I live on my secret beach now and I'm still in bliss so just get used to these posts for a while

I didn't dare walk on the beach for Peanut's morning walk this morning. The fog was too thick and scary even for me. Usually I like a scary ScoobyDoo episode kind of fog. Today was the scariest I've ever seen and I wasn't in brave mood. But yesterday on my walk I came upon the biggest effin Portuguese Man O'War I've ever seen in my life. MrPea says he's seen and been stung by ones this big but it was a first for me so I took a pic. I used my foot as a size guide. I wear a 5 and a half and the thing was almost as big as my damn foot. I didn't touch it. Their stingers are still venomous even after it's dead.

i got to wake up to this.....

spent our first night in

spent our first night in our new place. we can hear the ocean from our window. took peanut for his morning walk on the beach.

Just enough time for one quick Christmas memory post

When I was 5 years old we moved to Hawaii.(I mentioned this a million times but my high school English teacher always told us to write with the assumption that the reader just met you and has no clue about your history so here you go Mr.J) The church where we started going regularly had a Christmas party and every child under 12 received a toy. I'm guessing my mom must have signed up our names and ages because they had Santa Claus call out every one's names when it was their turn. Since I have an "A" name, I was one of the first ones called and I got to tell Santa that I was really good(which was probably a lie) and thanks for my toy. I opened my present and was pretty happy with the little yellow and white bear. Until Santa called my sister's name and she came back WITH A BARBIE. I then and there decided I HATED that yellow bear and I cried all the way home. I'm pretty sure my dad lectured me on being thankful for the gifts I'm given. Yeah, in one ear and out the other. In my defense I was 5, the youngest of four kids and used to getting hand me down toys so of course I was likely pouting about the fact that I was going to have to wait a long time for my sister to get sick of that beautiful Barbie in a pink ballgown. My parents must have either felt sorry for me or secretly agreed that what I got was LAME because that evening after dinner they went out and came home with a Malibu Barbie for me. I do have a memory of not really liking it at first because the one my sister got had cuter clothes and all mine had was a bathing suit. Until our other sister showed me the tan lines and told me this Barbie was more Hawaiian. I don't remember what became of the yellow bear. It probably ended up on that island of misfits in the Rudolph movie I still watch every year.


I'm still in the process of moving and have tons of really tedious and boring things to do but I haven't posted in a long time so I thought I would share a memory of how annoying I was as a little kid during Christmas.....I'll try to post more when this is all done.

Happy Thanksgiving

Look what my little kindergarten kids gave me the other day!

stuff

I had no other title for this post. And I've really been into list form lately so just put up with it until it passes.

1. I'm moving. About a mile away so I'm not really sure why I'm stressed out about it. Especially since I'm so in love with our new place and I have plenty of time to get everything ready(30 days). Something about moving just STRESSES me out. We've been in this condo for 4 years now and it's been great. I'm really happy for whoever gets to live here because it's the sunniest window-est place we've ever been in. But we've been wanting to move for a long time and it's taken us this long to find something we like. I'm superstitious so I won't go into details about this new place until I'm moved in. Keep your fingers crossed for me for the next 4 weeks, I don't relocate very well. I should be an expert at it since we've moved so many times but I get more stressed out than a bridezilla when I move. Under all the anxiety is a huge YAY, though. Details later.

2. I haven't looked for shark teeth in what seems like ages. And it feels like all is not right in the world when it's been this long. I can't blame it on the weather, the Florida fall makes me feel sorry for anyone who doesn't live here. It's because ever since I hated my July vacation pictures of myself , I've made a commitment to make exercise a priority in my life again. Exercise is really good for my self esteem even if I don't notice any change in the mirror so I've been jogging just about everyday and I don't jog on the beach like every other sane jogging person around here. As I've said before, this is torture. I cannot jog or do anything at the very place where thousands of shark teeth are waiting to be picked up by me. No I can't. So I jog in my neighborhood fitness room or at a park down the road. I would go crazy otherwise. I can't explain it, that's just the I am.

3. I hurt my neck today. I was driving and trying to take off a jacket at the same time. Suddenly my neck got mad at me. It hurts.

4. I realize most people wouldn't dream of moving during the Holiday season but strangely it makes me more excited. It will be a tight squeeze but I look forward to unpacking my Christmas decorations and celebrating a New Year in a new home. A home that I don't have memories of being sick or "radioactive" in. Does that make sense? Does to me.

Everyone is posting about how to cut costs

I'll admit I'm not the best at it. Some of these are pretty much common knowledge but in a community like mine where people have not/will likely not ever feel any kind of economic slow down, what I do might sound a little radical.

1. I buy store brand products. Dish soap, laundry detergent, paper towels,lotion, even shampoo and soap. Target brand oatmeal soap costs 2 dollars less than Aveeno and my hypersensitive skin doesn't know the difference. Walmart Claratin works for me too. I've never been obsessed with name brands anyway. And that includes clothes and shoes.

2. I do my own nails and toes. People where I live assume that everyone just has loads and loads of money on their hands. I sometimes get asked where a good place is to get a manicure. I always get a surprised look of disbelief when my reply is," I can't really say because I do mine myself." The response is always,"Well I just don't have the time to do them myself." Yes you do! You have the time to get dressed, get in your car, sit in the salon for at least a half hour and then 15 to dry so don't tell me you don't have the time. I can do my nails and toes in less than 20 minutes and if I do them at night while I'm already winding down, I can let them dry while I watch tv without worrying about messing it up. So the best place for a mani-pedi? My house for free.

3. When I buy meat, I'll buy the family size even though I only cook for 2. I cook what I need and take the time to portion the rest out for the freezer. It takes just a few seconds.

4. Library Library Library! There's a GREAT library a five minutes walk from my house. They have a take-leave magazine shelf where I leave all my old magazines(old meaning from last month) and there's always a few National Geographic Mags I can bring home. There's hundreds of DVDs and I might have to wait a couple weeks before I can read the newest books if I don't get there before everyone else but I don't really care. I see a lot of smart moms/dads with kids when they have story reading(I do better voices than the lady they have but she does ok) and what a great place to bring a kid . My favorite part-it's FREE! I used to spend so much money on books I'll never even read again. They also have a used book store where I can get great art books for 5 dollars.

5. I am not snobby about going to the matinee movie on a rainy day. It's raining anyway! I have friend who won't step foot in any theatre before dark for fear of looking like a senior citizen at 32. The whole idea of spending more to please other nameless faceless people who care more about themselves than 'you' is a whole blog post for another day. I will stay mum on whether or not I sneak in my own drink.....

6. I commented about this on another blog and I'm sure I've posted about this before. I hang dry most of my own clothes. That goes for the husband's clothing too. I have pieces that I bought years and years ago that still look new because of this. This is not practical for everyone but, I live in a condo so I use my shower curtain thingy(I can't think of the right word) as my clothesline. I only use my dryer for towels and blankets. Well socks too. So imagine this saves a little on the electricity but I can't really say because I live in hot Fla and it costs a fortune to keep our 3rd floor place bearable in the summer. But my clothes last a long time and I don't always need to run out and get something new for this or that. Obviously the shopping part is more fun but I stay away from trendy clothing so I can wear anything in my closet when in a pinch. I'm moving to a better place in the near future so hopefully our elcetric bill will go down. For real this time. I take really good care of my shoes too.

7. I got asked this question last night(by someone like me whose husband works and they don't have kids) so I feel like I need to tell everyone about it: "who walks your dog?" I DO. Um yeah.

How do you feel about the Holidays being sprung upon us so quickly?

I noticed Christmas stuff at the grocery store today. Usually I get irritated about how early stores start putting out Christmas stuff. Oddly, today it made me happy. I stood there for a long time wondering if I should also start early, buy a cinnamon broom or one of those little bears with elf shoes one. I almost bought red and green Hershey's kisses until I remembered my still left over Fun Bag sized Mini Milky Ways I've been trying not to eat. I even started to hum songs from my Chipmunks Christmas album I had when I was in kidergarten.


On my way out, I had a hard time leaving because my car was blocked and I couldn't back out. I couldn't back out because some people who had just arrived were having a conversation with someone else who happenned to still be in her car. They decided a good place to have this conversation was right behind my car after they had watched me put my groceries in the back, get in and turn the ignition. Usually I just wait a few seconds when this happens but today I beeped. I beeped because I had just ran 2 miles and was eager to get home and eat lunch. They still took their time in getting out of the way, probably because they thought it was rude of me to beep. So, whilst waiting, I remembered why I get irritated at stores during the Holidays and forgot that I had just decided to be happy when I arrived. Yup.

Blue Angels

I took more but Blogger only lets me do 4 at a time and I'm really impatient right now. Enjoy these and I'll post some more later. Click on them to make them bigger.

Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone is having fun. Eat a lot of candy corn and enjoy the jack o' lanterns.......The Pea family is handing out chocolate. Stay safe everyone and have a good weekend.

Reunited and it feels so good

I finally got my haircut today. It's been since May but it really didn't count as a real haircut that time because I got this genius idea to try an $18 dollar place. Never again. My sister whose hair is the same length and texture as mine found a place where she lives that charges $18 without a wash and blow dry and she LOVED it, swore she'll never go anywhere else, told me I should try it out here where I live since it's a chain. I've been looking for a new place to go because I got really sick of paying $75 for someone to cut my long, straight, easy to cut hair because the girl I'd been going to for a long time ran off to Minnesota(of all places to run off to). I went to a spa place a few times and I really liked it, I even got a massage there last year while I was recovering from being off my meds for all that time and I was sore. Then another owner took over and turned the place into redneck heaven. Mind you, I love the south. I consider myself a southerner by preference and I can turn on/off my accent when need be. But when I get my haircut or any kind of beauty treatment, I don't want to feel like I'm in the middle of a HeeHaw rerun. I'm not exaggerating. They got some kind of 'company vehicle' , to advertise and impress the customers. Yeah. Hot Pink Hummers with sparkly rims don't appeal to me as a client whatsoever. If this makes me a snob, then I'm just a snob. The stylist I was used to just dissappeared one day and when I asked which salon she moved to they wouldn't tell me, I think because they were hoping I would just say ok, who else is avaliable. No thanks. I was only putting up with the hard core blue grass music and the yelling profanities back and forth between the mother and daughter owners because I liked the way she cut my hair and her price so this gave me an excuse to go somewhere else. Before that I was going to a woman who only charged me $25 and she was really good. I loved her but she decided to become a real estate agent(in this market when I have all this hair dammit!) so again I was a style orphan. Which brought me to the place my sister told me to try. Yeah. The guy they put me with was greasy, his nails were filthy and he smelled like an ash tray that hadn't been cleaned out since the days of Studio 54. And he barely cut anything and what was cut was lopsided. And he charged me $35, not the $18 my sister had me all excited about. So remember the stylist I "broke up with" that one time? In a moment of weakness I decided to go back. Best decision ever. I don't know why I ever fell out of love in the first place. Well ok I know why. It was expensive and I always felt pressured to buy ridiculously priced products when I was done. But oh man did I have beautiful hair once upon a time and it was because of her! So I had to go back. I had to. Why did I not see that before?! I mean, I get a haircut maybe 2-3 times a year. Why should I feel guilty about it? So maybe the shitty economy is actually good for something because it didn't cost me as much as before(although it was still a little pricey but I need to stay in this moment a bit longer). And all I did was say no thanks when a product was suggested for me to buy. Oh to have pretty hair again. It was beginning to look like I had just been kicked out of the Garden of Eden.


How much is too much to spend for a haircut to you guys?

Mr.Pea

I don't mention him much because, and this is a good thing but, I'm still one of those wives who, after 12+ years can still gush like an obnoxious teenager in love and it probably comes off as sappy if I really get started. I would just get on your nerves, trust me. But since I never post about him and I feel like posting a few things, so dammit I'm going to. In list form.

~Even though we got engaged in December and married in March, in my true heart I consider November 5th our real anniversary. Here's why-- he told me on November 5, 1996 to remember that day for the rest of my life even if I never saw him again and to remember this advice: "never let anyone take advantage, treat you badly, or take you for granted, even me- especially me, because you deserve happiness." You can imagine the kind of jerks I had dated up to that point because that was the first time a man other than my father had ever said that to me. I knew he was the one.

~ The summer before I met him I was severely under weight and constantly sick with sinus infections, brochitus, flus stuff like that. My doctor was concerned that I had an eating disorder and told me to gain 15 pounds and start eliminating whatever stress was in my life that was causing me to lose so much weight. So I did and I really did get better. Fast forward a few months of me being healthy again and in a serious relationship with my then future husband. I confided in him about how self conscience I was about my very necessary weight gain and he said(with his French accent mind you),"What are you talking about? I don't like a too skinny girrrl. I like belly on girrrl. Gain more weight then. Let's go eat right now." Why am giggling writing this? See I told you...sapsapsap (By the way I don't truly know if what I was going through was a "textbook" eating disorder because I did research and none of the symptoms really fit me except for the fact that I was severely underweight. To this day I don't know what that was. Stress maybe? Who knows! Once I gained the weight, I stopped getting all those sinus infections so I kept the weight on and decided to just be healthy.)

~ For about a year and half he worked in California during the week and flew home for the weekends. One day he called and pretended that, for some reason, just realised he didn't remember how small my feet were and was "just wondering what size they were" for no specific reason. You get where this is going? That's how bad of a liar he is. He brought home two pairs of shoes for me as a "just cuz" gift. This was almost 10 years ago and I still have them. His taste is that good. I mean he bought me these last Christmas. And you see, it's not like the gifts were just because we were still newlyweds, he's still like that.

~ When I was "fresh out of surgery" I was having a really hard time. I won't go into the details since over the past couple years I've talked about all the complications so blahblah I had a really horrible surgery to remove cancer with horrible complications blahblahblah. My heart rate was too high and I was in and out of conscience. The thing I remember the most was him holding on to one of my fingers. I was somewhat aware of it and in my drugged state, I felt that his holding onto my finger was the only thing that was keeping me from falling off the Earth. Obviously he didn't know it at the time but he told me later that he held on to my finger for so long because every time he let go, my heart rate would go back up.

~ He never acts jealous. PERIOD. This is such a PLUS because I hate people who act jealous and I would not be in a relationship with someone who didn't allow me to breathe. PERIOD. I could come home and say, "I'm sorry I'm so late but there was this monkey in the road who needed my help so I had to drive him to the store and buy him some Hershey's kisses for his friend the sea lion who lives in that purple shack downtown and we had to go pick him up too because the fish from Utah were in jail so naturally we had to go bail them out before we headed to the strawberry parade. " And he would say,"Omigosh are you ok? Sit down a bit then, you're probably tired."

~ This is going to sound silly for a second but go with me on this one. There's this line in a Al Pacino movie from a while back ago. It's a football movie, I think by Oliver Stone. It's not my favorite movie AT ALL, I'm not really a "football girl." But it's my favorite line because in the movie Al Pacino plays a football coach and he's trying to convince his quarterback, who's been injured and is now ok to play but is really scared to play again. The player says to him,"I'm scared coach." And Al Pacino says something like,"You can do it. Come on we can do it. Me and you. ME. AND. YOU." Anytime there's an uncertainty be it sickness, economic, anything, everything,whatever---that's what I think about when something comes up. That line.
ME. AND. YOU. And that's they way it will always be. Or I think it's You and me, but you get the point......

Random happenings

-"Mon Cheri Amour" was playing at Starbucks today when I went in to "sugar up" before my routine blood work(I have to do this because they sometimes take 4 vials,which really doesn't sound like much.But it's a lot when you're 4'11".). I forgot how much I liked that song. But I only like it when Stevie Wonder sings it. Everyone else just sounds like a cheap imitation.

-I have a bruise on my arm(again) from the bloodwork. Why is that? Some people just have the best hands and never even leave a mark on my arm. And then some people leave big purple dots on my inner elbow making me leave the band aid on for the rest of the day lest people at Target think I'm a drug addict or something.

-I got in touch with the very first girl who befriended me when I first moved here in the 3rd grade. We haven't talked in at least 13 years so it was refreshing to hear an old friendly voice. Don't you love old friends? Old friends just know things about you and you don't have to explain anything.

-I had to force myself to leave the tv off today. Bad news of that poor little girl who was murdered and thrown in the trash had me crying all night last night and I knew it would be all over the news again today. I pray for her mother and family who must be going through hell right now. THE STATE OF FLORIDA IS NOT DOING ENOUGH TO PROTECT INNOCENT CHILDREN FROM CHILD PREDATORS! What kind of....ok I was about to write the word animal would do something like this, but then I thought no that's an insult to animals. I can't use the word human because someone who woud do something like this is not human. Why did this happen?

I forgot to show you guys this

While I went Naples last month, we spent a day in on Marco Island and there were a lot of birds of prey. MrPea bought me a new camera for my birthday last July so it was a good opportunity to use it and I got these two great shots of this Bald Eagle. I am not very happy with her conduct, I have to say.....she was harrassing a pair of osprey's, trying to steal their fish, looking beautiful the whole time though. I think I'll get a good zoom lense this Christmas so I can get some more good shots like this. Click on them to make them bigger. I'm still learning how to use my new camera because it has a lot of bells and whistles but these two shots aren't bad for a beginner don't you think??

Me and Horses

This post was inspired by Des.


Growing up, like every little girl, I always wanted a pony of my own. I don't really need to point out why I never got one. It's the same reason 99% of little girls in America never got one. That didn't stop me from dreaming about it though. Looking back, it's probably a good thing considering one or two of my encounters with a horse. But before I tell all about it and you guys start thinking I should just stay away from all animals let me tell you a couple good things:

My Grandparents had this big beautiful magical farm with trees and hills and raspberry picking and catching fireflies and cookouts and loud crickets and everything great you could possibly imagine a kid would find amazing on a farm. I could fill a thousand pages with beautiful memories of that farm. My Uncle had some land adjoining and his cows and horses were sometimes close enough for us to see. We used to save our fruit and carrots and walk down to feed the horses in the evening. I was always a little scared so I would just hold on to my Grandma's arm when she fed them my carrots so that they would know it was "from me" even though I wasn't really feeding them. Ok, that's a good memory right?

The year I was 16 I went to live with my Grandparents on that very same form for a little while and everyday I had to walk down this rock road home from my bus stop. I would pass a field of the most beautiful brown horses I'd ever seen. I used to call out to them or sing to them, anything to get their attention but they always ignored me. Until one day I was walking by singing as usual and one beautiful mare with a white diamond on her face came up to me. She put her face as close as possible so I took it as an invitation to pet her. I stood there petting her a minute and then they all came to say hello. After that day I used to save the fruit from my lunch to feed them and they would walk next to me as far as the fence would allow. Another good one right? They liked me.


My first apartment was near a really big storybook looking church and there were a lot of weddings there. One particular day I looked out my window and there was a big majestic black Clydesdale horse with one of those Cinderella coach thingies. I went out to take a closer look and ask the driver(they're called drivers right?) if I could say hello. He said it was ok as long as I didn't make the horse excited because he was acting nervous that day. Just imagine my bragging voice," OMIGOSH OK? I have so much experience with horses don't worry." So I started to pet the horse and suddenly I feel a burn on my knee and realize I've just been stung by a bee. I started screaming, "OMIGOSH HURTS! HURTS! IT BURNS!!!" The driver got so mad at me. Luckily for me the horse didn't get upset but pretty much looked at me like I was complete idiot. (Yes horses make faces, ask anyone.)

A friend of mine, after high school graduation, moved out to the country with her boyfriend and bought a horse named Pixie. Pixie was a youngish, spoiled beautiful blonde mare and we liked her mane and tail braided with pink ribbons. My friend had this genius idea that she would teach me to ride since I had told her before how much I loved horses from afar and Pixie seemed to like me. Another genius idea she, well ok , WE had was that she would teach me English style riding and that since I was so small and light, I would learn how to jump fences and we would enter local amateur contests and just kick everyone's asses. Sounds real smart huh? We were serious. One winter day I put on some old jeans and dirty Keds and told her I was ready. Ok just for the record, even after falling off several times, I mastered the Trot and Canter and I looked cute when I tried on the outfit. Since we were feeling really cocky because I was really doing well, she decided it was ok to just let me practice on my own all the way back to Pixie's stall. Well Pixie decided not. She just up and decided to just start running like her ass was on fire and here I am clicking the Trot and Canter click, but it didn't work. She didn't want to Trot or Canter in the pretty way we showed her. She wanted to run. I had to let go of the reins and throw my arms around her neck. This seemed to make Pixie really happy because she started to run faster after that. I was begging her to slow down or stop but I'm telling you this horse was enjoying my horror. We got to really busy street and she decided to stop in the middle and kick her leg a few times and buck a little just to scare me some more. I was still holding on to her neck and asking her to stop. She decided to run like hell a little bit more. I saw a fence getting closer and closer and closed my eyes because I just knew we were going to go over whether I liked it or not. Instead of jumping over she decided to turn and run next to it instead. I said thank you for not jumping over Pixie and gave one last try to pull as close to her bit as I could to make her stop. Thankfully she did but not for long while. I slid off, and even though I was PISSED OFF at Pixie I needed to put my arms around someone and no one was there so I put my arms around her and started crying. I think she thought it was funny because she was acting really happy when we hosed her down. Bitch. I still brought her apples but we were never good friends again after that. My friend said not to hold a grudge since Pixie was so young and she probably really enjoyed my attentions because I was much lighter than the people she was used to carrying. Thanks but no thanks. Needless to say I never became a champion horse jumper, or whatever they are called. So much for our great idea.

I made friends with some horses in Canada but because of Pixie, I never got an a horse again. There's a local stable that rents out horses every summer and you can ride them on the beach. I keep thinking one year I'll do it. But then I'll change my mind. Pixie ruined any horse adventure I would ever have.

Fun at the Dentist

I had a filling replaced today. I had so much fun.

Kindergarten, church, and new friends

Today was my read-aloud-to-a-really-squirmy-kindergarten-class day. I mentioned last spring that I started covering for a person who for whatever reason couldn't do it anymore. It's only twice a month so I said yes when I was asked to do it again. The person in charge of coordinating the whole thing told me they always have a hard time finding people who are willing to read to the younger classes. I sort of expect kids to act squirmy so it's not a big deal for me to read for 20 minutes if it helps out the always thankful looking teacher and librarian. They call me Miss Angel, which I've told you guys, makes me blush. There's usually some one's shoes to retie, a lot of hands raised to use the bathroom, giggling, poking, pinching, and every once in while someone will yell back at one of the voices I'm using for the book characters.(Yes, I told you guys, I do the voices. They like it and it keeps their attention! I had to do mean pirate voices this time.) Today there was a lot of shushing but not on my part. Two boys had to be separated because they are BFF and get into trouble whenever they sit together. By the middle of the second book I noticed them inching towards each other and giggling. I know I'm supposed discourage them when they don't listen to the librarian, but I can't help it. They make me laugh. One girl in blond pigtails asked to use the bathroom. Suddenly the whole class had to use the bathroom. The librarian said no so I had to say no too. I felt a little bad about that. By the end of my last book one of my kids interrupted to ask me if I knew how to make puke noises. I said,"Of course." I did refuse to make fart noises.(I mean I have to draw the line somewhere.)This caused a huge ruckus of giggling and the librarian told them all we had to hurry up so that they would have time to check out their own books before their teacher came back. I really should be more strict with my kids because I can tell the librarian thinks we're too rambunctious but I like them that way. I want them to enjoy their time with me. I love reading and when I was kid I loved having books read to me. I hope that my being there, making it fun and not so structured for them will somehow teach them that books can be just as entertaining as video games and silly cartoons.


I got to be in a parade at my church. Well it wasn't really a parade, it was more of a procession. There were about 70 of us and we each had to to hold a sign of a particular ministry we were representing as we walked down the aisle to music for 2 different services. My sign was "weekend renewal." I'm glad no one asked me about it because I wouldn't have known a thing to say since I didn't know anything nor have I ever participated in the "weekend renewal" . Up until five minutes before I was assigned that particular sign I didn't even know we had a "weekend renewal". I only said yes I would do it because a new friend of mine was holding a sign too and we wanted to be in the parade together. And yes I did enjoy the attention. I tried to hold it "Price is Right" style. I'm expecting any day now to be told how my involvement was so impressive that thousands of people signed up for "weekend renewal" and that it was the largest fundraising in history. Yup.

Speaking of my new friend, don't you just love meeting a kindred spirit? I met a really funny woman who totally gets my silliness. I knew we would be friends when I saw her at my book club with her leg propped up on another chair because she had an ankle brace on. Over the ankle brace were some really cute high heels. She knows what's up. That is totally something I would do and you guys know how I feel about shoes. I said to myself, my kind of woman, we are totally going to be BFF.

I'm sorry guys! I should've said something sooner

I got a few emails asking if I was ok. Well yes I'm ok. I'm not going to say I've been too busy, I hate when people say that. I've just been having a summer: we went on vacation again and I got a couple sinus infections and doing my volunteering things and trying to work out more and my best friendforever came in town so we had to gallivant and I had to catch up reading for my book club and I started taking a class and also I was anxious about some Doc appointments that I had to get mentally prepared for with routine bloodwork and I've been trying to start painting again-that took up alot of mental energy and Peanut got sick so...it sounds like I've been too busy but I wasn't. I just took a break from the internets and the bloggings and all that stuffs. Sorry. I've missed you guys.

Oh I left out the shark teeth expeditions. Yeah. There haven't really been any big storms so I don't really have anything to gloat about but there's been a lot of that going on. The search is just as good as the find I think.

BUT! I do have something else I can gloat about. MY DOCTOR SAYS I CAN HAVE A BABY ANYTIME I WANT TO NOW! HA! Don't expect any announcements about it for a while. We have a few things to do before I can think about that. I can still tell you guys how ecstatic I am about that possibility though can't I? Why yes I can. I've been gone so long I forgot I can say whatever the hell I want to. And let me just say that was the best news ever. Usually I'm always getting crappy news from her so this time I was able to leave with happy tears not sad tears. I wasn't even expecting any kind of news since it was my routine visit. But things were looking so good, she said I don't have to do any body scans for a while and that all was safe. Ok I'll just admit right now that I've been sitting here trying to think of something more to say about this topic but I can't cuz all I can do when I think about is giggle.

OK!? Are we still friends then? Cuz I feel a little guilty that I've neglected my blogpeeps. Say yes or cuss me out. It's ok.

More pix from my trip

I'm probably boring everyone with my vacation pix but I don't care. This isn't even the rest. I have a few more for next time so just deal with me for a couple more posts. ok . Ahem. Where was I? Oh right. Ok so here's a picture of a crab on a tree. Nothing special but I'm learning how to use my camera for close shots and he looked like a willing model.

This was where the inlet let out. There were people swimming but I wouldn't dare. The water is pretty murky and like I said before there are definitely some sharks and I wouldn't be surprised to see an alligator.

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Rare photo of Mr.Pea. He never lets me take his picture so when he's in a generous mood, I have to take advantage of the oppurtunity.

Again I was experimenting with the close up functions.

This would make for a good drawing I think.

I noticed this sign telling everyone what was not allowed on the beach and at first I was happy about it until I saw this! And I'm not quite sure what this park had against my Peanut but apparently he's not allowed nor are any other Jack Russel Terriers. How dare they discriminate against my Peanut!

I took this while on my morning walk. MrPea was still sleeping so I put on my shorts and went for some excersize.

This was taken on Sanibel Island. There was a seaweed bloom so the water wasn't as clear as it usually is but MrPea was trying to find some shark teeth for me. No luck. I did find a couple in Naples but that was it. I did find out the name of an island where I could go next time to find some for sure but I'm not telling anyone the name unless they live in Florida.

A storm was coming on as the sun was setting so of course I had to get some more practice with my camera. Not too bad huh?(This was my birthday btw)

Our view was pretty great. We ate breakfast on our balcony every morning. We're going back to the same place in September and it's all we both talk about lately.

Dear Gucci Sunglasses:The sequel

Dear Former Object of Desire: Gucci Sunglasses Model Number 2933,

Remember Me? Remember how I loved you, longed for you, yearned for you, waited for you? Remember how I could never pass you by without trying you on in the hopes that we might someday be together? Remember how I begged for you to go on sale so that we might make accessory magic together? Or did you forget? You must have because you never went on sale, you never went below the $200.oo I begged you to do. You couldn't have done it just for me could you? 2 years I waited, former beloved! 2. effin. years! See how patient I was? But no you still have to stay up there don't you? $207?! That's the best you could do for a girl who loved you so much?(yes, you read that right, love-d) You thought you could tease me like that and get away with it? Did you not believe me when I said I refuse to pay more than $200.00? Were you toying with me? Did you think you could break me? Did you think you could make me give in for a mere $7.00 over my ultimatum(plus shipping-don't forget that!) price? You have mistaken me for someone who likes to be played with, Beautiful but not infallible Gucci Sunglasses! Because guess what! There's a new love in my life. And his name is Jimmy Choo.


Yes. What did you say? Speak up louder hunny. Oh you're saying that $195 on Amazon isn't that much better than your lame sale price? Well guess what else, former love of my life. I picked these up for $109.00! Yes I did. I took him home with me and we're very happy together. And just to make it sting a little more, I found him in the same store I met you.....don't cry. Oh you're begging me now, how sweet. Well it's been fun being led on and teased by you for these last couple years, but I've moved on. Now if you think you can match my Jimmy, we'll talk. But until then you can watch me walk away from you with my newer and cuter sunglasses and think about what could have been. No regrets. You can't say I didn't warn you.

Good Riddance,

Angel/Queen of patience and bargain shopping


PS Jimmy Choo also has better shoes than you too. Just thought you should know....

So I finally figured out how to upload pix from my new camera

Sorry I've been away so long. It took me a while to readjust after coming home. Peanut had an eye infection so I had to take him to the doctor. I was also trying to learn how to use my camera a bit more. Anyway, here are a few pix:


This was the view from our balcony. Not bad huh? See how there was a waterway between us and the beach? The coolest thing about it was this was all protected so you have to walk through all that via a half mile long walk way. Or you could take the golf cart shuttle the hotel provided but I prefered to walk...more on that later.

This is what it looks like when you actually get there. What I like best about this beach is that there were only a few people there! If you look closely you'll see where sea turtle nests have been marked for protection and you know I was happy about that. This was the view looking north.

Just cuz I like things nicely balanced, this was the view looking to the south. And again my favorite thing about this beach was that it was empty. Some people don't mind crowds and noise on the beach but I like the quiet.

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This is the walkway I mentioned. It was aproximatly 3/5ths of a mile or .6mile through a mangrove forest and over a bridge but I'll have to show you that later. The bottom is made of recycled material. It was slippery that day because there was a storm the night we arrived.

Mr.Pea prefered the golf cart shuttle but I made him walk that time because I wanted to take it all in. Does he look sad and pitiful to have such a bossy wife? Actually in the mornings, he slept in and I would wake up early and go walking. There were more than a few people jogging and power walking. To me this is even better than jogging on the beach. I find it absolutely impossible to jog on the beach. I just can't. I can't imagine walking around on a beach without looking for shark teeth, it would be a complete waste of time. Ok honestly, it would be torture.

I spotted this White Heron fishing when we got to the bridge so it was a good oppurtunity to practice my 'skills' with my new camera. I just realised I probably should taken a picture of the bridge to give ya'll a better idea but I wasn't thinking about this blog at the time....

This was the view(north) as we crossed the bridge and you can see someone had a good idea and brought a kayak. I would be too scared since I am absolutely certain there are sharks in that waterway and very possibly alligators. This is usually where young sharks live since it's safe. Actually we called waterways like this "shark nurseries" in my Marine Biology class. And if there are baby sharks in there, it mean Momma sharks are in there birthing them or whatever they call it. You know what I mean. I don't remember what time of year they do this but still, I know they're there. Waiting for my leg. I imagine I'm missing out on a lot of good teeth but I'll stay alive a little while longer thank you very much.

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Oh! And I almost forgot. If you click on this pic and look really close at the pink thing on the right, it's a flamingo! It was the only one I saw. I have more pix but I'll post them tomorow.

Today's my birthday!

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My view!

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Off to Naples

(The Florida one not the Italian one)

I woke up early to drop Peanut off at his "camp" and I might as well have just took a knife and stabbed myself in the heart. He didn't seem to care about being separated from me it which was actually what I was hoping for but still..... Oh well. It's a nice place, despite the fact that it costs a damn fortune, and they have dog cams so I'll be able to check on him while I'm gone. Still though. Next time I'm going to bring him with us.

Anyway, I'll be gone for a few days. Tuesday is my birthday btw. I'll be 33. Lots of pix when I get home.

Again I have no title for this post but does it really need one? Does everything in the world need a title? I think not.

I finally got over what was the worst sinus infection I ever had. There's nothing worse than being sick when it's over 90 degrees outside. Normally I grin and bear it through something like that but this was really a nasty one. One day during the peak of the worst, I was in the middle of merely making a sandwich and got exhausted just from that. I won't go anywhere near anyone who even has barely a sniffle right now. MrPea's and my trip is coming up in a few days and it's been so long since we went away together, I don't want anything to ruin it.

I thought about posting a few more pix from my trip but I'm sure ya'll aren't interested as you can pretty much guess from my last post what my trip consisted of:two silly sisters and three little boys under their sometimes questionable influence. I'm hoping to try to get back up there around Halloween.

In the mean time, my birthday present(!) arrived early(Thank you MrPea, I couldn't be happier!) so I've been trying to learn all the bells and whistles. Eventually I'll get a strong zoom lens when I begin to figure out how it all works. The basic auto stuff was pretty self explanatory but I didn't know what the hell an aperture was or what a macro lens was for and what ISO stood for but I'm having fun with it. Peanut has been my study subject matter and I'm sure he'll be happy when I start pointing that camera towards something else.

Speaking of Peanut, he has an appointment tomorrow morning at a Pet Day Care since I have no one to take care of him while we're gone. We need to take a look at the place he'll be staying and I want to make sure that he'll be comfortable and well taken care of there. It will also be a good time for them to observe his behavior around other dogs so they'll know what to expect and what kind of dogs he's compatible with during playtime. He's not a fighter but sometimes a humper so hopefully they won't hold that against him. Our ex roommates had a Yorkie who easily put him in his place when he tried to put the moves on her so I'm sure he'll behave once he figures out that the ladies don't like to be treated the way he treats his 'bear'. My standard reply to people who get surprised over the fact that he is actually neutered is usually,"Well he is a man."

Home Sweet Home

I had a good time. I miss my nephews and my sis. This picture pretty much sums up my trip and looking at it kind of breaks my heart. I'm not sure why fate saw fit to place these people so far away from me.

My flight was delayed last night so I got in really late. I also caught some kind of head cold which seems to always happen when I travel but oh well. MrPea and I were supposed to go on our own trip this week but we decided to go the week of my birthday instead. Until then I'll be nursing my cold and catching up on my sleep.

Just a few things before I leave on Sat

-I found a Power Ranger Tshirt size 5T. It's a size too big but I had to go on a damn oddessy to find it so that baby is going to have to just wear it anyway. I got souvenir tees for the older two but the little one said he likes Power Rangers so I had no choice. I went everywhere. Two different Targets-no Power Rangers. Walmart-nothing. Bealls-nope. Kohl's-uh uh. Kmart-nyet. Finally I broke down and went to the mall. Luckily, I found a Disney store and they had some. Crisis avoided. Go Power Rangers!

-The Disney Store. Um. Yeah. If you haven't had kids yet and were even contemplating the idea of pushing one out, don't go there. And for the record I feel sorry for/hold the utmost admiration for anyone who is so cursed as to have to bring a child there and doesn't end up in a straight jacket. The employees seem to know the inner demons that will be unleashed in kids upon stepping foot into that store and take advantage of it. I saw one following a poor mother around making all kinds of suggestions while the woman, who BTW was clearly on the verge of some kind of emotional breakdown, just said, "yes yes we'll get those honey," just so her kid would calm down. Yep. It's not going to be a destination for the Pea Family when I push one out. I said it. Write it down.

-The baby birds are gone. Should I be worried about that? I mean they were getting bigger and all but I can't believe they would be big enough to just fly away. Is it possible that the mother moved them to a different nest? Does that happen? Please don't say a cat got them. I mean I know it's a possibility but it would be hard for me to believe since no one in my building owns a cat and I doubt any stray would have found them. Plus I'll be heartbroken so I'll have to pretend they didn't like the noise and just moved. The nest is still there in perfect condition. I'm going to have to investigate. Their location was at the LadyNextDoorWhoHatesMe's front doorway so it's going to be hard for me to get some answers from her. I better not find out that she did something like complain about them living in her wreath.

-My trip(s)! My trip(s)! My nephews don't even know I'm coming. I don't know how my sister and I kept this secret for 3 weeks without slipping, but we have. I think she's planning to load them into the car by saying, it's a nice day, let's go for a drive. Oh man, they're all going to get pinched on the belly. One by one. MrPea's and my trip South was postponed until my birthday so I'll be home Wednesday instead of next Monday. I was dying to look for shark teeth down there, but I guess I can wait. I'll try to post while I'm gone but if I don't I hope everyone has a Great Independence day and a safe week.

Random Pix I forgot to show ya'll

Actually I did already post my cellcam version of this one a while back ago but I'm thinking about making a drawing of it to go with my shell in the hand drawing.

It was alive so of course I put it back in the water that day. I even stayed watching it for a long to time to make sure it didn't get pushed back onto the sand by the tide. I couldn't let it go without pausing to snap a picture of it's blue and peach side. I'm sure I've looked up the name in my field guide and forgot it's name but my field guide happens to be in the other room and I happen to be too lazy to get it.

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Look close.

Closer....see him now.

Yes it's a him, I checked. Unfortunately for him something had already made a meal out of his belly. His color pattern is really pretty and this will definitely make for a good drawing. I haven't decided to use pencils or watercolors for this one.

This is a Southern Toad that Peanut got into a fight with. I freaked out because he's ended up in the animal emergency hospital for getting into a fight with a poisonous toad in the past. So I took a picture of this one so I could identify it and make sure Peanut was not in any danger. He must have tasted really badly because Peanut spit him out right away and started shaking his mouth. Luckily for Peanut that was the only discomfort. MrPea was to blame since he was the one holding the leash(for both times.) His pattern is really pretty too but I'm not a big fan of bumps.

And, as promised here are the baby birds I have been admiring. As you can see the mother bird made a safe nest on a shell "welcome" wreathe. She was there all the time when the eggs were not hatched yet but now I never see her. I was beginning to worry but the chicks are getting bigger everyday so she must just be busy. Click for a closer look.

They are even bigger than this now- I checked on them this morning. I only counted 2 but I'm never close enough to really see because I don't want to scare them.

Last week while using a restaurant bathroom I noticed a very important communication. Take note of it peeps, you might need this information some day:"James is hot." "I agree." I'm not quite sure who this James is but if I find out, I'll let you guys know.

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And last but not least this was taken last night at 8:30. This is not my beach, it's been too HOTDAMN for me because the wind is still coming from the west. I wanted to look for shark teeth over here but for some reason, there aren't really any here. If the wind doesn't change before I leave on Saturday then I won't be able to look for any shark teeth until next week when low tide is in the evening so it won't be any fun. But the midsummer evening sky is pretty don't you think?