Sea World! Yayyyy

Where to begin....

After going to Busch Gardens with my daughter and her son, we planned to return that Friday with herself and her husband, just the adults to ride, rides :-D
It turned out the did it together so they could have some "Parents Time". I remember those days, they are a very necessary part of a healthy Psyche for the parents.

Anyway, my daughter suggested we go to Sea World together that Sunday, just us.

I have to say we were greatly disappointed that Manta was malfunctioning while we were there. We stood in line for something like 40 minutes and then got on the ride, waited about 15 mins, got off, got back on about 15 mins later, got back off and then we were invited to get on  again, I wasn't about to get stuck on it so we got out of there.

What was the most fun though was just spending the time together. The last time we'd been able to do that was in the summer of 02.  We went to Williamsburg, VA to their Busch Gardens and also into Williamsburg the historical sights.  It was really WONDERFUL for me because I loved all the "learning" involved with reading the landmark plaque and speaking with all of the personnel in period clothing performing daily activities of the time.

This is in the Penguin exhibit. We are standing in front of an amazing picture that shows the eco-cycle /food chain. The picture itself was really amazing in it's detail.

 

This is the last thing we did that day before leaving. It was a really fun show with Dolphins and a whale I've never seen before. It was very long, slender and quite able to frolic with the Dolphins.  I checked the website and there is no mention even of the show we saw, much less the whale in question. :-P

A Day with my Daughter and Son

August 02, 2011

What a great day to spend some time together. 

I unexpectedly had a day off in the middle of the weed and got to spend it with my daughter and grand son.

The weather was actually pretty good. By good I mean it rained on the way there, which ment it cooled off.

Our Intended Destination

As you can see by this picture it was sunny for a little while and boy did that make it hot!  Then Tyilor got 
into some water splashing and jumping around not to mention the climbing and rope bridge walking.  Mommy said she had to work to keep up, lol

Then there was tree climbing and then adventures over the rope bridge and all over those two floors and then back over the bridge and down again.  It was so much fun watching him on his trek you could see he was practically dragging poor Mommy along and she was having trouble providing the "balancing" hand that he needed so much. :-P

They finally made it back down to the ground and by then we'd all worked up a fearsome appetite, what with them trekking all over Elmo's tree house and myself  following down below with my trusty camera, we all decided it was time to procure some "GRUB!" 

Tyilor inspecting his french fry and we also had a guest who was more than happy to help out with whatever TY was to busy to eat himself or he deemed unworthy of his attentions, lol.

At first I thought he'd be really hungry, but I think that he got a regular diet as he was actually picky enough to NOT eat the french fries.

We got to see the primates, which turns out were one of Ty's favorite attractions.




                             

I got to take a few "tourist" type pictures too, any way, fun was had by all and we were all sufficiently tired when it was time to head home.

A Night With The Girls




The Hostess-Mineself

 



The FOOD!

  I was so Blessed last night to have so many dear family and friends come to my new home.

My Daughter came up with the idea of having a "family" night so we could just spend time together and it has morphed into a really great time.

She usually brings her son and a girlfriend.  Our last gathering was at her house and we did the traditional pizza and a salad and pop-corn and a movie.  We were up soooo late that night, lol.

This time, it was at my house and her Mother-in-law also came and two of my friends.  It was so much fun that we never got to the "movie" part.

My Daughter, Erica, had also suggested a book club which is really great, since as a kid, getting her to read anything that wasn't required was an act of Congress, lol.  Subhannah Allah, she is a voracious reader now and I am so incredibly pleased that I am happy to find a way to cram some "reading for pleasure" into my schedule of "reading my assignments" that I'd stay up even later. 

Generally, on a day to day basis, I clean  a house from 9 am to 1 pm then, if I have another one I'll start that one about 1:30 pm until no later than 5:30 pm, then race to school (16 miles away) change into scrubs in the ladies room (a lot of us do this) then attend school until 10:30-11:00 pm, drive back home and cram some studying in if I'm awake enough, then sleep by 1 or 1:30 am.  Repeat daily.  If I only have one customer (usually) I go early to school and study, do assignments then classes so that by the weekend I am a total ZOMBIE, but in the long run, it'll be worth it. 
I already have an Administrative degree, but since the trend in hiring is toward medicine, especially with so much of our median population nearing retirement, I decided to add the Medical Billing and Coding to it so that I would be a more marketable commodity. InshaAllah, we'll see if it helps. I sincerely hope so since even with the grants I am adding to my student loan deficit :-(

Trying very hard to stay awake in class. Medical Terminology is fascinating, but I'm not sleeping enough :p

A Home In Florida

The Kitchen

This is the kitchen before I put anything in it  :-D

Dining room's accent wall and molding.

One of the deciding factors of this apartment for me was when I walked in and saw the molding AND the accent wall. That was pretty much that, lol. 

The laundry room.

The apartment complex has a referral going with the appliance company to rent if you don't have any and the prices are great!

This looks kinda of small till you walk in and look to your right. Then you are very pleased.  In the apartment in TN, a person practically had to step into the tub to shut the door! I have space for 3 rugs, the one for the toilet, the tub and in front of the counter :D

This is just inside my closet.  I love it, especially since I can use Daddy's Armour for the sewing supplies :)  Then you walk the rest of the way in and it's a small room.  A very happy "woman" closet.

Odd angle, but you get the idea ;)  Needless to say, I have to control myself when I go to the Masjid where there is a wonderful discounted clothing "store", lol.  The clothes are donated for one reason or another, usually to buy more.  My favorite style of clothing, the three piece Indian/Pakistani sets are in staggering abundance :D

Plants in bloom

Sent from Kathleen's Blackberry

This picture was taken just a few minutes ago to show how fast the blooms are taking off.  The previous one was taken earlier in the week. Pretty fast, ha?

Those little ducks came from Rachel, Ma-maw, in TN.  Every time my grandson comes to visit he wants to play with them. They are so cute they're hard to resist. Since they were outside in snow the enamel on them has spider web cracks in it and if handled too much, it flakes off :(

Everything is growing so well that I'm beginning to feel that soil and pots are going to be on the "need" list soon :P

I have a couple more pics to post of the apartment and the plants.  I really love this place. It matches exactly what I was looking for, for myself.  I think the only way it could be better would be if it were a house, but then I'd have to mow the grass, lol. Even the Electric bill is civilized, but then the complex is only about three years old.

Plants

Sent from Kathleen's Blackberry

The plant just to the right is variegated and looks like a miniature of a variety here in Florida that I like very much. Of course I'm going to blank the name of it so when I remember I'll post it.

Chevalier!! And now after looking it up, I think that the name I was told for the original is incorrect :(

Anyway, that one was quite larger until my grand son and his cohort in crime, the grand puppy, got together and chewed and plucked the top of that right hand stalk off.

As you may be able to see it has begun to recover very nicely.

In the center on the second shelf you can see an Aloe plant that Bente, my friend of many years, gave to me before I left Florida back in 09.  That plant has also traveled and been kept alive all over the place and through the winter in TN also.

More to come...