Yes, I'm now an official Red Hatter of Cedar Key.  I went with the gals on Tuesday for our monthly luncheon.  In case you don't know what a Red Hatter is.....it's just a group of women over the age of 50 getting together to simply HAVE FUN! There are no "rules."  Only that you must wear a red hat and purple outfit and have fun.   And fun we had.  We went to the beautiful Plantation Restaurant in Crystal River for lunch.  I rode with my friends Ingaborg, Rachel and Betty.  Here they are at the restaurant.

By the way......take a guess at how old Betty is (on the far right)  She turns 90 on August 2!  I'm just astonished and I keep telling her, "I want to be like YOU when I grow up!"  What an inspiration she is and she really makes me realize even more that it truly IS a matter of "you're ONLY as OLD as you feel."  Betty is in excellent health, she's a retired RN, had 6 children, is as sharp as a tack and partakes in all the ladies events and social things on the island.  Amazing!  And I'd bet anything it's all that activity and busyness that keeps her looking and feeling so young.

Here's a shot of Betty and me together.

And here's one of the tables of our gathering......there were 24 of us there, so we couldn't all sit together.

And here's a group shot of all of us on the beautiful staircase at the restaurant.

We had such a great time.  Laughing and talking and just.......having fun.  But the luncheon wasn't the end of it.  Five of us then took off shopping.  We spent an hour and a half walking around Bealls.  But oh.....that wasn't enough shopping for these females.  Nope.  Then we went on to the Crystal River Mall and shopped some more.  We walked and walked and walked and met at 4:00 at the Food Court.  I got an iced coffee to revive myself.  I won't lie.....I was pretty tired.  I looked at Betty......oh yes, she kept right up with us for all that shopping......and said, "I'm exhausted.  YOU must be really tired."  She gave me the sweetest smile and said, "Well, dear.  Yes.  I'm a little tired."  What a woman!

We left the island at 10 that morning and got back at 6:00.  That was a full day, but so enjoyable.  And I'm so excited about next month's Red Hat gathering.  We're going to Orlando to see "Menopause, The Musical"  I've heard it's fantastic!  Any of my readers seen it? 

That will be another very full day.  We'll probably leave the island about 8 a.m.  It's almost a 3 hour drive to Orlando from here.  We'll stop for lunch.  The show starts at 2:00 till 4:00.  And then we'll head back.  So I'm really looking forward to that.

The lunch is nice, the shopping is fun, but it's just the camaraderie of being with some great females that I love.  So many different subjects and topics discussed.  From books to movies, to children and grandchildren.  They're such a great group and I'm really happy to be part of it.

Not to mention......I love wearing my pretty red hat, wearing purple and acting as silly as I want.  At this stage of the game.....I earned it.  Being a Red Hatter is one of the perks of getting older.

See you here next time.............

Yes.....today I'm trying to surface and come up from a very busy week.  I did get a lot accomplished, but it left me very little time to "play."  I managed to get a photo of our full moon in January.  It was hovering just above my friend Joyce's house next door.

This has been the worst January in Florida that I can remember in a long time.  It's been cold, rainy, windy, raw and very few days of sun.  We did have some nice sun yesterday, however, and Ralph must of been feeling giddy with all that Vitamin D...........he tried to squeeze himself into a basket that was clearly too small for him.  He was happy though......the sun was shining!

And Brie.......she's happy rain or shine.  She turned 10 months old already on Jan. 27 and is a delightful pup.  Willful, stubborn, bossy, extremely bright........but delightful.  She never fails to bring a smile to my face.

My gentleman, Duncan.....he turns 2 years old tomorrow, so Happy Birthday, Duncan.  What a sweet boy he is and he allows Brie to get away with way more than he should.  There's no doubt who's the Alpha dog in this house.  Living up to his Scottish ancestry, Duncan just trots through life on his stubby little legs and is happy as long as he can find somebody to toss him his ball.

So my week was filled with lots to do.  I got my work out to the three agents that requested it.  I somehow (despite a million interruptions) managed to complete 8 pages of my current novel.  I'm getting my judges in order for the Royal Palm Literary Awards with Florida Writers for November.  There's still time to volunteer as a judge and if you're interested, please email me.  More info on this can be found at this link.

I'm still reading The Pillars of the Earth and I'm actually beyond 500 pages now.  It continues to captivate me with both the story and the characters.  Now THAT is a good book......when you can entice your reader to keep going after 200 pages.  And I wanted to thank all of you that had left comments here with suggestions for other historical books I might enjoy.  I've added them to my list.

So my week just whizzed on past.  Last evening Ray and I attended the gallery opening at the Arts Center.  Some very funky and unusual pieces of art on display.  If you're in the area, drop by to see the showing.  This exhibit is on until the end of the month.  Then we went to the spaghetti dinner put on by the Women's Club.  In addition to great food, it's always so much fun to socialize with everyone there.

And this coming week?  Hmm, it doesn't look like things are slowing down very much.  But ya know what....I guess I'll be able to slow down by the time I'm 90.  Keeping busy keeps me content.  I don't think I've mentioned here that I've joined the Red Hatters.  I've always longed to wear purple and be outrageous.  So Tuesday the Red Hatters are going to lunch at Plantation in Crystal River.  I've never been there and it should be fun.  On Wednesday the Garden Club is going to the Butterfly Garden in Gainesville at the University.  I'm really anxious to visit there, as I just love butterflies. 

So folks, that's my week in review and my week to come.  Inbetween everything, I'm managing to pop by and visit your blogs.  OF course this evening, we'll be watching our much loved Patriots hopefully win that Superbowl again.  GO PATS!!

And I'll see you here next time.............