Checking in...

Last week was so incredibly busy. I was hoping I would get a post on here, but in all honestly, I just didn't have that many free moments. Savannah went to the doctor last Tuesday. She was really unhappy to find she had STAPLES for her ankle incision. (Pictures are in my camera with Timmy in Florida.) The doctor wanted to leave them in until today. We are heading there this afternoon. The good news was that she could swim with the staples in place. Whew! A weekend at a hotel in Florida without swimming would not have been a good mix. We left for Florida on Wednesday morning. Not as early as I would have liked, but not too bad. We made great time getting there. I dropped Savannah off with her friend, Serafina. They were so happy to see each other. Next, I went over to my Florida house to meet with our tenant. She is just the sweetest mom. I think if we lived near each other, we could be friends. They have been making some changes to the garage/rec room. So far it looks pretty good. They love my house and want to buy it very soon. They could use prayers to help them get the loan. I, of course, want my house to sell for obvious reasons, but I would also love for this family to be able to buy the house they really love. Finally, I met my friend Linda. I have talked about Linda, Linda, Bo, Binda before. I love this person. She has been such a great friend to me for well, we figured it out - 13 years. She took me to the most wonderful dinner at Carraba's. I had never been there. I told her that we tend to be more of Arby's people! We just talked and talked. Then we went back to her house and talked a little. Sadly, she had to get to bed because of early morning work. I woke up the next morning to an empty house. I occurred to me that I don't think I have EVER woke up in an empty house. I went from my family's home to mine, Tim and Timmy's home. I can't think of a time that nobody was home when I got up in the morning. It was very strange. It was also very relaxing. If you are a mom especially a homeschooling mom that has her kids around her every waking moment, I cannot recommend enough getting a weekend away. It does wonders for your mind, body and soul. I got my shower and ready to leave. Then I went over to my old across the street neighbors. I wanted to make sure Bev was doing well. She has been cleared of breast cancer and is well! God is Good! I had such a nice time visiting with the two of them. I really miss seeing them. I finally picked up Savannah. We met up with some other friends and got on the road to Orlando. We checked into our hotel, had dinner and then Timmy came to shuttle me over to the big convention hotel. It was SO GOOD to see our other friends. I have missed them so much! They are still all the same - full of life and great stories. They make me feel excited just because they are all on the hyper side. I say that with love! I thrive on their energy. I wandered the vendor hall for a little while and then I just went and had a good time talking with friends. Friday was busy, busy. We got to the vendor hall early and shopped. I saw a couple speakers that I enjoyed. I will try to write a separate post about the different speakers I saw. Savannah got to go to the pool with her friends thanks to Herbie (a great homeschool dad) taking her for me. Friday evening I met with my scrapbooking buddies and went to dinner. We had fun minus Betsy flinging nasty calamari at me! I went back to my hotel and called it a night. I knew Saturday was going to be a busy day. Savannah and I were up and over to the speaking ballrooms by 8:30. I am so glad I made myself get there. We listened to Carol Barnier talking about finding the gift in your child. I will add more detail later, but I am so glad I went to this. If I had time for only one speaker, this would have been my choice. She was simply inspiring. Afterward, Savannah and I had a treat. Starbucks hot chocolate. Okay, I had mine with
hazelnut. If you click that link there - you can read about my "chocolate crack". It was so incredibly yummy. We sat in the big overstuffed chairs and enjoyed our treat. Then we made our way to the curriculum hall. I hadn't bought much the day before, so I needed to get myself in gear. Seriously, I didn't need much. I did really well. I didn't break the bank. Savannah hung out with me most of the day. I stopped to meet Timmy at some point. He introduced me to Vhalyn. She is a beautiful young girl that he says he would marry in a minute. He nicely took his sister with him, so I didn't have to put her through anymore vendor hall stress. I finished up my shopping and realized there wasn't really time to go get dinner before graduation. Savannah was okay with a lunchable. I had the most wonderful idea - HAZELNUT HOT CHOCOLATE! Yes, I had TWO CUPS in ONE DAY! I felt so guilty, but I didn't care. It was the best dinner! It was perfect to grab and head to the graduation. Their were 263 homeschoolers graduating. I was emotional last year watching the graduation because my son was graduating. I didn't expect to be emotional this year though. There is just something about seeing 263 kids that their families poured themselves into to get them to that point. The girl that gave the speech had me close to tears. I can't believe how fast Savannah will be standing up there. A few our "our kids" were graduating. After the ceremony, we all met by the pool. The adults sat and talked. The little kids went in the pool. The teens went in the hot tubs. It was a very nice evening until the security kicked us out at 12:15. Party poopers. Savannah and I got back to our hotel around 1:30am. That was one long day. Sunday was to be a long day too. We got up and met Timmy. He took Savannah with him while I ran over to the Keds outlet to get shoes. The traffic was awful! We eventually all met up at Downtown Disney. It was to be the last of our visit with friends. We made our way out of their and headed for SC around 3:30. Finally rolled into the driveway around 10pm. It was a busy trip, but so fun and exciting. I am glad we did it. Savannah did amazing with having to get the hang of walking again so quickly after surgery. It was just an amazing blessing to be given the chance to visit with all of our friends.