Vacation Day 1 June 25

I wish I could say that our drive from Florida to North Carolina was uneventful, but it was filled with delays and more drama than anyone could wish for. We started off about 7:30 a.m. from Port St. Lucie and things went pretty well for awhile. We were making good time through central Florida until we got slowed up by a sheriff’s deputy in Brevard County. He was going about 69 m.p.h. and everyone was loathe to pass him, so there was quite a bottleneck. Claudia and I inched past him going 70 m.p.h. So imagine my surprise when he pulled in behind me and flipped his lights on!!! I wasn’t speeding I swear! And I was following Claudia fairly closely, but I wasn’t tailgating. Well, guess what? My tabs had expired. Ugh. Seriously?? A phone call to Mike confirmed that he had not renewed the registration. Plus I couldn’t find an up-to-date insurance card and the registration in the glove box was the old one from the Dodge Caravan (yes, the one we got rid of in 2006!!) Shit, shit and double shit. Needless to say I got a ticket and we decided I’d better renew my tabs before heading out of state. Thank goodness there was an office about 20 miles down I-95 not too far off the road. Mike owes me $80.10. Yeah, it all comes out of the same pot, but it’s the principal of the matter! While in Daytona we stopped at Subway and filled up with gas at Sam’s Club ($2.54/gallon) and away we went!

Traffic was brisk but moving pretty steady as we headed north into Georgia until a few miles south of Brunswick where we got stopped, literally stopped because of road work. Ugh. It took about 40 minutes to drive a mile and a half. And we were off again. This was where Claudia noticed that I had a headlight out. Oh crap. Just what I needed, another reason to get stopped by a cop!! We took a potty break and headed into South Carolina. The roads weren’t as bad as I remember and we moved along pretty well except for a few miles of crawling along by a minor accident. Central SC was really pretty and started to get hilly just before Columbia. We used Claudia’s GPS to find an auto parts store in Spartaburg so that I could buy a headlight and get it replaced before it got dark. Thanks to Romey at AutoZone for helping me out! The manager there said that they couldn’t do it for me if it required dismantling anything, but I really appreciate the fact that this guy went above and beyond to help this worn out smelly woman 600 miles from home. While stopped I reached into the back to get my anti-perspirant and guess what? Yep. Left my bag at home. So no anti-perspirant, no shampoo, no make-up, no tampons, no Rxs!!!! Oh my God. I’m cursed. We ate at a Taco Bell and then headed into the mountains and North Carolina.

I can’t begin to tell you how long the trip was. My back was absolutely killing me from about Vero Beach on. It was impossible to get comfy. But at least the discomfort kept me from getting sleepy! We pulled into Asheville, NC around 9:30 and headed toward Waynesville. More traffic tie-ups. More road construction. But now it was dark and the road was hilly and windy. Not fun. The cabin is actually in Balsam and we got there just after 10.

The cabin was kind of cute in a unique way. It’s been shut up for a few weeks so the air was rather stale and musty, to be expected. What I didn’t expect was the unique décor. You know all those bowls of potpourri and the wall art made from dried flowers and all the country cutie crap from the early 80s? Sometimes you see it at goodwill now and then but overall you don’t see it in people’s homes anymore. Well, now I know where it all went to die. A little cabin in Balsam, NC! There is not a square inch in this place that isn’t covered with a doily, wicker basket or dried flower. It’s a sneezefest!!!



Well, I’m off to what will hopefully be a comfy bed. Claudia and I took the bedrooms; Kacey and Becca are sharing a sofabed and McKenzie and Carlie are laid out on air mattresses in the dining room. I’m looking forward to a good night’s rest and a brisk walk in the woods in the morning.

Anniversary/Father's Day

Last Thursday Mike and I celebrated our fourteenth anniversary. Yeah for us!! The girls were farmed out to a friend's house and Mike and I spent a nice evening together, with no kids! We went to a restaurant called "The Ashley" in Stuart. We've been for lunch with the kids before and the food was wonderful. This time Mike and I shared a salad (green apples, pecans, bleu cheese, honey-apple cider vinaigrette). He ordered the herbed pork tenderloin and I had a filet mignon with a cheese and crab sauce that was divine. YUM!

For Father's Day we drove down south to Hollywood (dropping Sophie off for a play date in Jupiter Farms). I had found a good deal on a room near the beach so we thought we would go down for a weekend of sun and sand. Unfortunately it was a little too sunny! Imagine that. . . in south Florida. . . in the summer? It was in the high 90s, way too hot to sit on the beach without shade. Probably too hot to sit on the beach WITH shade! We walked on the beach for approximately 10 minutes. The water was super warm and the sand was burning hot. so back to the hotel for us! Thankfully the hotel had a very very nice pool, so we spent the evening in the pool and well as Sunday morning.

Sunday afternoon we drove up to Sawgrass Mills, the most enormous mall I have ever been to. It's crazy big and truly overwhelming. There are over 400 stores. But more than that there were thousands of people there, hoping to escape the heat I guess. The majority were from other countries with dozens of different languages being spoken. That part was really cool. The walk from the car into the mall was about all the sun I could take and yes, even that much left me pink on my chest and shoulders!

From the mall, we picked up Sophie and headed home.

The last three days the girls and I have been busy getting ready for our big summer road trip. Most of the plans have been firmed up, reservations made, emails sent.

We are starting out in the Great Smoky Mts. staying in a cabin in Balsam, North Carolina with some friends whose family owns the cabin. Next week we will be heading to Williamburg VA where the girls and I will stay for a week seeing the sights! Then on the DC for a few days, over to Maryland to see Grandma Jo and then home again, home again, jiggety jig. Whew. It's quite a trip and has been a lot of work to plan, but we are so excited to get to see new parts of our wonderful country!

I may or may not have internet access over the next three weeks, but I will have my laptop, so I will try to update the blog if possible.

Last Day of School!!!!

Our much-awaited summer has finally begun! Well, kind of. I have two more teacher work days, but the kids are done for the year. On to sixth and fourth grade. Oh my!

Both girls came home with straight As again. Mike and I are so proud of how hard they both have worked and how much they have accomplished this year. They both have done an amazing job and came home with some impressive test scores. We couldn't be more proud!

We should be sticking around PSL for a couple weeks, catching up on chores and errands and playing with all of our friends. Then we are off to North Carolina to spend a week in the woods and then on to DC to see the sights. Mike will be joining us in DC after a conference in New Hampshire.

But for now, we are happy to put our feet up and relax for a bit!

Growth spurt

So for the five people out there who are reading my blog . . . thanks!!

McKenzie's pants have been fitting a bit snug, so I had her try on all her bottoms this morning. She now has two pairs of jeans and two pairs of shorts. That's it! In the past, the issue has always been that her jeans get too short before they get too tight; now the length is still fine, but she can barely zip them up!

At spring break she had outgrown all of her clothes so we had to go from size 0s and 14 slims to size 1s and now, in less than six weeks, she has outgrown almost all of those new clothes! Thank goodness there is only three days of school left. I should be able to get away with just buying her shorts and capris and not worry about jeans until she goes back to school in the fall. My little girl is not so little anymore. . .

Is Anybody Out There?

Is anybody still reading my blog?

When I started this I thought it would be a nice way to keep people near and far abreast of what is going on in our lives. However, the lack of feedback leaves me wondering if anybody ever reads this! Maybe you folks are just shy and don't like to leave comments?

I think it hurt my feelings a little bit to post Rebecca's wonderful Young Author's project and not have a single person respond.

So here's the challenge. . . if you are reading this, leave a comment and let me know what your plans are for the summer. What are you most looking forward to? That way, I'll get some idea about whether to take the time to continue blogging and I'll know what everybody is up to this summer!

Update Great News!!

Good news to share!
First, I was reappointed and given a professional services contract (kind of like tenure) and I will have a job next year. I don't know what grade I will teach but I will be teaching Reading at St Lucie West K-8.

Secondly Becca and McKenzie rocked their FCATs!! Becca got perfect scores on her Math and Reading tests. As far as I know, she is the first kid in the history of our school to do that!! McKenzie got Level 5s in Reading, Math AND Science!!! Great job girls! We are so proud of you!

At their award ceremonies yesterday, Becca had the "highest GPA" for her class and Kenzie was named "Best Artist" by her classmates. Will post pictures when I get time!

Happy Mother's Day!!

Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful mother!

I got breakfast in bed this morning and then stayed there most of the day sleeping. I was definitely not feeling well. The kids and Mike took over laundry duty, etc. so I could rest. I am a lucky mom.