Jane from Jensen Beach, Florida

Jane.... as of 5 minutes ago, I'm a definite for the Florida Meet!!!
What are the plans for accommodations? I'm driving down. It's only 12 hours.

Dear, dear, dear Jane--I cannot resist. You made a comment on easy about buying your first house in 1987. I was just starting a new life as an adult, just graduated high school.
Just seems like we have an age gap going.

My gosh woman! You purchased homes before I was thought of--hehehe. Not really but close.

I refuse to ask anyone how advanced in age they are. I try to be polite that way.
Enjoy you tennis game and see you sometime during the day.

Jane, Lynne and I were seriously considering coming out to welcome Fiona to the US, but, it's not meant to be. We have a beach house rented for July 23-27 in Oregon for our annual family get together. I'll be there in spirit.

for the birthday wishes! I stretched it out as long as I could! Not fond of how the years add up , but like the parties!

Count me in on the Caribbean trip! I'm sure I can switch over to collecting shells easily! I got big a shell to start my collection in St. Lucia a couple of years ago. (Looks kinda' like Heidi's avatar!)

Looks like I transposed 'a' and 'big'!

Jane, just read your comment about wanting to take a Caribbean cruise, and hubby's reluctance. I'm no fan of the Caribbean myself, but we had the time of our lives on a Star Clipper cruise--they're small sailing vessels with about 150 passengers; the food is fabulous, the boats are beautiful (not rustic like some of those ones that run out of Maine), the snorkeling was superb and the crowd was quite international and active, which we loved. It's a true sailing experience, so your fella might just go for it--nothing formal whatsoever. In fact, we met some great people on board, one of whom we just reconnected with in Belgium two weeks ago. Our other favourite cruise experience is on the Windstar boats--computerized sails, so you don't get the same "true sailing" feeling, but very nice, though pricey. Once you've taken one trip with them, though, you get on their "foremast club" list, meaning you're entitled to half price sailings. Anyway, there you have it! (I've never been on one of the huge cruise ships and don't suppose I ever will ... we're spoiled now).

Hi Jane, you mentioned on 'Easy' today that you were a fellow shell collector. Do you have any photos of some of your prize shells?

JANE, Thanks for the Happy birthday greeting. Having greetings from all across the USA and further has added a lot to my day.

Wish that I could join you for Fionafest, but just not possible at this time. you have lots of fun and take lots of photos to share with us who cannot make the trip.

how time flys. Have a fun time today wish I could be there to help you celebrate such a wonderful occasion.

Jane & Mr. Jane: Happy, happy 40th Anniversary!
(Could almost taste the shrimp! Divine! ...Or is it 'de-vein'?)
Hope you found a cool place for your festivities. If not, hope you thought to say "There's always the beach, folks!"

Jane, may I use the FionaFest logo for an avatar?

Hi Jane,
A long time not coming to the place but now I found your Fiona Festival on display. Congratulations it is a very fine design. I wish I could be there for the great meeting. Have a good time.

Hi Jane. I have not been on here in ages.....life is just so busy and I never have time to relax. Anyway the 22nd will probably be good for lunch. I missed the latest meeting of the girls going on this trip so I hope our leader didn't change the itinerary. My cell phone is 614-805-8411. I hope I can meet up with you!!

Hi Jane, many thanks for your birthday greetings. Your kind words about my humble photography are comforting to an old feller.

Happy 4th of July! Let freedom ring!!!
BTW - Congrats on the car!...Fionafest 2009 is going to be a huge success!

Hi Jane! According to our latest itinerary, the 22nd should still work. We have free time that morning, and at 1 pm we are scheduled for the Jekyll Island Historical Village Tour. So an early lunch would be great! Call my cell (I don't always hear it ring so leave a msg) and we can get together! We're having 8 girls and 6 moms so I'm sure I can sneak away for a bit.....

for the awesome birthday greeting on my page! I'm loving this Sudokuland celebration! I feel quite special!
Will wait to hear about the good time to Skype you on Thursday.

Jane, just letting you know, Tami has no internet connection at the moment, and her mother doesn't 'visit' every day, but she has a sudoku page (not sure if you knew).
Tami's mother page name is Trouble's Mom, so if you want to try to get in touch with them re FionaFest, try leaving a note on that page.
Have fun, I will be thinking of you all with great longing.

Thanks for your notes, Jane, "Enjoy each day as it comes and recognize that they are gifts from heaven. ♥ Jane" 'Tis true!

Jane, I'm aiming on next year....

Well, silly me thought FionaFest was going to be NEXT July, so I mentioned it to hubby and he said next year was a possible maybe, but then I realised my booboo. DOH! FF is THIS July!

But I will not let him forget that possible maybe...

You'll have to rename it GailGalah! That's what Bean calls me! Mum's the word ok, nothing is set in concrete at this stage, in fact, the concrete hasn't even been ordered yet!

Jane, for the lovely birthday greeting. It was made extra special to hear from so many friends on my birthday.

Thank you (very belatedly) for the birthday wishes. I had the most wonderful birthday this year! Yes, I had cake... in fact, I ate almost an entire cake (not all at once)... DELICIOUS!!

Hey Jane, enjoyed your pictures of FF. The Girl was looking at the pictures with me. She was so excited when she saw her crocs on the screen.

Have you ever tried to explain that those shoes are Jane's shoes and not Kendall's? Well, let me tell you, it is not easy, even when you give the girl her shoes and point to the picture of Jane and her shoes.

BTW, back to the croc talk. Even pointing out that Jane's shoes has beach pins and Kendall's shoes has bugs did not convince the girl that your shoes were not hers.

Wonderful photos, Jane - and it appears a WONDERFUL time was had by all. I will be sure not to miss the next one!

Jane, your FionaFest photo presentation was a pleasure to view. Well done.

Jane when are you planning the cruise?
Providing I am fit enough to get on a plane I'll be touching down in California at some stage in 2010. Had planned to be there for my birthday [May 2nd]...Beans's Birthday Bash.... have since realised that there is a very important wedding that I cannot miss on the 15th May or thereabouts so I will over before then or after... I think the planned cruise will be something else to take into account...

Jane, Having viewed most of the Fiona fest pictures, I think we all did a good job, but your display has been the most creative...love it. I tried to copy the bathing suit picture to no avail so I will wait for you to send it to me once you are feeling better and rested from your reunion trip. Hope you will be feeling much better.

Jane - Sudokucruise 2010 - WONDERFUL!
re: your poll...
I would opt for the Baja/Mexican cruise because that is the closest for me...however, I do have a suggestion: A Tahitian (perhpas Fijian?) cruise. I'm thinking more of our friends down-under would be able to attend that as it is closer for them.
Time frame? I opt for late fall/winter so we all have more time to get our acts together (plan, save, etc.)
Length? 5 days would suit me just fine. Plus, I'm thinking it would be helpful to those who are not as open with time to be able to attend. Being a cruise, it locks it down so that people cannot just come and go like they did at Fionafest.
Cost? I'm good with as inexpensive as possible...that way, those with less can make it and those with more can get upgrades to enhance their experience.
I'm VERY excited about the possibility of a "meet" on such a grand scale.
Hope my comments help.
Bottom line, I think you (and Tami, perhaps) should make the final decisions and let the chips fall as they may (once you get the input you've requested) - it would be way too hard to suit every one's needs.
Thank you SO much for getting the ball rolling!

Hey Jane - a long cruise would totally be out of my budget, too. I'm more interested in 5 to 7 days tops. So I think that counts me out for a Pacific cruise, also. I didn't have a chance to get on-line to check anything out yet.
I have never been to the Carribean, either and would be happy to go there.
I hope you are getting some feedback. I will start saving my money as soon as I get back from Oz!

Jane, if you and Tami can come up with a couple of different possibilities and prices, it might help to make some people's minds up.
I told hubby about the possible cruise, with puppy dog eyes, and he said I will probably be able to go, depending on price of course as I would have to factor in getting to the USA in the first place. He would not be coming as someone will have to stay home and do the school run!

Thanks for visiting me on my birthday, Jane! The "cake" is actually a pineapple cheesecake that hubby made yesterday--we'll be cutting into it later ... there's always a piece here for you, and some great wine to accompany it! You've made my day very special, Jane--visit anytime!

Sorry you have been feeling under the weather!
Hope you are feeling completely better soon!

Jane, I fully understand not taking this 'cruise' thingy on. Trying to organise something with many people is like trying to hold jelly with wet hands! Nigh on impossible. I certainly wont be putting my hand up for it. Sorry you got such little response, I thought the idea was brilliant. I hope everything you have got planned in your life is pleasant, not arduous.

Hi Jane.
Not surprised that you found that everybody wants something different in a cruise. It is very difficult if not impossible to keep everybody happy.
My plan is to be on the west coast next year but as we well know anything can happen in the meantime. I will keep you posted on my plans. I would really love to catch up 'in person'... otherwise in the meantime we have our blogs and pages here and on Facebook.
Glad you are finally getting over 'The Bug'... I caught what ever has been going around 2 weeks ago and I am only just beginning to feel human-beanish again...

Hi Jane
Thanks for the birthday wishes. My youngest daughter arrived last night for the weekend, so we mare enjoying her company. She and her partner are doing a tour of the local vineyards today. This is the firsst fine saturday we've had in weeks, so we are trying to finish pruning the roses.Even the temperature is slightly warmer(63F). The new ones we ordered arrived during the week, so we will have to remove several non performers to make space. Some of the new one's pistures are superb so we are looking forward to springtime. When we plant this lot we will have over 100 different named varieties from old fashioned English and French to brand new releases. They are all so beautiful, it's impossible to pick a favorite. I had some photo from lst year but couldn't upload them. Will try again this year.