Misery Loves Company

GrrlTravels and I had tentative plans to meet while in Florida at the same time. Our schedules aligned and I was able to spend the day with a dear friend who normally I only get to talk to on the phone or through email. Can I say how great I think she is? I believe I can, it is my blog. She's great and her kids are adorably sweet. Little Z is walking. WALKING! Round and round. Up and down. E won Tootie over with his charm* and mutual like of Lightning McQueen and dinosaurs.

We wandered around this retirement Disney world (much like the real Disney World. In as much as Disney can be real.
This? Is sort of not. But it is. Kind of. But not really. More in a Stepford Wives kind of reality.)**. I took her to the tornado area, the "town square" and finally ended up at Target where every red-blooded American GenX'er would hang out. We both remarked at how well the toy aisle was stocked.  We ended the visit sipping Gatorade at Starbucks.

Sadly, all good things must come to an end. It's just unfair that we live so far from each other.

*Although Tootie did remind him several times of rules that I remind her of. He took it like a typical man and silently looked at her. Poor guy really really wanted to hug her good-bye but she wanted nothing to do with it.

** Here's the deal: This place is a new retirement community. In order to make it more appealing they've created a nice hiSTORY about it. Created being the operative word. It's lovely. It's new. Very new and nice. And people are! happy! Not that that's a bad thing. I'm not against being happy. It's just, well, surreal. I can't describe it any better than that.

Fat Birthday, I mean Tuesday

Not everything is grim here in Florida. We spent the day house shopping which was fun but tiring. There is one particular house they really like. It's lovely and I think they would be more than happy in it.

While we're here we are going to celebrate Tootie's birthday. My father has convinced her that The Town's Mardi Gras celebration on Tuesday is a party for her. Now I know where I get it from. He told her that he invited everyone in the entire town to her party. Also, if she hears someone say "Happy Mardi Gras" it means "Happy Birthday Tootie" in Floridian language.

Tootie did two drawings tonight that are pretty clever. At least I think they're clever. She's my kid so I am a little biased.

  This is me combing her hair to get ready for school. That little square off my right hip is a pocket. You know, in case I need to stash something. The big rectangle is not an apron. It's my belt buckle. Apparently, I've got a Western style going on.

  The drawing on the right cracks me up. "Mommy, look, it's me wrapped up in a fuzzy blanket with my knees poking out." Then she pointed to the wavy lines and said, "see how I made the blanket look fuzzy?" Yes, baby I do. It's awesome.

Florida

We're here now in person.

Vintage Quilt

My Mom gave me this little treasure a couple of years ago. It's a baby quilt that was given to her when she was pregnant with my brother in 1966. It became my quilt when I was born in 1969. I love this quilt. My photos don't really do it justice. Everything has been done by hand. It's a very flat quilt in that there isn't any batting and it seems to be just 2 layers of fabric. All of the pieces have been applied by applique with white stitching. Also, the teal border was appliqued in little sections not as one long piece. It's roughly 3' x 5'. I plan on hanging this in my studio.

 

Tomayto Tomahto

Several weeks ago I bought a Betta fish. I had read that you could put a Betta in a community tank if the other fish were gentle. White Clouds are gentle fish so I put him in. He wasn't too happy and the poor White Clouds all huddled in the corner wondering what the heck just happened to their paradise. So I bought a little 5.5 gallon tank for the Betta. He is much more happy. And this morning he made me a little present to prove his happiness. A nice big bubble nest.

Did you know the proper way to say Betta fish is BET-ta fish? But I didn't learn it that way and I've had a hard time changing. I want to say BAY-ta. I decided to compromise and name him Beta. It fits. He's my first try at keeping a Betta therefore he's my beta version. And if I say "oh, that's my BAY-ta fish" I'm not wrong. He's my Betta named Beta.

Tootie calls him George.

thank you

I've had an overwhelming response to my parents situation. Thank you all. I've passed on all of your well wishes to my parents and they are appreciative. They've moved from being shocked and are now trying to figure out what needs to be done. Members of the local Baptist church brought over boxes and helped them salvage what they could and hauled it out for them. They said that the whole community has come together to help each other out. I suppose a tornado ripping through your house makes you realize the important things in life.

I stated in the previous post that they lost everything which is not completely true. They were able to salvage about 1/4 of their possessions. All of the soft furniture and items that are fabric are too embedded with glass to be usable. Interesting, huh? The wind was so strong that it forced fine splinters of glass when the windows imploded into those soft items. So although the couch may look undamaged you wouldn't want to plop into it. ouchy. As for their house it's still undetermined whether the insurance will write it off as a total loss or not. They will either sell the lot and buy an existing house or repair and rebuild what's left. The big question is which option is more cost effective.

I'm still not over being sick. It's just a stupid cold but it's lingering and it's moved onto being a raspy cough. Tootie keeps asking me "you took my sick? It jumped from me unto you?" Well, um, sorta. "Is it going to jump on Daddy?" Gosh, I hope not. It's really not that bad. Just tiring. I'm done already.

I did manage to make a purse for my SIL's birthday. The keychain on the left side is removable. I just have it hooked onto the zipper for show.

Speechless

We got a call early this morning from my parents in Florida. They are
all fine but their home was hit by a tornado  and it looks like they've
lost everything. My Aunt and Uncle are staying with them. They said
they were sleeping and they heard the storm but they stayed in their
beds. The tornado destroyed everything but their bedrooms. If they had
taken the advice from the news and had gone to their bathroom they
would probably be gone and this would have been an entirely different post.

They can't find their cars. There's nothing.

I'm a little beside myself since I'm so far away. They don't have their phones so I can't call them directly. I just have to wait.

UPDATE: I spoke briefly with my parents. They're doing well and are staying with a friend. To see images of their neighborhood go here. On the left sidebar is "Multimedia Gallery" photos labeled "The Villages". After seeing the photos I am thankful and amazed that they are fine.