On to Sunny Florida, or.......Record Cold

We have actually gotten a tremendous amount of things done while fighting the weather.  Cold as in almost single digits, torrential rain, ice, wind, astonishing.  And leaving for Florida on Saturday the temp at our first stop in Madison, FL is supposed to hit 20, and arriving in Bradenton on Sunday they are calling for a high of 49 and low of 38!  This global warming is killing us:-)

I have been fully released by the surgeon and have finished PT, I can tackle stairs normally now but I'm pretty sure getting my left sock and shoe on is way out in the future.

We are making progress with the house build, we have finished up our plan and met with an architect to make finishing touches and a buildable plan that should be accomplished in several weeks, we have essentially picked out the builder, had numerous conversations, looked at 7-8 houses on the outside he has built and toured 3 on the inside and we like his reputation, answers, and what he does, we just have to put it together once we have hard plans in hand.  Fingers crossed.

Just so you don't think you are getting away without a few food pictures, we have been getting out for lunch and even dinner more and more as I heal.  Starting with delicious sushi at Yoon Sushi in Canton.

With all the cold weather we decided nothing would suit us quite like a bowl of warm and delicious pho which we found at Super Pho and Boba in Cumming.

We had the forecast of an incredible ice storm coming in with the potential of shutting down the city, doesn't take much here, and calls for as much as 1/2" of ice which could cause extensive power outages, the storm was forecast for Sat night into Mon morning, so on Saturday afternoon we wanted to get out and were able to meet friends, John and Diane at a local cigar bar for a cigar and a beer, and were later joined by OD and Tammie, it was a pleasant break before all of us would be hunkered down for two days.  As it turned out we got freezing temps, but the rain didn't fully align with the cold temps so thankfully we got just a little ice, but about an inch of rain coupled with wind, and when it all came to an end the icing on the cake was an overnight temp of 11!

We had a good lunch at a Chinese place we hadn't been to in years in Kennesaw, Fire Stone.

These are crunchy, tasty morsels of chicken

Then we discovered a hidden delectable item at a BBQ place we have been to many, many times, Williamson Bros, these are the most amazing onion straws I would say we have ever had anywhere!!

Just wow!

So we are meeting friends for lunch and a visit today, John and Diane, and Ted and Pattie, and tomorrow get all set up to leave early Saturday, the Friday overnight temps are calling for 23 so we want to be ready.  

John, Diane, Moi, Jan, Pattie, and Ted

See you all in Florida.

Welcome to 2026!

Thought I'd do a very quick update and let you know we are still alive and kicking.  It's been a little over 6 weeks since my hip surgery and I am returning to the world of the living, and am truly amazed that pain in my left hip joint which precipitated this whole thing is completely gone.  I know it should be, but it's still incredible.  I have been diligent with my exercises, twice a day and the physical therapy and am doing quite well now.  I am confident it will only get better and better from here.

We have moved south from Ellijay to Cartersville, closer to our land, and have been working on a house plan that Jan and I are about 95% pleased with, now all we need to do is convert that into a real plan, find a builder to execute it, all within our budget.  Easy peasy, yeah right.

Jan's sister Karen is here with us for another week or so, and we have been enjoying visiting, HH's, and meals together although it has been bitterly cold for GA, even into the teens a few nights!

I've got a few more PT sessions, a doctor's appointment, a meet with at least one builder, all hoping to be done before we leave for Florida at the end of the month.

That's about it for now.