Let’s Be Honest, I Really Don’t Care

 I cannot tell you how many people in the Midwest have said to me, "I could never live in Florida."  There's always a different reason such as "because it's too hot," "because I like having four seasons", "because everyone is a MAGA" just to name a few.  It is not only family and friends who have made these comments to me.  Complete strangers have said many negative remarks once they find out where we live.  

Personally, I will never understand how people do not realize that it is extremely rude to criticize where someone lives or their choice to move to south.  I don't like to give unsolicited advice ever, but these comments go beyond even that.  There is no way that I would say something that might hurt someone's feelings or placed judgement on them.  Since it happens to me a lot, I have started to wonder what would happen if I responded honestly to the naysayers with these rebuttals - "Great, we don't want you in Florida." or "Wow, thanks for letting me know.  I'll list my house right now." or "You are right, I would much rather live somewhere that gets 10 inches of snow with ice covered roads and zero-degree temperatures."  Of course, I never say those things.  I just smile and listen knowing the response that always pops in my head during these conversations is "Let's be honest, I really don't care."  

The nice part about all of this is that Doug and I have been very happy in Ocala, especially this past year.  We enjoy being close to Meg and taking monthly trips to Disney World.  Yes, the summers are hot, but once Doug retires, we will start think about spending July in cooler weather.  We like that traveling is never an issue due to snow, ice or severely cold temperatures.  We do have four seasons; they are just different than in the Midwest and it is nice to be able to go outside every day not having to ever worry about a winter coat.  We love the abundance of sunshine and ever more so the fact that we never have to rake leaves.  Most of all, Doug and I enjoy our life in Florida because we are living it together.  That is the best part.  

Double Shift

My favorite volunteer activity at the church is working in the gift shop. I started doing it shortly after we moved to Ocala and have worked at least once a month ever since then. It’s not a very challenging job, but it really makes me feel good to help people find religious items that they have been looking for and can’t find anywhere else. We have even had customers come from parishes thirty minutes away to purchase things from our gift shop, because they know we will custom order them if we do not immediately have what they want.

Another added benefit to working in the shop is that I have gotten to meet other parishioners. When I first started volunteering at the gift shop, I knew very few people and now I see a friendly face whenever I come to mass.  In the beginning, I was always scheduled to work after the 8:45 a.m. mass. Over the past year, I have switched to exclusively working after the 11 AM mass, because it works better for the scheduler and we like going to the later mass.  It gives Doug and I time to take a morning walk or get a few things done around the house before we leave for church. Since I have enjoyed my time in the gift shop so much, I have now started volunteering twice a month. I thought that doubling my shifts would lead to burn out, but instead, it just makes it so much more enjoyable. Plus, it keeps me on top of the new inventory. I know that it’s not much in the grand scheme of volunteering, but I really do like helping in the gift shop and I don’t think that will be changing anytime soon.

A Random Find

Today I was helping Doug look for pieces for the current Lego that he was building. It was a big set that belonged to Cal and there were a lot of tiny pieces for us to find. After a while, I told Doug I would start looking for the mini-figures. Lego sets sell for the most when all of the mini-figures and accessories are included. Random building pieces do not seem to matter as much as the buyers can find those online inexpensively on the Lego store website. 

Today, while I was looking through the hundreds of Star Wars mini figures that we had, I ran across C-3PO‘s body. I couldn’t believe it. I had looked everywhere for this piece a few weeks ago. It went to a small Lego set that Brett had but we could never list it because we only had the droid’s head. I quickly checked the instructions and I was right. It was the missing body part that we had been looking for.  Shortly after I listed it, we had an offer for $20.  Not too bad for a set that had been stored away in the closet ten minutes earlier. What a great find and a nice reward for all of our searching. 

Mickey’s Not So Scary

Meg and Nick spent last night and tonight at the Boardwalk Inn.  They wanted to go to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party again this year, and this was the perfect time for them to do so.  Although it led to a disagreement between Cameron and Meg on when it's ok to celebrate fall, I was glad that they were able to start the Halloween season early with this annual event.  I had a lot of fond memories of taking our children to the party.  They always dressed up for it even when they were in high school and college, and they always came home with a lot more candy than they had ever received trick or treating.

Meg and Nick sounded like they had just as much fun at Mickey's as we did years ago.  They dressed up as Troy and Gabriella from High School Musical, picked up a lot of candy, rode Space Mountain in the dark, watched the Hocus Pocus show, videotaped the Headless Horseman riding down the street before the parade and met a few of their favorite characters dressed in their Halloween best.  I hope that Doug and I will be able to join them one day in the near future for this night of Halloween festivities, but until then I will enjoy the adorable pictures that they sent.

IU Soccer

Doug and I both were excited to hear that IU soccer was back in action tonight with a home game against Notre Dame. Doug had always loved watching IU soccer and once we found out during Cameron’s freshman year that we could watch the majority of the games on BTN+ we have both become loyal viewers. As an added bonus, we have even gotten to see Cameron on television a few times at the home games over the past few years.

Tonight‘s game was a great one against Notre Dame with the Hoosiers winning 3 to 1.  There were a lot of new players on IU's roster, so it was hard to keep track of who was who at first.  We didn't mind as the new players were awesome additions to the team. One of the guys that used to work at Champion with Doug has a son who is playing his last season with the team this year. He didn’t play as much as he did in the past, but he did still get in some minutes. We didn’t see Cameron this time on television, but that was OK. We enjoyed the game anyway. It was nice to know that fall sports were back and soon we would be enjoying many more games like tonight’s.

Indianapolis State Fair

While we were enjoying our weekend at Disney World, Cal, Maggie, Brett, and Karen were having a lot of fun at the Indiana State fair. One of Cal’s friends had gotten married this past Saturday in Indianapolis and he thought it would be the perfect place for the four of them to meet the next day. We got multiple texts from them throughout the day giving us updates on the foods that they had tried. Of course, there were some interesting flavors like corn dog beer and fried Twinkies, but there were also some traditional fair foods on their list, including one of my favorites - Elephant Ears.

I loved the picture that Karen sent of the four of them.  I also enjoyed all of their messages. Cal told us afterward that Maggie had never been to a fair before, so I was glad that they were able to show her what it is all about.  She liked it so much that she wants to take her family to one next summer. Cal and I thought that the Elkhart County Fair would be perfect for them. Either way, I was incredibly glad to hear that Brett, Karen, Cal and Maggie's get together on Sunday was a success. There is nothing better than being a mom to adult children and hearing about all of their adventures together.

Last Day

Cameron and I decided to sleep in this morning and spend a short day at Hollywood Studios before he had to leave to catch his flight back to Indiana.  I was sad that his week in Florida was over, but incredibly grateful for the time that we got to spend together.  It is the one nice thing about living hundred of miles apart.  When the boys visit, it is a lot of quality time together.

I let Cameron lead the way today as I wanted him to get the most out of his day.  He picked Twilight Tower of Terror for our first ride and we both enjoyed it very much.  I hadn’t ridden it in years and the yo-yo effect was even more fun than I remembered.  Our next few rides included Toy Story Mania, Alien Encounter Swirl and Rock N Roll Roller Coaster.  I actually didn’t ride the last one but I did have fun standing in the queue with Cameron checking out all of the changes from the new Muppets themed ride.  

Before we left the park, Cameron and I had lunch at Baseline Tap.  It has become one our favorite places to eat in Hollywood Studios and I was glad that they introduced new flat bread pizza on their menu as well.  We had enough time to do a little bit of shopping on our way out and even stop for Starbucks before Cameron had to catch his flight.  It was a wonderful end to a fantastic week.