Oh yes, that's right. Apparently I only know how to make plans last minute, and I'm leaving for Florida on Monday! In four days. I found out about it Tuesday night around 10pm. Yes, it's that splendid.
The drive is about 950 miles and I'm hoping to be there around 1pm on Tuesday, which will put me in the middle of 84 degree weather :) Staying with relatives, so it's basically a free trip other than the gas and the hotel rooms on the way there and the way back...which will be paid for with travel points so that's even basically free. I'll be heading back on the following Saturday, but only driving a couple hours that day and then having a full out 9-10 hour drive on Sunday to get back home (it's about 14-15 hour total).
On a side note, I'll be visiting some attraction while there. I'll be close enough to Orlando and Tampa Bay to visit pretty much anything, but I'm debating between Sea World and Busch Gardens-Africa. There is a whole $5 difference in admission price so that is not helping me make a decision. I have been to Sea World, but not the Busch Gardens. However, I have been to Africa so...it almost defeats the purpose. I'd be more going for the zoo part than the rollercoaster part. Has anyone ever been to the Busch Gardens-Africa in Tampa Bay?
^busch gardens (...not me) ^Kenya. (me)
But, last minute plans also mean last minute busy-ness. I have three assignments due next week during spring break (because our professors just hate us that much) and I'm trying to get them done so I don't have to tote my computer around. But, it's proving quite difficult as I have a full weekend of kids. E is staying over Friday night and I'm trying to get him to the circus, which would be a lot easier to do if I could afford it, and then Baby B and the siblings are staying over Saturday night and we're having a big family dinner thingy...for which I must, at some point, make dessert. And I work on Sunday. Not to mention the laundry and the packing and the sunscreen shopping and such that needs to be done. I'm going to go ahead and say I have maybe a 10% chance of getting my schoolwork done before we leave.
Will you hear from me again in the next week and a half? This, I do not know. I know that my aunt and uncle who we are staying with have internet, but I don't know if it's wireless. If it's not, then I'm not going to sit on their computer much. If they do have wireless, I'll probably be around a bit towards the end of the week because the weather is not supposed to be all that great at that point. And if I do post, it probably won't come with pictures. :( But, be prepared to get bombarded with them when I get back! :D
And because Melissa reminded me of this and this picture makes me laugh everytime I see it, here's the best picture to come from the SCUBA certification in the Keys a few years ago:
Monday nights are my nights out. I know this sounds stupid, because it's not as if I couldn't go out on other nights--I have nothing really holding me in. But on Mondays we have Girls Night Out with the most random group of girls you'd ever meet (and you would question our friendship within minutes of doing so). But, because I'm so addictive to the Bachelor this season for reasons I have yet to uncover, I decided to stay in and watch the finale tonight. The recap:
Tonight the girls met with Jason's family, and his son--Ty.
Melissa is first, and immediately clicks with Ty. So much that when Ty wakes up from his nap, he immediately asks where Melissa is. And Melissa is great with Jason's parents and brothers, who are skeptical of her only because Jason hadn't met her parents (this whole situation makes me wonder if the producers discriminated against actual orphans when doing their casting...get over it already). But, she quickly wins Jason's dad over and they all think she's the one.
When Molly's turn comes up, Ty dislikes her...basically...until she manages to throw a frisbee properly. But, by the time they make whats possibly the worst attempt at kite flying ever known to man, Ty is giggling. And she does well with Jason's family, and they all say "there's a sparkle in your eye with her!"
We also find out that Jason is apparently the only one in his family capable of tanning. Second Dates.
Melissa and Jason go on a sightseeing sailtour, which fails miserably and they just end up soaking wet before they decide to jump off the boat into the freezing cold water. Yet, they still have a great time doing it, even though they are both secretly thinking "Geeze, now I have to shave again."
With Molly, we never actually know what Jason had planned. But, she makes her own plan anyway "because it's rainy"...which turns out to be terribly convenient since she had two massage tables and oils set up perfectly at "her place" that would have just gone to waste had it been a beautiful sunny day. We get another one of those steamy moments where we aren't really sure if we should send the kids out of the room or not as Molly straddles Jason's back and rubs oil all over him slowly, and then commands that he turn around so she can straddle his front.
And then we question how Molly really got her job as a department store buyer.
The Return of DeAnna.
DeAnna, the one who left him without a rose to pursue her failed relationship with Jesse, comes to visit. In this visit, she proclaims, "If I had listened to my head and my heart I would have chosen you." And America wonders "...then what is it that you listened to?" And she basically tells him to pick Melissa, and then leaves. End season long drama build up. The Rose Ceremony.
Molly is first up. She's very confident, "It will be great when he proposes to me." Jason, however, tells her he has to let her go, and offers zero explanation for the decision, and Molly just keeps saying "You've made the wrong decision."
And then there's Melissa. Jason calls her up and immediately tells her that he's in love with her and she does this cute little squealy thing and jumps into his arms and it's all very charming. He gets down on one knee and asks her to marry him, and as she is about to bust she says, "Can you just give me one second?" and then turns around and does another little squealy thing (the cone of silence was still not perfected by the release of this episode, apparently). Then as Ty comes and joins them, they all take a very cute little clothed swim in the gorgeous pool associated with Jason's 9283928498520 square foot rental.
The End!! ...or is it? No, it is not.
The Bachelor: After the Final Rose comes on.
Here, we find out that Jason's words to Molly were actually, "You're awesome, and I lo--loaned your ring to Melissa for a few weeks."
First Jason comes on alone, and explains how he can't stop thinking about Molly and how Melissa and Jason's relationship has not been the same, even though they had spent all the holidays together and gone on a few trips together since the show ended. Which is great, since it's been an entire six weeks.
So they bring out Melissa.
Jason starts this conversation out with how they had talked about the relationship changes, and Melissa avoids eye contact and throws out a record number of "umhmm"s to keep from ripping Jason's head off. And Jason finally gets to the "It's not you, it's me." portion of the speech and Melissa mumbles, "you're such a bastard" so perfectly (and no, I'm not embellishing on that, she actually said that...and it was awesome).
She hand him back the ring and the host "excuses" himself to let them say goodbye...while the cameras still roll and all of America watches, and so does he from backstage. Melissa says, "Don't call me. Don't text me. Just leave me alone." and leaves.
And then we see Jason cry for the...fourth? fifth? time in a span of three hours. (At which point my mother says, "Why does he look like such a dork?")
And then it's time for Molly. Molly is still a little peeved that Jason didn't pick her, but "still has the feelings from the time I left to today." Which is so very convenient for her, as Jason immediately comes out after that and asks her to go for coffee. She has a lot of questions to ask first, and after she asks nothing, she calmly massages Jason's leg and leaves in his arms.
I smell yet another failure under ABCs file for love. Nice try, though! I was at least mildly entertained. ;]
And if you are in need of a good laugh, I found this video on accident. It's about 7 minutes long, but hilarious:
A few things, because I haven't updated since Wednesday (I know, crazy!), that went down this weekend:
B had this list of things he wanted to do before we got engaged. This involved getting the okay from his parents, getting the okay from my parents, buying a new car, and switching the insurance over for it. A couple weeks ago he got the green light from his parents, Saturday he bought a new car (black Mazda 3, 2009) which came with the insurance switchover (I will post pictures of this when he picks it up this week, he's having a spoiler put on. It doesn't have power windows, but how dare it not have a spoiler), and Saturday night while I was trying to get my niece and nephew back with their parents B came over and asked my mom for permission to marry me. And yes, to you people who have normal families, you are looking at this and thinking "Um, he asked her mom?" But, if you've ever seen the show Gilmore Girls, my life is pretty much an exact mirror of Rory's (and my mom's Lorelei's), minus the rich grandparents, so my mom was certainly the right person to ask. This means the list is done! And I know he's got something up his sleeve, I just don't know what it is, and I'm excited :)
As you kind of noticed in passing above, my sister surprised us this weekend by visiting. And by surprised, I mean we were on the phone Friday night and we were having this serious conversation about the breast cancer gene testing and to do it or not and the insurance and the preventatives and yadayada, and she all of a sudden busts out with Sister (v.1977): "Where are you?" Me: "On the way to dinner, you?" Sister: "Oh we're on the way there." So they showed up around midnight Friday night, as they don't live in this state...SURPRISE!
^ My first niece. In Kmart the guy said: "Is that your baby? She looks just like you." ...somehow the blonde hair and blue eyes vs. my brown hair and hazel eyes says differently to me?
It got really warm this week, and it was sunny and brilliant out. So when I got home I waited for the boys to get home from school (12, 8, and 6) so we could go up to the park. No, not so much. By the time we got there, the sun was gone and it was windy and freezing. But, we still went. If only to take some pictures :)
And lastly, the bookstore I work at changed their store hours today, so I have now been off for coming up on five hours. I don't know what to do with all this time (well, except for blog, of course!)
And there's this, which is just fun as long as you ignore how incredibly out of focus it is:
First, an Award from Lindsay! Thanks lady! "These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award!"
I'm pretty sure everyone who follows me and who I follow has been tagged for this already, except a few who certainly deserve it (and they were probably tagged too, and I missed it, but just incase):
DAR at first comes love, then comes marriage jlc at French Kiss and I know she's already been tagged, but she deserves another: Indiana.Girl at The Yellow Ribbon Diary
Get at it, girls! =]
Now onto the "show me" purse game!
1. Post a picture of the bag/purse/handbag/pocketbook {whatever you call it!} that you are carrying! Now, don't you even think about going back there to your closet and getting that cute little clutch that you carried before you had children or the last time you went out ;-) I want to see the purse that you carried today! I'm just going to add "discuss the contents" into this, because everyone is doing it anyway.
2. Tell us how much it cost! Oh my, I know what you are thinking - a Southern Belle neva discusses matters of money, darlin'. Well, yes, but today we are gonna break that rule and tell! Yes, tell how much it cost. We won't judge! This is for entertainment purposes only! And if there is a story that goes along with this purse, tell it!!
3. Tag some other girls. It will be fun to see what everybody else posts :-)
It's a Vera Bradley, and I think it cost around $50. I actually got it for Christmas from my dad (yes, the man did walk into the vera bradley store full of purses and cosmetics and pick it for me) in the same pattern, but a different shape, and I am fully addicted to this shape. It's just perfect for my stuff. It is very, very rare that I spend this kind of money on a purse for myself, so most the time when I'm carrying a vera bradley it's because someone else got it for me.
The contents: -checkbook (I do have a nice, complete wallet...I just don't carry it) -2 pencils -2 pens -3 batteries (to refill the camera) -chapstick -a wooden TUIT coin -and a bottle of tylenol PM (which was only there because I grabbed the smallest bottle I could find and threw a couple excedrin in it on the way out the door one day because I had a migraine) -camera (obviously, not pictured)
This is pretty typical for my purse most the time, to have nothing in it. I used to be Mary Poppins jr. and could pull basically anything out of a purse this size, from sippy cups to lotion to any kind of aspirin you could possibly need, even novels or notebooks and other things you'd never had believed would fit in there. But this year I'm pretty simple about what I carry.
I'm also not tagging anyone special for this, because I'm tagging everyone. That's right, if you haven't done it...you are tagged. And if you do it and I'm not officially following you, would you mind dropping me a comment to let me know you did it so I can see what you are you toting around? :)
I bought the first "wedding planner" book ever in my life this week. Why, you ask? Because I flipped through it and it was actually well helpful, the only copy there, and $4.99. Yes, a 5 dollar wedding planning book. The cheapest thing for the entire wedding, I'm certain.
This got me to thinking about the people in the wedding. Why? I have no idea. I also have no idea how we went from "I want two bridesmaids and a simple wedding" to "Let's have a guest list of 400 and 5 people on each side of the wedding party." No idea, whatsoever. But, that's the way it is!
What is this post actually about, you ask? I'm getting there, one rambling at a time :)
I need my nephew, Ethan, to be in the wedding. He's 8 now, but will be 10 by the time the wedding rolls around. He's a huge part of my life and who I am, and I need him in it. But I don't just want him in it, I want him to have some kind of significant role in it. My mom suggested a Junior Groomsmen, but we have no one to be a Junior Bridesmaid and frankly we have enough people to stand up there already. But, what we don't have is a ring bearer. We have two flower girls, Baby B and Isabella, who will both be 3 at that point, but no little boys in either of our families and we want the boy to be older than the girls. (And by 'we' I definitely mean 'me' because I'm sure B couldn't care less). So I was thinking maybe Ethan could stand in the middle and hold the girls' hands and be the ring bearer, and we'd put the rings on dog tags around his neck. But, is 10 too old to be a ring bearer?
My favorite picture from the last time he was a ring bearer. The "how many *#%@^#@$! pictures do we have to take?!" face:
And does anyone have any other suggestions for how to put a 10 year old boy in a wedding significantly? I'll consider anything, traditional or something you just made up. Really, I'm desperate ;]
Please understand that I didn't mean it. It's just, you see, it was so warm out today. My dog, Chase, doesn't get to go out and play much during the winter because it's so cold, and his little heart only lives to play fetch. So, when it's warm, we inhabit the backyard in which you built your home and I hit tennis balls from one side of the yard to the next with a 'bat' that is really an old ax handle and he chases them and brings them back time and time again.
You must know that I do not hit the ball with every attempt I make to do so. In fact, I wouldn't blame you for laughing at the amount of times I do, in fact, miss. And I don't blame you for thinking it was safe to leave your nest and fly off after I had missed three times in a row. How were you to know I would actually show some resemblance of skill that one time?
I watched fatefully as the tennis ball flew into the air at the speed of light, noticing ever so slightly something leaving from the tree. At first I thought you were a leaf, until I realized there were no leaves on that tree...because it's winter...and then I knew--that was it for you. You spiraled to your resting place on the ground. Chase was overly confused on whether to fetch you or the ball.
Please know that I have never done such a thing before. I have never hit one of you with a car or a gun or anything else. Although I will admit to having a kitty, Lovey Boy, who was very good at catching your kind (they taunted him, though. you were not a taunter). And as my last final act of kindness to you, I did not let Sierra and Kimber out to destroy you and instead called my neighbor to come get you for a proper garbage can burial (because as sorry as I am for you, I do not wish to catch bird flu and he has more years on him than I).
So, Rest in Peace Birdie. May your next life be longer.
For whatever reason I've been drawn into this season of the Bachelor. Well, when I remember to watch it...anyway. Last night I did, in fact, remember to do such. It was...interesting, to say the least.
There were three girls left for him: Jillian, Molly and Melissa. They all flew to New Zealand (the land of sheep and mountains, apparently).
The first date was with Jillian. His big worry? She's too independent. This seems to be a trend with his worries. God forbid any woman be independent, how in the world would Jason be the relationship ruler? Psst. Jillian says she wants to marry her best friend. Anyone else in the world would take this and say "that's lovely and exactly what I want," but Jason questions whether best friends can have hot, steamy, passionate make out sessions in a hot tub. So, naturally, he tries and they have such a scene. (As America sits at home and thinks, "Is this legal to play on television?") and then, of course, invites her back to his suite for the night.
The next date is Molly. They go bungee jumping. No problem, after all, "It's not that far" (...right). I wonder what would have happened if she chickened out. Or he, as he looked more nervous than she did (maybe he should be more independent). Afterwards he questions her affection for him. Who wouldn't? After the hot tub scene with Jillian, Molly's standoffish affection towards him is quite the change. But in the end, showing affection or not, Jason does not pass up a chance to spend the night with her (nor does Molly, who asks him to before he even suggests it).
And of course there is Melissa. Jason worries that he didn't meet her family. I wonder how much it really matters anyway, as they are not going to live anywhere near her family when they marry anyway. She wonders if it's a big deal. He thinks it is. She wants nothing more than to end this stupid conversation about her family because she's frankly a bit pissed at them for doing this to her. The real question he should be asking, however, is how is she going to do not being near her family? She talks to her brother 5-7 times and week and sees her parent 2-3 times a week. She can't do that in Seattle, that's a serious lifestyle change. But is Jason worried about this? No, of course not. Just worried about her parents, not her, duh. But, again, it doesn't really seem to matter as he takes her to his suite for the night. He explains the gorgeous suite to us as they walk that direction, as if he hadn't just spent the past two nights there with two OTHER women. Way to go, playboy.
And then comes the rose ceremony. I'm 100% sure Jillian is staying. 65/35 on Melissa/Molly. But, for sure, Jillian is staying. He calls Melissa first, and if I had had any ambition to do anything at all last night I would have turned it off and walked away, fully confident he was sending Molly. But, my laziness paid off as I sat there to watch him call Molly forward, and send Jillian home. What? Really? I large series of "no way"s came out of my mouth. Poor Jillian. She wasted that dirty hot tub scene only to get booted. To be honest, if it were me, I'd be pissed. And after this episode I'm almost tempted to side with Melissa's parents on the publicness of this being obnoxious. How would you feel if your husband slept with two other woman right before he proposed to you? Hmm. Not so hot.
Oh, and for those of you waiting like dogs sitting for a treat, DeAnna comes back in two weeks! I'm predicting that her "I made a mistake" statement has nothing to do with not picking Jason. And she only comes to offer advice. It's being played up too much to be anything else.
Melissa is the one, and frankly a bit too good for Jason. You go girl!
I love when I realize why I love the people in my life so very much.
I love Bestie because, even though we can go a couple weeks without having an actual conversation these days due to schedules and distance, she always knows exactly what I need to hear: "So, every time I look at the picture of you and B I just smile really big and think that I will always have that picture wherever I am and when I finally settle down I will have that picture and whatever the newest picture of your kids are next to each other. Your wedding picture/s will be hung on the wall somewhere in a collage that has random pictures at the lake and silly other life moments!"
I love B because we have conversations like this with nothing warranting them: B: "Do you know how much I love you?" V: "How much?" B: "Soo much. And I'm going to show you every day we're together." A sweet talker, that one. I'm slightly worried that he's talking himself into a huge roll to fill and doesn't realize it, but I love it anyway.
And I love my other friends because today we were able to get through spending hours moving things out of TJ and Steph's house relatively unscathed. And even though we had to deal with the passersby walking their dogs (their pretty greyhounds and boxers, by the way) asking the "are you guys moving?" question and having to decide whether to just lie and say "yes" to avoid it or tell the truth and have to go through the whole story, we were still able to keep some fun in it: (this thanks to Kristy apparently being able to pull 9823928 clothespins out of her pockets at any random moment, and Jessie willing to be the guinea pig)
We also started plans for the next Mexico trip. November. Which is simply fictitious for me unless my parents decide to take pity on me and my brokeself and pay for it. Jess can afford it, Kristy can probably make it. Me...nope.
Speaking of which, I found three jobs! But I'm not sure I'm going to take any of them. One is full-time, one is a straight up business business so I have to set up a business meeting to see if I really have an interest in it anyway, and another is going to be hard to work around my school schedule. But...I'll relay more on this at a later date.
Going on a "mystery date" with B pretty soon for Valentine's Day! Hope you are enjoying yours!
Baby B and Cousin A holding hands. The girls running away. Me and Baby B shadowpeople. Vday cupcakes, made with attitude by me and (mostly) the friends. Accidental photo failure of me and B's feet...though it's still kind of cool. my jeans are better, though :)
We're currently having anywhere from 50-70mph winds following a nice thunderstorm and tornado watch. I'm almost amusing myself by watching the "power outage" meter calculate failures. So far it's up to 60,437. I figured I'd post some photos while I waited for us to join the statistic, as it's only flashed about 23892 times in the past hour! Enjoy!
First I would like to say: If you have no idea what I'm talking about, scroll down to my other recent posts and visit my links to the Whitt family. =]
This is pretty much going to be boring and an informative update from here on out, just a warning!
Onto the Neurosurgeon visit:
Last year, after my mom was diagnosed with cancer, they did a full body scan to determine how advanced it was. This includes the head. They first questioned the tumor on her pituitary gland, but ruled that as non-cancer due to the fact that it's been there for 9 years and is genetic. But there were some random spots found on the base of her skull. They couldn't do a biopsy on these because it was too risky, so they were just going to burn them with some radiation. Translation: they have no idea if they were cancer or not. Only a week went by before she had her day-before-scan, and they called that afternoon and canceled the procedure for the following day because the spots were mysteriously gone. If they were cancer, there is a chance that the chemo got them in that week, if they weren't, the chemo probably still got them but the chance of them coming back is high.
Well, we went this morning to get the results of the 3monthslater scans and there is still nothing. Which is amazing! :D Couldn't have been better! She'll go back again in three months, and if still nothing, every six months for a few years. Sweet!
On the Abby Custody Front:
Because I suddenly realize I didn't have this blog then, I'll do a mini-background on this. TJ and Steph were killed on September 14th last year in the hurricane here in Ohio while on a charity motorcycle ride. We've been friends with their family forever and TJ's stepmom is one of my mom's best friends. It just so happened that we were at their house that day throwing a big surprise party for my mom when the call came in.
They left behind their baby girl, Abby, who was six months old at the time. This morning was the "official custody hearing," which turned out not to be very official. But, it actually worked out quite well, to be honest, and I will describe this here mostly because I think if I don't write it down I'm going to forget it haha. You can pretty much ignore this if you want, it's going to be boring.
In October the guardianship hearing was held, where they appointed 3 guardians (...I don't honestly know why) of her maternal grandmother, maternal great aunt and paternal great aunt. The hearing today was to settle single guardianship and set a date for the adoption hearing. However, the results of today changed nothing and there are still three guardians for her, the same three as before. Apparently by doing this, the adoption hearing could be pushed up several months. I'm not really sure why this is, but it is. Before the hearing would have been at the end of the summer, now it's in the middle of April.
There are three people who have applied for adoption and as far as we know, there will only be three: her maternal grandmother, her maternal grandfather, and her paternal uncle and aunt. The lowdown is basically this: the maternal grandmother is nuts and should not be left alone with kids, the maternal grandfather is a really great guy, but he's very aged, so basically the best choice if the aunt and uncle: J&L. They are the most logical choice and the best one, the only problem is this: They live in New Jersey. All of Abby's family is here or in Michigan besides them, and that's the only real hold up. But it's basically like this: as soon as J&L found out about TJ and Steph, they immediately said they wanted Abby. They lived in a one bedroom flat in NYC, and within one week had moved out of the city into a townhouse, taking an $18,000 hit. They've set up her nursery, everything is ready to go, they got married (had planned on doing so next summer, but just did a little ceremony early figuring they could sacrifice that), and they are here every other week spending as much time with Abby as they can and I can't even begin to imagine how much that is costing them but they are doing it because it's what's best for her. They have no other children, they are both lawyers. They want her, and it's the best place for her.
But right now she still has three guardians, with which she is spending one week each with. Which is really disconcerting for me because that means she has no consistency and kids really need consistency, but it's better that it gets resolved quicker I suppose. The adoption hearing will be in April, and after that the magistrate has 60 days to make a decision. Yes, that does mean it could be mid-June until she decides. And then people have 2 weeks to make an objection to her decision and if that happens, then they have to set up a court date with a different judge to present their case as to why the decision was not the right one--this part is what will take the longest, we think, because it's getting in to see this particular judge that is really impossible to do quickly. But, if no one objects in those two weeks, then he just has to sign off on it and Abby will officially be adopted. The part that sucks about this is that she'll be almost one and a half before it's final. And if the maternal grandmother doesn't get custody, there is a large chance she will object, just because.
The good thing about this? When the magistrate was talking today she said "when she goes to New Jersey" and then doubled back and corrected herself. There is certainly hope there!
I have a degree as a Secondary English Teacher but am currently a stay-at-home Mama to a wonderful baby boy. I'm a children's advocate, a writer, a reader, a baker, a painter, a family prioritist, a traveling fool, an Air Force wife, and a soccer enthusiast--navigating the world one PCS at a time.
