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Sunday, 25 October 2009

Fall

This is my back yard:

These are the trees in my back yard:

Mark wants to rake. I want to wait. We go through this every year. He thinks if we keep up on it, it won't be as bad later on. I think that I don't want to re-rake the yard half a dozen times, so just wait for ALL the leaves to fall and rake it once. Might have to bag more at one time than doing it gradually, but it's a one-shot deal. As I am usually the one to do most of the raking, it usually waits. This year though, I am afraid we may be seeing snow sooner in the season rather than later. So what would you do??

Sunday, 11 October 2009

The Color Purple

The new theatre season is upon us and tonight was the first of our Rochester Broadway Theatre League shows - The Color Purple. I had never read the book nor seen the movie, so didn't really know much about it but had heard good things from other people who saw it earlier this week, so was looking forward to it. It was an interesting experience...

The story itself was disturbing at first. Teen pregnancy, incest/rape, forced marriage, domestic abuse... But it was powerful stuff. The voices were phenomenal and as it turns out, the lead in the show actually graduated from high school here in my town. Performances were amazing. And if you know the story, you know that Celie ends up okay when all is said and done, and stronger for it. I haven't decided if I actually want to read the book or not though...

As for the show experience, that was a little annoying, honestly. I admit, having been a theatre geek once upon a time, I am a bit of a theatre snob (thus the "English" spelling of "theatre" as opposed to the American "theater"), but come on people, don't you think it is a bit rude to be coming in 40 minutes after the show starts?! I swear, people were trickling in after the show started until 7:40 (curtain was at 7:00). People were getting up and down a lot more than usual, and I can't even count the number of times the ushers had to tell people they couldn't bring food or drink into the theatre (this is our 4th year as season ticket holders and I have never seen them have to tell one person that, never mind a dozen or more). And then people were getting up in droves and leaving before the curtain even fell at the end of the show! Give me a break!! And let's not even talk about the people who brought their young kids to the show. There was a LOT of sex talk, some violence (husband beating his wife), the whole rape/incest thing...SO not child-appropriate.

Again going back to my theatre background, I have to mention the sets, costumes, and especially the lighting. They were all fantastic. And I look for these things (I was a techie, not an actor). Though there was one point when the crew appeared to be having an issue getting some of the scrims in just the right place. But I am guessing not too many people even noticed. That's just me.

By the end of the show I was feeling a lot better about the story, at least, and I even shed a tear or two when Celie was reunited with her sister and her children. Maybe I will go ahead and read the book...after I get through the stack I have here now!

Thursday, 20 August 2009

A Harrowing Trip

We're home.

Our return trip from Florida last night was about as bumpy as the trip down was smooth. It started when we pulled out of the driveway and Katy started crying in the back seat because she didn't want to leave. She cried more once we got to the airport. The kids were tired and sniping at each other over everything from the time we walked into the doors of the airport to the time we took off.

We arrived at the airport just after 3:30 for a 5:15 flight which was supposed to start boarding at 4:30. I was trying to figure out what the kids would have for dinner, as they were serving a "snack" on the flight, which in my past experience, means dry turkey sandwiches, which the kids were not going to eat. So we check in, get through security reasonably quickly, and head to the gate. Only to find our flight was now scheduled for 5:35 instead of 5:15. We were connecting at Newark/Liberty airport and only had a little over an hour layover, so I was a little concerned about the time change, but our connecting gates on the way down had been right next to each other, so I figured we'd be okay. Thankfully, there was a pizza place right next to our gate, so I got the kids each a personal pizza before I checked the prices. Note to self: Next time, remember airport food is more expensive than in "real" places. Those two pizzas cost me almost $30!! But Katy didn't finish hers and I got to eat too, so I guess for three of us to have a meal $30 wasn't that bad, but still, it was a lot of money.

We boarded the plane and started to taxi to the runway when the plane stopped and the pilot came on the PA system. It seems there were storms at Newark and the airport was at a "ground stop", so we couldn't take off. Why we couldn't take off when it was a 3 hour flight and the airport was supposed to resume their flight activity at 6:15 (2 hours before our scheduled arrival time) is beyond me, but we had to sit on the runway and wait for air traffic control to clear us to take off. They turned on the entertainment system for us, let us get up and walk around, etc. For half an hour we sat. Now I was really worried about missing our connection. I called Mark and let him know what was up, and he in turn called the airline, which was pretty much no help at all. Not much I could do about it though except pray we made it. I figured if all the flights were delayed, then our flight to Rochester from Newark would probably be delayed as well, so was trying not to stress too much. They finally cleared us to take off, and we were in the air.

We arrived at the gate in Newark at 9:10. Our departing flight was 9:30. And, as it turned out, I checked our boarding passes and our connection was leaving from a totally different terminal! I called Mark as soon as we landed and he checked online to find that our departing flight was on time and currently boarding. I stopped to talk to a gate agent as soon as we got off the plane and he was no help - just told me where to catch the shuttle and that our plane was still here. I had 15 minutes til departure, Katy was saying she has to go to the bathroom and I had to tell her no time, we have to run. So the kids and I did the OJ Simpson/Hertz Rental Car sprint through the airport to the shuttle departure (yes, I know, I am dating myself). We go to the shuttle and had to show our boarding passes. The girl asked if we were coming from West Palm Beach and told the shuttle, which was just about to leave, to wait for us. We made it on and to the terminal. 3 minutes left. One of the flight attendants in the elevator with us shook her head and said we wouldn't make it. Ran to the gate just in time to see the electronic sign change. Now this was the last flight to Rochester for the night, so if we missed it, we were stuck overnight. The door was closed already and I was panicking. I asked the gate agent if we missed the flight and he told us we could still get on! Again, he asked if we were fromWest Palm Beach. The woman who unlocked the gate and led us to the plane said they knew there were 3 passengers on our flight and someone was supposed to have let them know we were coming. I had spoken to 2 separate gate agents and nobody had called them! I was a bit miffed, to say the least. They got us on the plane and then the flight attendant told us that they figured nobody else was coming and had let people switch seats, so now we didn't have three seats together. A couple people were nice enough to move though, so the kids sat together and I was behind them. Because of the storms earlier in the evening, we then sat on the runway for half an hour waiting to take off. Sigh. Katy fell asleep before we were even in the air, thankfully. After all that, we landed at 11:15, only 10 minutes after we were scheduled to land. Made it home about midnight. I am so glad it's over...it was a rough night!!

Monday, 17 August 2009

Currently
Faces of Fear: A Novel
By John Saul
see related
A Day at the Beach

Whenever we come to Florida, the kids have to have a day at the beach and this year was no exception. So yesterday, we packed up the towels, masks and snorkels, sand toys, lemonade, and of course, my camera and GPS, and headed to the beach.

It was a windy day at the shore, but unfortunately, not going to be any better before we leave to head home on Wednesday. The wind caused 4-6' seas, which is pretty choppy for the kids, and strong rip currents. There were red flags posted near the jetty, warning people not to swim there, and yellow flags a little further down the beach. We planted ourselves immediately in front of the lifeguard shack. I was nervous about the kids being in the water while it was that rough, and we told them not to go in over their waists (which was reiterated by a lifeguard a short while later) and to make sure to have an adult if they were going in that deep. I know what to do if caught in a rip current, but the kids don't, and you can't really explain it to them very well, so we left it at that.

Michael had a blast on the boogie board and was riding some nice little waves right into shore. He did have a casualty though - he had taken his mask off at one point, probably to dump water out of it, and a wave took it. We never found it (prompting a trip to Wal-Mart this morning to get a replacement). Katy had just as much fun digging for shells as she did in the water and has quite a collection to bring home. And I think she had more sand in her bathing suit than she left behind!

There was a new cache since last year, only a couple hundred feet from where we were sitting, so of course I had to go find it. I had a good idea of where it was once I got to the area, but looked in the wrong hidey-hole first and wound up with a couple of fire ant bites for my trouble. At least I did find the cache right after that, though, or I would have really been annoyed at the bite ;)

We stayed for a couple of hours before the adults had enough of the rough surf and we packed up to head back. Michael's face got some sun, as did the back of my legs. This is the second reminder I have had of just how much stronger the sun is down here than in NY - you'd think having lived here for almost 10 years would have taught me!

Lots of pictures to come, but not until I get home and can upload them. Hopefully there are some good ones.

As for now, the kids are in the pool with Grandpa playing some game throwing balls at each other and having a blast. He asked them if they'd rather go on a boat ride, to the zoo, or on a lion safari this afternoon and they came back with "Will you come in the pool with us?" so that works.

I finished the library book already...bought a new book in Wal-Mart this morning. I swear I have done more reading in 5 days than I have done in the past 5 months!

More to come soon... :)

Saturday, 15 August 2009

Currently
The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower, Book 2)
By Stephen King
see related
Florida Update #2

Not a ton going on, but thought I'd throw an update out there anyway. The days are kind of all blending together at this point as the kids are spending most of their time in the pool. We took them to a playground the other day and it was so hot out, they lasted about ten minutes (which was just long enough for me to grab the nearby cache). Then we drove down to the Playmobil Fun Center, which they really enjoyed last year. What a difference a year makes, they were bored within 15 minutes, even Katy. The place is cute, but it is sort of geared to the preschool set, I guess. So we headed back and the kids ended up going over to Amy's to swim with Jack and Mallory, and I headed back to the house with Mark's mom. Having a free hour, I took advantage and drove down the street to see if I could find a cache that was only 0.2 miles from the house (as the crow flies, anyway!). It was rated a 4 difficulty so I wasn't sure if I would be able to find it, but coming from the land of evil geocache hides, it was actually not that hard. Worst part was that I didn't pack my sneakers, so was walking through sandy, calf-high grass with sandals on. I only got one bug bite though, and thankfully, didn't run into any fire ants. Got a great shot of a dragonfly while I was there, which I will post when I get home and can load my pictures onto the computer.

Yesterday was Katy's birthday and by the end of the day, she declared it the best birthday she'd ever had. She went to a pool party with her cousins (Michael opted to stay with us and got to spend some one-on-one time with Grandpa), back to Amy's house to swim, at which point we brought Michael over, then we had pizza and ice cream cake for dinner. She got a couple new games for her DS, which gives her a nice collection now given she only got the game system a week ago!

We were going to head to the beach today, but the weather has thwarted those plans, as a tropical wave is crossing over south Florida causing the surf to be a bit rough for the kids, not to mention rip currents. So we'll try tomorrow. Probably just hang out here today and swim again if it doesn't rain.

The boys have been playing really well together and Katy is loving being the big girl to 2 year old cousin Mallory (who is quite a trip, I might add!). And I, of course, have been taking tons of pictures.

I finished the book I brought with me and ended up borrowing one from the library yesterday - one I have at home and haven't read yet, so if I don't finish it here, I can just pick it up at home again. Went shopping at Bealls yesterday and bought some Tervis Tumblers. They are awesome, but a little pricey. Every year I look at them and think about buying them, and finally decided to just do it this year. At least they have a lifetime guarantee!

That's about it for now...