Atlantic Coast Vacation

I almost feel like a traitor saying it since Florida tourism is hurting from the oil spill, but we are planning our annual trip to Myrtle Beach. It has been a family tradition for years for all of us to meet there. It's the most convenient spot for everyone.

We don't all stay in the same place. We spread out and meet up for shopping trips, dinners, golf or whatever comes to mind. We get to spend time together without getting an overdose of togetherness. In my family too much togetherness is not a good thing. I'm still looking around for reservations. I've been told the Towers at Myrtle Beach is nice. I'm checking out their site at www.towersatnorthmyrtlebeach.com . I will have to check with everyone and see if anybody else has made reservations.

Hopefully Not the Last

My husband came home with a box of oysters yesterday. For those who don't live on the coast, a box of oysters in the shell is 60 pounds of oysters. Some neighbors came over and we shucked and sucked oysters for hours. They were some of the best we've ever had. The sad part is that the box may be the last one we get for a very long time. The oil is moving closer to the oyster beds here in north Florida. This is all such a tragedy on many levels.

Coastal Cottage

Summer is in full swing here on the Florida coast. I have been on a garden decorating binge. We started switching over to natural plantings last year and this year we are completing the transformation.

I found the perfect window boxes for plants over the weekend. I like being able to pull some of the color from the native flowers up to the windows with flower boxes. The best thing about using the native plants is that they don't need as much water as non natives. I had quit using window boxes for flowers because I had to water them twice a day to keep them alive in the heat and they still wilted. My little coastal cottage is going to be so pretty when I'm finished.

Helping Out

One of the many things that I love about the internet is how easily things can be accomplished from a distance. I have an elderly aunt who lives a great distance away. I use the computer all of the time to help her with things. Right now I am shopping for Connecticut auto insurance for her.

I have helped her in the past with her Connecticut home insurance this way. Her late husband handled all of the financial details and she feels helpless. I can't imagine trying to do all of this by phone, it would take forever. Next on the agenda is helping her with her Connecticut annuities. That's one are I don't know much about so it will be a learning experience. I've found an agency that handles it all, so I may wind up using them for everything.

It's Here

The beaches of Walton county have pretty much been spared by the oil spill up until now. It looks like our luck has run out. They have tar balls on 6 miles of beach and there is a large pool of oil floating offshore. I find it hard to believe that it's been over 60 days since this all began and all we can do is sit and look at it. Nobody has a plan to stop it from coming ashore. I'm sickened...

Taking Control

My husband and I have been more fortunate during the financial meltdown that a lot of other people but we suffered some losses. The IRA accounts were hit particularly hard. I have decided to take control and pay more attention so that I can make decisions rather than relying on a broker to do our stock trading.

After some debating we decided to use an online broker. We can easily keep up with the day to day market trends and there's even mobile trading if we want to use it. I think online trading is giving us the control and input that we both want when it comes to our investments. The way we look at it, nobody is as interested in protecting our assets as we are. It takes some work and study but it's worth it.