Julep Piccolo Machine

I feel like I’m a machine just going through the motions each day. I feel like I never get to slooooooooooooow down.
Today I got to go to this really cool “hands-on” science museum called G-Wiz on a field trip with my girls. It was so interesting to learn how the different exhibits worked! I wish I could have spent more time on each of the exhibits, but it was fun being there with the girls and seeing them play.

Today was also monumental for another reason. I discovered juleps. In case you are not from the south, a “julep” is a special sweet juice mixture frozen in a cup in the freezer. I’ve been making these my whole life, but I never knew they were this popular or called that! Maybe I’ve been living under a rock my whole life, but this was news to me. My coworker made them for all of the kids today for after the field trip. YUM!

I’m also kind of bummed that Colbert is off the air (or “ert”) for 2 weeks. He never fails to make me laugh hysterically and show things how they really are in the most clever way.

I’m really excited for the 4th of July… by far my favorite holiday. No stupid religion, no required cards, no gifts, no necessary family gatherings. It’s all about being proud to be who you are… an American. I love the original founding ideals of our country and for that reason I am patriotic as hell. Ok, that, and the music of one John Phillip Sousa. Stars and Stripes Foreverrr!

The Life Aquatic

Holy. Crap.

Today has been quite the interesting day so far.  I saw a flamingo for the first time which was totally awesome.  This is a picture I took myself.  I got to feed flamingos and see all kinds of cool animals on our field trip to Sarasota’s Jungle Gardens.

It was SO unbelievably hot and humid.  It was truly air you could chew on.  Around 12:30, the rain came.  I was driving 6 girls back in the school van during a terrential downpour.  It was a very nerve-racking experience for me because I had never driven a school van in the rain before, the commute was 30 minutes, and, most importantly, I was in charge of the safety and well-being of the 6 girls that were in my car.

The road in front of me continued to flood and I could barely see.  The windshield wipers were on as fast as they would go.  I wanted to pull over but I didn’t want to lose the van I was following.  The girls were almost sleeping as they were exhausted from the playground, the heat, the walking around, and harassing the ducks during lunch time.

Just as we were almost back to school, the traffic light by school was flashing red instead of changing yellow, red, green.  I decided instead of trying to force a left turn to get to school that I would go right, take a left, take a left, and take a right.  It’s amazing how the second you do something different than the girls expect, they notice right away.  The girls almost simultaneously said “Miss Marie, where are you going?!  School is THAT way!”

I’m just so happy I made it back to school with everyone safe. Whew!  Definitely fun!