Tornadoes and Kitchen Sinks (posted by Ann)

This week we were in Lakeland for Sun 'n Fun on Wednesday, and returning home on Thursday, which turned out to be really good timing on our part since they were hit by a tornado on Thursday. Have a look here.

We saw Tom, and he had his plane there, but we talked to him on Thursday and both he and his plane are fine. He says that using a sledgehammer to put in his tie-downs saved him, and I will tell you that when we take Don's plane to Osh Kosh or Sun 'n Fun the sledgehammer is coming with us. It's just heartbreaking to think of how many years go into building a plane, to have it torn apart in an instant. Don thinks it may be 40 planes that were totaled, including one built by a Boy Scout troop that was due to be auctioned the day after the tornado. Heartbreaking for sure.

Well, in better news, Don and I spent Thursday in Tampa/Clearwater and went to Sea Sea Riders. When I first met Don we would go to lunch there, and they had this awesome dessert called a Kitchen Sink. Well, that was almost twenty years ago, so when we went last year of course it wasn't on the menu.

Without me knowing anything about it Don corresponded with the owner of the restaurant, and when we went this year for lunch he surprised me with a Kitchen Sink. Turns out the chef who was there 20 years ago had left long ago, but had just come back to work for them, and he had created the dessert originally so he re-created it. Here we are with the Kitchen Sink, and with the chef.

No other pictures, nothing more to show but same-old knitting. That shawl will be with me for the next however many months, I'm making progress but it just looks like a slightly larger version of the same thing I've shown you twice already. I did finish one of a pair of socks except for the kitchenering, but I'll save pictures until I have a pair to show you.

I'm off today for London, then a one day trip to Zurich on Tuesday. That is my first trip to Switzerland, so that should be interesting. Then back to London for a few days and home on Friday. Then off to Las Vegas for a conference on Sunday, April 10, then Las Vegas to Boston on Wednesday for another conference, and Don will join me in Boston on his birthday. After that I hope I get to stay home for a few days before I go to visit Mom and Dad!

Hope all is well on top of your mountain and that the bears coming out of hibernation haven't gotten into your house, cars, garbage cans, or anything else. Let me know what's going on - the blog seems more "Sister" these days than "Sister, Sister". (hint hint)