every great trip must come to an end

when thursday morning rolled around, we were ready to rock and roll-because that's what rock stars do (no modesty there)...granted, i wasn't the rock star, i was more moral support than anything...and answering questions for some of the participants during hands on time.

the great thing is that the ucf campus was only two minutes from our hotel, so the drive-short and sweet (basically that means an extra 5 minutes to sleep...) when i awoke, i took a quick shower and realized that my bathing suit was still wet, so i made a little contraption to blow dry it while i was in the other room being productive (playing alphabetty-i'm here to tell ya that word games are like crack...)

we got to the ucf campus, in orlando and, as had been explained, they were set up and ready to go! sabrina hooked up her computer and we got the handouts ready to go, as we heard a tapping on the observatory window from above-it was dr. campbell, so we waved in momentarily she joined us and gave hugs. she is a very down-to-earth lady and the gals who work with her are great-very cheerful and helpful in every way!

participants began arriving and partaking in the beautiful panera spread, while we did trouble-shooting to make sure that everyone was connected and ready to go. sabrina has a great connection with this group-a few were returners; it's always nice when the participants can appreciate your humor! i love watching people in their element-i would have loved to see this one in a classroom with kiddos-i can only imagine! it was a treat, and by the end of the session, some of the first arrivals (who had arrived a little disgruntled about the whole being there and being mandated to use istation at their school), as they walked out and i was gauging how it went, said they were actually pretty excited now that they could see how it was going to be of value in their classroom as far as grouping students and addressing the particular needs-they expressed interest in returning for a deeper data session once they had some data points! that's when you know your job has been done-sabrina brought it and they got it.

once questions were answered and the room cleared out, dr. campbell and her gals joined us for a pleasant lunch-she asked about my travels in central america and shared some of hers. during the entire conversation, i got a sense of deep integrity and was thankful for how personable she was (which i'd already been informed of-she was great). she had to depart to take a conference call, so we finished some work stuffs and then decided to get outdoors-we plugged in 'union park' and the nav took us in some crazy circle and landed us at a post office and storage area-not a park. so we drove around until we found our own "park" and sat there for awhile (we had quite a bit of down time prior to our flight home), and discussed mums (the making of them), evolution and a host of other great topics that included laughter i'm sure...then we plugged in the address for the airport and we were off.

got some snacks in the airport and found a spot far enough away from the peasants, put up a little fortress wall to people-watch (okay, it was really just our carry-ons, and we were just putting our feet up-don't mind that we were wearing dresses #ladylikeisanattitude)

once we got on the plane, sabrina napped for a bit...and as i sat there, i looked at this exhausted, beautiful friend and my heart swelled about three sizes as i thought about the sacrifices of being on the road so much, and seriously they are...so i made a vow then and there to become a faithful prayer warrior for my friends who travel and are away from home-that God would protect their relationships, give them rest, bring peace, provide time for family in beautiful ways and keep them safe. it certainly isn't for the faint of heart and i know some of the trainers have been going pretty much nonstop for months...hopefully we'll be able to help alleviate some of that stress soon!

home was a welcome sight-i would be leaving to pick up the boys from their three week stay at mom and dad's on saturday.

if you know people who travel a lot, regardless of the type of job they have-pray for them! while traveling can be fun, there are lots of lonely hotel rooms out there and everyone can use an extra thought from afar!

julie

travel day! there should be a law that says:if you drive past the beach you must stop!

sooo...we woke up early the next morning to head up to orlando, but before we did,we sat on the balcony one last time, had some coffee, and relaxed (it was nice not to be too rushed). sabrina thought it would be a good idea to call and mess with lori (the adult version of 80's "is your refrigerator running? go out and catch it, hahahah)...i mean..i didn't stop her- but i'm pretty sure lori had to go take some blood pressure meds and breathe into a plastic bag in the corner...until finally sabrina stopped short and told her she was just joshin' (otherwise we might have had to remote call 9-1-1). #sorrylori

we checked out and figured out that the durango had its own nav system, so we figured that out, and as we were driving, i decided to play with some buttons on the dash, and sabrina gave me her best 'mom' look and said, "don't go pushing buttons-you don't know what they're going to do!"  (no worries, there wasn't an auto-eject button, nor was there a self-destruct-in-10-seconds button)...but we finally did figure out how to make it quit stalling-we think.

once we got to the ft lauderdale area, i was losing the battle of the bladder, so we pulled over by a sketchy gas station with an outdoor bathroom-with a door that opened to the outside-which didn't lock. but i wasn't worried-i knew that if it came to it, sabrina had my back-i have no doubt she would've pulled out her best football tackle and wrestled them to the ground. (i hope, right?)

at this point the coffee and power bar breakfast was wearing off, so we found ourselves a little natural burger restaurant.
lady at counter: oh, those large fries, they'll feed three.
us: oh...perfect, we're from texas.
i don't know three of what she thought they were going to feed...it was the perfect amount!

then we found a parking spot on the next block, where we could see the ocean just down the way, so we parked it.
change in the street--CHECK
pay the meter--CHECK
think we can walk to the water barefoot--CHECK
feel like my feet are blistering and the skin on my soles will completely peel off--CHECK
keep going to find "shade" in the dune grass--CHECK
being laughed at by the locals--CHECK

it doesn't get cheerier and more relaxing than that!

sabrina was wise enough to turn around and put her flip flops back on in the shade. but foolish me...whoever came up with the stupid motto no pain no gain was probably high on morphine, too. just sayin'.

finally we got to the cool, wet sand-and praised Jesus for it! we walked north until we found a spot that was slightly less populated. not that you need to know we were going north, but just in case anyone out there was wanting to really envision it, we turned left. there ya go.

the water was beautiful and refreshing! we spent a good amount of time just wading and enjoying. got some sun...one never notices it in the moment, but i definitely had lines.  at one point while we were out there, some idiot man brought out a bag and began feeding the gulls...mine.mine.mine.mine...for a minute i thought he'd break out in song with "feed the birds, tuppence a bag." umm that wouldn't be weird or anything...eventually we had to go in and move our belongings a little further up, so the rising tide didn't get them, and while we were sitting there, observing our surroundings and taking it all in, we were trying to avoid looking over at the couple in the water pretending to be....dolphins? dolphins expressing way too much pda? maybe. and then there was the girl on her paddle board with the watermelon slices on the boobs and buttocks (not real watermelon, that'd be on the strange-food-fetish side....nope, she just looked like she'd purchased a toddler bathing suit)...AND add to that she nearly ran into us on her board, when she turned around to make her way back and oops, there she was!

while there, i got a text from my dear friend, brandy, asking if i was in orlando-she'd gotten my letter. well, no, but we were on our way! so she suggested dinner and i said yes. sabrina was a trooper-she offered not to go so we could catch up, but i begged her to go because i really love it when people i adore meet other people i adore, because shouldn't everyone in the world be friends?! #justdoingmypart so after our long haul to orlando, we found our rooms, and sabrina got a business call before taking a record-breaking shower (must be a mom thing, but seriously impressive!) then we may have missed the turn..not once, but twice! my fault....probably both times...oops.

a little dark...and the lighting wasn't that good either ;)

appetizers were good, company was good-we got to help sabrina work through some things about her daughter wanting to go on a mission trip, laughed at some guys who were 'pea-cocking' like college boys..wait a minute..they WERE college boys, no wonder! after a wonderful, albeit too short of time with brandy, we called it a night. went back to the hotel and it was our last night, so we hung out on the balcony one last time...unplugging the overhead light, because it was so bright. good times, i tell ya.

it's getting long-more tomorrow-
julie

orlando...yes, as a matter of fact, it is a bit magical.

i don't know that this is the appropriate time to be writing a blog post, as i do have other things i should be doing...i mean it when i say today has been a day of procrastination-for real though, i even cleaned the bathroom; that is some sort of major stall. that's when it hit me. i really had to take a step back and re-evaluate. i have been feeling guilty over spending time with people and not getting work done. but the work that i agreed to do isn't a part of my job, it is in addition to, mostly as an opportunity for extra cash. but is it worth it, when it is hanging over my head and i can't truly just enjoy community? hmm...i submit it is not worth it. for that very reason, i made a call today to scale back a little of what was being asked of me. don't get me wrong, i did not drop it altogether, i am still involved in the work, but in a different capacity. relief.

so, since the last time i actually posted, much has happened!

for starters, olivia has had perfect attendance up to this point-so proud of her because she is so proud of herself...her students might even say boastful-she insisted on a perfect attendance award, so there it is.

and she posted it in front of her door...flaunting it? perhaps...still, it's a great accomplishment to be proud of!

 and then there was the trip to orlando for inacol (eye-NAY-cole) yes, i still pronounce it incorrectly-oh well. sue me. (just kidding, please don't)

friday i was up way too late packing. i'd taken the boys to joanne's, got them set up and they were happy to be there! they knew exactly where they were. as soon as i opened the car door, they were trotting to the front door. smile. i love it that they feel so comfortable staying somewhere away from home!

when i woke up the next morning, i called nicolette to make sure she was awake, because we were taking lyft to the airport. pretty sure she'd woken up and fallen back to sleep-thank God for wake-up calls! i then proceeded to the lyft app, and i had a momentary panic, because the notice said: NO DRIVERS AVAILABLE. uh oh. break out in a sweat, trying as quickly as possible to download the uber app, and then realizing i had to set up all the payment, etc...thoughts went through my head about the cost to park at the airport...so i tried lyft one more time with a quick prayer...and lo and behold, there was indeed a driver available...his name? fabian. so he called to inform me that he was coming from downtown-ish. i got my necessities together and headed out the door, because at that time, i was unfamiliar with how our gate-code worked (it was recently replaced with new instructions). i didn't want to take the remote opener, because it is somewhat bulky and i didn't want to be responsible for it, therefore i had to go out the side, pedestrian gate. so i checked my mail first, then made my way up front. i found a great spot that was out of the drizzle and easy for him to see me, when i realized that i had forgotten something. so all of this leisureliness was for naught.

i rushed back through the side gate, (flip flops making a mess in the puddles), and i raced upstairs to grab my pillow and blanket for the plane. at that point fabian was calling me to let me know he was at the front gate. game-over, i had to get the stupid remote and deal with it. then we drove around the corner to the complex down the road to pick up nicolette.

she did a double take when i said to the driver, "so, fabian, how long have you been doing this?" she mouthed the words: shut up! our principal's name happens to be fabian, as well. it doesn't seem like such a common name. it just so happens that he'd only been doing this about a month, and truth is, he was slightly unfamiliar with this area, and ended up not getting on 635, but instead taking the super-toll around toward i-35, in my heart of hearts (not really sure what that means, so i may or may not have just looked up that phrase so that i could continue to use it) i was hoping that perhaps he knew something that we didn't. but alas, 'twasn't so. we ended up doing a little u-turn and getting back on track. fortunately we'd built in time, so we were fine. and while i wasn't thrilled about the line a dfw (spoiled by love field's security), in hindsight, after the fiasco that is orlando, i would gladly go through the dfw line twice..wait a minute..

we saw olivia as we were going through security, so we all stopped to get coffee and breakfast to take to the gate, where solange and susy were waiting.

cue uneventful flight...oh, wait, nicolette was originally sitting by me, in the exit row, but changed seats to be closer to the front, so i got stuck by a very tall, muscular, young man who seemed very serious. so i read my book and listened to music. it was all good until i asked him (ever-so-kindly, i might add) if i could retrieve the drink tray from the arm rest-which he was hogging (jerk) he also acted a little annoyed when this really nice girl (me) had to go to the restroom. when i got back and settled in, he fell asleep and imagine my surprise, as i leaned forward and with an impulse reaction, he hit me (jerk-literally it was a jerk reaction). surely it was inadvertent...or WAS it? perhaps it was a suppressed desire to express his annoyance...ok, no.

great way to start a flight!

finally we got into our rooms!

when we actually got to the hotel, it was a hot mess trying to figure out what all was going on with splitting bills to get everything right for the receipts for reimbursement. we filled out our tax exempt forms and found out that everything pretty much had to be paid up-front. one person from our group, who was splitting the room with nicolette wasn't coming in until the next day, so we were figuring out exactly what to do with that, and they ended up messing up her account. why wasn't i surprised by this, you might ask...well, if anything could go wrong monetarily, it would go wrong for her...this year's theme: i need a dollar.i say this in jest, but seriously...it might not be nearly as funny if the number 666 wasn't involved (umm...could it be....saaatan?-church lady). anyhoo, the lady at the counter immediately got on the phone with the bank to make things right.

waiting for the shuttle

after checking in, we took off for the magic kingdom. i'm so glad we went-i wasn't originally planning to, but hey, it's not every day that you get to play, and it really was a good time. although i would've been wise to have worn a short sleeve shirt and perhaps capris, because hello, we were indeed in orlando. it turned out fine because pirates of the caribbean was cool, splash mountain was wet, and by the evening, it had cooled down substantially, and the long sleeves were welcome!

so glad we took the ferry! but please look at my sunglasses. it looks like i have stars in my eyes-cartoon-esque

but let us back up a minute. we started out all together. i have a problem. i'm not big on shopping-traps and just looking, add to that, i am a fast walker...sorry, nope, not sorry. we visited tinkerbell and got pics, then we made our way to pirates together...i'm not sure exactly at what point we lost each other, but we were texting pretty much all day our whereabouts until phones began to lose juice. time was limited because it was a partial day pass, so we wanted to get in everything we could. the most annoying line of all time was thunder mountain. ooooohhhmyyyyyygooooooodness. the tribe in front of us with 7,258 children and an exhausted single mom, who had no inclination toward maintaining any semblance of urgency. okay..i may have exaggerated about the # of children, but it was somewhat like the old woman in the shoe, only she didn't realize that there were 2 more lines to the poem. so, yes, we were stuck behind this brood...each of whom was intent on touching, pulling, spinning and yanking any lever, wheel, siren, alarm, switch etc. that stuck out. EVERY. FREAKING. ONE. i wish i could've done what that man on the airplane did and pretend i fell asleep in line and be a jerk...and 'accidentally' give them a reason to want to move faster and stop piddling around (that word...) we did try to sneak around them once or twice, but somehow they were able to figure out what we were doing and after we'd get about 5 steps past them, and it seemed semi-hopeful, they'd race past us to the next set of levers, wheels, and switches...it was rough.

from there, the haunted mansion, and it was creepier and a little more nausea-inducing than i remembered. but let's face it, i was in elementary school back in the 80s, and the only part i really recalled was the funny ghosts that showed up in the mirror.

straight from there, we were off to space mountain-fortunately nicolette has great directional memory, even after 6 years; it was the longest line yet! but it was completely worth it. the ride was single file cars, so i was in front and kept trying to get a picture behind me, but no dice. it was the most exciting ride, but the best part about the ride was hearing this crazy girl behind me giggling and laughing throughout the entire ride out of sheer enjoyment-even now it makes me giggle a little at the recall. ha!

by now it was getting dark, and we got a text as soon as we got off and met up with the rest of the group for dinner. afterward, susy and solange went souvenir searching, and olivia joined us and insisted on the mad hatter teacups. oh my. i died a little inside when she suggested it-the centrifugal force messes with my equilibrium in a bad way, so i tried to keep my eyes shut pretty much the entire ride!

let's not lie, it was beautiful!

attracts kids and gets energy from them

then we made our way back to the castle to get a spot for the parade of lights. we found the best spot after some maneuvering. the people behind us were like an invasive species of kudzu...nuisance. so what made that less annoying? emma! emma, from canada kept nicolette entertained for the remainder of the evening and through the parade. solange and susy found us and we were all taking pics and enjoying the parade without the viewpoint of a child-we missed out! at the very end, it began to drizzle, so we made our way back toward the shuttle. the only thing was that we were all exhausted and a little lost-we were going to take the tram, but ended up getting herded onto the ferry-which was fine (apart from the bridge/dock, which was swaying in a rather uneven motion, making it seem that the whole crowd was drunk), it was probably better to be on the ferry to be able to spread out and sit.

it was a long day-it was a good day. i haven't taken the time or spent money on anything fun like that in a long time-i need more purposeful experiences.

 julie

bad day? buy cards! need a break? go talk about godzilla!

wow. this afternoon kinda' sucked.

then i had to do CAR pd...which went fine-we were able to get some questions answered that teachers had, which was good. then on the way home, i decided to make a stop at kroger for some cider. well...i stopped by the card and halloween section. you already know i am a sucker for cards, and spent way more than i'd planned on stuff for CAR teachers and cards (they had some AWESOME cards!). that was my therapy-i felt better because i knew that in my bag i had the underpinnings that would eventually create bright spots in other peoples' days. all good-i felt much better!

these cards are not just 'any' cards...i'm usually very particular about the cards i purchase, because as i read them, i usually analyze them and make sure they just right for the certain people i plan to send them to. so yeah...i got cute cards! and fortunately when i got home, there was a check in the mail from the healthy wage challenge for meeting my goal!! woohoo!!! totally worth it! and if you are a disd employee and considering the benefits of doing the cafe wellness program, i highly recommend it-the check in july is TOTALLY worth it!!

happiness=the perfect card that specific person!

the moment you get your entry fee back! snaps for perseverance and commitment! #teameffort

there were good things that happened today:

• CAR PD went well, and my group was able to get things done
• we got through most of our planning sessions, and they went well
• i got to take the dogs for a walk
• i got to wear my new pair of halloween socks that jeri got me 'just because'...she is so thoughtful!
• i am making meatloaf
• and my check from healthy wage came in the mail today!! 

candy corn socks from jeri-they match my earrings!

***tuesday turned into wednesday...they week rolled on and before i knew it, i'd not finished my original post, so now i will bring it to completion****
thursday i was out for a morning for training, and it was okay, but i didn't leave with an overwhelming feeling of "i'm so happy i came." i don't mind going to training, but i have high expectations of trainings. the bright moment was deciding to take the stairs down rather than wait for everyone in the building who was leaving for lunch. so there's that.

when i got back, i had to get the copies ready for our common assessments for next week-our copier is on the fritz...it's one of those maintenance job-security machines. our maintenance guy will always have a job... but it really makes life difficult for the TAs.

we had our school quality review for personalized learning-which is basically just an all-day walk-through in which our central-staff pl folk were out scripting, observing and noticing what was going on, and then matching that up to the objectives and goals that we had set as a school. they were a wealth of information, and it's so necessary to have these types of visits-not so much to show off what we're doing, but to get an accurate portrayal and feedback of what is going well, and what are the opportunities for next steps moving forward.

what i really walked away with, is that we really have a lot to celebrate. with all of the perceived 'problematic-issues,' there are MANY great things happening at cabell! much of it is residual from last year, as we were able to get some things started to move staff (as a whole) in the right direction! thank you, joanne and sean! and of course much of it is due to the resilience and perseverance of the teachers who are carrying on the vision of what they want to see happen in their classrooms...and i would be remiss to not include our new teachers-we have some rock stars, and we're so fortunate that they chose to join our team at cabell, as they are certainly a valuable asset, and bring a wealth of knowledge to the table. do we have room for improvement? ABSOLUTELY!! but that's the most exciting part! i never want to reach the point where we have nothing more to work on, because that would breed stagnancy. and that would suck.

alrighty then, school stuff aside, oh...wait, not yet. last weekend-killed me! i was working on curriculum map-stuff all day saturday (until i realized it was 12:55 am, and i was getting tired)...so i finished on sunday around 8 pm. i did not sign up for this. but it's done, nonetheless.

so for real now, no more shop! (although that's really all i know these days)...yesterday i got home a little late because i went out after school with some friends and it was so refreshing to just talk about silly things with friends-to laugh about godzilla, the black stallion, aliens and trolls...and the cabbage patch hospital...i mean...those are the conversations that make life a little more interesting! i love finding commonalities and celebrating differences. there is nothing more rewarding than building relationships-i believe that is what God created us for.

i arrived home to jumping puppies. bruno was like, "where have you been?!? it's dark out again! i'm hungry, and i just want you to pet me twice and then feed me. that's all."  and of course chaco, "not me!! i just want to bark at you a couple times..wait, where's my toy? here it is! throw it until your arm falls off, please...or i'll keep barking! that'll teach you to not come back right after school, yeah." so, yeah, i felt guilty for about a minute, then once they were fed, they just found their respective places to lay down and sleep, and we were back to normal. my boys!

i should've gone to bed, but for whatever reason, i was thinking about an event from a few years back, and so i began looking through pictures. whenever i do that, my heart just seems to grow and i get that nostalgic feeling because memories of good times are so strong, and it just strengthens the bonds that i have with my friends...i'll be writing more letters this weekend-that's what it does to me. it makes me want to not lose that connection. i feel very fortunate to have so many amazing memories with such a variety of amazing people!

also in the not-extremely exciting category, i renewed my apt. contract-you'd think they'd want to start paying me for being the least annoying client...but no.

 at least rent didn't go up this time. 

and then there's this: i don't get my own stationery back very often, but i got a letter from one of my former kamper/ princess/ ropes course friends! it's always a day-brightener to hear from friends! and a treat to see stationery make it's way back around!! thank you erin!!! -your fairy god-mother

and i think today i'm going to watch gotham (since hocus pocus seems to be unavailable on netflix..), and perhaps late, i will watch fellowship of the ring. these came up in conversation, and i've not watched fellowship in awhile, so it's about time to experience that eucatastrophe once again- gotta keep fantasy alive! i really need to go back and read some of the tolkien letters, and g.k. chesterton books that are sitting on my shelf!

it's almost time to go to orlando for inacol, so i am prepping the boys-hopefully they will be complete gentlemen with joanne...maybe bruno will warm up a little more this time (not holding my breath, because he's usually a one-pat dog, then he likes to find his own little piece of the floor to rest). i am looking forward to the conference-so many great sessions! i wish they were recorded! whenever you travel with people, you learn so much about them. i've found that being with colleagues away from the workplace is certainly healthy and quite enjoyable.

i love that it's halloween and it's still a bit drizzly out! time to make another coffee, sit back, relax and write some letters!
 Chaco: Why don’t ghosts like rain on Halloween?
 Bruno: It dampens their spirits!
Have a great weekend!!
julie

florida part 1, winter park in the summer

as promised, the vacation continues. i am breaking this into parts because it's kinda like there are 3 vacations in one. i booked my flight to florida for 2 weeks. i flew into tampa and rented a car because i knew i'd be driving around florida; it's not like texas (where going from one side of the state to the other is an major endeavor), road-trips here seem much easier. maybe because as i drive, i either see ocean, and think about sea turtles, or everglades, and think about alligators.

but i digress...i woke up early on monday morning the day after we had returned from the iowa family reunion, and drove down to dallas for my tuesday morning flight. i left the boys with mom and dad-kinda' like when my brother and i used to visit grandpa and grandma's in michigan for the summer, only no cousins, no church camp, no swimming lessons, no shopping..ok, so maybe it really wasn't much like my childhood summers at all...anyhoo, i arrived in dallas in time to check my mail, go to the bank, and then get over to my chiropractor for an adjustment that i was hoping would last for 2 more weeks. when i got home, i loaded the washer and packed up for florida.

everything was on time and fairly uneventful into birmingham. when i reached bhm, i knew i'd have a long layover, so i was able to finish reading my book that brandy had given me. let me tell you-A DREAM SO BIG, peiffer was such a great book! laughed, cried, it gave me a new appreciation for africa-and i could relate to much of the missionary aspect. so i wanted to finish it so i could return it. the problem is that reading this book in public is dangerous...you must have kleenex handy because you never know at what moment something emotional is going to hit.

 we touched down at the airport a little late due to weather in tpa, but not too bad. i walked over to the on-site rental car place and looked up and down the line, but did not see the company i booked with. hmm. so i called my travel company and asked about that; after waiting on hold, i was informed that i had to go back to the terminal and follow the sidewalk around to a round-about, where the driver of the off-site rentals would swing by every 15 minutes. and so i took the hike and with every bus that pulled up, i looked up at the sign, to make certain that it wasn't like a shared bus with a different name...but no. i was looking for ez. i suppose they were being creative with 'easy,' but truth is truth...it would have been much EZ-er to have this rental on-site like the big boys.

when i arrived, i went in and there was a local gentleman there arguing with the rental agents because they were telling him that he couldn't have unlimited mileage. i panicked a little because i was worried that my reservation for unlimited mileage would not be honored either, but the agent working with me said that it was a policy for locals, because they tend to abuse it. whew!

so i hopped in the car and made my way to bradenton-over the sunshine skyway bridge- beautiful! and of course, i wanted to stop at every little turn off parking that looked out at the ocean (it would've taken an awfully long time), so i suppressed the temptation, and finally made it to shea's place, but the entire time that i was driving, i was contemplating my love for the ocean. i even rolled the window down for a bit to get that smell. upon arriving, it was time for dinner, so we went to one of shea's favorite little places that is right off a causeway, and i had fish tacos for the first time. i never go for fish tacos inland, because they probably use guppies...but now i have been spoiled for life, and i may as well never eat fish tacos anywhere else again. just thinking about it makes my mouth water a little.

after dinner-and i should have gotten a picture of this place, it was nearing sunset, so we made our way out to the beach. i was drinking it up, because the next morning i would get up early to head up to orlando/winter park area to visit a couple of friends. so this ocean experience was just a teaser. when we got back, we watched a little t.v. with the roommates.

this is shea- the epitome of #saltlife

wednesday morning, i was up early so that i could leave when shea left for work. it was an easy drive until google-maps nav said she'd found a quicker route, and did i want to take it. i said, "sure, why not?" she failed to tell me that i was going to incur debt over the toll charges...but whatever, i made it to brandy's! once i'd gotten there and unloaded (the luggage), i went in and relaxed for a bit and sent her a text. she said she would be over to pick me up for lunch. and in the meantime, i relaxed with bibi the kitty. AND the inspector came-asking about a well...AND i got to meet the owner and tell her how precious i thought this house was! i love it! and when brandy arrived, she took me over to the rollins college, where she is now a valuable employee. not that she wasn't before, but now they were going to be able to appreciate her value!

we parked at the college, and then walked down through the historic area of winter park-such an attractive area-and we ended up at a greek/mediterranean restaurant and we ordered a hot-air-balloon-like-bread. don't even ask me what it was called-it was delicious, and that's all that matters. you can tell i don't indulge enough, which is surprising as much as i love it! the dips were tasty and we also got the meat-filled-fried-football thingies...seriously. i need to work on this. when we finished, we walked back to the school, and she showed me her office, and i got to meet her boss, ed. i already felt like i kinda' knew him from some of the stories i'd heard and how he'd helped her in the process of finding a place to live.

later that evening, we went to a fancy restaurant that overlooked the lake, and had an appetizer and drinks. then we drove around a bit and found another little area that overlooked the lake as well-good to know. bed-time for me has been later than usual this summer because my friends are all night owls... #morningpersonproblems .

view to die for...ok, view to be injured for? ok, fine...view to get full to.

any pic is better with water and a sunset in it!

on thursday i just hung out, got some work done, laundry washed, and then met up with berit. meeting with berit was a treat because i haven't seen her in years! she was in my unit, so i consider her one of my kampers, and the last time that i saw her was when she was a counselor! i've said it before, and it remains true-i love it when my kampers grow up and become friends. we met for lunch at bikes, beans and bordeaux. i wasn't completely sure what to expect..bikers? like vroom, vroom harley bikers? beans-coffee shop? it was a quaint little sandwich/cafe shop. i had an amazing little caprese sandwich and...jelly beans! hence the beans..the bikes is perhaps because there is a little custom bike shop next door. anyhoo, it was a great place to meet!

BERIT!

 from there, i got to go see her new house, which she is finishing up-DIY, girl after my own heart! i love what she has going on! it's a really cute place! then we went down the street to the apt she is currently in, while finishing up the home, and chatted for a bit more. it was funny, because i told her i was going to visit friends from high school, whom i hadn't seen in 24 years, and she asked, "what do you talk about with people you haven't seen in that long?" and i just kinda' laughed and said, "what are WE talking about?" after seeing sheryl, yanira, juan pablo, erika, brandy and my cousin carrie last year, time is just a concept. time with friends..if only that was my job-hanging out with friends! that would be ideal.

great photo-shoot park..fake senior pics

when i went back to brandy's, we got to drive around and explore a little. we found a cute little park on another lake, nestled in the back of a ritzy neighborhood. we got out to look around and it was an impressive, quiet area. what a great place to come to decompress! then we ran some errands, and ended up at a thai fusion joint. this was my first experience with thai fusion. if you recall, vietnamese fusion (nammi food truck) has become a favorite of mine-to the point of i have learned to recreate my favorite meal. anyhoo, i of course left it in her hands-and it was delicious. i am not afraid of thai food.

thai fusion tapas

when we got home, we were able to get some of that beautiful art up on the walls. brandy has great appreciation for art, and she has good taste-we had fun putting it up. so fun to be able to be a part of making her place a home! i got to see brandy last summer as well, when she lived in md. it was good to see her here-i really think this is going to be a great fit! there is something so comfortable about friends from home. it's always hard to leave, because you just never know when you're going to see them again!

getting the art in its just-right place...for now

on the way back to the beach, i used the WAZE app instead of google-lady. i was interested to see how it would work. since i don't have my radar detector with me, i was hoping this app would be my ticket to no tickets. and guess what..so far, i am proud to announce that i am ticket-free!!

before i left, i had to invest in a knee brace, as my knee was starting to give me issues. i knew that the next couple of days were about to be down to business, because shea is a do-er.

 and that will be coming up next.

julie