Yo Ho Ho Ho, A pirates life for me,

We pilage, we plunder, we rifle, we loot,
Another interesting day.  Since child hood, Saturday has always been a cleaning day for me, and my family.  It’s the same with the family here.  We all pull together and clean the house.  We usually have it done by noon.  Today, being no different, Brody was given a number of tasks to do too.  Which he did very well, for a small price of course. 

Drink up me hearties, yo ho!
Today, DBL and DS were having a board meeting at the house for one of their groups.  Brody and I prepared to take Dad out in the afternoon.  Dad a successful business man all his life has a hard time not being in the center of attention when there is business planning going on.  Dad will often “overthrown” business meetings held in the house, trying to be the man about town, all over again as in the days when he owned his own business years ago in the town of Chicago. 

We kidnap and ravage and don’t give a hoot,
When we were leaving the house, Dad started protesting that we were going to miss the meeting.  I tried to change the subject, but Dad really wanted to be at that meeting.  I was sad.  I felt like I was being mean to Dad.  I witnessed Dad during the last Board Meeting and was shocked when he started to yell at everyone…”You’re doing it all wrong, I’m telling you that is not the way to conduct business.”   Everyone at the meeting sighed.  DBL, DS and I, decided that it would be best if Dad was not at the meeting in the future. 

Drink up me hearties, Yo ho!
[a careless Authors’ creative meandering:  Secretly, in a past life I always thought my family and I were pirates.  This all started one day, when in San Francisco, a historic sailing rig (from the 1900’s) was docked.  Brody and I boarded it to see it.  Brody was about six (6) years old.  I noticed Brody found a little corner on the deck and sat down, and for the longest time he day-dreamed about the ship.  Not a word left his lips, but the careful gaze of a dreamy young captains’ mate remembering all the pirate battles that he’s fought, defending the ship’s booty.  Jumping from rigging to rigging with his stolen cutlass.   I tried to shake him from his vision, but he continued to dream a world gone by.  It was hard to imagine what could have captivated him for such a long time.  Until I sat down and began imagining myself as a pirate, enjoying the sea breeze and the crisp cool air with my dreamy pirate lover, Ahoy!  -as we rode the waves of the ocean in this bountiful beauty of a ship. 

We extort, we pilfar, we filch, we sack,
The other reason I thought were we pirates is because of the way we used to answer the phone at home.  “AAAARRRGH, What do you want??  OR for breakfast in the morning… “ARGH! Where’s my coffee.”  Or our dogs when they find a cat to tease, “Ohoy there matey! Behave yourselves or you’ll be making a visit to Davie Jones’ Locker you will.”  Authors’ musing ended.]

Drink up me hearties, yo ho!
Again I digress…  Dad  forgot all about the meeting soon after we left the house.  Any way, we were on our way out of the house with Dad and our plan was to take Dad to lunch and a movie.  So we went to TGIF (Thank God it’s Friday) and ordered some burgers.  After wards we went to see a new movie called “The House Bunny”, rated PG-13 a comedy.  Dad and I enjoyed the movie.   I’d give it four or five stars out of five.  I say four because there were some off colored jokes in the movie, unsuitable for teenagers;  …Five, because it was really funny.  After the movie, we took a ride over to the library, which was already closed.  And then stopped at a local retail store, to pick-up some school clothes for Brody, who decided to join us later.   Understanding Brody’s teen-age inclinations, we held back and let Brody lead us.  Brody went straight to the teen boys section and pulled all the cammoflage clothes he could find.  We made Brody try everything on and model for us, to avoid problems later when the clothes didn’t fit right.  Which he happily did. 

Maraud, Embezzled, and even high-jack
In the end, we walked out of the store with six (6) shirts, two (2) pairs of jeans and two (2) pairs of jean shorts.  A new backpack, and one base ball cap.  Not much in the way of clothes, but just enough to cover the floor of his bed room…Or wear to school his first week, which ever he wanted…  We could pick up some more clothes during the labor day sales. 

Drink up me hearties, yo ho!
Any way, Dad was thrilled to be out shopping for Brody.  He enjoyed making comments like:  no those pants are too big.  Those are a little tight.  Turn around again, so I can take another look.  Now that’s a good look for you.  He even got a little emotional once and said he was glad he could help me help Brody shop.  We soon left the store with our “booty” in hand, and wouldn’t you know it, The weather ran afoul again with torrents of rain.  Dad and Brody waited at the store, I went to get the car.  Got soaked as is the norm these days.  And we headed home.

Many thanks to Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean for the use of their lyrics.

I believe I can fly…

I believe I can touch the sky
Today, was another crazy day.  No schools today because of the flooding.  No senior care for Dad for the same reason.  I finally made a dash out of the house in the afternoon to run to the library.  Needed to return some books.  The library was closed, so I dropped off the books I’d finished and kept the ones I wanted to renew. 

I think about it every night and day
In the evening we made a trip to Disney’s Epcot.  We had reservations for 6:10 pm.  We were a little late and they sat us after a short wait.  Dinner was at Tokyo Dining.  We had a very nice dinner.  Started out with a tuna roll as the appetizer.  I also had miso soup, my favorite!  And then we all had different entrees.  Mine was shrimp tempura.  It was delectable, the veggies and shrimp.  But it was delicious, and very relaxing.    The prices were reasonable.  They didn’t seem any higher than a similar meal in Mountain view, California (for those of you who remember I just moved here from California).  

Spread my wings and fly away
The only bad news is that Fay had dumped water all over Disney’s Epcot during dinner.   We all decided on a Disney’s rain ponchos for our after dinner-attire.  It was raining hard.  We don’t get rain that hard in California.  It’s truly amazing.  You get drenched down to the skin.  And then we walked around the park awhile and stayed to watch the fireworks show.  Which was as rewarding as it is every time we go to Epcot.  The rain finally ended right before the show.  And we headed towards home. 

I believe I can soar
For Dad this entire event was just another day in our vacation.   When he’s walking in the rain, he think’s he’s back in Korea during the war, marching in the mud.  And when he see’s the Fireworks with his family, he is grateful that we all can see such beauty.  And so am I.

I see me runnin’ through that open door
I believe I can fly
I believe I can fly
I believe I can fly

Many thanks to Disney and R. Kelley for the use of their lyrics. 

When I’m worried and I can’t sleep

I count my blessing instead of sheep
Another busy day.  Today, we watched Tropical Storm (TS) Fay move away from us.  The rain finally stopped and it seemed that all the major flooded out areas started to recede somewhat.  I’m sure those whose homes are flooded can’t see it happen fast enough. 

And I fall asleep, counting my blessings
Additionally, after dialoging with Brody’s father, my ex-husband.  We agreed to allow Brody to visit here a little while longer and even try out the schools here.  My Ex-Husband’s Mom is very ill with colon cancer and he wishes to spend more time with his mother.   We’ll see how it will work out, and consider this time a test period; to see if Brody will fits in here well with the family in Florida.  

When my bankroll is gettin’ small
I wish my ex-husband and his family blessings as they prepare to release a loved one back into the hands of God.  I know my Dear Former Mother in Law (DFML) has a very special place in the hereafter with all the angels and saints. 

I think of when I had none at all
Brody is only 15 years old and is challenging to parent at times.

And I fall asleep, counting my blessings
DBL helping a distant neighbor was caught on three side by flooding.  It took him over two (2) hours to get home.   It was kind of unnerving for all of the family knowing he was out there in the weather.  We had a breath of relief when he got home. 

If you’re worried and you can’t sleep
I think I learned that it’s better to count your blessings in times like this instead of count your losses.  Here’s a favorite song that reminds me of this principle.  Actually I made a list of all the things I’m grateful for as well.  I wrote all my lists of gratitude’s , wrote them all on post-it-notes and stuck them to a wall in my room.  I believe that when ever you want more of “something”, you just need to Thank the Universe for it, and that something  will increase in your life.  Wishing you all abundance!!

When I’m worried and I can’t sleep
I count my blessing instead of sheep
And I fall asleep, counting my blessings

When my bankroll is gettin’ small
I think of when I had none at all
And I fall asleep, counting my blessings

I think about a nursery
And I picture curly heads
And one by one I count them
As they slumber in their beds

If you’re worried and you can’t sleep
Just count your blessings instead of sheep
And you’ll fall asleep counting your blessings.

So if you’re worried and you can’t sleep
Just count your blessings instead of sheep
And you’ll fall asleep counting your blessings.

Thanks to Diana Krall for the use of her lyrics.