Let It Snow!!!

Having been born and raised in Florida, snow is not something easy to come by. Sergio used to live in Tennessee so for him snow is second nature.

Fast approaching my 40th birthday(upcoming on March 29th), I felt it was time for myself and Hailey to experience some SNOW. Me, the person that is freezing and wearing flannel pajamas at 65 degrees. What was I thinking, I have to admit I'd gone insane!!!

\align="justify">Sergio's best friend lives in Indiana with his wife and two kids. They invited us to visit so that I could experience snow for the first time. Chicago is only about a half hour away from where they live. So mind you, it gets quite cold in Indiana, in the negatives at times and so windy you can barely walk.

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Wow, what a shock the cold weather was to me. I felt like I was inside a freezer every time we stepped out the door. But I have to admit, it was beautiful. It had snowed a few days before we arrived so there was snow everywhere. Luckily it wasn't snowing when we arrived as I was terrified of landing during some type of snow storm or driving through a storm of some sort. On the day we were leaving, it actually snowed and we were able to see it fall from the sky. It is something I will never forget.

align="justify">Hailey of course had the best time. She was not afraid of sledding down a huge hill. Oh to be a child and have no fear.

It was truly a weekend to cherish!!!

Camping in the Keys - Camp Wesumkee

Hailey has been a Girl Scout since she was 5. The step to put her into such an activity was not an easy one for me. It is quite a commitment since the girls must attend meetings and attend many activities.

I have to admit I am not by any means a camping kind of gal. Up until the time Hailey joined Girl Scouts, I'd never even been in a tent. The thought of no air conditioning and no bathroom really didn't appeal to me. I'd heard others rave about enjoying nature, I seriously had my doubts that that was my kind of thing. But I'd heard about Girl Scouts and I wanted to give Hailey the opportunity to meet and interact with other girls her age plus give her the foundation to grow into a strong and determined woman.

I have to admit it has been the best decision I ever made for my child. Hailey used to be a shy little girl. I could see in her the shy little girl I always was, being a follower instead of a leader. Often letting others influence me instead of doing what I thought was best for myself. I certainly didn't want my child to be as I had been.

Once she grew to know her Girl Scout friends, I noticed a great change in her. She is no longer a follower, she is a leader. I can see her determination. I now see a little girl that is able to fend for herself, shows concern and caring for others and does what she feels is best instead of what others TELL her is best.

We've only been to a few camping trips in the past 3 years. Mostly the girls just participate in lots of events together. They help out in the community and just have plain old fun together.

Last weekend we had our first camping trip of the year. We went up to Camp Wasumkee in the Keys. It was by far the best trip we've ever had. The camp is out on the beach. We slept in Chiki huts which actually had built in fans. Since the camp is by the water, the breeze at night was quite nice.

The girls made their own kites and flew them. I had my doubts that they'd actually fly but they did, oh so high!!! They made Easter buckets, since it was Easter weekend. We had a huge egg hunt. Hailey found the silver egg and won a prize. We had a campfire and of course had smores. The girls had a water balloon fight and played with the water hose. They walked on the shore and collected sea shells. They even went fishing. I was astonished at Hailey actually baiting a hook. At first she said, "Eww" but as the fish bit her bait, she became really excited and took the initiative to bait the hook. Even I have to admit it really was all a lot of fun!!!! So hooray to nature and the great outdoors!!! Here are some photos!!!

I Believe My Car Is My Home

I feel like we live in our car. Our commute to work and school in the morning is about 45 minutes to an hour. On Mondays and Wednesdays, just as I sit down to get into the most difficult part of my day, I have to run out the door to pick up Hailey. She changes in the car and 30 minutes later she's off to her ballet class and I hurry back to work. An hour later I'm back at school, picking her up to take her home. The commute home takes at least an hour, sometimes even an hour and a half. I don't quite understand why the ride home is actually longer that the ride in the AM. More people out later in the day I suppose. So frustrating.

But on Wednesdays, schools dismisses an entire hour earlier than on other days so I go back to her school 3 times in less than 2 hours. I pick her up at 2, take her back to work with me until 3:30. There she gets some homework done. Drive back to school at 3:30 for her class and drive back to work. An hour later, at 4:30 I drive back to her school to pick her up and off we go to nowhere land, just sit in traffic for an hour and a half.


Tuesdays and Thursdays, it's pretty much the same thing. Back and forth, back and forth, all day long. She has Jazz class on those days.


And Friday evenings, after work, it's off to our Girl Scout meeting.

So much driving can wear a person out. My head is often spinning. It's worse than actually being at work. Extremely stressful.

I do suppose it doesn't help much that work and school are so far from our actual home. Everything we do is around the school/work area. All her friends live close to the school so play dates are set up in that area as well.

I've even gone to the extreme and calculated that I spend about 750 hours a year sitting in traffic. That totals 31 and a half days a year, an entire month sitting in a car. I always hear on the news those statistics that start off with: "One out of eight Americans.....". Well, I have just realized I am a statistic. I spend an entire month a year in traffic. Pretty intense if you ask me.