For The Curious

Edit: How could I forget the nasty weather? We thankfully survived another hurricane with minimal inconvenience to ourselves, but a lot others were not so fortunate. Not to mention the rainy season in general where every day it pours at least once, sometimes twice for the day, for weeks at a time. The sun still shines brightly which can be disconcerting but I've gotten used to it. So, the rain (and the fact that we're surrounded by water) causes constant humidity. Oh boy, let me stop. I could go on, and on, and on....

I'm a Canadian. I would say "through and through" but that's not entirely true anymore. I became a naturalized US Citizen about five years ago. I moved to Florida way back in 1991. It feels like a lifetime ago. Well, being 14 years ago, I guess that is a lifetime. I didn't want to leave my hometown of Toronto. My mother left a year ahead of me allowing me to finish my last year in high school. That was a good year. I lived with my grandparents right in the city on one of the main roads. But eventually the year ended. I vowed to keep in touch with all of my friends, and I did for a while. I used to write draft letters and then write the "good copy" like we used to do for papers in school. (That's one reason I love email - because I can type and delete and reword phrases effortlessly.)

I moved down just in time to start university. I literally arrived the week before school started. What can I say about this place. Florida is nice place to visit, but I didn't want to live here. I came with an open mind, but that closed pretty quickly. I never experienced racism until I moved here. I barely knew what racism was. I'm sure that racism existed in Toronto also, but it must be have been more covert because I was totally unaware of it. With respect to the culture, I liken Toronto to a garden salad, not a melting pot. That was one of my biggest issues with Florida. I couldn't understand it. I couldn't understand the ever-present emphasis on "the man" or the idea of being held down. I couldn't understand the negative attitudes towards a whole race of people. I found it all to be extremely frustrating. I wish everyone understood the importance of travelling, or at least learning about other cultures.

Geographically, Florida leaves much to be desired. The seasons don't change. I miss the colors of Autumn, the icicles and snow of winter, the new life of spring, and the dry heat of summer. My first Christmas was strange, to say the least.
And don't even talk about the topography, everything is flat. Plus, you can't get around without a vehicle since everything is so spread out. Of course there is no subway. And I know there's really no need for brick homes down here, but I miss those two.

So why am I still here, 14 years later, you ask? I decided to grin and bear it the first few years because I had to. But with time came roots. My husband found me and now we have a family, not to mention a lot of extended family that live nearby. Yes, we could still leave, but there are other factors to take into consideration. From time to time I bring up the idea of moving but we don't get very far in our discussions. We both fell in love with Germany when we visited but I know moving there is just a pipedream.

The Latest Question

Edit: Me and my "local" mindset assumed everyone just knew I was referring to Naples, Florida. Boy, do I WISH I had it the way Brotha Buck thought. Just goes to show how tired I was.

I'm in Naples right now. It's 1:41 am and I'm beat. We got here only 2.5 hrs ago after a long full productive day at church. I would have much rather waited until daylight on Sunday to head out, but K was insistent on coming Saturday night. So here I am, tired and restless.

Oh, I remember what question I wanted to pose to you. (Hopefully you made it past my rambling!)

• I believe God gave us marriage for companionship.
  
  I don't want to be old and alone, I can tell you that much. I want to share my joys and sorrows with a sympathizing/empathizing person who actually cares how I feel. And really, there's nothing like being open and free with someone you totally trust who feels the same way about you.



• I believe God gave us marriage for "legal" sex.
  
  Of course, with this comes the obligation to actually HAVE SEX with our spouses. I don't want to harp on this subject too much since we touched on it before, but I gotta put in a plug for the undersexed spouse (male or female). *Hint* If he's asking for some go ahead and give it to him with a smile. He'll be happy and in turn strive to make you even happier. It's an amazing cycle. Women, we have to realize the power we wield!



• There's no doubt He gave us marriage for "legal" procreation.
  
  I don't have much to say on this one. I remember when I was pregnant and especially after Sid was born, the thought that he was a product of the two of us amazed me. It still does. He is a perfect combination of the two of us.

Do you agree or disagree with the statements I made? What is the purpose of marriage? (Not what is marriage.) There's no right or wrong answer I just want to know your thoughts.

My Dreams

I am notorious for having crazy dreams. I've especially noticed that the older I've gotten, the more my surroundings affect my subconscious. Take yesterday, for example, when a few uninteresting things happened. SP sent me a link to the local newspaper with an article about how blogs can sometimes bite and they referred to dooce.com. Part of my dream later that night involved me visiting Ohio which sort of looked like San Francisco to meet up with dooce's creator, Heather Armstrong. Nevermind that she lives in Utah. In my dream, she lived in a penthouse of sorts atop a six or seven story building. While I was up there, of course, there was an earthquake.

I saw the safe landing of the navy plane last night also, so what else do you think was a part of my dream? Apparently my husband has a friend who owns a jet fighter and he offered to take me and Sidney on a joy flight, which was very cool.

Oh yeah, and I forget the part of the dream where one of my coworkers emails everyone in the team and emphasizes the fact that I, among a few others, have not yet filled out my trip report about the Human Computer Interaction Conference I attended in Las Vegas almost three weeks ago.

When I was young my dreams were not nearly as complex. Like the one where I was dressed as my superheroine idol, Wonder Woman, and I got sucked down the bathtub drain and ended up on the other side of the world, in China. Or the one where I was running from Count Dracula through a department store in my pink slippers.

Life was so much simpler then.

MyMoondrops website link

Check out the coooolest baby cribs and furniture!"

Taking Too Long To Update

I know it's taking me way too long to give ya'll an update on my trip. Really, now, you know nothing interesting happened. The city of sin had no hold on me. First off, I was surprised to see slot machines at the airport. I should have known. I took the shuttle to Bally's. It was 8:30 at night at the city was live. As I walked into the hotel lobby the first thing that hit me was the smoke. I was beat so I checked in and found my way to my room...on the 22nd floor. What a view I had the next day! I settled in, took my shower and got on the innanet and waited for my babies to arrive. The whole trip planning had happened so quickly. That's a whole 'nother (almost bitter ending) story. Anyway, they got in after 11. The next three days saw me getting up at 7 and getting back to the room at 6:30. I'd meet the babies for lunch and the rest of the time they were on their own to wander the streets while I sat through presentation and presentation. Monday night, K's old high school friend took us to the old Strip where we ate talked and ate fried twinkies. Tuesday evening we toured the expensive shops and wandered the various hotels. Wednesday was more of the same but that day also included packing and rushing to catch our midnight flight. Sidney was great. We made sure to wear him out beforehand so by the time he got on the plane he was ready to sleep. 100+ degree weather will do that to you.

I did say that I would eat well, and boy did I ever. No expense was spared when it came to my food. Ok, I didn't splurge and buy dessert, but that's cause I was too full from the drinks (virgin), appetizers, and entree.

No pictures. We were bad. We brought the camera but....

I can honestly say, though, that I was one of the cutest conference attendees. I was always dressed to impress (which I did). But the important thing is that I learned a lot. I took copious notes and I bought three relevant books on usability. Now I have to sit down and put together my trip report for distribution in the office. I better do it soon before I forget everything and I'm not able to decipher my notes!

Anything else going on in my life besides the bills? Not really. Trying to sell my car. It's a silver 2002 Acura TL-S with 89000 miles on it.

I'm not back in the swing of things at work yet. It's been three days and I don't feel like I've done anything productive. What do I want to do? I want to post some more relationship related questions. I like to read your responses. But that will have to be another day. Gotta go play with my toy (hehe).

5 Thangs List

Ten Years Ago
I was 21 years old and in college. The youngest of my friends, they made a big deal out of my finally becoming a real adult.

Five Years Ago
I had no idea I was about to meet my husband.

One Year Ago
I had high hopes of having multiple streams of income.

Yesterday
I got a reality check going through my bills that I'm nowhere near where I wanted to be at this time.

Today
I feel like I haven't done any work all week so far and it's Wednesday already.

Tomorrow
I'll still go to work and not feel like doing anything.

Five Snacks I Enjoy
pineapple slices, seltzer water, grapes & strawberries, almost anything with chocolate, nutri-grain peanut butter granola bars

Five Bands I Know All The Words To Their Music
None that I can think of.

Five Things I Would Do With $1,000,000
Pay tithe & offering, pay off all my debts, buy real estate, give some to my mother/sister/mother-in-law, move to a new house on a bigger lot.

Five Lodations I Would Like To Run Away To
Venice, Italy; Cairo, Egypt; Barcelona, Spain; The Cayman Islands; Toronto, Canada

Five Bad Habits
grind my teeth at night; play devil's advocate; sit on my legs; eat junk food; I'm an impulse buyer (sometimes) (SP says I'm obsessed with shoes)

Five Things I Like Doing
spending time with my family; looking cute; helping others; getting/giving affection; reading

Five TV Shows I Like
Girlfriends, Kim Possible, That's So Raven, Star Trek, ER

Five Famous People I'd Like To Meet
Jesus; Jada Pinkett-Smith maybe?; Angelina Jolie?; Ooh, Morris Chestnut!; uh, Bill & Hilary Clinton

Five Biggest Joys At This Moment
Sidney; K; working for the Communication Dept of my church; (I guess that's it then)

Five Favorite Toys
K, K, K, K, K

Five People Plus Two Who Have Been Tagged
Hmm, who can I torture? proactiff, n.y.a.b.g, picasso the grey, ms. giget, neena, lawda, devasT (you all have Aziza to thank for this!)