28 posts tagged “family”

TL taking off

Today, we went to Pine Island Airport, where Tom's father had flown out of the Punta Gorda Airport to join the Fly-in. We stayed for a couple hours to look at aircraft and watch people zoom around, land, and take-off. For $5 you could get a plate with a hamburger, hotdog, and all the fixings. Iced tea was free (and it was really good). Check out more photos of the airport and aircraft on my flickr's Pine Island Airport set.

TL doing preflight - finished

After Tom's father left to return to PGD, we returned to Charlotte County to window shop at the Harley Davidson dealership in Murdock. After a few more errands and spoiling ourselves with a frozen treat from Sonic, we headed on home for the day. Tom barbecued hamburgers for dinner and I spoke to my three children who are all in Illinois at the moment.

Bailey lost her first tooth yesterday and has gotten her first visit from the Tooth Fairy. She was really excited when that tooth first came loose and she could start losing teeth like her older brothers.

Tomorrow, Tom's riding the harleys with his father. For lunch or dinner, his parents are treating us somewhere in celebration of Tom's birthday on Tuesday. Of course, Tom will be in Jacksonville so that's why we've done all the celebrating this weekend. Tommy and I will do our own thing for the day until it's time to eat.

Bikers Away

Today was a lot of running around for not a lot accomplished. It's part of my in-laws' genetic disease known as must-do-things-the-most-inconvenient-way-possible-itis. Sometimes it's cute. Sometimes not so much.

Anyway, this morning I took a photograph I'd taken of a PGFD battalion chief to him because it was such an emotive portrait, I really wanted him to have a copy. He wanted to give me something for it, so I asked for a patch. I really felt awkward since the point was just for him to have the photograph, but a patch is something I knew I could have at any point in time just by asking, so good enough... and I have a PGFD patch now.

After that came the running around with the husband and his family. The exciting news is that Tom is back on his harley. After lunch at Golden Corral, we spent the better part of the afternoon at the Punta Gorda Airport while Tom, his father and one of his father's friends rode around Charlotte County. It was such a hot, muggy day! Here's a picture of Tom on his harley, and check out them Abilene boots!

Tom on his harley

Eddie baking a pie - balling the dough for a crust

Yesterday, Eddie made us a cherry pie. He is wearing one of my Pampered Chef aprons, as well as his little league baseball cap. Michael is in the background making himself some ramen noodles. Eddie made a great pie, too. He's made us promise to leave Bailey a piece, since she had to go to her father's house for this weekend.

Tom was going to drive the boys to the airport and leave his car in the overnight parking but had a nasty sinus condition that was so horrible that he'd mistaken it for toothpain. So, we all got into the minivan and I drove them to the airport. All this means is that we save on the parking fee, spend twice for fuel, and I have to make sure to be back at RSW tomorrow on time. It was sometime along the way that Tom figured out his "toothpain" was relieved by placing the icepack on his sinus target points. I had known that sinus backup can cause horrible toothpain just from the pressure but even with Tom's history of sinus trouble, it just didn't occur to me that was the problem! It's a relief that it's a sinus problem and not a tooth problem. Sinus problem is a lot cheaper to fix! He gets an evening with my parents pampering him and throwing every OTC medication possible at him to help. He'll like that.

The flight went well and my mother was waiting for them like she said she was going to be. Their Comcast hasn't been working so Tom can try to sort that out for them, too. While he's at it, he can clean up the mess my brother does on my mother's computer... if there's enough time.

Tommy hasn't been happy with his brothers gone. I think with the frequency that Bailey goes on visitations, it doesn't phase him much when she's not here for a couple days, although he's had his moments over the past year of getting very angry to see her go. He really doesn't like it when his brothers disappear. He argued against going to bed by saying we needed to go get his dad, Michael and Eddie. I think he'll be disappointed when we pick up only his daddy from the airport tomorrow. Hopefully, next summer will start a much shorter visitation period.

I don't think I really need to talk about how I'm doing, especially being alone through this. Those who know me, already know.

White Rose against blue

When Tom leaves for his work trips, he buys me flowers. He also buys me flowers for holidays. Between work trips and holidays, we have an almost steady stream of roses in the house. He's currently in Orlando for a convention until the 13th.

This week is a busy one with all the activities at the kids' school during their final week. This year has gone so fast.

I'm overdue for a vacation but, unfortunately, my in-laws have done what they do best and blown up their own good situations just for the sake of blowing them up, affecting our lives with it. In other words, my father-in-law threw my sister-in-law out of his house over dishes not being done (I shit you not) and she's gone back to Orlando, effectively leaving us babysitterless again. At least we got to go out once.

I'm out of reading material so it looks like I'll be making a visit to Amazon.com on Friday. Any recommendations?

Guntown Mountain, y'all

We left Cave City, KY at 8am and arrived in Rensselaer at 1pm. The time zone fluctuated between Central and Eastern so my times are all Eastern.

We had time to run back to Sayler Makeever Cemetery to get the micro geocache hidden there, run some audio and take photos. It was cold and the wind made it worse, but the road was solid and the ground was firm enough. The cemetery is amazing.

Sayler Makeever Cemetery - Patrick Makeever

We got to McDonald's at the same time as my mother and she bought us lunch. She's also giving me $100 when she brings the boys back so I can make it home. I said I was short. I won't worry about getting home now but I look forward to losing some weight this week!

My room in Rensselaer, Indiana

The hotel I'm staying at is a small, family-run operation that's clean and reasonably priced. I'm across from the big cemetery and a mile down the road from Rensselaer's historic district. I didn't feel like doing anything today after I'd done the Sayler Makeever Cemetery. I want to rest and I'll get to waymarking and photography tomorrow after Mass. I have until Friday.

My mother is taking Michael and Eddie to see Horton Hears a Who and she's spoiling them as usual. I told them not to take advantage of my parents since my kids tend to ask for the moon and, being proper grandparents, my parents will give it to them. Their father should pick them up tomorrow at noon and drop them back to my parents' house on Friday at noon. Here's hoping it's all uneventful.

My father-in-law is a piece of work. That's all I'll really say about that since his huffing and puffing doesn't change anything, but it's just irritating. I'm thankful that Tom is handling all that now.

The totals for this leg of the trip:

Yesterday's total of hotel, food and fuel: $187

Today's expenses: food - $8, fuel - $25; Total travel expenses for today: $33

Total northbound trip: $220

My six-day hotel stay cost $285 and food will average $25. I've already eaten today at 0 cost, thanks to my mother.

Hat tip to The Ironic Catholic.

I've sent the following email to a few family members who I know have been distributing via email and discussing misinformation about Illinois Senator and Presidential Candidate Barack Obama. It's funny. I'm undecided in my vote, but I seem to spend a lot of time defending this man from blatant, malicious lies.

If any readers would like to use my simple email to communicate the truth to their family members and friends who are spreading this popular misinformation, I give you expressed written permission right here to copy, paste & add to as appropriate the following email to debunk the lies that Barack Obama is a "radical muslim", swore his Congressional oath on the Quran, and/or is member of a racist Church of Christ.

Subject: The truth about Barack Obama - Muslim or Christian?

This is an original email, not a forward, but feel free to forward this on to the people who are spreading misinformation. When we make our decisions, we should make them based on truth, not on lies. Let's keep everyone honest.

 

According to About.com's Urban Legends section: http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_barack_obama_muslim.htm

According to Snopes.com: http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/muslim.asp

Barack Obama was raised Muslim and spent his college years as an Atheist due to his dislike and distrust for Islam, but committed his life to Christ and is a devoted and practicing Christian who is married to a devoted, practicing Christian and raising his children Christian. Barack Obama is a member of the Holy Trinity Church of Christ, which he stated in an interview with Oprah. There are rumors spread about the Holy Trinity Church of Christ which are meant to smear Obama's potential dealings for the African continent, http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/church.asp. Shouldn't people make up their minds? Is Barack Obama a radical muslim or is he part of a "racist" Church of Christ? By the way, I'm no fan of Cambellites, but these claims against the Holy Trinity Church of Christ are absolutely false just based on my knowledge of the denomination.

 

According to Snopes.com: http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/ellison.asp

Keith Ellison, a Representative for Minnesota, swore his congressional oath on the Quran, not the Bible. Since Barack Obama is a devoted Christian, he took his oath on the Holy Bible.

 

Snopes.com is a website devoted to debunking or supporting information that's communicated over the internet, including urban legends, rumors, and email forwards. The website links I've given will provide factual information to back-up the conclusions that debunk every email forward and malicious lie spread about Illinois Senator and Presidential Candidate Barack Obama. About.com's reputation as a long-standing credible source should speak for itself.

 

With every forward you receive, please perform due diligence before believing what it tells you.

 

Love,

Elle

My father-in-law announced at a recent lunch in a popular local restaurant that he wasn't going to buy Hunts Ketchup because they support Presidential Candidate Barack Obama and he'll never support a "n-word". There was a black family with children eating at the next table. My husband became embarassed and snapped, "You can't say that in public!" He was met with the response, "I don't care who hears me." He has nothing to fear. Anyone within earshot is much more civilised than him.

Mind you, he doesn't do the shopping so it's not like he has any control over what brand of which condiments are purchased. It's not like they consume so much ketchup that his racial boycott will cripple the company and cause it to file bakruptsy, making them regret and rethink their political alignments henceforth. I also have failed to find any evidence of this corporate endorsement. He said it for the purpose of harming the people at the next table and only for that purpose.

For my kids' sake, I'm glad they weren't there. For his sake, I'm glad I wasn't there.

He keeps saying how he doesn't have much time left, but does it ever occur to him that racists burn in Hell?

PS: We're out of ketchup and even though I'm still undecided on my vote, I'm buying Hunts.

Charlotte Harbor Pier

We finally geocached today and picked up about five finds. We met Tom's parents for lunch but a very cranky and nap-deprived toddler cut our social time short. It's peculiar that now that I'm down to one child, my workload has increased. I would have thought that Tommy receiving all of the attention would have pacified him and made him happier but I was very wrong. Having the older kids around helped keep Tommy socialised and content. Now I think he's bored, especially since he's so used to having "built-in" playmates.

When we got home after that awful lunch experience, I logged our finds and then performed some electronic maintenance on our hides. A week late, I got caught up on the waymarking aspects of my trip.

I'm very pleased with what my new camera can do!

We arrived at the drop off in Rensselaen, IN a bit early, had some breakfast and waited for my mother to arrive. After placing many things that were in her car into my car, and many things that were in my car into her car, I said a tough goodbye to Michael and Eddie and we parted ways. My mother took them back to her house and I began the 1100-mile drive home.

These things are extraordinarily difficult for me emotionally. I can take the travel, the long driving, the weather changes, and the strain, but I really cannot stand telling my children goodbye and not seeing them for periods of time. Anything longer than a weekend is just too long. So, after I quit sobbing at 80mph and pulled myself together, I called a friend to let her know how close I was to being back in town.

Architecturally significant building

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Kevin and Tracey, once again, were gracious hosts. This time, they guided me around Bardstown, which is Tracey's hometown. We visited a few of the many historical places in the city, including their beautiful church, and had a yummy dinner at Chili's. I monopolised them for the entire afternoon and really had a lot of fun.

I made it to Franklin, TN, about 100 miles north of Chattanooga. When I get too tired to drive, my eyesight stops working long before my body or mind show any signs of fatigue. My vision gets blurry and I have trouble keeping my eyes focused, even with my glasses on, that's my signal to get off the road immediately. It's a peculiar way for my body to work, but at least I'll never fall asleep at the wheel. I'm in a Days Inn, which I rate with two thumbs up, four stars, or whathaveyou. It's clean, it's stocked, everything works, I have Comedy Central and HBO, a big desk, a big bed, a nice bathroom, a great view, etc etc etc. The price is $10 more than previous places. This is getting marked as a spot to stop at. 

I kept an average speed of 80mph, needing to bring myself down to 70mph when the winds were trying to push my car around the road. After leaving Indiana, the weather cleared back up. It was still cold but there's a big difference between having some wind and freezing cold and having heavy wind, freezing cold and large snowflakes pelted on you. I spent $80 in fuel and currently have a full tank. Traffic has been light.

I still anticipate arriving home tomorrow.

My mother took Michael and Eddie to a movie and then they shopped for my father since it's his birthday. My father had a birthday party, kid-style, and the boys had a great time with it. Their father should pick them up from my parents' house tomorrow evening, if they follow the instructed times in the letters sent to everyone from everyone about this visitation. My ex-husband is all about pulling stunts now that I've filed this Petition to Domesticate, but I'm hoping and praying that this visitation goes off without a hitch or stunt. December 24 - January 4... it doesn't have to be difficult.