Mickey and Fay in one week

Last Saturday afternoon started our weekend getaway to Orlando. Before arriving at Disneyworld, we stopped at the Orlando outlets. We scored some great bargains, but were happy to leave the very crowded stores. The majority of people there were foreign tourists and I'm sure they were loving the prices and exchange rate! We checked into the All Star Music Resort (read: Disney's version of a cheap hotel) and decided to take the shuttle over to Disney's Boardwalk for dinner (it's supposed to look like a boardwalk at the beach, but I wasn't buying it). We ended up eating at the ESPN Zone....Bill watched the Jaguars and I watched the Red Sox on NESN....gotta love lots of commercials for Dunkin' Donuts and Bob's Discount Furniture.

Sunday we went to Disney's two water parks....so fun! One of them had a wave pool that created 6 foot waves every 90 seconds (although I could go to the beach today and find the same thing w/ this storm!). The good thing about staying on the property is that in the middle of the day when it got really sunny and hot, we caught the bus back to the hotel for lunch and to relax out of the sun. The weather was pretty mild for August and the intermittent cloud covering really helped. The next day we hit the theme parks. We had a hopper pass, so we started at 8am and visited all four parks in one day. Since we've been to the parks before, we hit only the new rides or things that we really liked (sorry Mom, I skipped "It's a Small World"). It worked out well, but we were very tired at the end of the day. It poured twice that day, but we had ponchos to stay dry; the heat at times was oppressive that day, but the second rain really cooled things down....it really didn't feel like Florida in August! The next morning we headed home, just starting to experience the outer bands of Tropical Stom Fay.....good timing! We really did have a lot of fun and were glad to get away for a few days from work, cell phones, and computers. But because we have the stupidest camera in the world, we have no pictures to share! (Hence the long blog!)

So this storm is quite annoying! The only way it could move slower is if it went backwards. I most definitely have cabin fever as I have been stuck in the house since Wednesday afternoon. It's crazy windy today and the rain has been non-stop since yesterday afternoon. It didn't look like it was going to amount to much, but last night was so loud and started to make me a little nervous....the cats were definitely afraid! We have a small tree in the front that is starting to lean and I hope that it doesn't fall victim to the storm. But compared to the people in S. Florida, we have fared pretty well (at least in our neighborhood). We lose power every once in a while, but never for more than 30 minutes. Hopefully by Sunday we will see a little sun again!

Hope all is well with everyone and that you are enjoying summer as it winds down. School starts Monday for me, so my 3-week "summer" is officially over then. But it's my last semester, so I'm happy about that!!! Bring on the last 3 classes!! :)

GO JAGS!

Not much happened this week, just work and extreme heat. We have settled into a routine of watching the Olympics each night, starting with the opening ceremonies on Friday. Not sure if anyone also caught it, but we were amazed at how big a show it was. I read that the Chinese spent $300 billion just on Friday's show....it looked it too.

I scored free tickets from work, so Saturday we headed out to the Jacksonville Jaguars pre-season game against the Falcons. It was in the high 80's at game time (at 7:30!), so it was a hot, sticky night....not exactly football weather in the traditional sense, but it is August. Our seats were pretty good considering they were pretty high up (one section below the top). Since it was my first football game, I don't have another stadium to compare it to, but it looked good to me! The Jaguars won 20-17. And after another sweaty hike back to the car (in flip flops.....not recommended), we headed home for some more Olympics.

Bill was called into work unexpectedly today, but I think Target is calling my name, so off I go to browse. Next weekend we take a mini-vacation to Disneyworld, so we'll write more then!

August in FL

Can you believe how fast the summer is flying by? Or is it just me b/c I've had my head stuck in a book all summer? Either way, I can't believe August is here already! Not that it means the cooler weather will be here any time soon....

My dad was here this weekend and just went home today. We drove EVERYWHERE around north Florida and were able to take in some beach time. Saturday took us to St. Augustine; we toured some new construction neighborhoods and ate at Bill Murray's "Caddy Shack" restaurant....yummy! It's in the World Golf Village and we also explored the official PGA store...it's 2 floors of nothing but golf stuff, including a putting green. Needless to say, I'm keeping my day job. It was in this store that I discovered that golf is an expensive sport.

Sunday was a perfect day for the beach. We got there early which was good b/c about 12:30 it got really hot. After a picnic lunch, we changed and headed out for the boys to look at cars (Bill needs a new car, so we're in the "researching" stage.....call it what you want, but I hate the whole process). Later on we went to a Japanese Steakhouse for dinner.....we sat at the grill where they cook right in front of you and put on a little show. This may be my new favorite restaurant!! The food was absolutely delicious and we had enough left over for lunch the next day, plus a little extra. Can't wait to take new visitors!!

We also went to this place near our house called the "Catty Shack Ranch". It's a big cat wildlife rescue and we went to a night feeding of their tigers, lions, jaguars, etc. It was SO cool! It's only 2.5 mi from the house.....I mapquested it b/c one night I heard roaring outside....wonder what it's like to live next door. They are always looking for volunteers to help out....I'm thinking about it once school is done.

Another trip to the beach, some more car shopping, and then just like that, Dad had to leave. It always goes to fast when people come to visit. Not sure when we'll have more visitors, but the guest room is ready!

On a final note, school ended last Friday and not a minute too soon. I'm pretty sure at some point last week I lost my mind, but I'm hoping that during this 3 week break I will find it again. It felt weird not having to do homework this weekend and I said to Bill that I didn't know what to do with myself! Tonight I'm going to "veg" before going back to work tomorrow.....and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it.

Not much new, but....

Hey all! Not much going on here in FL lately, but just thought I'd check in. The good news of the week is that my grandmother was released from the hospital yesterday and got to go home!! There was talk all week that she would have to go to a nursing home, but my mom convinced them otherwise. She's on the road to recovery and that's all that counts!! :)

School ends this Friday and you better believe I'm counting down the days!! There's so much to be done between now and then, but I just have to keep up the pace and it will be over before I know it. Thank God for Bill.....he does all the little things that allow me to just focus on finals this week. The house is clean (well, most of it....not the room I'm hiding out in :P ), we have groceries, food gets delivered to my computer desk, and the fridge is stocked with caffeine.......what more could a girl ask for!

My dad is coming for a visit this coming Friday for a few days. Who comes to Florida in August?! People with free lodging and food, that's who! The timing is good and I'm sure we will hang out at the beach most of the time. We might take a day trip to St. Augustine too. I'm sure I'll have more fun things to post next weekend.

Have a wonderful week everyone! :)

Off to the Capital!

Last Friday I took a trip to our state's capital, Tallahassee. I attended a workshop on Asperger's Syndrome and also one on Ethics . Unfortunately Tally is about 2 1/2 hours away, west of Jacksonville. And you know what is west of Jacksonville? NOTHING!!! I rode with a friend and we arrived about midnight, driving down a dark, desolete stretch of highway avoiding the occasional deer....not fun. In the morning I was excited to see what the capital was all about. Well, my assessment is that it looked like Manchester, CT but with a few tall buildings in the center......not what I had pictured. Apparently the original capitol building was just a few log cabins, but now we have this ugly building that really isn't inspiring (see above). Tallahassee is also the home to Florida State University, so I'm sure that when college is in session, the place is hopping, but the day I visited I was wondering where all the people were...very quiet. The ride home was pretty with lots of fields and oak trees.....kind of like home, but their "rolling hills" are nothing like home....they would be amazed by the hill at VCMS.

Bill saw the new Batman movie this weekend and really liked it. He said it lived up to all of its hype, but that you feel sad at the end (maybe more "disturbed"?). So for all of you Batman fans out there, Bill gives it two thumbs up!

Thanks to everyone for their emails about my grandmother. She did end up having to have surgery this week and is still in the ICU. Things were worse than they thought, but thankfully she pulled through surgery and now we can focus on recovery (no easy feat in itself). I believe in the power of prayer and thank you to everyone who joined me.

Two more weeks and the summer semester will be over! So if I fall off the face of the planet between now and then, you'll know why. Too many final exams, essays, and projects to count, but it'll all be over soon! :)

Have a great week!

Week 2

So ends another hot week in Florida.....with more hot to come. With it brings some wicked showers in the afternoon that we aren't used to seeing lately. If you are afraid of thunder and/or lightning, move to Florida......you'll be forced into accepting it (or die of a nervous breakdown I guess)!

So my dish washer and laundry folder has returned from his business trip which makes me very happy! The cats aren't very good at conversation, but they do listen to me as I yell at the computer for crashing repeatedly. So I was glad to see Bill! We saw "Hancock" and were disappointed. We finally escape the house and were treated to two hours of a very slow moving story that wasn't very entertaining. Bill got sick off of all the candy he ate and I had stale nachos, so we weren't happy campers.

The lawn guy said that in order to fix the dead spots in our lawn (how did it get this bad??!!) we have to fill in the areas with a mixture of sand and manure. I doubted his story....it's the most insane thing I've ever heard. Turns out he knows what he's talking about; I checked out this info with other "floridians" and they said they do this too. So Bill brought back a car full of sand and manure in bags to put out today. He's insane. It's literally 95 degrees outside and he's out at the hottest part of the day spreading this stuff. He's not nearly close to being done as we have way more holes than we thought. This only helps my case for moving into a condo. If that were me I would have dropped dead from the heat.....Bill comes back in tanned....Needless to say I'm not going in the yard any time soon.

I'm in charge of weeding and trimming the trees and bushes. Doesn't sound like much, but when you live here in the amazon, things grow like crazy! I was outside for 2 1/2 hrs Sat. just weeding....it had been two weeks since the previous outing and the weeds were winning. My little trimmer ran out of juice half way through trimming the bushes, so only half of them are neat again.....looks crazy, but it'll have to do until next week. It's always nice to be outside weeding while you watch the neighborhood actually enjoy their Saturday.....joggers, boaters, even dogs are out playing!

On a different note, if you're so inclined, please say a prayer for my grandma. She had to be admitted to the hospital last night. They are trying to control things through medication so that she won't have to have surgery because it would be an extremely risky operation. So the next few days are important. It's times like these that it truly stinks to live so far away.

I hope everyone had a relaxing weekend.......see you next week?

So here is our first posting! Apparently I started this blog last summer and am just getting around to updating it (that's pretty sad). I enjoy reading everyone else's blog, so it's time to join the crowd. I don't have any current photos of us, so here is a picture of our house (FYI--we've fixed that crooked tree).

Soooo.....not much new here in Florida. It's July, so you can guess what the weather's like, but to be honest, I guess I'm finally used to it! Bill had vacation this past week which he spent at home. I was SO jealous....he went to the beach every day and I got to go to work and school. But on the flip side, dinner was ready every night when I came home and I didn't clean one dish all week. I told him that I wish he could quit his job so it could be like this all the time. Bill leaves on Tuesday on business for the week so I guess the cats and I will be eating cereal.

Let's see.....I have 4 weeks left until the summer semester is over. I suspect every blog may have a piece in it about school since it consumes my every waking moment, so be prepared. Right now I am taking 4 classes (a 5th finished two weeks ago). I will either triumph or keel over (some days I do pray to be hit by lightning......we are the lightning capital of the world, you know). We are taking a few days in August to get away, chill out, and maybe read something other than a textbook.

Well....our blog won't be as exciting as the Boston Flood's blog (you can't beat kids) or my sister's blog of hiking Mt. Rainier (w/ pictures!), but I guess we're just claiming a little bit of the internet for ourselves. Hope all is well with everyone!!