5 things to start the weekend

1. Two weeks of school at a school under construction and already my children have been evacuated for a gas leak and a fire in the cafeteria. Of course, the students were just happy to get out of class!
2. My friend found some Doggie Ice Cream at our grocery. Elliot loves it. If you come near him while he is licking it he will pick the container up and run. Darcy almost ate it by accident. I'm sure Tom will sample it.
3. Football is around the corner! I think I shall get out my Steelers box and start the house decorating! I'm not much into preseason, but I'm thrilled that Brett Keisel is back, annoyed that the Buccaneers talked with Richie Incognito, and not surprised by Roger Goodell's lopsided dealings thus far.
4. I know that grief and dealing with loss is different, but this week has been the toughest for some reason.
5. Darcy took two second places in her first swim meet of the season. I didn't get to see it as it was an away meet and Maddy had another obligation that I had to drive her to, but she said it wasn't bad for being out of shape.

Voting Day

Tuesday my friend and I had breakfast and then went to vote. We went to my polling place first. It is in a church down the street from my house and the polling people were friendly and happy to engage in silliness with me. I like to be silly when I'm with my friend because we both enjoy it and have fun and meet interesting people. I was in and out in four minutes. From there we drove to another church where my friend's polling place was located. It was in a huge Catholic church in an area that I had not driven down before.

SueG:  "Two churches in one day is a record."
Me:  "I probably shouldn't stand too close to you in case you get struck."

As we hiked from the enormous parking lot to find the door to the voting machines, I passed by this shrub, or tree, or plant that was waist high and quite beautiful. I stopped to smell the flowers.

As I was talking about how beautiful the plant was and that I should take a picture, I noticed that the plant had bunches of berries growing on it as well as these little soy nut pieces. I had never seen anything like that. Plus, I've started playing Farmville 2 on my mobile device and all plants and berries remind me of farming and they catch my eye.

We continued around the corner and ran into a polling worker who was manning the door. She welcomed us and told us sternly to turn off our cell phones before we entered. We did so, decided to forget silliness with her, and continued on into the polling place which served four different precincts. These workers were not as chatty or happy-go-lucky as my place. While my friend signed in two different workers at the same table sitting elbow to elbow asked at different times if they could help me. I thought about asking where I could get a burger and fries. I mean really I had a I Voted sticker on my shirt and they saw me enter with my friend. But I smiled nicely and said I was with her and then I moseyed on over to a chair at the table where the stickers were sitting. That worker manning that desk was quite nice and she and I had a nice chat while my friend voted. I asked her about the bush outside and whether she thought the berries were safe for eating. She had no idea what I was talking about, but gave her opinion that perhaps I should't eat them, and then she handed me an application for becoming a poll worker.

My friend finished voting and we headed back out the door. We encountered the cell phone hater and I asked her about the bush and the berries. She replied that she had, "no idea." At that moment a gentleman coming to vote walked up.

Him: "What do you need to know? I know everything!"
Me: "I want to know if I can eat the berries that are growing on that beautiful tree, bush, or plant over there."
Him: "Absolutely!"
Me: "Really? Seriously?"
Him: "Of course you can eat them. They might kill you, but you can eat them!"
Me: "You should be voting at my polling place because you are too funny for this one."

And off he went to vote and off we went to get a Starbucks.

Pee, pee, and more pee

So let's talk about peeing some more here in blog post #2 of articles sent to me via text and facebook. As I previously noted peeing in the pool was something I use to do, but do no more. Because finally my own mother's wrath and disgust, along with my children's horror at the thought of it, made me think maybe peeing in the pool wasn't the best thing to do.

Over the years in my life and career as a swimmer/coach/lifeguard/instructor/pool director I have had to deal with the pool being used as a bathroom more times than I can count. My most distinct memory is swimming with goggles and a net in the city pool with my co-worker, Mike Jordan (he was a swimmer, not a bball player) picking up turds that someone had let loose from his (I swore no girl would do such a thing) bathing suit. The swim team was practicing at the time and this was in the days before all the shutting-down-the-pool-when-feces-has-been-spotted-while-we-shock-the-crap-out-of-the-pool days. We were quietly swimming underwater gathering up the offended brown dots with our nets and trying to stay under the radar so that the swimmers wouldn't panic and jump out of the water. We really didn't want to hear the coach's irritation at his practice being interrupted and so we causally swam around collecting poop. Looking back on that now, I am truly horrified, not at the act itself, but the nonchalant way I remember feeling about poop in the pool. Pfft. Just a day in the life of a pool worker. Today that kind of situation would require men in hazmat suits and a community pool shut down for the day. I do have to say that poop in the pool is NOT something I would do or recommend. And honestly, back in my day, it wasn't really all that common.

The other incident that stands out in my life of pool toilets was as an instructor working out of private homes. I was teaching a child, a school mate of Darcy's at the time, I think he was about 5 or 6 in his pool. We had to get out because of lightning and we stood under an awning on the pool deck where his mother joined us. She and I were talking while the lightning struck and the thunder rumbled and suddenly the child just peed right there on the pool deck. He just couldn't hold it any longer. I, of course, was not horrified, still being in that frame of mind regarding pee and swimming. His mother, however, was. Her mouth fell open in horror, her eyes got wider and wider, and she shouted at him, "What are you doing? How many times have I told you NOT to pee on the pool deck? What do I tell you? What. do. I. tell. you? You pee IN the pool, NOT on the deck!" What? That was a first for me. So I started laughing and she gave me a lesson on urine. I've never forgotten that.

While I am retired from my pool career and from my pool peeing I do still use the ocean as my toilet. It is easier for me to walk into the ocean or the gulf, which it is in my neck of the woods, then it is to hike across the sand and into the bathroom. That is only used when I absolutely must be in a bathroom. I will enter the gulf in the winter of Florida when the water is a chilly 62 degrees just to pee. And I'm not one of those people who do it where it is noticeable. I go all the way in up to my shoulders as if I'm enjoying the water on a hot day, but I'm really numb from the neck down and peeing. My beach friend, SueG, has all these bathroom rules already and so she acts horrified that I'm doing such a thing, and perhaps that is why she stays far from me when we enter the water, but I have to say that I've never known her to go into the public restrooms at the beach. Just saying.

My favorite peeing in the gulf story was when the girls and I were at the beach with all of my sisters-in-law on my husband's side. The cousins (they were probably all under 8 years old) were playing and we weren't near a bathroom. Of course, a kid needed to pee. My nephew, I won't mention his name here, TEDDY, came over and announced he needed to pee. My SIL sat there in silence, her brain running through the various options, and so I piped up and told him he had the entire gulf at his disposal. Relieved, my SIL sent him into the gulf to do his business and she continued on with the story she had been telling us before the interruption. But then we heard laughing and we looked up to see that TEDDY had gone down to the water's edge, dropped his drawers, and was doing exactly what we had told him to do. His bare backside was exposed to those behind him and his front side was exposed to everyone in the water. And everyone was laughing. It is a story that we will tell for years, especially at his wedding.

A couple of weeks ago SueG and I took her two children to the beach, a last hoorah before school started. Her kids like when I come because I go into the water. Once I'm hot, or once I have to pee, I'm in the water. So her daughter, Sydney, kept begging me to go in with her and she and I swam quite a bit and talked while we floated. When I would feel the urge I would start moving away from Sydney so that I wasn't near her when I peed, but each time I would move she would move with me. I thought it was funny and so I told her what I was up to. She thought that funny and we worked it out that I announce my purpose and she would tread water in one place while I moved farther away to handle my business. All very simple. Except that she couldn't stop talking about what I was doing. "Miss Cara pees in the ocean!"

This week her mother sent me an online article titled, "Why it's OK to pee beside the seaside: Urinating in the ocean is harmless and is actually GOOD for marine life, say scientists" It was based on a video put out by the American Chemical Society (who knew about that organization?) and I loved it and thought I should hit the high points.

1. Urine, at 95% water and containing sodium and chloride ions and potassium, will not alter the ocean because it too is 96.5% water and containing the same ions and potassium. 
2. Urea, the leftover compound that rids our bodies of excess nitrogen, is a small amount in urine when compared to the entire ocean.
3. Urea also contains nitrogen and that combines with water to produce ammonium, which in turns feeds ocean plant life and is actually quite helpful.
4. Guess what? Animals pee too, and since they don't have toilets installed under the ocean, they too pee in there. A whale pees 970 litres a day in the ocean.

At the end it does mention another video about NOT peeing in pools, and after watching that one too, I heard my mother saying, "I TOLD YOU". But I stopped that long ago, and now I've been vindicated about my ocean/gulf peeing. Now I'm just going to get up and announce that I'm heading out to feed the ocean plant life.

Swimmer's uh, secrets?

I spent more than half my life in a pool whether it was swimming competitively, teaching, coaching, or lifeguarding. A friend of mine recently posted on Facebook an article on the 29 secrets swimmers won't tell you. I'm not sure why swimmers wouldn't tell you these things. Not all of them were even that secretive. But a few of them were things that only swimmers could understand and I chuckled at them. A few days later I received a link to another story. This one was about peeing in the ocean. And since the two articles sort of go hand in hand, and since they made me laugh and got me remembering, I thought I would do some posts on them. Here then is post #1 where I'm giving some of the secrets and my take on them.

1. You have no shame in being almost naked around your friends and teammates - I would add co-workers to this as well. Because that is the first thing that popped into my mind when I read this statement. For someone with a body imagine I didn't exactly pick the right career to go into as most of the time I was almost naked. Swim suits really don't hide much. As lifeguards and instructors, we didn't have a long turnaround either when it came to changing and so we learned how to change whether it was from a wet suit to a dry suit or from a suit to clothes or from clothes to a suit without having to go into a bathroom. We wrapped towels around ourselves and changed. Wherever we were. One of my co-workers never went into the bathroom to change. He always changed in the guard room and he always hung his underwear from the knob on the door leading out to the pool. 
2. Putting on a Fastskin suit takes twice as long as you think it does - I'm from the era before Fastskins, but I did have to put on my share of wet bathing suits. A wet bathing suit does not slip easily on. Which is why swimmers learn to carry multiple suits in their bags so that a wet suit doesn't have to enter the equation. Nowadays pool bathrooms actually come with bathing suit dryers so that you can have a dry suit in minutes.
3. There is nothing you dread more than a long course swim practice - I started out competitive swimming in summers only. Those pools were all short course pools, 25 meters. It wasn't until I began swimming in the winter that I was introduced to a 50 meter pool for practices. But I have to say that during my lifeguarding career there wasn't anything I hated more than going across the street from my apartment complex to get in a workout and discover that the pool was set up for long course. It always makes you feel a lot more tired.
4. No matter how old you get Sharks & Minnows will always be a great excuse to end practice - This one made me laugh because oh, it is so true. When I was young we would beg to end practices with a good game of Sharks & Minnows, and one of the great things about it was that the coaches would be the sharks. Since I was always madly in love with our male coaches every year this was an added bonus. As a coach, this was always a fun way to end the week or to do for those swimmers that showed up for practice the day after a meet. The kids thought it the greatest thing which in turn made you the greatest coach ever!
5. Tugging on the lane line while swimming backstroke is an art you have perfected - This is the one that made me laugh the hardest because I had just done it that very day. As a lifeguard I could tell which adults were really swimmers when I saw them do this because no matter how old you are it is something you do almost unconsciously. We had one coach that would make the entire lane swim butterfly as a punishment if he caught someone in our lane doing it. It became like a game on whether we could get in a pull or a tug without getting caught. Until after swimming several butterfly punishments it wasn't funny anymore. I still remember one of my teammates flipping off our coach after he caught her and called her out. Oops.
6. Sometimes you feel more like a mermaid or a fish then a human being - Oh, yes. I haven't swam in years. When my kids were born swimming just went out the window except when I was teaching. When I decided to get back into a pool this summer to swim laps I felt that exactly feeling; like I had been landlocked for so long and now I was home.
7. You've totally swallowed an unhealthy amount of chlorinated water - I never worried about that when I was young or even when I taught. In fact I tell beginning swimmers that no matter how good they are they will still swallow water. Now, after reading articles and becoming more of a germ-aphobe, I hate when I swallow water. Yet it is a part of the swimmer's world. 
8. Getting up for a morning practice, while horrible, is actually a badge of honor - It was always cool to be able to whine about how we did this, yet really feel better than the person we were whining to. When my friend Michelle and I started riding our bikes to practice we had to get up even earlier, yet we thought we were SO cool when it came to being athletic.
9. You can wear a cap and use special shampoo, yet your hair will always be "chloriney" - Nothing to be done about it. Our hair was always stiff and straw-like and reeked of a pool. If you were blonde, chances were that your hair would be green during swim season. This is one of the things my daughter hates as a swimmer. For me, it was all part of it.
10. It feels weird not counting things by 25, 50, 100 - For a long time after swimming I had a hard time not doing this. One was really 25 and two was always 50. I have the same problem after watching tennis for two weeks straight.
11. Unless you are a butterflyer you will do absolutely ANYTHING to get out of a butterfly set - Yep. See #5. 
12. You can try as hard as you want yet you will always smell like chlorine - I refer to it as my perfume. I love it. Makes me go back to the good ole days. And boy, does my little swimmer smell like it daily despite all the scents she sprays on herself.
13. Weird tan lines are something you've gotten accustomed to - Sort of like how golfers are use to having white feet and one white hand. Girl swimmers know that whatever backing is on the suit will be a permanent fixture on their skin. We spent a lot of time changing out of our racing suits and into bikinis or pulling down straps on our suits after practice so that we could change that, but after a burn we would give up.
14. You actually have no shame in deck changing because it is all about efficiency - Yep, I already mentioned this one. One of the things my husband and I had in common when we met because he was a triathlete. I'm the best changer outside of a bathroom EVER. I still remember changing after teaching all morning in the parking lot of a hospital so that I could go inside to meet my co-worker's newborn daughter.
15. Once you learn that peeing in pools is acceptable, your life changes forever - I don't really remember peeing in pools as a swimmer because getting out of practice to use the bathroom would have been a good excuse. Yet, I know that getting out of the pool when playing volleyball or other games was something I never wanted to do so... Then when I was pregnant and teaching water aerobics hauling my body out of the pool, walking to the bathrooms, and coming all the way back again was not an option every time I needed to pee. So... I do have to say that I stopped doing that when we got our own pool in the backyard. Now I just use the hose and the backyard, but don't tell my husband. As for using the bathroom instead of the pool, we never never did that either because of issue #2. If I peed in the bathroom, it was in a shower stall drain and not in the toilet. Which leads me to tomorrow's post.....

5 things to start the weekend

1. The first week of school is in the bag and I only had to nap once! I'm proud of that fact over everything else because for the first three years of 5:30 a.m. wake-ups I was a wreck falling asleep at stop lights and having to take daily naps. While I was tired around the 4:00 time frame I fought through it by keeping myself hydrated, busy, and with snacks. Maddy grabbed two naps during the week and Darcy hit the sack at 8:30 p.m. two nights. Maddy actually got up all five days without argument, but I'm not expecting that to last.
2. My blood work came back with low potassium. To help with that I was told to eat bananas, tomato sauces, and citrus. The last two are on a list of things I'm not suppose to eat do to reflux issues and bananas are not a favorite of mine. She offered me a horse pill supplement and I told her I would learn to like bananas. 
3. The swimming season has started for Darcy. She is more aware this year of her times in events and is working hard at improving. For awhile there I thought I wasn't going to pass down that swimming gene, but looks like I was wrong. 
4. It is so hot here that being outdoors is uncomfortable. This is our winter; the time of year we complain. Walking to the mailbox means coming back inside drenched in sweat. The dog has gotten so that he will go all day without a potty break to avoid stepping foot outside. His favorite thing to do, running around the pool had to be stopped now too because the deck has burned his feet and caused them to bleed. August is not a month for the weak. 
5. I can't wait for our election stuff to be over with. I might actually ignore my rights as an American, something I never do. But I'm tired of all the lying and backstabbing. No one really cares. Only bright spot was the judge striking down the ban on gay marriages this week. Maybe there is hope.  

For a good cause

By now everyone has seen the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. It was started to raise awareness of the motor neurone disease that affects surprisingly a small percent of the population. Some friends of ours lost a relative, a woman I knew and spent time with over the years, to ALS two years ago. It was not an easy road after her diagnosis. The ice bucket challenge was started so that people would take notice of the disease. The premise was easy. Pour icy water over your head, issue a challenge to someone else. If that person doesn't pour icy water over his head within twenty four hours then he is suppose to donate money to the ALS Foundation.

The challenge took off on social media. You can't get on twitter, instagram, or facebook without someone dumping icy water over his head. Everyone has taken to the challenge like, well, ducks to the water. Supposedly, despite most people opting to accept the challenge instead of paying, the foundation has received thousands of dollars in donations. Good for them. I'm glad. It is a miserable, horrible disease.

I thought the shtick sort of counter productive since people were into getting wet. But then someone got the bright idea of challenging and donating at the same time and then that took off.  I was hoping to avoid it all. While I'm all for donating to organizations for research, I learned a long time ago that I couldn't donate to everyone. I limited myself to three. I donate to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, St. Judes, and the American Heart Association. I have volunteered for the American Red Cross since I was fifteen. I certainly did not want to be brought into the craze of the ice bucket challenge when my SIL and our family was dealing with breast cancer.

But then I was sucked into the challenge by my nephew. Not by the nephew who was pouring water over his head, but by the nephew who was filming it. I'm not sure that really counts as challenges go, but my youngest, who had already filmed her own icy water bath, said to me, "Breast Cancer has an entire month dedicated to it each year. ALS needs to spread the word." And that got to me, and so I filled a bowl with ice and water and dumped it over my head. To bypass my body image problem I did it that very night I heard my name challenged. I posted to Instagram and now here.

And then Elliot wanted to be involved. He challenged Oliver Mason and Lucy Goodman. Here's to a good cause.

Why I've been absent

Cancer has invaded our family. My SIL discovered a lump in her breast and after imaging tests and biopsies she started her chemo Monday. I can't get her out of my mind. I can't get my own breasts out of my mind. I'm constantly messing with them, doing what I should have done years ago in learning them like a blind woman. I had a mammogram four months ago and it was normal. But was it? When my SIL had her mammogram the cancer didn't show up due to density in her breast. I've been told my baseline mammogram, done before I was forty, is beautiful, clear and readable. But has that changed over time? I haven't seen a radiologist since that baseline mammogram. How do I know this expert is paying close attention. How many mammograms does a radiologist read in a day? We all get bored and miss stuff in our jobs.

I have been on the Internet as I always do. I have read about breast cancer. I have read about changes to the breast. I've even read about breasts after having a baby and after nursing. I found a blog of a twenty-six year old with the same type of cancer as my SIL. I've read her journey before, during, and after. I picture my SIL every day going through whatever appointment she has for the day, and I picture her in the coming months. We hear about cancer, but somehow in the back of our minds is that feeling that it won't happen to us. But it can. It does.

I've made an appointment to deal with my health issues. I had blood work taken and thought when they stuck me with the needle that this is now my SIL's life. Every day she goes in and every day she is poked and stuck as chemicals invade her body in the hopes that they will kill her tumor. Meanwhile life around her goes on while she fights. I had trouble with that while dealing with my mother and her ailments. Why did others get to vacation while I was dealing with doctors and ambulances and nursing home visits? I have trouble with it now being on the other end of things. How can I talk about my mundane life of school and kids while this is happening to people everywhere? How can I just write about silly stuff on my blog while my SIL visits doctors, sucks up chemo drugs, and spends considerable time in the bathroom?

I think of her often throughout the day. I've spent many, many years worried that the sky is falling. The death of my mother and this cancer has only increased those feelings. Yet life continues moving and there are children to deal with and college forms that need to be filled. There is an estate to settle and a house that doesn't clean itself. Mundane things for sure, but things that must be dealt with despite all the worries and ailments. My eldest daughter made me realize that I can't change some things in life. I can only deal with them as they come, and I might not deal with them the right way, but I always have a do over. So I'm done with my blogging break. I've got to get back up on the horse.

I'll go on writing about the silly things in life and the real things that are happening to me and to my family. I might have days where I'm absent, but if you bear with me I'll be back. This cancer isn't my story to tell. It belongs to my SIL if she chooses to share it. I'll just be behind her praying for her, cheering for her, and pushing her if she needs it. All the while blogging about life...

2014-2015 Back to school

I blinked and summer vacation was over. The girls whined about going back to school, but they were up this morning before I woke them. They were dressed and ready almost twenty minutes before the bus was due to arrive. I made them breakfast and they ate it. I do not expect this trend to continue, but I can hope.

This is what it looks like outside at the time of day they leave. The bus comes at 6:26 a.m. and school starts at 7:05. I am not a fan of this schedule as it means I must get up early, and I am not an early worm. I am a night owl. Last night we were all in our bedrooms at 10:00 p.m. Darcy was in bed trying to force herself to sleep. Tom was watching something on his Ipad with headphones. Madison was finishing up her summer homework (yes, the night before she was still doing her summer homework), and I was alternating between my Ipad and a book I'm reading. The three of us did not turn off our lights until way past 11:30 p.m. and that is not going to fly with our 5:30 a.m. wake-up call. Ah, well, baby steps...

The buzzle

The thing about having a single female friend is that I am sometimes called to assist in situations that a married woman would defer to her husband. Sometimes I just insist on helping when my friend Kelly really wants my husband's advice because I feel we shouldn't have to rely on men to solve our problems. Of course, Tom is the first person I call in any situation that I don't feel equipped to handle, but I feel that with Kelly and her situations it is like a trial run for me.

The other night Kelly was once again talking about the maintenance that is iffy at her apartment complex. She had a garbage disposal that hadn't worked properly and that had been looked at several times by maintenance, but really hadn't been fixed to her satisfaction. She had finally laid down the law to management and when she came home one day after work not only had her garbage disposal been fixed, but the sink had been cleansed and was now sparkling. Upon further inspection she discovered also that her toilet seat which had been loose of late had been tighten. She had not mentioned this to management and so she had come to the conclusion that the maintenance man had been pooping in her toilet.

Kelly: "How else would he have known my toilet seat was loose? He had to have been pooping in my toilet and that makes me uneasy. Why would he poop in my toilet? Could he not control it? Was it diarrhea? The whole thing grosses me out."
Me: "I think you are jumping to conclusions. Perhaps he had to go under your bathroom sink. The two sinks do but up against one another through the wall and maybe, for some reason or another, he had to look under that sink to fix the disposal. He was down on his knees looking under the bathroom sink and when he went to get up he reached out to steady himself using the toilet seat and discovered that it was loose."
Kelly: "No. He pooped in my toilet."

We went round and round on this and then she piped up that if he really wanted to help her out he should have killed the wasps nest that she has complained about for months. Upon further questioning, I learned that she has a wasp nest outside her back door in between the screen and the glass patio door. She had reported this to management several times and each time she was told the bug man couldn't find it.

Kelly: "I mean, really? How hard is it to find? I've told them exactly where it is. They aren't even trying."
Me: "Well, really, Kelly, just kill the damn thing yourself. Buy some spray and kill them. And you do know that you do that at night, by the way. Don't try to kill them before dusk."
Kelly: "Why is that?"
Me: "Because they leave the nest at night."
Kelly: "Where do they go? Where exactly do all the wasps go at dusk? To a huge social gathering to discuss the events of their day?"
Me: "I don't know. I just know that my dad always told me to kill wasps at dusk or evening and that is when he killed them. And that is when I make Tom kill them. At night. Because they are gone."

And around and around we went again until I turned to the Internet. I found a site that gave helpful information. I read this aloud to Kelly and discussed how we would tackle the situation.

1. Find the Nest - Me: "You have already done this so we can already mark off one of the tasks."
2. Choose the Right Time of Day - Me: "Ah ha! It says here that night is the best time because the wasps are sluggish and sleepy in the evening. That is why you attack them at night. I was wrong on the leaving the nest thing, but I was right that night is the time to strike."
3. Wear Protective Clothing - Kelly: "And your going to wear your car repairing black shirt, right?"  Me:  "Well, it says here to dress in multiple layers so the wasp stingers don't penetrate our skin. We have to seal off the cuffs of our pants with rubber bands. I just bought a whole box of those. And we should wear gloves and put rubber bands around the cuffs of our shirts. This way the wasps don't fly up our clothes. Oh, and we need eye protection."

Kelly: "Yeah. This isn't going to happen. I'm not killing even one or two wasps. If you want to do that, have at it. I just don't plan on going outside my door ever again."
Me: "Well, that's just plain silly. Maybe you should just locate the maintenance man and ask him to help. He seems to be a handy fellow repairing things even when you don't report them."
Kelly: "Yes. Maybe he can poop on them."

I gave up. For now. I'm still thinking....

Out of the mouths of my babes

A week ago I drove Darcy and her friend Sarina to some event put on by Madison's classmate. It was a Latin dance party to raise money for an organization and it was in the clubhouse of an apartment complex. We had the address and off we went, an hour late because of Darcy's swim practice. To make a long story short (yes, I know I don't usually do that) I got lost. To be fair, the address did not make sense. The complex was on a completely different road under the road it was suppose to be on. We drove and drove and drove trying to locate this place, Darcy and Sarina on their phones talking to other classmates at the party and me listening to my phone gps. We passed the road once, which entailed driving around in circles to get back because the streets were one way only. It was exhausting. I did a lot of yelling. I regretted that as soon as I dropped the girls off and headed home.

By now it was after nine o'clock at night and I still had not had dinner. I decided the hell with my good eating habits and pulled into Chick-fil-A. I ordered and when I got to the window the cashier asked how I was doing. I told her "lousy" and explained that I had been lost for the past hour and a half. She handed me back my money and told me the meal was on them tonight. I burst into tears. I cried all the way home and again when relaying the story to Tom and Madison.

Fast forward a week. Madison and I finished a meeting at school and I offered to buy her lunch. She decided on Chick-fil-A and back I went through the drive thru. I ordered three meals and drove to the window where once again I was told the meal was on them. Apparently, they liked how excited I got when I discovered that they were now serving root beer. I tried to argue with them, but they insisted. I have to say, it made me happy. As we drove off Madison and I looked at one another in awe.

Madison: "Did that just happen again?"
Me: "I can't believe it. I'm so excited. I love Chick-fil-A despite their stand on certain issues."
Madison: "You just got another free meal."
Me: "I know. I think it is a sign from God. I've been asking for a sign and I think this is it. God loves Chick-fil-A. I feel so good right now. I think things are going to be okay. I think this is a sign."

I continued driving feeling more relieved and less anxious then I had been in weeks.

Me: "What do you think God is telling me?"
Madison: "Eat 'mo chicken."

Wyndham Reunion Resort*

This resort is very spacious, over 2,000 acres with Wyndham owning a small section of the property. It started out as a planned community. Probably was hoping to be like a Celebration, but didn't quite make it. Wyndham bought into it and added it this summer. Their section is toward the back of the property in two different villa areas. Our area was Sandy Ridge and was the farthest out, but it was right on the Arnold Palmer golf course and our view from our unit was quite nice.

To get from our unit to the front exit took five minutes drive time. There was nothing within walking distance except the pool in our villa area. There were eleven pools and a waterpark, but the pools were all spread out over the entire complex in different housing areas. The waterpark was between Wyndham's two villas, but we still had to drive to it. There was a large parking lot across the street from the facility and a walking path to cross. The waterpark had a lazy river, a slide, a large pool, and a water play area for children.

The waterpark had lifeguards on duty, a bar with yummy, tropical, fruity drinks, waiters that walked around taking your order, and a manned station that gave out towels and lifejackets. There was a sandy area for games such as corn hole and volleyball too. We visited it one afternoon and evening. The lazy river was way too slow and the water was hot and not at all refreshing. I thought the park too small compared with the attractions at Wyndham Glacier Canyon. I spent my time near the bar. The girls enjoyed the lazy river.

The unit itself was very nice. It was very spacious and with the bedrooms built at either end of the unit it was like having two separate areas. The teenagers hung out at one end and I hung out at the other and we met in the middle for meals.

Things wrong in our unit

1. The lock on our door wasn't quite right. Or maybe it was. When we shut the door it did not latch automatically as all hotel doors do. The mechanism tended to get stuck inside the door so that we had to jiggle the handle inside to release them before the door would latch and lock. Sometimes we had to use the key to lock it. We eventually got use to this, but a lot of times upon returning our door was never shut properly. Because this didn't happen every time we shut the door we tended to think it was broken.
2. The second day of our stay we discovered three caterpillars, two walking in the hallway heading toward the kitchen, one in Savanna's bed. Caterpillars are not roaches so I wasn't too worked up about it this being Florida. Madison rescued them and took them back outside, but Savanna hollered and carried on as if she had discovered snakes or rats wandering around. Since we never saw another caterpillar after that first day I really don't even count this as an issue.
3. The dryer got so hot that we could barely touch the door to open it and it heated the little closet space it was tucked into like an oven. We did not leave the unit when it was running.
4. We did not have any oven mitts to remove hot dishes from the oven. 
5. Savanna also wanted me to gripe about the large grasshoppers that were in abundance outside our unit and around all the shrubbery and pools. Really? She wants Wyndham to control nature too? I don't think any of us expect that.

Things Wyndham Reunion needs to improve in Reunion

1. The washer/dryer combination was odd. This unit was huge. In the master bedroom were two walk-in closets across from one another that were so large I could have slept in them. They were completely empty except for an ironing board and iron in one. Yet the laundry machines, for a unit that sleeps eight, was in a tiny closet tucked behind the door to the second bathroom. It was an up and down laundry unit and so small that we could not wash more than four bath towels at a time. If you are going to have large units you need to have larger laundry machines. 
2. Some of the items on my improvement list for Pompano were already taken care of here in Reunion. For example, they handed out a list of rules and regulations at check-in. One of those rules was that they would not replenish household supplies such as toilet paper, paper towels, laundry detergent, etc. beyond that which was stocked in the room. I wouldn't have an issue with that if the number of supplies already given in the room made sense. Each bathroom had two rolls of toilet paper. The unit sleeps eight. Do they really think that in a week's time, or even in the five days we were there, that six rolls of toilet paper were enough? Someone in charge of TP obviously doesn't buy for his own family.
3. It would be nice to have some blankets stocked in the unit. There are no blankets on the beds and none offered except for the pull out sofa bed. I suppose they feel the "duvet", and I use that word lightly because it is a poor man's duvet, is warm enough. Doesn't matter. Offer up some extra blankets in those two large closets.
4. There was a working vacuum, but again, like Pompano, the broom was all crazy with bristles going in all directions. The kitchen was tile and after five days it got sticky. I would suggest adding a mop to the supply closet. If I had had small children that would have driven me more nuts then I got with the teenagers sticking up the floor.
5. The Wifi was better then in Pompano, but we had to constantly log on with the password after it would kick you off. Darcy said it never reached her bed which was the one closet to the front door. In this day and age wifi is huge. Get that worked out.
6. There was only one dumpster for our Villas and it was a hike to get to it. I have never encountered that with Wyndham, usually they offer trash chutes or trash rooms in the hallways. This dumpster was on the other side of the road and depending on where your unit was located it could be a stinky, dripping walk. There was also no recycling.

Things Wyndham Reunion did well

1. We loved that we had a pizza baking pan and pizza cutter. We didn't discover this until after we returned from the grocery with supplies for homemade pizza making and finding those was a pleasant surprise.
2. We had ten beach towels for our unit. We never used more than five, but high five for those extras if we had needed them.
3. The knives in the unit were top notch, sharp and sleek. 
4. The electrical box was hidden like a safe behind a picture frame in the hallway that was hung on hinges. It was a little touch that someone thought of to hide what would have been an eye sore. I would have mentioned this in the rules sheet though just to alert people.
5. There was no real sales pitch. Instead they called it a workshop, it was worth my time, and they paid me for it. A much better experience in that respect than I've ever had before.

*I am a Wyndham Club Resort Owner and blog my experiences as such.

Orlando & SeaWorld - Days 2 & 3

Everyone is very laid back on this trip. No one is in a hurry to do anything which is very different from my last vacation. The girls stay up late and sleep late so our day starts later. We have found we are all okay with that. On our second day we ventured out to one of the outlet malls that Orlando offers for those interested in shopping. It wasn't quite as crazy as our expedition to Pompano, but the experience wasn't vastly different. There were still more foreign shoppers then Americans. There were suitcases being wheeled around to carry purchases, but only a handful at best. It wasn't crowded since we were there in the late afternoon and evening, and because I think everyone was waiting for the upcoming tax free weekend.

The girls found some school clothes and spent considerable time in the dressing rooms. Savanna and I sat waiting, our ears getting the brunt of the loud music that rocked each store. I had brought a book to occupy my time, but I couldn't seem to get into it so I did what all the male waiters were doing and played on my phone. We stayed until the outlets closed at eleven, and by the time we drug ourselves out to our car we were identifying with the mall workers. The girls deemed it a success, Madison especially, which is SO unusual, that I was happy to have obliged them. 

The next day started out like the previous one. We had decided on a visit to SeWorld and we unanimously decided on getting there late afternoon to avoid the heat and crowds. It was a smart decision, although for Savanna who didn't have a seasonal pass like us it might not have been cost effective. Since she didn't buy it with her money and since she was nursing a previous sunburn she was fine with it. We had a leisurely breakfast, got in a swim at the pool in our area, and headed to SeaWorld around three thirty. 

SeaWorld, like its sister parks, does not have a tram in their parking lot that takes guests to the park. I would have griped more about this, but my parking spot was toward the back of the park which is actually closer in walking distance. I think. Either way by the time I entered the park I was soaked in sweat. We Floridians know that visiting parks in the summertime is ridiculous. Except if you are an energetic teenager named Darcy. This was her idea. 

The map of SeaWorld, again like its sister parks, is not an easy read. Madison, our map reader at all parks, had the following complaints:

1. The map is too large and is not designed to fold. It is also paper, and while the park does recycle these maps (as long as people put it into the bin upon exiting) it is not durable in a park with lots of water animals. 

2. It does not give you information on the attractions on the front side of the map. One has to flip over the map to read about the attractions and the information is minimal and not very descriptive. 

3. The numbering on the map is all the same no matter if they are attractions or dining options. Disney has these things separated into categories and the attractions are bolded. 

4. The labeling of the different sections, Sea of Ice for example, makes no sense and is not described on the map. In Disney when the section says Tomorrowland, there is then an area on the map labeled Tomorrowland and the attractions, etc. are described beneath so one knows what one is going to see and do in that area. 

5. The shows are listed on the back of the map with the times, but to find the location on the front of the map one has to look for the stadium name. This is not self explained and took lots of flipping and searching for titles, attractions, etc. before learning that the stadium name was the correct way to find shows. 

We spent considerable time deciphering the map and show times. Darcy and Madison went on Manta, a roller coaster, while Savanna and I went into the air conditioned aquarium. The girls said the coaster was a good one with a cool concept that tied into the whole SeaWorld experience; riders were rays hanging face down on the coaster. I'm glad I didn't know that when I sent them off. The aquarium was cool, literally and figuratively. We stood inside an area where we were surrounded by the glass aquarium and could watch the sting rays swim over our heads. We saw sea dragons, and starfish, and sharks. 

The girls met us in the aquarium and we rushed through the park to a show, arriving after it had started. There is no entry after a show starts so we headed to see the upcoming Shamu show. I have not seen the controversial documentary Blackfish on SeaWorld, and doubt that I will. I find all animals in captivity, i.e. pet stores, zoos, our homes, to be weirdly odd and unforgivable. Having said that, I doubt things will change, and I believe that there are many organizations that work well rescuing and learning about animals and their behaviors, etc. I'm not naive. Those organizations have to make money to continue what they do and there starts the cycle. I boycotted SeaWorld because of a terrible personal visit to their park twenty years ago. I went back because my husband bought us passes and my child wanted to use them. Shamu is SeaWorld's main attraction and whales are an interest of mine so we hiked to see the show.

And what a show it was. With a large screen television showing us what was happening in the pool arena, and the seats arranged so everyone could see, we watched several killer orcas swim, jump, and splash. It wasn't the greatest show I have ever seen as they didn't do much educating, but then again SeaWorld has had to change its policy after the death of the trainer that sparked the documentary. Still it would have been nice to have used the giant screen for a pre-taped education while the whales swam. As always, after viewing these types of shows, I still think that the Clearwater Marine Aquarium does it best.

We watched the Pets Ahoy show, a dog and cat humor skit, with trained pets in a fake town. I insisted on going to Antarctica, having read that it was one of SeaWorld's best attractions. We had to wait in line here, but only for twenty minutes, and seeing the penguins in an area without glass between us was cool. It was also freezing in the exhibit which helped move the lines. Even I was forced to concede to the cold.

Madison and I had a delicious BBQ dinner at the Voyager Smokehouse while the other two had a nasty meal at some burger joint. We opted out of the evening's fireworks display back at the stadium and instead danced with a Shamu character and a guy on stilts while bubbles were blown out of the roofs of the surrounding buildings. We agreed it was a fun experience and are eager to go back to see the attractions and shows that we didn't have a chance to see.

5 things to start the weekend

1. I have two friends going through serious health issues right now, waiting on test results. It feels odd vacationing when I know they are suffering and stressing about their health. I think of them every moment of every day and pray that their results come back with good news for both. We spend so much of our youth carefree, thinking that these types of things happen to other people and not to us. Then reality hits and suddenly worlds are turned upside down. Yet life ticks on, people going about their day unbeknownst to the horrors that others face. Sometimes it is just too much to handle, yet we must. Please add my friends in your prayers.
2. Outside the resort where I am staying, just a tad of the way down from the entrance, the body of an unidentified female was discovered yesterday by a groundskeeper. It is suspected that it is the body of a missing sixteen year old girl from this area. To think that we drove past the area where this poor child lay decaying is unthinkable. My heart hurts for the family. And then I am suppose to turn back into the resort and carry on with my vacation? Clouds are hovering everywhere. Again...life.
3. I haven't seen the movie that bashes Sea World, but I did visit the park yesterday, the first time in over twenty years. We have passes that were included in our Tampa parks pass and since we were over here my daughter insisted we go. We were smart and went later in the day and stayed until the park closed. These attractions do know how to entertain, but at what price? 
4. School starts in two weeks. We are not ready mentally. We did do some school shopping while over here this week. But summer homework? That is still to be done...
5. I have wondered all week long. What did people use before Kleenex and handkerchiefs?