First 2 Months Snowbirding In Gulf Shores, AL.

                                                  December 3, 2017

I know I haven't blogged since we arrived here in Gulf Shores, AL., but sometimes I need to take a break and just enjoy God's Blessings of sunsets, family, and time to sit down with a good book.

We are at the same condo this year, as last year. It use to be called the "Salty Dog", but with new owners, the name has changed to "My happy Place". I liked the old name better! All my doggie decor is gone too. Our condo is in the Seacrest Condo's right on the beach. It's been a bit colder this winter, but on a sunny day, depending on the temperatures, it is a delight to sit in the sun on the patio. On this day, I just bared my toes, on other days, it's down to shorts and a tank, even when it would be to cold with the same attire on the beach. Our side cement patio walls heat up the patio really nice. Not happy with the new patio set up though. The new owners took away the chaise lounges. Instead we have a table which is nice, but it is a cheap table that bumps everything on the table when you try to get up (just the way the table is made  because so cheaply made).

Here we had Lennox for the night. He got bored with me, so went to hang out with Papa who was watching a western TV show. Lennox didn't last long with Papa either. The picture on the wall is the  only doggie decor left in the whole place. Last year, this place was covered in doggie decor. I felt at home with all the doggy stuff since I had just lost my Yorky, Mallery a few months earlier. I really want another dog, but Joe isn't so keen on it. He told me he won't help me if I get a dog. I tell him it's just a matter of time, before I get one. Right now I am concentrating on healing myself so I can give more time to a dog. Plus I am trying to find a beach place that will take a dog. It is very hard to find a beach front condo that is pet friendly. If we had the money to buy a condo, it would not be a problem, but that is not an option at this time.

I went shopping with Tiffany, Blake, and Lennox in Daphne. Tiffany and Blake had a wedding to attend on News Years Eve in St Paul Minnesota, so it was a struggle like it is for most girls to find the just right dress. This is the dress she ended up wearing for the occasion.

This one was really cute too but not for the wedding she decided.

Lennox (9) on his way to school one morning.

A walk on the beach on a cloudy day!

Lennox enjoying the hot tub on another day we watched him for his parents.

He was bound and determined to jump into the pool even though it wasn't heated and it had been really cold for the prior 2 weeks. He didn't last but a few minutes in it and was back in the hot tub there after.

We had Christmas Eve at Alisha and Jamie's new home in Daphne which is 50 minutes from us. I don't get to see my Noah and Maddie very often with them in school and it being such a drive from our beach condo. But I am happy with their new home that they have been blessed with.

I think we were trying to get a picture here, and the picture organizing got confusing between us which evidently struck a funny bone in us. The Vodka Ginger Beers probably had a little help too.

Tiffany got engaged on Christmas to all our surprise. Now I can officially call Blake my "Son In Law", even though I have for years. Legally they are already married  by Alabama Common Law.

A picture of a crown of angel wings off from our patio on Christmas Day 2017. Such a great sign of our Great Savior King Jesus's Birthday!

Blake, Lennox and Tiffany came over to see us on Christmas day. They still live in Gulf Shores, just 5 minutes away. Blake is playing the new generation Simon Optix that I got the evening before during our annual Dirty Santa game. I must say it is much harder to do than the originally Simon. Having it on your head and watching the lights above and around your head is much more difficult. Maybe my peripheral vision is not as good and that is causing the confusion. Or maybe it's just the old brain, hee hee!

Christmas 2017 Newly Engaged Family.

While Tiff and Blake were in St Paul Minnesota for a family wedding, we had Lennox. I took Noah and Maddie, and Lennox to the movies that day and we had a bunk party that night. I am sure all you grandparents can relate to this picture of grand kids and their electronics. It literally is hard to get them away from them. I heard it called the other day, "Nature Deficient Disorder", because kids don't go out and play anymore, and just play on their electronics. The new couch potato kids!

Blake and  Tiff at wedding in St Paul Minnesota. They were there when the temperature were at extreme lows. It made me nervous the morning the flew out to come home with temps at -10.

On a day that was in the high 60's, Joe and I walked the bike trail. I miss not having our bikes, but there is really no place to keep them while in the condo.

My Nana kid's Noah and Maddie got "Real" snow for the first time in their lives and enjoyed making a snow angels and snow balls. Lennox missed it because he was too close to the Gulf waters.

Our neighbors Mindy and Larry were up state to check on their cottage, and sent us a picture of our Lake Nest. Looks like the tarp Joe put over the chimney was holding up.

Another neighbor about a block away, Robbi, sent me a picture of their cottage while they were up state also. She said it was a winter wonderland up there.

On Jan 8, Joe and I took a drive along the coast going toward Florida. It was not a good day for the drive, but we stayed ahead of the major rain.

Here we were crossing the bridge into Destin, Florida.

We made a stop at our favorite place in the pan handle of Florida, Grayton Beach State Area.

We didn't want to pay the entrance fee into the state park, so we pulled up along a few condo's homes.

Time for lunch. We have been bringing our lunch (salads) for years when ever we do road trips. The lunch is healthier and less money, which is the Diane and Joe way.

Yes we parked right in front of this sign. You can get away with things in winter that you wouldn't be able to do in any other time of year.

I like this area because  it is more quiet and quaint.

The sign below the large sign says it all!  We didn't take a walk on the beach because we didn't want to come back to a towed away car,

and because we were late to our next stop. We headed north from Grayton Beach going across  the Choctawhatchee Bay. We arived into Dothan, Alabama after dark and checked into at the Country Inn & Suites for the night.

I needed to see my Holistic Dentist Nathan Pfisher once again. Last year we drove the 3 1/2 miles to see this dentist to get an amalgam (silver filing) out. It was my last one in my mouth so I was happy to finally get it out. As you can see from the blood work that I had done with my doctor from Norther Michigan, I am in the high levels of mercury. With my history of working as a hygienist, I was exposed to mercury vapors for 15 years, plus with the many I had in my mouth. Most of my mercury fillings were taken out by my last dentist I worked for. Unfortunately he or I didn't know there was a special way to do it, without increasing mercury levels in myself or the staff.

Here is a picture of the microbiome that was taken from under my gums and put under a microscope.

Here is a close up of another area, with the hygienist pointing out the various bugs (good or bad) living under my gums. The long stick like object above her knuckles is candida, a fungus, which we all have, but when it over populates, can be a problem. In real life you can see the bacteria moving around in the microbiome.

Before the amalgam filing is removed, you are given activated charcoal to swish in your mouth and then swallow. This is to bind with any mercury, if it would get into your system. The next day your stool will be black with any mercury bond to it. Two rubber dams are placed in your mouth, and the opening around the tooth being worked on, is sealed off around the rubber dam and sulcus. A oxygen nose system is placed on you so you don't breath in the vapors. A special high volume air filtration system is turned on to keep the patient, as well as the staff, safe while mercury is being removed. Joe had all his mercury filings removed also by the last dentist I worked for. He didn't have as many mercury filings as I did. If you need to get a filing, get a white colored filing. If you can find a dentist near you to remove and replace any you already have, get them out. Mercury vapors are released when you brush, clench, or chew your teeth, building up your mercury load. Of course you also get mercury toxicity by eating too much fish that has mercury. If you want to read more about the SMART or Safe Mercury Amalgam Removal Technique, or find a Smart approved dentist, you can go to the www.IAOMT.ORG