sad

Listening to Back to Work with Merlin Mann & Dan Benjamin. Merlin is talking about light therapy and seasonal affection disorder. I had heard of SAD years ago but didn't really think much of it until I moved to Florida. When I lived in Michigan, I had a lot of headaches. When I moved to Florida, they went away. I still get headaches but not weekly or even monthly. And my mood is so much better. I credit this to the weather and the abundance of sunlight in Florida.

I recently read about the benefits to Vitamin D which is essentially sunshine. As a child, I spent a lot of time outdoors and seem to e happy. As adults, we spend most of our time indoors and in artificial light. Instead of spending $100 or more on a light that will
Mimic sunlight, I go outside most days to walk. I also take Vitamin D3 supplements. My energy has improved.

buy nothing day

I am seeing posts about opposing Black Friday. I agree with them, mostly.

I don't go out on Black Friday. I can't stand the crowds. 

I know some people who start shopping at midnight on Thanksgiving Day. It is their "tradition." My mother's idea of family outing was going to the mall. But there are better ways to spend time together with  family.

And really, the ads are a come on to get you hyped up and in the stores.

If you have the day off, enjoy it with your family. There will be other times to find a good deal.

housework

I hate housework. 

I don't know anyone who likes it but a few who do it knowing it has to be done and that they want  to make their home the best it can be. 

Growing up, we had to clean a room in the house each week. We earned 50¢ for our effort. For some reason, I remember getting stuck with the bathroom way too often. I hated having to clean that room. The floors had to be mopped and I did it on my knees. Our bathroom was small and all seven of us used it. Yep, it was gross. 

As we got older, the boys moved out and all the housework fell to my sister and me and then finally just me. Our mom was not a taskmaster regarding housework. We only got paid when we did the work. She was lazy too. The only times we had to do chores was before holidays. Everything got cleaned before Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. During those times, mom was busy in the kitchen cooking up a storm so didn't help with the work. And the mess she made in the kitchen!

I don't remember the whole family cleaning except a few times when mom wanted all the windows cleaned. The screens were removed and I had the job of scrubbing them clean with a brush and a hose full of very cold water. 

I do enjoy a clean house. I am not crazy. But I am lazy and hate to do with those little things that are so easily ignored. I have no problem doing the dishes and the laundry on a daily basis. Dusting, vacuuming and mopping are last on my to do list. 

Gail liked a clean house. He felt that a clean house was the equivalent of telling him "I love you." I didn't know this until after he died. After each boy was born, he put up with the mess and clutter for about three months. Then one day he would snap and yell. Gail did not mind doing the floors and I happily let him do them.

After Gail died, I had lots of free time once the boys were in school. I started really cleaning the house. I picked a room each day and did a big clean. This lasted for a few months. Until I joined the YMCA. And discovered scrapbooking. I went back to doing a crazy clean before I hosted a scrapbooking evening. 

When I began my online business, I got very lazy with housework. I cringe when I see old photos and the boxes and boxes and crap all over the house. I did a major clean in 2008. My siblings were coming to celebrate my dad turning 80. I let things go again after that but not nearly as bad. 

There were times when I read posts like How to Clean Your House for 20 minutes a day for 30 Days. But I had to do a big clean first. And I kept putting it off. Then my sister planned to visit. My sister is good at housework. I think she likes cleaning. With her husband working from home, she couldn't sit around like Peg Bundy eating Bon bons and watching tv.  Not that Nancy is anything like Peg Bundy. But I think Charlie expected her to be home and cleaning. Anyway, she is picky about a clean house I knew I had to do something. 

So a month ago, I started cleaning. I cleaned so much I broke my vacuum. The house is not spotless. I just can't work that hard. But it is good and I feel good. Now is the time to start a good routine and keep it that way. 

I looked for some cleaning routines to adopt. I found a few check lists and saved them. Then I remembered about seeing an iPhone with cleaning routines. I checked a few out and downloaded HomeRoutines

HomeRoutines comes with some tasks already loaded and suggested room zones. I did some modifications and started using the app yesterday.  Then I realized this was just another to do app with repeating tasks. I already have an app like that did I really want another app to open and keep track? Nope. So last night and this morning, I entered those tasks into Reminders. 

HomeRoutines is a good app if all you want it to get working on good home cleaning tasks and don't want to think about how to set it up in Reminders or Things. 

The added tasks make my to do list look long. But they don't take much time to complete and I feel very good when I check them off. Without anyone to keep me accountable, Reminders helps.

Here are some more posts about house cleaning routines:

Better Homes & Gardens Setting Up Cleaning Routines

Organizing Made Fun 15 Minutes Day?

My 3 Monsters Housekeeping

24 7 Moms Clean Your House in 15 Minutes a Day!

Real Simple Daily Quick Cleaning Checklist

Angela Says A 30 Day Cleaning Challenge

world wide photo walk

Saturday was Scott Kelby's Fifth Annual World Wide Photo Walk. This is my fourth year. On the day it was announced, I went to sign up and found RC's walk already full. Scott Kelby was not going to be Tampa that day so all of his fans joined RC's walk. I signed up on the wait list. I checked daily until Matt posted his walk for Dunedin and I switched. I emailed my friends but no one responded. 

When I talked to Bridget, she told me she forgot to sign up. I said she should tag along. Anyone can go but only those who signed up can post photos and enter the contest. Neither one of us are interested in that. I talked to Doyle earlier in the week but he was unsure if he could go. He is usually his daughter's chauffeur on the weekends.

Bridget picked me up and we went to Dunedin. Doyle called on the way and said he would be joining us too. 

The meeting place just said "benches" so we had to guess which benches Matt was referring to. I thought it was the Dunedin Historical Museum next to the Pinellas trail. Soon others joined us. Matt showed up and walked over to us. He seemed nice but is not chatty. Matt did his spiel and used his iPhone 5 to take a panorama shot of the group. Matt's spiel was much shorter than Jeff's. Matt wasn't trying to sell anything.

The three of us walked around. In the four years since my first photo walk, they have painted a few of the buildings. There is still a lot of good color. 

We didn't take that many photos but that was fine. We had a good time. I sort of felt like an old pro since we had many of the shots others were taking. We walked up to the old oak tree held together with large steel cables. I could find any I information about it online. 

We walked back towards the shops and saw Matt. He said lunch had been changed to Casa Tina. They were the only place willing to accommodate us. 

We walked down to the water and walked around. Doyle was dressed for cooler weather and was hot. At 11:30 I suggested we go to the restaurant and he a drink. Bridget was all for that. 

We walked past other restaurants and they were already full. Casa Tina was fairly empty. They had an area set up for us and we grabbed one of the round booths. Bridget got a sangria and I got a margarita. Doyle stuck with tea. 

We were not the first ones for long. Service was a bit slow but the food was good. We tried to take some panos with my iPhone. It is not that easy. 

Doyle did not take many photos. Be never laid down on the ground. 

We left and drove back. Bridget & I stopped at Yogurtology.

I posted images at Flickr.​

​I made a digital layout.

podcasts

I am still enjoying podcasts. Way too many of them. I am lucky if I can get through all the ones I download in a week. I am learning to be more discerning with my time an fast forward through ones that do not interest me. I am a child of limited TV channels and no DVRs so I tend to listen to things I find boring hoping to get to the more interesting stuff soon. I have to keep remembering that there is so much information and entertainment. So much content, that I can be choosy. 

I only listen to one podcast since I started listening was back in 2003 or 2004. MacGeekGab is still going strong and is still relevant.  I now listen through Instacast on my iPhone. I tried to listen with my iPad but it tends to crash with Instacast. Instacast allows me to have playlists. 

My playlist called safe is my most used playlist. This includes most of my NPR podcasts and all of my tech podcasts from networks like 5by5 and 70 Decibels. 

My humor playlist contains all the podcasts that may contain swearing. I don't always wear headphones and need to be aware of who might also be listening. I don't worry about my kids hearing such language. They know they cannot repeat these words. They listen to George Carlin and know which bits to repeat. It is my father who objects to poor and filthy language. I understand him not like the swearing but he also objects to hearing "Oh my God!" and when a podcaster uses such phrases as "you know" too often. Several times he has counted how many times that phrase was said and told me after the podcast was over. I tend to tune that out so I can enjoy the podcast. It is difficult when dad points it out. Most of these podcasts are listened to with headphones while I am walking. 

My third playlist is called music. Several of the NPR podcasts are about music. I tend to listen to this playlist last if I have time at the end of the weekend. The quality isn't so good listening through the iPhone speaker but I am listening to learn about new music or the artists. 

bok tower gardens & pinewood estate

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Bridget went back to work and now we don't see each very often. She wanted to go shoot something and I was up for it. She suggested Bok Tower. It was on my list of places I wanted to go but haven't been. It is in Lake Wales, farther than Legoland. In fact, we passed Legoland on the drive there. 

We decided to do both the gardens and the Pinewood Estate. Tickets for both were $18 per person. 

We got there about 9:30 and found the place not crowded at all. We walked through the visitors center but skipped the movie. We walked up the hill to Bok Tower. As we approached, the clouds cleared up enough that we got some beautiful blue sky to serve as a backdrop for the limestone tower. We could not get too close to the tower as there was a moat. 

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We walked back down the hill to a pond with giant lily pads. They were probably 30" across. Someone was feeding the hidden fish. We saw a heron fly down and climb through the shrubs to get close to the fish. He managed to snatch one out of the water and gulp it down. We tried to get some photos but the plants obscured him. 

We ended back at the visitor center and there were many more people. We got a map and found that we had to climb the hill once more to get to the Pinewood Estate. We walked around the house and shot some of the landscape. The gardens were designed before the house why the Olmsted Brothers. Then we swatted at mosquitos while we waited for the tours to begin. 

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Thankfully the house was air conditioned. They referred to it as mansion but I do not think it was that large. It did have servant quarters over the three car garage. There were also five large bathrooms each with its own bath. There was a lot of beautiful tile and woodwork. The house was originally built in the 1930's as a winter retreat and only used 6-8 weeks per year. 

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Bok Tower has daily concerts but we were ready to go. We were hungry and we went to Tijuana Flats for lunch. 

You can see more photos at Flickr.​

it is bowling season for special olympics

The high school open house was a little different for the ESE kids. Most of their classes are in the same room with the same teacher so they added extra topics for us to learn about. We went to one room to learn about Special Olympics. We were told that the kids need an average of 30 points for 10 games in order to qualify for area bowling on September 29. The first event is scheduled for September 12. They usually play only 2 games. When can they play the other 8 games?

I asked Andy if he wanted to bowl on Saturday. He wanted Ryan to go but Ryan wanted to stay home. I got Andy to understand that he needs to bowl if he wants to qualify. I emailed Pin Chasers to ask about open bowling but didn't think I needed to reserve a lane. I emailed two other moms to invite them. One mom emailed me back and said they would try to be there. I did not hear from other mom until Saturday morning. She texted me to say she was going to be there with her kids and her sister's kids. She called Pin Chasers to reserve a couple of lanes and texted back that Pin Chasers was booked with a Breast Cancer fundraiser. (They never mentioned that in their email.) They might open some lanes depending on the crowd after 1:15. 

I decided to take the chance and we went to lunch. Andy wanted to eat inside at CFA. We drove up Morris Bridge to Pin Chasers. 

The boys also like to play video games. But each game is $1  to play and you must purchase tokens.  We brought some tokens we had purchased from Extreme Adventure. (When we were there in June, I learned that the tokens are interchangeable.) I didn't worry that I was using other tokens to play video games at PC. We spend at least $30 for bowling and tokens on a typical visit.

We got to Pin Chasers about 12:30. I explained that we needed to bowl for Special Olympics. We asked for a lane and were told there was one opening up soon. He asked how many games and I said 4 and was charged $1/game. The last time we were leaving, one of the senior workers asked if my kids had specials needs. I said yes and he said he wish he had known as we would have gotten the discount. I said that was OK not knowing how big the discount was. We paid about $24 for the boys to play for 2 hours but they only played 2 games.  

Andy played the first two games with the bumpers. He did well. It was good that he didn't have to wait for someone else so he didn't wander away and get distracted. We took a short break between games two and three. Andy played the last two games without the bumpers. He did better when he concentrated. I think he was getting tired and bored. His scores were 62, 89, 66 & 47.

Andy played some more video games. He liked the speed boat. I played the pinball machine. We played one game of air hockey then went home. We have a lane reserved for next Saturday.

a visit to the doctor

I procrastinated again. Andy brought home the special olympics application form a couple of weeks ago. I did not make an appointment for a physical until Wednesday. On Tuesday, I went to the high school for Open House. We learned that the form had to be in by September 7! Crud. 

I made a reminder to call 9 am on Wednesday. And when the alarm sounded, I called the doctor Andy saw 3 years ago. However, Dr. Sikes no longer gives physicals for Special Olympics. Double crud. Now I had to find a doctor and pay for the exam. 

I called Andy's pediatrician. Andy is no longer in their system, his pediatrician no longer works at that office and they have no appointments before Friday. I call another office. They do have an appointment for Thursday at 11:00. They told me to bring Andy's immunization record. I looked in his binder and saw that we had not been to see this pediatrician since 2002. 

Because of the autism, we did not go to the doctor unless necessary. We saw plenty of specialists and each visit was stressful. The boys got sick but not anything more than a cold or flu. Nothing that required a doctor visit nor antibiotics. For immunizations, we went to the county clinic because they were free and didn't require an appointment nor exam.

When Andy got home, he asked about the appointment. He would be happy to go back to Dr. Sikes. He recalled that the restroom only had one toilet and no stalls. I told him about the new office. He seemed OK with it especially knowing he would get out of school early.

I got to the school early. I never know if it is going to be a problem bringing him to the office. Also, new school, new procedures. There were no problems and we got to the doctor's office early. It was good because I had so much paperwork to fill out. They even gave Andy his out confidential questionnaire regarding drugs and sex. It was in its own folder so he could fill it out and give it to the doctor without me seeing. I filled it out for Andy. If there is a benefit to autism, I am pretty sure my boys will not smoke nor take drugs as they are so picking about eating. Neither boy will take medication and would rather cough that take cough syrup.

We were alone in the well child waiting room for a few minutes. Two women came in with a toddler. He was loud but happy. He screeched and soon got on Andy's nerves. I was ready to take him out but the mother noticed and offered. I thanked her for her generosity. Another mother and son came in. This toddler was quiet and Andy was not bother by his presence.

We were called back and they weighed Andy, 168 pounds, took his temperature, and measured his height, 72". He did not want the “squeeze” so they skipped the blood pressure. We went into a room and finished the paperwork and handed it over. Andy walked around the room and then sat on the exam table. He did not like the paper rustling under him. He didn't like that it ripped.

The doctor came in and gave the exam. Andy was hesitant but the older doctor was patient. He asked me some questions and said he would skip the genital exam. Whew! We were done and ready to go. We had to wait a while for the doctor to get the charges posted on the computer. Andy waited outside under the covered area.

I was happy to see the charges were only $40. The clerk explained that I was charged the camp physical fee. That made sense because it was not a true comprehensive exam.

It was raining heavily and didn't look like it would be stopping soon. Andy did not want to get wet so I ran for the car. And by ran I mean jogged as quickly as my fat self could go. I got soaked. I picked Andy up so he could remain dry. 

We drove down to Chick Fil A for lunch. Andy chose the one farther away. It would have been a good choice but he chose the Interstate rather than the direct route straight down Livingston. Oh well. Then we drove back up to Toys R Us. I wanted to look for more series 8 Minifigures and I felt Andy deserved a treat for behaving well. There were only 6 Lego bags left and I took them all knowing that at least three were figures I already had. Andy was happy to look for Grem and Acer from Cars 2. He played with them the whole way home.