Happy New Year

This morning I made an early trip to the grocery, before the rush since the stores closed early and will be closed all day tomorrow. I came back to the studio, Dale and I decided to visit with Mary and Steve since they were heading home after a week in Aruba. We wished them a safe journey.






We headed back into town for the fireworks down the main street at 1 pm. We watched as they blocked the street, and then laid out a string of firecrackers about 300 yds long. Shortly after 1pm they lit the string, the sound was so loud, thank goodness we had put something in our ears. We had a front row seat for the festivities. I took pictures and then got some great video of the action.
As soon as it ended we jumped in the car and headed back to our home away from home. As we turned in we saw Mary and Steve were still waiting for a cab, so we offered to take them to the airport. They loaded their luggage and we took the back way to the airport to avoid all the congestion downtown. We dropped them off, said our final good-byes and headed back out to Malmok. I decided to go snorkeling and Dale said he wanted to get on the laptop. I enjoyed an hour of snorkeling down the road. Dale and I got into the hot tub since no one was in it and then we started our supper. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset on the patio while enjoying spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread.
2007 went out in style with a dramatic sunset in Aruba.
Tonight we will go out to the beach to watch the fireworks over the island and bid goodbye to a great year.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!!!

DPV DIVE

Well yesterday we headed to the JADS Dive Shop for my DPV dive - Dive Propulsion Device with Walter. After gearing up we headed out to the reef for my introduction to the Apollo. At first, Walter drove the scooter and I held on to a wing until the got on the other side of the reef. Walter demonstrated out to operate the device and then it was my turn. At first, I started out kinda slow, apprehensive, but soon I got the hang of it and off I went. Wow, was it a kick! I cruised up and down the reef, circling back often to make sure Walter was around. The current was pretty strong and
going with the current I felt like I was flying.
We stayed out about 45 minutes and then
headed back in to the dive shop. The current
had carried us down the reef and we had a
tricky exit from the water.
After my dive, Dale and I headed over to Mango Halto for a reef drift snorkel. We geared up and headed out at Rocky Beach, swimming until we got on the other side of the reef, then it was pretty much floating and drifting with the current. Our snorkel trip lasted about 45 minutes to an hour before we swam into shore and got out of the water. We were starving so we headed to La Granja for lunch---grilled chicken and ribs.
Later that evening I talked Dale into going up toward the lighthouse for the fireworks show. It was a Zoo, traffic was terrible, we were sure we would see a bad accident. The show didn't start until almost 11 pm, lasted about 20 mins. and was good, but getting back home in that crazy traffic took forever. We didn't get to bed until almost 1 am. The people of Aruba are crazy about fireworks! Tonight was another big fireworks show, but we decided to stay home and not battle the crowd.

Season Greetings From Aruba

We arrived in Aruba on Dec. 23 after a direct flight from Houston, we picked up our rental car and headed out to Sunset Beach Studios. We found the room unlocked and the key hidden as they had told us. We unpacked, ate supper and went to bed early. The next morning, Dec. 24 we headed off to the grocery store to stock up as the stores would be closed for next couple of days. What a zoo, made me feel at home. Christmas Day we enjoyed snorkeling down the road at Boca Grande, relaxing in the hot tub, and just kicking back. I had arranged to dive with JADS on Dec. 26, so Dale drove me over and I made two boat dives--a wreck and a reef. I made arrangements to dive at Rocky Beach and drove over on Thursday afternoon, Dec.27 for my shore dive. It turned out to be me and the divemaster, a great dive. That night we drove over to the other side of the island to watch a fireworks display. Today we kinda explored the island, I snorkeled out in front of the resort and enjoyed supper on our porch. Tomorrow we are off in the morning, I have a scooter dive planned at 9 am at JADS. Think we will watch the fireworks at the Lighthouse tomorrow night. The people in Aruba love fireworks!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

Well it has been a busy weekend and we are counting down to Christmas and our trip to Aruba.
It has turned cold and it beginning to feel like Xmas here in South Texas. Last night we went to our Country and Western Dance Club and enjoyed the dance with friends. Today after getting a late start we cleaned the house from top to bottom, boy did it need it. We did sneak off for a late afternoon flight around the area. Finally, a clear day, cool and smooth....we landed at sunset, grabbed a bite at Sonic and headed home.






This week is really going to be busy......
The Hospital party, the Goldman party,
Christmas with the family and packing for
Aruba.


My shopping is DONE, the last gift arrived
from Amazon yesterday.......only a few gifts
left to wrap and Santa will be ready. Ho! Ho! Ho!

Counting Down to Christmas

Well it has been a busy week, with lots of highs and a few lows. On Monday I decided to go to Houston shopping, Harwin St., Chicos, First Colony. Wednesday I had a busy day planned, but that was all put on hold when the power steering in my car went out. We took it to the GMC dealer and found out the power steering pump was out. That was the good news, cause the bad news was the pump was on back-order for 3-4 weeks. I am now in a grey Pontiac rental car furnished by GM. Thursday night we had two bank Xmas parties, FVNB and Wells Fargo. Friday I got in some Xmas shopping, and gadly I can say I am almost done, now the wrapping begins.
Next week will be hectic ----Lunch Bunch, Hospital Party and Country and Western Dance Club....................and maybe a fishing trip.
We are planning on getting together with the kids and grandkids before we leave, but trying to get everyone together on one date is tricky.
We have about 15 sleeps before we head to Aruba, boy am I ready! I need some sun, sand, and saltwater soon!