First Visitor!!!

My mom came to visit! She was my first official visitor! Of course, with my moving all over Florida in the span of 2 and half months, my official home wasn't ready for visitors. We just had a couple of big piles of boxes and I had a lamp. The rest of my things were located in numerous other locations to include, Davenport, Clermont, and the trunk of my car.


It was really nice to have my mom visit. We went out for lunch at a BBQ place, got fro yo from my favorite place, and did a little shopping. Checked into our hotel and then went swimming. It felt like a full out vacation! The next day we went to Disney World. It was so different from when we used to go to Disney as kids. We would get up at the crack of dawn and drive to Orlando (we usually stayed out by the gulf) so we could get there when it opened. We would trudge around all day, all six of us, trying to get everything done in one day, no matter what the weather was like. Then, when the parks closed, and only when ALL of them were closed, would we climb back into the car and make the hour or so drive back. Not that I am complaining, it was ALWAYS a blast when we were kids and I wouldn't have traded it. It was Disney World for goodness sake!!!

But this trip we woke up casually, got there when we got there and kind of just milled around. It was relaxed and fun. We actually even left the parks before dinner and went to our favorite (we haven't been to many) Disney restuarant, Kona Cafe at the Polynesian. They bring this GIANT loaf of this hybrid bread. It's like the love child of Hawaiian bread and sourdough. And they top it off with Mac nut butter. Yum! We were back in our hotel room in pjs by 9:30.


I'm not going to lie, I was very surprised when the next day it was so hard to say goodbye. It reminded me of my first day of college when I was afraid to face the unknown alone. Except, I had already done it. I have been living here for 3 months and hadn't really thought twice about it. It's weird how certain situations can revert you back to being a kid. Disney World with my mom was one of them. It was a big day for me. That was also the day that I bought my big kid mattress (yes, before then I was still sleeping on a TWIN!!!!) Now, I have a giant mattress that will NEVER fit into my car. It made being here a more permanent thing. I can't just pack my car anymore and go home. Not that it was the plan or anything, but it was comforting to know in the back of my mind I could always just pack it up and head back. That's not so much the option anymore and it stressed me out that day. So, I cried when I had to say goodbye to my mom, I'm not going to dance around it. Judge me if you'd like! I'm glad to have had my first visitor, I'm ready for some more. Come on down!!!

GATORLAND

Every time I drive/walk/run or even see a body of water (any body of water, including the drain ditches on the sides of the road) I scan for alligators. About two weeks after moving here, we went for an outing to the mall. As we were passing one of the retention ponds in the parking lot, Bill pointed out a six-foot gator skimming along the surface. I didn’t realize that they could be at the mall too! Since that day, I always look, hoping to see one. Maybe I haven’t trained my eyes to see them well, but I have yet to spot my own gator.

Well, I got tired of waiting and took matters into my own hands. At the Village we have tickets for a little place called Gatorland. Every day I passed the sign going to work and I pretty much decided instantly that I had to make a day of it. Our fabulous intern was sporting a Gatorland mug one day and I knew I could recruit her as my partner in crime.

We arrived right as it opened (me scoring the Florida resident discount, by the way). I quickly scanned the show schedule and planned out our visit. I mean, not to sound like a giant dork, but it was everything I could have dreamed of. After taking a gander at the pond of big gators, we made our way to the first show of the day, Close Encounters. I got picked to take secret box. I acted coy but inside I was jumping for joy, be an alligator, be an alligator. Friends, I must add a side note in here, I have interacted with alligators quite a bit in the past, so I myself am not sure why this is such a thing for me. Well, they ended up taking my box back because apparently it had a rattlesnake in there. BUT, at the end of the show, they had me come up and be one of the people that got to hold the giant snake. He asked me heads or tails… I picked heads!

 

We continued our way down the list of shows and of course visited the giftshop. We made our rounds throughout the land of gators and even came across a rather wide croc that I could sympathize with. All in all, it was a pretty “country” excursion. I really liked it! But, it still is not the same as seeing one in real life out in the open. Without a fence between us or its mouth taped. So, I will continue to scan the water, hoping to find my Florida gator

Lions and Tigers and Bears...

The critters are so different here. I say critters because that is what they are! In Illinois we didn’t have critters, we had squirrels and pigeons. For starters, in Florida there are those little lizard things EVERYWHERE. I will see five of them on my trip from my car to my front door. Then there are those bugs that people aren’t really sure if they are some random insect that looks like a roach or if they are indeed cockroaches… then, working from smallest to largest (yes, the bugs are BIGGER than the lizards), we have the snakes. I’ve only seen a handful of them and they are usually just slithering across the sidewalk, but I think the only time I ever saw a snake in Illinois was in a reptile store. I’ve only seen the “friendly” snakes so far, but I’ve been told that grumpy snakes do slither across the sidewalk as well sometimes… eek!

 

Have you ever seen an armadillo? You know, like Arthur from the kid’s tv show on PBS. Yes, apparently that is a real animal, and that show was based in Florida. I’m not sure what I expected them to look like in real life, but that wasn’t it. The proportions were off or something. One day, I just came across three of them digging around in the rose garden at the village. They were just inches away from one of the busiest sidewalks and roads in the village. It didn’t bother them any, they just kept on digging like it was no big thing. One thing is for sure, they look like they can roll right up into a perfect ball.

The cranes are all sorts of crazy here. Well, there are those tall white ones that are really pretty, you usually see them on postcards. I’ve never really seen one up close yet because they always seem to be on the opposite side of the pond, no matter which side of the pond I am on. But then there are these other cranes. They are just slightly larger than the white ones and they are a brownish gray. These, I have seen up close and they are hostile! Someone forgot to tell them that they are birds and not bulldogs. When I was jogging was day I came up to a pack of four of them chomping on some grass along the sidewalk. I figured I would just jog on by and we would go our separate ways. Well apparently they are not fans of sharing the road. It didn’t chase me or anything, but he kept a very stern eye on my the whole time. And as I approached he took one step towards me and he somehow scared me into running the long way around with his stare alone. And then for some reason, all the way home I kept looking over my shoulder. I felt like I stumbled into a drug deal and now I had to wonder if they were after me because I knew too much.

And of course there are the alligators. Of all the critters, these are the ones that I am most excited about. Everyone tells stories that you can’t go into the lakes because you’ll get eaten by the gators. Or that you’ll see one here or there. Well, since arriving, I have only seen one, and I didn’t even notice it on my own. But the search continues…

Alas, I have not actually seen any lions, tigers, and or bears.

“If not me, then who…”

This morning I got up and ran the 9/11 Heroes Run. I haven’t ran a race since April and getting up early sounded like a terrible plan late last night when I couldn’t fall asleep. But I am so glad that I did.

Now, the running part wasn’t any more enjoyable than normal, I still run strictly get to the finish. But knowing I had to get back in the saddle, I went searching for my first Florida race. When I came across the Travis Manion Foundation and the 9/11 Heroes Run it really caught my eye. Travis Manion was a marine that served in Iraq. After being killed in action, Manion’s family started a foundation to provide support to other Fallen Heroes and their families.

The atmosphere this morning is hard to describe. It was patriotic but not overboard.  It was all-American. It was a different way of showing support and pride for your country besides shooting off some bottle rockets. My absolute favorite moment of the whole day was while a local girl belted out the Star Spangled Banner, an old veteran stood in front of the color guard saluting the American flag. I literally had to look away as the tears swelled up in my eyes. I’m not sure why it tugs on my heartstrings so much but every time I just can’t help but get emotional.

To be honest, I’ve never really done anything to honor 9/11 in the past. I know that makes me un-American or something, but I just never really thought to. I understand how tragic it was, and that is really changed the world as we knew it. I understand the thousands of lives lost and the hundreds of thousands more affected by it. But I never was really tied to it before.

Now, just because I ran some silly 5K race today doesn’t mean that I automatically know what so many people had to go through. Or that all of a sudden the events that took place 10 years ago are going to send me in a spiral of depression or anything. But I think it made me realize that it doesn’t have to be about being sad today. It is about embracing being American and just being so grateful that there are people out there who are willing to sacrifice their lives, willing to go thousands of miles away from everyone they love, willing to run into a falling building when everyone else is running out, just so I don’t have to. Not like “I” me… but like the every day Joe who can eat their pop tarts in peace on their couch in their underwear while watching American Idol. It’s because of people like Travis Manion and the 6000 other people who have lost their lives. People like Manion who said “If not me, then who…”

P.S. I didn’t mean to make this a quasi-political rant. Don’t judge me that I blogged about something cliché today!

Three months... has gone SO fast!!!

Today marks my three month anniversary of moving to Florida. I'd like to start by apologizing for my lack of blogging. I have been experiencing all sorts of fun Florida things and have not updated the masses via this blog (I know there are masses... just go with it).

I've lived in three different locations, visited Disney World numerous times (I have a Florida Residence Annual Pass), saw gators at Gatorland, and  went the beach. Found a job, made friends, even found a roommate. I can make it to a handful of places without the GPS, and even was able to give a guy directions in a Starbucks parking lot one day. Plus, I survived my first hurricane scare (ok, so Irene blew right by us **pun intended** Fine, I won't count that!).


The truth is, I feel like I have been here all along. It really amazes me how comfortable I am here. Sometimes, I forget that I've moved at all. I will look out the window and realize there are palm trees out there. That's right, I'm in Florida... that's new... Just today, I was walking through Hollywood Studios and glanced at a spot that I had taken a picture at on a previous trip. I remembered standing there and thinking I don't want to go back to Illinois, can I just stay? At that time, I said I wanted to move, but I didn't know I was actually going to do it! Don't get me wrong, there have been some bumps in the road, a couple of not so ideal situations. But overall, I am very happy with my decision to move. It has been just what I needed.


The big project now is getting settled into my permanent place. Officially unpacking and getting some furniture. I can not longer fit all of my things into my car and I have a lease for a year, so this Florida thing is happening for at least that long at this point. I'm sure it is just going to fly by anyways. Three months... has gone SO fast!!!