All the entertainment I need I'm either married to or I gave birth to.

Lolo and I had a conversation while we were in VA getting her moved in and ready for school

{Here she is standing across the street from her school. It's a 10 minute walk from her apartment, but we didn't want to cross the intersection because I was ready for my next feeding in a different direction.}

Me: Can I meet your professors?
Lolo: "No, they're probably not there yet."
Me: I still feel bad about not walking you into school on the first day of kindergarten. It was said over and over again in our parent orientation to drop off your child on the first day and NOT walk them into class.
When Dad and I dropped you off at the car line, you hopped out and walked your little 5 year old self into class. I looked over and I see tons of parents walking their child INTO class. 
*what the hell?*
Why did I follow the rules?
Lolo: "Don't feel bad, I did just fine.
And where do you think those other kids are that were coddled? Probably living in their parent's basement sleeping with a weighted blanket. Or addicted to heroin. OR in jail."

{Not her first day of Kindergarten picture, but this was shortly after.}

Then we had a long conversation about weighted blankets and how she might actually want one.
Go figure.


***
So my sassy daughter had her Orientation last weekend and sends me this pic and text. "Mother's room"

I had a real good laugh at myself when I realized it was a lactation room and then I scolded her about tricking her elders.


***

She started her classes this week and is really excited about being a student again.

I had a prompt similar to this while attending Palm Beach Beauty Academy; just after Pin Curls 101 and before learning to Not Drink Permanent Solution.


One of her professors was a CIA analyst for many years and I could only ask one question:
Is your professor Jack Ryan??

No Mom. She isn't Jack Ryan.
Well, that would have been pretty cool.
FYI: Coach and I started watching it on Prime and it's a great show; intense, but great.

Wishing everyone a sassy weekend. Crossing our fingers and toes that Dorian doesn't impact our area or anyone for that matter!!

XOXO

Mad Max & Last weekend

We've taken sole custody of our grand-dog Max. We brought him back from VA with us because he wasn't enjoying city life. He was pretty pissed off at every dog that he encountered on his walks and then would take it out on the young husky Mattis. The Coach and I brought him back then handed him off to his real dad, Nathan (Lolo's favorite person besides me)
Sadly, Nathan was hurt on the job wrangling a perp last week and his shoulder was detached for a bit.

Nathan is on light duty and recovering, so Max will be us for a bit. Max is ok with that. He loves all the attention he gets from his Grandparents.  We took him to the condo last weekend and even his other favorite person Linds came for a visit. Life is good when you're a cute/weird little dog with lots of family.

Linds and I paddle boarded on Saturday. It was fun and tiring. No one fell in and not a dolphin or manatee to be seen. They must be on summer vacation. We walked over to the beach and saw the best sunset for that day.

Sunday we were back home (the big house) and Suz finally got around to cleansing her garage. It's been a while. I blew it out, then hosed it, then mopped it. Yeah, I mopped it. It's now pine-sol fresh. And I'm a happy camper. 

When I say it's MY garage. I really mean it's mine. The Coach has 468 garages, but this one here is solely mine. I'm living the dream!!

I hope everyone had a nice and relaxing weekend as well.

XO

That time we had so much fun helping our Veterans.

We held our second annual Songwriters For Vets this past weekend....and it was a doozy!
The Coach came up with this idea to raise funds for our good friends foundation that she started for her late husband; it's paying off in spades. Kevin is proud.
Do people still say that? Why do I need multiple spades?
Every ticket was sold.
It's a three hour show with the songwriters 'Blue Bird Cafe' style. They talk about the songs they've written that are now big hits and then perform them. I can no longer hear Zac Brown singing some of his songs....I only hear the writers now. Same for songs on the radio by Luke Combs, Chris Young and Lee Brice.


Last year Lindsay was in New Zealand and Lolo came with us. This year Lolo is in VA and Lindsay came with us...as well as Lolo's Nathan and Coach's parents and just about every friend we have because our friends love the same stuff that we do. Doing good. And good music. 

Next to Linds I look like an average sized person.

Next to Django Walker and Patrick Davis, I look like a toddler. 

The whole famalamadingdong

The faces!!

I didn't take any real pictures this night, but at least I got my MIL and FIL into one of these this time. 

It was such a great night raising funds for wounded veterans who deserve so much for what they've sacrificed for us.

We had a surprise guest this time and I thought some people might have lost their minds with excitement. We were blessed with the one and only Edwin McCain. The next time the Coach and I get married Edwin is gonna sing this song to us. This was our second time meeting him, and he couldn't have been a sweeter human.

Actually all of the songwriters/performers were sweethearts. It was such a fun and positve night for all involved.
It was a lot of planning and footwork, but well worth it.

~Moving on UP~

Do you have the theme song from The Jeffersons your head? I do.


We were successful in getting Lolo moved and settled into Virginia. This was my very first trip to the area and I have to say, as a Florida girl, this was a city that I enjoyed. She's in a bustling area in Arlington, just across the river from D.C. (we accidentally went to a different state once; that never happens way down in SW Florida)
She has a 10-minute walk to school and that also never happens in Florida. It takes me 10 minutes to walk to our mailbox. Ok, maybe 4, but it feels like 10.

My first surprise was trying to park Coach's SUV in the garage.

Ummmm....it really doesn't fit. We were told that if you go down a few more levels, the spaces are bigger. Me: "I'm on the ground floor, how do you go lower?"
Turns out you can actually park in the 7th level of hell and the spaces are about 2" wider....hey, I'll take that 2".

But, let's just discuss a two day (16 hour total) car trip with an 8-month-old husky with the attention span of a flea. I drove most of the first day with Lolo finishing it up when the sun went down.
I thought I'd lose my mind. He wanted to be in the front seat. On my lap apparently. After about 6 hours we stopped for some 'calming' hemp treats at a pet food place.
We gave him 3 and we each had 2.

Sure, he's pretty and all, but damn, he's hard-headed.

Looks like the treats worked.....for about 2 hours, then he was up in our business again. We stopped plenty of times to let them (Max and Mattis) wander and even found a dog park for some running. 

My sweet angel. 

We found a hotel that accepts pets and stopped for the night after about 9 hours of driving. We were so exhausted and it was late. Dinner choices were limited. This was mine with a glass of chardonnay. Both were delicious.  Lolo had microwave mac n cheese. We had NO standards. 

 The dogs actually did well in the hotel. We were too tired to bring in the crates so they had full access to two beds and two humans.

We had a decent night of sleep and were up and at it the next morning. We headed north around 8 am and hoped to arrive in plenty of time to go to Homegoods because we didn't have a bath towel, shower curtain or any of that stuff so we could get cleaned up when we arrived at her new apartment.
We arrived at her new place on Monday afternoon and hit HomeGoods and Target. Over the course of the next 5 days, I left money at Homegoods 7x, Marshalls 2x, and TJ Max 2x, & Target 2x.
Luckily there are a lot of those stores in that area, so we didn't look like complete weirdos to the employees.
But ya'll....I was tired.
She didn't have a couch or chair until Thursday as we purchased them on Tuesday. Her bed arrived Thursday as well. Prior to that we were sleeping on air mattresses and sitting on the floor. Just like the old days.

I'll share some more pics in my next riveting post.
I hope all is well with my peeps.

XOXO

Donning my nurse cap

Our sweet Lindsay has been having a time lately.
Before her trip to New Zealand, she had to have an embedded wisdom tooth removed. I was afraid that all her 23 years of wisdom would go with the tooth. Alas, it didn't. She came home for a few days and recovered just fine.
She's also had an enlarged tonsil for quite a while and with the fact that she *sometimes* exaggerates her health issues, we kind of 'poo-pooed' this notion that there was an issue.
Finally, this was bothering her so much and for so long, I sent her to my ENT before her big trip.
He said he didn't like the way they looked, but wasn't too alarmed. She has big tonsils....just like her Mom. She came by them naturally.
She had a recheck after her trip, and the Dr. said they 'absolutely have to come out now'.
He was alarmed at how much larger they were at this point, and she really wasn't feeling great anyway. Could it be from those big ole things in her throat?

She had them removed on Wednesday. In case you were wondering, they won't let you take them home so that a scrapbook page can be made. But, I had to ask anyway.


Big Sister Lolo stopped by afterward, and we had a little meeting on my bed. Just like old times.
Good Lord, it took 20 years for these two to interact like this. Thank you, baby Jesus.

She did great during the short procedure. But then again, she just had to lay there, and she (like me) is really good at that.
She's staying at the homestead with us for the week while she recovers.
Mama nurse is feeding her all the necessary foods after something like this.
Mac N Cheese
Mashed taters
Jello
Pudding
Ice cream
Fruit pops
Yogurt
Apple sauce.

You know, kind of how we ate when we were 23 with the metabolism of a mosquito.

It's great having her home even though she's not feeling so hot. It is weird for me, though. Usually, when I talk to myself during the day, no one answers me. I now have a witness to my weirdness.



Each night for dinner The Coach and I have our regular food, and Linds has her soft food. She said: "It looks like you guys don't like me very much."

But we do. We like her SO very much.

FYI: I was kidding about the scrapbook. Who has the time?

XO