the flashing lights may be trying to tell you something

just before Thanksgiving, we may or may not have gotten over to the farmhouse for donuts-love that place in part for the ambiance! check out their decor, how could you not love it?!

classy donut joint!

 and that put me in the mood to pull out some of my own decorations to get into the season. no tree, though. i did a live tree a few years ago and that was the extent of my tree adventures..i'll just enjoy them in public, in the movies and at other peoples' homes!

then we just went for a walk on the beach, down toward the 'tree house'. i don't recall if that makes the mile or 1 1/2 mark. either way, it's right by the fiesta house. i'm pretty sure these are not the official names, so if you're looking to book a vacation rental, don't go by my recommendations! anyhoo, a day or two later, there was a little news report on baynews 9, and they were talking about the tree house!! i saw it, and thought, surely there is not another tree house in the area! sure enough, it was 'ours' and they showed views of the inside, as the owners were talking about how the city is making them remove it. it's been there for over a year, and apparently there is something about permits, etc... they have taken it to several courts and now are trying to get a ruling from the u.s. supreme court apparently...crazy.

another random story: i'd been having some garage door difficulty. at some point it began giving me issues not closing from the car remote once i'd backed the car out. so i'd been backing the car out, going back in, and then i had to hold the wall remote button until the door was all the way down, and go out the front door. as you can imagine, it was rather inconvenient. the problem was i couldn't find the manual (i probably put it in the drawer that i blocked off as i was trying to hide some of the furniture that furnished this rental home). annoying enough that i got the stair steps out to try to read the buttons on the opener-machine part that's attached to the ceiling. i tried to reset, replacing the battery, yelling at it...and all it kept doing when i pushed that little button was: "BRRPT," pretended to come down about .0045 cm, and back up, then the light would flicker at me in a very laughing-manner. RUDE.

 well, i finally got fed up enough and remembered to google the name of the opener, and look for trouble-shooting FAQs. well, it just so happens that the flashing of the lights was it's way of talking. like the movies when someone comes out of a coma and they communicate by blinking. pretty sophisticated (stranger things, season 1, anyone?) apparently one up, four down means that the sensors are not aligned. so i got to the business of removing the lug-nut, facing the sensor out and back in to align it by looking for the green light. no green light..oh, because the idiots who rented before me must have thought it would look better if they painted over it. dummies. so after scraping the paint off, and trying to stay out of the laser line of fire, they were aligned and i tightened the lug-nut back in place...moment of truth- it worked, and i no longer have to plan an additional 10 minutes to play american ninja in order to leave my house! now if the miniature dinosaur lizards, who dwell in this area and think the garage is a rec-center, will stay off the sensor and not make it move, we'll be good; at least now i know how to fix it! (chamberlain garage door openers-improving non-verbal communication observation skills one faulty sensor at a time)

i also got crazy and chopped down some branches from the jungle of a backyard, and while i was at it, i decided it would be a good time to saw down a couple of the bamboo trees to thin them out a little. so the first one was easy, as the top had started to die and was shriveled over. so i was over-confident and decided to go for one of the giants. the key was the angle of the cut, as well as trying to get it untangled at the top without letting it get out of control and crash into the lanai. well, about a third of the way through the cut, i was thinking i probably should not have attempted this without help. i was legitimately getting worried, perhaps sweating a little. but when you're already that far along, there's no going back, or it would snap later when i wasn't out there, for sure wreaking havoc...so i kept at it, and when it was almost completely severed, still standing straight, i threw the saw off to the side and tried to push the tree in the direction i wanted it to fall...and it got tangled in the tree branches from a tree on the other side of the fence. at that point, i had to keep pushing and pulling trying to brace it and keep it from falling on the lanai, because it's merely a frame with screens. yikes. not gonna' lie, i was a little nervous, and when it finally came untangled, the top portion smacked the frame on the way down, but it was a minor smack-age.

they left a jungle out there-all we need is a panda to eat the bamboo and i'd have one less thing to worry about!

i then had to saw those pieces and now i have a little stack of bamboo (plus some that my dad and mom helped me with back in may). trying to decide what to do with them-i may just bundle them up and put them out on a yard-waste day. or i could make a raft in preparation for the next big hurricane. or i could make some bamboo furniture or rain sticks and sell it at the farmer's market...so many options, so little time!

next up- a quick little trip to the keys for work. over-nighter, which is keeping me from the Christmas get-together in miami...sad day, but i am looking forward to a good training!

may your weekends be long!
julie

november is about makeshift pie plates and friendsgiving!

okay, i'm done trying to explain my blog-failings... i've just had a hard time being consistent (no real reason). i won't go into detail about everything that has happened since the last post, but i will post some pics with short descriptors. detailed depictions will be saved for the important stuff!

Shea agreed to drive down to the bradenton 'farmers market' the week after opening week...it was not a huge event, but it was good to get down and see what they had to offer! i did get some dip season packets, and tonight i made the lobster dip and was not disappointed!

there was a clown street performer- remnant from the ringling?  perhaps!

there were a couple decent music-makers singing (far apart enough not to infringe on each other). 

since we had lily-the-dog with us, we took her for a photo shoot at a pumpkin patch, 'pretending it felt like fall.'

then we painted pumpkins and carved some pineapples...which if i'm not mistaken are still in shea's freezer waiting for pictures...

found this tree on a morning walk, and made me think of halloween-scream!

southwest keeping true to their festivities-on my way home from abq halloween day!

the following week i believe we went to emerson point park in palmetto (it's like the counter part to the desoto park in bradenton...sister parks, of sorts). the mound wasn't much to see, but there was interesting history behind it, and i believe it is probably one of the largest mounds of artifacts in the state. it was a nice easy little hike, and at one point we passed a family with a young boy playing near the water (alligator trap), and he kept saying, "mom. mommy. mom! mommy!" (like stewie on family guy...and for the record i had to look that up, because i don't watch the show, i'd just heard it on a commercial or something)...just so everyone knows, i'm pretty sure it was more annoying in real life. 

they would build up the mound, construct a temple, burn the temple down, cover the mound again and build another temple.

and yes, still trying to get in some of those morning walks; i have to get back into it after i go on trips.

i can't get enough!

one of my friends sent me the best sea glass from the great lakes! i love it! fun finds! 

i got really excited that i was able to go to FRIENDSGIVING down in miami. i need to take advantage of the proximity and try to make it down more often-seeing my HONDURAN friends means the world to me! there's something about being around people who know you from the past, and sharing a very special place, you can't replicate those friendships!  one of my friends back in dallas sent me a message saying that i looked very happy in those photos...as i thought about that, it made me think about the fact that each group of friends, from each walk of life really does own its unique, special chapter, and it would be very difficult to fully explain the feelings and experiences- but each feels like home!

i loved getting together-it'd been a couple years, and about 26 years since i saw omar, finally met luis, and it was such a treat to meet the beautiful families that i see on fb! we were missing a few faces- ricardo and stephanie had a prior engagement, and patty was also unable to make it...sad face. i believe there may be a couple more who live in the area that we are going to have to try to hit up for next year!

i got to meet some new friends from sofi's school, as well, and the kids...wow, the kids! they have not learned the tactic of de-escalating the situation yet. i loved staying with hellen, because it gives us more time to hang out and catch up-over coffee! which was exactly what we did the next morning, and in the middle of our coffee, (first breakfast, if you happen to be a hobbit), her husband came out and we got the unexpected news that the gentlemen were there to pick up the tables and tablecloths! ayayay!! so we rushed to get everything together and broke down the tables and chairs! oopsie! OH WELL!!

time flew by, and i had to go. about 10-15 min out, hellen called, and i had left the pie-plate! good thing i don't make many pies! so i planned to go back in december to collect it, unfortunately that trip won't happen because of how i'm scheduled in december...a couple last-minute things came up.

it was difficult to stay away from the appetizer table once the cheese and dips were put out! okay, the truth is we may have parked ourselves on some chairs nearby (had no one been watching, we might've pulled the chairs right up to the table...)

the tables and settings were beautiful! hellen and jacira did an impressive job putting them together! there was a beautiful light breeze, and somehow even after we weighted the vases down, one of the darned things kept blowing over....ghost of thanksgiving present?

so glad to be included with these fun ladies!

i was scheduled for a dentist appointment a couple weeks ago, so i took the day off and used the morning to get up to st. pete to the de soto fort park, because they have a dog beach! this was the first chance that i had to get the boys out to the beach! i think they might have enjoyed it had we been able to spend a little more time there! so we had fun, did a little photo shoot- our Christmas cards will feature a little beachy pic!

then last weekend, we were trying to decide whether to make a beach afternoon, or a myakka afternoon. myakka won! i hadn't been out there since i arrived in may, and it was closed for a bit with the hurricane and abundant rains over the summer! 

so, while we were there, when we got to the bird observation area, there was this car mini-van with a bunch of rubber duckies in the windshield. who does that? who puts their rubber duck collection in the window of a car mini van? i suppose it was appropriate, as we were in the bird area. after we saw that, we started walking down the deck toward the observation area, and a family was walking back-we agreed it was probably their car (out of the 5-6 out there)...we were right, they just seemed like the rubber-duckie-collecting-type. yes, there is a type, and had you seen them, i'm certain you would have been able to 'nancy-drew' it and put 2 and 2 together, as well. oh the powers of deductive reasoning.

you can see across the way, there were so many vultures!  

there were quite a few alligators out and about! 

 then for thanksgiving, i decided i would try my hand for a second time at pecan pie! i had an extra pie crust, so it just seemed right. good think walmart was open on thanksgiving day,  because i needed a pie plate (remember, i left mine in mia!). i'd remembered seeing them fairly cheap, and there had been quite a few of them before i left for friendsgiving. unfortunately my luck ran out, and there was not a single pie plate in the aisle (i looked down 3 aisles and then some!). and as i was wandering the store, they had people guarding the pallets with all the black friday stuff. #worstjobever.  anyhoo, embracing my alias (macgyver), i broke down and got the cheap cake tins...($ .88/3), can't beat that! when i got home, i cut the tin at the N,S,E, &W points...for those of you who aren't geographically oriented, the 3,6,9, &12 points... and for those of you not fluent in analog-time-keeping pieces...i cut 4 pieces to divide the plate into equal quadrants. now, for anyone lacking in geometry skills, geography skills, and time-keeping skills, sucks to be you #educationcounts.

after flattening it out a bit and adding foil to fill in the gaps after  creating 45 degree angled edges,  the cake tin becomes a pie plate! awesome. of course as i write this, i'm thinking i might've been able to grab one of the graham cracker pie plates in the cooking section and disposed of the graham cracker...s'more great ideas!

bruno got plenty of sleep-he took a nap for me!

and that's how november has been! not over yet, but it's had a great start!

so much to be thankful for!
julie

some pd after the storm

it was fun to get back into some training after irma. cue up first session back... it was good to get to work with pam and michele. you can't please everybody all the time...and i've learned from experience as a teacher that elementary teachers and middle school/high school teachers are just different breeds. they have different perspectives and needs. makes sense. it's always interesting when one session feels like playing with baby sloths, hedgehogs and kittens and another session feels like hellen keller trying to navigate the fire swamp and fire swamp rats... but we did it with a smile and class.

when they really like the colors so they take your numbers...

sharing out

working through reports-around the world

having fun with alex!

then michele and i were off to miami 2 days later. we had a short flight to fll, and met up with joyce and alicia and headed to the hotel-after poncing on one of the two available suv rentals. we found the hotel easily, and tried to check in, but it was too early, so we left the luggage, and went to grab a bite to eat at a little spanish restaurant around the corner. it was nothing to write home about (mom, that's why you didn't receive a letter). then we took the long way to find the training site (because we missed a turn or two or five...) anyhoo, we found it and then headed back to the hotel to do the REAL check-in!

i think a alicia and joyce took advantage of the pool (or at least they had mentioned it), and i took a nap, because napping is my favorite thing!! then alicia knocked (she and michele were in rooms across the hall), and she showed me some of the great little prize bags she'd put together and brought for our participants. i truly did appreciate that because i just don't have items for give-aways, and the participants really appreciated them!

then we all got together and discussed dinner. we went to the same strip mall we'd been to earlier to try the recommended steak and seafood place. it was also mediocre. the garlic toast before-hand was akin to the bread that i leave out to dry for bread crumbs...the kind where when you take a bite, crumbs spew out everywhere and there's no getting them off your black shirt, don't even bother. then we ordered the smashed plantain tostones, expecting exactly that, but what we received were mariquitas de platano...like legit chips straight from the bag. and when they offered tortillas, alicia asked if they were made there, and the lady laughed and said, "no, walmart!" not even lying. the flan and 4leches were pretty good.

we hit up the nearest grocery store for some lunch items for the next day, because we didn't see anything in the area the day before, and knew we wouldn't have a lot of time to go get anything. when we got back to the hotel, the parking lot and the garage were full, which was strange. so we finally found a spot over the river, through the woods, across the prairie...as we got out and started toward the hotel, someone was coming up the stairs and we asked if there was a special event going on. the young lady looked at us with disdain and said, "it's church." as if we should have know they were having services in the hotel.. she almost said it in such a way that she maybe should've gone back to get more love in her heart for others... so i went back to the car to secure a closer parking spot as people were leaving, because we knew we'd be tight on time in the morning.

the following morning, we were up bright and early, and the restaurant didn't open until 7am...we had complimentary breakfast, so we weren't going to pass that up, as there were no real restaurants on the way. joyce and i walked in, and the lights were dimmed, and we stood there for a second until the manager behind the bar doing inventory acknowledged us and just stood there looking at us. we smiled and said we knew it wasn't open until 7, we were 10 minutes early, could we just find a seat and wait til they were ready? he looked at us without saying anything and so i added, "or would you rather we waited outside?" he (not very nicely i might add) said he would prefer that. so we waited.

alicia joined us after getting stuck on the elevator temporarily-just not a great way to start the morning! when she mentioned it to the fella at the front desk, he said oh, it happens. as if it were a normal thing. for the love. then as soon as the clock struck 7, we were at the door pointing at our watches, it was almost like the runners at the beginning of a race, or shoppers at the door on black friday. we got our food from the buffet and scarfed it down so that we could get on the road.

once we arrived, we found a parking spot at the front of the building and people were beginning to arrive..we waited patiently, alicia and michele had a nice little dance-with alex to an 80s song, and then we saw the coordinator and found our way to the room we were to be working in. we got everything set up and ready, but then we had to wait because after people ate donuts, someone came in from the school with bagels and other breakfast stuff, and everyone from the other training came over and they all had second breakfast. michele and i just grinned and beared it...bared it....bore it...waited. once we were able to get started, it went well-almost everyone was new, and so they were able to see how it would benefit them. both sessions went well, and it was great to have alicia and joyce there for the feedback and to provide additional information!

because sometimes ya just gotta' dance it out

cafecito-delectable!

there was about to be some weather at the end of the day, and we were supposed to end at 3:30, but someone popped their head in and said we had to clear the building by 3:00 (it was a church), and so we had to fast track the ending, but we weren't complaining! this was assurance that we would all make our flights home without having to be rushed.

we bid farewell to joyce and michele, then alicia and i found a great little pizza joint before going our separate ways. it was a good trip.

coming up soon-more florida adventures-
julie

post-irma recap donuts, pizza, and keurigs

i'm blaming irma for some of this weight gain...i bought some foods i never would've purchased otherwise! also, since we blamed irma for so many other things, it just seems appropriate.

irma came and went. the night of, while we were at img, the wind was loud, and there were a couple times i was acutely aware of where the boys were in case the roof were torn away with the wind. that said, i can only imagine how loud it would have been at the house!

the next morning, we all piled out of the dorms, and it felt a little like the last day of kamp during summer, cleaning up, loading up and putting mattresses back in their places.

we went back to check on our homes, and realized that i had locked the front screen door, to which i do not have a key (it's glass, so not really a screen...), and the electricity was still out, so i couldn't open the garage door. oops. the only damage outside seemed to be one screen on the lanai. and so we went to shea's and checked it over. the main damage there was the bushes around the house, because the winds formed a wind-tunnel of sorts around the sides. the electricity was out there as well, but it wasn't too hot yet, so i took a nap, and then we saw that the farmhouse was open for business, with wifi, so donuts were on the menu! we went and got donuts to make a couple stops over on the island to give a little sugar-encouragement to a couple families whom shea thought would appreciate it. it was fun hanging out with them- very congenial!

checking out the neighborhood damage-so many trees with shallow roots blown over-fortunately this one missed both houses.

i posted this little guy on my facebook page (please note the banana down here  that looks nonplussed!)

mini donuts!! #sugarsupport

the branches have mostly been blown off of my tree in the backyard, but at least none of the trees were blown over

on the return, we stopped at one of the beaches on longboat key, and got a little video and pics.

this is on the other side of the dunes before walking out to the beach-you can get an idea of water/sand

dear irma, buh-bye. roll closing credits:

then we noticed that there was a pizza place open on the island coming home, so we stopped in and placed our to-go order. we overheard them saying they weren't planning on opening, they had just come to see if the stoves were working and things were in order, and before they knew what was happening, someone came in and ordered a pizza, they said yes (around 4 p.m. and people hadn't stopped walking through the door since, it was now 8 p.m.). this was exciting, as most restaurants were still not open for business, so i'm guessing they made more cash that day than they've made in a long time! we got our order and took it home-it was smelling pretty amazing (especially after all the pretzels, crackers and beef jerky stuffs)! when we got back to the house, the electricity was still off, so we opened the cross doors to get a little wind-flow and set up citronella candles, and just hoping no one would walk in. we live in a pretty safe neighborhood, and to get to shea's you almost have to get lost, so we felt pretty secure. plus there's bruno and chaco, who, while small, make it sound like there are 15 of them when they feel the need.

now i'm trying to remember...i think i had electricity on tuesday...but not until later in the evening. in the morning, we were hoping for coffee, and thought we'd try to power shea's keurig with the adapter in the car (brilliant, right?) yes, well, unfortunately the keurig requires a little extra juice, so we tried to find a plan b. starbucks was still not open.  plan c. i found my 'survival bag' and got the sterno burners out and started heating up some water. it took way longer than is acceptable for any coffee drinker-how did the pioneers do it?! ugh. finally it was hot enough for me to make some oatmeal that 'passed for edible'...and then we let it go just a bit longer to try steeping the k-cups--i would give it a D+. i mean...it was something, and it was caffeinated. and then we may have gone driving around for a bit just to recharge devices and enjoy the a/c...maybe.

we were SO ready to have this coffee experiment work!!

eventually, one of our neighbors was texting with shea and mentioned that there was electricity at her house, which is on my street, so we checked and mine was on too, meaning we were able to get in and get the a/c going...unfortunately internet was still not up. i'm pretty sure it took days to get recuperated on a good sleep. and in the midst, i was trying to plan for a pd in miami. the issue was that we weren't sure about what was happening at our miami site, because our contact had evacuated. so we were planning as if everything was good-to-go, ready to cancel if needed. we canceled our hotel rooms because of the 72 hour policy, and would book later if it were a 'go'.

while we waited to find out about miami, one of the schools nearby confirmed that despite the damage, and chaos, they were still following through with the pd. and this area pretty much took a direct hit, fortunately all buildings were still intact. so i made sure my colleagues knew about it and tried to keep the others informed as soon as i had information for miami!

next up local training- good times!

thankful that with as big as irma was, the damage could have been worse.

julie

not wearing flip flops in irma, just flip flopping

ok, time for one more...last night we packed it all up and stayed at shea's. we got our place as ready as we could... we were up pretty late last night, watching an episode of bloodline (which is so cliche-it's about a family resort in the keys..., but to be fair, we had started watching this way before irma decided to grace us with her presence..), and then we had to catch up on the weather... i slept fine-only woke up a couple times, as i knew it'd be a marathon today.

lots of texts, lots of messages. shea made eggs, bacon and hashbrowns-great breakfast, and then we sat and watched the updates. then at some point in time-i'd say around noon, shea got a text from a concerned friend, who works at IMG, in essence, asking her to come up to the school, because she felt it would be a safer haven than shea's house. so here's the deal, the school is in a voluntary evacuation zone, (which basically means-avoid the ocean surge)...so the kids did not stay, they were evacuated to a shelter, just for liability's sake, even though it is probably the safer place to be, as it is rated for cat 4  hurricane winds. i think at that point there was some uncertainty as to what to do about sheltering, so when they asked her to come, we did the smart thing, and she called her dad to ask for wisdom.

so i switched out of the flip flops and into chacos, and we are now in a classroom at the school, the boys are set up, we have a couple mattresses set up, and they have local cable in the classrooms-so we are able to watch the local updates and emergency center. there are other families in the bldg with animals as well, so the boys are reactive to other noises. hopefully they will chill out.

 the wind has been picking up, it is only 4:18, and the worst is expected to come around 2am-ish (i guess that looks kinda' like amish, and i'd be okay with that if it meant pies and home-baked goods and such)... so it could be a long night. i need to go down with shea to visit the sugar gliders, because one of her friends down the hall has a few, and they are adorable!

the lights and electricity just went out for a minute, but then either they came back up or the generator kicked on...that's a plus of being here. alright, well, i think i'll be signing out so that i can actually get this posted. we may slip next door to help the neighbor dispose of some ice cream momentarily!

shea is documenting, so we are getting a play by play on the evening...that should be interesting and fun-

alright. praying for everyone who is impacted. 

julie

last update before irma...i think.

quick update because i still can. it is was early-ish saturday morning, and we are continuing to get updates on irma. over the past 24 hours, irma continues to move west and as it moved into cuba, it may have weakened for a minute, who knows. that said, it will probably swing up the west coast, if it heads along the current projection, the eye may pass over our area, but by that time the strength will have dwindled a bit. still enough to cause a lot of damage, but much less threatening.

i've been stocking up and preparing for the worst (Kamp-WILD, survival instincts, thanks Hank Harmon!) and i pulled out all of the emergency candles, batteries from every nook and cranny, and the list goes on. i filled ziploc gallon baggies and froze them, filled the tub, for necessary flushing (in the guest bathroom), filled a couple of lined trash cans with water in case that gets shut down (for necessary pot-washing..not 'pot-pot', 'pots-and-pans-pot'.) and after doing all that water-prep, looked out at the pool and thought, 'for the love...i HATE YOU, IRMA!'

that said, i do have a few more last things to do, and then we will settle in over at shea's for the impending doom..(there was talk at one point of going over to the school, but it is actually in a lower zone than we are, so, you do what you do-we'll be more comfortable there anyhoo).where i'm pretty sure there will be some pirate shenanigans (you think i'm joking...if you know us, you realize it's no joke). i purchased the disposable doggie pads, so the boys are taken care of; the only issue will be chaco, and his incessant need to let me know that there is lightning, thunder and random sounds outside. fun.

it's great that miami misses the eye of the storm, but still looking at high winds and surf-this is a relief, because i have several friends/former classmates in that area...they keys still look to receive a beating...one thing that makes me sad is that there are still so many turtle nests, and we will probably lose all of them with this storm. #heartbreaking 

we're hoping to get out to casperson shortly after the storm...maybe the storm will bring up some nice shark teeth...#priorities

i'm a little leery of the towering bamboo trees in my backyard..hopefully they will hold true to the ancient chinese adages and bend in the wind...not snap! yikes. by the time irma hits our area, she's predicted to be around 100-135 mph winds-which equate to between an f-1/f-2 tornado, so we'll be hiding from the wind.

i'd include pics, but i just want to get this posted and finish up some last stuffs.

-ju

i like cats-not cat 5, the less knots the better...i hate irma.

(i don't have time to proof right now, gotta get scallops...i'll update later!)

i hate it that i have to write this post, because i still have so much catching up to do, and that was supposed to be next! bummer.

so, i am writing this post because i just wanted to give a quick little update, and it's difficult to update everyone piecemeal. 

after watching the weather channel so closely and following harvey out of concern for my peeps in houston and one of my friends who JUST moved to galveston (which in the aftermath, it was a blessing that she did)..the devastation is heartbreaking. i'm thankful that for as much damage as there was, the loss of life was minimal (any loss of life is too much, but knowing that it could have been worse...). and while the ugly part of harvey is that it will take years to rebuild and get business back to normal, the genuine interaction of humans caring about humans was beautiful. 

then without batting an eye, the reports were rolling in about the damage that the montana wildfires have wreaked. read more about that here ...

and then irma. good ol' irma...she comes on a little strong-mind of her own...(read into that what you will).  as it was turning into a category 5 hurricane, i was leaving for a training in albuquerque, nm. it was rough. i did not want to leave the boys, not knowing if i'd be able to get back in time. i knew shea would take care of them, but it's still an unnerving time, not being there in person, and knowing i couldn't do a thing about it.  i took pics of the boys tuesday morning as i was leaving...just-in-case. 

julie k. called as i was pulling out, on my way to the airport and i am pretty sure that my voice caught a couple of times or that there was an odd pause, because i was afraid that if i talked, i'd cry. anyhoo, the flights were long, but we did it!

we had to make a quick stop at target, where i called mom and dad to give them the low-down and keep them in the loop, and then we may have driven creatively to get to b.j's for dinner..and by creatively, i'm sure it was legal in some third-world countries...and besides, who cares about the curbs?? i mean, pretty sure the rental car agency reps don't check the axle...but MOSTLY because they don't expect that 4 ladies would be doing back-country driving in the big city..IN A MINI-VAN!!!. (just sayin'-not pointing any fingers-and that's just an artistic observation...perhaps i embellish who knows). but it was great, unfortunately we didn't leave room for pizoukis (sp)...and by the time we got back to the hotel, i think we were all fairly wiped. my stomach had been giving me issues since monday, and i'd taken tums, mylanta, immodium...it just wasn't pretty. 

when monday morning rolled around, i was watching the weather channel, and once again, it is difficult to know how to feel when there are so many unknowns, and the uncertainty in the trajectory. and then there was the knock on the door, the 'starbuks knock' if you will. this hotel didn't have complimentary breakfast, so if we're gonna pay, might as well pay for sous vide egg bites and iced coffee, ya'know?! 

we pulled in at the same time as erik, and then it was time to get down to business! thankfully, we had a great regional facilitator-she had come in and set everything up the night before with a colleague, and it was lovely. having people who go above and beyond-priceless. 

the morning session went off without a hitch and the participants 'got-it'. this was a state-level admin training, and it went really well-there were a couple small technology things, but overall, happy campers! entertaining and informative. i was interacting with one lady in the back of the room and she was so excited about using this and the data that was available to her.  

entertaining and informational

at the very beginning, some point during introductions, when it was mentioned that i was from the tampa area, hurricane, etc, i had a moment...and after the smile and wave, i had to take a second out in the hallway to pull it together- it's the same as when you get hurt, or someone passes away, and you kinda' lose it for a moment if it's focused on, but if you can avert and steer the conversation in a different direction, and all's well. 

i was so grateful when sabrina and ju proposed the idea of leaving early if there was a flight that would get me home. i had this anxiety hanging in the back of my mind that i wouldn't be able to get back on the scheduled flight friday...and if i did that there wouldn't be time to get things prepped. it was completely unexpected, but very much appreciated. i was able to find a flight-nonstop that afternoon. FYI there aren't nonstop flights from ABQ to TPA...this was a special occasion-they had canceled the houston leg and made it a direct, i think in order to get the plane there that evening, because of the demand to get people out. umm...there were 7 passengers. i had a whole section to myself, and they were almost begging me to take snacks. i thought about stashing a bunch to bring back for irma.  

it was a long flight, but i'll take long if it gets me home!

 got home around 9:00-ish, and then drove the 50 min home. i decided to stop at walmart-24-7, and see how picked over it was. found some items that i needed...they were out of water (fortunately i am not afraid to re-use the 2-liter diet coke bottles...and before i left, i had filled about 12 bottles- 24 liters.).so i looked and they did have sparkling water...and guess what happens to sparkling water if you leave the cap off for a few hours...it doesn't sparkle as much and you end up with flavored water...there was plenty of that!

finally got home and to bed around 1-1:30 a.m. and as soon as i woke up this morning, i turned on the weather channel again, because i have been getting lots of questions about what is going on and what am i going to do... and i don't mean to be vague, but...information is coming in real time, provided by irma's intentions:

shea (my kamp friend who lives in the same neighborhood and takes care of the boys) and i are monitoring it pretty closely. we will have a better idea what the track will be as it turns between friday p.m. and saturday. if it heads up the EAST coast, we will just have tropical storm strong winds (up to 45 knots), but not too much rain. We are also keeping informed with the local manatee county emergency center. we are in evac zone D (A-E), and they have only suggested voluntary evac for zone A (the island area and trailer court area by beach and the bay). 

this is where bradenton is-near tampa/st. petes/sarasota...

also with the traffic- crazy as it is with miami evacuating, the emergency center highly recommended NOT evacuating if they have not made the suggestion. fortunately we have a place just around the corner literally less than a minute away, and their bldgs are CAT 4-rated, so if need be, we could go there, and they allow dogs for shelter-type situations, so i feel pretty comfortable with that; and they have a stockpile of water and food as well. 

the only issue may be electricity. i know it's a sketchy issue with florida energy, especially if we get a lot of wind impact. i'm not sure if there are generators or not, so internet may be an issue...time will tell​. as i said, we will have more information by saturday morning, i'm fairly sure. so i will do my best to keep the information flowing...

and so, that's what it is. 

irma...why ya' gotta be such a jerk? so freakin' unpredictable and last minute...0 respect.

everywhere she goes, irma's like, "got my eye on you!" HA! 

prayers for the islands, puerto rico, florida, houston, tx, montana...india..oh..humanity in general. 

julie