What we're watching

Were you wondering what Robert and I have been watching lately? Well, like millions of others, we watched the royal wedding. Back in 1981, I got up at 5AM to watch Prince Charles and Princess Diana get married. For yesterday's royal wedding I didn't get up in the middle of the night, but Robert and I were able to watch the whole ceremony later in the day on the BBC network. What a beautiful wedding! Everybody looked so happy and glowing. I hope William and Kate will be very happy.

Here I am re-creating a photo watching the royal wedding.

And here's the original photo. Besides the royal wedding, we're also continuing to watch DVDs of TV shows from the library. Remember I said we'd put Entourage and Breaking Bad on hold? Well, they both came in and it turned out we didn't like either one. But we've just started watching a new series, Castle, and we're really enjoying it. We're also watching the devastating coverage of the tornadoes that have struck the Southeast. (Glad you're okay, Arkansas Patti.) And of course, it's baseball season. Go Marlins! (And for my father, go Red Sox!)

Look, Grandma!

As promised, here's the other re-creation from my trip to Austin. It was taken on the balcony of Amber and Chuck's house and features not only the world's sweetest 3-year-old but also one of my favorite activities - pointing.

Here I am with Aurora re-creating a "pointing" photo. Wow, did Aurora do a great job or what? She's a natural!

Here's the original photo. Well, that's it for my re-creations from Austin. I had a great trip and I'm so glad I went.

Trip to Austin

Last night, I got back from my trip to Austin, Texas. I had a great time celebrating Aurora's 3rd birthday and spending time with Amber, Chuck, and Aurora. It was a fun, busy weekend packed with Easter egg decorating, church, a children's play at a beautiful theatre, reading to Aurora, watching Tangled, eating lots of good food, and of course, the birthday party for Aurora at Chick-fil-A with 14 of Aurora's little friends AND the Chick-fil-A cow. Wow! We also did two re-creations.

Here I am in Austin re-creating a photo with Aurora and Amber. Aw...

And here's the original photo. Robert and Joey did just fine "batching it" but they're glad I'm back home. Stay tuned for the next Austin re-creation, coming soon.

Woo hoo!

On Friday, I'll be leaving for Austin, Texas to celebrate Aurora's third birthday. I'm looking forward to seeing Amber, Chuck, and Aurora and being there for Aurora's big day. There are lots of fun things planned, including a party at Chick-fil-A, eating catfish (a tradition every time I go to Austin), church on Easter, and (of course!) a couple of re-creations. But most of all I'm looking forward to just getting to be Grandma to the cutest little girl in Texas. Robert and Joey will be "batching it" at home and I'll be back Monday night.

Here we are re-creating a photo in the back yard. Woo hoo for Aurora! Woo hoo for Austin! Woo hoo for batching it!

nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnHere's the original photo. See you next week!

What's for lunch?

For some reason, seniors in retirement photos are never shown eating tuna. I don't know why. There are tons of tuna casserole recipes on the internet that say "grandma's tuna casserole." But Grandma is never seen eating her casserole. And when Grandma or Grandpa does make an appearance, what are they eating? Salad! Always salad!

Well, I suppose Robert and I should eat more salad, too. Here we are re-creating a photo with Robert doing "salad duty" and a plate of tuna and noodles on the side.

Here's the original photo. Okay, you caught me. This one doesn't have any tuna and noodles. But that's what we had for lunch today. Joey had some tuna, too. He loves tuna. Everybody loves tuna! In fact, I could have named this blog "Life is Just a Bowl of Tuna." Except obviously, it isn't.

Volkswagen XKE

Ever since I was a little girl, I've thought the Jaguar XKE was the most beautiful car ever made. I always thought I'd have one some day, but at this point in my life I realize that's probably not going to happen. But even though I don't have an XKE, I do have a cute little yellow car to pose with - my new Volkswagen Beetle!

Here we are re-creating a photo with my "Volkswagen XKE." (That's a Hollywood Beach condo building behind us.)

Here's the original photo (with a real XKE...sigh). The interesting thing about the cars Robert and I have now is that we've each had the same cars before. When Robert and I got married, he was driving a silver Mustang, and now he is again. In the 70's, I drove a yellow Volkswagen Beetle. So we've come full circle, car-wise.

Little Joe

Joey's real name is Joey, but like all pet owners, Robert and I have lots of "pet names" for him. Robert calls him Joe, Joseph, J., and every so often (woops!) Julian. I call him Little Joe, Mr. J., Joey Kapoey, and once in a while (woops!) Julian. What can I say? We know he's not Julian, but somehow it just pops out. But Joey doesn't mind. He probably wouldn't mind if we called him Eric or Amber. He's just a happy little guy who loves chasing tennis balls in the back yard, barking at the garbage man, and helping us with whatever we're doing.

Here's Joey helping Robert re-create a photo from an article called Pet Waste Pollutes. (Don't worry. We always pick up after Julian - I mean Joey.)

Here's the original photo. Joey doesn't know how to "shake," but he can sit, stay, lie down, and come - no matter what we call him. Good boy, Joey!

The joy of senior discounts

Everyone knows that nothing makes seniors happier than senior discounts. Today's photo shows what happens when an average senior couple finds out they can get a 10% discount at Anderson Paint Company in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Woo hoo! Here we are at Mara Berman Giulianti Park re-creating the photo from Anderson Paint Company.

And here's the original photo. By the way, Anderson Paint Company's website has a little thermometer and when I found this picture a few nights ago it said it was 38 degrees in Ann Arbor. Yikes, that's cold! It's 82 degrees here.

Walking holding hands

If you can believe everything you see in retirement photos (and who doesn't?) retired couples are constantly walking. Not just walking, but walking, holding hands, and smiling at the same time. Robert and I decided it was high time for us to get in on this trend, so we put on our walking shoes, washed our hands and headed to TY Park.

Here we are re-creating a typical "walking holding hands" photo.

And here's the original photo. We were a little rusty at first, but I think we're getting the hang of it. That's good, because there are literally dozens of "walking holding hands" photos out there. Luckily, there are also just as many "park bench" photos. Whew!

The chicken blog diet

If you were only allowed to eat what people are eating in retirement photos, it would be quite a diet! Basically, it would consist of fruit, vegetables, fish, more fruit, more vegetables, a bread stick now and then, and...

Ice cream and cookies! Here we are on our back porch re-creating a photo from a retirement community in Pennsylvania. (In case you're interested, we've got Haagen-Dazs Cookies & Cream ice cream in our little parfait cups and Grandma's peanut butter cookies on the plate.)

Here's the original photo. You'll notice the photographer scattered some fruit on the table to give the impression of a healthy diet, but are these seniors touching them? Absolutely not! Now that's my kind of retirement photo!