Monday Morning

Well I must say after a some what chilly start for Sunday morning Florida weather has returned and within hours which is customary as well. This AM(Mon) it's 69* at 6 o'clock and the change happened yesterday afternoon after we left Element Church in Tampa.

We started Sunday morning with our usual routines before getting ready for the close to an hour ride to Tampa for worship with our Element family. There was a nice crowd on hand but we noticed several families are still battling the sicknesses associated with this time of the year. After a great message delivered by one of our elders we had an owners meeting and then we voted on a list of new elders and leaders for this next year. Our son, Bobby led the praise and worship music which I must say was awesome in both reverence and uplifting. Several of the band members were out and only 2 guitars and Shana our fantastic female singer blessed us with their talents. Afterwards we made a quick stop at IKEA to check out their TV stands and the one we liked is out of stock.

We came back and I opened the windows and doors as it was warming up very quickly. I set the sprinkler on the garden as I wanted to watch the playoff games before we had to leave the house and ride with Dan and Carol to the Salt Rock Grill for lunch/supper. The Packers came from behind and beat the Cowboys and the late game saw the only home field team(Broncos) lose so far in the playoffs. I must say the Grill has some of the best tasting cuisine ever and served with such flair as well.

We had a separate room that had a water front view and we could see some of their fishing boats unloading their catch and filleting the fish for consumption in the restaurant. At 3 PM in the evening this place was jumping with diners and staff. This event was for those in our Amway group who did well in our sales for the month of November and we had our choice of a Ribbon Gift or dinner with several other successful IBO's at the Grill. Well there were 24 of us and many who we knew personally from Element and then some new folks from elsewhere in the state. There was a huge weekend conference in Clearwater with thousands of conferee's from the southeast in attendance. We met several new faces who are into the business and I must say by the time we parted some 2 1/2 hours later we were like old friends.

We could order anything we wanted from any of the menu's and I started with a crab/asparagus bisque soup that was very good. I did stay true to my dietary restraint of the marvelous looking sour dough bread and the herb/oil dip to start. I even passed on the crackers for the soup. I did have a glass of very nice Merlot to accompany the meal. I decided on something I had never ordered before and that was the Ahi tuna. Son in law Tyler orders this frequently and while I have tasted his I found it was very good but never ordered it as it is served almost raw. It is lightly seared on both sides and very raw in the middle and now I know why. It is superb in flavor and texture and I had grille asparagus with mine in place of the potatoes that came with the meal. Nancy had pecan crusted Mahi-Mahi and while her's wasn't up to what we remembered in portion and taste it still was very elegant looking. I passed on all the desserts as well which was unbelievably great looking. Someone started the Key lime pie and cherries Jubilee ordering after several saw one being served and then lots more were being served instantly. Everyone had a grand time and we were treated royally.

 Our team leaders picked up the tab and all we had to do was give hugs and handshakes on the way out. It was truly a very nice occasion and we felt honored to be among so many who have become successful in the business. Last year Amway paid out 35 billions in bonus's to their IBO's worldwide. That is amazing and I said billion. Our team leaders parents are in the top echelon of company and have been in it over 50 years and I sat next to them. I learned he is a former pastor and still does tremendous charity work while they travel worldwide promoting their Christian views as a motivational speaker and film maker. Awesome folks!!

Well we came back around 6'ish and I headed in to watch the last half of the Bronco vs the Colts game. This will probably be the last time we see Peyton Manning on the field as he is past his prime in that arena and to think his old team the Colts knocked him out of his last hurrah. He was definitely a class act in both his personal and professional career in football. After the game it was Alaska the last frontier until lights out around 11'ish, LATER