Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Random Wednesdayness

I can think of better ways to start a Wednesday than in a dentist's chair. But on the upside, only one cavity left to deal with, and the dentist is a cutie with a really gentle touch. Seriously, anybody in the Jax area looking for a new dentist, ask me about Dr. Floro. He's very nice, just opened his own office in Mandarin and could use the business.

Website
Name of company: South Florida Home Remodeling
Location: Bristow, Virginia

Yeah, that makes sense.

Busy times ahead...participating in a cookie swap Saturday, which means finding cookie ideas using only ingredients currently in the house, because we's po'...luckily I anticipated this and stocked up a bit when we did the big Thanksgiving shop, so while the cookies won't be anything fancy, I don't think I'll come up short. Then that afternoon we head down to Orlando for a bit of family fun. Lil Sis graduates with her masters' degree on Monday. She's the one working full-time as a PR Coordinator for Universal Studios, so she got us all free tickets for the parks, which we're hitting on Sunday as a group. Should be both interesting and fun...fun, as it's been a couple of years for Les and I and we both love places like that, and interesting because my mom and dad will be there, and Dad can be...oh, how shall I put this....rigid, demanding, prickly, misanthropic, anal, mercurial, impatient, and a couple of other things I'm forgetting, that make him a delight to be in public with. I'm sure it'll be fine. Meara forgets that she's still the golden child in the family, so Dad'll be on his best behavior while we're all down there. Mom knows how to rein him in; she must, she pulled it off for my wedding, and that required a much longer trip in the car. But figuring out logistics for a get-together like this can be trying enough, without the distractions of graduation, coordinating the iVillage launch, a Today show shoot, and the Macy's parade opening at the parks this weekend, a boyfriend whose job isn't flexible enough for him to attend his girlfriend's graduation, housing we siblings in her cute little apartment for 2 nights, Mom and Dad negotiating the Orlando area from Meara's place to their hotel to the parks....man, I'm getting uptight just thinking about it. Watching Mom and Dad find their way around someplace in the car, Dad at the wheel, Mom at the map, is like watching oil and water mix. The memories are vivid of shrinking to nothing in the back seat while they tore each other new ones in the front. Mom's very intelligent, but what goes on in her head and what comes out of her mouth...a lot of the time, it's two different things, and Dad just has/had no patience for mistakes. Still baffles me sometimes that they're still together, and scares the hell out of me how Les and I could change once kids enter the picture. Ok, that's enough of that tangent.

Not as jealous of Meara's masters as I thought I'd be...maybe because I know I'm not ready to be back in school yet. So much has changed...I didn't even own a computer in college. Now you practically need a laptop and a high-speed Internet connection just to get a C in your classes. Plus I've gotten used to a "learn at your own pace" flow; it'd be interesting getting back in the swing of needing to give a crap what the teacher thought. Lil Sis got dinged for format issues on her papers in this last class, because the idiot teacher put in the syllabus that they needed to use the latest edition of APA, but then continued using an older edition herself for grading. I'm sure she found a diplomatic solution to the problem, but I'd have been ready to throw down.

What I am is completely, giddily proud of her and can't wait to see her. With 14 years between us, it's a relationship that's evolved in adulthood to something cozy, and I think we both draw on each other for learning...stuff. I go to her for ideas, because her education was more progressive than mine, and far more modern, and she allows me opinions where experience, a shade more worldliness, is required. Such that it is, I mean, most of my traveling has occurred right here in Florida, but I've been in the workplace for a dozen years now, and she jumped right from college into her dream job and realized fast where she was lacking; it made for some growing pains. I can't wait to see her in that element; Mom and I both will probably be fighting back tears all weekend.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Awwwwwwwwwwww. Love you millions and can't wait to play in my town for a change. Should be good times!! :)