Dancing Through Life
You guys, I have been so busy. Running running running. Not much time for leisurely things like LJ (writing this on my lunch break at work, and I’m SO behind in reading your posts), or TV (my DVR is almost totally full now. Ha). Oh December.
So, the car situation. My dad has given me his, which is pretty old so I still have to be prepared to get another one before too long, but I’m grateful to have it for the time being. He and my mom are going to go out and get him another one this weekend (they’d planned on doing this for a while anyway and knew they wouldn’t get much back for his Taurus), and in the meantime we’ve been sharing his car. Sometimes he’d take me to work and pick me up, and some days he wouldn’t need a car so he’d let me have it (thank goodness he’s retired, so I’m the only one with a job to get to). But I guess it's mine for good now because he shouldn't need it again before he gets another one. I already almost wrecked it, if you can believe that. NOT my fault. I was literally driving away from his house after officially getting the car when someone pulled right out in front of me. I slammed on the brakes, but the road was wet so I started to skid. Turned the wheel to avoid hitting the idiot and my car started veering out of control. I skidded into the grass and finally came to a stop. Fucking hell. Scared the crap out of me. Moron.
Anyway, here's what’s been happening since my last post:
Tuesday - Got my swine flu shot in the morning (no side effects or soreness!), and then that evening Casey had her first piano lesson at her dad’s house. I dropped her off there and headed home to take a shower, go through my emails and get stuff together for Wednesday. He brought her home at around 8:30 with a report that it had gone very well. He loaned her one of his old keyboards to practice with at home. She has one of her own, but loaned it to her Songwriter’s Group at school for a while. As soon as she got home we had to run out and get her dad a birthday present, since we were also going to see him the next day, his actual birthday.
Wednesday - I was off, as per the cut hours at work. I got up at 7 AM and drove to the garage where my old car lives until they can sell off the parts for me. I cleaned it out and took off the license plate, but I still have to get the title to them, which I can’t find. It’s not in my files, dammit. So now I have to search the house or get a new one. I have to sign it over to them so they can take care of it for me.
After I left the garage I went to my church to drop off our angel tree gift. Casey always picks one for a girl her age. This one said “Gift card please”, so that was easy. Then I needed to turn in my Percy Jackson book (2nd one in the series) to the library since it was a couple of days overdue, but I wasn’t quite done so I sat in the parking lot for a few minutes and finished it first. Got a few groceries and went home. I had to get my dad’s car back to him because he had an appointment, and I decided this would be a great chance for Willow and I to take a nice walk. Rather than wait around for him to take me home after I brought him the car, we would just walk home. My parents live exactly a mile from my house, and it was a beautiful day so it worked out nicely. I got home and worked on laundry and probably some other things I can’t remember. And then I realized I just had to have a nap and I crashed hard for like an hour and a half.
That evening we went to the Ice attraction with Casey’s dad and step-mom. It’s basically a museum kind of thing with beautiful ice sculptures. They keep it at 9 degrees F in there, so we were very grateful for the Florida weather when we got out! They do give you big parkas to wear, but my nose and fingers (even with gloves) were numb most of the time. Ice is located in a beautiful grand hotel, and we had dinner at a seafood restaurant there afterward. A stilt walking balloon animal maker came by and made Jae a dog and Bing a birthday Viking hat, which you will see in pictures later. He wore that silly thing all night, LOL. We also had a guy come over and do some really amazing card tricks for us. He was really good, and funny too.
The hotel was doing this gnome scavenger hunt thing where you get a list of clues and you have to run around and find 10 gnomes in various locations. We decided to participate just for the fun of it (you could fill out where you found each one and get entered into a contest, but we didn’t bother). It was pretty fun running around looking for them, and in the process we got to see how amazing that hotel really is. It was so beautifully decorated for the holidays, and it’s gigantic. They had gator and snake displays, and there was a concert going on with a group singing Christmas songs rock style. It was almost like an indoor theme park (minus the rides, but they could totally fit some in there if they wanted to). And then when we walked outside the EPCOT fireworks were going off nearby. We had a great time and didn’t get home until around 10.
Thursday - Casey’s friend Brandon (who is not her boyfriend apparently, even though I keep thinking he is. She swears he has a girlfriend and that they are just friends, and that when she gets her first boyfriend she WILL tell me. Hm. We’ll see.) invited her to Vans Skate Park. He wanted to ride his skateboard there and teach her how to use the ramps with her roller blades. I reluctantly agreed and told her to be careful not to break her neck . Turns out I didn’t have to worry. When we got there she took one look at everyone flying around on their bikes, etc. and said “Um… maybe I should just watch this time.” Works for me, no cost or danger involved. So I left her there to watch Brandon and went to do some Christmas shopping in the mall the place was located in. Couldn’t find crap there, so I ended up leaving and going to Walmart instead, where I got some stuff - an iTunes gift card and Jason Mraz CD for Casey (that’s not all she’s getting of course, more shopping to do tomorrow), some bones, doggie cookies and toys for Willow’s stocking, a card and gift card for my friend Jean’s birthday (which is Christmas Eve, but we’re going to a dinner for it tonight), a movie gift card for my parents and a few other odds and ends.
Picked Casey up at 8:30 and then she needed presents for her teachers (last day of school is today), so we went to yet another Walmart and got those, plus some cards and candy to hand out to her friends. The teacher gifts I found amusing were for her band and gifted/science teacher (both of whom she’s been with all through middle school) - for the band director, a Transformers light up wand to conduct with (she says he’s going to LOVE it, LOL) and for the science/gifted teacher, this shirt (which, even though I’m not into Star Wars, I find awesomely hilarious).
So after all that, we got home at like 10:30 and she was up until after midnight filling out the cards. Bah.
Tonight is Jean’s birthday dinner, tomorrow I have to finish Christmas shopping and wrapping and send out cards, along with the usual chores like laundry and bill paying, Sunday we have church, SPCA shift, and a Girl Scout holiday party…. Oy. Kind of looking forward to January so maybe I can breathe.
Anyway. Pictures.
These are some sexy parkas.
That's all ice behind us, btw.
Carousel
A worried looking ice santa
The angel Gabriel
Tunnel O' Ice
Bunnies!
Viking birthday hat
So, the car situation. My dad has given me his, which is pretty old so I still have to be prepared to get another one before too long, but I’m grateful to have it for the time being. He and my mom are going to go out and get him another one this weekend (they’d planned on doing this for a while anyway and knew they wouldn’t get much back for his Taurus), and in the meantime we’ve been sharing his car. Sometimes he’d take me to work and pick me up, and some days he wouldn’t need a car so he’d let me have it (thank goodness he’s retired, so I’m the only one with a job to get to). But I guess it's mine for good now because he shouldn't need it again before he gets another one. I already almost wrecked it, if you can believe that. NOT my fault. I was literally driving away from his house after officially getting the car when someone pulled right out in front of me. I slammed on the brakes, but the road was wet so I started to skid. Turned the wheel to avoid hitting the idiot and my car started veering out of control. I skidded into the grass and finally came to a stop. Fucking hell. Scared the crap out of me. Moron.
Anyway, here's what’s been happening since my last post:
Tuesday - Got my swine flu shot in the morning (no side effects or soreness!), and then that evening Casey had her first piano lesson at her dad’s house. I dropped her off there and headed home to take a shower, go through my emails and get stuff together for Wednesday. He brought her home at around 8:30 with a report that it had gone very well. He loaned her one of his old keyboards to practice with at home. She has one of her own, but loaned it to her Songwriter’s Group at school for a while. As soon as she got home we had to run out and get her dad a birthday present, since we were also going to see him the next day, his actual birthday.
Wednesday - I was off, as per the cut hours at work. I got up at 7 AM and drove to the garage where my old car lives until they can sell off the parts for me. I cleaned it out and took off the license plate, but I still have to get the title to them, which I can’t find. It’s not in my files, dammit. So now I have to search the house or get a new one. I have to sign it over to them so they can take care of it for me.
After I left the garage I went to my church to drop off our angel tree gift. Casey always picks one for a girl her age. This one said “Gift card please”, so that was easy. Then I needed to turn in my Percy Jackson book (2nd one in the series) to the library since it was a couple of days overdue, but I wasn’t quite done so I sat in the parking lot for a few minutes and finished it first. Got a few groceries and went home. I had to get my dad’s car back to him because he had an appointment, and I decided this would be a great chance for Willow and I to take a nice walk. Rather than wait around for him to take me home after I brought him the car, we would just walk home. My parents live exactly a mile from my house, and it was a beautiful day so it worked out nicely. I got home and worked on laundry and probably some other things I can’t remember. And then I realized I just had to have a nap and I crashed hard for like an hour and a half.
That evening we went to the Ice attraction with Casey’s dad and step-mom. It’s basically a museum kind of thing with beautiful ice sculptures. They keep it at 9 degrees F in there, so we were very grateful for the Florida weather when we got out! They do give you big parkas to wear, but my nose and fingers (even with gloves) were numb most of the time. Ice is located in a beautiful grand hotel, and we had dinner at a seafood restaurant there afterward. A stilt walking balloon animal maker came by and made Jae a dog and Bing a birthday Viking hat, which you will see in pictures later. He wore that silly thing all night, LOL. We also had a guy come over and do some really amazing card tricks for us. He was really good, and funny too.
The hotel was doing this gnome scavenger hunt thing where you get a list of clues and you have to run around and find 10 gnomes in various locations. We decided to participate just for the fun of it (you could fill out where you found each one and get entered into a contest, but we didn’t bother). It was pretty fun running around looking for them, and in the process we got to see how amazing that hotel really is. It was so beautifully decorated for the holidays, and it’s gigantic. They had gator and snake displays, and there was a concert going on with a group singing Christmas songs rock style. It was almost like an indoor theme park (minus the rides, but they could totally fit some in there if they wanted to). And then when we walked outside the EPCOT fireworks were going off nearby. We had a great time and didn’t get home until around 10.
Thursday - Casey’s friend Brandon (who is not her boyfriend apparently, even though I keep thinking he is. She swears he has a girlfriend and that they are just friends, and that when she gets her first boyfriend she WILL tell me. Hm. We’ll see.) invited her to Vans Skate Park. He wanted to ride his skateboard there and teach her how to use the ramps with her roller blades. I reluctantly agreed and told her to be careful not to break her neck . Turns out I didn’t have to worry. When we got there she took one look at everyone flying around on their bikes, etc. and said “Um… maybe I should just watch this time.” Works for me, no cost or danger involved. So I left her there to watch Brandon and went to do some Christmas shopping in the mall the place was located in. Couldn’t find crap there, so I ended up leaving and going to Walmart instead, where I got some stuff - an iTunes gift card and Jason Mraz CD for Casey (that’s not all she’s getting of course, more shopping to do tomorrow), some bones, doggie cookies and toys for Willow’s stocking, a card and gift card for my friend Jean’s birthday (which is Christmas Eve, but we’re going to a dinner for it tonight), a movie gift card for my parents and a few other odds and ends.
Picked Casey up at 8:30 and then she needed presents for her teachers (last day of school is today), so we went to yet another Walmart and got those, plus some cards and candy to hand out to her friends. The teacher gifts I found amusing were for her band and gifted/science teacher (both of whom she’s been with all through middle school) - for the band director, a Transformers light up wand to conduct with (she says he’s going to LOVE it, LOL) and for the science/gifted teacher, this shirt (which, even though I’m not into Star Wars, I find awesomely hilarious).
So after all that, we got home at like 10:30 and she was up until after midnight filling out the cards. Bah.
Tonight is Jean’s birthday dinner, tomorrow I have to finish Christmas shopping and wrapping and send out cards, along with the usual chores like laundry and bill paying, Sunday we have church, SPCA shift, and a Girl Scout holiday party…. Oy. Kind of looking forward to January so maybe I can breathe.
Anyway. Pictures.
These are some sexy parkas.
That's all ice behind us, btw.
Carousel
A worried looking ice santa
The angel Gabriel
Tunnel O' Ice
Bunnies!
Viking birthday hat
