Now I have to get home and write

True to his word, we relaxed. I received the early morning breakfast text, and when I declined, my brother called.

Rusty: "Get down here. I'm buying."

I went—not because he was buying, as he did the entire trip, but because I've whined about how he doesn't spend time with me, and here he insisted. 

It was a nice breakfast spot. As often as I travel to Bonnet Creek, I've never eaten there. The seating was outside, and despite the heat, it was lovely. 

We spent the day poolside. I wrote. They swam. Eventually, I joined them on the lazy river. Later that afternoon, I made Rusty participate in the "How well do you know your songs" game. It went from the 1950's to now. We did not come in the top three. I bet we were fourth. The DJ gave us points for Rusty's creative song titles for the ones he didn't know. 

Dinner that night was fancy at an expensive restaurant that they went to last year. Unfortunately, after we were seated, we discovered someone had hacked Susan's Facebook and Instagram accounts, which threw off the evening. Still, my dinner was lovely.

Susan and I stayed up into the wee hours repairing what damage we could, but she never did get her Facebook back. Make sure you have the two-step authenticity set up on Meta accounts. 

I bid them goodbye after check-out this morning and headed home. My heart is filled with happiness and love, and if that's my last adventure with my brother, I'm okay with it because this was THE BEST.

We're going where?

The following day, I exited the bathroom to find my brother standing outside the door.

Rusty: "Get dressed. We're going to Universal Studios."

I reacted like a Floridian hearing the news in the middle of August. It came out in a shriek that pierced his ears and drifted down the hallway for everyone to hear.

Me: "ABSOLUTELY NOT!" 

My brother did not accept this response. He shoved me into my room and instructed me to get dressed and be ready in thirty minutes. I whined the entire time, reminding him of last night's promise. It did no good. Susan wanted to relive her Universal experience as a child, and Rusty was all about pleasing the wife. 

Rusty: "I'm buying. Get in the car."

When my children saw the SnapChat of the above picture, Darcy immediately texted her sister. Together, they speculated who or what had invaded my body.

MOM IS AT UNIVERSAL STUDIOS???

Yes, I was--under protest. 

I am a park person, preferably in chilly weather, and at Disney World, where they pick you up in the parking lot and shuttle you to the entrance. I had half my daily step count just walking from our car to the Universal ticket booth!

But this trip was about spending time with my brother, and this year is about opening myself to new things, so I begrudgingly enjoyed the day. 

We walked from one end of Universal to the other. It's been years since I was there, so when we tried to find the Harry Potter world, I had only a vague idea that we had to find a secret entrance. I also reluctantly allowed myself to be photographed. 

The lines were tolerable, the adventures fun, and we shared a butterbeer. By the time dusk fell, we were all happy to find a restaurant to sit our butts in a chair and eat. That was not, however, the end. After dinner, my brother made us walk some more, and by the time we finally got back to our car, I was sure tomorrow would be the day I couldn't walk. 

Rusty: "It doesn't matter. Tomorrow, we relax."

Uh huh.

Orlando with my bro

The PGA merchandising show comes to Orlando every January. My brother, a PGA professional, attends most of them. Last year, he and his family came to Florida, and when I suggested that my family come too, he declined. It hurt. My kids were hurt. My husband was pissed. And I was resigned. Been there, done that. 

This year, he had a change of heart and invited me to stay and attend the show. While his kids weren't coming, his wife was, and she and I made plans for her to help up my step count for my 2024 resolutions.

They came for a week. I went for a few days, arriving in time to head out with them for dinner. 

We were up bright and early the next day for the merchandising show. I'm unsure what I expected, but it wasn't what I got. While I knew the Orlando Convention Center was big (I'd been to the NRA convention when I bought tickets to see Toby Keith perform), I didn't realize it was ACRES of land. This thing went for MILES with rows upon rows, each labeled to work with the PGA app. He scheduled appointments with vendors while we ate breakfast and had coffee in a little food court area. Then we were off, and Susan made good on the increase in the step count. I was lucky I was still mobile the next day.

We went down almost every row. Each row had several vendors, all related to golf in some way. If I didn't know anything about the sport, I certainly did after today. My brother chatted with salesmen and women, exchanged business cards, got his badge scanned multiple times, and asked a million questions. Watching him do his thing was cool, and I might have been a bit proud. We should've run a country club together. I bet we would've been a success.

I chatted up some salespeople, but my main focus was scoring free loot. I got tons of pens, but I also snagged some men's socks (my husband loves them), hair ties, and odd things like beads I'll never wear. Still, a convention isn't a convention without coming home with free crap. Plus, I love pens! It became a game of how many pens I could get and how stealthy I could be in claiming them. My brother was impressed.

Lunch was at another food court, sitting at tables with strangers. Susan and I wandered when my brother had his meetings. The last one was in an interactive area, but we chose not to participate because our legs were shaking from so much walking.

Unfortunately, this was at the end of the convention center, which meant we had to walk back to the entrance. Then, we had to walk miles away to the car. I had over 15,000 steps. That is double what I try to get daily, and something I have NEVER done since owning an Apple watch. I had to use the massage gun on my feet that night in our Wyndham.

Thursday morning, those two were up early for breakfast at the outside cafe at our resort. They tagged my phone, but I opted to chill in the unit and have coffee. I was on a deadline for an anthology my writing group, The Write Spice, is putting out next month. I had a vague notion of my story but did not have the damn thing written. 

My time was short-lived. These two returned to the room, and we were off. We hit the pool. We took a hike around the resort. Later, we went for an early dinner, and before we retired for the night, I asked what the plan was for the next day.

Rusty: "Nothing. We're chilling here."

I asked again to make sure, and getting the same response, I wrote long into the night.

Ah, you know how I like to foreshadow...

Quarantine day 202

My niece was married on Saturday. We weren't there. It was a personal choice, I've made my feelings known about large gatherings, flying, etc., but it didn't lessen the pain of not witnessing her special day. 

My family, my aunt in California, and my cousin and family in Boston zoomed so we could watch the wedding together virtually. We started early so we could catch up. I texted the bride and her parents, and when my brother responded, I cried. We have a saying at Christmas time when the family is together that is isn't Christmas until someone cries--it was usually my mother--and Jay made a reference to it, and the moment passed.

My husband wore a tie, brought rice in a plastic bag, and toasted with an empty champagne glass. The wedding went by in a flash. While we couldn't hear the bride and groom, we assumed they responded positively because no one in the audience fainted or had faces of horror, and the minister eventually pronounced them married.

We were all left with an empty void when the virtual moment went dark, knowing everyone was off to a party while we sat where we've been for the past two hundred days--at home. We gave ourselves that moment, then we laughed and talked some more before signing off. Madison watched the fifteen-minute ceremony again. Darcy went back to her homework, Tom worked out, and I thought about how quickly time flies.

One of these cherubs is married and currently on her honeymoon! 

My brother and his wife are definitely empty-nesters now. While we couldn't be there in person, we wish the happy couple all the best and welcome Noah to the family. He's spent several years being harassed by my brother, so there is no doubt he'll handle the new crew just fine.

Congrats guys! We love you and hope that someday we will be able to hug you both!

Christmas 1 and Christmas 2

Sunday, we had Christmas with my husband's family, who all descended to Florida to spend the holiday with Grandma Mary Anne. We, along with my young cousins, hiked to Grammy's for food, fun, a game of Mafia, and our usual Yankee gift exchange.

Christmas morning was spent with my family. After a morning Starbucks run, we spent seven several hours taking turns opening stockings and our gifts.

I prepared the appetizer charcuterie board and a pitcher of sangria while Jay fixed our traditional beef dinner complete with mashed potatoes, Brussel sprouts, green beans, and gravy. We had three different pies for dessert, plenty of wine, and participated in the Mason annual play-music-on-the-crystal-wine-glasses that my father started years ago during a lull in the conversation - or more likely to interrupt the conversation.

Later in the evening, we played games and then took the family Christmas picture which of course contained lots of laughter.

Christmas 2019 in the bag!

Family holiday fun

When our family members started getting married, we agreed to split the holidays; one year together, the next year with our significant others' families. This was the year with my family, who couldn't wait to leave cold weather to fly to Florida.

My brother and his wife, minus their working children, arrived first. We had three days with them before the next group came, and we spent it with last-minute Christmas shopping, lots of food, walks on the beach, large amounts of coffee, pictures of palm trees, and plenty of laughter.

Sunday, we welcomed our Boston family, who rented a place on the beach not far from our house. The weather cooperated for both sides. We had some sixty-degree weather that the Floridians enjoyed and later in the week, seventy-degree weather for the northerners. 

We did a lot of eating, shopping, gaming, beaching, and laughing...so much laughter. A great holiday visit.