Early July Morning, Cocoa Beach, Florida

Saturday, September 12, 2009

"Ready For Some Football!"

With school starting a few weeks ago, our family is back in the swing. Lately we have been heavily involved with football. Never thought I would get this involved with it, but I do like to see my boys play. Our 11th grader has had to put sports on hold for awhile. Hopefully he will be 100% come baseball season. He is still trying to get his strength back after his knee surgery. He is almost there. Our youngest, a freshman in high school, has been very busy with football. He plays JV and Varsity. He as actually gotten to play a little varsity, not much, but as a freshman, a little is great. So far we have won both our games, and the season looks to be a good one!

Thursday, September 3, 2009

I'm Back!

Been gone for awhile. A LONG while. Why? Well, we took off on vacation in July. The family went down to Florida to visit with family. While there, we took a short cruise to the Bahamas. We really had a nice time. Four days of relaxation. We left on Sunday. Monday, we were in Freeport where we did a little shopping. The boys did not even get off the boat. They spent the day on the slides and in the pool. The ship docked right by all the shops, so it was not a big deal to leave them. After a little Christmas shopping, we got back on the ship and joined the boys at the pool. Tuesday, we were in Nassau. We were there for 23 hours. I wasn't sure if we would like that, but it was pretty nice. We all got off the ship and took some family pictures by the library. It is a beautiful area, and I thought it would make a great background for family Christmas cards. No one cooperated. We took the boys back to the ship so they could spend time at the pool, etc. My mom, daughter and I went one way to shop, and my husband went off by himself to shop. After we were done, we went back to the boat, and showed off all our goodies. Most of the things I bought were Christmas gifts. I did buy a few things for me--refrigerator magnet, dress, fish mobile...My husband got a few t-shirts and a hat. Mom and I decided to go back out shopping, because we had missed some stores that my husband had told us about. Might as well...we were going anywhere for a long while. My daughter joined the boys at the pool, and my husband found a quiet corner to enjoy his book. The next and last day on the cruise was a day at sea. We spent all day out by the pool. This was the first cruise we had been on where we did not do any excursions. I did not know how we would like it. I will have to say, we loved it. For the most part, we did not have to be anywhere at any particular time, and that was great. Just four days of relaxation...

After we got back from the cruise, we had a couple of days to hang out with family. Unbeknowst to me, my family had a little surprise party. You see, I was going to turn the big 5-0 in August. My sister's boys were having a birthday in August too. I figured we were having a bday party for them, but it was me that the party was for. The boys had their gift opening too, but they are young, and really don't care much about all the hoopla. The cake had a picture of me at about 2 years on it. The next day, we headed back home. This is when the REAL story begins...

It takes about 13 hours to get back from my folks house. We were looking so forward to getting out of the car, and into our beds. Bill had to get up the next morning and go to work. My youngest son had football practice at 6 A.M.!! As we entered the house with our arms full of luggage, a very unpleasant aroma slapped us in the face. I turned to the boys and asked them if they had taken the trash out, like I told them to, before we left. They assured me that they had. Soon my husband comes out of our room hands still full of luggage and announces--the ceiling fell in, and water is everywhere. Now, he CAN be a bit of a jokster, and I did not take him serious. But he was VERY serious. As I walked into our bedroom and onto the soaked carpet, the smell got even worse. I looked around the corner into our bathroom and saw the mess. I knew it was going to be a long night, and a long month...

So what happened? Well, in the area we live, the "brainy" builders put hot water heaters in the attic. Now when we looked for houses when we were moving here two years ago, I questioned this. A LOT!!! I was told, "Oh...the pan will catch any drips." My reply, "Well, a pan is NOT going to catch...how many gallons of water??!!!?" But, you know I'm just a dumb woman, and blonde at that. So, again I was not taken serious. Sure wish now I would have put up more of a stink. Our house was brand new when we moved in, and so was the hot water heater--2 years old!!!

Anyway, I am glad to say, that a month later, I am now back in my own bed in my own room, and using my own shower. The computer was in that room too, so we were unable to use it for that time.