When I was about 25 years old I went to Florida with my parents. I was a single mom then so their offer was so nice. We visited Ft. Meyers and some of the other cities along the west coast of Florida. We also took a side trip to my favorite place, Disney World. My older daughter Lady Ali was about 3 years old at the time. She had a great time, but in Ft. Meyers I just about lost my mind.

My father had the idea that he wanted to buy a house in Ft. Meyers. At first it was very exciting. My parents were looking for a large home that I and my daughter could live in as well as a home on the water. They couldn’t afford a place on the beach, but wanted some type of water nearby, a lake, a pond or even the intracoastal. I was already looking for work thinking that this was going to be my new home.

As the days went on though my vacation turned into a real estate nightmare. Instead of finding things to do in Ft. Meyers we were looking at houses. The poor Real Estate Woman was taking us all over the place, treating us to lunches and in the end….my parents didn’t buy a house. Talk about a bummer. I’m glad that the first few days I got to enjoy the beach at least.

Now that I control my own vacations because I’m older, am married and can afford it, we are always interested in learning about new family vacation ideas. One place that looks exciting to visit is the San Diego zoo among other places in the USA.

Trusted Tours and Attractions has a newsletter that we’ve signed up for. If you sign up for it by this Monday, March 31st you can automatically be entered into a drawing for an IPOD Nano.

Yesterday I was on my way to a doctor’s appointment when I got a call that stopped me in my tracks. A stranger called me and told me that I didn’t know her but to be calm. She went on to tell me that my Mom was in a car accident, that she didn’t seem to be hurt badly and that she was refusing to go the hospital. She allowed me to speak to my Mom.

I was freaking out so I pretty much screamed to her that she needed to go to the hospital in the ambulance that was waiting there. I then rushed to get dressed and head out to the hospital, but which one?

I called back this kind stranger who then told me that my Mom again refused the ambulance ride to the hospital. By then I was yelling at this poor woman! She ran over to the ambulance and got my Mom on the phone. I told her that I wasn’t going to pick her up unless it was from the hospital. I found out what hospital, thanked the woman, left in my car and called my doctor to tell them I couldn’t make my appointment.

Mom was OK. The airbag didn’t go off so she was bruised by the seatbelt and her legs hit the dashboard. She got a citation and the other woman she hit was in the same hospital. It was surreal.

I’m thankful that she’s alright. There’s so much involved here but I don’t want to go into details. It’s just very stressful. I was sick all afternoon and night. I can barely move today. Hubby just said to let her make her own decisions because she will any way. So today when she told me that she’s renting a car I didn’t say anything. All I know is that I won’t drive with her and I won’t let Peanut get in the car with her any more.

If there’s one thing that I enjoy it’s eating out. I love to go to a nice restaurant, be served well, eat a tasty meal and not have to worry about preparing, cooking and cleaning up afterwards. This is one of things that I look forward to when we go on vacation, but also when I have a doctor’s appointment that’s a long distance from home or one that is something I’m not looking forward to. It’s my special treat.

When we eat out I want to take time to relax, to talk with Hubby and other people that may be with me. I don’t want to feel rushed. I don’t want a server who’s too intrusive, yet someone who can laugh a bit with us, tell us what’s good on the menu and help make our experience a good one. I hate when we have to wait for drink refills or something extra that we need. It just takes away from the satisfaction of the meal and the whole experience.

I wish that every restaurant would have wait staff who are trained to take care of the customers with a little flair. There are a few places that we go frequent just because of a certain server. They just make you feel at home, know what you like and treat you kindly.

If a large restaurant wants to add to their own training, I’d suggest they use this
waitress training DVD. It goes through scenarios that can keep customers happy and wanting to come back for more. It also teaches something close to my heart, cleanliness, including proper hand washing techniques.

When I’m dining out I want some of the extras I don’t have at home like grated cheese on my salad or freshly grated pepper from an electric pepper mill. It’s a nice feeling that when you get your bill at the end of the meal that it was worth it. Being treated well by the server, good food with some special touches and leaving more relaxed that when I came in help me want to spend that money!

Beginning yesterday in the morning I began with that all encompassing feeling of fatigue. I know that I’ve tried to explain it before, but I find no words to do it. I love Peanut to the end of the earth but I can’t even muster up the energy to talk to her, to listen to her, to be around her. I have trouble moving my body, my limbs. My mind moves slower. I have trouble speaking.

I was supposed to go to Bible Study but I knew I couldn’t drive or think. I ended up not going. So I stayed home and I went to sleep. I slept the whole morning and afternoon. I had trouble waking up to pick up Peanut from school. I almost slept through it. Hubby had to call me twice to wake me up. I drove in a daze and it probably wasn’t safe. But I had no choice.

I feel guilty because I totally ignored Peanut. Guilt is such a part of being chronically sick.

Here’s something that I missed yesterday thinking that I was going to Bible Study and then getting a haircut: