Oo-la-la (Day 12)

What do you think of the new look? I thought it was time. Isn't it so fresh and happy? I picked everything out myself. :) You might similarly be asking me "why are you still up at 4:30am?" Well... I've been having a hard time with the whole sleeping thing this entire week. Late supper = late bedtime. Little to no 'me-time', privacy and time-off-the-clock during normal waking hours = late bedtime. I understand why Mom chose to prep taxes from approx. 1am to 5am in days of old. And Julie will be coming to get me in 10 minutes anyway to keep a sleepy eye on the boys. Oh yeah. General lack of discipline = late bedtime.

Found out this evening that there is a very good chance I'll get to see Matthew this weekend. What are the odds that he would be making deliveries in two of the precious few cities with which I've had direct experience so far??  Lake City, FL and Warner Robins, GA. Sweet!

I thought there was something else I had to say.....

Oh yeah! If it seems that there are posts popping up from nowhere, even dated prior to the last time you visited it's because I'm back-posting (no idea if that is a real term, but I'm making it work for me). Perfect example, I have pics and stuff from Sunday that I haven't taken time to upload yet. When I get around to it, I'll still date it Sunday to keep my calendar straight. Anywho, you're not crazy (in fact quite astute) if you've notice some inconsistencies.
That's all folks.

Love.

Day 9 - Macon, GA

Headed to St. Joseph's in Macon (that's Bacon with an M) for Mass. So excited for High Mass in a foreign parish! Got a late start and arrived at 2:02pm to find an empty church but for six people and the monstrance up on the altar. The afternoon Mass had been cancelled. Boo boo boo. So, I said my prayers (I'm a good girl, I am) and took some pics.

 Love this portrayal of St Joseph's final moments. So sacramental!

I counted over 60 stained glass windows of the saints. I didn't keep track of the decorative ones. It was meditative just viewing the splendor of tradition.

Marian side altar

High altar

Here I am outside God's house. Ya know, no biggie.

The grounds were pretty fab as well.

Rectory next door

Huge flowering tree. I haven't been able to find what tree this is, but they are all over in the nice neighborhoods.

View from the church steps

Fargo, eat your heart out.

The countryside (highway-side) can be quite lovely. Way more green than we have on a good day back home. It'll be fun to see what happens when we get some rain.

Things are going well. Miss everyone like heck. You can comment and let me know how you're doing! Or just call. That works.

Day 6

Things have been pretty uneventful this week. We've been busy settling in back in Hawkinsville; our group takes up a row of seven rooms. There are four drivers from out of state here with us; three from Minnesota and one from Alabama. It feels very much like our own little community, sitting together at night just outside our rooms in chairs that have been dragged out from said rooms. We eat together for supper too, for the most part. Then, one-by-one, everybody says good night and turns in. I get my own room, which works well for all parties. It does mean that I have to move at 4:45 every morning to Julie's room and look over the two sleeping boys, but it's great to have my space.

The sunburn is doing much better. Blistering now, but at least I can reach up without dying inside. The  kiddies have had to wait to go out swimming until it's safe for me to venture beyond the shade. It's odd, none of the hotels in town have water in their pools. Something about the new Georgia regulations makes it really expensive to keep them up, so they don't. I'm told there is public pool in a neighboring town for when we're (I'm) in optimal condition. In the meantime, we got a blowup pool to keep 'em cool outdoors.

Word has spread that I'm available for haircuts. $$ That'll add up quick. Psssh. "yeah, ask the guy in the EIGHT THOUSAND dollar suit. Come on!!!" Arrested Development, anyone? Okee, nevermind.

I knew it was only a matter of time, but my thoughts are beginning to take on Georgia speak. In my head, I'll say things like "I was figurin' to..." and "y'all have a good daay". When I hear myself saying "Will you please hand me that flasswawter? Thank ya, sugar." without blinking an eye, it's time to come get me, ok? Oh, and I've been dubbed Nanny Fran by the Alabaman. Brady finds it hilarious. I don't think he knows it's a reference. But then he is only ten.

Good night. Love.

And just because we love Gob.

Day 3 - Gulf of Mexico

On Memorial Day we went boating in the Gulf of Mexico. I believe the Suwannee River (not to be confused with Swanee River. Just kidding; they're one and the same) led us to the actual Gulf waters, but don't know with complete certainty. Here are some pics.

Most of the houses were on stilts; as you can see, the space underneath doesn't go to waste.

And some had a boat garage off to the side. As convenient as the river is, it's not suggested to swim in it much, due to the water snakes and alligators. We saw a lot of people fishing from their porches.

A boat all loaded up with crab cages.

Around the bend, we got out into the Gulf.

On the surface, of course, the water looked really clean and refreshing. But you can see it's actually not at all. More brownish. And yes, I tasted the ocean, in a manner of speaking. Sodium levels are noticeably higher.

The ball is marking a crab cage out in the deep. We decided to pull one up and see how well it was doing. I think we counted 6 crabs and a few little fish. It was speculated there might even be a baby shark in there. :)

My main man, Brady. It was a great hair day for all.

After a couple hours playin' in the water, we headed back to the river. Mike made sure to soak the inside of the boat before we got to the no wake zone. No electronics were harmed fortunately.

These signs dictate the lanes on the water way; boaters stay right of the red and left of the green.

The green ones are numbered to correspond with the map of the area. We were clipping by pretty quick so I couldn't get the numbers clearly at all.

Here is the patio to Salt Creek Restaurant. We ended up eating there after loading up the boat.

Beautiful houses along the way.

Salt Creek Restaurant patio from the inside.

I had to try the fresh oyster stew. The oysters were big and chewy. Yum! But the soup part didn't hold a candle to our Christmas Eve. Tooooo buttery. Also, worst calamari I've ever had, which was not expected. However, I tried alligator and it does taste like chicken! :)

The sunburn that I achieved on Sunday was aggravated in the worst way by being on the boat for those few hours. It's really deceiving how much sun you're actually getting out there because the movement of the boat and the water keep you cool, but the rays, of course, are still beating down. That sneaked up on me big time, and boy am I paying for it! Cold compresses and aloe for me, please. And maybe a Popsicle...

Day 2 - Florida!

Julie (the mom) informed us shortly after we made it to Hawkinsville that we'd be leaving the next morning to visit Mike (the dad) down in Florida. Sweet! Okay! It was only a 2 1/2 hour drive down to Lake City, FL where there was a hotel waiting for us. And a swimming pool, which I was (as usual) not equipped to enjoy, having told myself that there would be plenty of time to settle in to the new life before needing to look for a suit. Oops. Anywho, the family wanted to go boating, and I needed to make my Sunday, so I stayed behind. By the pool, jealously taking in the youngsters at play in the cool, cool water; I expect no sympathy. I hear you all saying "Um, suck it up. You're in Florida. We won't be swimming for another 2 months." Just tellin' my story....

About 4:30, I left for 6 o'clock Mass in Ocala. Welcome to Baptist country! There is not a Catholic Church around every corner anymore or even in most towns. But, I found a Low Mass at Queen of Peace in Ocala; the church was beautiful. A very open, cool, whitewashed, missionary feel. Enjoy.

The 4 Evangelists in the rafters of the Sanctuary.

Pipes!

Marble built-in altar rail. Lovely.

Side altar

In every corner of the church there were these beautiful HUGE paintings depicting great figures throughout Scripture.

Yep. Pretty huge.

Close up of the lil ol' rooster hanging out with the trumpeting angels.

The rows of pews moved out from the sanctuary to form a cross. There was soooo much space! And the super high ceilings made it feel never-ending and very airy, despite the heat. I'm really glad I made the trip.

Julie decided to stay Memorial Day too, which meant a shopping trip for a new outfit. Darn. :) Good thing too, because I definitely underestimated the power of heat in my Minnesota packing. I mean, it can't be that different, right? I won't die if I just roll up my pants a little and drink alot of water! Obviously, I'm still here; but T-shirt fabric has never felt so heavy. Oh and I found a retro-y polka-dotted (duh) swimsuit! Smiley day.