Instead of outdoing myself this year, I decided to keep things simple. I invited over several family members and put out a spread of several different varieties of hot dogs and sausages, appropriate toppings, the world’s best hot dog sauce (recipe here), chips, home made pasta salad, southern iced tea, and a crock dull of sweet, rich, home made vanilla ice cream.

We sat and talked, watched the kids play, and looked through the bucket of gems my nephew and niece found when they went gemming last week in Georgia. Something, by the way, that I am very anxious to go when my daughter and I go to visit her Godparents outside Atlanta this summer.

Once evening came, we piled in the car and headed over to Safety Harbor. We were a little late getting started and the fireworks had already started by the time we headed out. Really, the best view of the night was from our car as we neared Safety Harbor. We parked and ran along the sidewalks, making it out from under the canopy of trees right in time for the spectacular finale.

It was simple, no frills, and completely satisfying. Happy 4th of July to my amazing nation, the United States of America.

Well, I woke up this morning with what felt like a bad hangover. Why do say that as if it is an odd thing? I have not had a drink in at least a year, and even when I do drink it is never, ever enough to even feel buzzy.

The woman who owns the house next door had a large party last night and people were out in the yard until about 3:30 a.m. hooting and shouting drunkenly. They were splashing in the pool and wandering the nearby yards. It kept me awake, wondering if anyone was going to drunkenly wander over here and pass out

So, when I woke up with a migraine and a very queasy stomach, the shakes and a feeling of dehydration I laughingly commented to a family member that maybe one of the drunken kids last night had cast their hangover onto me.

That same family member said it was more likely I went to sleep and had a dream about the situation next door, maybe even dreaming I was drunk. She told me it is not so difficult to trick the brain into believing you are sick, or if you are sick you can trick it into believing it is healing.

She has a point. So, I took a little Excedrin Migraine and went back to bed for another sleep cycle. I feel pretty OK now.

Happy New Year!

Every year I order photo greeting cards for my friends and family. Last year I just had photos printed and slipped them inside cards. And, even though I sometimes cut it close to the wire and time them a bit late, I generally get them out the week after Thanksgiving.

Not this year, though. Time slipped away from me and I have not even had time to get a photo of myself taken with Gigi. MAYBE tomorrow night my sister will actually have time to get our families together for some snapshot time.

So, I might skip cards this year. It’s a shame, but with this being the first time I have been back to work outside the home in about eight years, I am all scrambled in my head.

My absolute favorite time of the year is that period between Thanksgiving break and the end of the year. I love how much time most people get off from work and school. When I was married, my husband would take nearly all of his vacation at the end of the year and was able to be home with us for over two weeks around Christmas. It was always such a cozy, homey feeling.

I’m back to working outside the home for the first time in eight years and all of the sudden I have that rushed holiday feeling again. Days are passing so quickly and it suddenly occurred to me just how many out of town gifts I want to ship. Of course, I need to buy or order them first. And Christmas cards! I used to have my Christmas cards out the week of Thanksgiving. It looks like I might just pass on the whole card project this year. I keep meaning to have someone take my camera and help me with portraits of me and Gigi, but the time has passed so swiftly and everyone I trust to take the pictures is at least as busy as I am.

I do get two weeks off work for Christmas and New Year, though, so if nothing else that softens the overall blow of being back to work the first time in so many years. I will only have my daughter with me for half of that break, though. I have to split her school break with my ex.

But, back to the topic in question – Christmas sneaking up on me. I need to find some ways to better organize next year so that I can slow down and enjoy this time of year more. I don’t want whiplash Christmases, you know? The only other holiday I like even half as much is Easter and the school system is unwilling to schedule spring break to coincide with a religious holiday, so Easter is always a rush as well.

A Fever. Yes, I got sick.

I woke up tired, but that is nothing new. I have to get up around 5:30 each morning in order to have my daughter to pre-care in time to get to the High School. I’, tired. The students are tired. The other teachers are tired. It is nothing special.

However, by 4th period I was bushed. I went to the nicer of the two teachers’ lounges and was thrilled to find it empty. I left the lights off and had a nap on the leather couch. It did not help much. In 5th period I was getting chills and by 6th period I was flushed and running a definite fever.

Even so, I managed to go to Arigato with my mom, daughter, sister and nephew. That was a exercise in confusion. I had called about their free meal policy and they told me to bring my “red card”. I assumed that was my points card, which I had in my wallet. They had meant some sort of red card you are mailed. I never received one of those. So, no free birthday meal ? The food was still decent.

Anyway, here it is Saturday morning and I feel much better. I went to bed shivering before 8 last night, even though my daughter assured me the bedroom was hot.

I just hope the fever stays away.

This week my daughter’s kindergarten class is doing all kinds of apple related lessons and activities in preparation of the celebration of Johnny Appleseed’s birthday this Friday.

As fortune would have it, we have apple blossoms coming in on the trees in the backyard this week. I think I have mentioned that we get two apple crops here in Florida. We make sure to help things along by helping the trees lose their leaves a couple of times a year.

Anyway, when I was little I would cut daffodils in the yard in the spring and wrapped the stems in a wet paper towel and cover that with foil. Them I would take them to school and present them to my teacher. Tomorrow morning, I am going to let Gigi cut a branch from the apple tree and bring some apple blossoms to school for her teacher.

Want to go to one of the U.S. Disney parks for free in 2009? All you have to do is show up o your birthday. Talk about a great deal.

In an age when few if any restaurant even offer you a free meal on your birthday, Disney is willing to hand you a park pass worth about $75. Sweet.

My daughter and I usually go on her birthday every year, but I do not have her on her actual birthday this year, so we will just have to wait until mine and make a day of it together.

You can either register online (disneyparks.com) in advance or just show up at the gate with your photo ID. My daughter does not have a photo ID yet (she’s only five), so something official wither birth date on it will work.

If you have already bought passes for days that include your birthday, you can alternately get a one-day, one-park ticket to use within the next year, a Fastpass for four rides for up to six people (Fastpass allows you to basically zoom right past the long lines for any number of the more popular rides), or a gift card amount equal to the cost of the free ticket to use in the parks.

I’ve been getting new contacts on Facebook almost daily ands most of them are from people I went to high school with, because we are ready for our 20th reunion. 20th! Holy cow, people.

I went to the 10-year reunion and I admittedly had an awful lot of fun. I’m going to skip this one, however, and just hope to hear more feedback from the people who do get to attend via the internet. Even ten years ago not as many of my classmates were online.

Today I tried to find a lot of my old photo albums, but they are apparently in my storage unit. I did happen to find some stray photos in a box that says “To File”. I scanned some of the sillier ones and made an album on Facebook that I am hoping only a couple o chosen friends can see. I set the security setting as such, but now I need to see if it works.

I stayed home for the 4th of July fireworks lat night. One street over, there were some people setting off high-end fireworks. They were the ones that look professional and they were setting off A LOT, in short succession. It was amazing.

Across the street from me, kitty-corner and across the intersection (I’m on a corner lot) the neighbors were out with their multiple children and scads of grandchildren. It was quite a crowd and they were setting off firecrackers and sparklers and a lot of cheapie fireworks that stay low to the ground and sort of roll around and sputter in the street. The kids were making more noise than their own fireworks.

Those neighbors are dodgy. One day the guy who lives there told one of my other neighbors he could teach him to shoplift. That other neighbor promptly told him he would not be speaking to him again and walked off. It’s no great comfort to know you are living across the street form someone like that.

Anyway, around 10 pm we heard this massive explosion and when we looked outside, those neighbors across the street had evidently set a pile of brush in yet another neighbor’s yard on fire. That brush pile had been there for a couple of months getting dry and perfect for a fire. I suppose the owners of said brush pile thought the county would pick op the sticks in the trash pickup eventually, but in all actuality they did not have it bundled properly so the odds are it would have remained there indefinitely.

Anyway, I called the fire department and they sent a truck. Within minutes of the fire being set, that neighbor had all his kids and grandkids racing to their cards, beers and covered dishes in hand. Once they were gone. The guy set out a hose on the fire, turned off all his lights and shut all his doors. Talk about guilty behavior.

He never showed his face when the fire truck arrived. Coward.

This morning we overheard him talking to the neighbor who owns the charred brush pile. He told them he had no idea what might have happened. Creep.

Don’t overlook Grandpa on this upcoming Father’s Day. He deserves just as much honor and respect as Dad, especially if he has finally succeeded in getting all of the kids out of the house with their limbs intact.

I have a t-shirt that is perfect for the occasion. My Grumpy Grandpa t-shirt is perfect for all grandfathers, not just the grumpy ones. Plus, it comes in versions that help you honor Abuelo, Metzhayr, Opa, and Papou.

If you see any of the specialty items you want personalized with an alternate form of “grandpa”, just let me know. I have a contact page here on my blog and it’s just a matter of making a special graphic for you. I’m a personal believer in the message behind this t-shirt. My own father certainly loves to adhere to the concept of sending my daughter back filled to the brim with sugar. I think he sees it as sport.

Memorial Day is a special time for me and my family. Both of my grandfathers and my step-grandfather fought in WW2. My dad’s father died in Italy and is buried in Enzio. I have never seen his grave, but a couple of years ago my father visited and saw his own father’s grave for the first time in his life. My dad was two when his father died, so the moment was particularly poignant.

My maternal grandfather and my paternal step-grandfather both came back from WW2 and went on to fight in Korea. My dad did not fight in Viet Nam, because he was the only child of a father who was killed in action.

My family has always been sensitive to the importance of honoring those who fight for our nation. This extends to the men and women who are fighting for our nation as I write this. I do not have any relatives overseas right now, but I have lots of friends who have been there over and over.

As I mentioned, my one grandfather is buried in Italy. The other two are in WV. So, it is not possible for me to physically visit their graves this weekend. However, my maternal step-father was also a vet and he is buried in the Florida National Cemetery, so we make it a habit to visit him.

I suppose I have to admit that I am getting a little older. Inside my head, I still feel like I am the same age was when I graduated from high school. In reality, I am hearing from friends about how our 20 YEAR high school reunion is being planner for the end of this summer.

Egads.

Do people say egads anymore?

I flew up to the DC ‘burbs for my 10 year reunion and I actually had a great time. I think I will skip the 20 year, though. In the meantime, I have a renewed desire to check up on old friends. I have lots of friends who still live up in the DC area and they are able to fill me in on the pans and what people are up whom still live in the area.

I have also been e-mailing other friends far and wide. We are spread out all over the U.S., and even the world. Sometimes it takes talking to ten people to get the scoop on everyone who matters. I say everyone who matter and not everyone, because our graduating class had 675 people in it and I have to admit that even though I had been in school with some of them since kindergarten, I do not remember everyone who graduated with me.

Have any of you passed your 20 year reunion? Did you go? Should I go? My life is so different right now and just taking off for a long weekend in DC is easier said than done. Maybe staying home and thanking God that I have only ever found one grey hair so far is enough of a celebration for me.

Celebrating Mother’s Day has always been important to me. As a child, I took a lot of pleasure on making breakfast in bed for my mom, complete with some flowers I picked out of the gardens in our yard. I have always been a giver of flowers, though as time went on and my tastes became a little more sophisticated, I began to resort more often to giving arrangements of flowers from the florist.

My daughter was about three months old on our first Mother’s Day together and I had her dedicated at our church that day. It is still a very special memory. We had a huge reception afterwards for friends and family. Having Gigi dedicated was special enough it and of itself. To have that ceremony fall on Mother’s Day was just amazing. All of the other families who had their children dedicated that day just put their babies in pretty outfits, but we went all out with a traditional christening gown. I wanted Gigi to wear the same gown I was dedicated in, but it is yellowed and needs some of the lace repaired.

I cannot find a scan of the portraits I had done of her in her dress. All I can find right now is this picture without her hat, where she is clutching her cross and looking frightened. Believe me, though, despite the look on her face it was a wonderful day!

Mother’s Day is one special day I never have to spend away from my daughter, because it is the one day (along with my own birthday) that I get her every single year, according to my divorce agreement.

My own daughter is also a picker and giver of flowers, though she tends to stray into the yards of neighbors when she is picking flowers for me.

My daughter goes to a private school right now, so she has Good Friday off. In the tri-county area here in the Tampa Bay region, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties stay open on the religious holiday. Pasco is wisely closed. Now there is a lot of panic over the expectation that a lot of bus drivers and educators will take the day off.

If a high percentage of your employees insist on observing a religious holiday, it seems to me that you might consider being closed for that holiday. It is already insane enough that Spring Break is two weeks away from Easter. At least let your people have a three-day weekend on one of the most important holy days of the entire year. If you were ask people in an informal survey, I am willing to wager that most people do indeed associate Spring Break with Easter. Let’s thank the small handful of religion haters who screamed long and loud in order to get almost all religious references taken away from our students.

My daughter has to bring 6 plastic Easter eggs to school tomorrow for her class’s Easter Egg hunt. She is at an age where she is very interested in being part of all decisions that pertain to her life – and often to my life as well. Anyway, she had a very firm idea that she wanted me to fill the eggs with marshmallow Peeps.

I agreed. Maybe I should have pushed back a bit, though. I just sat out at the dining room table filling the eggs and I can imagine what a mess the sticky marshmallow parts will make inside those plastic eggs. Yikes. Maybe I should send a box of wipes tomorrow as well. It’s been hot here in Florida. It was in the high 80s today. I am having second thoughts as I envision those Peeps melting inside of the eggs, out in the sun of the schoolyard.