Beach fun before the storm

Our friends were in town this past weekend due to an illness in the family and we got to spend some time with them on Sunday before the tropical storm arrived.  Sharon took her two boys to the beach to let them run off some of the buckets of energy they hold in reserve.  Tom, the girls and I met them and spent a few hours enjoying the calm before the storm.

The boys had started building a sand castle and the girls quickly joined in.  They worked for some time on the moat that surrounded the castle, at one point having it run down toward the water.  The day was very overcast with a threat of storms, but it didn't really rain the entire time we were there.

It was, however, windy and Sharon and I were very lucky we had each other to hold to so that we didn't blow away.  Our hats were another story...

After getting good and sandy the troops headed into the water to clean up and enjoy the surf that the storm was just beginning to churn up toward our way.  The tide was low so the boys could stand pretty far out and both are good swimmers (but of course!), but Darcy made sure to keep an eye out for little Henry.

After awhile Tom, who spent consider time on his phone, alerted us to a weather report of rain so we dutifully packed up and hiked through the sand to the playground area.  We figured we would get a few minutes in on the equipment, but the rain never came and the kids never tired.

We ended the day with some swimming in our pool and some hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill.  We were thrilled to finally see them after 9 months despite the reason for them being in town.  (We are keeping our fingers crossed for the boys grandfather who is fighting lung cancer)  Sometimes it takes getting back with people to realize how much you really miss them!

Pineapples galore

Connie has grown pineapples in Florida since my kids were small, but after her wheelchair confinement, she upped her production. It lies at the base of the staircase between two condos where anyone going up or down can't miss it. And Connie does not want anyone to miss it.

Madison: "Excuse me, Daddy, but you must pay homage to the pineapples before you go up."

I have been her slave helper, watering, planting, and trimming, and earning more than a few scrapes and cuts for my effort. Those leaves are SHARP! It can take up to two years for pineapple plants to bear fruit, so it was exciting when two plants produced pineapples.

When I returned from my summer travels, Connie had her neighbor pick the ripened fruit. For his efforts, he got one pineapple to share with his wife, and Connie shared the other with Gigi, her evening caretaker, and us. The pineapple was SO sweet--much sweeter and juicier than a grocery store pineapple. The girls were excited to share this experience as it'd been years since their last taste of a Grammy pineapple.

Now Connie is holding classes in pineapple growing to her neighbors, and Madison planted her first pineapple--with the top from the one we ate. All very exciting.

And Connie says she never does anything interesting anymore...

Um...I was tired?

Last week while catching up with an old friend I spent some time at her house with her two children, one in second grade and the other in fifth grade.  I offered up my help with their homework and her son, Alex in fifth grade took me up on it.  He had to play a game for his math class that involved finding the factors of numbers.  I told him I wasn't too spiffy in math and did he have any English homework he needed my assistance with.  He did not so I sighed and told him I would attempt to play the game, but that math was not my strong suit.

Alex:  "Well there is a beginner version and an intermediate one.  Which one would you like to play?"

Me:  "Beginner please.  I'm just not that great in math."

He set up the board, explained the rules, wrote our names down on a score sheet and we got down to playing the game.  His sister, Sydney sat down next to me and began peppering me with questions.

Sydney:  "Are you good at math Miss Cara?"

Me:  "No.  Math is not a subject that I understand.  I'm just not the greatest when it comes to math."

Sydney:  "Alex is good at math."

Alex let me go first, chose the number 48 and let me attempt to find the factors of that number.  For some reason my memorization of multiplication tables went right out the window.  I talked aloud trying to multiply certain numbers to come up with 48 much to the horror of my friend who kept calling them out to help me.

Me:  "If I could have some scratch paper that might help me as I'm drawing a blank at this moment.  And stop telling me the answers that is cheating."

Sydney:  "I think she is trying to help you.  Alex is really good in math."

Alex got me a calculator instead of paper assuring me that it was in the rules and allowed.  I didn't want to have to resort to the use of a calculator, but unfortunately my pre-mentapausal brain was not assisting me in making any kind of dent in this math game and I turned to the calculator.  Eventually as we got into the game and marked off the higher numbers I was starting to remember factors at a quicker rate then before.  Apparently not quick enough for Sydney.

Sydney:  "Alex is really good in math."

Me:  "Yes, I can see that."

Sydney:  "Do you want to win this game, Miss Cara?"

Me:  "Yes, Sydney I do.  I am a competitor and try to win every game I play."

Sydney:  "Alex is really good in math."

Me:  "Yes, Sydney you have mentioned that a few times."

Sydney:  "Well, if I were you...I'd hold on to that calculator."

(Alex won)

Out of the mouths of my babes

Tom:  "We probably have an hour at the beach before the rain comes so that gives us until noon."

Darcy:  "Actually it is 11:08 now so that gives us until noon o' eight."

And we wait for Isaac

I'd like to say that I haven't written these past few days because of hurricane preparations, but the truth is work, catching up with an old friend, car issues, and sleep deprivation have been the culprits.  All of these combined has made my life blog-less and now the storm churning in the gulf has me thinking how I should be concentrating on preparations and not on my computer.

In all my years as a Floridian I have never been prepared for a hurricane. In my single life I didn't prepare because I was young and worked for the government who informed me I was required to be on the clock during any natural disasters. When I was married I had a husband who didn't believe in preparation ("Where are you going to put all this stuff? The garage? Because that's the first thing that will go in a hurricane and all your preparations along with it) and we both worked for governments that expected us to help evacuate and assist during a storm. When the kids came and I no longer worked I made arrangements to go to anyone's house that had a generator since husband was still employed with said government. And as time went on and we were spared a direct hit from a hurricane I believed that as long as I didn't prepare then it wouldn't occur. Because that is my superstition and illogical means of trying to control happenings in my life.

Every June publications print out lists of all the belongings residents should have in preparation for hurricane season and every June I religiously clipped out that section and carefully filed it away for a time when I would get around to fulfilling it. I never did.  When the warnings would sound I would get water, batteries, and peanut butter, and once long ago I dutifully videotaped and archived my home furnishings, but I was clearly unprepared for any long term non-electric living situation. Even after experiencing a loss of power when three tropical storms hit our area bam, bam, bam, did I do nothing more than my norm.

Now here we are waiting once again to see if we will be in the line of fire. Will we or won't we is a mantra we have heard all most every hurricane season. I have collected my required 1 gallon a day of water for the girls and me and I'm sure I have enough peanut butter, but I'm still sorely lacking. We have a generator now but I have no idea where it is in our garage or even how to use it.  When mentioning this to the husband (who each year seems to be a tad more concerned about storm preparations) he told me it was small enough to juice up our toaster oven and therefore I didn't figure it was anything I needed to get out of the box.  Who would buy something like that in the first place?

I tried to collect a few more items each day like paper products, and I decided that not filling my refrigerator with foods that would spoil in a loss of power was a sound idea.  I downloaded some Red Cross free apps on my Ipad that help me locate open shelters, walk me through basic first aid, and offer a list for hurricane preparations or a link to a website where I can purchase a hurricane kit for $80.  The most I've ever done in the way of preparing.

As the days have progressed the storm is still tropical and not a hurricane and our chances are very slim so what little I have in the way of supplies will be sufficient.  We might get some rain and we might get some heavy winds and all of that is enough to cancel school for Monday.  Hopefully, it will blow right past us and eventually die out without any harm to anyone.  That will give me a little more time to try and complete that list...just in case.

Fun Friday products

A tropical storm, that may or may not become a Hurricane, is churning out in the Gulf of Mexico and may or may not hit Florida.  We are told to prepare as if the storm will hit our area and so I thought I would use this Friday's fun products to post the 5 items I have secured thus far.

 Water - 1 gallon per person - enough for three days

 More water - bottles just in case

 Paper towels - for washing, cleaning up, etc.

 Kleenex - I'm a Mason, enough said there

Flashlights in case of power outages

Bring it on Isaac!

5 things this week so far

1. This is my view as Madison walks down the street to the bus stop. Some mornings Tom is walking back from his morning walk with the dog, and some mornings he walks with her to the bus stop. This morning my neighbor was up and returning from walking his dog, Tom was late so he was walking with Maddy, I was standing outside in the front yard, and poor Elliot couldn't decide where he was suppose to go with all these people in various areas. He stood in the street rotating his head from one person to the other as we moved. Once I was safely inside and my neighbor in his drive, he opted to follow Madison when she called.

2. My van is showing more than old age. In May it started stalling on me at various times when idle or coasting. My repair guys replaced some $500 part, told me the air was excellent, the vehicle good to go for another 75,000 miles. The van tootled along until I returned home from Indiana. The stalling began again and my air wasn't as cold. Repair guys said my compressor was shot and wanted $2600+ to replace. The van is 15 years old and has 153,000 miles in it so that didn't seem feasible nor did the diagnosis. I had a second opinion. Those guys replaced a $300 sensor, declared the air excellent, and sent me home on Friday. Monday the car stalled as I drove it to pick up Madison from school. Took it back to second opinion guys yesterday. They put it in the computer, drove it, and ran the air from 11:00 to 5:00 and found nothing wrong. I'm sure the diagnosis between repair guys and husband is crazy woman driver, but I don't feel safe anymore in my van. Going to have to quickly build readership on this blog to make a salary big enough to buy another car!

3. Darcy's school is growing and revamping and coming into the digital age. Yesterday she received her IPad for the year which will have her textbooks on it. Students will do assignments, etc. on the device and it comes home nightly with them. She is quite excited as she is has been the IPad member less family member here at home. Last night we all played around on our devices instead of watching television (or getting to bed early like we should have been doing). Some of the apps she had to download were interesting, and I added them to my IPad. One is a typing app that tests your ability and then teaches you to improve your skills. I learned tips in typing on this thing I had no knowledge of before...like tapping twice in the space bar for a period and a space. Who knows what all I learn this school year!

4. Hooked up with friends that I haven't seen in months and got caught up in their lives. Spent a few hours poolside yesterday (what else to do with no car) getting sun. Didn't do that all summer and of course ended up burned because I was so pale despite my teaching swim lessons.

5. I never watch pre-season football. I don't agree with it and rarely pay attention to it, but so far this year I've watched the Steelers in both their games. Made me realize why I don't watch it, but made me excited that football is just around the corner. Darcy starts practice next week for her football. I'm going to have to dig out the goods and decorate the outside of the house. Are you ready for some football?

Out of the mouths of my babes

Me:  "How about breakfast foods?  What things do you want for breakfast this school year?  Do we have any frozen waffles at home?  Should we get some waffles?"

Madison:  "Yes, I like the frozen waffles, and I don't know if we have any at home."

Darcy:  "We don't have our normal kind.  We have Aunt Jenny's or..." (squints at waffles in the case)  "Aunt Gemini waffles."

Me:  "It's Aunt Jemima."

Darcy:  "Yeah, that kind."

Me:  "Okay, I'll get the Eggo waffles if you'll go get the garlic bread around the corner."  She returns with a brand I don't buy.  "What is that?  That isn't our garlic bread."

Darcy:  "They didn't have any Pepdridge bread."

Me:  "It's Pepperidge Farms.  Did you even have English class today?"

Darcy:  "Ha. Ha.  Very funny."

School year 2012-2013

First day of school for the girls today.  First day of no girls being home and 5:00 am wake-up for the mom today.  It all went smoothly because we were on some kind of we-can-do-this high.  Madison actually got up by herself and was dressed and had eaten before she had to go to the bus stop.

She has never ridden a bus before.  In her elementary/middle school years she didn't have a bus.  Last year we chose to car pool with another student.  This year, however, we wanted to at least get her established on the bus just in case.  The bus stop is three houses down from our house, and  I kissed her and sent her out the door...and then I followed her.  Not down to the bus stop.  I sat instead on our tree swing and drank my coffee in the dark while I watched her join the small group of teens under the street light.  It was 6:20 am.  Tom and Elliot started out for their walk, but the dog was confused about why Madison was walking one way and I was sitting back at home.  (I know buddy)  He eventually walked two houses down, did his business, and started back toward home.  The bus passed us, our daughter aboard, at 6:29 am.

I had a half an hour to clean up her breakfast before it was time to climb into bed with daughter #2 and snuggle.  From preschool to 8th grade I snuggled with both girls as a means of awakening them.  Only when Madison started high school and had to get up so early did our snuggle time switch to bed time.  Our time wasn't as long as usual because as an 8th grader, Darcy had much to do to get ready for her first day.  She was dressed, had eaten, and had her lunch packed and had ten minutes to spare.  She read some of the newspaper and then insisted we leave so she could be early.

And just like that they were gone for the day.  I met a mom for our first day of school breakfast ritual which turned into a lunch three hours later as we tried to catch up a summer's worth of news.  By the time we headed our separate ways, I had time to walk the dog and put in some laundry before it was time to pick Madison up for school.  A good way I think to start off the school year.

Connie foot update

Connie went a month after the last visit with the visiting nursing staff coming in every three days.  She also began working with a rehabilitation staff member to see if she could get strong enough to maybe get back on her feet.  About five days before her visit with the Foot God she developed this nice thing next to the original wound:

The Foot God didn't seem too horrified by this blood blister despite the fact that this is how the original wound started out.  According to him, the original wound had closed and formed a scab that eventually died, thus the white area.  At times fluid builds up under the scab and because it has no where to seep out through the scab it moves to the side of the wound.  He punctured the blood blister and drained it and then cut it away to make sure there wasn't any other underlying areas.  He also cut off the dead scab.

Everything looked healthy under the blister and the wound so he ordered the nurses to changed it every two days and told Connie to stay off her foot.  Back to the beginning it seemed, but the wound was still closed.  He will see her again in a couple of weeks.

Fun Friday Products

While on vacation this summer I spent quite a bit of time reading entertainment and women magazines and I noticed that all of them have pages on fashion or products that must make most women giddy upon seeing them.  I am not the artsy fartsy type at all.  I don't enjoy cooking.  I don't create beautiful home decorations.  I don't dress in fashionable clothing.  I don't wear make-up.  I've tried to do all of those things at one time or another, but I don't always feel so comfortable in my own skin.  I found one product out of several magazines that I thought I might spend the money on to try, and then that gave me an idea to have my own product page on my blog.  So once a week, until I get bored, I shall post some products that I have found useful in making my life a tad bit....better?....prettier....easier?  Who knows!

Up & Up blackhead facial scrub 

This is a product that Kelly bought and we all used.  My kids loved it and so I bought it when we returned home.  While I'm not sure that it made my face any better I liked that I was using something outside my normal routine so I bought some for myself too.  It doesn't have much of a scent, but I like the scrubbing feeling of the black beads.

Pantene moisture renewal shampoo and conditioner

Another vacation purchase and my hair has never been softer.  I bought this brand because it was on sale and I chose this type because it was for normal hair.

Dental Flossers
My mother refers to these dental products as "saws".  I dislike flossing.  I always wrap the floss too tight around my fingers when using and I find sticking my fingers in my mouth to be awkward.  These little babies make it easier for me all the way around

EOS organic lip balm

This was a purchase I made while on vacation and it became my most favorite thing ever, but then again I love lip balm.  I like that it was different and fun.

Maddy's driving lesson

Madison turned 15 in November.  Old enough to get her driver's permit despite the fact that she has an overprotective mother and a walk-behind-her-with-pillows-no-you-are-too-young father.  For the record, now that I have a teenager at this age, I am an advocate for raising the age of drivers.  Do 16 year old kids really have the mental capability to sit behind the wheel and operate a ten ton piece of machinery?  She can't even navigate her way to the grocery store that is right down the street or get herself up in the morning with two alarms.  But I also didn't want to stifle her getting a learner's permit that would allow her to at least practice behind the wheel of a car.

I never practiced driving as a teen.  The first time I got behind the wheel of a car, besides as a tiny child sitting in my dad's lap, was when I got out into the field during my high school driver's education class.  I can honestly say that I had a few missteps which I blamed on the fact that no one allowed me to get behind the wheel of a car sooner like my brother did.

The story goes that my brother and my father were at the family farm for the weekend.  My father was on the roof repairing something and my brother wanted to go down the road to my Aunt Lorene's.  He kept bugging my dad about driving him down there and my dad kept telling him in a minute.  Eventually my dad got annoyed and said something like, "Just take the keys and drive yourself."  My brother was 11 years old.  A few minutes later my dad came down off the roof  to discover the car and my brother gone.  While he was standing there my brother drove up the road, past the farm, reversed, and cleanly backed the car into the drive, stopping at my father's feet.  He didn't get into trouble because he is the chosen one my father had told him to do it.

This was just the beginning for my brother.  He was legendary in our neighborhood at the age of 12 for driving without parental permission.  He was often spotted on Sunday mornings in my father's car tooling around the vicinity of our neighborhood.  He was also caught a few times driving out on major roads by the neighbors on their way home from church.  This would result in a call to my parents and my brother would be punished.

Once when it had snowed so hard during the night that school had been called off I was happily staring out the window at the falling snow when I saw my car drive slowly off down the street.  I freaked out and started running down the hall screaming that my car had been stolen.  My father went outside and stood looking at the empty spot in the garage where my car was suppose to be when here it came back down the road and into the garage, my brother behind the wheel.  When asked what the hell he thought he was doing, my brother replied that he was checking out how bad the conditions of the roads were.  He was 13.

I didn't want Madison to have to sneak around like that nor did I want her to have my experience of never practicing until it was absolutely time to do so.  So I was willing to let her get her learner's permit so that she could at least puttering around in a parking lot somewhere.  The problem in obtaining a learner's permit in our area is that she has to take a four hour online drug course and test and so far she has not shown any interest in putting forth the effort.  So she hasn't done any practicing.

Fast forward to our summer vacation, a leg of that trip being at the family farm, the site of my brother's first driving experience.  If there is one place in the US that a kid can safely practice driving a vehicle it is the farm.  No traffic.  No people.  Nothing but corn fields on either side of you.

Madison's first driving lesson came the day we left because we kept forgetting.  She drove from Aunt Lorene's house to the farm.  I sat in the back seat with Darcy and  Kelly rode shot gun and directed her in what to do.  It was her first time behind the wheel ever.  Not having taken any classes or studied any instructions she was clueless.  We had her get familiar with the pedals.  She followed Kelly's instructions and we started up the gravel road.  There were a couple times she slammed the brake and we all pitched forward, but for the most part she did well.  As she neared the farm, Kelly told her to turn into the gate, but never having turned before she did it very gently and had she been accelerating at any great volume we would have gone through the fence down the street.  Because she was driving so gentle and paying attention she tapped the brakes and tried again.  Eventually she had to back up to try again, and because she was still too slow, Kelly leaned over and showed her how to turn the wheel quickly and efficiently.

We arrived safely.  Her first lesson lasted all of five minutes, I was sweating profusely, and decided that was all I could take.  It was a rental car after all, and it was the day we needed to leave, and she didn't have the proper papers.  Enough for me to call the driving lesson to a halt until she has taken her online course and secured her permit.

I'm not ready for my daughter to drive any more than my sis-in-law is ready to send her son to college.  These are our precious first born babies.  I have spent too many years knocking objects out of the way so that she won't be hurt should she fall to have to start over again this time running in front of a moving car.  Luckily, I have Kelly.

Just because they are old...

While at my Aunt Lorene's house this past visit I decided to run her vacuum cleaner to pick up the pieces of flaked coconut and other droppings that had occurred during her pie baking with Madison.  The vacuum was not where it use to be and upon questioning I learned that her boys had taken her vacuum away so that she wouldn't be tempted to use it (a typical guy thought...women know that we aren't tempted at all by vacuums).  So I later asked my cousin about the vacuum and he muttered something about it being at the house, and I muttered something about using it, and then suddenly  there appeared a vacuum cleaner in the kitchen.

Excited I plugged it in, unwound the cord, swept out the flakes from areas that the vacuum wouldn't reach, and I turned it on.  Nothing.  I moved the plug and turned it on.  Nothing.  Kelly came into the room and I explained my problem.  She looked at the vacuum.  She looked at me.

Kelly:  "What about that vacuum cleaner when you looked at it said this is a cleaning machine?  Seriously?"

Hmpf.  It was a Kirby after all.  But I snickered at her commen,t and later while everyone was off doing something else, I ventured down into Aunt Lorene's basement (a treasure chest if there ever was) and I returned with this vacuum.

Kelly:  "Well, it is an improvement, but just barely."

I plugged it in and tried it first before unwinding the cord.  It worked.  I smugly vacuumed Aunt Lorene's kitchen, and then just to be cocky, I vacuumed the living room where everyone was sitting.

Me:  "Eureka!"

South Bend Adventures - Shipshewana

We headed to the Amish town of Shipshewana, named after Chief Shipshewana of the Potawatomi tribe of Native American.  The town considers itself to be a quaint and unique small town with strong faith and honest good people.  It's primary industry is agriculture and then retail and is home to the nation's largest flea market.

The last time I was in Shipshewana the flea market was not going on, but this time it was in full swing.  We ate first a delicious home style meal of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, coleslaw, and homemade bread with various toppings.  We finished the meal off with different pies ranging from custard to chocolate to peanut butter.

From the restaurant we hiked down the street to the flea market where we wandered and wandered from vendor to vendor looking at all sorts of items we didn't need, but wanted.  Darcy bought a wallet.  Gabby bought sunglasses.  I bought a stylus for my Ipad.  Susan looked at home goods, but refrained from purchasing any of it.  I lost count of the stuff Kelly bought.

As we walked and looked and shopped we passed a building with graffiti begging us to enter for only one dollar.  Since we were tourists and suckers at that we paid our dollar and entered the makeshift building which reminded me a lot of Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum in St. Augustine.  The walls were full of interesting tidbits and trivia like the world's largest man.

Susan's hand against the largest man's hand 

We learned of some new companies and some new products, and I gained a few decorating tips for when I returned home.

The trip through the building wasn't a long one, but taking the time to read all the stuff on the walls made it a lot longer.  I took my sweet time through the building as it was cooler in there then it was outside.

My favorite item in the whole building was this one:

 Put your eye in the hole to see the state bird of Indiana

Oh, yeah! Larry Bird!

As we came around the corner toward the exit we realized that we were not exiting, but instead were in jail.

 

I kept taking the cup that was hanging there and banging it against the bars.  Eventually I peeked out through the bars and saw a man smoking a cigarette right next to us.  I asked him if he had any extra coinage.  He told me he didn't think it would help me in jail.  I told him my probation officer told me to get a job.  He told me it didn't look like I would need a job any time soon.  I told him smoking would stunt his growth.

We shopped some more.  Maddy and I hiked back to the entrance and sat down in some shade to eat some icy treats and have something to drink.  The flea market was set in the middle of what must have once been a field of some sort.  Now it was nothing but dirt and since Indiana hadn't had any rain forever the dirt was dusty and as people walked it just rose up and got clogged in our noses, our mouths, and our lungs.  I was more than ready to leave when the others finished shopping. 

We ended with a trip to an air-conditioned building for a visit to the restrooms.  We all washed our faces and hands to clean up and cool off.  Kelly bought some kettle corn for a treat later that evening while we played games and then we drove back home all hot and sweaty and happy with our purchases.