What a Life!!

That is really all that can be said about the last week!

My sister, Meredith, my SIL Jess and their children came into town on Monday. Well, they wanted to do some "tourist attractions" while they were here, and the kids and I were lucky enough to go along for the ride! We were excited not only to see them, but being able to experience so much with them, just made it even better than we could have imagined.

So, here is a rundown of the week:

Monday: We arrived at their resort in the evening, took the kids for a swim, and hit the sack early because we had a big day on Tuesday....

Tuesday: We got to Discovery Cove around 8:30, checked in, and began our day. This place it UNBELIEVABLE(when you get the chance, google it to see!)!! We floated down the lazy river, did some snorkeling, swam with sting rays and other tropical fish, and Colin and Sydney got to swim with a dolphin named coral!

Wednesday: We headed out early to Sea World. Colin and Auntie Meredith headed to Krackin (an extreme roller coaster), while Auntie Jess and the girls headed to face painting. We went on some more rides, saw the shamu show (it was amazing), and then headed to Epcot. The girls went to the process dinner (Jaime, we have to go to this one in January), while Colin and I spent some quality time with Layne (even though she was a little cranky!). We ended the day with the fireworks show (my favorite of all the parks). We got home late and decided that we would sleep since the day was so crazy.

Thursday: Day 2 at sea world, and we decided to do all the things we missed the day before. We saw a dolphin show (awesome), a seal and walrus show (hysterical), went on some more rides, then headed out early and went for a swim at the resort. That evening Maddie and Sydney (Colin was asleep) got to see the fireworks from our balcony. They thought this was just amazing

Friday: We headed to Animal Kingdom. We went on (more) rides, let layne reconnect with her monkey roots (haha), and then we went to see the Lion King show. It was an amazing show, and the best part was that the kids got to be in it! I was actually surprised because usually Maddie and Colin aren't into that (they are so flipping shy!) but we had front row seats, so Maddie, Colin, and Sydney all got picked. Well, we then got great seats for the parade, but a thunder storm started to roll in, so they started the parade early and then we watched it fly by...it basically went by so fast that we barely got to see what was in it! Well, just as it ended, the rain started to come down HARD!! We ran into "It's tough to be a bug" show. I was thinking the rain would stop by then, but it didn't and it continued to rain the whole time we were in a gift shop and through the whole walk to the front. When we finally made it to the rain forest cafe at the gates of the park, the rain had let up, but unfortunately, we were all soaked. We got some new shirts and we were as good as new. We wrapped our day, thanks to Colin, by laughing all the way from the door of the restaurant to the resort. The kid is so funny and since he has a new audience, he does even more (Maddie and I are so used to him!!)

Well, that was our week. It was busy, crazy, and so incredible!! My kids got to do things I would have never even thought of (not to mention the fact that they got spoiled beyond belief!!!). This was definatlty a trip that we will never forget (thanks Mere and Jess!!)

By the By, anyone who wants to see pics of this unreal trip, just hop over to my myspace page (myspace.com/megsymo22) and see all the pics!

-Meg

Are you kidding me?????

Yesterday started like a normal day. I didn't have a school to go to, so I took advantage of not having the kids (they went to Disney world with Grama and Pepere) and I slept in. I sat on my couch and had my coffee and watched what I wanted on the T.V. without any interruptions. I then headed out to the grocery store, alone, to pick up a few things, and then I headed home to watch my soap because I didn't have to work at my other job. Quite frankly, I was pretty excited to have a night that I could just chill all night.

As I was driving home from the grocery store, I noticed some smoke in the sky. Now I had heard the night before that there were fires in Palm Bay (my city), but it was on the other side of the city, so I was not too worried. I just figured that they were not fully out and this was just the aftermath of what had happened. In all honesty, I didn't think I had a reason to worry.

Well, when I got home and tried to turn on my soap is when I realized how serious this is. My soap was not on because they were covering the fires, and I saw an Ariel shot of a school that is about three miles from my house. There were fires breaking out all over the place, schools were being evacuated, and because of winds, the fire crews were having a hard time keeping it under control. I was getting worried at this point, but panic had not set in yet. At about 3ish, my complex manager called me (because she knew I was new here) and told me to get together an evacuation bag, "just in case". Since I had no idea what that entailed, I called my friend, who is from Melbourne, what I needed. I mean, seriously, I am from Boston and I know how to prepare for a snow storm, hell, give me 20 feet of snow and I know I need to buy milk and bread, and prepare not to leave the house. But an evacuation bag? I need to gather paperwork, pictures, a change of clothes, and make sure it all fits in one bag, because if they are busing us then you can't pack up your whole house. So, still being convinced that I was going to be o.k. I packed the bag and sat in front of the t.v.

Then at about 4:45ish my friend called me and told me to walk out my door and look to the back. I saw black smoke and the tips of flames. There was a fire right behind my complex! I ran into the house to turn on the news and I found out there was about three reported fires and still more that haven't been reported yet. Now is when the fear set in. I called my dad (not sure why) and told him what was going on. I think I just need him to tell me not to worry and just do what they tell me to do. I then proceeded to just make calls because I was alone and completely freaking out! Then at 6:00 we lost power. I made a frantic phone call to my friend, and he told me to just go to his house, that his wife was there, and to just calm down. HOW THE HELL WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO THAT!! I was not prepared for this. I was told that when the hurricanes come, things like this happen, but this is not hurricane season and this is not a HURRICANE! I passed, I asked the same questions over and over, I tried to make small talk, and mostly I tried not to feed into the urge to pack up and drive myself right back to Boston!! I just kept telling myself that I have to do what I need to do and just not panic.

Well, after all was said and done, by the time I had gotten home, around 8:30ish (I had been at another friends house who still had power), we had power back and they were reporting there were 18 fires, and there were even more this morning. More than 70 homes were either destroyed or damaged. And because of the winds that we were having, embers were starting more. Churches and schools were filled with people who have lost everything. And as I hear the news in the back ground, they are reporting that there are even more fires and even more people who will be evacuated. Schools are cancelled today, and possibly tomorrow. They are saying that it is arson, and declared it is a state of emergency.

Even though this was not something I was prepared for and I had no idea what to do, I have to say that I was grateful I am not an ultra shy person and I was able to make such good friends who talked me down off the cliff. And, even though, I never thought I would say it, I am grateful that I still have my house to go to (pretty crazy, huh Jaime!). This just made me realize that you never know what can happen so be grateful for all that you have!!

-Meg

so true, so friggen true!

When I was a little girl, I wanted to be about a hundred things when I "grew up". I wanted to be everything from a nurse to the president. As the years went by, my list grew shorter and shorter and by the time I was in high school, I just wanted to graduate and be done with school altogether!

Then, on December 30, 1998 everything changed. I had by babies and I knew that bouncing from job to job was no longer going to cut it for me (or them) and I knew I had to make a decition. Well, after alot of thinking, I decided that I should be a nurse. It wasn't the work that worried me, it was the thought of blood that totally grossed me out. That is when my very (sometimes too) honest mother told me "Megan, you will make a terrible nurse, why don't you do what you always wanted to do, be a teacher" and that is when my journey began.

I enrolled in college, began taking classes, got my degree, and actually did quite well. I began working at daycare centers (which I loved), but I realized I still had more work to do. I am now going to school to further my education and get my next degree, but in the meantime, I am still working in the eduation field as a subtitute teacher (as I mentioned in another blog).

Well, when I was at a school last week, on of the teachers handed out this e-mail she got and I know that I am meant to be in this field because fully understood this e-mail and agreed with the whole thing.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.....

HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU ARE A TEACHER? By Jeff Foxworthy

1. You can hear 25 voices behind you and know exactly which one belongs to the child out of line.
2. You get a secret thrill out of laminating something.
3. You walk into a store and hear the words "It's Ms/Mr. _________" and know you have been spotted.
4. You have 25 people that accidentally call you Mom/Dad at one time or another.
5. You can eat a multi-course meal in under twenty-five minutes.
6. You've trained yourself to go to the bathroom at two distinct times of the day: lunch and prep period.
7. You start saving other people's trash, because most likely, you can use that toilet paper tube or plastic butter tub for something in the classroom.
8. You believe the teachers' lounge should be equipped with a margarita machine.
9. You want to slap the next person who says "Must be nice to work 7 to 3 and have summers off."
10. You believe chocolate is a food group.
11. You can tell if it's a full moon without ever looking outside.
12. You believe that unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone says "Boy, the kids sure are mellow today."
13. You feel the urge to talk to strange children and correct their behavior when you are out in public.
14. You believe in aerial spraying of Ritalin.
15. You think caffeine should be available in intravenous form.
16. You spend more money on school stuff than you do on your own children.
17. You can't pass the school supply aisle without getting at least five items!
18. You ask your friends if the left hand turn he just made was a "good choice or a bad choice."
19. You find true beauty in a can full of perfectly sharpened pencils
20. You are secretly addicted to hand sanitizer.
And finally,
21. You understand instantly why a child behaves a certain way after meeting his or her parents.

-Meg

Finally!!!

So, let me paint a picture for you...Its the first game of the season, I can only stay for the first 15 minutes, and becuase the coach was so great, Colin was up first. As he walks to the plate, I can see the fear in his eyes and the nervous quiver of his bottom lip. This was, after all, the first time he was going to be playing "machine pitch" baseball. The first pitch comes in at a high speed, he gets in position, keeps his eyes on the ball, swings and the ball goes flying into center field!! As he is barreling around the bases (and in between my screams and jumps) I see the happieness on his face because of the great play he just made! And this was the scene at every game, and this just made his love of the game grow more and more.

Now, fast foward one year. After two weeks of greuling practices, the day before his first game, he breaks his foot, and the doctor says the cast stays on for four weeks, and then as if that wasn't bad enough, he wasn't allowed to start to play for another three weeks, but wait, on the day he can finally play again, we begin spring break so that is another week off. So after 8 weeks of not playing, he is finally ready to get into the game and show why his nickname back home was Manny, because he hit the ball so far that he could sit and admire his work before beginning to run the bases.

So, we had game number 1 back...a walk and a strike out (no contact), game 2 back....a walk and a strike (no contact), game 3 back...a walk and a strike (no contact). Well, you get the drift. Let me say, this made for a very sad little boy and many rides home with constant encouragements (from me and Maddie).

But on Saturdays game, that all changed. Pepere had been practicing with him and helping him feel more compfortable with his bat and his stance, so he got up to the plate ready to do some damage. But all the swinging and warming up was to no avail, he struck out. Then, at his second time up at bat, he got had two strikes, and no balls, and it looked like it was going to end badly....but that one ball that he had been waiting for came in. He kept his eye on it, swung, and nailed it to the first base line...finally, he made contact!!!!!!! So what if it didn't go into center field for a home run, he got a single and he never looked so happy. It was just what he needed to get his confidence back and to help him remember why he loves this game so much! His smile was ear to ear the whole ride home.

But of course it wasn't me who he wanted to talk to about it, it was Pepere who he couldn't wait to tell (Pepere had to leave the game early!)

Go Figure!

-Meg