Frank is now the Director of Public Safety at the Branson Landing so he’s making the trek down there every single day.  He usually rides the motorcycle to save gas since his truck is quite the hog on that deal.  He seems to enjoy working down there quite a bit.  It’s a much different atmosphere than the Battlefield Mall that’s for sure.  I made it through another November (deer season) and that was total drag for me.  Fall is my favorite time of year and most of the time I’d just like to really opt out of it around here, that’s a fact.

Lauren is super busy just being 13.  Exhausting!  She’s not even in any extracurricular activities and I’m still driving all the time.  She has a few real close girlfriends and they are pretty tight.  They hang out here a lot, they go to the mall,  and they attend Art Walk every single First Friday.  They all love alternative music and I’m pretty happy about that.  They are all going to go and see NeverShoutNever tomorrow night and they are super pumped up about it.  She’s doing well in school but I have to stay on her.  She is lazy and would rather text, Facebook or geek on her iPod.  I have had to limit and take these things away on certain occasions.   She is excited about Parkview next year.  I just hope she can find something to really get “into”.  So far she’s taking French so that’s good.  She loves journalism but wasn’t chosen for the club at her middle school.  I told her in highschool it’s an actual class and you don’t have to be popular to be in it.  She loves photography and art and she also enjoys drama, so I have a feeling that theater could be in her future.  Guess we’ll just wait and see.

Jordan finished his first semester at CMU and is considering transferring to UCM next year.  Bigger school.  NCAA in sports and marine and land biology too.  I think his girlfriend is going to go there.  And it’s cheaper by about half of where he’s attending now.  This is a no brainer to me but it’s his money and his education.  He is doing really well in college and works at the art museum hall there.  Unfortunately with his track schedule he can’t really work very much and that’s a real bummer for us.  I took him shopping this evening for the holidays.  He needed tennis shoes, two pair, and one pair of sandals.  Big money.  Luckily Famous Footwear had buy a pair and receive the second pair 1/2 off.  If you need shoes grab a friend and go!  He will cut his break short and return to school as spring training starts before the break is actually over.

I’m still doing yoga and liking it very much.  I think it will always be a big part of my life whether I’m teaching one class per week or fourteen.  I feel that 2012 is going to bring a big shift for me but I’m not really sure in what way.  I think I’ll do a little animal research on the meaning of hawks landing in your yard with prey two Decembers in a row.  Doesn’t really sound all that Christmas-sy now does it?

I hope you and yours have a holiday to remember. 

I made it to Arkansas for the Harvest Music Festival, but not without stalling of course.  On Tuesday I pretty much had everything ready to go.  It started storming Tuesday night and well into Wednesday morning.  I was getting bummed.  Finally the weather cleared up a bit and I headed out alone.  My sister was supposed to fly up and go with me, but that didn’t happen.  Off I went.

I’d never been to Mulberry Mountain in Arkansas before.  The drive is stunning.  I took this route - 65 South, 412/62 West, 23 South.  That’s it.  Easy drive.  23 South of course is the most beautiful roadway as that is the road that heads up the mountain.  Of course since I was driving on a curvy, two-lane road, I didn’t get to turn my head as much as I wanted to.  My car handles great on curves, so it was fun to drive.  I arrived and found my contact person.  I followed him (he was in a golf cart) to my campsite.  I pitched my tent in no time and then he gave me a tour ride in his golf cart of the grounds.  Beautiful location for sure.  But I think I already said that.

The first night was a bit creepy.  The wind started blowing and I mean fiercely around midnight.  I grabbed my phone and logged onto Facebook.  Why?  Who knows.  Someone I knew said to look for someone named Nina.  They said she would be selling her tie dyed tees there.  Cool.  I only knew one person so far so that would be nice if I found her.  Around 1 a.m. I heard someone pitching a tent next to mine.  The wind was crazy so I got up and offered to help.  I introduced myself and she said her name was Nina.  No shit. 

She’d already set up her canopy for her dyes and it was whipping in the wind.  Her tent was getting tattered.  By 3 a.m. we took all of her stuff down, stowed the merchandise in her car, threw her tent in the trash and off she went to stay with friends.  My shelter was still standing but I pretty much got no sleep.  I told her something good would come from the destruction and it did.  On Friday she set up a nice tie dye workshop.  She was so busy she couldn’t keep up with it.  She made more than enough dough to purchase a new canopy for the next fair.

I awoke to wind again on Thurday morning so I opted for not using the campstove.  I paid $2 for some shitty coffee and had peanut butter and crackers, an apple and an orange.  I was exhausted.  I am not an all night person and I never have been.  Those of you who know me, already know this.  I was scheduled to teach yoga everyday at 10 a.m.  and I was pretty excited about that as well as meeting other yogis.  I grabbed my mat and headed over the fence which was close to my campsite.  Another girl showed up and asked where she could plug in her music.  What?  There’s like music all around us was my thought.  Then she said she was there to teach the yoga class.  Really?  Anyways, she firmly believed she was supposed to be there.  So did I, but not as firmly as she did.  She said how about if she taught the first two mornings and I taught the last two.  OK.  Problem solved.  I participated in her class, it was hot out.  The sun felt great.  Our teepee that we were supposed to practice under had been destroyed by the wind the night before.  Yoga outdoors was great even though I was totally exhausted.

After the class my thought was wow, what shall I do with the rest of my day?  I didn’t have to do anything or be anyplace.  I took several walks around the property.  Music started around noon so I enjoyed the small stages that were around us.  My camp as I would find out later, was parked too close to an entertainment tent.  I decided if I was going to make it through the next 3-nights, I would need to sleep in shifts.  So Thursday evening around 8, I crashed.  I woke up to beautiful music around midnight.  I got up, sat in my chair, poured a glass of wine (from a box) and listened.  It was Railroad Earth and they were playing “Lovin’ You” - what a great song.  The air was crisp and cool and the sky was totally clear and the blackest black.  No wind.  The stars were unbelievable and so was the moon.  Every now and then I would see these orange paper lanterns go floating by.  They looked like small hot air balloons.  I dug it and decided that I was very happy to be there experiencing all of this right now.

Friday morning some yoga friends from Springfield appeared and man was I happy to see them.  There was about 5,000 to 7,000 folks at this thing and I really didn’t see anyone that I knew.  We took the yoga class together and then I walked with them to their camp.  What was once a beautiful field was now a sea of tent tops, cars and flags.  I realized people flew flags so they could actually find their campsite.  I did feel a bit claustrophobic at times.  The wide open space was completely gone by Saturday morning.  I downed several glasses of their ice water, engaged in conversation and probably talked too much.  After all, I’d been completely alone for like 72 hours so it was nice to chat.

There were several stages.  One was in a tent right outside my tent.  It was smaller and hosted more local acts, a burlesque show and some Q & A sessions.  One small stage, was down a cool tree lined road full of vendors.  Another stage was under a huge, white tent not too far from me.  The main stage is totally gorgeous.  It is big and the trees are the backdrop.  Every night a band called Yonder Mountain String Band played.  When they went on, most other stages went dark.  The nightly entertainment was awesome.  Girls were dancing with hula hoops that lit up.  Some of them were actually on FIRE.  I like fire and a group of Piyo people (dancing with balls of fire on chains) were showing their skills as well.  There were also these huge puppet people that would walk around the grass and just stalk you.  They were pretty neat to look at.  On the down side, there were a lot of drunk people and the things that go with that.  No need to elaborate.  I never felt unsafe even though I was alone.  Everyone was so very nice and friendly. 

After the yoga class on Friday, the teacher asked me if she could just please teach one more day because she was supposed to do it all.  I said you know what, you can just teach Sunday as well.  I didn’t teach a class the entire time I was there and I got over it pretty quickly, because that’s how I roll.  I got my campstove out Friday night and made pasta and toasted garlic bread in a skillet.  More people arrived and 3 tents were all of a sudden being pitched on top of mine.  This was a band and their people and they played great music in the tent outside of my campsite on Friday night.  I spent that night wandering about watching lanterns, listening to music, watching people and drinking wine.  As I said before, the entertainment in the evening was very cool.

Friday evening I did not get a nap in so by ten I was dead.  I crashed out pretty hard until the people in the next to mine decided to party in more ways than one.  They’d invited me over but I wasn’t interested.  Probably a good call on my part.  At 1:00 a.m. Speakeasy started playing in the tent outside of my campsite.  Whoa.  They are rambunctious, loud and have a massive light show.  No sleeping through that for sure.  There was also a lot of smoke from campfires and lots of other things and I knew I would die from carbon monoxide if I didn’t emerge from my tent soon.  I caught a glimpse of a tasteful burlesque show, watched more people, listened to music and felt totally delirious.  I had no idea what time it was.  My phone was dead and so was the battery in my car from charging it so many times.  I think it was almost daylight on Saturday when I fell asleep.  I woke up to the sun earlier than most people.  I started my campstove, chatted with the security dudes and made hot tea.  I sat in my chair and let the sun hit my face and started to peel off the layers of clothes that I’d slept in.  The nights were cool and the days were hot.  It was like being in Colorado.  I opted out for yoga on Saturday morning. I wanted to get my car started.  Finally it turned over and I let it run for a little bit.  I’m sure I asphyxiated all the people who were still asleep.  Paybacks are hell I know.

I decided since I wasn’t going to be teaching on Sunday, that maybe I would just head on home.  I grabbed my hot tea and headed to the encampment of my friends.  They were making whole wheat pancakes with yogurt and had cantaloupe.  I ate a great breakfast with them and told them I’d catch them later.  I headed back and packed up my campsite in all of 15 minutes.  I took another walk and noticed the line at the shower trailer was 50 people long.  I was glad I got mine in on Friday.  They had one shower trailer with 6 stalls for women and 6 for men.  It cost $5 and I would’ve paid $10.  Money well spent if you ask me.  I did a little shopping before I left too.  Had to have a Harvest T-shirt and I found Lauren a beautiful woven bracelet.  She wears about 20 on one arm.

I headed back to my car and decided that yes, it was probably time to go.  A day early at that.  I was tired and I would have time to totally recuperate and be rested for Monday if I left now.  The drive is about three and half hours. 

Would I do this again?  Maybe.  I’m not sure I’d pay to go though.  Hopefully the yoga thing will work out if I attend again.  I know what to do and what not to do next for next time.  I would definitely camp further away from all the action.  If you do not like outdoor toilets, don’t go.  There are plenty of them, but with people who party they can get nasty pretty fast.  They did do a good job keeping the toilet paper up and getting them hosed out.  There were also handwashing stations and that was a good thing.  You can bring your own liquor but no glass.  You can also buy it there, but it’s costly.  There’s also a lot of smoke, campfires and otherwise.  So let’s just say it’s definitely a harvest of many different kinds.  If you don’t want to pay to shower, then you’ll have to do without.  There are reserved campsites in the wooded areas, they are costly and fill up fast.  They have showers and toilets for those folks only.  The fields where the majority camp have no shade so bring a canopy of some sort.  Even though it wasn’t super hot, some shade is nice now and then.

This was an event filled with all kinds of people.  People of all ages.  There were to my surprise a lot of children there.  I don’t think I’d take my own daughter though. I did find that when I got home the biggest adjustment was simply going indoors.  I thoroughly enjoyed being outside, almost all the time, totally for 4 days. 

Happy Harvest for it’s that time of year.

It’s raining here and it’s raining where I’m supposed to be traveling to here in a bit. 

I am scheduled to teach yoga for the next four days in Arkansas, on a mountaintop, at a music festival.  I wanted my sister to come up and go with me.  That was the original plan.  But someone asked her to have 8 chairs reupholstered by the end of the month.  So her travel plans were pretty much nixed.  I am going alone.  In a tent.  For 4 nights.  The good news is this weather will be over by tonight and the next 4 days ahead look absolutely fabulous.

I started a new yoga job last week at the Rehab Hospital in Mt.Vernon, MO.  What a great place and what awesome people!  They turned the chapel there into a wellness center and it is really lovely.  I like the way they left the stained glass windows as they do not have any religious connotation to them.  The healing garden outside the entry is really pretty as well.

I think I may get to add a couple more classes there.  The one I started is pretty full so there’s talk of possibly adding another class right after the one I’m teaching now.  And the maintenance guys need to stretch too, so I’m told.  But they don’t want to go to a class called yoga.  I suggested we call it Maintenance for Men.  We’ll see what happens.  I love how my job opens up new possibilites all of the time. 

Just look where I’m headed here shortly!  All because I teach a free class on Tuesday mornings and an event planner attended the class.  Looking forward to just teaching yoga one hour a day for the next four days.  The rest of the time?  I’ll be reading, napping, visiting, hiking and listening to music and enjoying the great outdoors.

I’m sure I’ll have some great things to blog about when I return.

While I was in Florida, I started searching for a dresser.  I was looking for one, large, long dresser to replace the 2 that we got at Big Lots when she was like six years old.  I found the perfect dresser and when I got home the guy still had it.  He was asking $100 but I took it for $60 as it had a tad bit of lower damage to the veneer.  And to make stuff even better, he lived just a tad north of us.  I litterally could’ve walked to his place in 15 minutes.

I started talking to my daughter on the phone (she was in FL) and asked her what she could part with.  To my surprise, she said, “Mom, just get rid of it all.”  Whoa.  I was totally excited but at the same time, what would I do with all of her stuff?  We love to have garage sales around here and we’ve had some great ones.  The problem was we hadn’t had one for 2 years and our attic is full of garage sale next time merchandise.  My parents offered to take some of that “stuff” home with them when they returned our daughter.  The rest got donated.  Thank God. 

I kept the color scheme a secret from her as I started to paint.  I did the ceiling first.  I chose a color called Sour Lime for her walls.  She wanted a lime green, but I really didn’t want to repaint this room next year, so I followed my gut.  It turned out great.  I painted all of her trim white again to freshen it up.  Then the hard part.  The knotty pine built-in.  This took a couple of days and coats of paint.  I also took some foam board and covered it with batting and then covered that with fabric.  It looks fresh and fun and we can stick push pins in it and change it whenever we want to.  I used velcro to attach.

Check out the before and after photos.

He was in the A+ program which means he was granted two years of free school at OTC (Ozarks Technical College) here in town.  He is also a big track and field star and OTC doesn’t offer that.  To our surprise, MSU (Missouri State University) no longer has a men’s track team either.  I was told they used to have 21 sports at that school and now they only have 16.

The quest was on to find a college where he could major in Biology and be on a track team.  He did all the research himself, made endless phone calls and filled out massive amounts of paperwork.  He was interested in Drury because they do have a track team and they even have a Decathlon which is what he has participated in for the last two summers at Nationals (Junior Olympics).  But CMU (Central Methodist University) made him the best offer.

At CMU he was able to stack his athletic scholarship and academic dough together and he even applied for a scholarship through the church that he was raised in (Methodist Church).  He scored some money there as well.  It’s a good thing all of this happened because lord knows we don’t have the money to send him there.  As it is he will owe a little less than what it costs to attend one year at CMU in  loans when he’s done.  And that’s if everything stays like it is now.  I have a feeling it will be even better next year in the way of athletic offerings.

We moved Jordan to Fayette, MO last Saturday.  The school is quaint, kind of like Drury but maybe even smaller.  The buildings have that old, cool architecture and the dorms are decent.  The food was pretty good as well.  We all had lunch at the cafeteria that day.

He will major in Marine Biology and he already got a job in the office there on campus.  That’s a good thing!  The town is very small and honestly I think I would go crazy living there but he doesn’t seem to mind.  I made a joke that he will get into trouble because of lack of stuff to do, or he’ll get into trouble because he’ll be driving to Columbia every single weekend.  Frank didn’t think that was very funny. 

He will toss the discus on their track team and the coach had maybe mentioned hammer throw as well.  We’ll see.  He’s had some trouble with one of his ankles and he’s pulled a hamstring a couple of times as well, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed that the inuries lay low. 

Good luck Jordan.  You are fine young man and I’d like to think that your family had a little bit to do with that!

On July 7, my kid took off with my mom and dad in their camper and headed to Titusville to view the last take off of Atlantis.  The weather was looking pretty iffy and we just knew it would be delayed.  But nope.  It took off right on schedule.  It was quite the site for her to see.  The next day she met my sister, brother-in-law and niece in Orlando for her first trip to Sea World.  She loved it.

My folks even spent some time at this cool reptile farm.  They said all of the animals were well cared for and looked very healthy.  The alligators were obviously well fed.  I don’t think this dude would be wading in this water if the gators weren’t fed well.  What do you think?  Lauren also held a large snake and a tarantula while she was there.

After they left the state of Florida, they were heading to Duluth, MN to visit some relatives.  They stopped in a small town in Georgia at a campground as they were pulling their camper and it was time to rest.  It turned out that Billy Bob Thornton was at the campground with quite the crew working on a film called Jayne Mansfield’s Car. 

This is the imagine that part of the story.  Lauren loves Billy Bob Thornton.  And since my family had video stores for 20 plus years (I had one for 12) they had several Billy Bob movies at the house.  We’d spent the last week cueing Lauren in on all of his films and letting her see the ones she hadn’t seen yet.  She totally loves Billy Bob and well, I’m just going to go with it.  I have to be in the mood for some of his stuff, but I think he’s pretty damn funny most of the time.  I know what you’re thinking.  I let my kid watch Bad Santa, Bad News Bears and Mr. Woodcock.  And yes, yes I did – all in one day.  But first I hooked her up with some weed and a bottle of Jack just to get her in the mood for the raunchy sarcasm.  Just kidding about the weed and the Jack. 

From Georgia she sent me a text to tell me that Billy Bob was at their campground and I was all like, whatever sure he is.  Not only was he there, so was Robert DuVall, Kevin Bacon and Patrick Sherman and someone else that I can’t remember.  The next day Lauren got to meet Billy Bob and told me that this was the best vacation with grandma ever.  I know, imagine that.  She got her autograph and went back the next day to ask if she could have the pen that he used as well.  They gave it to her.  She said everyone was very nice.

My mom with Robert DuVall.  It was hot, check out his sweaty back.

I’m sure she’s met him before at one of the VSDA Conventions that we used to go to.  I know she wouldn’t want this posted but too bad.  I think it’s a good photo.  After all, she’s camping.  No maintenance allowed.  She also said they had to wait for 4 hours for the crews to come back up the hill after they were done filming. 

I think they stayed an extra day at this campground due to all the excitement.  Then it was onward to the north.  They enjoyed a great visit in Duluth and arrived here in Springfield on Monday, July 25. 

It’s great to have her back home.

Ava and my daughter Lauren at Pine Island Sound on the 4th of July right before we shot fireworks over the water.

Pine Island Sunset on the 4th of July.  Bugs were bad, seriously bad.

My dad’s bee hives.  We went on a rescue mission to Little Gasparilla Island while I was there.  The ferry ride was real nice.  The bees weren’t.  More on that later.

Lauren and Ava at Gracie’s Cup Cake Store at Bell Tower in Ft. Myers.  My sister works here on ocassion.  We got snacks, and they were really good.

Bag of sharks’ teeth and fossils that I found walking the beach at mom’s.  That’s really all I like to do when I go there for a visit.

Missing the beach already.  Until next year I guess.

My mom and dad headed out of the house with my kid on July 7.  They camped out and saw the shuttle launch on July 8.  I watched it on TV right before I headed to the airport.  And what a drive that was.  The drive is only about 1 1/2 hours from my mom’s.  But 30 minutes into the drive I ran into rain.  Not rain like we have here, but monsoon Florida rain.  The sky was incredible but I didn’t take any photos with my phone since I was driving and in these conditions, no way. 

Just as I paid my toll and was about to go across the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, it started raining harder.  I drove over the bridge in a total white out only viewing the hazard lights of the car in front of me.  I’ve driven over this bridge many times before and it’s always been a scenic pleasure.  Not this time.  I had a strong grip on the steering wheel and I could feel my chest tighten.  I sat up a little taller, loosened my grip and tapped into my yogic breathing.  Life saver.  No one had to peel my hands off the wheel in the rental return lot at the airport.

It was still raining as I pulled the rental into the car return.  And I had a large suitcase, my purse, a laptop and a carry on.  Nice.  If I would’ve had an umbrella I wouldn’t have been able to hold onto it anyways.  I waded through ankle keep puddles with all of my luggage and stood in line to return the car.  After that I headed to the check-in line.  I had to pee but couldn’t because I had all of this stuff.

After I ditched my luggage I breezed through security and headed to the bathroom where I took off my sandals and dried them with the hand dryer.  One lady walked in and said she couldn’t believe I’d take my shoes off in a public restroom.  I told her I pretty much lived my life barefoot as I was a yoga teacher.  Several other people decided to dry their shoes as well.  I’m glad a few people thought I had a good idea.

My plane took off in the storm and I arrived to sunny Springfield right on time.  My kid is staying with my folks in the camper as they are traveling up north.  My daughter loves Billy Bob Thornton.  I know what you’re thinking.  I let my kid watch Bad Santa.  Not only that, we also watched Euro Trip as well.  How many kids can say they watched that with their grandma?  It’s all good, she’s smart kid and has a sarcastic sense of humor.  My kid called me today.  They are camped out in some small town in Georgia and get this.  A film is being shot at the place that they’re camping at.  Guess who’s there working on the movie?  Billy Bob Thornton.  My kid enjoying the trip of a lifetime with my parents until the end of this month.  How lucky is she?

When I awoke on Tuesday morning I decided to head to a walk-in clinic in Venice.  I got there early and was only the second person in line.  I’d called our insurance company ahead of time and I can use this new insurance that Frank has anyplace with any doctor.  Wow.  I don’t even have a co-pay.  I got in right away to find that I didn’t have strep throat, I had bronchitis.  Nice.  I left with a prescription to Wal-Greens which is the place I use at home.  It also happened to be conveniently located not far from the clinic I just left.  I exited there with $18 worth of drugs in the form of a 5-day Z-pak of antibiotics and some heavy duty cough syrup that I’ve only been using at night. I know.  Go ahead and don’t believe me.

It stormed most of the day yesterday and I was pretty happy about that.  Later that same evening we took in a couple of movies that I hadn’t seen.  First we watched the Social Network.  I liked it.  Perhaps the star was a bit of a jerk, but he was also damn smart and a super hard worker while the others were - well out rowing boats (I know rowing a boat is hard work too) and going to parties.  Quite the driven dude if Imust say.  After that we watched True Grit.  I loved that and surprisingly enough my daughter liked it as well.

I took a short walk on the beach last night with my mom and my kid and inhaled the humid sea air.  I swear it’s better than any humifidier I’ve ever used.  We found several sharks’ teeth and headed home as it started to rain again.  I woke up today feeling the best I’ve felt in days so naturally I headed to the beach.  I walked too far.  Why you say?  Because when you walk a long ways you have to walk back.  I found some great teeth and fossils today and when I arrived back at the house I ate lunch and floated in the pool.

I’ve been a busy wizard with the jewelry wire wrapping sharks’ teeth and using up things I’ve been meaning to use.  Frank’s family has a huge auction at the big family reunion and my sutff goes fast and sells for decent prices.  It’s really fun.  All the money goes back into the reunion so I don’t receive any of it.

My sister and her daughter will come to Englewood tonight to spend a couple of nights.  I think we’re going on a picnic by boat tomorrow to our favorite sand bar.  One side is the Gulf the other the intercoastal.  There’s also a lot of sea urchins there.  It’s a secret.  I don’t want the Asian eateries boating over there.  Just kidding.  I have no idea really what the longititude and latitude of the place is.  On Saturday Lauren and I will head to Ft. Myers to get her hair cut by a girl with purple hair and lots of jewelry in her face.  After that we’ll spend another couple of nights on Pine Island.

Pine Island has a 4th of July parade every year on the actual holiday.  They’re totally old school VFW and I love it.  The kids will decorate a tandem bike and we’ll have a feast all day.  Of course we’ll do fireworks and Lauren and I will probably head back here late that same evening.  I’ll finish my week up here and then head home. 

Hard to believe how fast 18 days away from home can go.

Sorry for the lack of awesome photos.  I brought the old laptop and I can’t insert the card from camera directly into it.  Last year, someone from an online magazine in Ft. Myers contacted me and asked if they could use some of my photos.  I didn’t get anything for it, but I didn’t care.  It’s nice to know that someone took the time to view them.

My vacation actually started early with a quick and spur of the moment journey to St. Louis last weekend.  Someone in my family isn’t feeling too well.  He’s been hanging out at Barnes Hospital and hopefully he’ll be going home soon.  My mom flew in to St. Louis and I picked her up at the airport.  A few other family members showed up as well.  It was wonderful to see everyone, circumstances set aside.

We left Springfield on the 22nd.  Allegiant Air rocks and offers a straight flight into St. Pete.  We picked up our bitchin’ Ford Focus and hit the highway.  An hour and 15 minutes later we arrived at my mom’s.  My sister and her daughter were there when we arrived so we had some snacks and a couple of Stella Artois poolside.  I wasn’t feeling too hot.  Some time within the last few weeks, I’d been bitten by something.  The site screams spider and it was totally screaming by Thursday.  I’d purchased some “drawing out salve” before I left.  Have you ever used that stuff?  It looks like black tar and smells like it too. But hey, it worked.  Sort of.  Neosporin is pretty much kicking it now and I am so glad.  I really didn’t want to spend time sitting at a walk in clinic while I’m here.  But.  It’s not healed yet so we’ll see.

My parents invited their friends over for dinner on Thursday evening.  She’s from Cuba and came over on a 3-day boat ride.  Her husband is from Peru and oddly enough, they met in Oklahoma.  They have two adorable little kids.  The Cuban lady helps my dad do the whole bee rescue thing.  They went over to this lady’s house after dinner to check out her bee invasion.  Turns out the bees were actually yellow jackets.  No honey bees happening there.

The next day we hit Manasota Beach which is a hop, skip and a jump from mom’s place.  Like a 10 minute walk to be exact.  We walked down the beach and saw some bearded man, in good shape, working out.  After several rounds of push ups and what nots, he broke out into this ecstatic dance.  Maybe he didn’t receive the memo that the flash mob was canceled.  It was really funny but he seemed to be having a good time.  About this time, my niece Ava (she’s 6) swam over to me and said, “Aunt Kirsten, I hope that man doesn’t capture me in his dance!”  Who talks like that at the age of 6?  She does and she’s damn funny.

After a day at the beach, the pool and a few thrift stores, we loaded the Focus and shoved the kids in the car.  We arrived here on Pine Island (at Jeanine’s) Friday evening.  The mosquitoes are the worst I’ve ever seen in my life down here this time.  The planes have been flying over spraying who knows what for bug control.  It’s also much hotter this year. Extreme temperatures so we’ve been staying inside.  Last year when I blogged here from Pine Island I mentioned my sister’s workplace by name.  I also mentioned the fact that she’d sold me something from her workplace at cost.  Bad idea.  Don’t ever think that nobody reads your blog, because they do!  She was greeted at work with a hard copy of my blog a few days later.  It made for a crappy rest of the vacation as we walked on egg shells wondering if she was going to lose her job.  To make a long story short, she didn’t lose it, but did quit later. The merchandise she sold me was stuff she had purchased for herself that she actually had duplicates of.  It’s not like I walked through the store and picked out a bunch of stuff.  So know that pina coladas, corporate names and blogging are not a good combination.

We headed to town yesterday and hit Target and A.C. Moore.  We don’t have one of those at home and Jeanine always has great coupons.  The kids scored some indoor art activities and I got some things for jewelry.  I haven’t made any in a long time so I shipped all of my beads and things ahead of time.  We attend a large family reuinion the end of July and we raise money for the next reunion with an auction.  My necklaces with the sharks’ teeth always go the fastest and I have nothing to offer this time so I’d better get busy.

I think I got through this without the mention of any corporate names.  I’m drinking chamomille tea and taking Day Quil.  Better combination?  I guess so.