunch, did a little shopping, and then I took them to the airport. It was a nice, sunny day for them to conclude their holiday and head back to endure the rest of an icy cold winter in New York. Again I required another adjustment back to the quiet of the house void of anyone but myself. But that was about to change. Part 2 will follow.