The Best Auntie EVAH!

This beautiful girl just turned eighteen a couple of weeks ago. For her 18th birthday, she had a couple of requests. They were, in no particular order:

• To see this movie.
• To go out clubbing with her co-workers.
• To get another tattoo. (Her sister is handling that. Cool Aunts can only do so much!)
• For me to take her to this store. (NSFW)

Oh, sweet jeebus, the movie was great, she had fun with her friends, she’s planning what tattoo to get, but the highlight was our trip to Fairvilla.

The look on her face as we toured the shop was priceless. It took us two whole trips around the store before she could summon up the courage to ask questions.

It took us three before she would actually touch stuff and push buttons.

I think she was intrigued and appalled all in one fell swoop. She bought herself a shirt. I bought her a little something to remember the trip.

(Emphasis on little and joke gift. She can buy her own hardware, thankyouverymuch!)

Her reaction in the S&M room when she saw all the accoutrements? I’ll remember that one for the rest of my life. Hilarious. Worth. It.

___________________________

I tell this story here because well, it’s funny and I asked her if I could share it. I write about her on this blog because she lives with me for now, but in 62 days she will be reporting to Boot Camp to serve in the United States Army. I want it to be known that we will miss her, but that we are so proud of her. She’s an amazing young lady, and although she has tested me on a few occasions (what teenager doesn’t?), what she is doing for herself, her country, and for her future is incredible. We feel so blessed to be a part of her life.

What has a cool aunt done for you?

It’s Not the Hatfield’s or the McCoy’s…yet

Dear Neighbor Who Moved On to a New Life in Another State (but who is trying to sell the house they used to live in),

Hi!!!! How ya doing? It’s just me, your old neighbor back here in Orlando. Us? Oh, we’re fine…

um…except for one thing.

Did you know your old yard looks like this?

Yeah, we were surprised too, especially since you are trying to sell this house in a short sale, potentially bringing down the property values here in the ‘old hood just a wee bit. Let’s just say that party may have already started. See Exhibit A here.

Oh, and as an aside; I don’t think I know your Realtor is not doing their job. But what I DO think is you should be expecting a letter from the HOA pretty soon. Because I don’t know how much longer I can stand to look at this. The grass is about as tall as I am at this point. Please send someone to fix this post haste.

Oh, and fire your Realtor. She sucks.

Sincerely,
Your Old Neighbor

___________________________________

Dear Homeowner’s Association,

See this?

Fix it. Soon. Before my 6 year-old wanders in there and we have to send out a search party.

Thanking you in advance,

The neighbor who isn’t ruining her lawn equipment to mow that hot mess.

Only In My House #1

Only in my house would you find a mom slaving over a stove making homemade popcorn lovingly preparing it for her sons, turning and turning the wheel so all the kernels will pop…

…when son #1 walks in, tastes the popcorn, now hot and buttered in the popcorn bowl and says:

“That popcorn is too bland, Mom. Can I make some microwave popcorn?”

Sigh.

(The mom said yes, by the way.)

Heavy Artillery

He may have a career in the military yet…

I’m in a mood today. So much going on in the news, whether it be blogsphere or my daily newspaper. Almost every day our hometown paper has something about this case splashed all over the front page.

This story is a very sad story, and one that I don’t think will have a happy ending.

I’m also sad to say but I think the mother may have harmed her child. It’s hard not to when you read something like this:

The trunk of Casey Anthony’s car reeked of death.

Strands of hair, a mysterious stain and bits of dirt found in the trunk of Anthony’s white Pontiac have led Orange County Sheriff’s Office investigators to think it’s possible that her daughter, 2-year-old Caylee Marie, is dead and her mother may be involved.

Source: Orlando Sentinel

Your child has gone missing and your mother has to phone the police to file a missing persons report a month after you last saw her?

This has got suspicious written all over it. I am finding it harder and harder to believe the mother is not directly involved.

I’m sad for Caylee, for the grandparents, for everyone who met and loved this little girl. I’m angry at the mother for still not helping the authorities find her child; even from behind bars. Time is of the essence in cases like this, and it is rapidly slipping through the fingers of those trying to help find this child.

If you know anything, please contact the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.

Thank you.

Just a Friendly Reminder

Shirt worn by Scamp whenever he possibly can.
Which is often, since I pretty much have to do laundry every other day around here.

‘Nuff said.

The Drive Home

It rained and stormed the ENTIRE TIME we drove home from Savannah.

If you know me, you know how much I LOVE being a passenger in a car in the rain. With trucks. and rain.

Sedatives? Anyone? Please?

Savannah and its Environs – Our Last Day

The actual order of my day went thus:

A Graveyard, A Beach, A Lighthouse, and Dinner with a Lady and her Sons.

First, the graveyard:

Then Tybee Island and the beach:

WELCOME TO TYBEE ISLAND!!!

I saw the back of their heads a lot.

Then the Lighthouse:

This one’s for you, Rog.

Then a stroll in Forsyth Park:

It is SO EASY to lose yourself in the parks and squares in Savannah.
Did you know that that gorgeous fountain down the lane was MAIL ORDERED?
I never saw anything like that in my Crate & Barrel catalog!

Finally, dinner at the Lady and Sons:

We finished the night by driving over the New Talmadge Bridge (not to be confused with the Old Talmadge Bridge) :

Savannah, we’re gonna miss you. Thanks for everything. It was a wonderful, magical trip.

Incognito, and the Lack Therof

So when you travel around Savannah with two boys who look like this:

It makes people notice you and yell, “Hey, It’s Mario and Luigi!” “Yo Mario!! Yo Luigi!”

That being said…

Mario and Luigi as Forrest Gump. The only thing missing is the floating feather.

One of the only photos of me and the boys I have.
Taken outside the Andrew Low House right after Luigi wanted to talk about ghosts to the docent.
Suggestion: Don’t ask the docents about ghosts. They don’t like it.

Right now this is my new favorite Savannah photo.
Taken near the Isiah Davenport House, this is a private garden.
I wish it was mine.

Tomorrow is a lighthouse, a graveyard, a beach, and dinner with a Lady. Not necessarily in that order.

A Savannah Twofer, and a Tour

The photo my kids want me to show you:

Taken at The Pirate’s House. The Mario Bros. having some lunch.

The Photo I want to show you:

The Mercer-Williams House, Savannah, Georgia

After 4 years since I have been to Savannah, they have FINALLY opened the Mercer House to tours. If you have read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, you know what an important role this house plays in that book. I was so excited to finally be shown a glimpse into the famed house, and took my 13 year-old and my 6 year-old sons inside with me to take a peek.

Ummmm…it’s okay…nothing special. And you only get to see the first floor. Wow.

Granted, you see a key room from the book, but if you have seen the movie, you can tell some things were changed, like the positions of desks and tables in the room. Lots of art, beautiful stained glass in the stairway ceiling, but alas, I can not show it to you.

Why, you ask? Because they allow NO PHOTOS. They even make you turn off your cell phones. This must be because they have a coffee table book out with the same photos you want to take. A bonus to buying the book is that in there you get to see the upstairs ballroom, because you don’t get to see it in the tour.

All in all, I enjoyed myself. (Except the boys will tell you they were BORED!) Mr. Williams was definitely a collector of art, and many portraits of famous Savanniahians abound. Many gorgeous sculptures are there as well. If you like Home Tours and seeing how “the other half” lives, this is a good tour. If you want juicy gossip about “The Book“, then this tour isn’t your cup of tea.

Unless you are with a group of people who ask only questions about the movie and the murder to the docent. Then? It gets amusing.

Today we are off on a Trolley Tour, Lunch at City Market, some shopping, dinner somewhere in the Historic District, and a Candelight Haunted History Tour.

Have a great day! Safe travels to all those heading to California and BlogHer!

Tagging Along

So, yesterday I told you that I was heading to Savannah, Georgia for several days (good thing I’m not going to BlogHer this year, I won’t be home in time to go!). Today was our “travel day”, and after a quick stop at our neighborhood Publix (Holla, K!)we set off on our trip.

We hit EVERY SINGLE LIGHT in Altamonte Springs on SR 436. Every. One.

Traffic was heavy on I-4 until we hit I-95.

So what’s a girl to do? Well, this:

And take pictures:

This trip has been brought to us by this fabulous man. Thank you, honey.

See, I told you. Luigi and Mario are in the hizouse!

Hello, Jacksonville! (Work on those roads a bit faster, will you?)

WE MADE IT!!! FINALLY!! (The kids screamed this from the backseat)

The Mario and Luigi Show continued at Logan’s in Savannah:

And I had to laugh when I saw this:

El Cheapo? More like El Expensivo. Especially when this was RIGHT NEXT DOOR:

When we arrived at the hotel, we had to do a little “Luggage Cart Surfing”:

Now, I’m off to the hotel pool because studies show that kids are drawn to hotel pools like moths to flame. (At least mine are!) Until tomorrow!