Hanging out in Florida
I got to spend one week with my grandmother before she
died. I’m so thankful that I made it
home to spend quality time with her. She
was able to get around with help for most of that time. My aunt Bev was already
there, my brother Larry came from Utah and my grandmother’s nephew Charlie and
his daughter Jennifer came from Virginia.
The day before she died was the first time she was really in a lot of
pain. At that point, we got round the
clock Hospice care and started her on morphine.
When we woke her up for the 2nd dose, she had the dopiest grin on her
face. I told her she looked much happier
and she said ‘oh yea’. I asked her what
color the sky was in her world and she happily reported ‘everything is
pink’. We found her hidden stash of chocolate, the really
good stuff. She loved chocolate and had
a wicked sweet tooth! We melted a little
bit and swabbed it on her tongue, then sat around eating the rest of it and
telling funny stories about her. We sat
with her until she died, in a very peaceful morphine sleep. I was a hospice volunteer for several years
when I lived in Michigan, but this was the first time I’ve actually been with
someone the moment they died. I was
holding her hand and she just didn’t take the next breath. We were all so grateful that her passing was peaceful. I cannot say
enough about the wonderful people of hospice. They were so very compassionate. My grandmother was buried in Virginia, next
to my grandfather. They slipped the box
of chocolates with 2 pieces left in her casket.
My mom, aunt and I decided we want the same thing when we die. My brother and I decided not to go to the
funeral, so we stayed at my mom’s and did some work around the house. We painted the kitchen and bathroom and just
kept busy. It was kind of cool spending
so much time with him, since we don’t see each other often.
When my mom came back from Virginia, her, my brother and I went
to the beach for a little weekend away. It
was really nice just to relax. My
brother just left and everything is
getting back to normal. I have wanted to
do some traveling overseas and decided to wait till I came to Florida to book
my trips. It’s nice having grandma close
by to watch my kids! I booked a trip to Ireland, leaving on the 23rd
of October. This will be my first trip
with a tour group. It’s two weeks, going
all over Ireland. I thought about adding
another 2 weeks and going to Scotland, but that can wait. I also booked a weeklong trip to Germany in
March. That one is through the Armed
Forces Vacation Club, it’s a week at a resort hotel in the Eifel region, near Cologne, Bonn, and
Aachen. I’m thinking of spending the
summer of 2014 living/traveling in Europe.
I don’t know the details yet, I’ll get an apartment someplace or hopefully,
I can find someone who is deploying and I can house sit.
I also mapped out the next month here in Florida. My first stop is Crystal River for 2 weeks,
just north of Tampa. I’ll come back to Kissimmee for Thanksgiving, then head to
St. Augustine at Faver-Dykes State Park, then on to the panhandle and
Blackwater River State park, for two weeks.
My Mom and I might book a cruise for a few days at Christmas. I also have a friend from Michigan coming to
the Tampa area to see his parents, so I’m sure we’ll do something while he’s
here. I haven’t planned out January yet,
but I’d like to go to Sarasota and the Everglades.
I filed a claim with Progressive for the
satellite dish that got crushed when I hit the bridge. I had to do some sleuthing
to see when and where I actually had the collision. I think in my blog I said Tennessee,
but it was actually in Missouri. I had all my food and gas receipts. Their
first question was why didn’t you file a claim before you got it repaired. When
I explained that I just didn't think about it because I was rushing home to be
with my grandmother, they were very understanding and are actually reimbursing
me for repairs. They sent out the nicest (looking) adjuster, George. While he
was on the roof taking pictures of the dish area, he noticed some cracks in a
seam seal. My roof now has duck tape all the way across it, thanks to George's
excellent taping skills. I must say, I'm pretty impressed with the way
Progressive handled the claim, I think I'll keep them.
I’m waiting on the RV dealer to
file a warranty claim so I can get that repaired. I guess it’s a good thing I spent the summer
in California and Oregon with no rain. It’s
a pretty big crack with 2 holes on the end pieces. Hopefully there was no water damage. I admit I
have a little crush on George, too bad I can’t meet a nice retired guy like him
on my travels!
My mom and I just got back from Clearwater beach, where we
spent 3 days. We had a hotel right on
the beach and I got some sun. Not too
much, for those of you who remember the drive home from the rafting trip in our
underwear. I do learn from my mistakes! The weather was not too hot and the gulf was
not too cool, as I waded out forever just to get neck deep in the still
water. I would much rather swim in a
lake, but the gulf is better then the ocean since it is so calm. I hate salt water waves crashing into me. The water in the hotel pool was actually
chilly, so I never even got in there. It
was really interesting watching the people at the beach. Most of you know me and know that I have a
rather plump butt, shall we say. I saw a
women on the beach, about my age and size, in a thong bikini. I kid you not! I couldn’t take my eyes off her! Her belly matched her backside and I had
several thoughts looping through my head.
1) Thank you Lord for giving me the sense to know I should save the
world from ever seeing that view of me.
2) Thank you Lord for giving me friends who would physically restrain me
from leaving my bathroom looking like that, let alone, go out in public. 3) Where did she ever get a super size thong
bikini anyway. 4) You go girl, for having the
self confidence and positive body image to love how you look, regardless of how
the rest of us see you. In the vein of
number 4, I actually saw many women in bikinis who did not have anywhere near perfect
bodies. Why should we cover everything
up, especially when you see the fat old men in Speedos? Ok, I didn’t see any men in Speedos, have
they gone out of style? While I may envy
those women’s positive body image, I’m still going to spare those around me and
cover up as much as I can. Where can I get
those old fashion bloomer bathing suits from the 50’s???
We went to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium and saw Winter,
the dolphin who lost her tail. I swear,
she was posing just for me. It was an interesting
visit, their mission is to rescue, rehabilitate and release injured marine
animals. There were several animals at
the facility who were so severely injured they can never be released. It’s a pretty small place; a non-profit who
relies solely on donations. The admission
cost was a bit high for what you got, but we were OK with it knowing what the
money was used for and not going into someone’s pocket. There were movie reminders everywhere, a
staff member said they were barely getting by before the movie came out. Now they can afford to expand the aquarium
and are currently building much bigger tanks. There were a few turtles who had
been struck by boats and had lost limbs, an otter who was likely hit by a car
and partially paralyzed in his back legs.
Here is a link to their web site and biographies of the animals. http://www.seewinter.com/explore-cma/exhibits-and-animals/meet-the-animals/current-residents
I’ll try to be more timely with my next post, which will be all
about my trip to Ireland.
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