Rio Celebrates 10 Years on Oct. 17th!

Is this not a face you can love? Is this not the handsomest boy at the doggy day care? Well, I think so. This is Rio, the darling Springer Spaniel and fur child of my dear friends Gail and Jay who live in Fort Myers.

This is Rio spending some quality time at K9's Come First with long-time girlfriend, Ambyer. Yes, with a 'y'. She's showing Rio some love with her little doxie licks on his cheek. How cute is that!? But, Mr. Ri-Ri is looking somewhat pained here, isn't he!? Oh these pups can't get enough of me...sigh. I just can't shake Ambyer. BUT, she's pretty and she is the principal's daughter so Gail and Jay tell Rio to get with the program!

Happy Birthday Rio! Have a great day on the 17th!

Driving Across Florida

While I was in Florida the last time, my brother and I drove to see my Uncle Ernie and Aunt Gloria. I had not seen them in many years, dare I say 15? 20? They live in Hobe Sound and it was about a 3-hour drive. The weather that day, like your typical Florida weather, brought some rain. I love driving through the state of Florida, if not just for the instant on/off rain amidst the sunshine, but for the beautiful scenery. It's such a pretty state. Beautiful skies and fields and trees. These were a few shots I took while we were driving, just out the car window.















This below, believe it or not, is a rest area. It was pristine, with gorgeous, tall palms.














The fields along the road here are sugar cane. There are miles and miles of them.
















Grey storm clouds rolling in before the rain started.

Little e. is Getting Married

My dear, sweet niece is getting hitched! I can hardly believe it is all happening, and so fast! I can't focus on it too hard or I'll cry (she is as close as I'll ever get to my own little girl!). It seems like just yesterday she was in high school, then just heading to Stetson, then to FSU (her Auntie's alma mater, I might add), and then to graduation. And, now, we're having wedding showers!? That's "e." standing in the center. Her devoted Mom hosted a great lingerie shower at BluSushi in Fort Myers! The wedding party girls showed up in a limo - tres chic - and then we all had sushi and opened presents in this neat little private room which was decorated with pink roses and feather boas and lots of fun table decor.















The next morning, Kimby, a long-time friend of Sheri's (Erin's Mom) hosted a wonderful household-gifts-themed shower. Her beautiful house was the perfect setting with plenty of places to sit, tons of great food and friends, and last but not least, a darling Labrador. This is Kimby and Winston.














Party favors: cookie mix with a tiny whisk attached with a pink ribbon. How cute! They thought of everything.








And then, when I - nor my camera - could take one more ounce of perfection either of my niece's flawless face and hair, Sheri's gorgeous dress, or Kimby's lovely home, I asked that everyone please, please, dear God, please, make a funny face for me! And they delivered! :-) That's Kimby's son in the center - he's getting ready to take his LSAT and follow in his father's footsteps! Hope he did great!

To Florida and Back

I'm baaaa-aaaaack. I was in Florida attending a couple of wedding showers for my niece, Erin! Another wedding is on the horizon! Pictures on this event to follow, once my camera is mailed back! This makes the second time I've left it there. We may have a trend going. Oops.

So, I got back last Wednesday. Sometimes going away throws me for a loop in terms of blogging. Takes me a minute to get back into the routine. But when I do, I feel like I need to chronicle events in the order they happened. So... on Aug. 2nd Alana and Danny got married.

It was a really pretty wedding - the colors, I thought, were very nostalgic, almost Victorian. Alana was a beautiful bride and Danny was dashing in his black tux. The wedding was held at the Rancho Santa Fe Country Club. A really nice space, indoors and out. There were about 200 people, but it didn't feel crowded because there was plenty of room to spread out. The weather was really nice, after the initial warm spell during the ceremony. The happy couple left the next day for Cozumel. Sweet. :-)

Hodge Podge

Seen while driving on I-8.

Seen in Florida. What all must be on their country buffet?

And last but not least - got weapons?

Jaws of Love

My niece's bulldog, Chloe, is a little, slow-moving (unless running to dinner!) latte-colored love ball. Her sister, Bella, pictured in an earlier post with Chloe, is an energy ball! Chloe is seen here nuzzled into the comforter on her mommy's bed. She has this adorable little slow blink that she does as she looks at you. And I can't even describe all the little sounds (grunts!) that they both make. They're like little muscular, wrinkled, baby bundles.













Chloe is also good friends with Mr. Puff, her Persian kitty brother. Here they are out by the pool enjoying the sun.

A New Year Begins

Most year-ends happen slowly enough to give you a sec to think about the year's events as you weigh your big hopes for the coming year. This year was a crazy whirlwind as I traveled between Fort Myers and San Diego making lots of big decisions; probably weightier than any I'd made for myself all year. Quite an experience, chock full of lessons and moments that kind of stopped me in my tracks. As a result of my travels, I was left with a stronger feeling that it all boils down to a few simple things: family and friends and the love you share with these folks. And ironically, these things can be quite economical and available in abundant supply with the right mindset. If I have any resolution for the coming year it is to live, laugh, and love more. And, well, maybe some crunches? :-)
Here are a few pictures from Florida. First, my sis-in-law, Sheri, at the top of the stairs at the Bubble Room - a restaurant that we go to as a bit of a family tradition. Although the food didn't wow us as much this time, it was still nice to be there all together.












Next, the herd of Paparella dogs, all with underslung jaws. First is Chloe (a.k.a. Chlo-bee or Chlo-bee-wan-kanobi) on the right, and Bella (a.k.a. Bells or Belly) on the left. The boxer is my brother's son, Harley! Harley is pure LOVE. Words cannot describe the enormity of this dog's personality.


























Last, but not least, I leave you with Buddy - the cockatiel I met at the airport during my 3.5 hour layover as I flew back to San Diego on Christmas Eve.

M is for . . .

Mom. Here she is in all her leggy glory. My Mom was born in Cologne, Germany in 1926. My grandmother named her Liselotte, which she quickly changed to Joanne when she was 17. She was a hat model for a bit and as you can see here the girl could strike a pose. My granny's name was Wilhelmine Hubertina Slavic. Quite the trio of names if I may say so.

M is also for marks woman. Me, here, with my little .22 complete with scope for good target practice. We are/were a family of guns. Not me, but my Dad had a collection and my brother does still. I'm pretty much anti-gun/anti-hunting, but here I am: little girl with gun!













This picture is of My brother. Good excuse to use the "M" for that. What a sweet face. And dig that groovy cardigan.
















And how about mini-skirt? Don't you just love this little get-up? White knee socks and all! I wonder if this was something I picked out. I don't remember. But I do remember rockin' the knee socks at any opportunity. This blog has clearly taken a turn. It is now the Pictures of Robin as a kid Blog.

H is for . . .

Hialeah! It is the place of my birth and an area of Miami. Specifically, I was birthed at Hialeah Hospital. So here I am gettin' some air on my swing set in the backyard of our house. I remember I would get going so high that one leg of the swing set would come off the ground! Xtreme sports!

Also, just for reference, in 1959 when I was born, it was during the Cuban embargo and we had many Cuban neighbors. I remember Pablo and his family who lived next door. They came to the US via a 90-mile raft trip. No lie - on a raft that they built. Pretty amazing how many Cubans (~2 million) actually made that trip (not all on rafts!?) to find a safe haven in the US.

F is for . . .

Fort Myers, Florida. When I was 12, we moved to Fort Myers from Miami. We lived on Ricardo Avenue, which was off McGregor Boulevard, a historic street lined by palm trees. Towards downtown, off McGregor, was the Edison Home. It is a beautiful old estate, and today a woman I know, Pam, feeds a whole family of feral cats who make the Edison Home their home. I love that, because old Tom probably wouldn't like it considering his not-so-humane antics with cats, not to mention elephants. Fort Myers is on the west coast of Florida, and is a really nice place to live. My brother, sis-in-law, niece, stepmother, and a bunch of friends still live there. I don't visit near enough. This is a vintage pic of McGregor Boulevard. Other than good paving, it still looks pretty much like this.

D is for . . .

* Domino - my childhood dog. (I'm totally copying my buddy at Foziewisp!) Anyway, there was a litter of puppies down the street and for my 5th birthday my Mom got me a darling black puppy. He was a poodle, and after his first clip we were surprised to see that underneath his puppy coat was a new coat in silver! We used to get him completely "done up" with bows and painted nails. Here he's in his summer "puppy clip" which I liked best.

* Daisy - the name I think Saylor's name should be. J. named her Saylor because he sails and windsurfs. But, to me, she's a Daisy! I call her that sometimes for the heck of it and I think she likes it. But she wags her tail at almost anything! She is absolutely darling. Just look at her here sweetly looking at the Christmas tree.













* Demolition - There seems to be no end to our home renovations. I know I shouldn't complain because it is nice to be able to improve things, but . . . for instance today we created more drywall dust than an Arizona sand storm. It seems that for most projects, before we can make it better, we must rip out the old and decrepit. Husby J. believes that a man should not just be judged by what he builds, but by what he tears down. He also believes that doing the demo yourself allows you to save a few bucks. He is Scottish, and these folks know how to make a dollar s t r e t c h. Following are a few highlights from three of our demolition projects - first the kitchen, next the bathroom, and lastly the front of the house!