the Keys, the dock and special places

Do you have a special place?  A place where you feel most calm and peaceful?  A place where you can go or envision yourself when the world becomes too busy and crazy?  When I took Lamaze class years ago, they had us envision our peaceful place (instead I opted to meet with the anesthesiologist!)  When I took yoga class years ago, they had us meditate on our calm place (I was just trying my best not to get tied up in knots!).  But I do know where my special place is.  Back before I had my daughter, I used to visit the Florida Keys two or three times every year with my family and friends.  Those were some of my favorite times!  But, I always remember starting out our mornings having coffee on the dock and planning out our day.  And then in the afternoons, sitting out there waiting for the boats to come in to see what everyone caught.  Finally, later at night having dinner and telling stories out there until we got tired and drifted off to bed.  

This dock has seen some sights!  If you ask any one of my friends, they would be glad to tell you about the time that we had been out catching lobsters ALL DAY LONG, and when we finally got back, I jumped off the boat, and straight off the dock- right into the water- in front of everyone!  They will also tell you about the time that my brother saw some ducks "fighting" on the dock.  (Yeah, it was a boy and girl duck and they were so NOT fighting!)  After not being able to make it down to the Keys for nearly 9 years, I got to have my coffee on the dock yesterday morning.  

And this time, it was with my daughter! 

Welcome to my special place!

 

Uterus, uterus, uterus!

As I was driving my daughter to school this morning, we heard a report on the radio that the Florida legislature was trying to ban use of the word uterus.  Here is the story.  They said that Democrats are wearing pink "uterus buttons" today as protest.  Someone called in to say that they should get serious up there in Tallahassee, balance the budget, pay the educators and policemen and knock it off.  I agree, because I don't want to have any more conversations about uteruses (uteri?) first thing in the morning.
Daughter- "what is a uterus?"
Me:  Hmmm.
I thought for a minute and then said "It is where a baby grows and you even have one on your insides!"  She said that she likes the word, and repeated it several times.  At this point we were almost up to the drop off point in front of the school and I started thinking that maybe I should not send her in to her classroom saying "Uterus, uterus, uterus!"  I can just imagine the phone call from the school I am going to get for this one. 

Here are the buttons they wore on the house floor.  Incidentally the buttons have been banned too!  See here.

Blueberry Chicken

Cook chicken as desired. The way I desire is that I place two frozen chicken breasts in the crockpot in the morning on high. Also add 1 can of chicken broth, 1 cup of blueberries, 3 tablespoons of jam (I use blackberry because it was in the fridge), 1 cup of nuts- I prefer almonds, but walnuts would be yummy too. And VIOLA- you have delicious blueberry chicken waiting for you when you come home from work. Although, my picky kid will probably just eat cereal- see here.

boil water warning and middle schoolers

This week a water main burst near my school and we were on a "boil water alert" until the water was clear again. The water fountains were all covered up with garbage bags taped over them. I had to warn my middle schoolers not to drink water out of the bathrooms or try to stick their heads under the bags to get a sip or else they would get diarrhea for sure- (they love it when I say diarrhea!) Of course as soon as you tell someone that they cannot drink water, they get very thirsty. When they would start to whine to me, I would remind them that we just got back from our nature field trip and what did we learn about surviving in the wilderness? Which would cause them to hang their heads and reply "that you can live for 3 days without water" and sit back down in their chairs. Well, today was the 3rd day of the boil water alert and I was just waiting for one of the kids to tell me that it had been 3 days and they were getting ready to die of thirst, but at about noon, they said it was OK to drink again. And they all cheered and ran to the water fountain to celebrate!

raft races, toilet seats and last place

Today my daughter and I went to the 28th annual Homosassa River Raft Race. My dad and his friend just found out about this contest last weekend. I thought it was pretty weird that this thing has been going on for 28 years and this is the first time we have heard about it, but anyway they decided to give it their all. They made their raft a plumber's boat and build it from PVC pipe, plastic wrap, duct tape and toilet seats. It was truly a sight to behold. They tested it out in the neighbor's pool to be sure it would float.

Then they made their final improvements and headed up to the race. Well, they came in pretty much dead last, way behind the other "non mechanical" rafts. But they kept on racing and finished the course. When my daughter said "why don't they just stop because they lost", I explained that just because you come in last sometimes, doesn't mean that you don't keep trying. It just wouldn't be the same experience if they didn't finish what they came to do, whether coming in first place or last place. Besides, they lost the race to Batman and Robin. Come on kid, they have superpowers!