tina tuesday this month!

I celebrated with company from Hinesville!

 

"Oh, so you waited until they got out of school?"

 

Nope, didn't have to! No school for them since Friday! Remember that Armstrong always had a Fall Break about this time?

 

"Oh, sure! You went to Las Vegas for the Aloha Festival during that in 2013! The break was timed for Columbus Day as I recall."

Yes, and no. First off, I wasn't in Nevada just for that, but also the other Groupon deals I had for that trip: "MJ Live", "CSI: The Experience", and meals for most of the time I was there. I'm glad I took full advantage of DRI then - I really loved staying at Polo Towers. And I loved getting to see Meat Loaf on their dime - so very magical!

"Oh, my, yes... maybe one more trip out there? Maybe next year?"

Maybe next year. 

"So, tell me about today with your first niece! Did Michael's girls come, too?"

Nope, Christina wanted to keep it simple! Me, her, and her two little blondes! The twins aren't so little any more, acting more like tweens these days, even though they're still 9 years old. Well, they'll be 10 at month's end, but, still. They're not "little blondes" now. They don't want to get excited about anything, and they dampen the reactions of Miyah and Chloe, who both watch Alyssa and Leila so as to follow their reaction cues. 

 

"Oh, what spoil sports!"

It is what it is. Today was just about us!!! What a good time it was, too! Luncheon at Cici's, with a table near the front, so the game room there wouldn't be a distraction - hooray!

"Oh, good idea!! That was a nice change!"

That was a conscious choice, is what it was. (smile!) We all got to talk together while we munched on pizza. Plus, we were on time to head for the movie!

"Oh, yes, luncheon and a movie!!! What a nice outing together!!! What did you see?"

"The Wild Robot"! This was my third time and their first. And we all loved Rossum-7134! And, yes, before you ask: I did cry again, as I have each time. Christina did, too!

"That's so sweet. What about the two little blondes?"

No, they didn't, but they're only 7 and 6, so they don't have the experience yet to catch all the nuances of the story about the robot who adopts a gosling. But we two older girls certainly understood about that.

"Did y'all have your own private screening?"

There was another mother and child there, sitting several rows up. I made sure Miyah and Chloe knew not to go up there. Then, after the movie, Chloe made a move to go up the stairs and I stopped her short. I told her we would not be running up and down the stairs, as that was a bad habit the twins had started, one that could get the cinema in trouble if anyone got hurt. And you know what? She didn't even question me! It's as if she recognized that was bad behavior and chose to not do it. I was so proud of her!

"Very good! She and Miyah are both growing so fast..."

Yes, they are. Chloe's birthday party will be on Saturday, as her actual birthday fell during the hurricane Helene days. She wants to have a Halloween theme and said we all needed to wear costumes. But, while we were at Texas Longhorn picking up her mom's Family Chicken Dinner - my suggestion last week! - Chloe told me I didn't have to wear a costume if I didn't have one. Wasn't that kind of her? And totally unexpected!

"That's wonderful! So... will you wear a costume?"

I will not, but I will wear some Dia De Los Muertos tattoos. I'll have to take a photo, too, so I can share it with Ruthie. 

"I know she'll like that."

I do, too. Speaking of sharing, I had asked Christina if she knew what to do with extra coffee cups, as I was getting rid of some. She said she'd take them! During the hurricane, when she had 8 people at her house, she only had one coffee cup. So, now she'll have seven more!

"Let me see. That's the carousel mug from Okinawa, the Avogadro's number cup that you won at chem nerd trivia, the one from the Pirates' House - that's three. The red one from Gordon State College's teaching conference in 2012, one of the two FSU Cheminoles cups that Sabitra Brush gave you, and "The X-Files" cup. Hey, that's only six!"

The seventh wasn't in that line up, but it's also from Okinawa. It's the one that simply says "COFFEE" on its front.

"Perfect!"

finally back to life!

I left the thermostat on the little air conditioner in the dining room set at 86 F when I left on the 13th for Hinesville.

Yesterday, when I finally returned from vacation, a sad sight awaited me.

My aging peace lily was totally limp, though not yet brown.

Quickly, I'd given it half a bottle of water I had on the kitchen counter!

Then, I waited.

Five hours later, signs of life were slowly returning.

Still, though, the plant clearly struggled to hold up its leaves after going thirsty so long.

I gave it another cup of room-temperature water, then turned off the lights.

Time for me, and it, to rest and recover overnight.

The next morning, after I'd had coffee, I gave it another cup of room-temperature water, this time with a tiny amount of the decaf coffee still in the pot.

Afterward, I went about my day, even going to an afternoon matinee of "Twisters".

 

And just now, when I stopped to chat with my dear peace lily and to apologize again for leaving it without care, it was back to life, with its leaves held high and happy!

I do so love this forgiving plant.

back to home, in Hinesville and in Savannah

This was my view for most of the ride.

It's pretty cool, isn't it?

This bumblebee decal is rather like the cubist mirror once part of the Jepson museum.

She'd put it on the windshield to entertain the girls, but that likely hadn't engaged their attention for long.

How could it possible compete with lit phone screens?

Fortunately, I lack that addiction.

Oh, yes, and I am easily entertained.

(smile!)

Between sing-alongs with the music on various channels of Siri, with various accompanists, and chatting with my first niece, we were out of Florida fairly quickly, it seemed.

That above photo was taken at 2:02 PM, shortly after crossing the Georgia state line.

I know: we should have been almost to her place.

Hey, not with two little girls on the ride!

Our pitstop at MacDonald's had taken over an hour.

Still, we arrived just in time for the low country boil awaiting us at Michael's house - hooray!

(smile!)

That gave me a chance to talk with Melinda and Matt!

True, it hasn't been that long since I saw them, but I always enjoy their company.

I didn't get to spend much time with the twins, but I did get to have a visit with Michael!

Even better, I talked him into taking that exerbike off my hands... and out of the back seat of my car!

The security guard at the church auction had placed it there for me, but I couldn't handle it by myself.

Now, either he'll use it or he'll sell it during their upcoming yard sale - either way, I'm done with it.

Hooray!

Now, to try to restore my peace lily.

Poor, thirsty, plant...

highlight for two little blondes: the pools!

Friday and Saturday

I truly do wonder if the girls would have been just as happy to hang out by the pools every day rather than go off to do things.

 

Truly.

 

Friday began with them off to the pool with Christina.

 

Yep, first thing in the morning, and they stayed for two hours.

 

TWO HOURS!!!

 

For lunch, we dined at Olive Garden.

 

And guess what we did upon our return to Orbit One?

We all four of us got into our swimsuits and headed out to the "quiet and peaceful pool", as Miyah dubbed it.

 

Yes, me, too.

 

Unfortunately, that was not meant to be.

 

The pools had to be cleaned after some earlier kids mistook them for the bathrooms...

so, we waited for them to re-open.

 

The very moment they did, we headed to the "big and noisy" pool, as I dubbed it.

 

Chloe and Miyah just loved the two slides there!

 

Not I, nor was I fond of being in a packed pool with a bunch of strangers, right?

So, in deference to me, we returned to the smaller pool for our last day's swim.

 

Well, they swam, not me.

I danced to the music of my youth coming out of the surrounding speakers!

And, yes, they all swam, including Chloe, first with her water wings, then without.

Miyah was very helpful at teaching her sister!

I was quite proud of both of them!

(smile!)

After nearly two hours of the girls trying their very best to transform into mermaids, we were done.

 

Time for showers!

Time for hair to be washed free of chlorine!

Time for one last load of laundry!

Lunch break!

 

Surprisingly, the girls had dressed in matching tops - how very Dr. Seussian of them!!!

 

Then Thing 1 and Thing 2 had a ticklefest with Mom!

 

Hahahaha!!

 

Time for Mom to have some quiet time.

"Let's go play golf!", they asked me.

 

Sure, we can do that!

 

So we walked up to the office and signed out the two putters and balls and off we went!

 

Yeah, that was good for about 15 minutes.

 

"It's hot. Let's go back in," they said.

 

Nope!

 

I told them we were going to play outside for the same amount of time that we had been out for the pool.

By gosh, by golly, so we were!

They played on the two hammocks, something Chloe especially enjoyed.

 

They slid and climbed on the playground set.

 

One of Miyah's vacation pals came out and she played mini-golf with her for a while as I chatted with her mom and Chloe tried to play with the brother.

 

We ate the popcorn we'd gotten at the office and went to the ice machine at the small pool.

 

Then outside time was up, time to go in at last...

ah, but first we had to return the golf stuff.

 

(smile!)

 

Dinner was leftovers from the fridge.

Christina even created something new: garlic bread pizza, using the sketti sauce from last night and the shredded cheese from the Taco Salad the night before.

Magnificent!

Plus, we had to finish off the ice cream, too!

None of that would make the trip home, right?

 

(smile!)

how to party like a local in Orlando, una vez mas!

Thursday

Off northward again, as we had been on Monday!

 

This time, we were headed to the Orlando Museum of Art, following a red-brick road!

 

No need for tickets, either, as we happened to be in town for the free monthly "Art For All" day, like the Jepson has.

 

That meant the two little blondes could make art!

 

Christina even took part in the mosaic workshop led by Cherie Bosela - very nice!

 

Not I, though.

 

I took advantage of their hands-on art time for an adventure of my own: exploring new exhibits!

 

Before I reached any, this lovely 20-yearr-old piece from Dave Chihuly bade me pause in its "Citron and Cobalt Tower" glory...

wow.

 

Even the shadow cast by it was photo-worthy!

The "Florida Prize In Contemporary Art" exhibit lay straight ahead in Galleries D through H.

 

This giant tiger on canvas occupied an entire room!

 

Hai Vin used twenty gallons of paint - wow - to create the beast in the style of pointillism, so he must be amazingly patient.

 

And that large boulder on the tail of the piece?

 

That's to keep it "pulled from sky to earth" - wow.

Impressive as those were, they were dwarfed by this massive one from Sheila Goloborotko!

 

I kept the stranger in the photo to emphasize the sheer size of "Now Our Minds Are One" - wow.

 

Like "katniss", this was constructed of shapes cut from colored plastic and strung as mobile art.

 

Unlike that favorite piece, this one was a celebration of animals and plants and included some human creations, too, with silvery sperm swimming on the white platform.

 

I was fascinated by the light play, in the air, on the walls, stretching out along the floor.

 

I must have spent at least twenty minutes there.

And when I ventured away, I discovered that the artist was talented in other styles, with other materials!

 

Everything - and I do mean everything - in this area of the gallery belonged to her, from that gorgeous mobile construction of plastic and wire to the crafted metal objects and daguerreotypes on these blocks and the walls.

Those other pieces were part of her "me/you" exhibit inspired by her struggles with her then-16-year-old daughter.

Time to see some other artists!

 

Hahahaha!

 

After an hour, my two little blondes had completed their compositions and were ready to join back up with me!

 

I had them pose with their creations - don't they look like budding artists?

 

Chloe wanted her mosaic to be part of a bracelet, hence the ribbon she's holding.

 

Miyah has more experience with design.

I get to enjoy one of her earlier artworks with my morning coffee from time to time.

How about perking up their enthusiasm for art with a visit to another gigantic piece?

 

I very much enjoyed this colorful wigwam!

 

Constructed of huge blocks of fabric, there was even a sign that bade visitors to come on inside - so we did!

 

And see the message there in the center?

 

"Kuna Matata", no doubt a reference to the song from "The Lion King"!

 

Njeri, the student artist from a Swahili-speaking country in Africa who designed the structure, probably grew up with that movie from 1994!

Wondering where my first niece was?

 

She was enjoying the art, too!

 

I don't know what it was about that painting that urged her to take a photo of it, as I was busy with the Chlo.

 

I do know she's posted it on fb from our visit today.

 

Very cool!

And her she is again, this time with both girls.

 

This display would have been right at home at the Jepson during its annual PULSE technology exhibit!

 

We watched all of the 8-minute, 9-second video as Kate Gilmore created "Blood From A Stone", moving heavy squares full of white paint onto those white shelves on the wall.

That's art which would be different every time she crafted it!

I had kept up a running patter throughout the video and was pleased that the girls watched so intently.

Of course they did!

It was a TV screen!!!

LOL! Okay, time for some lunch!

Off to Cici's on 192, back in our neck of the woods!

Why there and not somewhere else?

I'd gone to GOVX and purchased an "Eat and Play Orlando" card to get discounts - like the locals! - on various restaurants and fun activities, like this place right here!

 

It's the Bonanza Gold Rush mini-golf!!!

 

Our card granted us a 30% discount on our tickets, so that was a sweet deal, especially right there by the pizza joint.

 

Here, the two little blondes were waiting for Christina's ball to emerge from under the bridge on the Gold Nugget course.

See the ball, there on the right?

 

She knocked it into the hole with the next stroke.

 

Miyah and Chloe had never played mini-golf before, and they struggled with trying to hold the putter the way we showed them.

 

They were still pretty good at making it into the holes in five strokes or less!

 

New vacation with a new experience!

 

Note to self: This was not a game to be played in the midday heat.

 

They're off to the pool at Orbit One now.

 

Me?

 

I'm just "chillin' like a villain" after four cups of water.

 

Hey, the physicist will get that joke.

 

(smile!)

how to party like a local in Orlando, again!

Wednesday

There we were, traipsing around outside in dresses, all four of us.

 

That's right, I wore a dress, too!

 

After all, it was a special time there at Harry P. Leu Gardens: the Summer of the Fairies.

 

Oh, yes, I remember a similar jaunt with the littlest girl, once upon a time!

 

Was that really five years ago when she was only a Toodles toddler???

And here I am again, in search of fairy folk and such, with that littlest girl as well as the younger sister, and their forever mom.

 

Actually, we were looking high and low for the twenty Fairy Doors which were scattered throughout the grounds.

 

Miyah is flashing a peace sign by Door # 3, as that belongs to Jasper, a fairy with light brown hair like hers!

 

He's a lover of animals, too, just like her!

Surprised that there were male fairies?

 

Don't be - half the doors belonged to builders, gardeners, beekeepers, treasure guards, and others, all male!

 

But the fairy at Door # 9 that Chloe identified with was not only female, but was a princess named Shaylee, with blonde hair and blue eyes - just like her!

 

We never did find the door of the dance fairy, Annalise, which certainly would have been my favorite.

Our map for the Fairy Doors exhibit said she even twirls while she flies!

 

What a sight that must be in the air!

 

So, my favorite would be the Dragon Door, where Ryu keeps watch over the nearby nest of Dragon eggs.

 

His door is the dark spot on the leftmost tree and the nest is in the tree Miyah is pointing to.

All in all, we found twelve of the wee doors in the two hours we were there.

 

Pretty good map-reading skills, Christina Ann!

 

And what did that adventure cost us?

 

Absolutely nothing!

 

Leu Gardens is part of the Museums For All network, meaning we all got in free thanks to the SNAP program, saving us fifty dollars.

 

I'm glad I did some homework before the trip, or I would have missed this Delicious Monster plant!

 

I haven't seen those since I left Panama!

We dined on the grounds with our picnic lunch, then headed south to Disney Springs.

No, not a water park - it's the free site with restaurants and stores and much to see.

We were there for the AMC Summer Camp, to watch "Sing 2" for a song!

Well, not really a song, but only $3 each, with my ticket comped as an A*List entry.

Plus, I had a coupon for $5 cameo popcorn and drink combos for each of us.

What a deal!

They all had fun posing at the various movie pop-ups after our screening was done.

Hahahaha!

Then we did a bit of exploring next door at the M&M's store, while I gallantly tried to teach the girls about window-shopping.

 

Silly me... they really didn't understand that concept at all!

I grew up with it, which no doubt accounts for my lack of interest in browsing around in stores looking at sales.

The grocery store is pretty much the only place I do that, when I'm not pulling a guerilla operation on it.

You know: go in, get what I came for, and get the heck out!

(smile!)

They've all gone to the pool, so I'm taking a breather.

Christina is making "taco salad" for dinner, so I'll be looking forward to her interpretation of that Mexican dish.

Meanwhile, I'm enjoying the quiet... and looking forward to an early bedtime!

(smile!)

how to party with locals in Kissimmee!

Tuesday

I don't really know that we can call the transplanted Pennsylvanians "locals", but they've been living down in Florida for the last four years, after having a home on Tybee for over fifteen years before that, so... I say they're "locals" now!

 

I had not seen the Englers but once since their move, so I'd contacted Lynn last week to see if she and her daughter would be up for a visit.

 

Bring it on, she'd said!

 

She's 77 now and she found an instant new friend in Chloe - LOL!

Lauri was still working when we arrived, so we all splashed about in the pool until she was done.

 

Did I say "pool"?

 

Indeed, I did, and it was on a lovely lanai that had been been one reason they bought this house.

 

Screened-in, on all sides and the top, so no gnats or mosquitoes could wander in from the marsh!

 

When Lauri graced us with her presence, she did it in true movie star style, wearing a full-length, UV-proof, bathing suit - wowzah!!!

 

She's uber-pale, like the Chlo, so that was perfect!

And what was she doing in the above photo?

 

Making pizza dough, from scratch, no less.

 

Perfect for our pool and pizza party!!!

 

Here, she's sliding the first pizza - the one for the kids - into another reason they bought this house: a pizza oven installed by the previous owner.

 

Hey, his business was pizza, so of course he had installed this beauty!

 

There was also a very nice grill, which was Lynn's to work culinary magic upon.

 

Very nice!

Once both pies were done, it was dinner time!

 

That was out on the lanai, too, as the rain had held off, allowing us to dine on the fire table - yes, a third reason this had been the house for them!

 

Chloe and Miyah enjoyed the cheese pizza that Lauri made especially for them... and we grown-ups totally enjoyed the pepperoni-mushroom-veg treat... and then there were brownies!!!

 

Absolutely wonderful!

Then, the girls went off to play around the pool, giving us time to talk and catch up - hooray!

 

Seriously, all it seems to take to make the two little blondes happy is a swimming pool, right?

 

Here, they're pretending to fish with the pool noodles attached to cat toys on little poles, and they did that for about an hour.

 

They followed that with an imaginary story line as they circled the pool and explored the view. 

That gave us time to laugh and share stories - like of the coworker that confused "incompetent" with "incontinent" when complaining to Lauri about a fax machine, leading Lauri to seemingly commiserate when she said, "Yeah, that's a pisser."

Hahahaha! Hahaha!!

 

And before we knew it, the sun had set!

 

And before we knew it, it was 10 PM!!!

 

We stayed for the nightly ritual with Sancho and Sahili, as Lynn made treats for the medicines for the two 14-year-old felines.

Very cool parting show, y'all!!! 

Many thanks!!!

how to party like a local in Orlando!

Monday 

We started out a bit late, but Sea Life Orlando still waited for us to get there.

 

They understood that we were traveling on CST: Christina Standard Time!

 

As a Navy veteran, I'd purchased the tickets at a 30% discount on GOVX.

 

That allowed us entry at three times less than a local would pay!

Such a great way to start our first day... but it was even better than we expected!

Kudos to the ultra-tall, ultra-cool manager there, Chasmon, who heard our story and set us up with a behind the scenes tour!

Then, we were fortunate enough to have Paige, a real marine biologist, leading that tour.

 

She was so informative, and so patient with the two little blondes, especially when it came time for us to feed the fish a little snack!

I know it looks like a private tour, but a mom and adult daughter from Iowa were on that tour, too.

I very much enjoyed that aquarium, which reminded me somewhat of the one in Key West.

What next?

Slunch for us!

Back to Sickies Garage, right down the street from our "vacation home"!

We'd noticed last night that kids eat free on Monday... ka-ching!

That's very good, since Miyah and Chloe rarely finish a meal.

Might as well be one my first niece didn't have to pay for!

I got tater tots with my Hawaiian chicken, so I could share with the girls - yummy for all three of us!

Then, back to the condo, so the three of them could get into the pool for the first time since our arrival.

See that foot?

That isn't mine in that sparkly chanclas!

(Yes, she's learning more Spanish, while she's helping her new neighbor, Nieve, aka "Snow", learn more English.)

The pool time was cut short by a thunderstorm, but that was fine by us.

I watched it from the screened-in porch with those two littlest blondes.

And what did we receive as a reward??

A double rainbow!!!

Yes, we are definitely on vacation!

i thank You, God!

sickies to the rescue in kissimmee

All went well on the road from Hinesville, except for a bit of rain.

However, it's July in the Southeast, so some rain is to be expected, n'est-ce pas?

We'd even made a pitstop at Buckee's, south of Jacksonville, to gas up us and the vehicle.

The little blondes liked that -

they got their picture taken with the mascot!

Smiles all around!

Then back onto the road again, as Willie Nelson would say!

(smile!)

The good thing is that we made good time, even after we hit the bottlenecks on I-4, and even though the rain got harder.

My first niece's goal was to arrive at Orbit One by 4 PM, and we only missed that time by about thirty minutes.

Very good!

(smile!)

Then it all went straight to hell.

I went inside to check us in, with my veteran ID in hand, just as the Armed Forces Vacation Club had recommended.

Brittany B. checked the reservation number... and told me it had been cancelled.

What the fresh hell???

Brittany B. informed me that it had been cancelled by RCI, "at member's request", to which I had responded that I had not made the reservation through RCI, I made it with AFV.

That's when I called the phone number for AFV, only to be told that no one was there to take my call, as it was Sunday, so to leave a message and they would call back.

Brittany B. gave me the phone number for RCI, and all they could tell me was that the reservation had been cancelled at 4:20 PM - just minutes before our arrival - and that no one was there to straighten it out because it was Sunday.

Seriously?

Note to self: never, never, never, have a Sunday check-in again.

Brittany B. also gave me the phone number for Orbit One reservations, to see if they could help salvage this bad beginning to our vacation.

Their remedy, after my being on the phone with them for almost an hour, was to have me reserve a 2-bedroom for the night - in other words, to use the resort as a hotel - and to wait for things to get straightened out in the morning.

That cost me $171.80, for the one night, but they had assured me that the money would be refunded once the error with my AFV reservation was resolved.

What the fresh hell???

Note to self: never, never, never, have a Sunday check-in again.

I followed that up with a call to Jose at RCI, with us on the phone for almost 30 minutes.

Brittany B. sent him a screen shot of the cancelled reservation - made by someone named Perrine at RCI - so that gave him a starting point to find the error.

By that time, it was after 8 PM.

I'd had Christina and Miyah and Chloe in the lobby of Orbit One with me during this ordeal, with me getting out my computer and pulling up my AFV account to show Brittany B. that I had not cancelled my reservation, as they still showed it active.

We were there in the lobby for over two hours, then the security guard had escorted us to our condo for the night.

Where was the manager of Obit One?

At home, as the resort doesn't have a manager there on Sunday.

What the fresh hell???

Note to self: never, never, never, have a Sunday check-in again.

Now we were all starving and I had been crying.

The original plan had been to dine after we checked in around 5 PM, and then pop into a grocery store, but now dinner was all any of us had the energy for.

How about Sickie's Garage?

We had noticed it through the rain, and it was just around the corner from Orbit One.

It looked fun and local and was brightly lit.

So that's where we went.

That was definitely a good place to go and the best thing to do.

What an incredible menu!

They even had tater tots...

(smile!).

Right place, right time.

Not even a call from Orbit One about our condo keys finally being ready could dispel our relief at being in this bright and cheery place.

I ordered the Sickies Nachos.

I'd never heard of anything like it: 

waffle fries mixed with buffalo chicken, then smothered in nacho cheese, and topped with sour cream and banana peppers - amazing!

I managed to put a huge dent in it, then took the rest to the condo.

That would serve well as breakfast, to sustain me through a morning round of phone calls with RCI and AFV.

For tonight, we had a place to sleep.

i thank You, God.