Thursday, July 16, 2009
Disco Ball of Reality
Ok so there is not a breakup . . . the video is still funny though . . .
BUT
I am back.
From the beach.
Well rested ...but hit by the disco ball of reality!
Saturday is the yard sale of the shop stuff and then next week begins the moving of what is left at the shop to a warehouse and home.
I had a great time and refused to think about the shop or home where Ocho and Traveler were left.
I have pictures and tales to post and will do soon.
But until then - I hope everyone is well and I can't wait to catch up on your blogs . . next week unfortunately.
Smiles!
Monday, July 6, 2009
International Traveling
. . . without a passport.
I have missed playing Memory Monday, but that just means my post is a more current memory – that is easy to do when life keeps this pace.
I have noticed, if you look hard, there are more things to see or do in our own backyard than we might realize. Now, it might mean doing some twisting. It might even mean cheesing it up a little.
In June I cheesed it up for a day trip. International traveling without a passport, if you will. The experience offered its own light in the road experience.
Back during April, when all the severe weather hit, I noticed interesting names of communities in our area. There are some that I knew – for example Cairo, Georgia and Havana, Florida. But I noticed a few others too, and that is when I decided for the day trip.
So we set off on the journey. The first stop: Damascus, Georgia.
Yes, I had us get out and take a picture. As we jumped into place, Will and I are being silly, the boy are less than excited.
As I said, it was a light in the road experience. Demolition D, driving for this adventure, was not only not really open to the idea, let alone getting out to take a picture, he down right threw a fit! So after some words were exchanged, the light clicked that he better enjoy, it was not all about him, and I realized we might get to our final destination a little faster than expected.
Back in the van and South we headed. After Damascus, we headed to good ol’ Amsterdam. Turns out this community is not even un-incorporated. Whew, D was relieved – no picture taking.
We skipped out on the side jags to Cuba and Scotland. I do believe if there was no sign at these spots too, we might have had an elevated level of frustration.
Next, Havana, Florida.
And yes, I guess you could say there was still some cheese with this pink Cadillac all rigged up with lights and speakers – but this cheese was perfect.
I have missed playing Memory Monday, but that just means my post is a more current memory – that is easy to do when life keeps this pace.
I have noticed, if you look hard, there are more things to see or do in our own backyard than we might realize. Now, it might mean doing some twisting. It might even mean cheesing it up a little.
In June I cheesed it up for a day trip. International traveling without a passport, if you will. The experience offered its own light in the road experience.
Back during April, when all the severe weather hit, I noticed interesting names of communities in our area. There are some that I knew – for example Cairo, Georgia and Havana, Florida. But I noticed a few others too, and that is when I decided for the day trip.
So we set off on the journey. The first stop: Damascus, Georgia.
Yes, I had us get out and take a picture. As we jumped into place, Will and I are being silly, the boy are less than excited.
As I said, it was a light in the road experience. Demolition D, driving for this adventure, was not only not really open to the idea, let alone getting out to take a picture, he down right threw a fit! So after some words were exchanged, the light clicked that he better enjoy, it was not all about him, and I realized we might get to our final destination a little faster than expected.
Back in the van and South we headed. After Damascus, we headed to good ol’ Amsterdam. Turns out this community is not even un-incorporated. Whew, D was relieved – no picture taking.
We skipped out on the side jags to Cuba and Scotland. I do believe if there was no sign at these spots too, we might have had an elevated level of frustration.
Next, Havana, Florida.
I originally had planned to stop in this tiny town. I have never been there before, but have heard of great trips to this spot. It is known for its antique shops, which I figured would not go over well with the three amigos. So we drove right on through. I think it will be a trip I would like to make with Will in the Fall – as a window shopping trip, not international travel.
Havana was a hub for the cigar industry – until cigar production moved to Central America. The town practically dried up as folks moved away to find jobs. But the town remains and had a come back – with antiques. A town with a population not even hitting 2,000, they have 30-40 antique shops.
As I was reading about this tucked away spot, I read this and wanted to share: “One reason for the success - and the camaraderie of Havana merchants - is that rather than trying to work against one another, they work together.”
With the economic woes that globally abound at this time, isn’t that quite a statement? Doesn’t that show how those actions have proven successful? Working together …great concept.
So back to the trip; As I said we did not stop there, but I did have a guy friendly stop planned. It was not in a town with an internationally famous name.
Naw, just Tallahassee, Florida. When we arrived at the final destination, smiles returned to Demolition D’s face and The Man became excited. What better way to make up for cheesy attempts of memories than an Antique Car Museum.
And yes, I guess you could say there was still some cheese with this pink Cadillac all rigged up with lights and speakers – but this cheese was perfect.
(texting pictures of cars . . . technology and antiques meet)
There were batmobiles too . . .
Boats and boat motors . . .
And even the Little Rascals foot powered toy car . . .
Now this following picture, maybe some of you can clear up my memory on this one. I thought I took a picture of the information, but I cannot find it. Drumrolllllll . . . .
This is the original Studebaker(???) used and wrecked in the movie "Tucker" (???). Inside you can see where the explosives were set up to explode and flip the car. Now, I do not remember this movie, and I do not remember this scene. But the boys enjoyed seeing how the car was tweaked to make the stunt great!
In the end, the trip was memorable and it was fun. The boys thanked us for a great day and what is better than that!
Monday Memories is hosted by Gayle at Planet M Files (today she is remember Cape Cod).
. . . Elvis has left the building . . . .A Veggie Avoiding Vegetarian
Time to share our adventures has been at a minimum.
I have shared some about the business closing and now the end of the business is in sight and I am taking a few days off to recurperate and ready myself for the final - getting as much sold as possible and moving all that is left out and into storage.
I have not shared as much about home. We transitioned into having another adult child come to live with us. That makes four adults and two teenagers.
A recent commenter asked how we were doing with this change. We are still transitioning.
Traveler was due to leave for the Netherlands August 4th. Two jobs were being worked to save money. Tickets purchased. But no go. Her boyfriend broke up with her two weeks ago so plans have ended. She sorta knew it was coming, we have heard comments that began with "if we are still together" for months. Of course there is hurt and disappointment. She did say at one point, she was more upset about not going to school there than she is about "him." There has been good cries, pedicures, trips to see friends in Atlanta, new tattoos.
So new plans are being sorted thru and turned over - we hope. We are transitioning.
When Ocho moved in in February and Traveler in May, the agreement was they would place $300 a month into savings - sorta rent that goes towards their being able to move out on their own. A way to help them out - a way to be a host without being sucked dry and enabling them to step towards responsibility and self support.
Also, they would keep their rooms neat - not perfect, not spotless. Neat.
They would help out around the house, and we failed to say this, but thought their would be some family interaction.
No curfew - as long as we do not hear them during the night and they let us know ahead of time if they will not be coming home for the night.
Ok, here we are in July. This arrangement has been a little more challenging than we counted on.
The rooms, well let's just say gaaarosssssss. After Will asking for two weeks for them to do some cleaning, we took it upon ourselves to spend 4 hours one evening cleaning.
And then we charged them! Yes, a cleaning fee.
Ocho has kept his cleaner since, I guess he would rather we not go through every nook and cranny again. Traveler, that is still a little iffy. But they have been warned, next time we do not wash the clothes, the laundromat will, and they can go and pay to retrieve their clothes.
The curfew issue, oh well, the best laid plans is all I can say ...
Savings deposits? Well that was going fairly well until a car repair, a breakup and a couple tattoos.
Helping around the house. Ocho will if you can catch him at home and awake and micro-manage it. "You cooked (for himself), please clean all the food off the counters." "Remember, it has been your turn to clean the bathroom for two weeks now."
Traveler has been more interesting. We cracked up the first time Will asked her to help the boys clean up the kitchen after a big lunch. "But I am wearing a dress!" Take it off or put a T-shirt on over it. Two weeks later, please empty the dishwasher, "but I want to go see" so and so! "Then you might want to get busy. Only once or twice has there been no resistance.
I do all mine and Will's wash in one day to get it over with and to keep the washer open for the rest of the household. I had not washed clothes in about a week. One day about three weeks ago, getting ready to do our laundry, I noticed the clothes detergent was almost out. I decided to play a little game. I bought some of those really neat Purex 3 in 1 detergent sheets. I kept them in my room. The point of the game? To see when someone would say we were running out of detergent or buy some. Ocho and Travler had washed several times in that previous week. Nothing mentioned about the detergent.
As I said, that was three weeks ago. The Man and Demolition D have been gone, so they did not have any wash until this past week (I did supply them with the nifty sheets). D told me we were out of clothes detergent. I supplied. To this day, neither Ocho (who is 19 and works, does not go to school) nor Traveler (will be 22 in August and works) have said we are low on detergent. Nor have they said we are out of detergent. Nor have they purchased detergent. Yes they have washed clothes - but with no detergent.
Amazing.
But the latest is my favorite.
Last Christmas, Traveler stayed with her mom and came to our house to use the internet and eat. She said "mom doen't have any food in the house." At first I thought that strange, but as the holiday moved on, we kinda guessed why - she probably was tired of working 12 hour days to come home and be taken for granted and feed fully capable people who can afford cigaretts, parties, hobbies and such, but not even pick up a loaf of bread.
So now Traveler and Ocho are living with us. I am going out on a limb to display this (I know it could be more organized, but I don't have the time or inclination at this current point in time).
This is just behind one door.
I have shared some about the business closing and now the end of the business is in sight and I am taking a few days off to recurperate and ready myself for the final - getting as much sold as possible and moving all that is left out and into storage.
I have not shared as much about home. We transitioned into having another adult child come to live with us. That makes four adults and two teenagers.
A recent commenter asked how we were doing with this change. We are still transitioning.
Traveler was due to leave for the Netherlands August 4th. Two jobs were being worked to save money. Tickets purchased. But no go. Her boyfriend broke up with her two weeks ago so plans have ended. She sorta knew it was coming, we have heard comments that began with "if we are still together" for months. Of course there is hurt and disappointment. She did say at one point, she was more upset about not going to school there than she is about "him." There has been good cries, pedicures, trips to see friends in Atlanta, new tattoos.
So new plans are being sorted thru and turned over - we hope. We are transitioning.
When Ocho moved in in February and Traveler in May, the agreement was they would place $300 a month into savings - sorta rent that goes towards their being able to move out on their own. A way to help them out - a way to be a host without being sucked dry and enabling them to step towards responsibility and self support.
Also, they would keep their rooms neat - not perfect, not spotless. Neat.
They would help out around the house, and we failed to say this, but thought their would be some family interaction.
No curfew - as long as we do not hear them during the night and they let us know ahead of time if they will not be coming home for the night.
Ok, here we are in July. This arrangement has been a little more challenging than we counted on.
The rooms, well let's just say gaaarosssssss. After Will asking for two weeks for them to do some cleaning, we took it upon ourselves to spend 4 hours one evening cleaning.
And then we charged them! Yes, a cleaning fee.
Ocho has kept his cleaner since, I guess he would rather we not go through every nook and cranny again. Traveler, that is still a little iffy. But they have been warned, next time we do not wash the clothes, the laundromat will, and they can go and pay to retrieve their clothes.
The curfew issue, oh well, the best laid plans is all I can say ...
Savings deposits? Well that was going fairly well until a car repair, a breakup and a couple tattoos.
Helping around the house. Ocho will if you can catch him at home and awake and micro-manage it. "You cooked (for himself), please clean all the food off the counters." "Remember, it has been your turn to clean the bathroom for two weeks now."
Traveler has been more interesting. We cracked up the first time Will asked her to help the boys clean up the kitchen after a big lunch. "But I am wearing a dress!" Take it off or put a T-shirt on over it. Two weeks later, please empty the dishwasher, "but I want to go see" so and so! "Then you might want to get busy. Only once or twice has there been no resistance.
I do all mine and Will's wash in one day to get it over with and to keep the washer open for the rest of the household. I had not washed clothes in about a week. One day about three weeks ago, getting ready to do our laundry, I noticed the clothes detergent was almost out. I decided to play a little game. I bought some of those really neat Purex 3 in 1 detergent sheets. I kept them in my room. The point of the game? To see when someone would say we were running out of detergent or buy some. Ocho and Travler had washed several times in that previous week. Nothing mentioned about the detergent.
As I said, that was three weeks ago. The Man and Demolition D have been gone, so they did not have any wash until this past week (I did supply them with the nifty sheets). D told me we were out of clothes detergent. I supplied. To this day, neither Ocho (who is 19 and works, does not go to school) nor Traveler (will be 22 in August and works) have said we are low on detergent. Nor have they said we are out of detergent. Nor have they purchased detergent. Yes they have washed clothes - but with no detergent.
Amazing.
But the latest is my favorite.
Last Christmas, Traveler stayed with her mom and came to our house to use the internet and eat. She said "mom doen't have any food in the house." At first I thought that strange, but as the holiday moved on, we kinda guessed why - she probably was tired of working 12 hour days to come home and be taken for granted and feed fully capable people who can afford cigaretts, parties, hobbies and such, but not even pick up a loaf of bread.
So now Traveler and Ocho are living with us. I am going out on a limb to display this (I know it could be more organized, but I don't have the time or inclination at this current point in time).
This is just behind one door.
Two weeks ago there were 6 cereal boxes. There is popcorn, breakfast bars, more peanut butter, chips, etc.)
(there is gazpacho, tortillas, cheese, asparagus, okra and eggs too)
I show you this for a reason.
Last week, while Will and I were at our jobs, working away, Traveler came in the kitchen and said to Demolition D, "When I stayed at mom's I always came over here because there was food here, now that I am living here, there is no food."
I may be wrong, but I see food. And remember, Traveler is a vegetarian - I have items in the freezer, fridge, and cupboards to provide nutrition, minus the meat. Now granted, you have to take a can opener to get to the tomato soup. One might need to boil the pasta to go with the sauce. Maybe cook some rice and open the can of black beans. Might have to thaw the veggie dogs to actually eat. Might have to slice the tomatoes and cucumbers and mix up for a salad. But there is food.
So, as for the question, how are we doing? We are doing. At times we are enjoying. At times we are pulling our hair out. At times so glad to have a little more time with them. At other times completely dumbfounded by their perspective. But all in all, we are good. We are learning ~ we hope they are, but so far the actions do not show it.
When it is time for them to depart, we do know they had an opportunity to set themselves up to start out on the right foot. We know help and guidance have been offered.
In the end though, it will be up to them to make it work. And they will. Even if they trip some down that path, they will stand back up and move forward.
Friday, July 3, 2009
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