Darcy: "So...apparently (this is her new way of beginning conversations) the team we play tomorrow in basketball is off on a field trip and they will only have five people playing. So we are going to play the first half like a regular game and the second half some of us will play for them like an expedition game."
Me: "It isn't expedition. That's another word. You meant exhibition."
Darcy: "Whatever the word is that's what's happening."
Me: "Do you know what the word expedition means?"
Darcy: "Uh, a trip?"
Me: "Ok, good. More like a discovery trip like Christopher Columbus."
Madison: "A journey."
Me: "Now what does the word exhibition mean?"
Darcy: "It means that's what we're doing tomorrow in our basketball game."
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Defined by a van?
When I was pregnant with Darcy we bought a 1997 Plymouth Grand Voyager from an older couple whose son worked in the service department of the dealership where they bought the van. They were a sweet couple giving us a nice price and documentation of work done on the van and giving Madison a stuffed animal. The van was a year and a half old at the time so we still had the manufacturer warranty and we purchased another two years on top of that. It has been the greatest vehicle hauling around kids and car seats over the last thirteen years. Two years ago after some minor repairs Tom talked about replacing it. I assumed he meant with another van, but he thought that silly and too big for our current needs. I had a hard time with that.
The van represented in a way who I was as a stay-at-home-mother and not having that symbol left me searching for an identity. I spent many days thinking of how soon my kids would be off discovering themselves and their new lives, leaving me behind tooling along in an oversized, empty vehicle. Not liking that scenario one bit I chose to ignore the whole situation and instead urged Tom to fix the van. "This is a great car," I argued. "As long as it's running why spend big bucks on another one?" The van, I reasoned, would keep my kids dependent on me and my job secure.
Last May the van began having issues, stalling on me when idling at lights. We had some small repairs done, but while the problem would disappear for while it always reappeared. Before Halloween it got worse stalling on me four times in one day. We had two different repair places look at it with one wanting to make a huge air conditioning repair and the other repairing minor things and not finding a reason for the stalling. The next stalling episode after the repairs the service guys kept it running on the block all day and found nothing. I told them I wasn't imagining it nor was I crazy. They told me they were sure I wasn't either, but they were clueless. It got to the point that I was scared to turn left suddenly for fear the van would stall and I would get hit by oncoming traffic. I certainly did not want my teenager behind the wheel of the van. I was going to have to think about another car.
I am not a car person. I don't know one car from another. I'm a bit familiar with different types of vans and that's only because most of my friends drive them. Tom wanted me to narrow down a list of vehicles I would be interested in so I turned to my friend the Internet. For several days I read articles on family vehicles and searched Auto Trader sites. I stuck mostly with SUV type vehicles thinking it would make the transition easier. Kelly and I ran errands one weekend and we drove through parking lots looking at various vehicles. When I saw something I liked I wrote it down. Meanwhile my neighbor bought his wife a Kia Soul. His friend had one and he had done all this research on it the last year. Tom took one look and scoffed at it until he got into it and realized it had quite a lot of room.
I spent considerable time working the Internet on various car sites with the list of cars I had narrowed down. I test drove a few of them. The Soul was by far my favorite because not only did it have room, and drove well, but it ranked number one for a family car and for first time drivers. I was hooked. Tom, however, was not. He decided what we should do was wait and in the meantime switch cars. He would drive the van for two weeks and I would drive his Buick.
I agreed because I wanted him to experience the stalling and other issues and agree with me on the Soul. I grudgingly transferred most of my belongings into the Buick and got use to lowering my long limbs to get into the Fred Flintstone car. That was in November. In the first two weeks the van never stalled, according to my husband. It never did anything but work. Those two weeks went into two more weeks and still the van continued running perfectly. A little over a month into the switch the van acted up with all of us in the car. "It must be you," my husband decided. "What the hell are you doing to it?" my neighbor inquired.
Four months later I am still driving the Buick. I have quit asking about the van. The kids tell me when it acts up when they are in it. Every once in a while I pat it and tell it I miss it. I have managed in the smaller car hauling Madison and Darcy and transporting students to various activities. I like the big trunk for my groceries and beach chair. I like not filling it with gas as often. I don't like not being in the garage, but I'm learning to live with that. I realized the other day that now when I'm walking to and from the Buick in parking lots I'm checking out smaller cars instead of SUV's. Perhaps I'm learning to define myself by something other than by the vehicle I drive. Perhaps this is just one of those first steps I have to take into my new job as something other than a mother when the girls head out on their own. Or perhaps I just need a new car to be happy. It is a mystery for sure.
The van represented in a way who I was as a stay-at-home-mother and not having that symbol left me searching for an identity. I spent many days thinking of how soon my kids would be off discovering themselves and their new lives, leaving me behind tooling along in an oversized, empty vehicle. Not liking that scenario one bit I chose to ignore the whole situation and instead urged Tom to fix the van. "This is a great car," I argued. "As long as it's running why spend big bucks on another one?" The van, I reasoned, would keep my kids dependent on me and my job secure.
Last May the van began having issues, stalling on me when idling at lights. We had some small repairs done, but while the problem would disappear for while it always reappeared. Before Halloween it got worse stalling on me four times in one day. We had two different repair places look at it with one wanting to make a huge air conditioning repair and the other repairing minor things and not finding a reason for the stalling. The next stalling episode after the repairs the service guys kept it running on the block all day and found nothing. I told them I wasn't imagining it nor was I crazy. They told me they were sure I wasn't either, but they were clueless. It got to the point that I was scared to turn left suddenly for fear the van would stall and I would get hit by oncoming traffic. I certainly did not want my teenager behind the wheel of the van. I was going to have to think about another car.
I am not a car person. I don't know one car from another. I'm a bit familiar with different types of vans and that's only because most of my friends drive them. Tom wanted me to narrow down a list of vehicles I would be interested in so I turned to my friend the Internet. For several days I read articles on family vehicles and searched Auto Trader sites. I stuck mostly with SUV type vehicles thinking it would make the transition easier. Kelly and I ran errands one weekend and we drove through parking lots looking at various vehicles. When I saw something I liked I wrote it down. Meanwhile my neighbor bought his wife a Kia Soul. His friend had one and he had done all this research on it the last year. Tom took one look and scoffed at it until he got into it and realized it had quite a lot of room.
I spent considerable time working the Internet on various car sites with the list of cars I had narrowed down. I test drove a few of them. The Soul was by far my favorite because not only did it have room, and drove well, but it ranked number one for a family car and for first time drivers. I was hooked. Tom, however, was not. He decided what we should do was wait and in the meantime switch cars. He would drive the van for two weeks and I would drive his Buick.
I agreed because I wanted him to experience the stalling and other issues and agree with me on the Soul. I grudgingly transferred most of my belongings into the Buick and got use to lowering my long limbs to get into the Fred Flintstone car. That was in November. In the first two weeks the van never stalled, according to my husband. It never did anything but work. Those two weeks went into two more weeks and still the van continued running perfectly. A little over a month into the switch the van acted up with all of us in the car. "It must be you," my husband decided. "What the hell are you doing to it?" my neighbor inquired.
Four months later I am still driving the Buick. I have quit asking about the van. The kids tell me when it acts up when they are in it. Every once in a while I pat it and tell it I miss it. I have managed in the smaller car hauling Madison and Darcy and transporting students to various activities. I like the big trunk for my groceries and beach chair. I like not filling it with gas as often. I don't like not being in the garage, but I'm learning to live with that. I realized the other day that now when I'm walking to and from the Buick in parking lots I'm checking out smaller cars instead of SUV's. Perhaps I'm learning to define myself by something other than by the vehicle I drive. Perhaps this is just one of those first steps I have to take into my new job as something other than a mother when the girls head out on their own. Or perhaps I just need a new car to be happy. It is a mystery for sure.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Randomness to start the week
- It is pollen season in Florida, earlier than normal, and things here under the big oak tree are driving us batty. One daughter has issues with the pollen so she is medicated and must come home from school, strip in the garage, and immediately get into the shower or else her eyes will swell and turn an evil red. Our cars are constantly covered in a green film requiring a daily wash, which is soon going to be illegal if we don't get some rain. We have to keep the dog out of our front yard otherwise he tracks in the pollen attached to the fur on the underside of his belly and daughter begins sneezing and rubbing her eyes, and we can't open any windows for the same reason. Soon it will be time to rake all of this gross stuff, but for now it just hangs in giant clumps from our tree baiting us.
- We heard back from the homeowner's association that our front yard has too many spots that are missing grass. Supposedly 40 homeowners received letters out of 450 homes in our subdivision. Tom called a sod company, failed to mention this to me, and when the guy came to measure and give us an estimate I stormed outside thinking the association had sent him. Lucky for both of us he liked the Pittsburgh Steelers and started the conversation out that way. I eventually figured it out without mouthing off. His estimate for grass? $1600. We called a landscaper who said there is nothing wrong with our grass that it just needs some TLC and he is busy working on a landscaping plan and estimate. I told my husband that he could fly my sis-in-law and niece down at spring break and she would do the landscaping for room and board, but he didn't seem to take to that idea. I'm not sure he thought I was serious, but I was. I've seen her yard.
- Our weather here has been very wacky. One day we have to turn on the heat and the next day the air conditioner. I like having the cooler weather until spring break, but we have been hotter than normal this season with our highs in the upper 80's. It is rare when my closet and drawers have both winter and summer clothes out at the same time.
- Darcy has been selected as one of 26 delegates from her school to represent the state of Florida at the Model United Nations in New York City this spring. She is busy working with her younger partner on their project in addition to all of her school work. I shall be accompanying her to the Big Apple and we will spend an extra day there so that she will get to experience the city since all of her time before that will be taken up with the conference. Oh, the things I do for my girls!
- My diet requires eating soups and I've gotten quite good at making them. So far I've made chicken noodle, lentil, and vegetable. I've always thought a good business would be to have a soup kitchen cafe in the winter where people would drive up and purchase containers of soup to take home for dinner on cold nights. Now that I'm getting so good at soup making I might have to delve into this thought further.
- We are still receiving college information daily only now the same colleges are repeating by sending us the same material only in new packaging and form. It would be fun to explore all of these places if only my daughter knew what she wanted to be when she grew up so that we could narrow down some of the searches.
- Basketball season has started for my youngest and this weekend Tom and I took her and her teammate out to practice. One of the drills required me at the free throw line shooting while the two girls rebounded and Tom played defense. Unfortunately he explained the drill this way, "When your mother shoots and misses you guys get the rebound and either pass or shoot." I only heard "when your mother misses" and my competitive spirit kicked in and I made ten in a row even when he left his position and guarded me. He bowed down to me.
- I haven't blogged much lately because I'm always on my Ipad and the app for Blogger on that isn't the best. There are so many things I can't do that I just get annoyed and give up thinking I'll get to my computer eventually. Then I don't get there. I also think of topics and promptly forget them. I'm going to designate a day where I sit and write for the week and clean my desk. Hmm...
- Speaking of the Ipad. I have so many games going on it that it is hard to play them all. My favorite is still Scramble with Friends, but now I'm addicted to Song Pop and back to Draw Something. Last night while playing Song Pop one of the songs was a song that I heard on a what was suppose to be the last episode (it wasn't) of Magnum P.I. and I could never find the name or artist of the song (remember this was before Internet). I spent hours rewinding my VCR and writing down the lyrics. I still have them somewhere. 'Lo and behold there was the song on Song Pop and after the game I immediately downloaded it to my Itunes. I love technology!
- We don't have Spring Break plans or summer plans yet. It is harder as the kids get older to plan these things, especially in advance. We mostly hang here during Spring Break because the flights getting into Florida are atrocious as all the other spring breakers are heading our way. Guess we will explore our own area and hit the beach. As for summer? Letting my sis-in-law plan that one.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Halfway mark on the diet
Some of my readers have been clamoring to know how the diet is going so I thought today I would give some of my pros and cons on the Shred diet as I enter the end of my third week. The diet is only a six week plan so I'm halfway there, but only in the diet as I haven't lost half of the twenty promised pounds. I've lost four pounds in two weeks and certainly don't anticipate a loss of six pounds by the halfway mark. But in Dr. Ian Smith's defense I haven't stuck totally to his plan. I have had more than a few lapses, missed my third meal on occasion, and on some days I flat out had to eat something different than the plan called for. For the most part, however, I've been a good girl. Here then are my pros and cons of my experience on the Shred diet.
- Food tastes better - After the first few days of dieting I began to notice that everything I ate tasted so delicious. Foods I've made for dinner in the past had more flavor and just seemed so much more delicious. I don't know if it is because I have more of an appreciation after all the smoothie drinking, but I'm certainly enjoying foods. PRO
- New dishes - I am an eater who eats what she likes and rolls up her nose at the foods I dislike. On this diet I have been forced to eat some of the foods I dislike, the main one being whole wheat bread. First of all, I'm not much of a bread eater. I eat it with sandwiches and I enjoy garlic bread, but I'm not one of those people who gobbles up rolls at restaurants. Before I started the diet I discussed my issue with one of the bakers at our local grocery who handed me a loaf of 100% whole wheat, five grain bread. She promised me I would love it and OMG I do. I love it so much I jump up and down on the days I'm allowed to eat it. I also have discovered I like brown rice and that I can actually eat sweet potatoes without puking. PRO
- Tired of smoothies - This diet is the three "s"es because you can have snacks, soups, and smoothies. I've never been much of a fruit smoothie person, but my husband has a maker and I discovered that I liked them just fine. However, at the third week mark here where now I have them two or three or sometimes four times a day is starting to get old. I've had to resort to some creativity and gone to the Internet to find other recipes then the ones in the book. I also have found that I enjoy them fresh from the blender instead of a day later from the refrigerator and cleaning that maker is getting old too. CON
- Hard when you cook for others - I'm a mom. I have kids who depend on me for meals that aren't prepared in a blender. I find the diet is easier for me during the week when the kids are busy with school and I'm busy working than it is on the weekends. On weekends we are all scattered in the wind, or we like to eat out, or the girls need something quick before babysitting. Those are also the days on the diet plan that don't allow as much substance as other days. Fridays are usually our pizza nights, something that isn't on the diet until the latter weeks, and it has proven to be my real downfall. The smell of it in the car causes me to jump into the box and devour multiple pieces. Then I go home and eat a small salad. I would like it if my fourth meal of the day came with some recipes that would incorporate the rest of the family too. CON
- More energy - Eating something every three or four hours, actually more like every hour and a half with the snacks, has definitely changed my metabolism. I have more energy and my mid afternoon sleepiness has all but disappeared. This is huge for me as I was sort of going crazy with how many naps I needed just to function. PRO
- Easy when out and about - I should have read through the entire book first. Instead I read as I went. Now that I've taken the time to read through the lists of items that count as my snacks I realize how easy it is going to be from now on to pick up snacks while out on the road. The meals, soups and smoothies, are easy as well when running around town as most places offer these items. PRO
- Deciphering the book - What I mean here is that I find some parts of the book confusing. In the beginning of each phase there are a list of things you are allowed to do and not do. I am suppose to drink a glass of water before each meal and another during the meal, but then in the listing of each meal it says I am to have a drink, and it lists some examples, and then it says that it should be different then what I drank in the previous meals. And water is listed as one of the choices. Huh? An added con is that it is really hard to drink that much liquid when the meal also consists of a smoothie. I spend a lot of time in the bathroom. CON
- Exercising - On each day I get a set amount of exercise time ranging from 30 to 45 minutes thus far. It is all suppose to be cardio based and the author lists some examples, but for some people some of those options aren't going to be available or be allowed. I have knee and back problems and jogging isn't something I do unless someone is chasing me. I've seen Dr. Smith on some shows where he demonstrates easy five minute exercises you can do at home, but interesting enough these aren't listed in the book. I figure any exercise is just as good. EVEN
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
But of course it is
At Darcy's school waiting for our parent/teacher conferences.
Me: "What does this key go to?"
Darcy: "That's the key to get into the boy's bathroom."
Me: "What does this key go to?"
Darcy: "That's the key to get into the boy's bathroom."
Me: "Where's the key to get into the girl's bathroom?"
Darcy: "Right there."
Monday, February 18, 2013
January/February beach days
My friend, SueG, and I have decided that at least once a month we will try to hit the beach for some sunning and talking. We put it into our calendars to make sure we don't schedule anything else on those days and we pack up a nice cooler of our diet foods and drinks and head to the beach. Lucky for us these days have been warm.
January 2013 - Temperature outside - 81 degrees / Gulf temperature - 65 degrees
For some reason we were surrounded, almost elbow to elbow, by sun worshipers over the age of 50. It was like a huge bus had pulled up and dumped them off. All day long they just kept coming over the bridge on to the beach with their pull carts, umbrellas, coolers, and chairs. Most of them were dark brown from the sun and covered in hats and sunscreen.
The day was beautiful with a warm breeze and a hot sun that dried me immediately after I entered the gulf. I was the only one to do so on this day, although SueG ventured in up to her waist. Where we beach the water is very shallow almost out to the buoys so I had to walk quite a ways to get past my waist, and finally I just gave up and went under. The sand was quite rocky in the beginning so traipsing in and out wasn't easy, but I had to enter for one reason and one reason only and it wasn't because I was boiling hot.
I was very good about putting on sunscreen, although I forgot my lip balm. My nose, which sticks the farthest out, got some sun, but the rest of me was good. I looked like I had a bit of a windblown look, but for the most part I wasn't too bad.
February 2013 - Temperature outside - 80 degrees / Gulf temperature - 68 degrees
Not as many people on this beach day and a lot more younger in age. Many of them were tourists and many of them from other countries. The day was cooler than the day in January with a stronger breeze that kept blowing right as I balmed up my lips so that I constantly was chewing on sand. There were more clouds as well and several times during the day we sat without sun.
The water, however, felt much warmer. More people were taking advantage of this wading through the water collecting shells, building sandcastles, and wading further out to go under. I went into the water twice walking far out enough to tread water. Two men were parallel to me on the first trip talking about skin cancer and they lasted longer in the water than I did. SueG did her normal trip out up to her waist to take care of business, and without her to talk to I got bored and swam in.
The seagulls were out in full force on this day swooping in and out of people clusters snatching snacks and in one instance an entire sandwich from the hand of a small girl. I had a seagull do a sneak attack on me from behind, but I was too quick and he flew away empty beaked. It did take awhile, however, for my heart to slow down from the surprise. He wasn't very happy either and insisted on standing by us just in case.
For some reason I didn't apply sunscreen for the first hour except on my nose and chest. Then when I did I forgot my face and apparently my two knees. My forehead and face got fried as did the knees. My forehead is now peeling and my DNA is everywhere. Next month I must do better in that department.
January 2013 - Temperature outside - 81 degrees / Gulf temperature - 65 degrees
For some reason we were surrounded, almost elbow to elbow, by sun worshipers over the age of 50. It was like a huge bus had pulled up and dumped them off. All day long they just kept coming over the bridge on to the beach with their pull carts, umbrellas, coolers, and chairs. Most of them were dark brown from the sun and covered in hats and sunscreen.
The day was beautiful with a warm breeze and a hot sun that dried me immediately after I entered the gulf. I was the only one to do so on this day, although SueG ventured in up to her waist. Where we beach the water is very shallow almost out to the buoys so I had to walk quite a ways to get past my waist, and finally I just gave up and went under. The sand was quite rocky in the beginning so traipsing in and out wasn't easy, but I had to enter for one reason and one reason only and it wasn't because I was boiling hot.
I was very good about putting on sunscreen, although I forgot my lip balm. My nose, which sticks the farthest out, got some sun, but the rest of me was good. I looked like I had a bit of a windblown look, but for the most part I wasn't too bad.
February 2013 - Temperature outside - 80 degrees / Gulf temperature - 68 degrees
Not as many people on this beach day and a lot more younger in age. Many of them were tourists and many of them from other countries. The day was cooler than the day in January with a stronger breeze that kept blowing right as I balmed up my lips so that I constantly was chewing on sand. There were more clouds as well and several times during the day we sat without sun.
The water, however, felt much warmer. More people were taking advantage of this wading through the water collecting shells, building sandcastles, and wading further out to go under. I went into the water twice walking far out enough to tread water. Two men were parallel to me on the first trip talking about skin cancer and they lasted longer in the water than I did. SueG did her normal trip out up to her waist to take care of business, and without her to talk to I got bored and swam in.
The seagulls were out in full force on this day swooping in and out of people clusters snatching snacks and in one instance an entire sandwich from the hand of a small girl. I had a seagull do a sneak attack on me from behind, but I was too quick and he flew away empty beaked. It did take awhile, however, for my heart to slow down from the surprise. He wasn't very happy either and insisted on standing by us just in case.
For some reason I didn't apply sunscreen for the first hour except on my nose and chest. Then when I did I forgot my face and apparently my two knees. My forehead and face got fried as did the knees. My forehead is now peeling and my DNA is everywhere. Next month I must do better in that department.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Another repair story
Several months ago, and no I don't know when despite writing about it,
the gasket on my freezer (the new freezer that my husband picked out and bought
while I was out of town) quit sealing, causing it to snow inside. I
was sure the unit was under warranty. Husband Tom said not. Each month it got worse inside
my freezer. Tom bought some sticky substance that he put around
the bulging gasket that stopped a huge majority of the snow, but didn't
stop the problem. It finally got so bad that we couldn't remove the ice
container, and the ice would just freeze into one big berg. I stopped
cleaning it up, and let hubby take over that job. Eventually, it got so bad
that you couldn't open the door without ice falling all over the floor.
That apparently motivated Tom who discovered the freezer was under
warranty, and called and made a service appointment.
Last Friday, Travis the service man arrived. My service time was between the hours of 8-12. At 8:10 I take Darcy to school, and we had reported this information to the phone girl who assured us we would get a call before he arrived. Travis did call, and he did arrive a little before noon. He asked me what seemed to be the problem, which sort of annoyed me since we had told them the problem was a bad gasket, but I was too excited to have my snowing stopped that I just responded cheerfully.
"It's not bad. I've seen worse" was his response when I told him it was snowing, and he jumped back when the ice poured out and on to the floor.
"Who put this stuff on here," he asked me looking at Tom's repair job. I told him my husband did it to cut down on the snowing. Immediately, Travis began pulling it off and throwing it up on top of my refrigerator. I thought it a little cheeky, but since he was repairing my freezer I let it go. He then declared it a faulty gasket that was missing a magnet, got on his cell phone, called and discussed the issue with a mystery person, hung up, turned to his computer and said, "I can come back next Friday between 8-12, or if you want I can come the Monday after that at whatever time span you would like."
What? I have never had a service man come to my house and not repair the problem. I said this out loud, and Travis just shrugged. "I had to order the part." I told him Friday and explained my time issue between 8-8:30. Travis assured me it would be him returning, and that I wouldn't be his first stop because of where he lived. "Either way, if you are my first stop you will receive a call the night before telling you that you are the first call of the day." He typed some more on his computer and asked me to take an online survey that consisted of three questions.
Fast forward to Thursday night. I had a message on my machine from the repair company telling me to call this 800 number because my appointment need to be rescheduled. I was not a happy woman upon hearing this message, so I will admit I wasn't the nicest person to the Indian man on the other end of the 800 number. He told me my appointment needed to be rescheduled because they were waiting on the part. I told him that the part was sitting at my house. He thought that great and told me they would see me tomorrow between the hours of 8-12. I should have hung up then, but I asked him why the hell they sent the part to me, and then tried to reschedule because of a lack of parts. He was nice. He told me that I was suppose to have called when the part came in. I argued that Travis had not mentioned that. He kept talking, saying a bunch of nothing, and finally I just said, "Thanks" and hung up.
I laid out the part, a piece of gasket that was already laid out inside the gigantic box that arrived on my doorstep. I wish I had taken photos of the freezer at this point because the photos above were taken with Tom's mock repair job. After Travis removed that the freezer was five times worse in the snow department, and I had made everyone leave it alone so that Travis could see. On Friday morning at 7:45 when Darcy and I were just getting around to getting dressed for the day, the phone rang and an automated voice told me that I was the first caller of the day, and that a service repair guy would be coming at 8:00. WTH? Had I not had this discussion with Travis? Had we not talked about how I would know this the night before so that I could arrange transportation for my daughter? Luckily, we have another family two streets over that goes to the school, and Darcy arranged a pick-up. I dressed and at 7:52 a new repair guy, not Travis, was ringing my doorbell. 7:52 is not 8:00 and I am a stickler for time so I was not a happy woman when I opened the door, and he asked the loaded question, "Hello ma'am, how are you today?"
I launched into an attack, telling him I wasn't very well at all because blah, blah, blah, and don't call me ma'am. He was very kind, offering to step outside while I drove Darcy to school, telling me he was sorry for the confusion on time, etc. He deflated me as quickly as I had inflated, and we got along just fine. He moved out of Darcy's way so she could pack her lunch, and she headed off to school. I made coffee and watched him work. He had to first defrost my freezer with an electric steamer. I told him I was sorry and told him why it was so bad. He asked me if Travis had been the first guy. I said yes, he nodded his head, and muttered, "He's an idiot" or words to that fact.
It took him an hour to repair the gasket. He was very good. He had to use a steamer to clean out the ice container so that he could remove it, and he went ahead and steamed out the entire freezer. He made sure to put a towel down so that it would catch the water and ice, and he was very good at cleaning up afterwards. I took the same survey again and rated him high. His bill for the hour of work? Labor: $200 Parts: $187.46 I certainly hope that they don't charge the insurance company twice for that one same part, and frankly, I was thinking that Travis might have overcharged on his labor for ten minutes of nothing.
Later during the day, I noticed that the ice maker was now not producing nor making any producing noises. I got out the instruction manual and read that it could take 24 hours for the ice to make after being newly installed or being shut off. Since the repair guy had shut off the entirerefrigerator/freezer for an hour I was willing to give it an hour, but I wasn't too hopeful. Turns out I was right.
Saturday morning, after a call from hubby, the third repair guy showed up at our house. The motor to the ice maker was frozen solid. Surprising! This guy had the part on board his truck and he replaced our bad motor and was out the door in under thirty minutes. His labor cost, on a weekend, was $179. The part was $145.37.
To fix our freezer issue it was a total of $925.83 (charging the gasket part only once). $593 was for one hour and 50 minutes of labor. Moral of the this story? Make sure you purchase insurance on your electronic appliances. Hubby earns big points for doing just that!
Last Friday, Travis the service man arrived. My service time was between the hours of 8-12. At 8:10 I take Darcy to school, and we had reported this information to the phone girl who assured us we would get a call before he arrived. Travis did call, and he did arrive a little before noon. He asked me what seemed to be the problem, which sort of annoyed me since we had told them the problem was a bad gasket, but I was too excited to have my snowing stopped that I just responded cheerfully.
"It's not bad. I've seen worse" was his response when I told him it was snowing, and he jumped back when the ice poured out and on to the floor.
"Who put this stuff on here," he asked me looking at Tom's repair job. I told him my husband did it to cut down on the snowing. Immediately, Travis began pulling it off and throwing it up on top of my refrigerator. I thought it a little cheeky, but since he was repairing my freezer I let it go. He then declared it a faulty gasket that was missing a magnet, got on his cell phone, called and discussed the issue with a mystery person, hung up, turned to his computer and said, "I can come back next Friday between 8-12, or if you want I can come the Monday after that at whatever time span you would like."
What? I have never had a service man come to my house and not repair the problem. I said this out loud, and Travis just shrugged. "I had to order the part." I told him Friday and explained my time issue between 8-8:30. Travis assured me it would be him returning, and that I wouldn't be his first stop because of where he lived. "Either way, if you are my first stop you will receive a call the night before telling you that you are the first call of the day." He typed some more on his computer and asked me to take an online survey that consisted of three questions.
- On a scale of 1-5 how friendly was our service repair man? I gave him a 5 because he was friendly.
- On a scale of 1-5 how courtesy was our service repair man? I gave him a 5 because he was courtesy.
- Do you have a compliment, complaint, or other comment? Please type in the space provided. I typed in, "Would have liked to have had my refrigerator fixed today instead of a week from now, but oh, well."
Fast forward to Thursday night. I had a message on my machine from the repair company telling me to call this 800 number because my appointment need to be rescheduled. I was not a happy woman upon hearing this message, so I will admit I wasn't the nicest person to the Indian man on the other end of the 800 number. He told me my appointment needed to be rescheduled because they were waiting on the part. I told him that the part was sitting at my house. He thought that great and told me they would see me tomorrow between the hours of 8-12. I should have hung up then, but I asked him why the hell they sent the part to me, and then tried to reschedule because of a lack of parts. He was nice. He told me that I was suppose to have called when the part came in. I argued that Travis had not mentioned that. He kept talking, saying a bunch of nothing, and finally I just said, "Thanks" and hung up.
I laid out the part, a piece of gasket that was already laid out inside the gigantic box that arrived on my doorstep. I wish I had taken photos of the freezer at this point because the photos above were taken with Tom's mock repair job. After Travis removed that the freezer was five times worse in the snow department, and I had made everyone leave it alone so that Travis could see. On Friday morning at 7:45 when Darcy and I were just getting around to getting dressed for the day, the phone rang and an automated voice told me that I was the first caller of the day, and that a service repair guy would be coming at 8:00. WTH? Had I not had this discussion with Travis? Had we not talked about how I would know this the night before so that I could arrange transportation for my daughter? Luckily, we have another family two streets over that goes to the school, and Darcy arranged a pick-up. I dressed and at 7:52 a new repair guy, not Travis, was ringing my doorbell. 7:52 is not 8:00 and I am a stickler for time so I was not a happy woman when I opened the door, and he asked the loaded question, "Hello ma'am, how are you today?"
I launched into an attack, telling him I wasn't very well at all because blah, blah, blah, and don't call me ma'am. He was very kind, offering to step outside while I drove Darcy to school, telling me he was sorry for the confusion on time, etc. He deflated me as quickly as I had inflated, and we got along just fine. He moved out of Darcy's way so she could pack her lunch, and she headed off to school. I made coffee and watched him work. He had to first defrost my freezer with an electric steamer. I told him I was sorry and told him why it was so bad. He asked me if Travis had been the first guy. I said yes, he nodded his head, and muttered, "He's an idiot" or words to that fact.
It took him an hour to repair the gasket. He was very good. He had to use a steamer to clean out the ice container so that he could remove it, and he went ahead and steamed out the entire freezer. He made sure to put a towel down so that it would catch the water and ice, and he was very good at cleaning up afterwards. I took the same survey again and rated him high. His bill for the hour of work? Labor: $200 Parts: $187.46 I certainly hope that they don't charge the insurance company twice for that one same part, and frankly, I was thinking that Travis might have overcharged on his labor for ten minutes of nothing.
Later during the day, I noticed that the ice maker was now not producing nor making any producing noises. I got out the instruction manual and read that it could take 24 hours for the ice to make after being newly installed or being shut off. Since the repair guy had shut off the entirerefrigerator/freezer for an hour I was willing to give it an hour, but I wasn't too hopeful. Turns out I was right.
Saturday morning, after a call from hubby, the third repair guy showed up at our house. The motor to the ice maker was frozen solid. Surprising! This guy had the part on board his truck and he replaced our bad motor and was out the door in under thirty minutes. His labor cost, on a weekend, was $179. The part was $145.37.
To fix our freezer issue it was a total of $925.83 (charging the gasket part only once). $593 was for one hour and 50 minutes of labor. Moral of the this story? Make sure you purchase insurance on your electronic appliances. Hubby earns big points for doing just that!
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Connie foot update February 2013
The wound itself is still closed and Connie is in a shoe now, but the swelling persists. The Foot God sent her to a vascular doctor who ran three tests that she passed with flying colors. Her swelling and her purple toes are not due to vascular complications. In fact her vascular system is fabulous. Her veins and arteries are fantastic. He agreed with the primary care doctor that it is due to medications and sitting in a wheelchair.
My brother came for a few days to visit with her and they spent quite a bit of time eating out, seeing a movie, and running various errands. When he left she was quite worn out from all the running around and from the goofiness that is my brother. It was, however, nice to have someone living with her again and having someone at her beck and call 24/7.
I'm thinking of putting an ad on Facebook advertising a Florida vacation complete with a little ole wheelchair bound lady.
Friday, February 15, 2013
Diet Myth #2 - Portion sizes
Ever notice that every diet insists on portion sizes of whatever it is you put in your mouth? I suppose this is a necessity especially for someone like me who tends to eat larger than I should. Years ago, when I was younger and more able and more motivated and younger, I went on some diet someone else was doing. I lived at home and my mother had a scale that I could use to measure the weight of my food so that when it said I could have 4 oz. of fish I could weigh it to get exactly 4 oz. Which I did religiously. I don't have a scale in my own house now. Luckily for me my diet book helps me out. I am able to have 5 oz. of turkey, or fish, or chicken, or sometimes lean beef NO FRYING and the book tells me a 5 oz. portion is "the size of a deck and a half of playing cards".
The first thing that goes through my mind when reading this is that I collect playing cards. It is my stamp collection. My coin collection. And I have all sizes of playing cards. But then my brain kicks in and I realize that the author means a standard deck of playing cards don't-be-silly-Cara. But I'm one of those people who likes to follow directions when cooking. It drove my mother crazy that I couldn't just put a pinch of salt into the recipe but instead had to measure out the teaspoon. But that is the way I learned it in Home Economics and that is the way I was graded in Home Economics and that is something I have sort of learned to get past, but not really. So I want to hold the meat up against a deck of cards to make sure that it is the correct portion, but then the cards aren't in the kitchen but down the hall, which is farther then I want to go while I'm cooking, but then perhaps that would count as exercise, but no don't-be-silly-Cara. So I don't. I measure instead with my eyes, and I try to be honest. More honest then I am with the flavored creamer that I put into my coffee and carefully measure with a tablespoon, oh, my did I over pour into my cup? Oh well.
This diet is very interesting. While I like the eating of every 3 to 4 hours small meal portions with snacks in between it is also very tedious. Not much variety. Tons of fruits and vegetables and water which works well with the bodily functions... sometimes... but little in the area of well, anything else. There are choices some of the days. This week I had cream of wheat with nothing on it but a pat of butter and it was the most delicious thing ever oh, my god! Yesterday I also got to have pancakes and bacon. PANCAKES AND BACON. PANCAKES AND BACON. It happened to be on a day when I had to run an important errand after dropping off Darcy at school so my breakfast meal had to wait because I went back to bed after getting Madison off to school instead of eating. Choices.
I ran the errand and thought about going out to breakfast, but the pancakes were to be the portion size of a CD and I didn't know of any restaurant that served that size. Except for the Village Inn where they serve those CD sized pancakes with eggs, bacon, sausage, omelets, and potatoes and eggs. Which weren't part of my meal plan portion size or not. So I skipped the restaurant breakfast for one. Then I thought about going through McDonald's drive thru and ordering their pancakes because, although I can honestly say I've never ordered them, I have tasted a bite a long time ago. I also vaguely thought they were about the right size, but then I told myself no. I had pancake mix at home and bacon. The book said bacon and then later at the end added, "Try turkey bacon" so I took that as I could have pig bacon, but I should try the kind from a turkey, but it is okay to have the pig kind. And since that is the kind I had in my refrigerator I planned on eating the pig bacon.
I went home and cute up the required pear that went along with the pancakes and bacon. I whipped the mix and poured out two pancakes the size of a CD into the skillet. I put in three pieces of bacon, one for the dog, into the microwave and cooked everything up. I was allowed a pat of butter on the pancakes and 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of syrup. I am not one of those people who pours syrup directly on to the pancake. I don't necessarily care for a lot of syrup. I put the syrup on a plate and dip the bites of pancake into that before eating. I wasn't concerned about the amount of syrup. In fact 1 and 1/2 tablespoons seemed excessive. When everything came out it smelled wonderful and delicious and looked mouthwatering. I spent considerable time inhaling the smell of it all first. Then just to be sure I had it all complete I re-read the meal plan in the book, and that is when I saw directly after "2 pancakes plus 2 strips of bacon" and in parentheses, "(no more than 5 inches in diameter...)".
Last week I could have had pancakes (and chose not to because of time constraints what-an-idiot-thing-that-was) the size of a CD and just went with that size this week. When I read this part this week I completely missed the word diameter (remember this is a diet and thus the brain hasn't had much fat and sugar staples that my brain needs) and took it to mean the length of the bacon. Which made me think. Does bacon come in different sizes? And I looked at my two slices of bacon and measured it with my fingers and then measured it with a ruler because I had one in my junk drawer. The bacon was six inches long. An inch past what I was allowed, in my head, to have. What to do? What to do? And without putting a lot of thought into it I broke off the offending inch and ate it. Now my bacon was the correct length. And I sat down and gobbled, slowly, the entire delicious, mouthwatering meal.
It wasn't until I got the book out to write this entry that I actually saw the word "diameter" and realized I had it all wrong from the beginning. Who has bacon 5 inches in diameter? No, no, I'm kidding. I got it now. He meant the pancakes. Why he changed it up from last week's entry when he doesn't change anything else up in the book day to day is beyond me, but I've got it straight now. Which really kind of defeats the point of this entry now that being portion sizes. But it's all good. Portion sizes on this diet are spelled out sometimes and not spelled out other times, and I think that if I just eyeball it all with my eyes and not my stomach I should be good. Hmpf.
The first thing that goes through my mind when reading this is that I collect playing cards. It is my stamp collection. My coin collection. And I have all sizes of playing cards. But then my brain kicks in and I realize that the author means a standard deck of playing cards don't-be-silly-Cara. But I'm one of those people who likes to follow directions when cooking. It drove my mother crazy that I couldn't just put a pinch of salt into the recipe but instead had to measure out the teaspoon. But that is the way I learned it in Home Economics and that is the way I was graded in Home Economics and that is something I have sort of learned to get past, but not really. So I want to hold the meat up against a deck of cards to make sure that it is the correct portion, but then the cards aren't in the kitchen but down the hall, which is farther then I want to go while I'm cooking, but then perhaps that would count as exercise, but no don't-be-silly-Cara. So I don't. I measure instead with my eyes, and I try to be honest. More honest then I am with the flavored creamer that I put into my coffee and carefully measure with a tablespoon, oh, my did I over pour into my cup? Oh well.
This diet is very interesting. While I like the eating of every 3 to 4 hours small meal portions with snacks in between it is also very tedious. Not much variety. Tons of fruits and vegetables and water which works well with the bodily functions... sometimes... but little in the area of well, anything else. There are choices some of the days. This week I had cream of wheat with nothing on it but a pat of butter and it was the most delicious thing ever oh, my god! Yesterday I also got to have pancakes and bacon. PANCAKES AND BACON. PANCAKES AND BACON. It happened to be on a day when I had to run an important errand after dropping off Darcy at school so my breakfast meal had to wait because I went back to bed after getting Madison off to school instead of eating. Choices.
I ran the errand and thought about going out to breakfast, but the pancakes were to be the portion size of a CD and I didn't know of any restaurant that served that size. Except for the Village Inn where they serve those CD sized pancakes with eggs, bacon, sausage, omelets, and potatoes and eggs. Which weren't part of my meal plan portion size or not. So I skipped the restaurant breakfast for one. Then I thought about going through McDonald's drive thru and ordering their pancakes because, although I can honestly say I've never ordered them, I have tasted a bite a long time ago. I also vaguely thought they were about the right size, but then I told myself no. I had pancake mix at home and bacon. The book said bacon and then later at the end added, "Try turkey bacon" so I took that as I could have pig bacon, but I should try the kind from a turkey, but it is okay to have the pig kind. And since that is the kind I had in my refrigerator I planned on eating the pig bacon.
I went home and cute up the required pear that went along with the pancakes and bacon. I whipped the mix and poured out two pancakes the size of a CD into the skillet. I put in three pieces of bacon, one for the dog, into the microwave and cooked everything up. I was allowed a pat of butter on the pancakes and 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of syrup. I am not one of those people who pours syrup directly on to the pancake. I don't necessarily care for a lot of syrup. I put the syrup on a plate and dip the bites of pancake into that before eating. I wasn't concerned about the amount of syrup. In fact 1 and 1/2 tablespoons seemed excessive. When everything came out it smelled wonderful and delicious and looked mouthwatering. I spent considerable time inhaling the smell of it all first. Then just to be sure I had it all complete I re-read the meal plan in the book, and that is when I saw directly after "2 pancakes plus 2 strips of bacon" and in parentheses, "(no more than 5 inches in diameter...)".
Last week I could have had pancakes (and chose not to because of time constraints what-an-idiot-thing-that-was) the size of a CD and just went with that size this week. When I read this part this week I completely missed the word diameter (remember this is a diet and thus the brain hasn't had much fat and sugar staples that my brain needs) and took it to mean the length of the bacon. Which made me think. Does bacon come in different sizes? And I looked at my two slices of bacon and measured it with my fingers and then measured it with a ruler because I had one in my junk drawer. The bacon was six inches long. An inch past what I was allowed, in my head, to have. What to do? What to do? And without putting a lot of thought into it I broke off the offending inch and ate it. Now my bacon was the correct length. And I sat down and gobbled, slowly, the entire delicious, mouthwatering meal.
It wasn't until I got the book out to write this entry that I actually saw the word "diameter" and realized I had it all wrong from the beginning. Who has bacon 5 inches in diameter? No, no, I'm kidding. I got it now. He meant the pancakes. Why he changed it up from last week's entry when he doesn't change anything else up in the book day to day is beyond me, but I've got it straight now. Which really kind of defeats the point of this entry now that being portion sizes. But it's all good. Portion sizes on this diet are spelled out sometimes and not spelled out other times, and I think that if I just eyeball it all with my eyes and not my stomach I should be good. Hmpf.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Out of the mouths of my babes
Madison is the hardest person to wake in the morning. She sleeps through alarms and usually my voice. On Monday she missed the bus and I had to get dressed and drive her to school at 6:30 in the morning. The sun isn't even up at that time. When she got home Monday we were discussing her lateness, her morning grouchiness, and her problem of getting up.
Me: "Look how nice and happy you are right now. Why can't you be like that in the morning. You're so grouchy and mean in the morning."
Madison: "I don't think I'm really awake in the morning. I feel like I'm in a fog and sometimes still in a dream."
Me: "We'll that's weird. But seriously you have to get up in time to get to the bus. I don't like having to drive you. It's dark out!"
Madison: "I don't like it when I miss the bus and you have to take me either. I'm always worried you're going to be mad. And then I don't even talk in the car."
Me: "You mean you're scared of me? Well that's sort of exciting. I always think we were scared of our parents which is why we were so good. Kids today aren't scared. But you are?"
Madison: "Yes, when I miss the bus. I'm scared you'll be mad."
Me: "But I was good this morning!"
Madison: "Yes, you were."
Me: "I know. It's one of my resolutions...to be more patient. I was nice and patient this morning. I didn't argue or anything. I was nice!"
Madison: "I know, but that's even scarier."
Me: "Look how nice and happy you are right now. Why can't you be like that in the morning. You're so grouchy and mean in the morning."
Madison: "I don't think I'm really awake in the morning. I feel like I'm in a fog and sometimes still in a dream."
Me: "We'll that's weird. But seriously you have to get up in time to get to the bus. I don't like having to drive you. It's dark out!"
Madison: "I don't like it when I miss the bus and you have to take me either. I'm always worried you're going to be mad. And then I don't even talk in the car."
Me: "You mean you're scared of me? Well that's sort of exciting. I always think we were scared of our parents which is why we were so good. Kids today aren't scared. But you are?"
Madison: "Yes, when I miss the bus. I'm scared you'll be mad."
Me: "But I was good this morning!"
Madison: "Yes, you were."
Me: "I know. It's one of my resolutions...to be more patient. I was nice and patient this morning. I didn't argue or anything. I was nice!"
Madison: "I know, but that's even scarier."
Monday, February 11, 2013
Replacement flowers...sort of.
At Thanksgiving time I dug out these pots that use to be on my back porch and put them on either side of my front door to use as decoration. I put mums in them at that time and then put poinsettias in them at Christmas time. Yes, the poinsettias were fake, but they didn't die and when the holiday was over I pulled them out, cleaned them off, and stored them away in my plastic Christmas boxes. The planters have sat empty since then the dirt calling to me every time I entered and exited my front door. I do not have a green thumb. The mums withered and died almost before Thanksgiving so I was thinking I would do the fake flower thing when one day I exited the door and saw these in my pots.
Tom had obviously taken matters into his own hands. I couldn't believe how beautiful these flowers were and I was quite impressed. Until I closed the door and looked into the second pot on the other side of the door.
Tom had obviously taken matters into his own hands. I couldn't believe how beautiful these flowers were and I was quite impressed. Until I closed the door and looked into the second pot on the other side of the door.
Uh? One of these just doesn't belong. What the heck?
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Diet Myth # 1 - "Ugh Smoothies"
I started a diet on Monday of this week to begin one of my new year's resolutions. I'm thirty pounds overweight according to documentation that I read and that has been given to me through various health professionals and organizations. Thirty pounds! While at my yearly visit with my primary care doctor a few weeks back I was examining a chart she had hanging on the back of the door that said I was a pound shy of being obese according to my BMI. Not that this chart checked my BMI, but according to height and weight, etc. Obese. Little ole me.
Before Christmas I had been watching television during the day, probably relaxing after cleaning and lifting weights, and saw this doctor on Anderson Cooper who had written a book on dieting. He was talking about how his diet, Shred, was different because you ate four meals and three snacks during the course of a day and this helped keep your metabolism going which in turn helped burn fat. He had plates of food in front of him, one of which contained pancakes and bacon. I was hooked just with that.
I did some research in the next month on the diet via my friend the Internet. I also read about the diet in several magazines. I put the book on hold at the library, but there were several people in front of me. Finally after the doctor visit I broke down, bought the book, and started this week. The problem was that I bought the book on Sunday and started the diet on Monday. Monday is my grocery day, but I had to take Connie to a doctor's appointment and so my grocery shopping was put off to the late afternoon.
In this diet you drink a fruit smoothie or a protein drink as part of one of your meals every day. I am not a smoothie person unless it has coffee or chocolate in it. Unfortunately these had to have fruit in them and be under 300 calories. There was no way I was going to be able to concoct one of the smoothie recipes in the book without going to the grocery so I researched Tropical Smoothie, a restaurant right up the street from my house. I was to have this smoothie as Meal #2 at 10:30 in the morning and I figured I would buy it on the way to Connie's house. The only smoothie that was closest to the 300 calorie limit, without using Splenda, was a Blue Lagoon. This blueberry and strawberry smoothie was 305 calories so I figured I would drink most of it and chuck it to avoid those extra 5 calories. I bought the smoothie and tried it. Okay, it wasn't awful. I figured I would be able to drink it just fine as I drove and ate my raw carrots, the other part of Meal #2.
By the time I got to Connie's house I was ready to chuck the smoothie into the garbage can that sits outside the condo complex. I was only halfway through the thing in the half an hour it took me to drive and I was over it. The strawberry seeds alone were making me nuts. I tried to chew them or drink them and ended up driving with my window open so I could spit them outside like a tobacco chewer. How the hell would I last on this diet drinking these things every day? I finally finished the smoothie forty minutes later after driving Connie to the doctor and sitting in the waiting area while she filled out paper work. I was relived it was over. Except then it was time to eat snack # 2. Pretty much all this eating was wearing me down.
That afternoon I bought some of the ingredients at the grocery. Just the thought of some of the items, like pineapple juice, made me want to run the other way. I guess I am as picky as my mother always complained I was about trying things. But I bought the stuff and stored it all in my refrigerator. I should have taken a picture of the inside of my refrigerator because you couldn't have fit another thing in there after my trip what with all the yogurt and fruit and vegetables.
The next day the smoothie drink was for Meal # 3 which comes around 2:00 pm. Darcy had an orthodontist appointment that day at 1:30 so I had good intentions of preparing my smoothie beforehand and taking it along in a cooler. But the thought of hauling out my smoothie maker from the garage, cleaning it, and making it was too great for me and I didn't do it before hauling off Darcy. Darcy began whining about her teeth as soon as she returned to the car and was telling me how good a McDonald's frappe would be on her mouth. I told her I was dieting. She told me McDonald's had smoothies, looked up the calorie intake, and declared them under 300. I got a wild berry smoothie.
Ugh! Yuck! Yuck! Yuck! This thing was way worse than the one from Tropical Smoothie. It was smaller, not as thick, but the taste was just nasty. I whined, but choked the thing down quicker than the last one and decided that no matter what on Wednesday I was making one from the recipe. If that too was something nasty then Dr. Ian Smith was going to have to come up with something else for ole Cara on this diet. (I follow him on Twitter)
Wednesday morning before going to get Connie for another appointment I hauled out the smoothie maker. I have never used the thing before, having gotten it for Tom who likes smoothies. I think my kids have used it, but I hadn't a clue about the thing. It was filthy. I took it all apart and cleaned it thoroughly, then followed the recipe for Lemon Berry Smoothie. It had blueberries, strawberries, juice from a lemon, blueberry yogurt, milk, and ice cubes. Right now in Florida strawberries are in season and in abundance. They are bright red and very juicy. The fresh blueberries were expensive, but they too looked nice and tasty. I dumped it all into the maker, turned it on, and watched it whirl around. The recipe made four servings all under 200 calories so I poured mine into a container that I carried with me to Connie's and shoved the remaining three servings into the refrigerator.
I got into the car and opened the drink bottle to attempt to choke down my homemade smoothie. The taste was not bad. I tried another. Then another. OMG! Delicious! The combination of the milk and yogurt was just sweet enough and very smooth, but the fresh fruit? That made all the difference. I drank the darn thing before I got to the next city, five minutes away. Who knew? Who knew what a difference fresh fruit would make?
SueG: "I did."
Madison: "I did."
Connie: "I did."
Tom: "I did."
Okay, whatever. I never said I was a chef. So that was the first one of Cara's diet myths - smoothies are awful - that was proven wrong at the end of several days. From now on the smoothie portion of my meal will be homemade. So far it has been delicious. I can hardly wait to try another recipe.
Before Christmas I had been watching television during the day, probably relaxing after cleaning and lifting weights, and saw this doctor on Anderson Cooper who had written a book on dieting. He was talking about how his diet, Shred, was different because you ate four meals and three snacks during the course of a day and this helped keep your metabolism going which in turn helped burn fat. He had plates of food in front of him, one of which contained pancakes and bacon. I was hooked just with that.
I did some research in the next month on the diet via my friend the Internet. I also read about the diet in several magazines. I put the book on hold at the library, but there were several people in front of me. Finally after the doctor visit I broke down, bought the book, and started this week. The problem was that I bought the book on Sunday and started the diet on Monday. Monday is my grocery day, but I had to take Connie to a doctor's appointment and so my grocery shopping was put off to the late afternoon.
In this diet you drink a fruit smoothie or a protein drink as part of one of your meals every day. I am not a smoothie person unless it has coffee or chocolate in it. Unfortunately these had to have fruit in them and be under 300 calories. There was no way I was going to be able to concoct one of the smoothie recipes in the book without going to the grocery so I researched Tropical Smoothie, a restaurant right up the street from my house. I was to have this smoothie as Meal #2 at 10:30 in the morning and I figured I would buy it on the way to Connie's house. The only smoothie that was closest to the 300 calorie limit, without using Splenda, was a Blue Lagoon. This blueberry and strawberry smoothie was 305 calories so I figured I would drink most of it and chuck it to avoid those extra 5 calories. I bought the smoothie and tried it. Okay, it wasn't awful. I figured I would be able to drink it just fine as I drove and ate my raw carrots, the other part of Meal #2.
By the time I got to Connie's house I was ready to chuck the smoothie into the garbage can that sits outside the condo complex. I was only halfway through the thing in the half an hour it took me to drive and I was over it. The strawberry seeds alone were making me nuts. I tried to chew them or drink them and ended up driving with my window open so I could spit them outside like a tobacco chewer. How the hell would I last on this diet drinking these things every day? I finally finished the smoothie forty minutes later after driving Connie to the doctor and sitting in the waiting area while she filled out paper work. I was relived it was over. Except then it was time to eat snack # 2. Pretty much all this eating was wearing me down.
That afternoon I bought some of the ingredients at the grocery. Just the thought of some of the items, like pineapple juice, made me want to run the other way. I guess I am as picky as my mother always complained I was about trying things. But I bought the stuff and stored it all in my refrigerator. I should have taken a picture of the inside of my refrigerator because you couldn't have fit another thing in there after my trip what with all the yogurt and fruit and vegetables.
The next day the smoothie drink was for Meal # 3 which comes around 2:00 pm. Darcy had an orthodontist appointment that day at 1:30 so I had good intentions of preparing my smoothie beforehand and taking it along in a cooler. But the thought of hauling out my smoothie maker from the garage, cleaning it, and making it was too great for me and I didn't do it before hauling off Darcy. Darcy began whining about her teeth as soon as she returned to the car and was telling me how good a McDonald's frappe would be on her mouth. I told her I was dieting. She told me McDonald's had smoothies, looked up the calorie intake, and declared them under 300. I got a wild berry smoothie.
Ugh! Yuck! Yuck! Yuck! This thing was way worse than the one from Tropical Smoothie. It was smaller, not as thick, but the taste was just nasty. I whined, but choked the thing down quicker than the last one and decided that no matter what on Wednesday I was making one from the recipe. If that too was something nasty then Dr. Ian Smith was going to have to come up with something else for ole Cara on this diet. (I follow him on Twitter)
Wednesday morning before going to get Connie for another appointment I hauled out the smoothie maker. I have never used the thing before, having gotten it for Tom who likes smoothies. I think my kids have used it, but I hadn't a clue about the thing. It was filthy. I took it all apart and cleaned it thoroughly, then followed the recipe for Lemon Berry Smoothie. It had blueberries, strawberries, juice from a lemon, blueberry yogurt, milk, and ice cubes. Right now in Florida strawberries are in season and in abundance. They are bright red and very juicy. The fresh blueberries were expensive, but they too looked nice and tasty. I dumped it all into the maker, turned it on, and watched it whirl around. The recipe made four servings all under 200 calories so I poured mine into a container that I carried with me to Connie's and shoved the remaining three servings into the refrigerator.
I got into the car and opened the drink bottle to attempt to choke down my homemade smoothie. The taste was not bad. I tried another. Then another. OMG! Delicious! The combination of the milk and yogurt was just sweet enough and very smooth, but the fresh fruit? That made all the difference. I drank the darn thing before I got to the next city, five minutes away. Who knew? Who knew what a difference fresh fruit would make?
SueG: "I did."
Madison: "I did."
Connie: "I did."
Tom: "I did."
Okay, whatever. I never said I was a chef. So that was the first one of Cara's diet myths - smoothies are awful - that was proven wrong at the end of several days. From now on the smoothie portion of my meal will be homemade. So far it has been delicious. I can hardly wait to try another recipe.
Saturday, February 09, 2013
Out of the mouths of my babes
Me: (on the phone at 3:30 pm): "You sound better today then yesterday."
Connie: "I feel better today. I slept until 1:30."
Me: "1:30 in the afternoon? Like two hours ago?"
Connie: "I had some good sleep."
Me: "Uh huh. What time did you go to bed?"
Connie: "Oh, I don't know. Late."
Me: "I refuse to worry about this."
Connie: "I'm not asking you to. What do I care whether I stay up late and sleep late?"
Me: "Because Connie the early bird gets the worm."
Madison: (who has been sitting and listening) "Actually that isn't true when there is only one worm in the house."
Connie: "Exactly Madison!"
Me: "She is only saying this because she sleeps as late as you on the weekend."
Madison: "And I don't get the worm. Darcy does."
Connie: "I feel better today. I slept until 1:30."
Me: "1:30 in the afternoon? Like two hours ago?"
Connie: "I had some good sleep."
Me: "Uh huh. What time did you go to bed?"
Connie: "Oh, I don't know. Late."
Me: "I refuse to worry about this."
Connie: "I'm not asking you to. What do I care whether I stay up late and sleep late?"
Me: "Because Connie the early bird gets the worm."
Madison: (who has been sitting and listening) "Actually that isn't true when there is only one worm in the house."
Connie: "Exactly Madison!"
Me: "She is only saying this because she sleeps as late as you on the weekend."
Madison: "And I don't get the worm. Darcy does."
Friday, February 08, 2013
From the travel journal - Pompano Beach - rest of the trip
11/22/06
Entry #1 - Darcy - (With some editing, but not much because it is so cute)
Today me and my friends and family are going to Miami for Thaksgiving. Yesterday all the kids me, Brianna, Madison and Natale did a spa. We got jobs. Brianna's job was massaging peaples back. Kelly's was the hair. Madies job was the makeup and my job was painting peaples toenales. By the end of the spa we all looked difent inclooding Natale!
Entry # 2 - Cara - The kids swam despite the chilly weather. Madison and Brianna enjoyed the game room. All of them played volleyball.
11:52 am -Krista and the girls have left for home -- only an hour behind schedule. We are feeling a bit blue without them, but we think a game of Bingo will pep us up before heading to Greg's.
1:22 pm - Off to Miami Beach. No Bingo winners, but Danielle gave gifts to us anyway. Must fill out an employee kudos for her!
11/26/06
Entry #1 - Kelly - We are heading home today. We are currently in Alligator Alley. Thanksgiving has come and gone. At Greg and Jorge's we had turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, gravy, biscuits/rolls, asparagus, apple pie and pumpkin pie. The table was set very nicely with name cards and a centerpiece and candles.
I arrived on Tuesday night to Greg's house with plans to party the night away. Greg had been up since 4 am though and put a 1:00 am limit on the fun. He was concerned about getting a shopping list together and figuring out appetizers. Since he had lots of bacon already, we settled on Paula Dean's bacon wrapped breadsticks, deviled eggs and cocktail franks, cheese and grapes. Both Greg and I were exhausted by 12:30 pm. I just can't party the way I used to.
The next morning we went to Cosco (big crowds) and Publix. Cara arrived later in the afternoon. Jorge had a cold, but stayed up later playing card with Cara, me and Madison.
Entry #2 - Cara - (as I remember it) - Greg and Jorge live in paradise on the top floor. I parked in the sky. There were hidden doors for sneaking out of. Greg and Kelly cooked our big meal.
While Madison, Jorge, and I played cards Kelly and Darcy served us appetizers. I liked that. The meal was delicious as was the table. The cappuccino machine was my favorite. The balcony with a cappuccino was my second favorite.
We drove back and spent another night in Pompano Beach before heading home. The weather was better, but not enough for me to put on a bathing suit and get into the pool. Not so for the girls and Kelly.
It was a good trip. Next time I'll come back in warmer weather and try to stay on one of the Fairfield's on the beach. Also, we won't come after a hurricane has hit.
Entry #1 - Darcy - (With some editing, but not much because it is so cute)
Today me and my friends and family are going to Miami for Thaksgiving. Yesterday all the kids me, Brianna, Madison and Natale did a spa. We got jobs. Brianna's job was massaging peaples back. Kelly's was the hair. Madies job was the makeup and my job was painting peaples toenales. By the end of the spa we all looked difent inclooding Natale!
Entry # 2 - Cara - The kids swam despite the chilly weather. Madison and Brianna enjoyed the game room. All of them played volleyball.
11:52 am -Krista and the girls have left for home -- only an hour behind schedule. We are feeling a bit blue without them, but we think a game of Bingo will pep us up before heading to Greg's.
1:22 pm - Off to Miami Beach. No Bingo winners, but Danielle gave gifts to us anyway. Must fill out an employee kudos for her!
 |
| The view from Greg & Jorge's balcony in Miami Beach |
Entry #1 - Kelly - We are heading home today. We are currently in Alligator Alley. Thanksgiving has come and gone. At Greg and Jorge's we had turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, gravy, biscuits/rolls, asparagus, apple pie and pumpkin pie. The table was set very nicely with name cards and a centerpiece and candles.
I arrived on Tuesday night to Greg's house with plans to party the night away. Greg had been up since 4 am though and put a 1:00 am limit on the fun. He was concerned about getting a shopping list together and figuring out appetizers. Since he had lots of bacon already, we settled on Paula Dean's bacon wrapped breadsticks, deviled eggs and cocktail franks, cheese and grapes. Both Greg and I were exhausted by 12:30 pm. I just can't party the way I used to.
The next morning we went to Cosco (big crowds) and Publix. Cara arrived later in the afternoon. Jorge had a cold, but stayed up later playing card with Cara, me and Madison.
Entry #2 - Cara - (as I remember it) - Greg and Jorge live in paradise on the top floor. I parked in the sky. There were hidden doors for sneaking out of. Greg and Kelly cooked our big meal.
While Madison, Jorge, and I played cards Kelly and Darcy served us appetizers. I liked that. The meal was delicious as was the table. The cappuccino machine was my favorite. The balcony with a cappuccino was my second favorite.
We drove back and spent another night in Pompano Beach before heading home. The weather was better, but not enough for me to put on a bathing suit and get into the pool. Not so for the girls and Kelly.
It was a good trip. Next time I'll come back in warmer weather and try to stay on one of the Fairfield's on the beach. Also, we won't come after a hurricane has hit.
Thursday, February 07, 2013
From the travel journal - Pompano Beach - Day 3
Entry #1 - Cara - 9:23 am - My Fairfield sales appointment, which Tiffany signed me up for upon check-in, was scheduled for 9:15, but they leave you cooling your heels in the lobby as they call your name one by one. My representative from the Elite Team is Pam. She is a nice looking gal, smoothly dressed and real. If she has had work done she had one hell of a great plastic surgeon. Nothing appears phony on her.
She asks me which Fairfield resort I have stayed in, and I mention the one in Orlando where we had dead bugs in the bed, rust falling into the pool, etc. Several people waiting nearby hear me and ask for the name of the resort. Pam quickly ushers me into the sales room, telling me how funny I am. When I tell her I'm serious she asks me what I want to know about Fairfield. I'm honest and tell her what Kelly told me to say, "My mother owns this. One day I'll inherit. You're not going to sell me anything today." Whoa! Wrong thing to say obviously because she has now left me sitting alone at the sales table, returning once to ask if I'm married and once to get my mother's Fairfield card. Hmm...a battle of wills perhaps? Seriously, nothing free that they have offered me is worth any of this. Wouldn't you want to treat a person in my position in a queenly manner? I guess not. But I realize too that Pam can't wait for me to be the owner as she has food to put on the table too. I was suppose to have Natalie with me, but of course she refused, knowing I wanted her to come.
I'm listening to the table next to me. The sales lady has definitely had work done. She is older, slim; a bombshell. She remind me of Peggy. This sales lady is working with an older couple who inherited from an aunt. They don't own they rent. The sales lady is seriously trying, but the man isn't budging and his wofe hasn't spoken more than three sentences. The entire room is about half full and buzzing with sales talk. The women are more to my liking as the men are slimy used car salesmen. At 10:00 am Krista and Kelly are suppose to call me with an emergency so I can escape. Only 6 minutes to go.
Fairfield Employees Who Deserve Recognition:
-Wayne
-Danielle
-Lisa
-Alice
-Natalia
Entry #2 - Krista - 11:36 am - It's me, Krista, and again I'm out of cash. You see, I don't carry cash!! I'm a debit gal and when I ask here at the resort if they accept debit cards they give me a strange look. Soooo....I'm off to find an ATM without a fee!! Good luck to me! Of course last night I was at Winn Dixie and paid for my beer and dessert with, you know what I'm going to say, CASH!! I guess the 8 beers I had impaired my ability to think, but I drove just fine!!
Entry # 3 - Cara - 11:52 am - Krista and I are hanging out in the sitting room of our building while the girls are in the game room. There is a television and a computer. We have attempted the computer, but it is a tad difficult without a keyboard so we are watching the Price is Right with two men from Virginia. They are in shorts and bare feet. They are discussing Texas Hold'em which is the activity for tonight.
Krista is asking them if they will help us if we come to play because we are clueless. I jumped in and asked which was a winner three twos or four twos. Turns out Krista was serious...she doesn't know Texas Hold'em. Or maybe she is scamming me.
Entry #3 - Kelly - New words for kids (although Madison knew the definition) It's Kelly here and I am traveling in the caravan to the flea market. Brianna has made the statement that she will not wear used clothes. I was trying to describe what they will find at the flea market, and I said that they would find clothes, jewelry, art, perfume, used furniture, rugs, etc. Brianna thought I said used clothes. I explained that the flea market is not a Salvation Army! I went into the hot tub this morning. The outside hot tub is quite nice. The water has the perfect temperature. The lifeguard at the pool looked quite bored. I don't blame him. No one was in the pool.
Entry # 4 - Cara - Dinner has been served, the dishes are clean, and the girls are safely ensconced (we learned it so we should use it) in front of the TV. We spent twenty minutes today at the indoor flea market, but left after a minor medical situation (EDITOR: one that will not be mentioned. ) That and the hair extensions we were trying on cost $38 and $42.
We spent two hours in Walmart collecting the medical supplies recommended by the pediatrician and much more, and by the time we left Kelly was banging her head on the cart. Greg arrived not long after that just in time for spa night. Kelly and the girls did nails, hair and make-up on each other taking before and after photos. Then Greg whisked Kelly away -- only to return after we discovered her toiletry bag in the bathroom. We will join her at Greg's for Thanksgiving.
Krista and I are doing laundry and starting to relax. I'm hoping for a good night's sleep in a bed--alone tonight.
She asks me which Fairfield resort I have stayed in, and I mention the one in Orlando where we had dead bugs in the bed, rust falling into the pool, etc. Several people waiting nearby hear me and ask for the name of the resort. Pam quickly ushers me into the sales room, telling me how funny I am. When I tell her I'm serious she asks me what I want to know about Fairfield. I'm honest and tell her what Kelly told me to say, "My mother owns this. One day I'll inherit. You're not going to sell me anything today." Whoa! Wrong thing to say obviously because she has now left me sitting alone at the sales table, returning once to ask if I'm married and once to get my mother's Fairfield card. Hmm...a battle of wills perhaps? Seriously, nothing free that they have offered me is worth any of this. Wouldn't you want to treat a person in my position in a queenly manner? I guess not. But I realize too that Pam can't wait for me to be the owner as she has food to put on the table too. I was suppose to have Natalie with me, but of course she refused, knowing I wanted her to come.
I'm listening to the table next to me. The sales lady has definitely had work done. She is older, slim; a bombshell. She remind me of Peggy. This sales lady is working with an older couple who inherited from an aunt. They don't own they rent. The sales lady is seriously trying, but the man isn't budging and his wofe hasn't spoken more than three sentences. The entire room is about half full and buzzing with sales talk. The women are more to my liking as the men are slimy used car salesmen. At 10:00 am Krista and Kelly are suppose to call me with an emergency so I can escape. Only 6 minutes to go.
Fairfield Employees Who Deserve Recognition:
-Wayne
-Danielle
-Lisa
-Alice
-Natalia
Entry #2 - Krista - 11:36 am - It's me, Krista, and again I'm out of cash. You see, I don't carry cash!! I'm a debit gal and when I ask here at the resort if they accept debit cards they give me a strange look. Soooo....I'm off to find an ATM without a fee!! Good luck to me! Of course last night I was at Winn Dixie and paid for my beer and dessert with, you know what I'm going to say, CASH!! I guess the 8 beers I had impaired my ability to think, but I drove just fine!!
Entry # 3 - Cara - 11:52 am - Krista and I are hanging out in the sitting room of our building while the girls are in the game room. There is a television and a computer. We have attempted the computer, but it is a tad difficult without a keyboard so we are watching the Price is Right with two men from Virginia. They are in shorts and bare feet. They are discussing Texas Hold'em which is the activity for tonight.
Krista is asking them if they will help us if we come to play because we are clueless. I jumped in and asked which was a winner three twos or four twos. Turns out Krista was serious...she doesn't know Texas Hold'em. Or maybe she is scamming me.
Entry #3 - Kelly - New words for kids (although Madison knew the definition) It's Kelly here and I am traveling in the caravan to the flea market. Brianna has made the statement that she will not wear used clothes. I was trying to describe what they will find at the flea market, and I said that they would find clothes, jewelry, art, perfume, used furniture, rugs, etc. Brianna thought I said used clothes. I explained that the flea market is not a Salvation Army! I went into the hot tub this morning. The outside hot tub is quite nice. The water has the perfect temperature. The lifeguard at the pool looked quite bored. I don't blame him. No one was in the pool.
Entry # 4 - Cara - Dinner has been served, the dishes are clean, and the girls are safely ensconced (we learned it so we should use it) in front of the TV. We spent twenty minutes today at the indoor flea market, but left after a minor medical situation (EDITOR: one that will not be mentioned. ) That and the hair extensions we were trying on cost $38 and $42.
We spent two hours in Walmart collecting the medical supplies recommended by the pediatrician and much more, and by the time we left Kelly was banging her head on the cart. Greg arrived not long after that just in time for spa night. Kelly and the girls did nails, hair and make-up on each other taking before and after photos. Then Greg whisked Kelly away -- only to return after we discovered her toiletry bag in the bathroom. We will join her at Greg's for Thanksgiving.
Krista and I are doing laundry and starting to relax. I'm hoping for a good night's sleep in a bed--alone tonight.
 | ||
| Clothes from Walmart! |
Wednesday, February 06, 2013
From the travel journal - Pompano Beach - Day 2
11/20/06
Entry # 1 - Cara - The temperature this morning is a brisk 55 degrees according to Krista who read it on one of the three televisions in our deluxe unit. The temperature in the shower is also a brisk 55 degrees, but we have alerted someone of importance and she in turn is calling maintenance.
We arrived at Fairfield last night after 6:00 pm. worn out and beaten, except for Darcy who managed a nap in the car. I checked us in at the front desk where I was called Mrs. Mason the entire time, despite the fact that I told them I was Mrs. Mason's guest. I was given a folder full of information and coupons. I was signed up for the big sales pitch that all owners and guests attend every time they vacation, which in my mind is the main reason (among many, see 55 degree shower) why this organization will never see a dime from me.
Our unit is the Fountain Palms building situated between two pools and, thankfully, the tiki bar. We have two bedrooms, one king room and one two double bedroom. Krista and Natalie are in the king. Cara, Kelly and Darcy are in the double and Madison and Brianna are on the pull out sofa bed in the living room. The kids were tired and wired (except Darcy) and after a miserable dining experience at Ruby Tuesdays across the way and an exhausting grocery run, Krista whipped the kids soundly and put them to bed. Then the adults relaxed with some beer and wine. We slept soundly.
This morning we are currently enjoying a continental welcome breakfast in the breezeway of our building. There is food and music and Kelly and I have entertained one member of the serving staff (Alice) with our renditions of Barry Manilow, the Beach boys, and Blonde. The kids are in the other room enjoying arts and craft hour making turkeys and paper hats for Thanksgiving.
Krista has informed Lisa, another staff member, of our cold water problem and she too has called maintenance. Unfortunately, this was done after Kelly went back upstairs to shower so I'm heading upstairs so that the maintenance man doesn't end up accosted and in the shower with Kelly.
Entry # 2 - Kelly - Cara is talking/flirting? with a delicious blonde boy who works here. She is inquiring about the nearest liquor store. She has found out the tiki bar is closed. Apparently it is only open in summer? Wha? Anyway back to this delicious boy, who I would not guess at first glance is gay, but you never can tell. I just heard Cara talking to this guy about how she could only do it in brownies. Is she talking about what I think she's talking about? I'm sure she's only talking about walnuts.
Anyway, back to this boy. He has very sexy eyes, among many attractive parts which make up an attractive whole. Krista just informed that Natalie is having a conversation with someone who doesn't speak English. Her name is Marcia. I just overheard Cara mentioning "my husband" to this sexy boy. Good thing, unless he has a thing for OLDER married women, which could be good news for Cara. Now Krista is taking a picture of Cara with the sexy boy. Whew! The sexual energy here on the pool patio is really flowing. I need someone like him for a few hours at Christmas time. Darn he's not working tomorrow. He probably got a cheerleader or mode girlfriend. Time for a drink! Kelly needs some booze.
Entry #3 - Cara - 1:27 pm - Kelly has won picture frame Bingo! Her prize, which she gets to choose, is a drink ticket for the tiki bar which is being renovated and won't be open until Friday. BFD on that win.
1:49 pm. - Bingo is over, but Wayne, the delicious blonde boy, begged us to come back at 3:30 for Deal or No Deal. Wayne likes us. And seriously -- what's not to like?
Vocabulary Words learned so far by the adults:
- gregarious
- regimented
-ensconced
Vocabulary Words learned so far by the children:
- petite
- antiques
Entry #4 - Cara - 7:49 pm - After two grocery runs and one absolutely stressful, frantic adventure to find a liquor store in this "god forsaken city", we are ensconced in our unit enjoying liquor, caesar salad, garlic bread, liquor, pasta, chocolate cake, liquor, lasagna, Klondike ice cream cones, and liquor. Funny how much better we find we tolerate the kids when we have liquor.
Entry # 1 - Cara - The temperature this morning is a brisk 55 degrees according to Krista who read it on one of the three televisions in our deluxe unit. The temperature in the shower is also a brisk 55 degrees, but we have alerted someone of importance and she in turn is calling maintenance.
We arrived at Fairfield last night after 6:00 pm. worn out and beaten, except for Darcy who managed a nap in the car. I checked us in at the front desk where I was called Mrs. Mason the entire time, despite the fact that I told them I was Mrs. Mason's guest. I was given a folder full of information and coupons. I was signed up for the big sales pitch that all owners and guests attend every time they vacation, which in my mind is the main reason (among many, see 55 degree shower) why this organization will never see a dime from me.
Our unit is the Fountain Palms building situated between two pools and, thankfully, the tiki bar. We have two bedrooms, one king room and one two double bedroom. Krista and Natalie are in the king. Cara, Kelly and Darcy are in the double and Madison and Brianna are on the pull out sofa bed in the living room. The kids were tired and wired (except Darcy) and after a miserable dining experience at Ruby Tuesdays across the way and an exhausting grocery run, Krista whipped the kids soundly and put them to bed. Then the adults relaxed with some beer and wine. We slept soundly.
This morning we are currently enjoying a continental welcome breakfast in the breezeway of our building. There is food and music and Kelly and I have entertained one member of the serving staff (Alice) with our renditions of Barry Manilow, the Beach boys, and Blonde. The kids are in the other room enjoying arts and craft hour making turkeys and paper hats for Thanksgiving.
Krista has informed Lisa, another staff member, of our cold water problem and she too has called maintenance. Unfortunately, this was done after Kelly went back upstairs to shower so I'm heading upstairs so that the maintenance man doesn't end up accosted and in the shower with Kelly.
Entry # 2 - Kelly - Cara is talking/flirting? with a delicious blonde boy who works here. She is inquiring about the nearest liquor store. She has found out the tiki bar is closed. Apparently it is only open in summer? Wha? Anyway back to this delicious boy, who I would not guess at first glance is gay, but you never can tell. I just heard Cara talking to this guy about how she could only do it in brownies. Is she talking about what I think she's talking about? I'm sure she's only talking about walnuts.
Anyway, back to this boy. He has very sexy eyes, among many attractive parts which make up an attractive whole. Krista just informed that Natalie is having a conversation with someone who doesn't speak English. Her name is Marcia. I just overheard Cara mentioning "my husband" to this sexy boy. Good thing, unless he has a thing for OLDER married women, which could be good news for Cara. Now Krista is taking a picture of Cara with the sexy boy. Whew! The sexual energy here on the pool patio is really flowing. I need someone like him for a few hours at Christmas time. Darn he's not working tomorrow. He probably got a cheerleader or mode girlfriend. Time for a drink! Kelly needs some booze.
Entry #3 - Cara - 1:27 pm - Kelly has won picture frame Bingo! Her prize, which she gets to choose, is a drink ticket for the tiki bar which is being renovated and won't be open until Friday. BFD on that win.
1:49 pm. - Bingo is over, but Wayne, the delicious blonde boy, begged us to come back at 3:30 for Deal or No Deal. Wayne likes us. And seriously -- what's not to like?
Vocabulary Words learned so far by the adults:
- gregarious
- regimented
-ensconced
Vocabulary Words learned so far by the children:
- petite
- antiques
Entry #4 - Cara - 7:49 pm - After two grocery runs and one absolutely stressful, frantic adventure to find a liquor store in this "god forsaken city", we are ensconced in our unit enjoying liquor, caesar salad, garlic bread, liquor, pasta, chocolate cake, liquor, lasagna, Klondike ice cream cones, and liquor. Funny how much better we find we tolerate the kids when we have liquor.
Tuesday, February 05, 2013
From the travel journal - Pompano Beach - Day 1
Texting Conversation:
Me: "OMG, guess what I found!"
Kelly: "A piece of the game?"
Kelly: "Inner peace"
Me: "No, no"
Kelly: "The fountain of youth?"
Kelly: "The lost city of Atlantis?"
Kelly: "Journal"
Her excitement did not quite match mine, but then again she didn't really remember it when I told her I had lost it. She also wasn't right there to delve into the inner workings of the journal. Madison and I did and we laughed and laughed, especially at the pictures and Darcy's entries.
Let me share.
Entry #1 - Kelly: I am sitting shotgun in the Caravan. We just made a stop somewhere south of Bradenton; food at McDonald's. "I'm having a great time, kind of..." says Krista timidly when I ask her if she has any thoughts to add to the journal. "I am a little nervous with this traffic."
(EDITOR: We were in two cars traveling to Pompano Beach for the week of Thanksgiving. Krista and her kids were going back before Thanksgiving, thus the two cars)
She recently learned how to pump gas for herself. I am getting a little sick to my stomach writing and riding and talking to Krista on the cell phone. She decides to put on REO Speedwagon and the Carpenters and sing to herself. Now I wish I was in her car instead of the Caravan. Cara shouts out, "The Steelers are down by 7!" Then she whispers to me, "What's Natalie doing?" I try to sneak a glance at her. Her mouth is moving, but no sounds of talking. I whisper back to Cara, "I think she's chewing?"
Entry #2 - Kelly: Just entered Alligator Alley. Cara's headache still persisting. We went thru the toll plaza. Had to give Krista $1.50 for tolls, and at last minute said maybe we should give Krista a little more in case tolls went up. Last time I went thru Alligator Alley the tolls were $1.50. Good thing we gave Krista the extra money. The toll was $2.50! We went thru the toll plaza and were looking for Krista behind us. She was nowhere to be seen. We drove very slowly and kept looking at the rearview mirror. No Krista! We pulled over on the shoulder to wait. No Krista! My goodness, what could have happened to her? Did she take an exit? Did she lose the money and park her car before the toll plaza to look for it? Did she get a flat tire and have to pull off the road a few iles back without Cara or me noticing? The phone rings. Its' Krista! Where are you? She tells us that she went thru the toll plaza in a different lane than we did; a faster lane apparently. She was ahead of us, not behind us. I asked what mile marker she had just passed. "96," she replied, as we passed the 99 mile marker. "Okay," Krista says, "I'm going to drive slow so you can catch up with me." We finally did at mile marker 88. Whew!
4:04 pm - Rest stop in Alligator Alley. Someone has to poop.
Entry # 3 & 4 - Unknown:
Me: "OMG, guess what I found!"
Kelly: "A piece of the game?"
Kelly: "Inner peace"
Me: "No, no"
Kelly: "The fountain of youth?"
Kelly: "The lost city of Atlantis?"
Her excitement did not quite match mine, but then again she didn't really remember it when I told her I had lost it. She also wasn't right there to delve into the inner workings of the journal. Madison and I did and we laughed and laughed, especially at the pictures and Darcy's entries.
Let me share.
Community Journal - Trip - 11/19/06
Entry #1 - Kelly: I am sitting shotgun in the Caravan. We just made a stop somewhere south of Bradenton; food at McDonald's. "I'm having a great time, kind of..." says Krista timidly when I ask her if she has any thoughts to add to the journal. "I am a little nervous with this traffic."
(EDITOR: We were in two cars traveling to Pompano Beach for the week of Thanksgiving. Krista and her kids were going back before Thanksgiving, thus the two cars)
She recently learned how to pump gas for herself. I am getting a little sick to my stomach writing and riding and talking to Krista on the cell phone. She decides to put on REO Speedwagon and the Carpenters and sing to herself. Now I wish I was in her car instead of the Caravan. Cara shouts out, "The Steelers are down by 7!" Then she whispers to me, "What's Natalie doing?" I try to sneak a glance at her. Her mouth is moving, but no sounds of talking. I whisper back to Cara, "I think she's chewing?"
 |
| Drawing by an unknown child |
4:04 pm - Rest stop in Alligator Alley. Someone has to poop.
Entry # 3 & 4 - Unknown:
 | ||||
| Drawing by Darcy perhaps? |
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| Drawing by several people including Kelly, Darcy, and Madison |