Day 2 & 3 - Costa Rica

The school group arrived bringing with them noise and the energy of the States. They had been sitting too long and the kids ran amok through the hotel playing hide n seek and entertaining one another with travel stories. A small group of us ventured out into San Jose for lunch, settling on a quick sandwich place. Since the Spanish teacher was with us we all had to order in the native language with her jumping in to assist when necessary.

I had my rice and beans, this time with pollo (chicken) and cilantro. I washed it down with Coca Cola, my first since entering the country. Returning to the hotel our group joined others poolside and we talked and sampled the local beer until dinner time, which was crowded and noisy. The hotel had brought in more workers since the school's arrival and added a few more guests as well from our first night.

Our room was quite large, larger than an American hotel room, with two queen beds, a convertible couch, much like our futon, a table and chairs, and the typical dresser and night table. The floor was all tile save for a small rug between the two beds. The bathroom was small with toilet, sink and walk in shower. No notice of flushing the papel (paper) so we used sparingly and had no trouble.

The next morning we met for breakfast in the hotel. It was not at all like our breakfast the day before, but more American with cereal and toast. Eventually out came the rice and beans with scrambled eggs and fried potatoes in the shape of a large triangle. The coffee was weak and not the delicious brew we had experienced earlier. Apparently larger groups require less local details.

We were loaded in the 50 seat passenger Mercades-Benz bus by 8:00 AM, but a mechanical failure put us back a half an hour. Our driver, Wilbur, spoke not a word but showed skill in maneuvering a large piece of machinery up and down winding, narrow, scary, Costa Rican roads. Our guide, Alonzo, spoke perfect English with an accent quite thick that it took me quite some time to realize he was saying, "important" instead of "impedent".

It was a 3 hour bus ride to Arenal. We stopped once in a small town to visit a bank to exchange our dollars into colons and to engage in a 3 on 3 pick-up basketball game with three local boys in the park. We won 16 to 10, but all six boys played evenly and were quite gracious.

We had lunch at a large roadside restaurant about ten minutes from our hotel. It took a lot of time to feed 42 people, but the portions were dinner size and delicious. I had black bean soup with lots of cilantro and a large hard boiled egg dropped into the middle. The view of the main attraction, the volcano, was impressive, but the clouds covered the top and therefore we didn't get much of a look-see.

We had five minutes at the hotel to check into our rooms and change into suits and hiking shoes before climbing back on to the bus and heading to our tour of the rainforest and volcano. Unfortunately, some people had trouble with the instructions and took us more off schedule then we already were with the late lunch.

The rain came down as we drove the ten minutes to our destination. We had three new guides who jumped on board at our hotel for this adventure. We were split into three groups alphabetically with our group being the smallest. Our guide was Heime, who was soft spoken, but adept at English and his knowledge of the rainforest. The rain stopped as we set off and right off we saw two toucan mates flying about in the trees. Heime had binoculars that were so powerful we thought the birds, with their colorful heads were right in front of us. Unfortunately that was pretty much the end of anything exotic, although we saw worker ants, a frog, and three huge owl butterflies that pranced in wild circles around us. The hike was strenuous with large gaping steps uphill and then downhill until I was drenched in sweat and ready to leave the rainforest hiking to Walt Disney. The entire time the clouds stayed hovered over the volcano until our group decided it was all fake - there is no volcano and there are no monkeys in the rainforest!

Of course the other group saw two monkeys and two species of snakes, but our made up stories were more colorful and entertaining around the dinner table later that night as we sampled more of the local beer. We did see guava trees, and Heime allowed us to cut off sugar cane to eat after we found some stalks growing by our bus at the end of the hike.

We next were taken to the hot springs resort with several different baths heated by the lava from the volcano that we still hadn't really glimpsed. By now it was dark and instead of our two hours of relaxing hot-tubing in natural springs we had one hour to let the heat and waterfalls massage our aching muscles. There were slides for the kids and Tom, and plenty of secluded baths ranging in various temperatures the higher you climbed. I tried 95, 110, 130 and freezing, opting to stay with the 110. One bath even had a bar in the middle that you could swim up to and order drinks.

After changing into clothes, we hiked a ways up the resort to a large room for a buffet dinner that consisted of American food with spaghetti and sauce to Costa Rican food with fish and the ever present rice and beans. There was fresh fruit, salad, soup, cole slaw, rolls, and a chocolate fountain with pastries and strawberries. By the time we hiked down, loaded on the bus, and drove back to the hotel, I was drenched in sweat again and sorely tired. I took a cold shower, washed out my delicates and climbed into bed.

Happy Birthday

Today my nephew, Austin, turns 18 years old.  Holy Toledo!  How did that happen?

I remember when he was in his mother's belly.  I remember hearing the news that he had entered the world.  I remember seeing him for the first time.  I remember how little he looked in Tom's big hands.  I remember how much I couldn't wait to see him and interact with him.  I remember how much he ate!  I remember how happy he was.  I remember him the day of his sister's funeral.  I remember the games he use to play.  I remember his chubby little hands in my own.  I remember how careful he was in everything. I remember teaching him how to eat a watermelon.  I remember his interacting with Madison.  I remember when he started school at the same school I attended.  I remember following him in a golf tournament.  I remember him and his attitude so like Axel from the TV show, The Middle.  I remember his kindness when you least expected it.  I remember his giving of attention even when he thought me old and annoying. I remember when he started high school.  I remember his loosing tons of weight and becoming too skinny.  I remember him texting and talking to girls.  I remember him the last time I saw him at Christmas.

Happy Birthday to a great kid! (Sorry, you'll always be a kid to me!)

Hola from Costa Rica

First 5 things we saw after getting off the plane: (I kid you not)
1. Coca Cola sign
2. Hampton Inn
3. Holiday Inn
4. Miley Cyrus Billboard
5. KFC & Burger King

Weather: Cloudy and later lots of rain
Terrain: Bumpy; Hilly
Worst Experience: Cara sick with cough, runny nose, fever, tooth ache
Best Experience: Madison able to communicate with locals

Funny: Our driver who met us at the airport told us that in Costa Rica Sunday was not Mother's Day, but he wished me a good day. Later at the hotel Darcy and I were passing by the pool, which sits between the two buildings that house the rooms.
Me: "What if I just pushed you right in there?"
Darcy: "I'd grab you by the arm and take you with me"
Me: "That's not nice. It's Mother's Day!"
Darcy: "Not here in Costa Rica!"

Food Eaten: Sopa de Pollo - chicken soup with huge fresh veggies of carrots, onions, zucchini, broccoli, and cauliflower; Mocka Frio - yummy iced mocha; rice and beans; breakfast was rice and beans, scrambled eggs, plantains, fresh fruit - watermelon, papaya, pineapple, and mango; toast; wonderful coffee and some white liquidy beverage that might have been coconut milk or goat's milk or some type of juice - with a stuffy nose it is hard to tell but it felt great on my aching throat.

Feeling much better after a 12 hour Nyquil endured sleep. Enjoying sitting outside the hotel this morning waiting for the rest of the group to arrive. Madison has been our speaker, especially when they all went to dinner last night (without me) and the waiter/chef understood no English. Hoping to recover more today before we climb the hills to our next destination.

San Jose is not much to see - a city very Americanized. Lots of buildings and stores and streets with roaring cars and motor bikers. We get ABC out of Miami on our TV in the hotel and Internet in the next building over. Tom and Maddy explored some yesterday. They went to a Coca Cola festival across from our hotel celebrating the soft drink's 175th anniversary. They checked out a museum downtown. Tom said that like our local area where we have turtles painted and donated around town in various stages of dress; they have coke bottles everywhere. Haven't had a coke here yet however.

Adios!

Uh huh...good to know

Away from blog entry # 2

I had been away from facebook for some time.  When I happened to go on to check something regarding a friend I browsed through those pages of friends I hadn't heard from in awhile to see what I might have missed.  One friend had changed her status from dating someone to engaged.  I immediately commented.  A few days later I received a personal message from her telling me she was married and pregnant.  I was very excited and passed the news on to the family.  I responded to her message and received an answer back.  One of the things she wrote was, " Send besos and abrazos to my girls, and of course a special hola to Tom."

I went to take a shower and found Tom stretched out on the bed reading.

Me:  "Maria told me to give you a special "hola" from her."  I leaned down and pecked his check.  "Hola!"
Tom:  "I'm not the father of her baby.  Just so you know."

Away from the office

While I'm off to Central America hiking the rainforest I decided to ask some guest bloggers to post for me, but since everyone I know has his/her own blogs to write for I thought that unlikely.  Instead I decided to throw in a bunch of stuff I thought entertaining.  I am told that cell phone coverage is spotting and that electronics are better left at home so I'm not sure that I shall be able to blog.  If something should change in that respect, of course I will jump on the Internet wagon and post.  In the meantime....

The Internet Email Rounds - via my neighbor

Lines to make you smile

1. My husband and I divorced over religious differences.  He thought he was God, and I didn't.
2. I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it.
3. Some people are alive only because it is illegal to kill them.
4. I used to have a handle on life, but it broke.
5. Don't take life too seriously; no one gets out alive.
6. You're just jealous because the voices only talk to me.
7. I'm not a complete idiot - some parts are just missing.
8. I'm starting to wonder how bad four years with no president would be.
9. God must love stupid people; he made so many.
10. The gene pool could use a little chlorine.
11. Consciousness:  that annoying time between naps.
12. The trouble with life is there is no background music.
13. The original point and click interface was a Smith & Wesson.
14. Wrinkled was not one of the things I wanted to be when I grew up.
15. Men are always whining about how we're suffocating them.  Personally, I think if you can hear them whinging you're not pressing hard enough on the pillow!

And we insert these things up inside our bodies....who knew?

Yesterday the county came back out to check whether our new plumbing issue was related to the old plumbing issue in which the county had been partly responsible for fixing.  The same guys appeared and joked with me about our toilet habits.  They opened the new clean out valve they had put in the last time and we all stared down into the hole.  It was dry.

Me:  "What does that mean?"
Ed:  "Means you have a problem on your side.  Unfortunately."

But Ed, being the nice man that he is, offered to snake a camera down the clean out value to see whether he could find the problem.  I thanked him and left him to go get ready for work.  When I came back out the camera was in and I joined the two on the lawn.  I bent over and peered into the screen.  It was all in black and white.  I could see my pipes and we delve further and further into the squishy hole that winked back at us as the camera wound its way deeper and deeper.

Me:  "This is like traveling through a vagina.  You guys should call yourselves piping gynecologists."
Ed:  (couldn't speak he was laughing to hard)
Other guy whose name I didn't read off his shirt:  "I think my phone is ringing."

Eventually, about 70 feet under my house we came to a white spot at the bend in the pipe.  The water was only trickling out from this point and Ed said there was the problem.  Just some simply stoppage that a snake could take care of most likely from the clean out valve on top of the roof.  They packed up their things and left.  Tom called a plumber and schedule him to come after my lessons.

The plumber arrived after a fierce rain and lightning storm.  He was about 18 years old and cute, cute, cute.  I didn't get his name.  He talked non stop and mostly told terrible jokes.

Him:  "You have a room devoted to everything Steelers?'
Me:  "I do."
Him:  "Didn't they lose?"
Me:  "Shouldn't you get to work?"
Him:  "Did you hear the joke about the broken pencil?"
Me:  "Is this leading up to a joke about the Steelers losing because I am in no mood."
Him:  "Yeah, okay, I probably shouldn't tell you it."
Me:  "Because seriously dude I've had to poop at my neighbor's house all day long."
Him:  "Yeah, it's pointless!"  Smiles.  "Get it?  Broken pencil?  Pointless."
Me:  "I hope you're a better plumber then a joke teller."

He first went to the clean out valve that the county had put in a few months ago.  We stared down the hole.  I informed him of what the county guy had found with the camera.  I told him it looked like a wad of toilet paper, which I hope it wasn't because my husband insists that this problem is my kids' fault and that they use too much toilet paper.
The hole
was still dry.  He put a snake down it and worked and worked.  Nothing.  The sludge was still in my shower.  He went up on the roof and worked and worked.  I got bored and went inside.  When I heard the motor shut off I checked the bathroom.  Problem solved.  I went outside to inform him.

Him:  "Tampons aren't flushable."
Me:  "Is this a joke?"
Him:  "Afraid not."
Me:  "It was a tampon?"
Him:  "Yes ma'am."
Me:  "Well now.  Who could that have been?"
Him:  "I wonder.  That will be $137.50"
Me:  "For a tampon?"
Him:  "Want me to tell a joke now?"

Here we go once more

For the past two weeks I've noticed some odd noises coming from the toilet in the girls' bathroom.  I mentioned this to the husband.  His reply?

Tom:  "You always think something is wrong."  Rolls over and goes to sleep.

About a week ago the toilet began stopping up.  We told the husband.  His reply?

Tom:  "The kids use too much toilet paper."  Rolls over and goes to sleep.

About three days ago the toilet began stopping up three times a day.  We had the husband plunge it.  His reply?

Tom:  "Stop using the toilet!  This is getting ridiculous.  If you don't know how to use a toilet then just stop using it."

Last night while in the shower rinsing off I heard gurgling noises from my toilet in my bathroom.  The same noises I have heard in the past here.  I immediately climbed out of the shower, wrapped a towel around my body, exited the bathroom and informed husband.  His reply?

Tom:  "Toilets make noises.  That's what they do."  Rolls over and goes to sleep.

So I got ready for bed, brushed my teeth, locked up the house, got the kids in bed, and headed to my room.  Husband was in the other bathroom with the door closed.  When I inquired what he was doing in there?  His reply?

Tom:  "Unclogging this toilet so that I can go to the bathroom."

I went into the master bath and waited.  Soon came the flush and up from my shower came the sludge.  Out of the other bathroom came muttering, gurgling, more muttering, and more gurgling.  Husband came into the bedroom and informed me we had a problem.  My reply?

I didn't have one.  I was in bed pretending I had already fallen asleep. 

Pictures from the week

My artistic arrangement at a table

 Darcy with child...oops...putting someone's baby to sleep

 K9 unit dog at take your kids to work day

 Soccer picnic in park...girls in tree

 Darcy on tree

 Action shot of Maddy

 A cupcake pizza made by Madison

Connie Foot Photo #17

We went to the infectious disease doctor the day before visiting the Foot God.  She was thrilled with the way the wound looked and said she foresees it healing in 6-8 weeks.  Connie was surprised by that information as she seems resigned that it will never heal and she will forever be chair bound.  That is just her positive side shining through...

Infectious disease doctor is keeping her on oral antibiotic for another 4 weeks just because it is healing so well on it and because Connie and I told her how the Foot God was "rongeur happy".  She told us weekly visits to him were important as his poking and cleaning the tissue was a good stimulation and that he should be making it bleed.  We assured her he was quite adept at making it bleed.

The Foot God enjoyed being labeled "rongeur happy" and wanted to make sure that we had used that exact wording.  Other than that he showed no emotion upon learning the infectious disease doctor thought his work outstanding.  In fact he didn't even mention anything about the foot today upon entering, but instead asked us how we were doing and what was new in our lives.  Connie and I are getting through to him.  Just think what a grand Foot God he will be when all of this is over.

Pictures of the promogran out and in the foot

Wordly tiny tidbits

1. Number one has to be the death of Osama bin Laden by US military.  We were watching movies last night and didn't get the news until after midnight when I went online to check what time my redbox movies could be returned.  The news made me want to run outside and set off fireworks, despite the tiny remorse I felt for the death of another human.  Good for the USA as a booster.  Hopefully, it propels us forward to continue in the fight against terrorists.
2. Friday was the big wedding between Prince William (Arthur Phillip Louie) and Kate Middleton.  I recorded it and watched it later in the day with Kelly.  I found it to be a wonderful escape into a world that we have no knowledge of save for television and movies.  I thought the couple looked happy, relaxed and well poised.  Kate is a beautiful woman and more so decked out in her wedding finery.  CNN did a great job with Anderson Cooper and Piers Morgan, knowing when to shut the hell up and when to talk.  NBC Today's show, on the other hand, couldn't stop talking over each other.  Worse moment:  when they talked as the Queen entered the abbey.  CNN captured that moment well with silence from their hosts so that the rest of us could hear the trumpets as the Queen entered.  Goosebump moment.
3. Each year I remember the death of my niece, who died the next day after Princess Diana died.  Her birthday this year was on the day Princess Diana's firstborn was wedded.  I thought that goosebumpy too.
4. I haven't been on facebook in a couple of months.  When I saw that a friend of mine had not responded to an invitation to our soccer picnic I got on facebook to see what had happened recently in her life.  I discovered her mother had died, and in the process of responding personally back and forth with her I also discovered a family death.  And then happily an engagement of someone who I think deserves the best as she gives back so freely of herself.  And then a pregnancy.  Life going full circle from death to happiness...right there on facebook.
5. About to go to Costa Rica, a country I have never been nor had any thought of visiting.  I haven't been out of the country since the summer before my 8th grade year.  It is exciting, yet I'm always a nervous traveler until I reach my destination.  Plenty of things to keep me busy here in preparation.  Hopeful I will relax once I get there.
   

4 month resolution check

It is time to check in on how well I'm doing on my New Year's Resolutions.  I score from 1-10 with 10 being the perfect score.  My goal this year is to actually make all of these things happen.  To achieve that perfect score (at least once)!

1. To not text while driving -I am shining on this one...that is as long as I don't count working in my bakery as texting.  I have worked hard at this resolution to set an example for my daughter who will be driving in two years.  I didn't text at all the month of March and only had to text twice in April because it was important.  And it was to answer something important with a yes or no or something quick like that.  Score: 8
2. To get some form of exercise daily (10 minutes at least) whether it is walking the dog or performing jumping jacks. - Uh, sucked at this one for the past two months.  Started heading back to the gym the past two weeks, but only got there twice a week.  Sigh.  Score: 2
3. To finish my slide project and to get important photos on CD's to have for...prosperity? - So rocked this one!  Finished all the slides that I can find so I'm counting that as a perfect score. Shall start on my photos next month.   Score: 10
4. To continue to work on toning down the potty mouth. - I think I've done better, but this one is really a hard one. Score:  3

TOTAL:  23 out of 40  Hey, it's better than half!

Out of the mouths of my babes

My Auntie Marilyn bought my mother an iPad.  She wanted her to have a laptop because my mother is in a wheelchair and getting to and from her computer is a pain.  My husband didn't think she would use a laptop and so he didn't jump on the stick and buy her one.  So Auntie Marilyn took matters into her own hands.  The iPad arrived at the beginning of the week, but since Connie is clueless about apple electronics, Madison had to be the teacher.

Madison:  "Next we are going to learn how to use Facetime."
Connie:  "What is that?"
Madison:  "Facetime is where you call someone and can see them while you talk to them.  Let's try Mom's number."
Connie:  "Oh, yeah, let's try her.  She is just sitting over there on the couch playing on her laptop."
Me: (answering phone):  "Hello!"
Connie:  "Hi there."
Me:  "I've never done this.  This is so cool."
Connie:  "Okay, I'm done with her, how do I hang up?"
Madison:  "Like this."

They hang up and move on to Faceboook.  I give them five minutes and call back.

Connie:  "What is that?"
Madison:  "Cara is calling you on your Facetime."
Connie:  "Cara? Why are you doing that?  I'm trying to learn something else right now.  Why would you do that while we are working?"
Me:  "Because what is going to happen when someone like Marilyn calls you?  You're going to hear that noise, but you won't know what it is or what to do. I'm prepping you."
Connie:  "I will be annoyed because I won't know what to do."
Me:  "Exactly!  Which is why I'm calling you so that you can learn as if this were a real life situation.  It's called practice."
Connie:  "Well, excuse me!"
Madison:  "Ladies!  Ladies!  Let's calm down and stop snipping at each other.  Maybe we can find a counseling app for both of you."

Reason #1 why there is no take your spouse to work day

Today was "Take your kid to work day" and for once my husband mentioned that fact early enough in the month for us to plan accordingly.  Never have my girls joined him at work on this day to participate in the big hoopla that his work makes of the day.  It wasn't until later that I found out the reason for his bringing it up was because he was put in charge of a project and he figured he could use the girls' help.  No matter.  We put the date on the calendar and assured him they would help out.

Two weeks before the date our school announced that the 8th grade class would become certified in scuba diving and would need to participate in two open water dives, one of which would be help on that same day as the "take your kid to work day".  That meant Madison was out and so my husband recruited my help.  He was to be in charge of photographing and making badges of all of the kids who signed up for the day.  I assured him Darcy and I were up for the task, but as the day grew nearer so did his anxiety.

Tuesday night he came home from work with a black bag so large it could have housed a dead body or two.  In it was a laptop and computer and all the fixings.  He set it up on my kitchen table and called the two of in for training.  Those of you who know my husband and his work hours can just imagine what I'm about to type next.  The time of our training started at 10:00 PM before husband even ate his dinner.  Darcy and I were in no mood for training.  Tom was in no mood for teaching.  Yet we forged on.

And it went something like this:
And it went something like this:

Tom:  "See that icon on the screen? Click on it.  This is the camera software.  Now you have to plug in the camera using this cord, but first we have to take pictures before we do this step.  Who is going to take the pictures?"
Me:  "I thought Darcy was going to take the pictures."
Tom:  "Darcy? You're taking the pictures? You're going to have to learn how to use this camera."
Darcy:  "I know how to use that camera."
Tom:  "No, this is the office's camera so you are going to have to learn how to use it."
Darcy:  "You gave me that camera three weeks ago to play with so that I could learn.  I know how to use that camera."
Tom:  "Oh, that's right.  Okay, well then take a picture."
Darcy:  "Of what?"
Tom:  "You're going to be taking pictures of all the kids that come in tomorrow.  There will be 50 kids."
Darcy:  "No, what do you want me to take a picture of now?"
Tom:  "Take a picture of your mother."
Me:  "I'm in my pajamas.  Don't take a picture of me."
Tom:  "Who cares?  Okay, okay, take a picture of me."

This continued until after midnight with him all stressed and out of joint.  I was annoyed because his system sucked, and when I tried to tweak it to make it work more efficiently and effectively then he would freak out.  Darcy finally wandered away and went to bed.  I pulled Madison into it and between the two of us we worked it out so that everyone was happy and I could take a shower and go to bed.

We got four hours of sleep before the alarm went off.  Darcy and I were dressed and out the door first with Madison who had to be at school by 6:00 AM because her scuba class was heading north for an open water dive.  We dropped her off and headed to the jail where my husband hangs out each day.

Once we got through security and found the right room a few kids were already there.  A woman volunteer was taking pictures.  Tom was behind the computer.  I told him I was reporting for duty and he refused to let me near it the entire two hours we worked on making badges, despite my earlier training.  Darcy was not allowed to take pictures despite her earlier training.  I was pissed.  Darcy was sighing.  Tom was stressed.  His co-worker, who was signing in the kids, thought the three of us were hilarious.  My job ended up as Tom's right hand bozo.  I sat and spelled out the kid's names to him while he typed.  Again, not efficient, but the way he wanted to do it.  Darcy's job was to cut holes in the badges and insert the clips.  Eventually it was all done and distributed.  Darcy and I then spent the next 9 hours learning about what the parents and spouses of all of us did at the sheriff's office.  Tom left us after the badge making and went back to his office.  I think I will eventually forgive him...

Connie foot photo #16

The Foot God actually said, "It looks good!" this week instead of "That looks better".  Pumped us up in his own way.  Trailing behind him once again was a tall man in a black shirt with the word, dermagraft, stitched on the upper left hand corner.  Connie immediately pounced on him questioning him on why she couldn't get another dermagraft and why medicare wouldn't pay.  He seemed quite taken aback and assured her that medicare did pay for a dermagraft and he questioned the Foot God.  Who, of course, kept working on the foot, shrugged, and said, "I don't remember.  I'll need to look into that."  Connie offered to do a commercial or any other advertising for dermagraft if the gentleman would just get her another one as the first two had really worked on her wound.

She is waiting at home for either the commercial call or for the dermagraft. 

The wound was smaller in every way.  He cleaned and told her to stay with the other treatment he recommended last week which consists of a biodegradable piece of something that is put into the wound like a "foam".  I couldn't find it online so I hesitate to put it here for fear the spelling is incorrect.  Home health continues every day and we return in a week.  And on it goes...

Three against one

Me:  "Oh, Tom, I forgot to tell you that I borrowed some money out of your wallet the other day."
Tom:  "Uh huh.  I thought I was missing some money.  I just assumed Darcy had taken it."
Darcy:  "What?  Why do I get blamed for everything?  I told her not to take it out of your wallet."
Tom:  "So you were in on it with her! How much did you take?"
Me:  "$10"
Darcy:  "No!  It was $20"
Me:  "It was $10 Darcy.  I took two fives."
Tom:  "Keep talking you two."
Madison:  "It was $10 and she gave the money to me."
Tom:  "So all three of you were in on it!"
Me:  "Oh, boy."
Tom:  "I figured it was between $10 and $20."
Me:  "You don't even know what you have in your wallet?"
Tom:  "I had something between $5 and $20.  And all three of you are thieves."
Me:  "Uh huh, well, I took two fives."  Silence.  "Then I put it back because it was wrong to take money without asking."
Darcy:  "Which is what I told her in the first place."
Tom:  "Then how did Madison get $20."
Madison:  "Mom got it out of her swim book."
Tom:  "I think all three of you are now lying."
Me:  "About what?"
Tom:  "The money you stole from my wallet."
Me:  "What wallet?"
Darcy:  "I didn't see anything and this conversation is making me dizzy."
Madison:  "Can I have $20 Dad?"
 

Easter 2011

 The Easter bunny came today...

 He hid a lot of eggs in our house...

 Which the dog found before the kids got up...

 He enjoys the peanut butter eggs...

 But I was happy to see that the Easter bunny is not only smart...

but clearly knows how to decorate his eggs...

Happy Easter 2011 to all my faithful readers!

17 years and counting

Today, several years ago, I got married.

 No, not to her....

To this guy...

Happy Anniversary Tom!  Love you!

A journey through the system

The school year is really winding down.  It always does right after Spring Break, which comes really quickly after Winter Break.  Then the summer goes fast and it is the school year again and before I know it Christmas and Winter Break all over.  I don't remember it happening that fast when I was a child.  School always dragged on and on and breaks were over in a blink of an eye.  Just when you got a good game going and the teams just so it was time to pack it all in and get to bed early because school was starting tomorrow.  But now?  Now the years just roll faster and faster, and the child that I worried about where she would go to kindergarten

is now graduating from 8th grade and heading to high school.

There is much to be done before school ends, of course.  We have graduation to plan, an eighth grade dance to plan, an international trip to travel, finals to prepare for, field trips to attend, papers to write, and sign ups for high school to be completed by the end of the month.

Thanks to the generosity of my mother my children have been in the private school sector since the age of three.  Next year Madison will enter the world of public education.  To her and her parents it is the unknown.  Just as the years have changed from old lady driver speed to hurricane speed so have the ways of schooling.  High schoolers are expected to pick a major before enrolling for their freshman year.  At 14 years of age they should know what career path they want to walk down.  Who are these people at the helm kidding?  At 14 I wanted to be 21, skinny, and a famous writer for General Hospital.  Either that or a skinny actress on General Hospital.  A week later I thought I might be a private investigator instead.  Thank goodness no one really expected me to have it narrowed down when I entered the high school building my first day.

Here where we live in Florida I had to pick a high school for my daughter to attend if she wanted to get into one of the three "magnet" programs, which is really code for "smart kids that don't want to be thrown in with the riff-raff that don't care about school" programs.  Kids who enroll in "magnet" schools, of course, have chosen their careers and can choose to attend a school that specializes in their field.  On the list of "magnet" programs we could chose a career in medicine, culinary arts, engineering, teaching, forensic science, environmental technology and marine science, architectural design, computer technology, business, and graphic arts.  Or we could opt for one of the higher educated programs such as the International Baccalaureate Program or the Cambridge Program which have strict enrollment policies.  All of these schools are located throughout the county, and if your child chooses one that is 45 minutes away, parents are responsible for getting them to and from school.  Busing is available at a few "magnet" schools, but that would mean a child would be picked up before 6 AM and ride an hour to school.  Good-bye friends that you made in middle school.  We'll keep in touch via Facebook.

I attended a school that went from kindergarten to the 8th grade.  That school fed into one high school which meant that I attended school with most of the same people for 13 years.  All the kids in the neighborhood went to the same school if they enrolled in the public system.  Any sort of "magnet" programs educating the intellectual students happened right there in the same high school before, during, and after school.  There was no break down into categories.  If you were interested in the fields of forensic, marine, or environment, you enrolled in several Science classes.  If journalism, screenwriting, or poetry was your cup of tea, you took extra English classes.  And if you were interested in both?  You took both.  You weren't handicapped into picking one theme nor were you expected to stick with that for the next four years.  We also had two classes in electives from a wide pool of choices.  Now?  My daughter can chose one elective from a pool that includes human geography. 

Once Tom and I my daughter decided which school to attend we had to sign her up online, choosing three schools in order of importance, submit her credentials, and wait for several weeks to see if she had been accepted.  When she got  into her first two choices we she had to accept only one online.  Yesterday we got a letter from the school telling us we would now have to sign her up for classes, but because we are in the private sector we will have to make an appointment to fill out her school schedule.  In the next line it said she would be expected to take the following 6 classes and then 1 chosen elective from a list of 6 choices.  This will need to be done during school hours.  So we need to take Madison out of school so that we can make meet with someone to sign her up for that one class.  No online sign-ups allowed.

I'm exhausted navigating my way through the website and the system, but I each time I see the end it is really only the beginning.  And this is just high school.  In three years it will all have to be done again as we go through the college process.  Which will be here in a snap of my fingers and a blink of my eye...

Connie Foot Photo #15

This time I took the picture from farther away and Nurse Kelly and I agreed that it showed a better prospective.  Connie was a tad worried that it was deeper this week due to one of her home health nurses jamming the wet gauze into it.  It measured 0.4.  Last week was 0.3 so it was deeper.  The Foot God wasn't too concerned with that.  He came in and studied the wound quite intently.  In one spot there was some bone protruding so out came the rongeur.  Knowing what was coming I closed my eyes and stuck my fingers in my ears so that I wouldn't have to hear that clipping sound.

There was a lot of blood after that procedure.  Again, no dermagraft.  The Foot God is looking, but the pickings are slim.  Nurse Michele wrapped her up and off she went again until next week.  Still to stay off the foot, especially after that cutting today.

To get her out of the house for a bit, and because she had a grocery list, I took her to Publix for some shopping and entertainment.  It was very crowded, but she did get one of the motorized scooters so that I wouldn't have to push the wheelchair and the grocery cart.

Pictures and the words that make it worth it

I picked up Darcy at her friend's house and the parents came out and talked to me through the window.  When we had finished babbling and Darcy was in the car, I turned around to back up out of their driveway and found this in the back seat.

My helpful shopper.  At least she didn't drop them on the floor.

Kelly:  "I've always wanted to be a true redneck."

Flat Ewan's time in Florida

"I'm just picking these up off the floor to put into the hamper, jeez."

Darcy:  "We should get this for Aunt Susan.  Please, please, please?"