Found a Family Member....

I have a cousin that I havent seen in 28 years and she lives 2 hours north of us here in Florida. I talked to her last weekend on the phone and we set up today to come up and visit her and her husband. She is older than me by 5 years and her daughter is all grown up so they are empty nesters already. We took the day to drive up and re-connect. They own, of all things, an Gator Farm! Yep, like live alligators and crocidiles. They have hundreds of them fenced off and paired up. They breed them and sell the babies all over the world. They also have mostly-tame racoons and a skunk, goats and turtles. They have vultures that come around and feed on what the gators leave behind. There were vultures just waiting in the trees above us. It was crazy looking! What a perfect place to take the boys though. John and Devin loved it! And because we are family, we got a personal tour of these animals up close and personal. We got to hold the week-old gators that they keep in a hatchery. It was cool stuff. Im so excited to live around family and Im happy that the boys get to be around family too. I was raised away from family so its awesome that the boys wont be. Here are a few pictures of the day....

I snapped a few pictures but apparently I wasnt paying attention to the focus...some are blurry. Sorry.

Seth was completely oblivious to the 2-3 year old crocs behind the fence. They, however, were NOT oblivious to him!

Checkin' out the crocs....

The wild vultures waiting for a free meal...

An 8 ft croc.

A 5 foot croc

This croc was especially interested in Seth and was actually pointing himself in Seth's direction!

Just took a walk today.....

This state is full of life. You dont have to seek it out. Its right outside the door. Everywhere. You can hear it when you open the door without even walking outside. You can see it if you just pay attention without interacting with it. I love how alive this state is.

It was nearly 85 degrees today. I took some photos of the lot here that the house sits on.

((( CLICK ON THEM TO SUPER SIZE THEM )))

This first is a no-brainer. Its a Poinsetta. Joe and I have our Anniversary on Dec. 6th. Every year he buys me one. This year is no exception.

This next flowered plant is strange. It blooms yellow blossoms but when they dry out, they turn black and they explode dispersing their seeds everywhere. There are literally thousands of these tall plants around the property edge and when they POP, they are so loud you'd swear that a large animal is walking on branches breaking them in two. It sounds like popcorn going off all over the place!

Here, you can see a stalk with blooms on it and dead ones that will explode soon. I belive this plant is a Yellow Colicroot, but I could be wrong.

This plant was planted by the previous homeowner. These are in alot of the landscaping around here, in many yards. I believe this is a schefflera. Ive grown them inside as house plants but they grow beautifully here outdoors.

I have no idea what sort of flower ths is. If you know, please post. I'd love to know. It is growing up close to the house so the previous owners put it here. It may not be native to this area, but its growing well with little water.

These are a few wild shrubs or vines on the outskirts of the property. Some are viney and one is very whispy. Got any idea what they are? And what about the berries? Edible or no?

A Find

Joe and I didnt have any plans this morning except to take some boxes to the storage unit after the boys left for school. My mom is due here some time tomorrow and we dont want to have extra clutter around here that we dont need because she's bringing a 16' truck with her belongings. The house gets smaller with every piece of furniture you add to it. Things we wont need anymore go to storage.

Afterward, I didnt want to go back home. I wanted to check out some of the thrift stores here because I know there are quite a few of them. I keep seeing them. I told Joe that thats what I wanted to do....thrift shop! So we did. I found this really cool handmade purse that I had to have. For only $3, its a steal. Seth loved it too and carried it all over the store for me while we sought out other treasures, that we didnt find...

I love paisley prints and this purse has just enough of it. I love it.

Caramel Apples

We dont have a whole lot of normalcy yet. We arent in our own home. There's alot of things we cant do here because we just dont have our stuff and our own room for it. The kids wanted to make caramel apples. So we made them last night...they turned out great and it was so easy to make. It literally took minutes to make. Even John ate his whole apple and he doesnt like apples much!

Who I Am....

I realized who I am.....Ive known but was too scared to say.

Im wiccan.

Go ahead, judge me.

Perspective

We took the boys to a Renn Faire yesterday. John had never been to one. Of course, neither had Seth. Devin has been to several with Joe and my dad in the past. They had it in Sarasota. Its actually called a Medieval Faire because the time period is different but its very similar to a Renn Faire. We stayed all day. It wasnt too hot or too cold. The weather is perfect. The kids got to ride horses and ponies, do archery, fencing, face painting, locked up in jail, watch a human chess game and enjoy watching a huge tree man! I love Renn faires too. Probably more than any one else in the family. I feel good being there like I belong there. I love the incense and the henna and the natural products and clothing. I love the people that live this lifestyle and I envy them too.

I look forward to taking the family to the Renn Faire in Tampa this Spring!

The battle during the human chess match

Devin shot two bulleyes...

He was awarded a certificate and this guy proclaimed it outloud for all to hear and cheer!

Devin got to do some fencing. The first to pop your opponent's balloons wins...

Devin won! :)

Horsey rides! Seth and John loved it!

Victoria, the Henna Goddess, giving me a henna tat on my hand...wanna see it?

This is when I first got it. It wasnt even dry yet. I love, love, love it!

This is it this morning. I love the color!

John, after seeing my henna tat, decided he wanted his face painted. It took him all day to decide to do it. He is so shy.

He got a tribal scorpion!

Lovin' the tree man! He might have been my favorite! :)

Seth wasnt too sure about this tree man...but he wasnt afraid of him. Check out the tree man cocking his head to see Seth. Love it.

A Knight ready to joust. John loved it because he hadnt seen one but on movies...

This guy sold pickles and roses but he sure does look like he used to be the Captain of the Black Pearl to me! :)

Seth got a cute pull horse toy to take home...

With So Much Going On....

Who has time to think about Christmas coming up? I mean, in just over a month its going to be Christmas time. It sure doesnt look like it around here and it sure doesnt feel like it either....

We are about as settled into this house and we can possibly be. Its not our house. My mom is due here in just over a week. We have to shampoo the carpets because the previous owners had 5 dogs and the carpets show it. So we're going to do that this week sometime before she gets here.

My mom and I are having issues right now. She's my mother and I love her but she is having boundary issues right now and she isnt aware of it. Unfortunately, if I bring it up to her, it will only result in a verbal war so Im not going to. Its hard not to say something to someone when you want to but maybe it makes me the better person. I dont know. Either that or it makes me a chicken.

We're waiting to hear back from Joe's application for the state job. We should know in a couple of weeks. If they tell us he didnt get the job, we have to move back to California. There is no other work here for us. We dont want to have to do that but we'd have no choice. Joe's job in California will allow him to come back within 6 months of quitting. We're at about a month and a half now. If we had to move back, we wouldnt be moving back to Susanville. We'd move down south where I grew up by the beach somewhere. He can take his job back at any prison, as long as they are hiring. Although we dont want to leave Florida, if this job doesnt pan out (blame the economy) we are fine with moving back. I guess.

Its alot of stress though. And Christmas is coming. Its funny how life just goes on around stress. Like life doesnt care about it because it has no choice but to keep on living. Through it all. Life left John with no front teeth today. He lost his first one in August and lost his second one today. Life has brought Joe and closer as a couple. Life has started Devin on this crazy puberty stage of his life. It comes complete with moodiness and eye-rolling. Lucky us.

Through all the changes and uprooting we've done lately, all I can say is "It is what it is" and I can only deal with things as they come my way. One at a time.