Down time in the Sunshine State

I love Florida. I can't explain why other than that it's pure paradise and there are endless ways to stay how ever busy or relaxed you could ever want to be. We've been going to Florida for several years now and there's always the list of things we always do: go to the beach, go to the Daytona Beach Flea Market, pig out at the usual restaurants and catch as many fish as possible. But it's always fun when we can plan a trip and include new things to do. 

This year, we decided to go to Cocoa Beach for the first time and go to Ron Jon's and the beach and a new restaurant near Cape Canaveral, where you can watch cruise ships being launched (all alleged of course, and completely based on the internet). After picking out a tee-shirt and various nick-knacks at Ron Jon's (including a shot glass, and a key chain I immediately regretted buying), we went to the beach and then to dinner. I wouldn't have believed in a million years that cruise ships launched in Cocoa Beach, how big cruise ships are, or that they could fit in the canal where this restaurant was, let alone turn completely around in it as we saw one do...

Behold

Needless to say it was a VERY educational experience for me. And I know that the people on the ship were leaving to go to some exotic beautiful location, and I'm also on vacation as I'm watching the ship pass, but I couldn't help but feel envious. Happy, but slightly envious. I would definitely consider going on a cruise sometime in the future...

Another new experience we were set to have was trying to surf fish. Unfortunately the current was unusually strong and we didn't catch anything, but a day at the beach is never a day wasted, in my opinion.

Of all these activities, we also had quite a surprise on our trip. My mom has a pedal boat in Florida that she and I got in once a while ago and the entire time we were in it in the canal (which is full of a variety of creatures, including alligators, turtles, fish, eels, sting rays, and who knows what else), my sister, a former life guard was pacing the dock forcefully trying to get us to come out. I remember distinctly hearing in worried tones, some variation of "OK guys, it works, time to get out" or "you guys are getting pretty far, don't you think?"

This isn't exactly what my mom's boat looks like, but it's pretty darn close...

 

 Anyway, after the mild freak out Mady endured from the pedal boat she never even considered getting in herself, she promised my mom and I multiple times, that she would never ever get in such a small boat in the canal. Ever. So imagine our surprise when she agreed to get in our neighbor's row boat. Camera in-hand, we watched as she and Laura rowed right by where we were one evening just before it got dark. Laura thankfully took complete advantage of her new rowing partner and set to to scarring Mady for life by going straight to the area where the big alligator's nest is and making baby gator calls.

The expression is that a photo is worth a thousand words. To me, this one is worth a million, maybe more. When she was safely delivered home after her excursion, Mady assured us that that would never happen again, and that she only did it to shut us up forever. Whatever the reason, I think she secretly enjoyed conquering a fear and having the spotlight for doing it. 

Here are some more pictures taken from past trips:

 

The Beach

The Canal

The Lake

  

Ranting, because seriously, what else is a blog for?

Ok, the title is just a joke. Not all the posts are me ranting, but you can't say I didn't warn you about this one. ;) Lately, I'm not sure why, but people have seemed stupider. Is it the weather? Can we blame it on the super moon not that long ago? I can't quite put my finger on it, but it really seems like the past week or so, people have been stupider. 

Example #1: Ok, I know on the totem pole at my work, I'm at the bottom. Not as close to the bottom as a newbie (been there, done that), but still toward the bottom. But it surprised me the other day that when nail polish had been spilled on the floor, my managers should call me to the scene of the crime and expect me to clean it up. Clearly, it's dried. It's not going anywhere. Why not wait until the maintenance person DOES get here so he could, I don't know, do his job so I can get back to mine...? Right? I don't want to sound like a spoiled brat, but at work, the associates are kind of spoiled when it comes to janitorial duties. I've never even been asked to bring kleenex to customer service, the registers or the fitting rooms. Not once. At my old job, we did everything (even more than I feel like I do now); we were register people, floor associates (to equate it to the present), janitors, even launderers. So carrying a box of kleenex, check. I could probably do a lot of the janitorial duties based on the expectations of my last job. But seriously, clean nail polish off the floor because it's dry and the janitor isn't here yet...? Does that make sense to anyone, and if so can you explain it to me, please?

Example #2: Also at work... Mother's Day is tomorrow and of course every man in the city is going to wait until the last possible second to get a gift. Today was like a typical day in December. It. Was. Awful. Yesterday, there were back-up calls like crazy to jewelry, today was no different, and of course, just like in December everyone is going to turn into blood sucking heathens saying they were next all at once. I noticed a man at the very end had been standing there a while and I could just tell I was going to be stuck helping him. Don't get me wrong, most customer service situations I have no problem with, it was this man's posture and demeanor that said it all. So I grab jewelry keys and go down to where he's standing and the first thing he says to me is "Finally" in a really snarky tone. And I just wanted to say, "I'm sorry, Mother's Day has been on the calendar all year long and you pick today to get your gift, like everyone else, and you're irritated at me for not helping you soon enough, even though I don't even work in this department... Ok, you're right, that totally makes sense." But I bit my tongue, got him the necklace and earrings out of the case and rang him up... only to be getting ready to print the receipt and he pulls a 30% off coupon out of his breast pocket. Of course he's like, "oh, yeah and uh I got this"...a lot of good it does you now that I'm handing you your bag and receipt. So I calmly explain there's nothing I can do, but he can take the coupon and his receipt to customer service and they'll take care of it for him... Jeez, really people?!

Example #3 Every Saturday morning I get up a little earlier than I would normally like, drive up to Colfax and Williams and go to my piano lesson. Surprisingly, it's something I look forward to since it's something I've always wanted to do and it's something I do just for me. Today, as I was making the long drive home, I was on Santa Fe between Bowles and Mineral and there's a blue pickup truck ahead of me who I eventually passed to be greeted with a middle finger. I might've been following a little to closely, but it's Santa Fe and I wasn't more than a cars length behind her. And as I passed I noticed she was practically riding the bumper of the car ahead of her. Can I just say, I laughed and laughed and laughed all the way home. There is nothing stupider than a hypocrite, ever. My biggest pet peeve in the world is hypocrisy. But I learned, give a hypocrite (or any stupid person) a car that matches their ego: you've got endless entertainment.

Trimming the Weeds, for Mady

Recently, my sister learned one of the hardest lessons that high school and life have to offer: just because you think someone is your "friend" doesn't mean that they actually are. People are selfish, flaky, and mean, and there's a big difference between having these qualities and having a bad day. In high school, you see this first hand, and find out that people and friends are cyclical, and always-changing like the weather.
 While I've had enough of these friends and experiences to write an encyclopedia sized memoir, my sister has not. I can't imagine what it must've been like for her to see me going through what she's going through now and not understand... I wouldn't be surprised if she thought I was the worst friend anyone could have. And maybe I am. Maybe it's me. But at the end of the day, there comes a time when the cons of a friend or friendship out weigh whatever the pros might be. It's a hard experience to go through, but necessary all the same.

I have a very noticeable scar on my forearm and hand, and after I accidentally cut myself, my dad told me hysterically in the car on the way to the hospital that the worst part of it was that it's me whose hurt, and not him. He said that he would take worst injury imaginable to keep anything like that from happening to me or Mady. At the time, while feeling even more nauseous at the thought, I thought those feelings were reserved for parents and children, until I was left to helplessly watch Mady be rejected and then blamed by someone who was supposed to be her best friend. Seriously, I would take the worst critique and/or ridicule from anyone in her place, if I could. But I can't. And all it boils down to is that those who are mean, selfish, flaky and immature, always will be. And the only way to cope is to rise above. To see these people for what they are (after you go through several containers of ice cream and boxes of tissue), and realize it's over. It's over and (hopefully) they're gone forever and you have the strength, the hopeful kindness and class to pick yourself up and move on. The bad news: this isn't the only time you'll meet someone of this caliber and probably have to go through this procedure. The good news: good people exist. They're out there. All you have to do is, in the words of a certain wise best friend of mine "trim the weeds", and try to find the good ones and keep them close.

Mady, if you're reading this, forget her. You didn't do anything wrong. I know you want to say something ten times worse than what she said to you, but she's not worth it. She doesn't deserve any of your words, time or effort, don't waste it on someone like her. Her sense of entitlement, self-consciousness and possessiveness is hers, and not something you should have ever been burdened with. You and I both know what a mistake she made, and that she knows it too, and she'll have to live with it forever. You're better off, and now your senior year and everything to come will be awesome.