and another weekend begins-no damp spirits here!

rain. boo.

FORTUNATELY, we're not afraid of the rain!! nothing can dampen our spirits! i met shea at her house, and waited as she packed up what we would need for the weekend. her roommates had their baby, and the last thing we really wanted to do was be in the way while family was there and they were trying to settle in with baby!

it actually worked out well that shea had animal sitting appointments. so on friday and saturday night we would be staying in st. petersburg, in a beautiful condo with an amazing view of the bay! but before we would get there, we had to grab dinner. this was the one area that we decided to try something not on the 'list.' shea has this great list of eateries and entertainment, but not as much, yet, for the st. petersburg area, so we put our eating experience into the hands of yelp. where would it lead us?

we ended up at station 9, because it sounded like a fun little spot. it was another little burger joint with a huge selection of burgers! we had very similar burgers, and they were pretty amazing! i had more burgers on this florida trip than i've had over the past 4 months in dallas-but they were perfect! it was cold with the air on and having just come out of the rain, but we were able to overcome the discomfort of the cold-over-comers that we are. TOTALLY WORTH IT!!! i mean...the aesthetics of the knife-game over!

burgers for real people!

 how do you cleanse your palate after gourmet burgers? the only thing i can think of is kilwins! back by popular demand! now just to find it. so we drove around in the rain looking for kilwins (deceptively disguised because the front of the awning said: CHOCOLATES, FUDGE, ICECREAM with the KILWINS name on top of the awning at an angle, difficult to see in the rain), it took longer than expected to locate! but through perseverance and dedication.. more perseverance.. excellent google skills, we located it, and now to find parking on this busy little strip! apparently everyone on the peninsula had decided that due to rain complications, they would go to the movies-aargh! after a few minutes, driving around about a 4-block radius, we found a spot near a park and then walked over in the light drizzle, through swampy grass-no worries!

we may or may not have entered the ice cream shop and purchased 2 pints of mixed ice creams...i mean..maybe. shea ran back to the car to pull it around, while i protected our frozen assets-our investment! with just a little bit of rain, the paper bag was subject to disintegration...i had to be very careful-in my mind, i may have dubbed myself: PROTECTOR OF THE MIXED PINTS. 

when we arrived at the condo, i met mushka (sp?) the skinny, drunk, black cat. he really was super sweet, he just needed some love and attention and a little tuna...ok, a lot of tuna! i was given strict orders to not wake shea up at an ungodly hour (which translates to anything before 8:30/9-ish), so although it was raining outside, it was still a great view. i had some coffee and watched the clouds rolling by and jotted down the events of the past few days so that i would be able to write them up. when shea came out, she brought her go-pro to try to figure some things out-time-lapse, particularly; not quite figured out, we decided to go for breakfast.

rainy and still beautiful!

if it doesn't bother the birds, why should the rain bother us?!

 the rain was not letting up-oh well. off to the sea horse, in pass-a-grille for breakfast! i didn't ask where the name for the area arose. is it because it's so small that if you walk more than 400 foot in any direction down main street, you'll 'pass a grille'...or because the homes are so close, you could look over your neighbors fence and if you were in need for your little cookout, "hey, neighbor, could you pass a grill?" umm....well, none of these sounded quite right, so i looked it up, and the story can be located here. oh, and p.s. if you go more than 400 ft in either direction from the middle of main street, you'll be in the ocean on one side, and in the bay on the other! i understand it has been known to be called the shortest main street in america at one time...

the sea horse was an excellent call for breakfast, though, we split blueberry pancakes, half-order of biscuits and gravy, and a sausage omelette- it was just too difficult to choose! again thankful for sharers! and afterward, we walked around the little stretch to see what all was there-not much, apart from the little crossover suv that looked like an alien foil ship; seemed like a hazard for other drivers with the reflection from the sun! fortunately for our retina, there was no sun-YET!

we were hoping for farmers market to get a few of the necessities for grilling at the beach with lo and mitch, but unfortunately it was rained out, so publix, it was...and of course i would have to use the restroom while they were cleaning it-he did a way thorough job, as i had to wait impatiently for him to finish-by which time most of the shopping had actually been completed.

we kept praying for the rain to clear out-because grilling in the rain is nothing like singing in the rain-even with friends. and as promised by the weather service, it was indeed clearing. we got to the fort desoto state park, and saw the electronic sign informing that there was exotic tree removal going on. shea was certain it said exotic animal (although to be fair, she was glancing/driving). so we drove out to the northern-most part of the park and found lo and mitch waiting. it was SO good to see lo again after way too many years, and a pleasure to finally meet mitch. unfortunately, they were, in fact, removing exotic trees-or rather they had already removed them. sadly, that was where we were going to put up the hammocks. devastation. we unloaded by the shelter and talked for a bit over beet humus, carrot humus and chips. i wasn't sure about the different flavors, but surprisingly pleasing to the taste-buds! good call, lo and mitch!

they showed me the stumps that had long been their area. sad day-all of the good hammock trees-GONE! and to what end? apparently it was supposed to stop the erosion that the trees were causing-when they were originally planted to stop the erosion in the first place. australian pines...like i said, sad day. we ended up finding some evergreen shrubs that were big enough and strong enough to support the weigh of the hammocks! it was a fair little area, and we were able to watch a couple of guys out doing some kite-sailing-that looked like a lot of fun!

 anyhoo, we set up (are you getting the point that it was relaxing vacation?), talked and laughed. then shea pulled out the paddle board and caught some shots with the go pro-i mean, this is exactly they type of thing it was made for!

from the comfort of a hammock-make due without the australian pines!

don't be deceived, it was rougher than it looks!

shea and lo-roommates reunited!

 after a few hours, the water was beginning to slowly creep up onto our beach. we kept an eye on it, but stood our ground lay our ground (lay being the past tense of lie) and before heading in to grill by the shelter, it was necessary to try hanging the three hammocks horizontally in a stacked formation. with these crazies in them! good times-

mitch did the man-thing and got the fire started, while we pulled out the veggies and shrimp and skewered them up. we'd chopped the veggies earlier and shea proved that not only can she PLAY soccer (by the way her co-ed team just won their championship trophy for this weekend's game), but also she would make a formidable soccer mom-she thought to bring plates and forks-utensils are a plus!

look at those skewers and mushrooms!

"let's pretend we're really grilling." because this looks like a candid shot of really grilling, right?

you can't hurry grilling...but you can make it more fun, just add friends!

all we could do was hope and pray that everything would finish cooking in time, as the park closes at sun-down and we were dancing dangerously close to that fine line, you've probably heard the lyrics "you can't hurry love," well, i wouldn't know too much about that, but i DO know that you can't hurry chicken and shrimp- not if you want to avoid freakish digestive failures. chicken-almost ready! pretty sure lo and i were both a little worried about salmonella. the sun went down, and...along comes a truck speeding across the grass-the park ranger had to let us know it was time to leave. and of course we were doing our best to make it look like we'd been packing up and preparing to leave. so he went to tell the one last family that it was time to leave, and sat in his truck waiting for the last car to pull out. can't believe they weren't willing to extend the hours due to the rain delay! my understanding is that shea is habitually one of the last visitors to help shut the park down-why should this day have been any different?!

sunset

shea had a plan- so we wrapped everything up in the foil and stored it in the brand new cast-iron skillet to christen it, and moved our party to the marina, not too far off, where shea was certain she'd seen picnic tables before.. mitch and lo followed us to a gas station where we turned in and drove around the parking lot toward the back warehouse area, and i'm sure they were wondering where in the world we were taking them, then we all saw it-the picnic tables! sigh of relief-and the food was delicious and conversation exciting-so fun to hear about their plans and all that is about to happen for them! i pray all moves along smoothly!

we've given the skillet its first flavor! 

and we're not quite done yet-more to come!
julie

in our training, i became a mini video producer, (after therapy, and enduring the foundations yesterday)

yesterday i went to the physical therapist and he prepared some new exercises, then he said he didn't need to see me again! if i have any questions or concerns, i can call. he also said i don't need to go back to my neurologist because it would be a waste of my money. good.

may i not have to see another one of  these in a loooooong time!

at least this set doesn't take as long as the other set!

after receiving that good news and almost skipping to my car and clicking my heels, i headed over to the city hall to exercise my rights as a US CITIZEN. i believe voting is important.

there was actually a really cute guy in the parking lot with fact sheets about one of the candidates....forgot to check if he had a ring or not. boo.

 then this morning, i had to get up early for training. i am excited because we're getting some sweet materials afterward.i was reminded today that we have a two days prep before school starts this year, and one of those days is for a convocation about 45 minutes away. boo. those things kill me. reminder-take a book.

training binder-50 lbs....

when i got home, i used my indoor grill and grilled me up some sirloin-along with portabella caps and spinach...not bad for the first time, i expect it to be much better next time!

so thankful for an indoor grill with 107 heat

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sorry, i meant to finish last night and get this thing posted! today's training was much better than yesterday-more engaging. how can you go wrong with treats?

ahhh, coconut sorbet! recycle the coconut shells for women's intimate apparel.

 now i need to go find a couple of those websites we were playing on today and have some fun. i am especially excited about animoto! the kids will love it! i probably need to get busy working with prezi and some of the other ones in the next couple of weeks so that i can teach the kids. (actually they probably know more about it already than i do!) i don't know if it will work or not, but here is the link to my video on the boys (if you watch close, you'll see thatcher he looks like a lion with his eyes closed, getting a suntan)..i don't think reagan is in this one-i'll have to get a subscription to make longer videos.
julie

beautiful day, water bowl out...hopefully they can read!

what a beautiful day today was! went for another early walk and it was a cool 82'! beautiful and slightly overcast!

there was even a slight breeze

see that little bird on the rooftop there? pretty sure it was a mocking bird. he was dive bombing and following us across the parking lot! jerk-he is not allowed at my watering bowl.

i saw a post on a friend's fb wall about leaving out a water bowl for animals in need-ie birds. well, being on the 3rd floor, i rigged up a little bowl for birds:

we'll see if they find it or not...i may have to change it often because i'm not sure how fond birds are of simmering water...

actually due to the weather being so beautiful, i decided to fire up the mini grill and grill up some steak, portabella mushrooms and asparagus. yum-o.

thanks to gigi, i had these wonderful tongs to use-Christmas gift!

oops!

the mushrooms and the asparagus were phenomenal, but i think the steak was in the refrigerator a little too long...so i didn't eat eat-no time for food poisoning!

it was really good. bruno lay by the door and watched the entire thing.

then i got the boys thinking toys together with some of their dog food and some treats inside. bruno was great with his and eating both the food and the treats. but chaco, on the other hand...

sniffed every piece and left all of the kibble, going only for the treats...

leaving a trail behind

so, when bruno was finished with his toy, he came over and cleaned up after chacs.

then just a bit ago, i had to go to the office to send off a fax. stupid benefits office sent a certified letter stating ONCE AGAIN that they had not received the doctor information and were not going to process my fmla. well....i sent a nasty little message in the comments about how this was the 3rd time i was sending out this fax and that i even called them one time after the dr office faxed it and they said it was too soon to know if they had received it. what?? why couldn't someone get up of their bum and check the fax machine?? so i asked them to email or call me as soon as they received this fax, because i did not want to have to hand deliver it. what do you think they would do if i re-faxed it about 10 more times from different places just as a precaution...

i am also receiving the books i ordered off amazon...i know...kids books, but i was up until midnight reading book 5 of 39 clues, and it was the first thing i picked up this morning when i woke up...i am waiting for the others now. well written series!

full of adventure, geography and history!

oh, and chaco asked me to give him a haircut today, so we did a machete trim...he looks great with his short chop! his coat was starting to get long and it was bouncy when we'd go for walks and i told him it was making him look fat. he didn't think that was funny-that was when he asked for a trim.

julie

it wasn't the pupusas that killed the bird!

it caught me a little off guard the yesterday when on house hunters hgtv the guy looking at a spacious room said, it doesn't seem like much space. in fact, i became a little indignant. i don't know why, because i watch it often, and i've heard similar comments. but this time when i looked up at this beautiful home he was talking about, my mind went back to HONDURAS where i lived with my parents while they were missionaries there. i thought about how many little one room shanties we'd visited, where church members lived with their families of 3 or 4 children with dirt floors and a suitcase with some clothing and perhaps a few dishes. we are more fortunate than we realize, and we don't appreciate what we have often enough.

i could tell that the flea medicine was annoying chaco today, so i gave them baths (thank you inventor of the shower cap, because i didn't want to mess with my hair too). when they got out, they just looked so great! "chaco, you're hot!" he giggled, "i'm a hotdog!!" then he thought for a second and followed it up with, "better than being a weiner! get it? anthony weiner?! ha!" they're never too young to start teaching them about politics and right vs wrong.

for lunch i decided i'd throw some italian sausage kabobs and a brat on the indoor grill.remember when i mentioned the open nature sausages? well, they make italian sausage too! (worth it! if you're interested in trying it, click on italian sausage and it'll take you to a coupon site)

yea for grilling inside!! boo when it gets smoky!

wow, nice grill marks!

 why hasn't some amazing man snatched me up? why am i still single? who knows...and at this point who cares? more food for me. i absoLUTEly love brats! the only problem with the indoor grill is that for whatever reason (probably because it's dual use and i didn't get the gridle side as clean as it needed to be) i came into the living area and noticed that it seemed a bit smoky-and chaco went into the bedroom and bruno wanted out on the balcony. amazing that the fire alarm didn't go off-maybe i should check the batteries. so i opened all of the windows and grabbed a piece of foam board and attempted to 'fan' out the smoky wild-fire look. and in the midst of fanning, dust fell from the ceiling fan (i know moss doesn't gather on a rolling stone, but dust does gather on revolving fan blades). so nasty dust clumps fell and i was grossed out. after setting down my makeshift de-smoker, i got the vacuum out and cleaned up. the entire time, my lunch was cooling off. when i finally finished and grabbed my food, chaco had made his way back into the living room and bruno came in off the balcony-fair-weather friends.

ok, i have loved pupusas since my very first tasting in HONDURAS on a bus ride to tegucigalpa-when there was a rest stop and the kids got on the bus selling their goods...and it was good! so....why have i waited so long to try my hand at these things?? especially once i realized that i am actually a pretty good cook?! again, why am i single?

masa is fairly inexpensive, so it will last awhile-especially since i was able to make about 6 pupusas with 1 c of the flour...and i can't even eat all six of them (but, you can bet i'm not putting them away yet-i may be snacking tonight!)

now i need a little garden to grow some yuca ! i'll just have to buy the platano!

 i cannot believe how easy these were to make! you'd better believe i will be doing more of this this summer! the smell of masa when mixed with water brought back memories of making dinner for BIRD, our macaw. he was beautiful! he was a red and blue but he wasn't super friendly. we would make masa balls and mix in bird seed. well, rat poison should not be stored next to the bird seed. nuf said.

oh summer, you make me forget what day it is! that's why i have to watch t.v. because i know when certain shows come on! i know, poor excuse-get your calendar out!

i'm sure you've had enough of me being impressed with myself!
julie