December 28, 2019

December 4, 2019

 It’s been cold here in Palatka for the past few days with the temperatures dipping down into the low 30’s at night.  The days have been nice with the temperatures in the 60’s.  I actually had to put on a pair of long pants yesterday.

 We’ve been sticking around the house for a few days nursing a cold Joyce has caught.  On Monday I took her to an urgent care clinic and found out she has a virus that is going around this area.  The physicians assistant gave her some antibiotics and some stuff to put in her nebulizer, all of which seems to be helping.

 Yesterday I went over to Michelle’s and took Skyler to his jujitsu class and then took him and Abigail out for pizza.  I’m really enjoying this grandpa stuff.

December 8, 2019

 On Friday we got a call from Richmond American Homes letting us know the permits for the new house had arrived.  We’re hoping that they will start the construction process soon and that everything will stay on track for a March completion.

 Yesterday we went to St. Augustine for Abigail and Skyler’s football games.

December 10, 2019

 Yesterday we went out and did some shopping in St. Augustine and south Jacksonville.  On the way back we stopped at the Elks Lodge in Green Cove Springs to have a cold one.  This is one of the friendliest lodges we have been to in all of our travels.  We’ve met some really nice folks who have gone out of their way to make us feel welcome.  One gentleman came in last night and bought the whole house a round of drinks, “just because”.  We also had a supper of county fried steak, potatoes, green beans and a biscuit for only $6.00.

December 14, 2019

 On Tuesday we attended Skyler’s musical concert in St. Augustine at the First United Methodist Church.  Skyler played bells and the Recorder on a couple of tunes.  The program was beautiful with all the children doing their best.

 On Thursday we went to watch Abigail dance at her middle school.  Abby danced in two parts of the program that really emphasized her talents.

December 16, 2019

 Yesterday was a beautiful day here in northern Florida with the temperatures in the low 70’s and with relatively low humidity.  But Saturday was a whole different ball game.

 Early in the morning we started getting some rain moving through this area which was light at first but progressively got stronger.  Then around 4 AM the thunderstorms moved in with a lot of lighting and some strong winds.  The thunder woke me up so I got up and jumped on the computer to see what was happening.  The weather radar indicated some very strong cells to the north of us and a tornado warning in an area just to the north.

 Later in the day we found out that a tornado actually touched down in Interlachen that is a few miles to the northwest of Lynch’s Landing RV Park.  Yesterday when we stopped at a roadside stand to get some tomatoes the seller told Joyce that he had a lot of debris to clean up on his property.  Also, a storm cell was on the ground in Flagler County for almost thirty minutes.

 This morning I went up to Fleming Island to meet Dr. Tran, my new primary care doctor.  He spent about an hour going over all of my records I had brought with me and just generally getting too know me.  Dr. Tram is originally from Vietnam and escaped the communist north’s takeover of South Vietnam back in the late 1970’s.  In fact, he was one of the “boat people” that escaped the south just before the fall of Saigon.  He was taken to Clark AB in the Philippines and from there to the United States,  He went to medical school and joined the Navy and retired after 27 years of service this last October.

 Dr. Tram is sending me to a Cardiologist, an Ophthalmologist and a Pulmonologist so that I can get establish with them.  He also ordered a full battery of lab work to make sure everything is going good.

December 22, 2019

 On Tuesday we had a meeting with Dan, our Building Superintendent for the new house whose job it is to coordinate the actual building of the house.  He went over the plans and made sure everything is placed where it is supposed to be.  We hope to be able to move in by April 15th.

 We have also been doing some last minute shopping and getting the presents wrapped.  Our plan is to spend the night at Michelle’s on Christmas Eve so we can be there when Abby and Skyler get up on Christmas Day.  We’re really looking forward to that.

December 26, 2019

  I can’t believe it’s been almost a month since I lasted posted an update to this newsletter.

 I had been having some trouble with a tooth on my upper left side so Michelle’s friend Mandie who works for Dr. Nathan William at All About Smiles Family Dentistry made an appointment for me for Monday.  Dr. Nathan is Michelle’s family dentist and also a good friend.  Dr. Nathan took one look at the x-ray of the tooth and saw some infection around the root and he though the best option for me was to extract it.  We will talk later about my options for replacement.

 On Tuesday we went over to Michelle’s to celebrate the Christmas with her, Abby and Skyler.  We were also joined by Michelle’s mother Susanna. On Christmas Eve we went out to dinner at The Reef.

 We all had a wonderful Christmas Day mostly just relaxing and enjoying each others company.  By-the-way, Santa Claus was very good to all of us.

December 28, 2019

 Yesterday Joyce and I decided to drive up to the Jacksonville Veterans Administration Outpatient Clinic to get registered.  After filling out a form and waiting just at few minutes we were met by a lady who took us back to her office where we spent an hour updating our addresses, phone numbers and other important information.  She also set up our first appointments including meeting our doctors and getting blood work done.  All-in-all it was an easy process.

The building begins.

Family Pictures.

Justin, Adrian, Travis and Victoria

Michele, Abigail and Skyler.

More later.

Barry & Joyce

December 1, 2019

November 15, 2019

 Yesterday we drove up to Jacksonville for our appointment at the Richmond American Homes Design Center.  We met by Cara, our design specialist, was our guide through the process of the final design of our new Azure model home in Rolling Hills.  Our appointment was scheduled for four hours and Cara assured us that we would need every bit of that time.

 After a brief explanation of the process Cara jumped right in with the flooring options.  One of the incentives that we already had already included was a complete kitchen/wet areas upgrade that included tile flooring, 42 inch cabinets and granite counter tops.  But hold on Ke-Mo-Sha-Bee, Cara had much more to show us. How about tiling the great room instead of carpet. OK, let’s do it.  That will be only $700 more please.  Did you know you can choose the color of grout for the tile?  Yep, and the kazillion colors they have are all named too.  We chose Urban Putty.  Who the heck comes up with this stuff anyway?

 Moving right along, we upgraded the counter tops to quartz, picked white cabinets, selected soft close drawers/cabinets and a pull-out trash bin.  With that package we also  chose a really cool under counter mounted sink along with an upgraded faucet.

 Next we met with the electrical systems designer (I had no idea there was such a person) who discussed the wiring options for the TV outlets, data cables and electrical plugs.  We went with the basic package but added a couple power plugs.  BTW, we could have had the whole house wired for surround sound, security systems and internet access all for for a nominal fee.

 I’m not going to bore you with all of the details but we made upgrades for the toilets, bathroom counter height, tile in the master bedroom shower, wiring for pendent lighting over the kitchen island plus several other things.  All-in-all we spent four and a half hours with Cara and spent about $18,000.

November 17, 2019

 The temperature’s are really cooling down here in northern Florida.  Yesterday the high was around 57 and it got down to 45 last night.  I even had to break out the long pants.

 Yesterday we went to Jacksonville to Skyler’s football game and then had lunch at Chuey’s.

November 18, 2019

 Yesterday was Skyler’s 8th birthday Joyce and I along with Michelle, Skyler, Abigail and a whole bunch of kids went to the Urban Air in Jacksonville to celebrate.  This place is perfect for kids to celebrate birthdays or just for a day out.

November 19, 2019

 Yesterday day was a full day for Joyce and I.  After having breakfast we drove up to Jacksonville (again) to drop off the paperwork for our home loan.  Since we were already in JAX we decided to do a little shopping.

 The fist stop was at the Lazboy gallery to shop for chairs and couches.  After sitting in and trying out what I think was every recliner in the store we finally settled on the Douglas model.  Joyce will get her’s with all the bells and whistles and mine will be without the movable headrest.  We liked one couch but are going to look some more for that.

 Next we stopped by the Annie Oakley’s Wood Furniture Gallery to look at their bedroom sets.  Mike said that the company has been in business and in the same location for 32 years so if we like something we can get other pieces to match very easily.  We really liked the McKenzie Bedroom Collection from Whittier Wood Furniture based in Eugene, Oregon.  We also liked the Select line by John Thomas.  Annie’s also carries Amish furniture that really impressed Joyce.  Me?  Their prices were outstanding.

 Ya gotta have a mattress to go with a new bedroom set so we drove less than a mile to the Mattress One store.  We tried out several brands including Temper-Pedic, Sternes and Foster and Sealy.  The one that impressed us the most was the Tempur-Adapt Medium Hybrid.  A close second was the Sealy Posturepedic Performance Hybrid Copper II.

November 27, 2019

 On the 24th Joyce, Michelle and I went out for brunch at O.C White’s for brunch.  Very slow service and the food was just OK.  Don’t think we will go back.

 Later we went out for supper at Creekside Dinery to celebrate Joyce’s birthday.  All the food was delicious and we had really good time.

 On Monday Joyce and I went up to the NAS Jacksonville Hospital to talk to the Tricare folks about getting medical care there.  The lady told us that we would have to seek medical care in the civilian community due to lack of enough doctor’s on station.  She did move us from the West-Region to the East Humana provider and gave me a list of civilian provider near Green Cove Springs.

 After that chore was taken care of, we stopped by Best Buy in Jacksonville to check out the TV’s and a Ring doorbell systems.  We picked up the Ring Doorbell Pro with the Echo Show 5 package that was on sale for a really good price.

 Yesterday morning Joyce went to the Tricare web site to print out a new benefits card and discovered that she had been transferred to Tricare Direct and that I was her dependent.  What the heck?  So we drove back up to NAS Jacksonville to get that mistake fixed.

 The lady who helped us did a lot of “fixing” and after almost an hour got it fixed.  She also printed out another list of network doctors in the area.  She told us to stop by Out Patient Records to make sure that Joyce is under my Tricare For Life benefits.  The lady there had to do some more finagling to make that happen.  Hopefully all is well now.

 All of that is necessary if we want to get our medications for free and establish medical care in the Green Cove Springs area.  We plan to also move our Veteran Administration residency to the Jacksonville Outpatient Clinic.

November 29, 2019

 Yesterday we went over to Michelle’s for Thanksgiving Dinner and I can tell you we all ate way too much.  That said, it was good to break bread with family and friends.

The cooks hard at work.

December 1, 2019

 Joyce caught a bug a few days ago and has been coughing and wheezing a lot.  She has been taking some medications and that has helped but not enough to make her want to go out and do anything.  So, yesterday morning we decided to cancel our cruise out of Fort Lauderdale.  Royal Caribbean will refund all of the cost that she used to upgrade our January cruise and then add a 3-day on the end of that one.

More later.

Barry & Joyce