Kumquat

Growing up my neighbor had this delicious kumquat tree in her backyard. I would feed myself all day long on those tasty things. I moved away more than a decade ago but those little treats crossed my mind many times since then.

Driving home from Washington I found some in an Oregon Safeway of all places and I couldn't wait to get some for my kids to try. I didn't remember them being so rough looking but sometimes things are just different when you grow them yourself. I was so excited to see them again I popped one into my mouth as soon as I got into the car.

It tasted like an orange rind, not how I remembered at all. So I tried to peel it (which apparently you need to do) and discovered it is essentially a tiny, less satisfying orange. My children were about as unimpressed as I was.

It turns out my neighbor had a  LOQUAT tree which is not even the same family of fruits. These are the not 'quats' I'm looking for.

Throwback Thursday er Wednesday

Do you know what happens when you pay for a website but don't have it work for many months? You start writing (because it makes your heart happy) and then never add your pictures or publish your thoughts.

Going through my dashboard I have so many posts I started (or mostly finished) and then never had the motivation to finish it all the way.

It's time for me to get some of these up so I apologize as old things start popping up. I'll try to keep the history posts to only a few a week tops. With that said, let's time travel!

Lessons Unexpected

I was reminiscing today about how thankful I am for lessons I never knew I'd need. Not math or history but the life lessons you never want to need. 

When I was in high school my mother had complications that caused her to loose the ability to walk. She was told she'd never walk again (which awesomely ended not true) and ended up in a wheel chair for more than a year.

Both of us standing just two months ago

I remember when we'd go somewhere with wheelchair ramps (that always seemed to have crazy slopes) she'd come flying down them and grab a wheel to turn to a stop just as she reached the bottom. Passersby would usually panic thinking she'd lost control and was in need of help but she explained it that it was less painful on her arms to not try to control the decent when there were no pedestrians in the way. Seemed legit. And, it always provided me with a great deal of amusement, especially the day she did it towards a body of water. 

I thought it was great fun to play in her chair. Especially at places like dinner where'd she'd already be sitting at the table, I'd sit in her chair and if I ended up in someones way it was always more efficient for me to just get up out of the chair and move it. If I'm being honest I did this more for the hilarious reactions and less for the fun of sitting in the chair. 

There is the important skill of being able to get up curbs, over bumps,and whatnot and for that, those in a wheelchair for an extended amount of time learn the wheelie. More advanced is moving directions or spinning while in a wheelie, it's fun. I spent many months practicing it at home because I thought it was so fun (which most things are when you don't HAVE to use it). 

 When you pull it off in public most people seem to think you are about to plummet to injury. Although I was never in the chair in public needing this skill I saw plenty of people react to my mother.

Here I am some 20-something years and a freak accident later finding myself so grateful for my experience in wheelchairs and for public access to them in hotels and airports.  I needed the wheelchair, I didn't need to do the tricks but it sure made the chair a lot more fun.

So, to my previously severely handicapped mother: 

Thank you for teaching me how to use your chair while I pretended to be disabled because one day I would need these skills for real. Things like getting from a wheelchair to a toilet; turning the wheels in opposite directions to make tight corners without bumping your legs; and even how to get in things like bathtubs without the use of your legs (or at least one leg). 

I never knew I'd use these skills or even that it was a life lesson I was being taught but clearly I'm grateful for the knowledge now. 

Positive Spots

A few months ago my son (just turned two years old) had a spot on his back like a red mole. In just a months time the size increased drastically. Moles don't change. It took some time to get him into a dermatologist but when we finally did see one they decided with his age and the speed of growth it needed to be shaved off and tested.

Now I won't go into all of the details, but lets just say I will never go back to this doctor. My favorite moment was how they pulled the needle out with the numbing medication before instantly cutting his back- never letting the medication take effect. Maybe that's standard practice there, but that's not how I'd want to be treated so my job as mom is to protect my son.

When the results came in the office told me they were abnormal and they'd see me in a few months, nothing else. It took two days for our Primary Care Physician to get the results where he was able to inform me that my son has a Spitz Nevus.

It's bad, but it's not. A spitz nevus is a juvenile melanoma. My son will need surgery where they put him under so every last piece of it can be removed, usually with a laser. Most doctors are not concerned as long as it is under 1cm in size. My son's was 8mm in just 6 weeks. Thankfully the new dermatologist we have has cleared a place in his schedule for us in just 2 weeks even though he's booked through December.

What I know is that he will have surgery. As a family, we will have to be more diligent with his protection from the sun; hats, sunblock, and being as covered as possible. It's hard being such outdoor people, but he loves hats and most of us burn so easy that sunblock isn't a new habit.

Am I scared? Absolutely, but mostly of his surgery. Anytime you are put under anesthesia alarms me. I've avoided it for 31 years yet here my little boy will have it before he even starts school.

Am I grateful? More than I can express.

I was blessed with an opportunity to go to a cystic fibrosis fundraiser just days before getting these results. If you have no idea what it is a quick google search can open your heart. If you want to be really touched, read the story about 65 roses and the optimism they have.
I have it easy as does my son. He'll need to wear hats and use sunscreen. Breathing should never be a struggle for him, at least not from this. I'm so grateful for this realization.

So, hug your babies no matter how old they are and count your blessings.

“The greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.” 
― Martha Washington

Two and a Half Minutes

Thirteen months ago I decided I was over godaddy.com and should use a different company. While setting up the change (which was more complicated than I expected) I broke my website.
Boooo!

 I've tried to fix it a few times but there's been a LOT going on so I probably never tried hard enough.

 Finally, I looked up a specific youtube video for the company I own my domain through and two and a half minutes later I had my website up and running again.

 Perhaps I should have tried harder, sooner. That was $10 spent for a year of nothing and I wasn't even writing when I wanted to.

Lesson learned. All that matters now, is I'M BACK!

There's probably going to be a lot of catch up going on (because my year was amazing) and some new stuff too. Come along and enjoy the ride if you're still around.

Around the World in 14 Hours

I had the privilege of getting to cross another item off my bucket list. Before our cruise out of Miami, Cliff gave me the opportunity to spend one day in Disney World! *insert excited child-like scream here*

I got to choose the park but we both decided that Epcot was the least like Disneyland and the most worth it for us. The best part of Epcot is that it let us travel all over the world in just a day and without jetlag.

Cliff and I don't really have many pictures together so he humored me and posed (in Cliff fashion) with me in each country.

I chose each location for the countries based on if it was my favorite view of the country and if it wasn't crazy crowded (Norway's church was never devoid of people climbing the viking).

In just one day I got to experience 11 countries with my love. Disney Magic for the win!

Good Morning, Tampa

Sunrise from my balcony over Tampa

I experienced sunset in Los Angeles followed by sunrise in Tampa. I'm not sure what plane I was on flying to LAX, but it was so small! It made such terrible clanking noises whenever the pilots moved the wings or made changes to the jets I was just sure it was going to break apart in the air.

I'm not very big, and yet I felt so cramped in my seat I literally gave myself a pain in my neck. I was so excited to get on a 737 for the flight to Florida. You don't realize how great some amenities are until you don't have them. Thank you whoever designed the 737, you are a genius in my world.

Florida is like nothing I've experienced before.

Tampa is bigger and older than I expected, beautiful in its own right, but so different. I realize that after traveling to San Antonio I compare every city to it. San Antonio just seems so big, and new, and most importantly so efficient.

I've never been around marshland like what is here in Florida. I'm used to the green of trees, but not from so many palm trees and plants I don't think I've ever seen in real life.

Back home we are in one of the worst droughts I can remember and here there is just so much water all over the ground. There's a smell, not bad, but different from the pine, mountains, or farm smells I'm used to.

People have always told me the humidity hits you as soon as you walk outside and it does indeed punch you hard enough that you have no question as to where you are. However, I like it. It's one of the first times I've been in heat (anything over 70 is too hot in my world) that didn't make me want to crawl out of my skin and cry. The downside: heat rash seems so much easier to get in this weather.

U*Le*Le

I loved the restaurant we went to and it had such a beautiful story behind it. It was such a labor of love for the family that opened it. So much thought went into every bit of planning and trying to make it 'green'.

It seems in Tampa history, some 70 years or so before John Smith and Pocahontas, Ulele (the Tocabaga Chief's daughter) felt pity for some Spaniards and threw herself onto one of them so that her father would spare his life. The restaurant is named after the princess (and so are the nearby springs) and outside the building is this bronze statue that tells the story of how she saved the Spanish explorer from her people.

After an eight million dollar renovation the 1906 Water Works Building was transformed into the oldest restaurant in Tampa that we got the pleasure of eating at. The thought behind Ulele seems to be keeping all the ingredients organic and fresh from local family owned and independent companies. I really love when a modern convenience (like eating out) aims to keep the families in business and cares about you as a patron as much as the money (at least in illusion).
The menu is native-inspired using ingredients when they are available just like their ancestors did.  It kind of blew my mind how some of the ingredients are so casually listed: frog legs, alligator, quail, boar, venison, duck. Before doing my research I though it was like lox in New York and just what they eat here but it was more about using what is available. I have to say they make some delicious food. I enjoyed alligator hush puppies, charbroiled oysters, and duck bacon ice cream. I didn't know duck bacon was a thing either but it was tasty.

The coolest part of dinner was finding Cliff's wine namesake. We flew all the way across the country to discover that just a few hours south of us in our home state is a winery with his name. We would have had a glass but they were out so we'll have to obtain some when we get back home.