They Made It

Several months ago, Cameron asked if he could invite Cora to spend a week with us this summer.  We were very excited to host her and began making plans with the two of them.  Cora had never been to Florida before but had been to the Caribbean multiple times.  Thus, they decided that a day at the beach was out.  Cameron instead suggested a day or two at Disney as Cora liked amusement parks.  I booked us a night at Saratoga Springs with the idea that we would be able to take advantage of their free water parks on the first day of our stay.  Cameron really liked that idea and added Fantasia mini-golf to the list.  Since the resort was within walking distance to Disney Springs, we also decided that dinner at Splitsville and Gideons cookies for dessert were a must. 

Cameron and Cora arrived late last night.  I was extremely thankful that Meg had invited everyone to stay with her since she was so close to the airport.  This morning, Cameron, Cora and I headed to Port Orleans French Quarter for beignets, which were absolutely delicious.  We then went straight to Typhoon Lagoon water park.  Storms were predicted all morning and afternoon, but fortunately, they missed us completely.  The weather ended up being a blessing as the drizzle and clouds that we received early helped to keep the crowds low and Cameron and Cora were able to go on every water slide at least once plus visit the wave pool and lazy river.  While they were busy, I also enjoyed the wave pool and lazy river.  We all met up for lunch and they then invited me to try a family inner tube ride with them that was a lot of fun. Before we headed to our hotel, Cameron and Cora decided that they wanted to go to Blizzard Beach for a little while.  There were three rides that they wanted to check out, one of which I could ride with them as well.  

Saratoga Springs was extremely nice as always, and a great place to relax and regroup before Doug, Meg and Nick arrived. We had planned on playing mini golf before dinner, but the threat of rain changed our plans.  Instead, the six of us took the boat over to Disney Springs and had a wonderful dinner at Splitsville.  Doug and I stopped at Gideon's with everyone before going back to Saratoga Springs to enjoy the hotel bar.  Nick and Meg joined us while Cameron and Cora spent the rest of the evening shopping.  It was a fantastic day for all.

Mystery Shirt

Several weeks ago, Doug pulled a shirt out of his closet and said, “I have never seen this shirt before.”  After looking at it, I realized that I didn’t recognize it either.  Since Cameron had just visited I decided that it had to be his and called him to ask about it.  He couldn’t ever remember having a lavender polo shirt and the fact that it was an XL, made him positive that it wasn’t his either.  That seemed really strange to me and I put it in my closet until I could figure out whose it was.  

A couple of days went by and I forgot about the shirt until I was sorting through some items to donate to Brother’s Keepers.  I didn’t want to donate the mystery shirt as I was certain that it had to belong to someone in our family’s.  Since Cameron and Doug had denied ownership, my next best guess was my Dad.  I sent him a picture and he said that he didn’t recognize it either.  He also wore larges so he really doubted it was his. That threw me for a loop as I just couldn’t remember anyone else having a shirt like that.  As Cal and Brett hadn’t visited since the winter, I was sure that the shirt wasn’t theirs either.  Thus, I set it aside to ask Nick the next time he came to Ocala.

As I was hanging the shirt back up in my closet, it dawned on me who the possible owner was.  I called Cal right away and he said that he remembered having a shirt like the one that I described and the size would be a match.  The shirt must have been left behind something in Cameron’s closet from the last time Cal visited in March.  When I went to do laundry after Cameron left in June, I must have added it to his basket of clothes assuming it was his.  After washing it and seeing the size, I probably assumed it was Doug’s and hung it in his closet.  It was what made the most sense to everyone and I was thankful that the mystery shirt would soon be reunited to its rightful owner.  

Wimbledon

For the past two weeks Doug and I have been watching Wimbledon daily.  At first it was hard to get into it as most of the players that we cheered for a few years ago had retired from the game.  Only Novak Djokovic remained as a top contender and neither of us were huge fans of his.  The women's side did not have a clear cut stand out and there were very few US men in the draw.

The more we watched this week, however, the more our attitude changed about the Grand Slam.  Even though there wasn't a clear-cut favorite in the women's tournament, there were some fantastic matches with an American finishing runner-up.  Americans Ben Shelton and Francis Tiafoe held their own on the men's side giving us someone from our home country to back there as well.  If all of this didn't change our opinion about the current state of tennis, today's match certainly did.  Italy's Jannik Sinner and Spain's Carlos Alcaraz played one of the best four set championship matches that Doug and I had seen in a long time reminding us both of the glory days of Federer vs. Nadal.  We were glued from the first serve to the last when Sinner finally topped Alcaraz to claim the title for this year's tournament.  The only disappointment on the day was knowing that we would have to wait over a month for the US Open to begin.

Home

After a week in the hospital and three weeks in the nursing home, my mom finally arrived home today almost exactly one month after she had stroke.  I was really happy to hear that she had improved enough to be able to return home as I knew that she would be a lot happier there.  She loved where we put the chair in the kitchen as it gave her a place to rest where she didn't have to worry about the step into the family room.  It was also close to the bathroom and kitchen, so she didn't have far to walk to get to either place.  My dad also had bought her a small bicycle that she could use for therapy while she was sitting there.  Her favorite statues of her grandchildren were close by so that she could look at them from her chair as well.  

This last month has been extremely scary but today was definitely a win for our family.  At my parents age, it's hard to know how their body will recover from a health care crisis.  So far, I have been very happy with how far my mom has come since June 12th.  I know that my dad will be pushing her to work on her therapy even more now that she's home.  I look forward to seeing her progress when I visit at the end of the month.

Student Loan Scare

When Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness was repealed, I knew that there was little chance that it would ever be reinstated.  That became even more apparent from the negative comments that President Trump made about student loan forgiveness when he took office.  Thus, in the spring of 2024 I paid off the small loan that we had taken out for Meg when she was in college.  The interest rate was extremely low, but I figured that Trump would increase the rates or start charging fees for any outstanding loans.  I was also glad not to have to worry about the loan anymore as I hate having monthly payments on anything.

I didn't really think much about the topic until this summer when I read the news that Trump was going to start garnishing individual's wages if they did not begin paying back their student loans. Although this no longer applied to us, I did worry about Karen.  She still had four small loans from her time in college that had been in forbearance for the last few years while the courts sorted out the political mess of student loans.  Karen must have read the same article, as soon after I read it, I got a text from her asking what she should do.  I spent a day reading through the information that she had received from the Department of Education and her loan carrier.  It really did not make much sense.  Doug agreed with me after he looked at it, so we decided that the best thing for Karen to do was to call her loan company to see what they recommended.  She planned to do so this week on Brett's day off so that he could be on hold while she worked.

Thankfully, the news wasn't as scary as first portrayed in the news.  Since Karen had already made payments, she could either sign up for a payment plan, ask for a deferral or start paying the loans on her own.  She and Brett decided on option number three and began with a large payment this week.  Brett then sent me a spreadsheet of how and when they would make payments with the goal of being finished with all loans by the end of 2025.  Doug and I both thought that was a great idea as they could then start saving for more exciting things like starting a family or buying Karen a new car.  

The Nose Knows

When Doug and I first got married, he told me that if we all had superpowers, mine would be my nose.  Some people may have found that statement offensive, but I didn't. He wasn't telling me that because I had a big nose.  It was because I had a very strong sense of smell and knew that I could distinguish smells better than anyone I had ever met.

My strong sense of smell has really come in handy over the years.  There has never been a time in our home that a gas burner was left on that I didn't smell it right away.  I could also sniff out any mold or mildew, so I never had to worry about having hidden black mold in my home.  My sense of smell also came in handy when I was teaching.  After a long day at school, I could come home, light a Yankee Candle and instantly "smell" away my problems with the relaxing scents.

Having a highly sensitive nose has caused issues, however.  I have never been able to wear perfume as the scents were always way too strong for me.  Anything with musk in it, instantly gave me a migraine.  I also found vanilla scents to be extremely noxious as well.  Gasoline has always been a headache trigger for me as well.  If anyone spilled a little bit of gas on their hands or shoes when filling up, I would have to travel with the windows down until our next stop.

The worst offense to my nose, however, has always been body odor.  I can smell someone who needs to take a shower or wash their clothes from a mile away.  Unfortunately, that has gotten worse since we moved to Florida as it is a lot hotter down here.  I wish I knew a nice way to tell individuals that they smell, but I have never been able to figure that out. For now, I guess I will just focus on the benefits of my "super" nose and pray that someone else has the superpower of knowing how to give other people bad news.  

One Huge Benefit of Being Organized

Brett called me today for help.  He and Karen were joining the church in Columbus and needed some information.  The first part I was completely prepared for as Brett asked for a copy of his baptismal certificate and his confirmation certificate.  I knew exactly where those were as I had kept the originals in his baby book and happily texted him a picture of both.

His second request threw me for a loop, however.  The church needed to know the date that he received his first communion.  I was taken aback by that one as Brett couldn't have been confirmed unless he had received this rite.  Since he already had proof of confirmation, it seemed redundant to me to ask for a first communion date as well.  I was a little bit worried as I didn't even remember him receiving a certificate for that sacrament.  I promised Brett that I would look but after searching for a while, I couldn't find a certificate anywhere. I did find one for his first reconciliation which would have taken place during his first communion year but knew that wouldn't help.  I was just about to call Doug and see if he could remember the date when I decided to instead look through the book I kept of Brett's elementary school years.  There on the last page, written on the bottom, was the information that Brett needed.  I quickly took a picture and texted it to him with the caption - "Best. Mom. Ever."  I don't know if Brett agreed with me, but he did really appreciate how organized I was.