Life and Loves

This beautiful sky greeted us when we got to the condo Friday evening. Months ago we had asked a wonderful lady from church if she would host a small ladies retreat at her beach home. She generously allowed us to come even though there have been some medical issues in her family recently.

We started out with eight possibles going and ended up with five. Regena, Jeanne, Joyce, Kerri and myself left after work Friday evening and headed to the East coast. Our plans were to simply relax and enjoy “God’s Wonders”. We certainly did!

That first night we ventured into town to eat at Yianni’s (a Greek cafe) where we were the last group to leave. We all enjoyed Baklava for dessert and the eggplant was so very yummy! Once we returned most everyone retired to their rooms for the evening. After some awesome oatmeal muffins in the morning, we all got ready to head to the beach.
Saturday was a beautiful day. There were many shells and a few jellyfish washed up onshore. We even found a coconut! After catching up on some reading and soaking up some sun, we decided to check out the pool. The beach was mostly undeveloped and the pool was deserted, so we were it. We didn’t have to share with anybody! We were the epitome of laziness and it was wonderful! Everyone started to get hunger pains, so we decided to pack it up and head to Archie’s, a burger “joint”, and it definitely was a “joint”! We had a bit of live music complete with harmonica and some fantastic wings. It reminded some of the girls of Key West. A sign out front near the pirate read, “No shoes, No shirt, No Problem!”. We had a good time.

One quick stop at Home Goods and we were on our way home. At church on Sunday we noticed evidence that when it comes to applying sunscreen we had better enlist some help! We were very blotchy! I don’t know about the others, but I came back very refreshed. It was nice to get outta town with just us girls. I enjoyed getting to know everyone a bit better and am looking forward to the next time!

We went to Abuelo’s to celebrate as I’m sure I have mentioned, especially since it has been a few months. They have a ridiculously large light in the middle of the room that makes it feel like it is the middle of the afternoon when it is really very late at night. It made for great pics of us though!

We had our usual faves there; Bobby and Britt, Carrie and Edd, but a few new friends joined us that night. Tim and Regena Sizemore. Tim is our Sunday school teacher and Pastor of Lakeland Fellowship, our beloved church, and Regena is a fellow member of the Ladies Book Club.

Also joining us were Bill and Sue Vandergriff. Miss Sue is from Tennessee and Hi-lar-i-ous! She gave me some helpful advice about how to get Jason to propose. ;-) She is also a fellow member of the Ladies Book Club. Her husband (also very funny) leads the business meetings at LF.

Good people, good times, good friends!

Vacations are great, but goodness they mess up the routine! The kids have been extra whiny going through withdrawals of all of the attention Bryant gave them. I have pictures! Of course my battery died and I can’t upload (easily) without it. It is charging this very moment, so perhaps I will finally put up some pics on this darn thing. :-)

I woke up grumpy this morning. I’m trying to get into the routine of getting Noah and Nora to school at 8am and it is NOT working *yawn*. 8am?? Jason is usually up first and feeding the kids breakfast, he is so sweet. He makes it so easy to get up early, but my body says “heck no playa!”. Anyway, so I got some work done this morning *grumble grumble* and hugged my honey a few times and had my coffee (thank the Lord!) and smiled once or twice, but only at the girl at the bank who doesn’t know me, but pretends she is sooo excited to see me almost every single day. At lunchtime I went to the library to pick up an old John Rosemond book. It’s called the six point plan and it reiterates everything I already know, but tend to forget when bombarded with so many opinions on how to be a good mom.

Speaking of being a good mom, it really irritates me that they don’t give out gold stars for mommies. You never really know if you are doing a good job. You can’t base it on behavior because it’s entirely more complex than that and even if you do everything right by someone’s standards, your child is still his or her own little person and may choose despite your best efforts to go to jail or get into drugs, turn from God or whatever is your worst fear for them. I’m guessing that you choose a path and you stick with what you believe to be best for them. No one can really tell you that you are doin’ it wrong. How do they know? Besides the obvious abuse issue, which someone should tell you that you are definitely doin’ it wrong. Only you know how you want to raise your children and only you can decide what you think is best with the help of your “parenting partner” whoever that may be. Anyway.

I forgot to grab my Tarragon Chicken Salad that was planned for lunch today, so I decided to venture downtown to Black & Brew. I am currently reading The 19th Wife, so I was that girl eating lunch totally engrossed in her book, especially since I am halfway through. I also got a Vanilla Frappe that hit the spot on this ridiculously hot day! I then walked a bit downtown around Munn Park and stopped in Brooke Pottery, one of my favorite stores to have a look-see. I found this cute magnet that says, “I could get through the day without coffee, but I don’t think you would want me to.” Perfect quote for my day. ;-)

After that, I started walking back to my car when someone yelled HEY! at me. I turned to see my old friend Crystal. She had moved to Seattle and back and the funny thing is I was just thinking about her the other day. I had seen her driving down S Florida Ave a few weeks ago (she has an unmistakable sticker on her car) and was wondering what the story was. We have similar backgrounds and it was good to see her. I asked if she had gotten into the knitting trend while she was out there in Seattle and she had not, but wanted to learn. I could probably teach her enough to get her started, so we may meet up again. Lately I have had to get out of my comfort zone and risk being seen as that needy girl and call new friends offering to get together. I have been satisfied to meet up and start new friendships accepting that they cannot compare to old friendships. It has given me a new appreciation for women and their uniqueness and for God in his careful way of weaving people together.

Because half of the blogs I read mention homeschooling I just wanted to throw out that Noah is starting Kindergarten at the end of August. I am so excited for him! He is almost reading and I was looking at the curriculum on his school’s website and it looks like (as I have heard numerous times) it will be a great school for him. He needs some new pants and new shoes and his school items still and we have orientation on the 20th. Orientation! So fun! There…that should help balance out the universe. *giggle*

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Jason only posts about the yard and controversial subjects. I love this about him. :o) He isn’t mean about any of it, stabbing his finger in someone’s eye saying, “you’re wrong dude!” He simply says, “Here’s what I think”.

I’ve been talking to God a lot about friendships. I would like a new friend here in Florida. As I am open to a new friendship God seems to remind me of the other people in my life. It’s funny because Bryant cam in from AL and then Lukie invited us over for 4th of July Rock Band celebration. It has been a while since I’ve seen them. Roger, Linda, Luke, Jason and Amie. My family for all intents and purposes. They haven’t seen Nora for over a year and Roger kept exclaiming that there was a little Dani running around! He also told the story of our first meeting again and again. I was three and showed up on there porch hoping for breakfast, which was next door, between 5 and 6 am one morning while my mom was fast asleep. Sound like anyone?

I was talking to my brother’s girlfriend and they had good friends who recently stopped being friends with them because they started going to church and Luke and Jackie weren’t Godly enough for them anymore. Really? Luke and Jackie are a better example of God’s love than most Christians.

This among other events started me wondering why I choose certain friends. At one point it seems all of my friends lived in another state. Did I choose people emotionally and physically unavailable? I started analyzing my choices in friendships. Recently there have been a few chicks that I’d like to get to know better, but why? We don’t have anything that brings us together on a weekly basis, like school or church or anything. What is it that sparks my interest in hopes of a friendship? Two examples: April. The common thread? We used to work together at Sbux and she helped me with knitting a couple times. She is different. Not just physically, but in her thinking as well. She’s got her ears gauged and she doesn’t shave her underarms-ever and I’m not positive she wears a bra. She reads the same books my mom does like vampires and such. I like her. Then there is Jackie. Common thread? She is my brother’s girlfriend. I rarely see them since they live on the NORTH side, wayyyy north. I live on the opposite end of Lakeland, wayyyy south. Anyway. She’s sweet and honest. They go to church, perhaps sporadically. She’s a new mom, with a one year old boy. I like her. I think I like these girls because they are genuine and accepting. I feel that we enjoy some of the same things, but that we could learn from each other. We view life differently and that’s okay. I recently spent time with someone and we disagreed on a particular subject and it was the best conversation I have had in a while, but because we don’t agree is one of the reasons we are not friends so much anymore. She doesn’t want someone who disagrees with her. Sometimes that is the best part of being friends! I feel like maybe I’ll have to give these new girls a disclaimer: I will not always agree with you and I may even point out an area in which growth may be needed, gently. Am I willing to accept the same from them? I think so. Jason will occasionally point out a flaw or two, gently, and I am grateful. He trust me enough to disagree with me. I trust him enough to hear what that opinion is and what that flaw might be. The best part is I know that he still loves me despite the differences of opinion and despite my irritating behaviors. ;o)


Another important question? Do friendships survive that phase of agreeing to disagree? My last friendship did not. Are we friends for seasons only? Out with the old in with the new? Lots to ponder.