Done with home

I think I'll sum up the rest of my Florida trip tonight.

Mom was looking much better than the last time I saw her. She looked a little thinner but not unhealthy. It pained me to find out she was taking medications for her nerves and to sleep. But, staying at her house with her husband and my brother, I understand why she has to take them.

When my brother got out of jail and came back to her house, the entire vibe of the house changed. For some reason, it seems our step father has some kind of deep hate for my brother. I don't really get it but I never realized how bad it was until I was living with it. Honestly, I'm surprised my mom's not an alcoholic.

Anyhow, I was glad to be there. I now know what my brother has been trying to tell me for the last year. Step dad isn't the "great guy" he tried to trick us all into believing he was.

So me and my brother tried to keep Mom out of the house and away from his negative rampages. We took her to Border's and relaxed. We went shopping with her at the mall. We spent time with just her and it seemed to make her more at ease.

Sadly, I fear for my Mom's life. It feels kind of silly typing that out but I have to say it somewhere. The scary part is that my brother feels the same way. When I found that out, I had to say something to Mom. I think it upset her that we felt that way. She explained that she wasn't upset with me and Bud, but that she was upset that her husband made us feel that way. But then she said that she is in no way afraid of her husband. I have to just trust that for now. But I made my brother promise that if he ever saw step dad get crazy that he would make Mom leave. Fuck the house and the cars, her life is much more important.

Dad has proved that...well, he really isn't much of a dad. I was finally able to get him to hang out with us one night. We (me, Bud, KC and her husband) met up with him at a bar that he usually plays darts at. He was cool, bought us all drinks, and then kicked in with telling us all about the things that he's been doing with his new family. Usually, I don't mind listening, but watching my brothers face fill with pain sucked. It felt like Dad was rubbing it all in my bro's face. All the things that my brother wanted to do with Dad and Dad never showed up for, Dad is now doing with his youngest two kids. Simple things like fishing, camping, sports and such. I was waiting for my brother to explode on our dad. It must have taken Bud a lot of will power to keep from shoving Dad's cell phone down his throat.

Anyway, I wanted to see my step mom and two younger siblings before I left Florida. Since I was unable to drive (surgery) I told Dad to just come and pick me up one weekend or something. Well, it came down to the last night I was in town and I called. He said he'd pick me up. I waited, and waited, and waited...like usual. I was shocked when he finally did call (he usually just doesn't show and calls a few weeks later). Same old excuses and I pretty much said whatever. Typical Dad.

So I didn't get to see my youngest brother and sister. I didn't get to see my other sister either but that was because she lived three hours north of where I was and wasn't able to take a day off of work. I didn't bother trying to see my aunt and uncle (for reasons I won't bother to explain.)

But like I said before...I got to see and hang out with the people that count.
Mom
Bro
My nieces
KC
BM
My God-daughter and her brother
And the girls from the CLC!
I love all of you and miss you like mad.

Family time

I think I finally caught up on all the blogs I've been reading. It only took me five days...hmph.


One of the best things about my Florida trip was being able to take my mom and two nieces to Sea World. It was a trip of firsts for my nieces. Their first road trip without their parents. Their first time staying at a hotel. And the most important first...their first time at Sea World. And I got to be a part of that.

The trip started off a little bumpy. Silly got sick after a dinner stop at Cracker Barrel. So, instead of a three hour drive, it ended up being a six hour drive. But everything turned towards good when we got to the hotel. Honestly, it was one of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed at.



We were on the eighth floor and Silly and Boo ran to the window to look out over the city lights and were speechless when they saw Sea World below. Yeah, the hotel was right in front of the place. After a round of showers and a million questions about what they would see the next day, the girls finally fell asleep.


The alarm went off early. Silly was out of bed and dressed for the day but Boo was a little slower. She's actually a little grumpy in the morning. She must get that from my bro. We skipped a sit down breakfast and opted for the breakfast bars mom supplied as we waited for the bus that would take us to the park. The girls were on the edge of their seats and I think I was just as excited knowing that they were going to have a great day with the ocean life they had been learning about in school.



Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed on the new roller coaster, Manta, or any of the other rides at Sea World. My recent surgery and the boot on my leg hindered my adrenaline fix. I tried to convince Mom to take the girls on at least one of the coasters but there was no way in hell. But she did take them on some of the kiddie rides. (Shhh...but I think she had more fun on those rides than the girls.)






We got to pet the dolphins and stingrays. We walked through the shark tunnel (Silly's fave). Checked out the penguins and the girls got splashed by Shamu. We watched some cool shows and the girls learned the difference between a penguin and a puffin. We had a great time and it didn't rain on us until right before we left.









Memorable snapshots:
Silly's face on the giant crab ride.
Mom riding a giant Dori fish on the carousel and the smile on her face that I haven't seen in years.
Boo, when the fish in the stingray petting area splashed her.



The look of shock when the ice cold water that Shamu splashed on the girls soaked them completely. Boo actually stood and started to run.


Eating lunch and listening to the girls talk about how much fun they were having.
But the trophy goes to.....an amazing stress free day for my family filled with smiles and laughter.

When we got back to the hotel, the girls went swimming...pretending to be the sea life they had met earlier that day. Then we had a great dinner at the hotel restaurant. To complete the great day, we watched Sea World's firework show from our hotel window. Really cool.

Competing with a cartoon?

Gotta love south Florida weather! I'm not being sarcastic either. One minute - beautiful sun - next minute - wicked thunderstorms. That is one thing there isn't a lot of in north Georgia...thunderstorms.

Friends and family have been keeping me pretty busy down here. I've been spending more time at the ocean than I thought I would be. Saturday, me, KC, Stephro, and Stephro's family went out on Stephro's boat. I so wanted to go for a swim in that beautiful ocean but I was sure that with this cast on my leg that I would sink. But DAMN was I tempted. I've got this water proof boot to cover the cast and all but still. Besides, Stephro wouldn't let me and KC threatened to tell J...my friends are wicked sometimes.

Sunday, I went school clothes shopping with my family. It was weird being pushed around the mall in a wheel chair by my mom. When I finally got away from her for a moment, me and my brother contemplated how I could go down the escalator in the chair. I was sure I had it figured out but Mom busted us and scolded us for even thinking about it. I felt like I was five but laughed my ass off because Mom was on the verge of laughing the entire time she was giving us the third degree.

Last night, two of my nieces spent the night. Somewhere around 11:00pm, they knocked on my bedroom door and asked if they could come in. Monster, the 3 year old, was so cute. She asked if she could draw on my boo boo again. I couldn't refuse. Silly, the 8 year old, drew some too.

After they wreaked havoc on my cast, they climbed up in bed with me and we all compared scars. Monster thought her mosquito bites were scars and Silly has as many scars as I do. Most of them won't stay scars though. She's a bit of a tomboy - like me - and has accumulated a few scratches this summer. I was surprised that she could remember how she got each and every one of those scratches.

They were going to stay and "camp out" in my room, but when they found out that the TV in my room didn't pick up the channel for Sponge Bob, they quickly excused themselves and told me goodnight. I think I might be a little offended that they picked a cartoon over hanging out with me...lol.

But they both made it up to me before they left today. I got TWO...yes TWO...get well drawings from them. (Silly drew Sponge Bob's face on one of them though.) I'm gonna miss them when I go home.

Caterpillar!

I spent the day, yesterday, with my friend Freak's son Aidan. When I get home from this trip, I will try to put a picture up of my new shadow. He is absolutely adorable and very intelligent. He's only four and already has the wit and charm of a seasoned pro. Irresistible. Think the little boy from the movie "Big Daddy."

After we flew around on the magic carpet (swung around on the hammock) and climbed the tree house, we sat on a bench that was built between two trees. He's got a really great imagination, so I figured I'd feed it since we were running out of things to do. I started telling him a story with him as the main character. Things were going along great in our make-believe adventure until he threw his hands in the air and made a face of pure horror, stomping his feet and pointing in my direction.

"Caterpillar!" he screamed several times, still pointing at me.
I asked him where about a million times and then finally he says, "On the tree."
I let out my panicked breath, relieved that it wasn't really on me. He took off in a run while I carefully removed the intruder with my fishing pole (it was just a stick). He came back and watched me fling the caterpillar off to its new home somewhere in the grass.

He climbed back up on the bench then picked up his stick fishing pole. "Okay," he said, much calmer than he was before. "Now lets get the one off of you."

My first thought was...you little shit! He had me get the damn caterpillar off the damn tree, where it really belonged, before he helped me get the one off my back! Mind you, the one on my back was much bigger and crawling its way to my neck. I'm not big on insects and critters and such, so I had no idea if the thing could possibly sting me or what not.

I called him on it. "Why didn't you tell me that there was one crawling up my back?"
He smiled the most deviant smile I had ever seen. "Because the one on the tree was closer to me."

Little shit!