Father's Day

For Mother's Day, I was unable to drive to Sarasota because my Honda was over on its miles as a lease vehicle and I was close to turning it in and that would have been 200+ miles I would have had to pay for. Mom understood. All that to say, now that I have a new car, I was bound and determined to be with my family for Father's Day. I only went to Sarasota for a night because I had a teacher workshop today, but sometimes short-and-sweet trips are good for the soul. Plus, I needed to get out of Lake Wales. I am SO bored. (By the way, I'm moving in NINE days! Single digits! Yeah!!)

So...back to the title of this post: Father's Day. My family is laid-back and low key so we didn't make the day a huge ordeal. I think my family is at one of the "in-between" stages of life. My siblings and I are in our early twenties/late teens and so we're old enough to where we don't do all the "frilly" stuff. None of us are married or have children, so my parents aren't grandparents yet. (Thank you, Captain Obvious, right?!) So I say we're in this "in-between" stage because I'm sure once my siblings and I are married and have children, the holidays will have their "frill" added back. MAYBE this only makes sense in my head...but it might be this way for my family too considering all but 1 of our grandparents are in Heaven and aren't here to physically celebrate holidays with us. When they were alive, especially my maternal grandparents...holidays, all of them, were fun and memorable! Oh, nostalgia...



We celebrated by having dinner at Outback Steakhouse. My dad has a HUGE thing for steak, prime rib especially. He likes it pink, pink, pink...to where the rest of us are like, "Ew, Dad!" Ha! I should have taken a picture of how pink it was...but instead I took a picture of my heart-shaped chicken pasta dish...

I unfortunately couldn't enjoy much of my dinner because I had a locked jaw. I have NO idea what caused it to go out of place, but it was not pleasant. At all. Thankfully it's feeling more normal today, but still very sore.

Here are some other pictures from the day... (I need to be a better blogger by taking more pictures, no matter what people think or say! Ha!)


My mom and I-she has visited the beach quite a few more times than me this summer so far! (Yes, I know I'm in need of a haircut!)


My brother and his crazy hair!


This picture looks the way it does because my cooperative teenage sister, Keleigh refused to get a family picture inside the restaurant, so we had to get it outside. Isn't it cute how we're all squinting? :/

After dinner, I basically packed up my things and headed back to Lake Wales. A wicked storm was about to hit Sarasota so I figured I'd better get on the road. I made it home in good time by 8:00 and made it a point to go to bed early. I have had this issue with not sleeping which is very unusual for me. I'm always able to fall asleep without problem...and sleep IN with no problem! Ha! Not lately, though. Saturday night, the night I stayed at my parents', I had NO sleep. Talk about miserable!!! NO sleep, a locked jaw, PLUS an ugly eye infection/allergic reaction I woke up to today as a result of using my sister's eye make-up remover on Saturday night. It'd be one thing if today was just a casual summer day where I didn't have anything planned...but I had a teacher workshop to attend which means professional attire, with colleagues...all with no make-up with red, puffy, swollen, ugly eyes! Luckily, my brown-framed glasses helped disguise some of the puffiness. Thank you, dear glasses! :)

So, as I mentioned earlier, the countdown 'til my move is in the single digits! I'm so so so excited! I have workshops 3 days this week, lunch with some of my family in Lakeland tomorrow, and then Sunday night I leave for a 2 day conference down near Ft. Myers and then Wednesday of next week I move! So..the packing has to get serious. Ha! No more of this moving-stuff-around-to-where-it-looks-like-I'm-packing-but-I'm-really-getting-nothing-accomplished stuff! Ha! I was able to get rid of a LOT of stuff though, both to my sister and to the thrift store; that's always a good feeling! So, technically, I have done something!

It's safe to say that I'm rambling on right now...so with that thought, I'll save more for next time!