Back in Florida

Greetings from Palm Beach Gardens--

We arrived safely in Palm Beach Gardens last night around 10:45 p.m.--talk about a LONG day. Our drive took 13 hours plus we lost an hour when we drove from the Central time zone to the Eastern time zone. I drove the first five hours through Chattanooga, Tennessee and Atlanta, Georgia. We changed drivers in Perry, Georgia then it took us two hours to go 60 miles due to construction, rain, traffic and more pouring rain. We seemed to drive for hours and hours until we finally crossed the Georgia/Florida state line. We passed 197 RVs pulling cars from all over the country--as the snowbirds are headed south for the winter. During our trip, we made a list of the license plates we saw from across the country--we have 25 state license plates and two Canadian provinces. Lots of people traveling.

We stopped for dinner in Ocala, Florida and switched drivers for the last three hours. Finally 805 miles later we arrived in Palm Beach Gardens--it was 32 when we left Tennessee and 77 in Florida...a welcome change!

Today we are headed to Juno Beach before my 2:30 tee time--gotta get one more round in for 2007! Tonight we'll watch some bowl games and ring in the new year. Happy New Year everyone!

~Le Ann

In Tennessee, ya'all

Greetings from Murfreesboro, Tennessee--

We arrived safely in Murfreesboro last night around 10 p.m.--ten hours after we left West Des Moines, Iowa. I drove from WDM to Hannabil, Missouri then my mom drove the rest of day one. We covered 725 miles, bought two tanks of gas and our fine dining included Subway in Missouri and McDonald's in Illinois. We drove through five states (Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee.) The snow covered ground disappeared just south of Hannibal, Missouri--our route took us right past the St. Louis Arch--another good photo opp.

Today is a big day--805 miles so I better get some breakfast and settle in the car for the day. Next blog entry will be from Florida!

~Le Ann (and Ruth)

Headed south again...

Greetings from West Des Moines, Iowa. As you can tell from the title, I'm headed south again. It was a super fast week in Minnesota--filled with parties, visits, dinners and lots of good food.

I left Minnesota last night and drove to West Des Moines to stay overnight with my parents and pick up my mom, who will accompany (i.e. drive with me!) to Florida. We have double and triple checked the weather forecast and road conditions and are set to head southeast. We have a 700-some mile drive and with the way we like to visit, eat, etc. it will go quickly, I'm sure. We're staying overnight just outside of Nashville and will drive the rest of the way to Palm Beach Gardens tomorrow. So breaker 1-9...we're putting the pedal to the metal! Check in with you from Tennessee, ya-all!

~Le Ann and Ruth

Merry Christmas!

Greetings to all on Christmas. It's been a wild and crazy few days back here in Minnesota. Friday night we took Kelsey to the Melting Pot to celebrate her 17th birthday...we forgot about the Hollidazzle parade taking place at the same time as our reservations--so traffic was a bit more than we expected. We had a great time and it was fun to have dinner just the four of us.

Saturday and Sunday we did some last minute shopping and started preparing for our Christmas Eve dinner. Our tradition includes ham and homemade scalloped potatoes (which David prepared with spuds grown in our garden this summer!) After Christmas Eve church service we came home to have dinner and open our gifts. Today we celebrated with the Finger Family and more traditions--the family heads to a movie matinee while I come to a quiet house and enjoy some "me time!" Roxy is seeing to it that I don't get much done--she'd rather be out playing in the snow or chasing a tennis ball.

The rest of my time in Minnesota includes visits with my college roommate and her family and Brooke's godparents--both long over-due visits with both families. Always fun to re-connect with friends over the holidays.

Merry Christmas to everyone!

~Le Ann

Orlando to Minneapolis...

Just a quick note before I head to the airport to return to Minnesota for the Holidays...it's been a busy two and a half weeks at work and I am looking forward to returning to Minnesota to see family and friends for the holidays. I have my suitcase full of gifts so I hope my luggage makes it to MSP along with me. I'm flying non-stop from Orlando to Minneapolis so in a short three and a half hours I'll be in 20 degree weather vs. the 82 we had today in Florida. It will be nice to have a white Christmas and not see palm trees lit up with Christmas lights...that will take some getting used to!

Safe travels to everyone else traveling for the holidays...I'll check in from Minnesota!

~Le Ann

It's the weekend...

Hi everyone,

Well it's the weekend and I am going to try to knock lots of stuff off my 'to-do' list. I moved into a two bedroom/two bathroom condo on Wednesday night in the PGA National village. I am exactly half a mile to work (to the north) and half a mile to the golf course PGA National (to the south). We had a day of rain on Thursday so today is nice and muggy, humid, etc. No wind chill here! It's freezing at work, so I have learned to bundle up with a blazer and/or sweater!! I'm sure David never thought he hear me say I was cold (since we can't agree what temp to set our air conditioner thermostat at in Minnesota!)

Tomorrow morning at o'dark hundred we have a staff golf outing (okay at 7 am but it's 45 miles away) so it will be a quiet Friday night at home with just me and the old Comcast cable TV. There are 16 of us on the PGA HQ staff playing in an outing at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie so I am looking forward another round of golf. The rest of my day will be spent at the pool or beach, depending on the weather.

I went Christmas shopping last night at the Gardens Mall and got a good start on my list--I'm heading back to the frozen north on Thursday so have to coordinate what to buy here vs. buying there. So far everyone gets Florida Gator gear!!

Hope you all are enjoying the hustling and bustling of the season and are looking forward to the holidays with family, like I am.

I'll check in later,

~Le Ann

Stop shoveling and read my blog...

Good afternoon, snowy northerners--

What a better way to rest a few minutes in between winter aerobics (shoveling) than to grab a cup of hot chocolate and read about my adventures in sunny southern Florida! Wait...don't hit delete--keep reading!

I have now completed my first week at the PGA Headquarters and what a week it was! I had the grand tour in both PGA HQ buildings and met the 163 people I work with each day. I remember only about 30 some people's names--but I'm trying to memorize more names daily. That's okay--some people have called me Lori or Lisa--so they can't remember my name either!! We don't have to wear silly name badges on a rope around our neck--so that's nice (but not so nice when trying to spy their names).

My third day on the job I got to join the CEO and the President, Vice President, and Secretary of the PGA for lunch with along with five other colleagues. What a nice group of people they are. I work with some pretty fun and amazing people who really do make one big PGA family. Last night was our staff Holiday Party--a fabulous event with five courses of outstanding food, beverages, tropical locale and dancing. Another test for me to remember names, but people had placecards, so I could cheat! (As long as they sat at their assigned seats.)

Today I played golf at PGA National with a wonderful couple from "Jersey." After golf, they invited me to their home for dinner this week--so that will be a nice evening to look forward to.
I promised I wouldn't mention the temperature--but for those of you who know when I graduated from high school ('81) you will know the temperature. HA!

Well, I've managed to be here almost a week and have yet to buy groceries so I think I'm headed to the Publix on the way home (the Florida version of Cub!) Thanks for checking in and I'll continue to be in touch.

~Le Ann

86 degrees and sunny

Good evening everyone,

It's Sunday night and I'm in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. When I landed it was 86 degrees and sunny--a far cry from the 22 degrees and 10" inches of snow at home in Minnesota. It is funny to see Christmas lights on the palm trees and imagine being in the Holiday spirit. I have to share the funniest thing I saw this afternoon--a black BMW convertible with the top down, with a real Christmas tree strapped in the passenger seat! I thought real trees were always cut-down at a tree farm and strapped to the top of the family wagon--just like on the cards...not picked up at the Home Depot and driven home in the front seat of a convertible!

Thanks for all the phone calls and text messages I received today...and thanks for checking in on David, Kelsey and Brooke, too. Tomorrow is my first day at the PGA and from scanning my schedule, it will be a jammed-packed, busy day. I'll try not to continually mention the temperature--although at the airport I felt very out of place in my polar fleece with pants on. Gotta break out the short and flip-flops soon!

Thanks for checking in and I'll update the Blog again tomorrow. Talk to you soon--

~Le Ann