Last Minute is the Best (Always Watch Jaws After Going to the Ocean)

We always take our family vacation in the summer.  As a teacher, it just makes sense.  We were also excited because this year my husband started getting four weeks of vacation a year.  Even so, we couldn't settle on where we were going or what we wanted to do.  We had kicked around lots of ideas, but nothing seemed right.


The thing about always taking your vacation in the summer is, it's super hot if you travel south. When my kids were seven and five we took them to Disney World in Orlando.  I'm glad we did it.  They were both very into Disney at the time, but what is most memorable to me is how HOT it was at that park!  We did drive to Pismo Beach one day while we were there, but I'm not sure my son even remembers that.  For the past two years, we've gone north to Michigan for this reason.  I wrote a post about this HERE if you're interested. 

This was one of the first moments after we walked into the Magic Kingdom.  They were both huge Winnie the Pooh fans for years.  See how red their faces are from the heat already?

This was towards the end of the day.  Sweaty hair and the look on the boy's face.  The heat was brutal!

    Two years later arriving on the shores of Lake Michigan.  They look so much more comfortable!

At the beginning of June, I kept hounding asking my husband about when he was going to take his vacation.  He gets his vacation time on July 1st each year.  I suggested he take the week of the Fourth of July because he wouldn't have to use very much of his new time that way. He had a little time left over from last year, and he always has the holiday off, so he wouldn't even use 3 whole days of his new time.  He responded that he might do that.  In the meantime, I made no plans for two reasons:
      A)He never confirmed he was going to take that week and
      2) I couldn't decide where we should go.


On the last Friday of June, he came home and told me he was taking vacation next week.  Next week?  He acted like this had been all MY idea.  Which it kind of was. 


But here's something about me: I actually operate better under a deadline in this kind of situation.  I got online and found us a great deal at a condo in Gulf Shores, Alabama for the same week we needed.  There had been a cancellation, so they were offering a reduced rate.  The owner called me Saturday morning and said we could come the next day.  Here's one of the many things I love about Dan - This kind of last minute decision freaks him out for about 10 minutes.  Then he's right on board.  Our conversation went something like this:
Me: "We have a chance to rent a condo on the beach tomorrow."
Him: "Tomorrow???  I can't get everything ready by tomorrow!"
Me: "I'll pack the bags, get a house/pet sitter, and get the oil changed.  What do you need to do?"
Him: "Mow the yard and get the pool ready."
Me: "It's 9:00 in the morning.  So mow now.  What do you have to do to the pool?"
Him: "Well...nothing really."
Me: "Okay, then."


And just like that, we were both in the same mindset.


Now, I don't know if you're aware of this, but Alabama IS south of Illinois.  But this time we weren't going to be at a theme park in Hades.  We were going to be on the beach.  I was hoping that might change how I feel about the south in the summer.


The next morning we set out at 6:00 A.M.-ish.  This was going to be the longest car ride my kids had been on.  When we went to Florida, we broke it up into three days, stopping overnight to see family in Southern Illinois the first night and Georgia the second night.  This time it was 12 hours - in one day.

Don't you wish you could bottle that enthusiasm you feel when you set out on vacation?  Sure you do!  Because then you could open up a can of it and shotgun it on the way back, when that feeling isn't as strong. 

We made it there a little before 9:00 at night.  I have to hand it to Dan, who drove the whole way.  Kudos to a man who can be all in for a plan after 10 minutes of freaking out.  We could hear the ocean calling us.  We had to go out and take a walk.

The next day the kids and I headed down to the beach.  Dan wasn't ready yet but was going to join us shortly.  He didn't get a chance because after 10 minutes in the ocean, my son got stung by a jellyfish on his arms.  I quickly Googled "jellyfish stings" and was treated to some awful pictures.  Apparently, kids can also have severe allergic reactions to stings, just like they do with bee stings.  It also mentioned that at times, the barbs from the stingers could become lodged in the skin.  I couldn't see anything in his skin and he's not allergic to bee stings, but what do I know about jellyfish?  I'm from Illinois for crying out loud!

After a quick trip to an urgent care located conveniently around the corner, we were told to spray it with a solution of vinegar and water.  After some lunch and ibuprofen, we hit the beach again.  I told the boy he didn't have to get back in the ocean. (He had been quite vocal about the fact that he was NEVER  going back into the ocean while we were driving to urgent care.)  Five minutes of watching his dad and sister frolic in the ocean, and he could no longer resist.  He was right back to it.  And thank goodness because the beach was pretty much the majority of our agenda for the week.

Very proud of his bravery to return into the abyss!

We also went on a dolphin cruise and visited the zoo there.  But mostly it was the beach.

   Cruisin' for dolphins - We saw lots!

  Their grandparents always give them money to spend on vacation.  How did they spend it?  On a personal lemur encounter, of course.

   Kangaroos could be house pets, I think.  As long as they don't get any bigger than this.

After 5 nights, we headed back.  My feelings about going south in the summer have improved.  It's all about the venue you choose, I guess.

       Swimming in the evening means no messing with sunscreen.

   Swimming in the pool at our condo

   When faced with humidity like this, I surrender and let my hair return to its 1988 state.

Just a footnote to this whole story:
We woke up at home the morning of the Fourth of July.  AMC, because it loves me, was running a Jaws marathon that day.  I let my son watch the first 20 minutes of it.  He looked at me incredulously and said, "You let us go in the ocean???"  So maybe we WILL be going back to Lake Michigan next year after all. 

Kim

Bathroom and Patience Renovation

We're living through another renovation project at the moment.  In the scale of some of the things we've done over the years, this is a relatively minor one.  (And when I say "we", I really mean that my husband does 99% of the labor part.  I do help out with financial end and the keeping up with the running of the house and children.)  Anyway, "we" are completely redoing the half bath that is attached to our master bedroom. 


We've lived in this house for nine years this September.  This has always been a sad little room. It hasn't been helped by the fact that two summers ago, I thought I'd paint it aqua.  I got a few strokes up on the wall and realized it was awful.  Dan told me he would just go over it with some paint in the garage left over from when the previous owners painted it.  Except it wasn't that paint.  It was what we had used to paint our sunroom a few years before that.  At that point, we both mutually decided it was only the half bath, afterall.  No need to fix it.  But this spring I decided- no more! Because, after all, while it is just a half bath, it is convenient whenever someone has the stomach flu in the middle of the night.  That, in and of itself, meant it deserved more respect than we were giving it. We were going to paint the bedroom and completely re-do the half bath.

(Just an aside, don't you love to hate those brats you see on House Hunters who walk through McMansion after McMansion saying things like, "I'm not sure the kids can share just one bathroom?" or "It's kind of disappointing the master bath doesn't have two sinks." Let me tell you something. All five of my family members shared ONE bathroom in the house I grew up in.  And it had ONE sink.)


We (and by "we" here, I am now referring to me) picked out the new paint color, sink, toilet, vanity, light fixtures, faucet, and cabinet back in May in one afternoon. And it's all been sitting in the garage...until this week.

    Behold - a thing of beauty!

Dan's been on vacation for the past two weeks.  After getting back from our beach vacation last week, he painted our bedroom first.  I picked Benjamin Moore's "Owl Gray".  Man, I am really interested to know how a person gets the job of naming paint colors!  I would like to fill out the application.


We've never had curtains for our bedroom in our 13 years of marriage.  My kids' rooms, on the other hand, have always had them.  For some reason, it was much more fun to pick out their curtains.  For us? Not so much.  But last week, I summoned my strength and patience and took an hour to pick out bedroom curtains at Target since they were 20% off with their Cartwheel app.  I also had to buy rods since, ahem, we didn't even have those.  I think they call your adult card carrying into question if you don't even have curtain rods in your bedroom by the time you're in your forties.


Do you ever do something small like this in your house and wonder why in the hell it took you so long to do it?  Me too. We stood there admiring them and I said with delight to Dan, "It looks just like a real bedroom now!" 

The depressing thing was that I got to spend all of one night in my "real bedroom" before he started on the attached bath.  And then everything in the half bath was promptly moved into our no longer beautiful peaceful haven of a bedroom.

    Just keepin' it real, folks

I was impressed by how quickly he gutted the room.  I'm always optimistic at the beginning of every reno project, thinking to myself, "This is going to move right along!"  I obviously never learn my lesson.  This is pretty sad, considering a grew up in a house where my dad did any project that needed to be done himself.  He built the house himself.  I should know by now that it never moves right along for the duration of the project.


When everything was pulled out, Dan informed me we would in fact have to put in a new floor because the previous owners had not tiled under the vanity he had just taken out.  I still wasn't discouraged, because he had told me this was a very real possibility beforehand. Plus, I hated the old floor. It's a very small room, so I knew it wasn't going to be that expensive.  Off we went to Lowe's, with our twelve and ten year old in tow, because you know how much kids this age love to consider grout colors.


Still, I was in good spirits. I'm a pretty decisive person (I'm not sure if you know, but one hour for curtains at Target IS actually quite impressive), so I knew I could knock out the choices quickly.  I settled on porcelain tile lickety-split and moved on to grout color.  No problem.  I liked the one they show in the picture. Sold. Then we had to decide on the adhesive.  And the subfloor.  And the spacers.  And the trowels.  And sponges.  It was at this point that I started to get antsy. And frustrated.  Did I mention that in addition to being a pretty decisive person, I'm also a pretty impatient person?  Yeah, I didn't think so.  I don't brag about that one as much.


At this point, Dan had a question about the subfloor.  He was waiting to ask a salesperson who was helping two of the slowest people in the universe.  So I, being pretty decisive, decided to take charge and find someone else who could help us.  Have you ever seen King of the Hill?  Yeah, I was Hank wandering up and down the aisles calling, "Hello? Hello?"  At this point, the salesperson Dan had been waiting on helped us re-choose our adhesive, which meant we had to pick out a different type of grout, etc., etc.  My  10 year old son, who is the least patient of all four of us, had now given up hope of ever getting out of Lowe's alive. 


We finally got up to the check out with two carts and realized that we brought my car and may not be able to fit the subfloor panels inside.  My husband sensed that I was ready to blow at this point because I had stopped talking.  By smashing the kids side by side with no space between them, he managed to get the panels in the car.  On the way home he mentioned he was going to have to borrow a tile saw from someone.  I gave him a look and asked, "You don't have a tile saw?"  (In my defense, he has a million tools and has laid all our other floors.)


I recouped a bit when we finally saw the inside of our home again.  At this point, Dan started looking at YouTube videos.  I gave him a look again and asked, "Have you never done a tile floor before?"  This question may seem strange, but he has done EVERYTHING to the three houses we have owned, including a complete kitchen renovation, building a deck, turning a screened-in porch into a sunroom and putting on two new roofs.  I just assumed that at some point before I knew him, he had done this too.


"Well, no," he admitted, "But I can."


And that's the thing.  I know he can, but everything takes so much time with a renovation project.  And it's so hard if you are patience-challenged, like me.  And I always forget.  It's like the pain you feel at childbirth.  Your brain protects you from remembering so that you might do it again some day.  This special brain-protecting mechanism is why everyone in the world is not an only child.  And it's also why people continue to do home improvement projects.


As I type this post, he has finished cutting porcelain tile (with a saw he borrowed) and has the floor all configured and put down with no problem.  But, oh yeah, the floor has to sit afterwards for 24 hours to properly adhere to the floor.  So there's that.  So I'll have to be patient again tomorrow. 

 See how God gives you plenty of opportunities to practice what you're not good at?

Kim

Mending Flaws

In certain situations, music does something to me.  It doesn't even have to be a scenario that I'm highly invested in.  It can be a bunch of third graders singing a song or the right soundtrack at a crucial part of a movie (or even, I'm embarrassed to admit, commercial). Put the right words set to the right tune at the right time and I feel my throat start working and my eyes welling up.  It's all over for me. I've had time to work at getting it under control over the years.  I hate crying in front of other people.  Sometimes I don't look at the choir when my daughter is performing because I'm embarrassed to have other people see me with tears in my eyes.

I had it happen to me again tonight.  At the end of mass, we sang "America the Beautiful".  I knew the singing of this song was coming.  It's always in the lineup over the Fourth of July weekend. I know patriotic songs have a special way of almost always doing me in. I should have been ready  for it.  I was going along and doing fine, but then we got to the line, "God mend thine every flaw," and I felt it coming on.  I hadn't really been thinking about that particular lyric until that moment. It kind of snuck up and sucker-punched me.  Gulp.  My eyesight started blurring.  I managed to get it together so that no one noticed (or so I like to think).

It was that line.  "God mend thine every flaw."  Yep, we're flawed.  I think no matter what side of the political/socio-economic aisle you sit on, we can all agree on that. Just look at the news.  I love this country, but in times like these, it can be hard to see anything but our flaws.  It's so easy to focus on them.  But here's a secret no one tells you about flaws that you have to figure out for yourself in order to become an adult: Everything and everyone has them.  Every person, family, organization, country, and philosophy has flaws.  The work we do to mend them is the most important work there is.  I think it has a lot to do with why we're here.  Anyone can sit back and point out flaws.  The real work comes in trying to make things better.


It's easy to think we can't fix the problems in America.  But it's the work we do to try that's important.  Along with our flaws, we have so many amazing assets like all our freedom to try and make things better.  Trying to mend our flaws sure beats the alternative. I'm pretty sure it is one of the things that makes America special. So yes, God mend our every flaw.  That's a sentiment I can get behind and get a little emotional about. So even though you didn't see my eyes well up tonight, I'll own up to it with no shame.

Happy Fourth of July!

Kim

The Thing About Waterfalls

Okay, so it's finally summer.  We've had more than our fair share of rain so far.  It has hampered a few plans and even a little swimming, although my kids will swim even if it's cold or rainy.  My only rule is no swimming if there's thunder or lightning.  Still, it would be nice if the water was warmer and the sky sunnier.  It's been bumming everybody out around the area.


But here's the thing I'm remembering today: no rain=no waterfalls. 


On our first trip to the wine trail in Southern Illinois (read about that HERE), we did a few smaller hiking trails in Ferne Clyffe State Park.  We went there because:


A) The trails were easy and we had no real "hiking" gear and...
2) It was close to where we were staying and...
Third) I saw a little video on You Tube of the waterfall at the end of one of these trails. That did it.  I was sold.


The weather was absolutely beautiful for that trip last summer.  Sunny and not too hot.  But that meant no waterfalls.  We got to where the waterfall was supposed to be, but - you guessed it - no rain = no waterfall.

Fast forward to my Spring Break eight months later.  We went back down south.  I was hoping for good weather, since it was Spring Break after all.  It wasn't like we were going to make it to Florida or anywhere else sunny that week.  My kids still had school, even though the school where I teach had Spring Break.  We decided to go back down simply because we had the opportunity.  My parents kept the kids for the night, and we were off. We had dinner with my brother and headed back to our bed & breakfast.  But this time it stormed like a beast the night we were there.  We listened to the rain pounding on the roof all night.  It hit me the next morning that since we had no particular plans, it would be the PERFECT time to go back to Ferne Clyffe.


I can't tell you how uplifting this little hike was!  Once again, we did not have any serious hiking gear (as evidenced by my shoes here).

It gave us such an emotional boost to see this.

            Waterfall selfie!

So here's the thing about waterfalls.  You have to endure some rain first.  I'll let you draw the conclusion there.

Kim

Pokemon Party (Although I Have No Idea What Pokemon is About.)

  About 15 years ago, my nephew was very into Pokémon (as were several of the boys in my classroom) when it was in its heyday. Many years later, it's funny that at the beginning of third grade this school year, my son picked out a Pokémon backpack and had no idea what the show concept was. He just knew he liked what he saw on that backpack.  He does know now what it's all about now, thank you Netflix. When his birthday finally rolled around in May, I asked what kind of party he wanted.  The answer, of course, was Pokémon.

           It's Pikachu!!!!

I didn't really understand what Pokémon was all about 15 years ago, and to be honest with you, I really don't get it now.  But I learned enough to put together a kick butt Pokémon party for my son and three of his friends.  Two years ago, we stopped inviting the whole class because:
1. Hardly anyone RSVP'd until the day before - kind of late to help with purchasing stuff for the party.
2. This gave me all kinds of anxiety that no one was going to show up at all until the day before the party.
3. You can do more with just a few close friends who you know are coming.
 
I found all kinds of good ideas for a Pokémon party on Pinterest. Oh, how I adore my Party Ideas Board on Pinterest.  You can follow my board HERE if you would like.  My son wanted to go to our local Children's Museum with his friends, so we did that first.  This was so much more economical than formally having a party at the same venue in the "party room".  At $5/person we paid $35 for the admission for the boys and my husband, daughter, and me.  We had held his party in the "party room" at the Children's Museum several years ago when he was in first grade.  Beware of the "party room" in birthday venues.  They are ridiculously expensive for a basically what is just a room with tables and chairs - more if you want them to provide the "extras" like the cake and goody bags. We also hit the free zoo playground that is right next door to the museum afterwards.

After the museum and playground, it was back to our house for pizza and cake.  But not just any pizza - Pokeball pizza!

I don't really know that much about Pokémon or understand the significance of the Pokeball.  I think  the Pokémon guys come out of it?  Maybe.  Anyway, the nice people at Papa Murphy's pizza were nice enough to copy the pictures I found on Pinterest of these pizzas.  I had bought a Papa Murphy's fundraising card from a former student, so I actually got two Pokeball pizzas for the price of one! 

Only having a few kids makes it easier to do a nicer goody bag.  I made these from yellow bags I found at Dollar Tree (2 for $1, so only $2 for the bags).

Inside we put a Pokémon t-shirt from Target (my son already had this one), some candy that may or may not have been bought on super clearance after Easter in these yellow cups I got at Dollar Tree (6 for $1), 

And these:

Oh, yeah.  You know what's coming next!


Nerf gun war!

This was epic!  At least that's what one of the boys said.  I don't know that I've ever heard such a ringing endorsement of a party activity before.

The boys stayed until about eight in the evening.  During that time, they also played basketball, baseball, soccer, and kickball.  They all went home sweaty, exhausted, and happy.  If that's not the hallmark of a good party, I don't know what is.  Apparently, it doesn't matter if the hostess understands the nuances of the theme.

Kim

Happy 2nd Anniversary AAB!

My wedding anniversary is only four days before my blog's anniversary.  This always helps me remember An Antisocial Butterfly (AAB) was born on June 18th, 2013.  It was a scary thing to publish those first few posts.  I'm a pretty private person and sharing personal things can be terrifying for me at times.  But this year brought me two of my most viewed posts, Just Like in Real Life (Why You Won't Hear Me Complain About Facebook) and The DNA of My Story.  I really loved both of these pieces and was glad they were read by so many people. 


My other anniversary (13 years of marriage) got me to thinking about what makes the longevity of something successful.  I try to make my marriage a priority in my life and feel like most of the time, I do a good job with that.  Time and effort are both key in making something positive last. 

My husband and I got away for a night the week before our anniversary. 

But when I looked back over the frequency of my posts to the blog, I feel bad.  I've neglected keeping up.  I'm not happy with the time or effort I've put into writing.  I've got to try to change that since writing does make me happy.  And that was the whole point of starting AAB to begin with.  Not money or reach.  Writing was the point.  Yes, life gets in the way of that, but without it, I'd have nothing to write about. 


So, more time and effort into the blog!  That's my goal.  Happy Anniversary An Antisocial Butterfly!  I promise I'll try to do better! 

Kim

Chalkboards and The Universe

 Chalkboards.  I love them. Maybe it's the teacher in me?  Maybe it's because it's another way to decorate with words?  Whatever the reason, it all started when I saw how easy they were to make on Pinterest.  I bought a nice frame and used chalkboard spray paint on the glass.  It became the herald of upcoming big events at our home.

 Then one of my first graders gave me a little one with a hanger.   I hung this one on my door or propped it on a stand and changed what it said.

This made me realize the diversity of these little gems.  Soon I was pinning ideas on Pinterest and copying them.  You can follow my Pinterest board, "The Old Drawing Board" here if you're interested.

 Then I ordered some chalkboard markers from Amazon and discovered a whole new aspect to the chalkboard art thing.

I may have even chalkboard-ed my slow cooker when it needed a new look <sheepish grin>.  Check out this post if you want to know more about that. 


And then we made this chalkboard planter this weekend for my son's teacher for Teacher Appreciation this week.

So it's fair to say, I've gone a little chalkboard crazy this year.


Recently, I'd been wanting to update the office/computer area in our kitchen and was thinking about painting a wall with chalkboard paint.  I had been talking to my husband about building a frame around it.  He wasn't super keen on the idea since we've talked about putting our house on the market (even though we have about a million things to do to it before then).  Our dream would be to live in the country in a farmhouse, but finding the right house in the right location for the right price has been no small trick.


Then this happened.  I saw this chalkboard on the Facebook page of a small antique/thrift store's page in my city.  And I had to have it. 

It's from an old Fire Department in our city.  I love that.  

When I brought it home and had my husband hang it up, I experienced a moment of doubt.  I was afraid it didn't really "go" with our kitchen.  I said to my husband, "But it would look great in an old farmhouse."  He agreed.


My daughter thought this was great.  She immediately asked if she could draw on it and then spent an hour drawing some character from Teen Titans Go.

I think it came out pretty good!

So I'm going with the whole, "If You Build It, They Will Come" theory.  We don't have our farmhouse in the country.  But I think if you put things out into the universe, sometimes the universe comes around to your way of thinking.  And if not, I'll still enjoy my chalkboard.  I've got all kinds of plans for it.

Kim