Free Time

We came home Monday after an enjoyable and productive week out in the RV.  We love spending time with Tommy and Susan.  It has been since The National in Nashville in 2012 that we have been with the Dallas folks.  And to add to that, the rig was washed and waxed, the rugs were cleaned and my cabinets were rearranged so hopefully no more broken dishes.  We are ready to roll.

We had planned a trip to Florida awhile back and since I didn't know if we were traveling in the RV which takes the most time, by car which takes a bit less or flying, I kept this past week open.  That gave me Monday and Tuesday to put away what we brought home, to go through the mail and do "paperwork."  Wednesday I did laundry all day.  I swear somone puts their clothes in with ours.  Two people shouldn't produce so much dirty laundry.  I think it's the same guy who alters our clothes while they are hanging in the closet and makes mine smaller and Ted's bigger!

Today I worked at the Children's Festival here where we live.  Over 3000 children are bussed in to see the programs and visit the exhibits.  It is like herding cats.  The teachers and chaporones do a great job of keeping their classes together but we had 5 buses from one school for a total of a couple hundred kids we were responsible for.  Each school is different and volunteers are assigned accordingly.  We lucked out in that our children remained in the same spot for all activities including lunch.  This may have been because we had an additional mini busload of special needs children including wheelchairs.

Once we got them settled, handled bathroom and first aid directions, determined where to send the special needs for diaper changes, and brought chairs into the handicapped area for those teachers, we were able to sit back and enjoy the shows.  At lunch we distributed trash bags and gathered that up.  After the final show one of our group took the special needs to their bus while the remaining three of us kept almost 300 people together, out of their seats and funneled to the same aisle, down the steps, across the plaza, out the gate and around the corner to the 5 waiting buses.  All the time walking next to another school and keeping them in their correct line.  I was doing the middle and did a lot of back and forth along the line to accomplish tnis.

My last two duties were to hold up a bus so a special needs bus could get into the correct school district bus line and take a jacket back to first aid that we got for a Down's Syndrome little girl who was cold.  I have to mention the patience and dedication of the special ed teachers as well as all of the teachers.  I know I would have been a terrible teacher.  I just don't have the patience.  They seem to take all that exuberance and noise in stride.  God bless them.

We have turned one of our guest rooms over to Chris.  He now has the closet and chest of drawers in one guest room so he can move in and out easily.  He even has a hamper.  We have a very aggressive travel schedule in 2014 and we all agreed this will work best. 

Hair, nails, church, cards, more cards and packing will occupy my weekend and Monday.   We fly to Orlando on Tuesday for Kristin's wedding shower.  We also are tasting rehearsal and reception food, meeting Larry's family, getting Ted's tux, getting my dress hemmed, etc.  My two granddaughters are flying in and another daughter is coming also.  We are taking them all to a show at Port Orleans at Disney on Saturday night.  They are only there for two days so we want to see they have a good time in that short window.

Next time I will have some photos from Florida!