I guess I'm just not a faithful blogger

I don't know what happens to the time! I plan to add a post, but life gets in the way...

So this weekend we, my 4 sisters and I met in Sarasota to surprise my dad on his 80th birthday. It was a blast!! We are scattered around the US, 2 in Maine, me in NJ, another near Sacramento, CA, and another in Clearwater. Actually we've been planning since May, and had as much fun planning as doing! Thanks to Dad's partner, we actually pull it off!

So on Friday, CA and I fly together from Atlanta to Tampa and Clearwater picks us up at the airport (after zooming right past us at the curb ) and we [over]eat Mexican and talk and plot and laugh and zonk out and get up in the morning and can't get out of Clearwater cuz there's an IronMan competition that's got every highway closed, so we drive around in ever widening circles til we finally get to 275 and head south to Sarasota. Now, I've brought very summery type clothes and I'm not happy cuz the evening are more chilly than I expect and I look like a freakin toooorist so I want to buy something a bit more appropriate so Clearwater zooms into Burlington Coat Factory in Sarasota, and I try on 3 outfits, find a pair of shoes choose a black skirt and a cute top and then we go over to the grocery next door to grab balloons for all 5 of us and the guy there is about as slow as a turtle stuck in the ice... and he can't figure out how to tie the ribbons to the balloons, and he can't talk and blow up balloons at the same time, and finally I have to say "I'm sorry, but I'M IN A HURRY!!" cuz I know MAINEs are waiting for me at the shopping center outside the complex where Dad lives and so he blows balloons and I tie ribbon and FINALLY I get back in the car and whooosh we are all at the proscribed location and then we drive to the little guest parking area and go up and ring the bell and yell SURPRISE and oh man!!!

He jumped up and back 2 feet and hollers "what the hell..." and "how did you get here" or something like that. I have a picture that Clearwater snapped just as he opened the door... but I'll be nice and not put it up here. Suffice it to say it was a total surprise.

So we go out to lunch at Phillippi Creek and dinner at Ophelia's and have so much fun!

The rest of the Saturday and the Sunday morning go waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too fast, we are all visiting and talking and laughing and just having too much fun, cuz we don't get together like this but once in a blue moon, and it's just going so fast and then Clearwater, CA and I are driving back to Tampa and then CA and I are on the plane leaving and we spend our last few moments together at Hartfield Int'l airport and then suddenly I'm on the plane headed to Newark and wow what fun but why does it have to go so fast!

Thank goodness I have pictures! And thank goodness the others have pictures! It was like a movie in triple speed! What fun!!