The hat

Jyoti is not a sun person. She is terrified of becoming darker so she wears this hat anytime she is out in the sun. She almost left it behind. We make fun of her in this hat, but she actually looks quite lovely in it (most of the time).

We decided that everyone should have their photo taken in the hat.

Cara in the hat. This is not a bad photo of me, and I took it myself. The hat doesn't look quite as chic on me as it does on Jyoti. I can't put my finger on it, but I think my face might be too large.

Madison in the hat. This is after her shower and her hair is dripping wet so the hat doesn't really do her justice. I think we should have taken another photo with her hair dry and curly, but alas, we did not. Her smile, however, is quite contagious.

Sarina in the hat. I think, like her mother, the hat fits her well. She has the right "umpf" to pull it off, don't you think?

Tom in the hat. As you can see he was quite into the hat and the photography. After this photo he was always having to go back to the car to get the hat, so he wore it almost as much as Jyoti did.

Camille in the hat. Camille joined us the second day of our trip and of course, we insisted that she wear the hat for a photo. Like Jyoti and Sarina, the hat fit her well, but we think it might be because she models it better than anyone.

Darcy in the hat. Another model. Another great fit. A big ham!

She's less than amused at our hat photos.

Disney Trip - Day 1

Thursday, May 7th

Tom: "So we'll leave tomorrow at about 11:00 AM?"
Me: "What? No! I told Jyoti we would pick her up at 9:30 AM."
Tom: "Not going to happen. I can't get away before eleven."
Me: "I thought you took the day off."
Tom: "I did, but I have to go in until eleven. It can't be helped. I have stuff to do."
Me: "Well, I'll call Jyoti and tell her."
Tom: "No, don't call her. You told her 9:30 AM. By the time you mess around the house getting packed it will be 10:00 before you pick her up. Then the two of you will mess around her house packing up the car, and by the time you leave there, it will be 10:30, and that will put you at my work at 11:00 AM. Perfect!"

Friday, May 8th

6:15 AM - I am awake. Probably because I didn't pack last night, and now I'm worried I won't get it done in time. Tom is in the shower getting ready for his day. He hasn't packed either, but he isn't concerned.

7:20 AM - Tom has thrown some clothes and other things in a backpack and is off to work. The last thing he said to me was, "See you at 11:30?" This, of course, irritated me, and I reminded him that we would see him at 11:00 sharp. I am out of bed and enjoying the silence of the morning. I'm taking the Tom approach and am not concerned about my packing.

10:00 AM - I am running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to finish my packing. The girls have their lists but apparently are not reading them because they keep forgetting things like underwear.

10:40 AM - I have arrived to pick up Jyoti and Sarina. We are now ten minutes behind schedule. Somewhere Tom is snickering.

11:00 AM - We are on the road toward Tom's work. We are now thirty minutes behind schedule, just like Tom predicted. After picking up Jyoti and Sarina we had to head back home because Madison forgot her bathing suit.

12:45 PM - We are now heading toward Orlando. We didn't get to Tom's work until 11:32 AM as I took the wrong exit because I was talking. When we got to his work I called him. His comment was, "Right on time." He loaded his belongings and took over in the driver's seat. As we headed down the road he decided we should eat. We all agreed that we were hungry so we stopped and had lunch. We are now finished and heading off on our vacation.....one hour and 45 minutes behind schedule.

Tom: "We aren't in any hurry are we? What time is check-in?"
Me: "2:00 PM, but I thought we would get there at that time, check-in, swim a bit, eat and then go to one of the Disney parks for the fireworks."
Tom: "We can still do that. We aren't in a hurry. We're about an hour behind. We're fine."

4:00 PM - We have arrived at our destination. We ran into traffic about thirty minutes into our drive. Getting out his trusty iPhone, Tom took a detour to avoid whatever the blockage was up ahead. The detour was quite long and seemed to go on and on and on through Florida countryside I didn't even know existed. I have now been to downtown Brandon and seen quite a bit of downtown Lakeland. Eventually we got onto 27 near Clermont and eventually, we made it to our resort.

We are staying at one of Connie's Wyndham resorts (use to be Fairfield). This resort is Bonnet Creek and is on Disney property. I have never been here, but have heard good things. It is nice to be so close to the parks, and despite the property not being owned by Disney, there was plenty of signs leading us to the site.

Jyoti and I went inside to check-in. We received our keys from the front desk and were directed to the Welcome desk for our parking pass. This is the desk where they sign you up for the "talk". The one where they try to sell you more points and put you into the poor house. Susan was our welcome woman, and despite me telling her that I owned a million points in Wyndham and couldn't possibly own anymore, she signed my husband and me up for the next day at 8:00 AM. The reel was $75 Disney money. Listen to our spiel and we pay you $75. I knew Tom would jump all over that. I did receive a nice welcome bag, and she gave Jyoti one too. We felt like an Oscar presenter. The bag contained the following:

• A razor
• Two pocket-sized packets of Pepto Bismal
• A Harlequin 60th Anniversary book, Crime Scene by BJ Daniels
• Two Goody StayPut elastic hairbands
• A Quaker True Delights bar
• A packet of eyebrow wax
• Biore restore skin-boosting night serum

The resort has separate buildings much like Disney's Coronado Springs. We are in the building closest to the main building. There are two pools. One pool has an enclosed slide and the other pool has a lazy river. We are within walking distance to the one with the lazy river. The resort is in the process of building pools at each building so outside our building is a construction zone that is roped off.

7:15 PM - We are now at an Indian restaurant for dinner, fifteen minutes past our reservation time. After arriving at the resort Tom and the girls put on suits and went swimming at the pool and the lazy river. The resort has two pools, but they are in the process of building several other pools at each building.

We are on the 9th floor. Our room is quite spacious with a kitchen (left), living area, dining area, balcony, two bedrooms, and two bathrooms. The younger girls immediately claimed their bed and changed into their swim suits. Tom took the girls swimming in the lazy river while Jyoti and I left and went to the grocery store to stock up on essentials like beer, limes, milk, beer, cereal and beer.
We arrived back at the room at the same time. The wet ones showered and changed while Jyoti and I enjoyed a beer on the balcony. The view from the balcony is quite amazing.

Tom wanted Indian food so Jyoti found a restaurant and a coupon for a free entree in a book she had picked up in the lobby. We headed out with Tom in the driver's seat and Jyoti riding shotgun. Smartly I was in the back. Tom punched in the address into his trusty iPhone and followed the directions (sound familiar Susan M?) which of course led us on a roundabout journey.

We found the restaurant by accident and not by help from Apple. We are all quite hungry. It doesn't look like we will make a park tonight as we are all very tired. The girls want to swim again so after dinner we will head back down to the pool, with our beer and limes, to end our first day of vacation.

Happy Mother's Day

Real Mothers:

• Real mothers often have sticky floors, filthy ovens, and happy kids.
• Real mothers know that dried play dough doesn't come out of carpets.
• Real mothers don't want to know what the vacuum just sucked up.
• Real mothers don't eat quiche because they don't have time to make it.
• Real mothers know that their kitchen utensils are probably in the sandbox
• Real mothers know that a child's growth is not measured by height, years or grade, but that it is marked by the progression of "Mommy" to "Mom" to "Mother".

Images of Mothers:

• 4 years of age - My Mommy can do anything!
• 8 years of age - My Mom knows everything!
• 12 years of age - My Mom doesn't quite know everything.
• 14 years of age - Naturally, Mother doesn't know that either.
• 16 years of age - Mother? She's hopelessly old-fashioned.
• 18 years of age - That old woman? She's way out of date!
• 30 years of age - Mother might know a little bit about that...
• 40 years of age - Before we decide, let's get Mom's opinion.
• 50 years of age - Wonder what Mom would have thought?
• 60 years of age - Wish I could talk it over with Mom.

Why God Made Moms as answered by 2nd-grade children:

Q: Why did God make mothers?

• She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.
• Mostly to clean the house
• To help us out of there when we're getting born.

Q: How did God make mothers?

• He used dirt just like for the rest of us.
• Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.
• Just the same way he made me only he used bigger parts.

Q: What ingredients are mothers made of?

• Clouds, angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.

Q: Why did God give you to your mother and not to some other mother?

• We're related.
• Because he knew she likes me a lot more than other people's Moms.

Q: What kind of a little girl was your mom?

• My Mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.
• I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.
• They say she used to be nice.

Q: Why did your Mom marry your Dad?

• Because he makes the best spaghetti in the world and my Mom eats a lot.
• She got too old to do anything else.
• My grandma says that Mom didn't have her thinking cap on.

Q: Who's the boss at your house?

• Mom because Dad is such a goof ball.
• Mom. You can tell by room inspections. She sees the stuff under the bed.
• I guess my Mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than Dad.

Q: What's the difference between Moms and Dads?

• Moms work at work and at home and Dads just go to work at work.
• Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.
• Dads are taller and stronger, but Mom have all the real power because that's who you to to ask if you want to sleep over at your friend's house.
• Moms have magic. They make you feel better without medicine.

Q: If you could change one thing about your Mom, what would it be?

• She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.
• I'd make my Mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it and not me.
• I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head!

Happy Mother's Day to Connie and all of the other Mothers out there!

Out of the mouths of my babes

Darcy: "We had the best Cinco de Mayo celebration at school today."

Me: "What did you do?"

Darcy: "I had a margarita!"

Me: "Great! What else?"

Darcy: "We had all kinds of food."

Me: "Like what? Tacos?"

Darcy: "No. We had candy."

Me: "What else?"

Darcy: "We had pound cake, marble cake, cookies with icing and gumdrops. We had pina coladas."

Me: "Did you have any real food?"

Darcy: "Uh, we had chips and salsa and gut-a-molly dip."

A way of life as a Floridian

My first trip to Disney World in Orlando, Florida was in 1974 with our friends from Pennsylvania. Back then Disney World was only the Magic Kingdom, and the thing I remember most is my not wanting to go on the ride in the sky that took you all around the Magic Kingdom. I was (and still am) afraid of heights and the ride was too high and too open for me. I remember my father getting annoyed and telling me it wasn't a choice. I was going on the ride.

The ride, much like a ski lift, was where this photo to the left was taken. It is probably the best photo I have of Cinderella's castle that doesn't have someone's head in the picture. We had to take two cars, and I was in the car with my father. I remember Mr. Smith was in the other car in front of us, but I'm not sure who else was in there as I can't find the pictures. What I do remember most was my father thinking he was funny and pretending he was going to throw me out the car into their car in front. That's my most vivid memory of my trip.

Lucky for me that my father was such an avid photographer so that I can look back at pictures and remember more of the vacation.

The Swiss Family Robinson tree was one of the attractions I remember enjoying. While I had to climb high into a fake tree there was still enough to see (not to mention a railing) to keep my mind occupied. I had read the book and was very interested to see how they lived. Today this attraction seems silly what with all of the pomp we are now used to at Disney, but back then it was innovative to me, (not so much for the adults) and I loved it.

Now living in Florida a hop, skip and a jump from Disney World, and being a Disney Florida Passholder, we can travel there whenever the mood suits us. My children take it for granted and this bothers me because the cost puts this great place out of so many parents' price range. But it is one of the perks of living in Florida. We get a discount for being taxpayers in this state and because they need us to fill the park during off-peak times.

We are headed again to Disney World this weekend because the girls are off of school today. Thanks to my mother and her vacation points we have a free place to reside. Our Florida Passholder points allow us to park hop, and, unlike 1974 there are four parks to visit now.

Madison and I enjoy Animal Kingdom. Tom likes Epcot. Darcy is still a lover of the Magic Kingdom. Not sure who will preside over which one we visit, but I'll let you know how the trip goes when I return. And for old times sake, I think I'll check that ski lift ride. While I do believe it is one of the old rides that got chucked if it isn't I think I'll climb aboard and relive a part of my Disney childhood.

Email Goody

This is an email I received today from my neighbor, Howard. To the left is Howard and his new toy. Not a bad thing for a man in his late 80's, huh?

Gentle Thoughts for Today

• I want people to know I look this way because I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved.
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• Did you ever notice that when you put the two words, "The" and "IRS" together it spells, Theirs"?

• The older you get the tougher it is to lose weight because by then your body and your fat have gotten to be really good friends.

•  A penny saved is a government oversight.

• The easiest way to find something lost around my house is to buy a replacement

• He who hesitates is probably right.

• If you think there is good in everybody, you haven't met everybody.

• The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for...

• Birds of a feather flock together and then crap on your car.

• The sole purpose of a child's middle name is so he can tell when he's really in trouble.

I am woman hear me roar

Just wanted to post a picture of me at work!

At least he heard me instead of the ocean

Me (on the phone): "Hello?"

Tom (on the other end): "Hello?"

Me: "Where are you?"

Tom: "At my desk working, why?"

Me: "Well, I tried your desk phone and you didn't answer."

Tom: "One missed call...."

Me: "And I called your IPhone and you didn't answer."

Tom: "Oh, man, I bet I have that on silence from when we went to the speech thing."

Me: "Well, jeez, I called it like three times today."

Tom: "Well, what did you want? I talked to you once today."

Me: "You didn't talk to me today."

Tom: "Yes, I did. You called to tell me about Darcy having strep throat."

Me: "I called and left a message on your phone about Darcy because you didn't answer your phone."

Tom (laughing): "Oh, well, I talked to you anyway."

Me: "I left a message on your phone, and you listened to it, and now you think you've talked to me?"

Tom: "Yep! I guess I did."

Feliz Cinco de Mayo

I'm getting talented at preparing holiday-themed meals.

Tonight's Cinco de Mayo meals consisted of tacos with beans, lettuce, seasoned ground beef, black olives, cheese, sour cream, taco sauce, and hard and soft shells.

Oh, and margaritas for the adults!

From the archives (part 2)

The second entry from my 2004 crown episode which I'm pulling out of the archives for my sister-in-law who had her temporary crown placed on her tooth on Friday.

A Cap For All Seasons
June 28, 2004

I went today to make the mold for the crown I must have for a cracked tooth. For eleven weeks I have worn a temporary cap. In the beginning, the cap felt funny. It was rough, too even at the bottom, and it was seriously ugly against my real teeth. But as the days, and then weeks went by, I grew to like my temporary cap. It is now as much a part of me as, well, as my glasses. I love my contacts, but when I'm tired or my eyes are sore, my glasses bring me great relief and comfort.

Because the temporary cap is bringing me much relief and comfort I did not panic when my 4 weeks of wearing it came to an end with no phone call from my dentist. I was supposedly waiting 4 weeks to make sure a root canal was not necessary. I even shudder to think what the hell that would entail. So 4 weeks, then 5, then 6 weeks went by. I started to wonder where my crown was and if someone else might be wearing it.

By the 8th week, I was imagining the technician looking at the mold of my tooth and shaking his head. "What the hell is this?" At week 9 I swallowed and made the call to my dentist. My crown was nowhere to be found. It wasn't until the 10th week that they discovered that I had never come back in (yeah, like I know all about the crown procedure, having had NONE before this one) after my 4-week temporary cap trial period to make yet another mold for my crown.

By the time week 11 and my new appointment rolled around, I had decided that the temporary crown and I were one. I seriously did not need the crown. I mean, hell, I'm not even a real princess. Haha! My dentist did not find this amusing. Probably because she had already pocketed the $600 for the crown, that no one had yet made!

Off came my temporary crown, and I wanted to cry. Not only could I feel my nub now, but it was sensitive to touch and water. I sat through another tortuous molding session, wondering if my temporary cap would have another job after being fired from my mouth. I could give it a glowing recommendation. It let no pain enter my mouth. It never wiggled or fell out, even past the recommended 4 week period. It sure as hell didn't cost $600 as the hygienist had made it herself right there in the office.

"Oh, Cara," the hygienist laughed when I told her how much my temporary cap meant to me, "You are so funny." Then she reclined my chair and once again sealed my temporary cap onto my tooth.

And again we are one....I'm told for at least the next 10 working days, which I'm sure I can stretch out for say, another 11 weeks?

Four month check into my New Year's Resolutions

Let's see how I'm doing....(scale 1-10 with 10 being the ultimate score)

1. To work on being patient and to not react hysterically like my forefathers. New motto: "Let it go". I've done well on this one in some instances and not so well in others. The counting to ten hasn't helped in the past week, but I'm determined. I gave myself a 7 at the two-month check. I'll stick with that one at this checkpoint too. Score: 7
2. To get back on my exercise track, lose 15 pounds, and live comfortably with my body however it may turn out. Have done better these last months on the exercise track and a couple pounds have been shed. Last check-in I gave myself a 2, but I think I'm now at a 3 on this one. Score: 3
3. To get to the beach at least twice a month. Yeah, Baby! This one I did with flying colors in March and April. Helped, of course, by spring break and company. I even surpassed twice a month for both months. So far haven't gotten there in May, but I just had several spots frozen by the dermatologist this past week so I'm keeping it low until the scabs heal. The last check-in was a 5, but this time it is the ultimate...Score: 10
4. To get birthday cards and gifts out on time. Now, this isn't an official resolution, but one I added on to my blog. Last time was a 2, but since then I have done better. I had several birthdays in the past two months, and I think I really stepped up to the plate on them. Score: 5

Total points: 25 out of possible 40.

Getting better and it's not even halfway through the year yet! How are you doing?

From the archives (part i)

My sister-in-law has to have a crown put on one of her teeth. A few days ago she blogged about this on her website, http://www.susan-mythoughts.blogspot.com/, and asked for someone out there to tell her all about getting a crown. Since I had at one time received a crown on a tooth that I had cracked I let her know that is was no big deal, just time-consuming. I mentioned that I had some problem getting it all filed correctly, but that really it was no big deal. I reminded her that I had blogged about it on my old website and that I would find those entries and forward them.

Yesterday I found the blogs. Oops....guess my memory is going because apparently, it wasn't all roses, butterflies, and happiness.....


To The Dentist I Will Not Go
June 2004

I cracked one of my teeth. It is an upper tooth hidden safely in the back of the left side of my mouth. At the time of the crack, I was happily sucking down margaritas and munching on salsa and chips with my brother and his family. Life was good. Then I bit down on a chip. Suddenly I was seeing stars while still on my first margarita. The pain was amazing...a shooting, jabbing, knife-like stab again and again inside my mouth until it eventually climbed up my neck and settled inside my head. Sigh. I was off to the dentist.

I have to say that I despise going to the dentist. It isn't the dentist herself. My dentist is a beautiful, soft-spoken Indian woman with a gentle touch. She is a very nice human being. It is the whole idea of dentistry. The torture chair that looks nice until you realize what will occur in it. The loud, shrill, high pitched electrical water prick that will someday summon the neighborhood dogs. The latex-gloved hands of a stranger roaming around inside your mouth. The dental floss that falls apart between your teeth. The misery of bleeding gums. I feel that I have spent so much time (my mother would say money) in a dentist's office that every time my head falls back, my mouth automatically opens--dental chair or not. I much would rather go to my GYN for a pap smear then face the dentist.

But face her I did. She gave me the bad news that yes, I had cracked my tooth. Then she spent the next hour and a half torturing me, first with the three shots of numbing potion and then with the shrill noise of the drill as she ground down my poor cracked tooth. She kept patting me and telling me how well I was doing. She would lurk over me, her eyes peering out over the top of the face mask and she would give me the countdown. "Only 5 more minutes, Cara." Then back she would go to her drill. When she was finished and my poor tooth was as small as a newborn baby's thumb, she gave me the pat and turned me over to her hygienist. Thus began more torture.

This woman stuck the foulest, most horrible goop all over my tooth nub and then forced me to bite down on a mouthpiece for what seemed like an hour. It was nice of her to sit me up while this occurred, but of course, I realized soon enough why she did this. It was so I didn't die on my own saliva.

It was as if my tongue had summoned it. "Come quick," I imagined my tongue shouting. "An intruder is here. A terrible, nasty tasting intruder sent here to kill our lady." The saliva rushed out of every faucet in my mouth as if to wash away the intruder. Great. Except to get rid of the saliva I would have to swallow it, along with the intruder. Which I did. One time. Then I found out exactly what that paper napkin is for around your neck. By the time the timer went off, the napkin was saturated, my eyes were watering and my lips felt as swollen as if I had been stung by a thousand bees.

But it wasn't over yet. No, a temporary cap was made for the tooth. This meant the hygienist got to shove the cap onto my nub several times until I agreed that when I bit down it felt just like a normal tooth. Then more goop was applied to the cap, more waiting for timers to buzz, and more drilling to take off any excess goop on my teeth. Finally, I could rinse. Which I just want to say is not easy when you have zero feeling in your lips. Then I got to go home to lick my wounds. But alas, that wasn't to be either as my tongue was either hiding or was too exhausted to get to work.
Thank god I don't go back for 4 weeks.

4th Place Winner of the Tropicana/4-H County Speech Contest

Madison entered the Tropicana/4-H County Speech Contest for the third time this year. She made it through the first and second rounds at school for the 6th graders.

In the semi-round, the top four places moved on to the finals. Madison did well and advanced, although she made us a tad nervous by finishing her speech just 4 seconds past the minimum time limit.

The top four places received ribbons and 4-H plastic cups. This is Madison's first year at making the finals. She has placed second the last two times in the second round, but only the first place finisher moves to the semi-round.

In the finals, there are two categories: 4th/5th graders and 6th graders. The 4th/5th graders give their speeches first. The format is that the speech is given and the speech contestant sits down. The previous speaker then returns to the podium and is interviewed while the judges finishing the scoring.

This is Madison being interviewed by last year's winner. His questions about her speech "Sounds" were interesting. He wanted to know how she came up with the different sounds, whether or not she was a singer, and had she ever seen the movie, The Sound of Music. Madison interviewed quite well.

Madison received a plaque for 4th place. First place receives a $195 scholarship to 4-H camp in the Ocala National Forest which made us a tad nervous about her winning. First place also has to return next year to do the interviewing of contestants in the finals which made Madison's teacher nervous about her winning!

We are very proud of her. She did wrote a great speech all by herself and did a fantastic job of presenting it. Great job Maddy!

Moving Photos

One messy apartment - Kelly has assured me that all of her bookcase stuff is packed in boxes and ready to be moved. I'm not sure what the stuff in the bookcases in this picture is doing on the shelves, but I think someone is delusional.

Who dressed appropriately? - Last moving day Kelly and Darcy wore flip flops and Kelly fell down the stairs. This time Madison seems a tad off. And she wore a dress!

Hazel the Maid - I was unhappy that I wasn't offered a bandanna last moving time so Kelly made sure that I had one for Saturday. It was purple. I found the apron in one of the boxes and found that the outfit fit me to a "T". Unfortunately, then Kelly made me work harder as if I were her personal maid...

How many girls does it take to clean one closet? - This is Kelly's closet in the foyer of her apartment. It was full of board games and beach equipment. This was our second run of the day and it was actually evening. Can you tell someone was tired?

Moving to the Beach House - Part II

• 8:33 AM - I am awake and already thinking of the things I need to do to get everyone up and at 'em to get over to Kelly's. I told her that I would not be calling her before 9:00 AM which is when my alarm goes off on weekends. She agreed to this as she too feels the need to rest.

• 9:15 AM - I have called Kelly and there is no answer. I left a message. I can not call her cell phone as I did not charge my own cell phone the night before and it is dead. Without my cell phone, I do not have people's numbers unless they are in my head. My head is unable to hold many numbers anymore thus the panic when my cell phone fell into the toilet.

• 9:30 AM - The phone is ringing, but it is not Kelly. It is Susan and we chat and catch up. We both wonder where Kelly is.

• 9:45 AM - Kelly is calling my cell phone that is now plugged into the wall, but it is too dead to do more than croak out one ring. As I am still on the phone with Susan, calling her back will have to wait a few hours.

• 10:30 AM - I call Kelly and she is still at home outside on her porch enjoying the morning air. She had been in the shower earlier. She is ready whenever we are. She is waiting for her co-worker to call. He is giving her a bed for her second bedroom.

• 11:54 AM - We are heading over to Kelly's apartment. We are running a bit late, and I feel nervous and anxious that we are getting such a late start. I know Kelly is up and working hard and wondering why her good friend can't get moving quicker.

• 11:57 AM - We have arrived. Kelly's apartment is a mess of boxes, belongings, and cat hair that floats gently in the air when you move things or pick up boxes. We get to work right away as the co-worker is on his way to the Beach House. Kelly and I pick up loaded boxes and carry them down the flight of stairs to the car and van. Madison is in charge of watching Cowboy. She and Darcy have him shut in Kelly's bedroom and they are using the laser light to keep him entertained.

• 12:20 PM - Both the car and the van are loaded for the first run. We must leave to meet the co-worker. I had assumed it was a co-worker from another department, but it turns out he is one of Kelly's employees that I have met. I am not as thrilled as I once was because the man is a heavy smoker. Kelly has reduced her intake and will not be able to smoke at the Beach House as it is smoke-free. I am anticipating a stinky mattress.

• 1:00 PM - The mattress reeks of smoke and is stinking up not only the second bedroom but the entire house. Madison and Darcy are jumping around holding their noses and gagging. We have added Febreze to our list of things to bring back.

• 2:00 PM - Work is moving along at a pace that thrills me. Madison and Darcy are working in the bathroom unloading and arranging items that Kelly will one day re-do. But they are quiet and productive. Kelly and I have unloaded kitchen items and are busily getting the kitchen in order. The burner inserts (drip pans I'm told they are called) that Kelly has purchased do not fit, and we have a moment of let down as this means another run to the parts place. I have met the cute man that lives upstairs. He is Dave and lives there with his girlfriend. He offered to move his car so that I had a place to park. Parking is at a minimum. The landlady had told Kelly she could use the vacant parking lot down the street, but a man in the building across from the courtyard at Kelly's Beach House has told me to be careful that the towing company will take my van so quick I won't know what happened. I believe Dave must have heard this exchange. I thank him and move my van out of the lot and into Dave's vacated space.

• 3:16 PM - Tom has arrived with lunch for all of us from Firehouse Subs. He is dressed in work clothes as he had to work this morning down south with the mayor and a few other cronies. We give him the ottoman to sit in. Darcy gets the chair as she has strep throat. One would never notice this from her sparkling eyes and chattering, but no one argues when she takes the only chair in the house. The rest of sit on the floor and use boxes as tables. We devour our food. Madison finished hers before the adults even open their wrappers. 

• 3:30 PM - Tom and the girls are playing ping pong against the wall in the living area. Not much help, but I take pictures anyway.

• 3:35 PM - Tom is heading out and the rest of us are getting back to work.

• 5:00 PM - We are back at the apartment to pick up more boxes and the things on our list. We have the idea that we will load up and then go to a furniture shop to look for a table and chairs for the kitchen. I know a used place not far off, but they do not answer the phone. Kelly is gulping down diet coke as if she has been on a desert island for years. We go back up and down the stairs.

• 5:30 PM - The van and car are loaded again. We decide to unload at the Beach House. Off we go.

• 7:00 PM - We are finished at the Beach House. The kitchen is done for now. The smoky bed has been sprayed over a hundred times with all sorts of lemon, berry, fruity chemicals. The girls are disappointed that this hasn't helped much. We are off to Super Wal-Mart to look for the kitchen set.

• 9:15 PM - We have arrived back at our house where we started this morning. We are all tired and hungry. We leave the box containing the new kitchen set in my car to tackle tomorrow. Kelly heads back to the apartment. I make eggs and waffles for us to consume. I feel like I have spent the day at the gym. I will sleep well tonight.

Another wasted day?

Tuesday night we didn't eat dinner until 9:30 PM because of the speech contest where my daughter placed 4th. She hadn't been hungry before the contest, and since I was still full from my southwest chicken salad with jalapeno dressing from lunch, I decided dinner could wait. Wrong move. I was up all night with a full stomach. I think I finally fell asleep around 3:00 in the morning. That is only four hours of sleep for a woman that usually gets six hours but should have eight.

So, after dropping off the children at school yesterday I came home, played on the computer, and then went back to bed to sleep off my not sleeping the night before. Nothing got done in my home or my life. So much for good intentions.

Today my youngest awaken me by coming into my room crying and moaning, "Mommy? Mommy?" She told me she was sick, which translated into my fuzzy still half asleep brain as vomit, so I leaped out of bed screaming, "Go to the bathroom! The bathroom!" Turns out by sick she meant fever, sore throat, and dizziness. She is home from school where I am trying not to think "swine flu" despite the helpful advice of everyone around me.

Jyoti - "Dev says you should take her to the doctor. The swine flu thing he says."
Robin - "Well, swine flu it isn't something you want to mess with."
Kelly - "Is her tail getting curly? If her nose gets circular and flat and she turns a pinkish color then you should probably think about taking her in."

Okay, well not all of it was helpful.

The point is I am still in my pajamas at 11:00 AM. The breakfast dishes are still in the sink, the egg pan still on the stove. Darcy is on the couch curled up with Molly, sucking her thumb, and watching cartoons. I am not getting anything done in my house or in my life. Except for this post. Does that count?

Weighing in.....on important issues

Some things that have me wondering...

• The Woman Who Made Her Kids Walk After Fighting In The Car - Not smart in this day and age. Understand that anger, but know that I wouldn't let them out because we don't live in an area that they could walk home safely. Should she be arrested? Welcome to government intervention in America. Whatever happened to the good old days when parents could tell their kids, "If you don't stop that fighting right now, I'm going to pull this car over and spank you?"

• The Planes Flying Over The Statue of Liberty - Wow! Obviously not enough work for people in the defense department. How many people thought this was a good idea? And didn't the President notice that his plane wasn't in the hanger?

• Celebrity Apprentice - I only watched this show the first time because Gene Simmons was on it, and as soon as he was off I stopped watching. This season I watched because I listened to the buzz on Joan Rivers. Now I'm asking myself why? What is the purpose of this game? I'm beginning to think that if you are loud and abusive you get to stay. Apparently, it is about raising the most funds, yet the last two episodes haven't involved raising any money. I'd like to see Jesse James win the whole thing for playing a clean game and doing the tasks that were set before him. Unfortunately, the poker player chick, Annie, will be in the finals. For good TV she will be against Joan Rivers. The whole thing seems staged to me. Yet I can't stop watching despite how dirty and depressed I feel afterward.

• The Burner Covers on Kelly's Beach House Stove - The stove has four burners, three small ones and one big one. I've never seen that on a stove before, although Kelly assures me that all of her apartments have this. Yet, to replace the burner inserts she can only find packages that are sold with two big and two small inserts. Probably because that is the way stoves are made! And to add insult the inserts that are on the stove now don't even fit over the prong that attaches to the burner itself. Instead, the insert sits on top of the prong and the burner sits up higher than it is supposed to because it can't find the prong! Absolutely, crazy, and the solution that I have come up with is to replace my stove with a new one and put my old stove in the Beach House. The one in the Beach House? In the trash.

• Our Turtle Toby - This is a turtle that I never wanted. I grew up with a turtle that was insane. He ate other turtles. He snapped at anything that was put within reach of his mouth. He lived despite being frozen into a block of ice when his tank was left outside in the winter. He climbed out of a Styrofoam cooler by digging his nails into the side and climbing up and over. I did not choose to live with another one. But we are. We have this turtle and guess who takes care of it? Guess who runs to the pet store and buys his supplies? Guess who scrubs the algae off his shell and out of the tank. Not the kid who begged me for the animal. My solution to this? I'm calling SueG. I have a direct line.

Beach House Moving - Part 1

Things I discovered while helping Kelly start to move into her new beach house:

• Kelly's sense of organization will be the death of me. She has a month to move. I suggest she move one room at a time. I wanted to clean the beach house kitchen, pack up her apartment kitchen, and unload and put away all the kitchen stuff in the beach house this weekend. Kelly wanted to move whatever boxes she had packed to store them all in the second bedroom, which will become a storage room if I don't keep an eye on that.

• People who rent places do not care if they are clean, have working parts, or are outdated. The beach house was dirty when we got the key. The kitchen cabinets hadn't been cleaned and there was still stuff left in them. The stove was plain filthy. The walls in the bedrooms were full of prints and dirt of different colors and origins. The screen in the front door was pulled out in the corner. The entire kitchen counter was warped from water damage and sags. The bottom of the cabinet in the bathroom had water damage and there was a large broken chunk missing. The outlets are a dingy yellow that does not go with the new white tiles and white walls.

• Kelly does not know how to dress properly for moving. The first day she and Darcy wore flip flops as we carried boxes of items down the rotting steep staircase to the cars. I griped about this as we hauled her wrought iron baker's rack downstairs. Of course, Kelly's flip flop curled up under her on the third step and down she went....three more stairs.

• Neighborhoods are not like they were in my childhood. There are four units in this beach building. Two up and two down. To get to Kelly's place we must walk past the first unit. The windows and door were open and we heard voices but never once did they come to the door and give a greeting. The neighbor upstairs did offer a wave as she trudged up the stairs, but only because she was caught blatantly peering into the unit at us. The mailman, Dan, however, is a friendly man who bleeds black and gold and has a beautiful tattoo on his right bicep of the Pittsburgh Steelers insignia. Alas, my camera was left back at the apartment. Dan the man mailman has promised me a photo next time he sees me.

• Kelly and I are quite capable of handling any tasks set before us. I gave Kelly a rocking glider and ottoman. To get the ottoman which was stored above my garage door on top of three boards of various sizes that my husband has laid side by side so things can be stored I had to climb on to a step ladder. I could see the ottoman cushion, but not the ottoman frame. The cushion was so far back that I could not reach it from where I stood. Kelly decided that she could get it by standing on the workbench that sits along one wall of my garage. She climbed on to bench using my shoulder and the step ladder and slowly slide her upper body between the garage door and the rung that slides the door up and down. We worried for a few seconds that she might be stuck that way forever. She was unable to reach the cushion. I got a broom and stood back on the ladder where I shoved the cushion to the side where Kelly was standing on the workbench. The cushion missed Kelly's hands but it did fall to the garage floor. Kelly got down. I then moved the ladder to the left and began to slowly hand Kelly items that were stored. Down came some fishing equipment and a piece of board. Down came a suitcase inside of a box. Behind the suitcase, far in the back, I spied the ottoman frame. I took the broom and stuck it into the bottom of the ottoman and slowly pulled it toward me. The ottoman came forth most of the way and then got stuck on one of the boards. We debated and then Kelly got a stick and pushed the first board up so that it reached the same height as the problem board. I then resumed my pulling and the ottoman came down quite nicely.

• I am seriously going to enjoy visiting Kelly in her new home. Hell, I can't wait to feed her cat. Because where else can you get this view?

Springtime in Florida

This is Florida's sign of spring. Each year in the early part of April, the Jacaranda trees sprout these beautiful purple flowers that just explode with color. This year they are late in blooming.
The trees are everywhere in our little county. This tree to the left is on my street. There are several other trees up and down the road that runs north and south outside of my neighborhood.

The girls and I play a game to see how many Jacaranda trees we can spot on a drive. The trick is to shout out, "Jacaranda!" when you see one and then you get a point. The person with the most points at the end of our travels wins the game.

It is a great game to play when we are going from one city to the next. The best part is trying to play it coy as we get closer to the road outside our neighborhood since we know where each tree is located. We all act nonchalant about it, try to distract the others, and then shout quickly when we see them.

The trees only last in purple bloom for about two weeks and then the flowers fall off leaving a colorful carpet on the ground. The rest of the year the trees have green leaves and look like any other tree.

But when the purple explodes....spring is here!

New Friends

Yesterday I met a friend I hadn't seen in a long time at McDonald's for breakfast. I got there first, and because I was starving, I ordered and took my breakfast to the sitting area at the front of the building. I sat in a booth in the middle of the room that was between two other booths. The booth in front of me was occupied by a single gentleman reading a newspaper and drinking coffee. The booth behind me was taken up with three men drinking coffee. To my right, was another table with another man drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. Directly across from the booth behind me was a table with a booth seat that was turned so that the occupant was staring in my direction. Seated there was a bald man drinking a cup of coffee.

I opened up my sandwich and began gulping it down, listening to the conversation behind me. At one point the man directly behind me said something that reminded me of my father. I snickered. Then the front door opened and in walked a man carrying his own coffee cup. One of the men behind me yelled at him, "There's Bill!"

Bill ignored him, went to the counter, got his coffee cup filled, and then sat down in the booth behind me where he then hollered across to the man seated in the booth seat across from him. I looked up. The man reading the newspaper to my right in front of me winked at me and pointed to the booth of men behind me. That's when I realized that all of these men knew each other. I turned around to the booth.

Me: "Listen, could you guys hold it down a bit I'm trying to eat."
Bill: "Who said that?"
Me: "You heard me, Bill."
Man w/Bill: "We got us a live one here."

I proceeded to get the scoop. These men come into McDonald's every morning and sit around the room drinking coffee and chewing the fat. They can't all sit together because the booths are not big enough. They have assigned seats and assigned parking spots. The table I was sitting in was not assigned to anyone until the winter months when the Canadians in their group are in town. I was good.

Bill: "What did you do before?"

Me: "Before what?"

Bill: "Before when you were single. You aren't single now, are you?"

Me: "Why? Are you looking?"

Bill: "No, but he is..." (points to the man across the table from him. His name is Dennis)

Me: "Well, I'm a great catch, but I'm married."

Bill: "So what did you do before?"

Me: "I was a brain surgeon."

Bill: "Great! That's great news because Dennis there needs some help. Can you help him, Miss Brain Surgeon?"

Me: "Bill, I was a surgeon. Not a brain transplant doctor."

They loved me. I spent the next two hours off and on talking with them. My friend sat and laughed. I got to know their names. There were three Bills, a George, a John, Dennis, and Phil. Some were married. Some were looking. Apparently, Dennis had a harem at the mall. Throughout the two hours, some left and some arrived to take those empty seats. I lost track of names. Finally the last of the group got up to go.

Bill: "Tara, we're off."

George: "Tara? Tara? It's Cara, with a C."

Me: "Seriously, Bill? You just called me Tara?"

Bill: "Well, with all that gabbing you and your friend have been doing I lost my hearing."

Me: "Alright. I forgive you this time, but that's the last time."

Bill: "We don't allow just anyone in here, you know. We'll see you tomorrow."

I won't be there tomorrow, but I'm thinking this might be my new Friday routine.