Home Sweet Home.....

We are home from our Florida trip.

Emma and i had a great time....it really is hard to make yourself hate Florida just because it's hotter than Hell. The sun and the white fluffy clouds make the entire area really beautiful. I am just not sure that i could live there year around. It made me so happy to see the Tennessee mountains on the way home. Those beautiful, huge, mountains now signal "HOME" to me and i was thrilled to see them. I do think that i hate the state of Georgia....it's not the state as much as it is the way folks drive on i-75 and i-285. No one seems to know how to pull over after passing. I truly hate the drive through Georgia. Next time, i would much rather fly than drive.

Good news: Emma took some swimming lessons with the fabulous Ms. Suzi! Emma has always loved, loved, loved being in the water; she is now a true mermaid. She can blow nose bubbles, dive and retrieve shells from the bottom of the pool, jump into the pool and do a "blast off" from the bottom of the pool, float on her back, and swim a front stroke across the pool underwater. Ms. Suzi is a wonderful teacher; she talks in a way that Emma completely understands and relates to. I couldn't believe how fast Emma caught on! I wish that we had another week to take a few more lessons from her. I am hoping that when we go back to visit, Emma can take a few more lessons from her. I still have my eyes peeled to Emma in a pool, but it is good to see her become more confident in the water. I loved that Ms. Suzi talked about not panicking in the water, and repeatedly reminded Emma that she could always "blast off" from the bottom and float on her back. Heck, to be honest, i need Ms. Suzi....but that's a whole 'nother story!

I did stop by my Dad's house on the way down and again on the way home. My Dad needs an intervention, i swear. He's just not able to keep up with the a 3-bedroom house, 2 car garage, two bathrooms, a big yard with lots of bushes and his health. The maintenance is just too much for him. My sister and i have decided to do a room by room clean up which will take some time. The garage is in shambles...there is just a lot of stuff in there that needs to be thrown away and organized. I am hoping that we will be able to move my Dad soon into an apartment that he will be able to handle. He seems open to the idea; it will also save him some money even after we find a suitable renter for the house. But before that can happen, a lot more cleaning, throwing away and organizing needs to happen. He has always been a bit of a hoarder, but it has gotten worse now that he is not able to keep up with the daily housekeeping.

More photos to follow.....

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to my sweet husband....you are the best father ever and Emma and i are blessed to have you in our lives.

Thank you for taking care of us the way you do.

Thank you for loving us the way you do.

Thank you for giving our family security.

Thank you for being a man of God and for loving Him like you do.

You add the color to our world....and never forget how much we love you.

More Photos.....

I am in love with my Samsung phone's camera!

Ramblings about Flordia....

Emma and i are visiting my sister, who lives in Flordia.

Florida is better known as the "Swamp Land State" or "Land of the Alligators".

Lots of thoughts about this state...i think that this state is one of those that either you love it, or, well, you don't love it. There isn't a lot of middle ground to work with. To say that this state gets 'hot' is an understatement. Of course, it's not Afgahistan hot (130* in the shade) but for someone who is use to Tennessee, it's h.o.t. Oh, and humid, too. I have given up wearing makeup because the second i step out of the house, my makeup slides off my face instantly.

It has been good to see how well my sister is doing. Life has finally come together for her after a very dark time during which a divorce happened. It is good to see her laugh again. My sister has a wonderful job that she is amazing at and works hard at, a home that she loves, and a life that she feels is pretty darn good. I know that my Mama is watching over her and is just as proud of her as i am. I just wish we lived closer than 2 states away from each other!

The upside to the hotter than you-know-what , is that i have drank more water than ever. I easily go thru 4 liters a day. It has been easy to kill off my diet coke addiction as diet coke doesn't quench my thrist like water does. Eating isn't as much fun when it's so hot, either. Emma and i have mostly eaten fruit, cheese and crackers....her favorites! We have also been introduced to Honey Mangos....i swear, this is the food of the angels. Yes, Honey Mangos are THAT GOOD! And at a cost of $1 each, it truely is a great find!

I can't count how many lizards i have seen here. It's like a breeding ground for them. Emma is on a mission to catch a lizard; she has already caught a frog and has brought it into the house for me to "see". My sister was totally thrilled to hear that a frog was brought into her home, as you can well imagine. The backyard of my sister's home, there is like a mini-swamp (i know, what a surprise!) that is home to a gazzillion frogs, bunches of lizards, racoons (we saw two of them!), a bunch of birds (including a cardinal and his girl) and lots of dragonflies. My sister is now the proud owner of a new bird feeder that Emma and i presented her with as we love to watch the birds and especially the cardinals. Of course, i learned that racoons also love black bird seed and will eat an entire bird feeder full in one night! I am hoping that my dear anti-loving nature's creatures sister will at least remember to fill this new bird feeder at least once in a blue moon after we leave....

Emma is taking swim lesson while we are here with Ms. Susie. We will only have time for 3 total lessons as we started late, but i do believe that we have a mermaid on our hands. Emma absolutely loves the water! For reasons i won't go into, i am a bit fearful of water. Watching Emma go underwater to retrieve shells had me in a panic...but she loves it. Ms. Susie is wonderful...i just wish we had started eariler with her. It was interesting to see that one of the first things she was teaching Emma was how not to panic in water...to go to the bottom and "blast off" to the top of the water and then float on her back. Good advice for me, too, lol....not to panic in water.

But then, that's why i like to "Swim on Dry Land"!

btw, the above photo is by my talented niece....she is really quite artsy!