will the real Harry Potter please stand up, please stand up

Chance went to a Harry Potter party last week. Shocker, I know. Pretty much EVERYONE I KNOW has been to a HP party recently. He actually saw the latest movie (along with most of Tallahassee) at the very first MIDNIGHT showing the day it came out. It's so funny to me because he hasn't read ANY of the books. Never cared to. Tyler has read them ALL about 30 times since he was in 3rd grade. And yes, I was the mom that took her elementary aged kids to the bookstore in the middle of the night so they could get the new release FIRST. And I was also the mom that let her kids skip school so they could see the movies before anyone else.

Even though he hasn't read the books, Chance has loved the movies. The party he went to last week was at church and they were spending the day catching up on the old films and then all going as a group to see the last one. He was so excited that he woke me up at 6:30AM. The event didn't begin until 9:00am and it only takes 20 minutes to get there. You do the math.

This is what he wore...

I needed to get away

And after a very sweet invitation from Jess, I got away!! Whoop Whoop!!

I did nothing but take a few photos, read from the book that Tyler got me for Mother's Day, and stare blankly into the horizon as the sun blazed my skin. Loved it!!

Tyler and Jess, on the other hand, spent a lot of time in the water.

Wet Paint

Tyler and I have been painting this week. The color is a little loud but the house looks soooo good with a fresh coat of paint. One of my neighbors came over while we were painting and told me that it was his favorite color. Ha!

Of course, Falcor is always happy when he gets to go outside. We just have to make sure he has his little tarp to lay on since he won't sit down in the dirt. Ha! Ha!

Tuesdays with Iris

Almost every Tuesday, Iris gets out of the house. Most of the time, she goes to Lake Ella for a nice, brisk walk. And then to Black Dog Cafe for a water.

Iris is the one on the right.

A couple of times, I've tagged along. And this time, Tyler joined us. But, unforturnately, Falcor did not. It's a sad story of sibling rivalry and a bad memory of a fully-clothed swim in the lake.

This is Tyler and Jessica. And Iris on the left.

Iris belongs to Jessica's sister, but spends most of her days with her parents while her sister works. And on Tuesdays, she gets to go out. Jessica invited us to join she and her mom at the lake for a lap and a visit and I loved it. I haven't seen her mom in a while and, well, any day I get to spend some time with Jessica, is a good day.

Sweet Jessica. That's what I call her. She is absolutely, positively the sweetest, nicest, kindest, most compassionate person I know. She loves her family, her friends, her school, her community, and her environment with all that she has. It's awesome.

Tyler and Jessica met and became friends during their freshman year in high school and started dating during their senior year. I asked Tyler recently what his most favorite thing about his relationship with her (almost THREE years) is.

He squirmed and grinned as boy does when his mom asks him about his feelings. It was so cute.

"She's my best friend. She makes me laugh. I can tell her anything and everything. She lets me be me."

AWESOME!!

Killing time

deep woods exploring

Yes, I've been MIA lately. There's been so much going on around here that I've barely had time to check my email. So, that means, that over the next few days, I have TONS to share. It's all going to be a little out of order, but one of the best things that I ever learned when I used to scrapbook was that, if you get behind, start with the most current event and work your way backwards. And believe me, I used that piece of advice on NUMEROUS occasions. NUMEROUS. LOTS. Okay.

Chance and I took off yesterday afternoon on a little adventure. We've been trying to locate a few new places to hang out with the dog and fish. I've been nagging the boys pretty regularly lately about how they are never home and how we never do anything together anymore. School. Work (they both have jobs now). Bands. Friends. There's always something to do. So when Chance suggested that we take a little drive yesterday, I packed the dog, camera, and water bottles before he could change his mind.

And here's what we found.

It's an old dam. We had to hike through the thick, overgrown woods, past the snakes and bugs and I don't even want to know what else, until we found it. It was the coolest thing I've seen in a while. We only stayed there about a half an hour, because, as awesome as it was, the stench of the stagnant water was too much for me to take. And I can take a lot. Normally, stuff like that doesn't bother me. But it was bad. But it was also soooo cool.

I can't wait to go back. Preferably after a little rain.

And 38 doctor's appointments later...

We ended up in Gainesville at Shands. 

I quit going to Shands with Chance about six years ago after a quite unpleasant visit with a pompous neurosurgeon. And I really should say that MOST neurosurgeons are pompous so I shouldn't have been surprised. We met most of the biggies in the South. Believe me. POMPOUS.

I quit going because all they wanted to do was poke and prod and offer no logical solution to our issues. In fact, one medical professional said that he would never do any type of procedure on Chance. Ever. Again. Yet he wanted us to return in six months for more poking and prodding. 

That's when I said enough is enough.

But then Chance started having some issues this past January and our wonderful primary doc said that he wanted us to make a visit to Shands. Just because we hadn't been in a long time. And yes, he understood why we never went back, but he thought it was time.

Ok. Fine. 

Shands called on a Thursday and wanted us to come on Friday. No way. So we scheduled our appointment for the following Friday. I called the ever sweet Jessica to let her know that we'd be in town and could we have lunch. She said SUREEEE! Yay!

We arrived about an hour before our 9:00am appointment. Which, if you do the math, means that we left Tally at 5:00AM!! I repeat 5:00 AAAAA.MMMMM. I spent a few minutes collecting all the items we needed like camera, nintendo ds, and ipods, then spent a few minutes putting on some makeup (don't want to scare the nice folks), and I was ready to hit the main entrance.

It was much smaller than I remember.

We signed in at neurosurgery and only had to wait about five minutes before they called us back. The did the normal stuff like checking height and weight and showed us to a very small room. Where we waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Thirty-five minutes later, Dr. Pincus made his entrance along with a woman, who I think might also have been a doctor. But I wouldn't know. She didn't introduce herself.

Dr. Pincus, with his very dark spray tan and shiny suit (think George Hamilton or Charlie Crist), said to Chance that he couldn't believe how much he had grown since the last time they saw each other. I said six years and that I didn't think it was him that we saw. He said that, no, he couldn't have seen Chance because he wasn't even there six years ago. Huh. Ok. Interesting.

Obviously he didn't look at the chart.

The doc then asked a few questions. What had been going on? Why were we there? Any new symptoms?

Then he did a quick neuro check.

And eight minutes after Dr. Too Tan swaggered through the door, we were on our way. Yes, really.

Up at 4:00am. Drive 2.5 hours to Gainesville. Thirty five minute wait. And BAM! It's over. Yes, really.

I was in such a state of shock at what a COMPLETE and UDDER waste of my time this was that I couldn't speak for the next hour. We drove in circles. With me not speaking. Or listening.

Of course, Chance was thrilled that someone had pronounced him WELL in EIGHT minutes that he was riding high on that cloud #9.

Needless to say, we WON'T be going to Shands again any time soon. Or EVER. There were a couple of bright spots though...

And their names are JESSICA and KRYSTAL!!

Sweet Jessica met us after her class at KRYSTAL so I could drown myself in the wonderousness that is a Krystal Cheeseburger. There are no photos from Krystal except for one I took on my phone when we walked in the door. There are no photos because I was too distracted by how HAPPY I was to be at Krystal. It's been a year. And I've missed them. Yes, really.

After we ate, Jess took us to this really cool Pizza place called Satchels. We didn't eat again (I promise). We went there because they have this really cool store with lots of cool stuff. And lots of cool, old junk and collections EVERYWHERE. See photos.

Thank you Jess, Krystal and Satchels for making me a happy day. Pincus who?

Hydration for the soul

Chance and I decided that we needed some water. To be near some water. To look at some water. We had both had a rather bizarre week. So, after an appointment on Friday, off we went, a mere 14 miles from our house to the coast. It's not the typical Gulf beaches. It was magically secluded and worked wonders on our souls .

Now we are ready to have a glorious week. Hope you have a great one too.

Six bands, one night

Last night, Chance and I went to Floyd's Music Store (not a real store) to watch some friends (and my son) play in the Local Showcase.

Amazing.
WARNING: heavy photo post ahead. :)

Forever and Always were the headliners and are also working on their CD this weekend in the studio. Other bands that rocked on Friday...

• Tourist (Alternative/Indie powerful live set)
• Hooray For Autumn (Debut Show!)
• Here For Today (Formerly Mayhem Drive)
• Alive At Last (New local rock music)
• Silver Diner Kids Club (Chill-Pop)

Today's sweet snaps:

This is Dave. He's beast.

The crowd was like a Leon Band reunion.

Tyler playing with Silver Diner Kids Club.

My life is average

If average is spending an entire week driving your kid to SEVEN various doctor's appointments for his multiple ailments.

And if average is dinner and a movie night where you actually spend more time watching YOUTUBE videos than the actually movie.

And if average is a dog that likes to be swaddled in a fleece blanket

and drink straight from the bottle.

TGIF! Happy weekend! Looking for something to do? 

Join us at Floyd's TONIGHT at 7:00pm...

Forever & Always (Playing 2 new songs!)
Tourist (Alternative/Indie powerful live set)
Hooray For Autumn (Debut Show!)
Here For Today (Formerly Mayhem Drive)
Alive At Last (New local rock music)
Silver Diner Kids Club (Chill-Pop) (Tyler playing drums)

More details HERE.

Blue Skies and Sunlight

And around the corner...

Hallelujah! Chance and I really needed these blue skies today. He hasn't been feeling well and it's been raining and cold and we needed to get out of the house. So we loaded up the dog, the cooler and the camera and headed to a couple of our favorite fishing spots.

It definitely perked us both up. There was a little chill in the air that made our cheeks all nice and rosy. And, of course, Falcor had a blast and just about ripped my arm off several times while trying to go swimming.

The funniest moment of the day was when we were headed to Tyler's this afternoon, we were stopped at a red light, and we realized that this particular intersection at Apalachee and Magnolia had the new red light cameras. And when they flashed, Chance absolutely went HYSTERICAL, laughing and yelling at the people that will soon be receiving a photo in the mail of their infractions. He cracks me up.

Absolutely ADORE that boy.

Amen. Goodnight.