Family Day

Cameron, Doug and I had a lot of fun in Naples the past two days.  We took a walk on the beach and tried several new restaurants.  The beach was beautiful.  Cameron and I really appreciated the soft white sand after walking on Daytona's shores.  We also got a kick out of our first restaurant choice on the weekend.  I had no idea that Twin Peaks was more like a Tilted Kilt.  I assumed that it was named after the television series of the same name, but was definitely wrong about that.  It was a little awkward at first, but the food and service were very good.

Since we had done everything in Fort Myers, the Everglades and Naples that we had planned, we decided to take an adventure today.  I really wanted to visit my grandparents long time Florida hometown, Arcadia.  I hadn't been there since Cal was born and was very interested in seeing what it looked like now.  I was thankful that Cameron and Doug agreed to the idea.

Our fist stop was downtown Arcadia, so we could check out my grandparents favorite restaurant, Wheelers.  I was impressed with how much the downtown had been updated.  We walked in the restaurant and by the storefronts taking pictures.  Next on our list was a surprise visit to my Mom's cousin, Bobbie.  We were thrilled that she was home and ready to host us for a little while.  We had a wonderful conversation and enjoyed meeting her granddaughters.  Our last stop was a disappointment to me.  My grandparents had absolutely loved their home on Masters Rd.  It was incredibly sad to see what had become of it.  Thankfully, they will never know.

After touring Arcadia, we headed to Tampa International to pick up Meg.  A severe storm delayed us, but Meg didn't mind.  She checked out the shops at the airport before we arrived.  Meg then chose our lunch stop, Ford's Garage.  It was the second one of the weekend for us, but first for Meg.  She really enjoyed her salmon dinner and we were all glad to have her in Florida for the week.  Tonight, Phil stopped by so that we could play games.  It was a lot of fun and a great way to relax after such a busy weekend.  

The Everglades

Cameron had wanted to visit The Everglades since he first played the National Parks Monopoly game in 6th grade.  Therefore, I was glad that we were able to plan a trip there this summer with him.  We left this morning for Everglades City.  We had reservations to take a boat tour around the Ten Thousand Islands, which was the western most point of Everglades and where the national park began.  I had read really good reviews, but was a little nervous to try it as Doug had never been to the Everglades and I hadn't been since high school.  Thus, we knew nothing about exploring the area except that we didn't want to ride on an airboat.

Thankfully, our tour today was fantastic.  There were about fifteen of us on a pontoon with Captain Jack and his first mate, Carl.  They took us through the channel where we saw an alligator and heard about the history of Everglades City.  It was very interesting and our captain was a great story teller.  Once we got closer to the Gulf of Mexican and the Everglades National Park border, we began to see even more animals including dolphins, pelicans and terns.  The area was absolutely beautiful and we enjoyed it all very much.  Our trip back to the dock included pictures of the Burmese Pythons that Carl had caught on his hunting trips.  They have become an invasive species in the Everglades and hunters, like our first mate, are being paid by the government to kill the snake.  

After our boat trip, we ate lunch on the river.  It was hot outside, but the food was good and the view was gorgeous.  Our last stop in Everglades City was a museum about the history of the Everglades.  It was very nicely done, but our Captain had already given us the same information so we didn't stay very long.  We left around 1:00 for the Shark Valley visitor in the heart of the Everglades.  It was an easy trip along the Tamiami Trail.  The best part was that we passed the Florida Skunk Ape Research Center along the way where I bought my Skunk Ape "hunting license."  I even got to hear a local tell Cameron why he was wrong to not believe in the Skunk Ape.  It was a fun way to break up the hour trip.

We made it to the Shark Valley Visitor Center around 2 p.m.  Right before we arrived, the skies opened up and it stormed off and on for the next hour.  We decided to wait it out as the state park was open until 5 and they had a great spot to sit outside and view the Everglades.  Cameron and I also spent quite a bit of time going through their items in the park store.  We bought a book on identifying Florida birds and one that we could collect all of the National Park stamps.  We got our first stamp today and enjoyed looking at all of the other national parks that we could visit or had visited in the past.  Cameron also purchased a really cool Everglades shirt while we waited.

The rain finally let up around 3:30 and we began our walking tour of the Everglades.  We started off on the boardwalk through the mangrove trees.  It was a little creepy as the trees completely surrounded us and we couldn't see deep into it vegetation.  I was positive that a Python would jump out at us at anytime.  Fortunately, only mosquitos bothered us on the ten minute walk.  Once we got to the main trail along the water, I felt a lot better.  It was more open on one side and there were not quite as many bugs.  That ended quickly for me, however as we soon saw a five foot alligator swimming in the river beside us.  It may have been ten feet away, but that was enough to "encourage" me to turn around and head back to the visitor center.  Doug and Cameron kept walking until the storms returned.  Cameron really enjoyed it.

We took a different path back to Naples that included Loop Rd.  It was a twenty-four mile route through the middle of the Everglades which was mostly gravel.  I was a little nervous at first that we would get stuck somewhere, but the road was relatively pothole free until the last three miles.  Overall, the trail was absolutely wonderful.  We had birds flying along with our vehicle and got a great feel for what it would be like to hike through the Everglades.  It was an awesome way to end our day.  We were all very glad that Cameron had suggested the trip.  It was absolutely amazing.    

The Edison & Ford Winter Homes

Doug, Cameron and I left for Fort Myers this morning.  I drove so that Doug could work in the back of the Pilot.  He had to make several phone calls, attend a virtual meeting and email a lot of different people, but Cameron and I didn't mind.  Cameron finished the last two episodes of Brooklyn 99 and I concentrated on the road.  There was a lot of traffic on I-75 and a terrible rain storm.  

Thankfully, we made it to Fort Myers safely, however, and picked Ford's Garage for lunch.  It seemed fitting since we were going to visit the the Edison & Ford Winter Homes in the afternoon.  We enjoyed our sandwiches very much and were pleased to learn that we were in the original restaurant that started the chain.

I hadn't been to the Edison home since the late 1990s, but remembered loving it.  When Cameron asked to go to the Everglades this summer, I knew that I wanted to include this historical spot on our trip since it was on the way.  I was super concerned that we were going to be able to visit it like I planned, however, because of the lightening storm that hit just as we arrived.  The grounds were closed until it passed and we were concerned that it would linger longer than 4:30 which was their last time for selling tickets.  Fortunately, the storm did pass and while we were waiting we were able to see the famous Banyan tree that I remembered well and Edison and Firestone's rubber testing lab.

Doug, Cameron and I were able to get into the grounds by 3 p.m and spent over an hour on a walking audio tour of Thomas Edison's beautiful winter home and Henry Ford's as well.  We learned a lot about the inventor and his family.  We also found out more about his relationship with Ford and Henry Firestone.  The three of us would have definitely loved living in the home and were amazed with all of its ties to the history of Fort Myers.  Cameron said that he wasn't quite sure when we arrived why I had hyped it up so much.  In the end, however, he totally agreed with me.  It was extremely interesting and gorgeous to see.  I was happy to hear that and pleased that we were able to tour it today.  

Complete Embarrassment

Tonight left all of us embarrassed to be Americans.  First, the US men's soccer team lost to Panama during the Copa America in a game that they should have easily won.  It was made worse by the fact that the US team played a man down because one of their players received a red card for punching a Panamanian early in the game.  It didn't give us a lot to be proud of in the 2-3 loss.  After the loss, we then watched Trump and Biden put on the worst presidential debate in United States history.  Cameron and Doug were probably most disappointed by the soccer loss, but agreed with me that Trump's ignorant statements and Biden's feeblemindedness were awful to witness.  Other countries had to be laughing at us for believing that those two men were the best that we had to offer as leader of the US.  

I do believe that the US men's team could still make it to the knock out round in the Copa America by beating Uruguay on Monday.  There's no way, however, that we rebound as a country from the disaster that we saw tonight at the Presidential debate.  I cannot imagine either one of those buffoons running their own household let alone an entire nation.  I cannot in good faith vote for Biden as he had absolutely no idea what he was talking about tonight.  He made no sense and couldn't answer the majority of the questions.  The alternative isn't any better as Trump gave incorrect facts and was completely racist.  

I couldn't blame my children for saying that they might not vote this year. I remembered feeling that way when George H.W. Bush ran against Michael Dukakis in 1988.  As a twenty year old, I thought they were both old and out of touch at the time, but they were 64 and 55 respectively.  I would take either one of them back in a heartbeat.  At least they were honest and coherent.  Hopefully, this year's debate wakes up both political parties and there is someone better on the ticket in November than what we just saw.  

An Unexpected Surprise

I was super depressed on Monday and couldn't figure out why.  Yesterday morning, I finally understood what was causing me to feel down in the dumps.  It was my dentist appointment.  I really didn't want to go.  I knew that I still had work that needed to be completed for my mouth to be healthy, but the pain and cost were really bothering me.  I didn't realize how much it bothered me until the phone rang yesterday at 9 a.m.  The dentist had to cancel my appointment due to an electrical outage.  I had never been happier.  I would still have to go on July 8th, but at least it was averted for now.

Cameron and I took advantage of the free time by watching more of our favorite daytime games shows including Price is Right, Match Game, Switch, Split Second and $100,000 Pyramid.  It wasn't the only thing that we did yesterday.  We also got groceries and ran to Wawa for coffee.  We had plans to go to Gainesville, but the touch up paint on the Accord wasn't finished.  Instead, we enjoyed Doug's macaroni and cheese followed by a few rounds of ping pong.  We talked Cameron into watching Stand By Me as well.  It was more sad than I remembered, but we all enjoyed it quite a bit.  It was a great way to end an unexpected relaxing day.  

Raises & Job Performance Reviews

In June, Plante Moran had their biannual job performance reviews followed by their annual raises.  It was the first time that Meg had participated in both and she didn't really enjoy the experience.  As I listened to her thoughts on the process, I thought back to the years that Doug and I were promised incentives, bonuses or raises that never came to fruition.  Most were because the goals set by the employers were unrealistic and some were because we were absolutely lied to at the time.

I tried to explain my experiences to Meg.  I think she started to understand my point.  Doug hadn't received a raise in the past three years although he had worked harder during that time frame than any other in his career.  Some of the best teachers that I have ever know had maxed out their income possibilities years ago and hadn't seen a raise in almost ten years.  I told Meg about my own performance reviews and how I thought that they were an absolute joke as well.  I received high praise some years and was criticized in others.  I hadn't changed my teaching styles, but instead the parameters had.  One year I found out that there was a quota on highly qualified reviews and those of us who were in that category the year before would be put in a lower classification.  It wasn't fair and I never liked it, but it was life as a teacher and I got used to it.  

Today, I wanted to tell Meg that quitting and finding a new job would solve any issue that she was having at work.  That wouldn't be truthful, however.  Working is hard, evaluations aren't always fair and raises don't always make one feel appreciated.  Instead, I told her to put her feelings to the side, keep her chin up and do her job to the best of her ability.  Most of all, I told her to not tie her self worth to her career.  She will never be happy that way and will enjoy life so much more when she finds something outside of work to focus on instead.  

Maybe I Do Have a Sense of Humor

For years, Doug has told me that I have no sense of humor.  I used to argue with him and tell him that it was because his jokes weren't funny that I never laughed.  Although I haven't changed my mind on that one, I did start to agree with him.  I really didn't have much of a sense of humor, especially when it came to movies and television shows.

Lately, I have been wondering, however, if my sense of humor had returned.  Last summer I realized while watching Jury Duty that I had actually laughed out loud at some parts in the show.  That made me remember that I had also liked the comedy movie, The Hangover.  It wasn't just those two productions that got me laughing.  Modern Family has been constant source of laughter in our home recently.

Tonight completely solidified my belief that I actually may have a sense of humor.  I watched Zoolander, a Ben Stiller comedy, with Cameron and Doug and enjoyed it.  I also finished another episode of Brooklyn 99 with Cameron afterward.  I found the "stupid" humor in the cop show funny and even laughed out loud at several parts.  Maybe, Doug was wrong in his evaluation of my sense of humor or maybe my sense of humor has changed.  Either way it is nice to watch movies and shows now and enjoy them instead of thinking about how dumb they are.  I don't think that I will ever get there with Blazing Saddles, however, but who knows?  Only time will tell.

Lots of Fun for Everyone

Brett and Karen arrived in Syracuse yesterday morning.  He wanted her to meet Grandma and Grandpa and to show her his hometown.  I heard from Brett and Grandma today.  They all had a great time.  They walked to the Frog for lunch and afterward Brett took Karen on a tour of Syracuse.  Grandpa then took them on a historical boat ride around Lake Wawasee.  Today, they went to mass at St. Martin's before having breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa in North Webster.  Brett was exhausted once he got back to Bloomington, but incredibly happy with his weekend.  He texted me later that he forgot how much he loved Pizza King.  He might be the only one who really still feels that way, but I was happy to hear it just the same.

Brett wasn't the only one in Syracuse this weekend.  Meg and Nick spent Saturday night in Jimtown working on wedding plans.  Today, they spent some time catching up with Grandma and Grandpa before heading back to Chicago.  They even met up with Rachel and Alex for a little while, who had just gotten engaged themselves last night.  I was glad to hear that they liked the new chicken friend that I bought for them.

Cal didn't make it to Indiana this weekend, but he did have a great time on a golf trip with his friends.  He texted me multiple times filling me on his rounds and what they were up to at his friend's lake house in Michigan.  He was proud of the 86 that he shot on Friday and even happier with his two man scramble win on Saturday.  I know that he was very concerned about the weekend before he left.  I was very happy to hear that it went well.

After hearing from Brett, Meg and Cal today, I was just so incredibly thankful that everyone wanted to share with me about their weekend.  They all had fun in different ways and I loved the stories that they had to share.  The best part about being a mom of adult children is knowing that they are enjoying life.  This weekend was a good reminder of that.