Travel Log: I95

There is something special about travelling on an interstate. It is almost like a transporter from Star Trek…or maybe warp speed: travel at ridiculous high speeds, trees sweeping past like stars in the sky, no connection to points along the way…only point A and point B. In order to maintain the illusion that nothing exists outside of the I95 corridor, ingenious evil masterminds plotted and planned rest stops interspersed along the road like a shiny oasis in the Sahara to keep the hapless traveller from venturing off the highway (and thereby discover something cool and totally get sidetracked away from their original trip).

It was at an oasis in North Carolina where the girls and I stopped for lunch that we discovered a Dr. Seuss-like turtle pond.

After we ate our picnic lunch we took a walk to the pond to stretch our legs. Excited to be out of the car for the first time in five hours, the girls enjoyed tossing pebbles and leaves into the water.
It was a nice little pond, it was clean and it was neat…the water seemed warm and the turtles…

OMG!! The turtles!!

Apparently, the turtles are used to people feeding them and as soon as the girls crouched down on the edge of the pond, the began swarming to us. It was like watching circus clowns trying to crawl into their mini car, each trying to claim shotgun. The turtles swam, crawled and pushed each other out of the way trying to get as close to shore as possible without actually touching the edge.

Without exaggeration, the girls and I counted over twenty turtles swarming in the shallows of the pond before we lost count. One especially cheeky little fellow grew oh so bold that it actually started to crawl out of the water and approach Ashleigh. I wasn't sure who was more surprised: Ashleigh with huge eyes, round and shiny, or the turtle, which after a moment or two seemed to suddenly realize that it was out of the water and Yikes! touching grass! And it quickly flipped itself around and plunked itself back into the pond.

All in all it was a lovely lunch and stretch break. None of the other rest stops were as interesting or as pretty...well except for the ones that had a Starbucks.

More Vacation 2009 to come.

Who Ever Heard of a Seasick Pirate?

My dreams of piracy have foundered and been dashed upon the rocks of reality. I made plans for a single event for my vacation that didn’t involve family and that was a whale watch out of the New England Aquarium in Boston. So sit right back and let me tell you the tale of my three hour tour.

To fully appreciate this sailor’s tale, one must first know about the weather. June was quite a stormy month in New England. Watching the weather reports, one would scarcely believe that the sun ever came out in New England. So on the eve of our whale watch as I sat watching the weather, I feared that my afternoon sail would be cancelled because of the weather. Dire reports of severe thunderstorms with excessively deadly cloud to ground lightening, torrential downpours which might include golf ball sized hail, and gusts upwards of “fast” and “swift” could cause damage to trees, phone and power lines, small children, not so small children and ducks threatened to ruin my carefully planned whale watch. When I mentioned this to the girls, they both frowned and tried to reason with me. How was I to know that I control the weather? In any case, Dad and I talked about trying to switch the afternoon cruise to the morning one to avoid the storm.

The next morning was gray and overcast. After a quick breakfast of pop tarts for the girls and a muffin for me, we just made the 7:40 train into Boston. I had figured that this train would leave us enough time to walk the ten – fifteen minutes to the harbor and talk to the ticket counter about switching.

After explaining the concern about the weather, the girl at the ticket counter had no problems switching our reservation to the morning cruise. We lollygagged around the entrance for a good twenty minutes before Jessica, our naturalist, let us board the Voyager III. The boat, a 102 foot catamaran, was impressive sitting dockside. Jessica stood on the ramp and discussed the conditions out on the water, telling us that according to the forecast, there were three foot swells, so those who might be prone to motion or sea sickness should take Dramamine as soon as possible once boarding. Knowing that I might have a problem (recalling a number of rides at theme parks and fairs that left me hunched over a garbage can) I immediately purchased the medicine. I took a full dose and gave the girls a half dose each. I wasn’t really concerned about Ashleigh, the girl loves her roller coasters! But I was a bit nervous about Cyra who has never been on anything more than a carousel.

The ride out of the harbor was pleasant. The tall ships were in dock, so I got some nice pictures of them and of the Boston skyline as we left.

I only remember the name of one of the tall ships: The Eagle, a US Coast Guard ship. Built in 1936 in Germany, the Eagle was taken from Germany as part of war reparation after World War II. The Eagle is the largest tall ship flying the American Flag and the only square-rigger in service to the U.S. government.
We moved into the cabin before we left the harbor because the boat picked up speed and man was it chilly to us Florida Girls!! It wasn’t until we left the shelter of the harbor, that the swells made themselves known. Now, the weather conditions stated that the swells were three feet; however, they felt way bigger than three feet. In fact, the naturalist came on the PA system and made apologizes for the swells, claiming that they were a bit bigger than forecasted.

Ashleigh loved it. So did Cyra (for a little bit) and I was okay, for the most part. I lasted about an hour (including the twenty minutes or so it took to get out of the harbor, before I started feeling a bit queasy. I wasn’t thrilled, but I was okay. Cyra was starting to complain a little, I just tightened my grip on the table.

Oh but sure enough after another fifteen minutes or so, I felt that tell tale hot flash and dizziness that always precedes an upheaval. I shoved the camera at Ashleigh, grabbed a conveniently placed barf bag and seconds later lost most of my breakfast. And boy did I feel better…for about ten minutes, and then I lost the rest of my breakfast. But after that I lasted a good 15-20 minutes and saw a whale and heaved again. And then some more.

So what were the girls doing during all of this? Well, Ashleigh hovered protectively for a few minutes. Then I told her to go and whale watch which she did and she took all of the following photos. Cyra went out on deck for a few minutes; saw a whale and a whale spout then came in claiming to be cold, wet, nauseous and tired. She quickly stretched out on a bench and fell asleep until we were back in the harbor. Dad was great. He threw out my first two bags, got me more, got me some paper towels, and got to see the whales with Ashleigh. Obviously, I did not get my weak stomach from him.

It is hard to see in this photo, but the whale is above the railing and to the left of the other boat. It is about halfwalf between us and the other boat.

Ashleigh saw Fin whales and Minkes, but no Humpbacks. Jessica said that with the weather conditions, it wasn’t all that surprising. More info about the whales we saw:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fin_Whale
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minke_Whale

All in all, I think it went well. As we disembarked, I thanked Dad, not just for going with us, but for never brining me on a whale watch when I was little, even though I begged and pleaded to go. As I told him, as an adult, I was able to just sit in the cabin and be miserable without bothering anyone. As a child, had I been seasick, I’m sure, knowing me that I would have made everyone miserable! I think I would have been okay if it was a calm day as I had no problem in the harbor and no problems the few times I’ve been out on rivers. Maybe I can be a riverboat pirate!

In any case, the rest of the day proceeded nicely. We loved the aquarium and got some good shots.

The aquarium had a special exhibit on jellyfish. Out of all the pictures I snapped of them, this one came out the best.

I think the one below with the barracuda is great. If you look closely, you can see the girls' reflections.

It is hard to take pictures through thick glass, but I thought this one was cute even though there is a glare.

More about Vacation 2009 will follow, but for right now, I am glad to be home!

Father's Day

We don't much celebrate the smaller commercial holidays. You know the ones: Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Flag Day...and yes, Father's day. It's not that I am anti the sentiment, but I am anti the whole spend oodles of money to demonstrate love for a certain person.

As I've said before, I show and am shown love daily. I don't need a special day to show it. So for Father's Day, much like Mother's Day, the girls made homemade cards and I pulled from my super secret hiding place one of the DVD's that I purchase throughout the year for birthday, Christmas, any kind of gifty day presents for Scott. This time around Star Trek 2, 3 and 4 special edition set.

Scott has forever been harping on how wonderful The Wrath of Khan is and being a good wife, I nod and say, "yes, of course honey." Unfortunately it has come to Scott's attention that I have actually never seen The Wrath of Khan. In fact, the only original Star Trek movie I have seen is The Voyage Home, which according to some sources is not really the "best" that Star Trek has to offer.

Scott's delightful and slightly maniacal laughter upon receiving the DVDs was disturbing and amusing. But his real gift, the one that I love to give to him received a way better reaction: a huge grin, a ginormous bletch and a full tummy after a big, big breakfast!! Bacon, sausage, French toast, eggs, coffee and juice.

I'm not a superstitious person, however, when it comes to old wives's tales, I firmly believe in "the way to a man's heart, is through his stomach!"

"She's gone from suck to kerplutz"

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this, but I hate cleaning. Now, this isn't really such a big deal, everyone hates cleaning. It's boring, time-consuming and a pain in the butt, especially with kids and animals always making messes...like the nice present Simone left me this morning...a huge furball!

Anyway, even though I hate cleaning, when I do it, it gets done! Shiny like mad. So, in my mad dash to get ready to go to New York, I wanted to get the house clean so that I wouldn't come home to a huge mess. And beside, the Birthday Fiesta O' Fun is almost immediately following my return.

About 9 this morning I told Ashleigh to go vacuum her room. Not a problem, she grabbed the vacuum and I went about cleaning the kitchen. So imagine my surprise when about an hour later I check in Ashleigh's room and the floor looks like a Grand Central Station after rush hour! I call Ashleigh up and demand to know why she didn't vacuum.

"I did, Mom!"

I glare at her. "Really?" I say, "You vacuumed?"

"Yes. I did. The vacuum isn't sucking."

I plug the vacuum in and turn it on and indeed, the vacuum is running and making noise, but no actual cleaning is occurring.

"Hmm." I say flipping the vacuum onto its side. I glared at the undercarriage, hoping some foreign object is just stuck a little. No such luck. Fortunately my sis had left her tool box here and I grabbed a screwdriver and began my invasive surgery.

After making the innards outards, I discovered a ripped, broken, melted and dirty belt flopping around. Ok. I think to myself. Easy enough fix. Go to Sears, get a belt, replace, good to go.

Easy sneezy! My plan exceeded my expectations. I went to Sears, with the broken belt, the model number of the vacuum, three pictures of the undercarriage in various degrees of zoom and demanded from the first Blue Shirt I saw, "Help!"

Okay, it was nothing so dramatic. Although it did take the guy a few minutes to locate the correct belt. I purchased said belt and returned home triumphantly brandishing the vacuum cleaner belt as if I had made it myself. I quickly fixed the machine, replaced innards, and set Ashleigh to work.

The floor was beautiful. Then Ashleigh started on the stairs. She accidentally sucked up a sock. From in the living room, I heard a "suck-thump" but didn't think much of it until the smell of burning rubber and the high pitched whine of a engine trying to work overtime penetrated my cleaning focus.

I rushed out into the hallway and yelled for Ashleigh to turn it off.

"Don't you smell that?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"And?"

"What?"

"When it smells like that something is wrong and you need to turn it off before it explodes!"

"Oh," she replied, "Okay. Can I watch TV?"

"No." I tell her, "you are going to help me figure out what's wrong."

A few minutes later, sock in one hand and melted, broken and smelly belt in the other, I looked up at Ashleigh sitting on the stairs. She had an apologetic grin on her face.

"So," she said, " Back to Sears?"

I nodded.

"Maybe you should get two belts this time." she said.

Maybe that grin was less sorry and more sass...

Conflicted Schedules

Where does the time go? I had very precise schedules for the two weeks between the end of school and the trip to New York. I wrote everything down in my planner. I’m playing by the rules, why is everything else not?

I now have just over eight days to get ready to go. This coming week is so crazy busy I doubt that I will have time to sleep unless I schedule it in.

Sunday – mad morning cleaning to get ready for Game Session #4. I love my new gaming group. They are unobtrusive and only come over once every two weeks or so. Unfortunately, that means that I am unmotivated to clean until the day before or morning of their arrival. It’s my own fault, I know. I just don’t like cleaning when I could be doing other more fun things.

Monday – The girls have dentist appointments in the afternoon. Now I know it is crazy to have kept the doctors in St. Augustine, but I love our doctors and dislike change, so to St. Augustine we go. Of course, if we are in St. Augustine, then I don’t have to go out of my way to go to Mango Mango’s for lunch.

Tuesday – Cleaning/laundry in the morning, then I have a four hour test in the afternoon. Most likely it will only take me about one hour, but still. I am taking my Social Science subject area test so I can add history to my certification.

Wednesday – We are going to the zoo. I could skip it; however, I am on a scrapbooking mission where I have envisioned this awesome “Year at the Zoo” book and Wednesday is the only day I can go in order to meet my June visit requirement.

Thursday – Another test, ESOL this time, first thing in the morning. As an ELA teacher I am required to be certified in this. I am wholly unprepared for this test as there doesn’t seem to be a study guide for it anywhere. But I figured at this point, take it blind and then I can review from my collection of textbooks as needed. In the after noon I need to continue doing laundry and start packing.

Friday – cleaning, packing, laundry, shopping

Saturday – prepare for Father’s Day…still don’t know what I’ll be doing for Scott. Continue laundry and complete major packing.

Sunday – Father’s Day…big breakfast maybe, Scott really likes that. Pack car. Get a good night’s sleep to get ready to vamoose in the early, early AM.

Not scheduled in this list, but I need to find time for: plan, start and complete favors for the Birthday Fiesta O’ Fun, compile list of recipes and shopping list for said Fiesta, special order mint from Publix (all because of my cursed thumb-its black not green!), play with girls, go to pool with girls, hang out with Mom, call the mortgage company and plead with them to help me, curse out the mortgage company because I know they won’t help, call/email my non-family peeps in NY and make arrangements to hang out…

I need a secretary!
A team of hirelings that I can command to do my bidding!
At the very least, I need more hours in the day!

The Last Day

Growing up, I never would have thought that teachers look forward to the end of the year as much as the students. Now, after four years of teaching, I begin the end of year countdown the first day of school!!

This year has been rough. With a new principal trying to micro-manage his mark on the place, kids that were nearly impossible to control (and not for lack of trying...they just didn't care about punishment/reward), and a new curriculum that didn't allow for spontaneity or creative projects, this year is one better left in the past.

Now, I look forward to the summer: a trip to New York, Amanda's Wedding, Kyle's Graduation, The 7th Annual Birthday Fiesta O' Fun (Minty Fresh Edition). Lazy days with the girls are in my future: playing in the pool, staying up late and watching movies, getting lost in the book store for hours on end, walking St. George Street sipping on a Groovy Smoothie. Next year is too far away to worry about (although plans are in the works). Days will blend, merge, and ooze until all of a sudden it is August 17th and I have to go back to reality.

Ahh summer...one of the perks that makes teaching tolerable.

In Honor of My Sister’s Birthday

Happy birthday to my big sister. I hope you have a good one. I have written a nice birthday haiku in your honor:

Kicked in the stomach,
I remember you going
Down hill in stretcher.

Or maybe this one is better:

Happy day of birth
I am pleased to be your Sis;
But I’m still favorite.

Hmmm….maybe something with more sentiment:

I love you sister
I hope you have a great day
Eat a lot of cake!