2007-A Look Back

I took a look back today, 2007 was a pretty big year, I finalized my divorce after 18months of torture and indecision, sold my house, successfully launched a home based business and relocated my family. I left a great many wonderful friends in North Carolina, I made some terrific new friends in Florida, and I rediscovered some friends I thought I had lost....you know who you are!

All in all it was an okay year, there were some really tough times, but there were also some really happy times and big successes. I learned alot about myself and it is true, "you find out who your friends are".

I hope 2008 is positive and really happy for my children, my brothers, my parents and all those old and new friends. Take care and God Bless!

New Year's Eve Fun

Happy New Year's Eve to all! There are several parties around town tonight including the finale of Light Up the Inlet at Ponce Inlet, the Flagler Ave Restaurants and Taverns will be ringing in the New Year as well. Whatever you choose to do this evening, be safe and sober or be sure you have a designated driver or take a cab.

For my friends in the north click this link for some sunshine and the wonderful sound of the ocean.... NSB Webcam

Snow!

I am sitting in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Madison, WI watching Girl Child swim in the indoor pool. We are both greatly anticipating our 415am wakeup call, so we can make our 630am flight back to sunny Florida. She had a great time in the snow, but told me today she was ready to go home. It is too cold for her here and messy, that is her word, she does not like slush. Amen Sister!

Yes, Christmas in Wisconsin

OK, so I would have posted yesterday but I was enjoying the Atlanta Airport, I was enjoying it with all of my new friends, the ones headed to Hilton Head, the ones headed to Greensboro, the ones headed to Chicago and the ones headed to Milwaukee, I got to make lots of friends at the three gates I sat at while awaiting my flight to Madison, WI for 7 hours. At least I made it at midnight last night, my Milwaukee friends were cancelled as I was leaving...but the Atlanta Airport has wonderful amenities I now know, they have bathroom attendants, they have wireless internet for the bargain basement price of $7.95 per day...let me tell you when you break that down by the 420 minutes I was there with an 8 year old child who wanted to play Webkinz, it was priceless. That girl child sat on the floor on her coat in that airport and never complained, whined or said are we there yet once. She is amazing....Webkinz helped!

The fun does not end there however, as we were preparing to board, the lovely gate agent asks for a head count of those traveling with children that have a ticket. there were 2, why does this matter I and all my new friends wondered? Well because the weather in Madison was so bad, they had to bring extra FUEL in case we had to fly on to the "alternate destination". I am still not sure where that mystery location is, but I can tell you that at that moment I was hoping it was the Bahamas.

Extra fuel means weight and balance issues, which mean plane too heavy, which means drop like a rock with a little ice. I LOVE WINTER! Well somehow they worked that all out not sure whose luggage they left behind, but since I did not have any I did not care!! I was fresh out of compassion for my fellow man by this point!

You are thinking I am done with this happy Christmas travel tale...but no there is more, we arrive and I will not even go into the landing or the fact that I have never wished more for a reason to be wearing a Depends Undergarment....I will move right on to the ride from Madison airport to the community that is sitting just this side of the gates of hell that my brother lives in. It is an hour ride in clear weather, well can you say ICE and SNOW and trailer trucks driving the normal speed? We saw 12 and yes I did COUNT THEM, 12 cars, SUV's, and minivans on their ROOF. Yes upside down, we even got the pleasure of seeing one careening into the ditch in front of us.....you can read about the storm here.

But we made it in one piece, I have peeked my head outside once today, it is clear and snowy and refreshingly beautiful for this Florida girl, but the high is 32 so I have not ventured out.

SO, here we are. Merry Christmas to all!

Christmas in Wisconsin~Maybe?

Well, my mother the eternal queen of DOOM & Gloom has called to tell me that they are awaiting a blizzard at my destination tomorrow. She is hoping we make it. Ever the optimist she anticipates that my daughter and I will spend Christmas with 2 million of our closest friends in Atlanta! Joy of Joys....falalalala! I cannot wait.

I have been glued to the flight delays on FlightStats all day. If you are traveling by air it is great!

Christmas in Wisconsin

So tomorrow I am joining all the other crazy people who are using our wonderful airline system to fly to a relatives for Christmas. In my case I am leaving the warmth and gorgeous weather of Florida to go to Wisconsin...WHERE AM I GOING???? Yes Wisconsin, where it is currently 36 degrees, oh and that is the high temperature for today.

Have I lost my mind you ask? Well sort of, my brother lives there and they have snow, my children were born in Florida, they have lived in TN and NC and FL. They have seen snow something like three times, two of them they were too young to remember. So we are off to the great snowy north....for a merry Christmas.

Beauty

What a beautiful place I live....I took long bike ride on the beach this morning. I saw a man fishing, 2 guys surfing and a few people walking. Gorgeous day....I cannot tell you how peaceful it is at the beach this time of year...

Volusia County Schools

So we get this cryptic recorded message from the Volusia County School automated system last night. It is about 20 seconds and tells us that the school system has received a threat, but that the threat was not specific so they have heightened security. WHAT?? Well, isn't that nice, I would rather not know that information thank you! If you cannot give me some information keep it to yourself.

As we as parents pack off their most precious posessions for school this morning, we must wonder.....is it safe?

Twas the Week Before Christmas

So are you all ready for Christmas? Presents purchased and wrapped? Kids all snuggled....no that is next week. sorry I got excited for a minute...

Check out this great website. KSBJ. Yes, it is a Christian Music Station of out of Texas. They are playing Christmas music 24 hours a day. Some is Christian Music, some is plain old Christmas Carols. You can listen right on your PC at home or work. It will get you in the spirit, even if the cookies aren't baked, the house is not clean and the presents are not wrapped (or bought). Enjoy!

Arlington National Cemetery

Rest easy, sleep well my brothers
Know the line has held, your job is done
Rest easy, sleep well
Others have taken up where you fell, the line has held
Peace, peace, and farewell...



Readers may be interested to know that these wreaths -- some 5,000 -- are donated by the Worcester Wreath Co. of Harrington, Maine. The owner, Merrill Worcester, not only provides the wreaths, but covers the trucking expense as well. He's done this since 1992. A wonderful guy. Also, most years, groups of Maine school kids combine an educational trip to DC with this event to help out. Making this even more remarkable is the fact that Harrington is in one the poorest parts of the state.


Please remember our veterans, servicemen and women this Christmas season.

Kids Are Mean

My Boy Child is having issues with a couple of kids at school, they are picking on him at recess, on the bus and whenever they think no one is looking. This is his first year at this school and he is in fifth grade, he is the new kid and misses his friends. It is a tough time to be adjusting to new kids. He has a couple of friends that he gets along great with so that helps but....

I am struggling to figure out what to do with this as he is smart, athletic, he is playing 2 sports right now and that is some of what they are teasing him about. I have told him to take the high road and ignore them, which so far he has done, but I am not sure how long that will last. He has an overwhelming urge to "kick their ass" as he puts it. I spoke to his teacher to let him know what is going on, but beyond that I am not sure what to do. I would like to "kick their ass" myself but I guess that would not be very adult.

Any suggestions?

Red Tide

Red Tide has invaded New Smyrna and the Volusia beaches yet again. I understand this is a rare thing here but it has hit us hard since October. The picture above shows red tide invading Little Gasparilla Island in SW Florida several years ago. The west coast of FL has many more problems than we do but it is here now and is a problem.

Four Dolphins were found dead at Canaveral National Seashore this week, pets are struggling, humans are sniffing, sneezing and coughing. I myself have had major allergy like issues all week. IT is so rare in non-Gulf areas that NOAA does not even track it in the Atlantic. I found a few resources on it:

Red Tide Alert

Red Tide

FL Natural Resources

Here are some documented symptoms:

1. Headache/migraine

2. Dry mouth, cracked lips

3. Extreme fatigue

4. Constant thirst

5. Extreme respiratory problems, coughing, lack of breath, laryngitis, sinusitis, and extreme irritation of the lungs.

6. Upset stomach

Pet symptoms include:

1. Limited to uncontrollable sneezing.

2. Backwards cough, it's a cross between a cough and a choke. Once a dog has had a high exposure they can continue this type of coughing even if they have been brought inside. Beware, this has proven to be a strong indicator of impending problems. Keep the animals in clean air.

3. Uncontrollable swallowing accompanied by foaming at the mouth. This is seen when they get high doses of toxic air on the beach. Dogs have dropped as they walked on the beach. This happened on our island. And letters also pointed this out in St.Pete.

4. Drunken walk, they lose their motor skills, and are not sure of the location of their feet. They are losing sensory perception. This is FACT.

5. Lack of appetite and lack of energy for a day or two. This is seen in the dogs that have the toxins building in their systems. At times they may swallow constantly like they have something stuck in their throat, and droll slightly. This may pass or continue to full blown seizures.

6. Intestinal problems, digestive problems.

7. If exposure is severe there will be a Total shutdown of the nervous system, accompanied by blindness and deafness.

Thepet symptoms were observed in dogs in the SW area of FL were Red Tide is far more prevalent. But this bears watching in our NSB Pets.

Please send me your comments and observations, I will compile and send to the red tide alert site.

Letter From Santa

Back in the day when my kids still believed in Santa (this is new that they don't and I hate it) they loved to get their yearly letter from Santa! This is the best of the best of these letters and it is so reasonably priced. Check it out. We have kept ours over the years in our photo album to commemorate each Christmas as they have grown up.

Kiss & Tell

So, yesterday I get a call from my son's teacher. He starts the conversation with, "we have a problem". Great, *&$#%, great, I thought. Well my precious 10 year old was caught kissing his girlfriend on school property by the janitor. Well, since it was the janitor he is not getting a disciplinary "referral" as they call it. But he will get a talking to by the principal.

Here is how my conversation with him went:

Mom: "Did you kiss a girl at school today?"
Boy Child: "Not on the lips" (nice)
Mom: "That was not the question, did you kiss her?"
Boy Child: "Not on the lips" (this kid drives me nuts)
Mom: "OK, did your lips touch any part of her"
Boy Child: "Well, yea her cheek"(lord, help me)
Mom: "So you did kiss her?"
Boy Child: "Not on the lips." (you are kidding me right???)

Meanwhile, my daughter is delighting in his obvious discomfort, and she is urging me to "ground him mom, are you gonna ground him??? Come on mom, ground him."

I have still not resolved in my mind why my 10 year old is kissing anyone, but my brother tells me this stuff goes on, and my father a retired teacher, tells me..."this is just the start you better nip it in the bud or he will be hiding in the janitors closet making out" (Gee, thanks for the HELP DAD!)
His teacher tells me there is "a lot of love going on" in the fifth grade and they are going to talk to all the kids today.

Anyway, the end result was I sent him to his room to think about it. NO TV, no computer, no bike, no nothing...he was fairly miserable.

But Girl Child was just gleeful....her thoughts on the dilemma:

"His misery is my pleasure!"

I find it amazing that Boy Child even likes girls after living with her.

Larry the Cable Guy

One of my goals is to be organized. Go ahead laugh, it is pretty funny. I want organized closets, cabinets, drawers. I want it all. I am not getting it. I am not sure it is possible for me to maintain organization. My children are just like me, a disaster, so we have three total disasters living under one very small roof.

What you ask does Larry the Cable Guy have to do with this? He is here, in my house, right now. He is attempting to fix the cable in my Master Bedroom, so he went in my son's room and saw the cable strung across the floor and said let me fix this too, then he opened the closet. To say I am mortified is an understatement.

You know it is bad when you are embarassed by the cable man seeing the inside of your closets. I will probably never see this man again,(thank god)but I still cannot look him in the eye. He knows my secret. My house is a mess. I am not organized. I never will be. I am sure he is going to his next job, who is probably my neighbor and tell them, you should see the mess down the street.....I have to get organized.

Wordless Thursday

Click to Play

Wordless Wednesday

Get all your Christmas Lyrics Here

Closure

The sale on my house was final today, the deed was recorded and the funds were disbursed, I will be a few dollars richer in a few days. Very few. My ex-husband will be richer than me, because the state of NC laws are so very ridiculous that it is easier to just give in than to hang around and fight. It was easier to give him more than he ever gave in order to get rid of him and be done with it so we can all move on.

This is a man who spent 4 hours arguing about a television in mediation. Then did not want to spend any money on his kids health insurance...and oh yea NEVER asked about visitation.

My attorney who was wonderful to me during this two year ordeal gave me the best advice I have had...he said. It will eat you up if you let it. Move on and remember you got the best part of the deal...he got more money and gave up his children in the process. Pretty bad deal for him......

Good News Sunday

The New Smyrna Beach Christmas Parade was yesterday, a grand time was had by all. Come very creative floats and people were in attendance. This is a great way to start the Holiday Season!