One Copper Penny

We buried Great Mom-Mom Isabelle this week. She was a valiant warrior against many rounds of cancer in many parts of her body. It took many years for cancer to try and get her, and she won most of the battles. But at 81 years, her body was just too tired from fighting 20+ years to just one disease.

Mom-Mom’s favorite flower was the yellow rose. So the funeral home and graveside were covered in them. Those flowers were the bright spot in the dreary day that reminded us of Mom-Mom’s spirit. Life was meant to be lived. And we were meant to be happy and cheerful and beautiful. I believe that now. I hope our daughter, who was named for this beautiful woman, understands this part of life too.

After the graveside service on Tuesday, the family gathered yellow roses from the casket. I now have them in a vase in my NEW home (which we purchased about 4 hours after Mom-Mom passed on July 20th, 2012). Family flew in from Maryland for the services. Some of them stayed here with us in the new house and they left their flowers. A week later, the flowers look as good as they did at the services.

I went to change the water tonight and I had a very strong voice telling me to drop a penny in the jar. That’s a saying or piece of advice for newlyweds but that certainly didn’t fit our situation with 12 years under our belt. So, I didn’t understand it, and I even said out loud, “Penny in a jar? What the hell does that mean?”

Ed asked me if I was talking to him (I wasn’t). But when I looked up to respond to him, sure enough, there was one lone penny sitting in a dish on the shelf in front of me. It was heads-up too, which of COURSE means good luck. I dropped the penny in the empty vase. I put Mom-Mom’s yellow roses back in, and I filled her with cool water.

Then I went to Google to figure out the true meaning. As it turns out, a penny in a flower vase does help the flowers due to some oxidation stuff I’ll never understand.

I don’t know what’s gonna happen. Maybe good luck for Ed, Izzi, and me? Maybe the flowers will last forever? Maybe I just now know that Mom-Mom can talk to me whenever she wants. I sure hope so, because my daughter can only benefit from her amazing wisdom and faith.

Green Bracelet

We joined the YMCA when we got into town. We got a full family membership for less than one gym membership in Maryland. Many of the Y locations also have pools and offer swim lessons. Isabelle has been signed up since July 9th but only had her FIRST class yesterday because of the daily late-afternoon thunderstorms that grace our presence every...single...day.

While she was waiting for class to begin yesterday, the lifeguards announced they were doing swim tests if any kids were interested. While there are very few lifeguards in Florida (very very odd to me), the YMCA has more than they probably need. They have very strict rules too. If a child under 8 years old can pass the swim test, they are allowed in the pool without a parent. If they cannot pass the swim test, a parent MUST be with them within arms reach, even in the shallow end.

Although Iz hasn't had many swim lessons since we've been here because of rain, she's in the pool every day at least for a little bit. So naturally, she's learned to swim on her own. At this point, swim lessons are just to learn the actual strokes, get stronger, and gain even more confidence. We think she'll be on the swim team by next year, and a lifeguard by the age of 8 at this point.

So yesterday, while waiting for class to start, she told Ed she wanted to take the swim test. We didn't think she would be able to pass, but of course, we don't tell HER that. The swim test requires a kid to tread water for a full minute, and THEN swim the full length of the 25-yard pool. All of this while not touching the side of the pool or the bottom (they are in the deep end for the test).

I missed the whole thing since I was stuck at home working. Ed called me immediately, the proud Papa beaming through his phone that she had PASSED her swim test. She was now a proud wearer of the elusive GREEN BRACELET which gives her the permission to swim in the YMCA pool without her pesky parents.

Debby Downer

I joked as we left Maryland to move to Florida because the Tampa area hasn’t seen a tropical storm or hurricane in a really long time. That meant we were sure to see one this coming hurricane season since the Siler’s were moving there.

We haven’t even made it safely out of the first month of hurricane season and here we are with Tropical Storm Debby. This has been a weird one, none of the storm guys knew which way she was going to track. Some had her going towards Texas, some had her hitting N’awlins, some had them going to the panhandle, and some models had them coming straight for central west coast where Tampa lies.

We haven’t had much wind today here at the house but the yard and the golf course are totally flooded. There are many road closures, trees down, power lines down, and other damage that is just starting to get reported on the local news stations.

We haven’t left the house all day, in fact, I’m still in my pajamas at 9pm. The scariest part of today has been the multiple tornado reports and warnings. It’s kept me on my toes, trying to figure out where I will drag my family if Mr. Jim Cantore tells me to seek an interior room in my home. I don’t have a home. I’m in someone else’s house. And we have no basement or interior room.

The odd thing is, we haven’t “heard” the rain or minimal wind gusts all day. This house is a concrete block of architectural wonder. If we had a storm like this in our home in Edgewater, I would have evacuated already. You can’t hear rain on the roof. You can’t “feel” the house shake with the wind. And we’ve had zero water issues all day (from below, above, or anywhere in between). Granted the yard is totally flooded and the pool overflowed. Pop-Pop Bill has been out there draining water out of it a few times today. But the difference between a very old wooden beach bungalow and a Florida concrete-block newer home is pretty awesome.

And now that Tampa has had a pretty significant storm hit (we got the eastern side of Debby which has delivered almost an entire FOOT of rain), I’m just thinking that we are now safe from any head-on deluge for many years to come.

Debby, you’re going down…

New Life Lessons

They say you learn something new every day. I know this to be true and I even spend time each night before I go to sleep to think back upon my day and remember at least one new thing that I learned. Usually, if you really pay attention, you'll find a few lessons each day. Life is a treasure trove of new lessons - good and bad.

First
It's possibly harder to make a left-hand turn in Florida than it is in New Jersey. Anyone who has driven in NJ knows that all your friends and family are required to live on the right-hand side of the street, or else you'll have to wave to each other across the street.

Second
The parking lots here are all one-way lanes. So there is one aisle that goes "up" the parking lot, and the next aisle comes "down". They alternate and the parking spots are super-angled so if you do happen to mess up (oops, that would be ME, the newbie), you cannot park your car without a 15-point turnabout. The aisles are extremely skinny which makes a driver-going-wrong-way-trying-to-park-in-an-angled-spot the asshole of the parking lot (again...me...every day).

Third
Speaking of parking lots, when you go to the grocery stores here, most of them do NOT have a cart return bay/area. We have one store that does have one, and I've sort of glammed onto that store. I feel comfort knowing I have an easy place to put my cart when I've finished unloading. The really "nice" high-end store here in town has NO cart return. So you would think that customers (being the high-end hoitey-toiteys that they are) would return the carts to the store lobby. Nope! They leave them rolling through the parking lot, rolling into the drive lanes, throw them up onto the landscaping islands, etc. Really, people? This, I cannot tolerate. Little things like this get me flustered.

Fourth

We're in Florida. People retire here. A LOT of them. So you will drive through town, cruising on a 45mph street and having very little traffic, loving life. Then you see flashing lights and flags and signs that kindly inform you that you are entering a "Senior Zone". Senior Zones are 35mph. All the time. Just because. If the Seniors are moving slow, then everyone else must move slow with them. Ed got a warning for speeding in a school zone a few weeks ago. Those kids demanding all this slowness don't deserve an actual ticket. Get caught speeding in a Senior Zone? You better cash in the insurance policy, because the Po-Po are gonna get ya!

And the Fifth lesson...

...the most poignant one for me right now…buy a beach towel and umbrella to keep in the car. Better yet, carry a purse big enough to carry them both. I went out to run errands today and the skies were starting to cloud up. That’s totally normal for this time of year. We get that dinner-time t-storm which can be a shortie or an all-nighter, we just have to watch the radar. So this afternoon, I went to the grocery store and a storm came upon us. Me and a slew of customers were waiting out the storm outside the front doors, under the overhang. I had nothing frozen or even cold, so I could wait all day if I had to. The HUGE storm just got worse. We had lightning bolting down into the parking lot, huge wind picking up the store’s furniture displays and tumbling them through the parking lot. The wind was making the automatic doors stay open and the hail was rolling and blowing into the store. Everyone outside left their carts and ran into the store for cover. So, from now on, I’m gonna carry myself an umbrella everywhere I go.

So, in summary:
1. Don’t turn RIGHT.
2. Don’t drive UP the DOWN lane.
3. Shopping Carts sleep where they lie.
4. Slow down.
5. Towel & Umbrella in the car…always.

I'm sure there is more to come...stay tuned.

A New Kind of Weed

I was explaining to Isabelle the important concept of "eating a r-a-i-n-b-o-w" every day because the colorful foods have lots of good vitamins and nutrients. We drew a rainbow and talked about all the foods we could find in each color that she liked to eat. We then packed a "rainbow lunch" together which she thought was such fun.

She doesn't really eat too many veggies yet so this game became life-altering when she got completely jazzed over packing shredded carrots for her "orange" food. And two days in a row, she came home with no leftovers and she even asked if she could snack on carrots. Really? Who are you and what have you done with my daughter?

The green is a bit more tricky. Like most toddlers, anything green scares the living bujesus out of her. But when she saw the diced cucumbers in my salad the other day, she said she wanted to try one and she loved it. She does eat cucumber slices but I always had to peel the skin off. With my diced version, the skin is still on, and she isn't afraid of them. She is also starting to branch into "salad" a little bit, but her version of salad means taking one lettuce leaf (spinach, romaine, whatever we're having) and completely submerging it in a bowl of ranch dressing, then trying not to drip salad dressing all over the table and herself and she tries to shove it in her mouth. I'm gonna have to work on the salad thing.

We were out of cucumbers yesterday when it came time to pack her Friday lunchbox. I told her I was going to the Farmer's Market today and asked her if she wanted anything special for her rainbow lunch next week. She got very excited when she gave me her whole list. And she ended with, "and Mommy, I think I'm a little tired of salad, so how about for my green food next week, we just do "key-weed" instead. Key-weed it is, honey, good choice.

Our House is a Very Very Very Fine House...

...but we don't have two cats in the yard :)

I missed a few posts over the past couple weeks. Contract #1 fell through, as you all know. Contract #2 was submitted but also went belly-up. Turns out the owner (single chick) had a 2nd lien on the house that she failed to mention until after we got started on negotiations. Also turns out that the transaction we had going, wasn't going to cover both liens so her 2nd lender was going to have to "agree" to our offer and the contract that was in the works. We're not really sure why that doesn't get considered as a "short sale" but it was not listed as one. Needless to say, we didn't feel like getting our hands dirtied in that mess so we backed out of the contract.

Contract #3 was a success. We offered $10k less than the asking price. The buyers countered with $1k over our initial offer. Really? $1k? Why not try to meet in the middle or something? Hey, we didn't complain. We took the offer. The inspection went swimmingly. I guess that's how it works when you buy a newer home (build in late 90s). After having 2 old houses, we are very ready for a newer construction.

This one is move-in ready, has a beautifully upgraded new kitchen, and a two-car garage. These are things I only dreamed of having one day! We can also walk to shops and restaurants. There is a great park and playground right in our neighborhood that has a "secret tunnel" (as Izzi likes to call it) which takes you under the major road outside of the neighborhood and delivers you right to the front gate of one of our community pools (we'll have 2). We can also walk to the elementary school when it's time for her to start that.

The house doesn't have a pool. The screened porch is decent but on the small side. Our plan, once Ed's job situation stabilizes, is to expand the screened/caged area and build an outdoor kitchen. Then we'll also install either a small plunge pool or a hot tub that we can keep cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

It's a "typical" Florida home but we're excited to get settled in. Our settlement is scheduled for late July so just a few more weeks!

Make Believe Boulevard

Isabelle's new school is called "The Learning Experience". They only had a 3-day program spot available for now so she goes Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Summer camp starts next week and she'll start the 5-day per week program (hooooorrayyyyyy!!!!).

Summer Camp there is uber-cool, there are 2 water days every week (splish splash, not swimming in a pool). They have themes every week so the kids will learn while they play and play while they learn (I love it!).

She will probably continue there in the Fall for her PreK-4 program (TBD based on where we buy a house). But this place is pretty amazing. It has this room/area/town called "Make Believe Boulevard" which is a mini-replica of "Main Street USA". They have a Fire House, Police Station, Restaurant, Grocery Store, House, Doctor's Office, Gas Station, etc. etc. etc.

Each mini-building is two-stories tall. The "street" has a staircase on the far right side so you can go "upstairs" in each of the buildings. If you keep walking along the corridor "upstairs" then you get rewarded with a curved sliding board at the end of the street that lands in a ball pit for extra giggly fun.

They don't get to go to "Make Believe Boulevard" every day, I'm learning it is used as a reward for group good behavior. So I'm hoping they get to go more often because Isabelle loves it and talks about it all afternoon after a trip to the big MBB.

I wouldn't mind hanging out there myself one of these fine days. I need me some make believe right about now.