a typical day on vacation with our dear momma :)

Mom left on Monday for Pensacola, Florida with her two dear sisters (pictured below...Tinie, Bertha & Janet). Sure to be an adventure-packed week, especially if the first day is any indication. She sent us this email... enjoy!! :)

Hello Everyone!

Thought you might like a little e-mail describing our first day of Florida. Probably will be my last as well because since I am computer illiterate;
it will stress out the poor hotel attendant too much, plus it's 80 degrees out there, and have to obey Mom's orders and get a tan - just kidding, well, not about the temperature, but about the tan.

Anyways, most people would agree that the main goal of time "away" is to de-stress, unwind, relax, and re-charge our inner and outer selves (oops, that sounds New Age - don't worry, we all have our Bibles and good NANC books along) -- but I think we were put through almost every stress in the book yesterday. How often, for example, does a huge transport roll over on the 407, closing all lanes, and how often do three sisters head out to Florida on a Monday morning at 6:30 AM? Well, this was our predicament, and the race was on to catch our l0:45 flight (from Buffalo). Gas stations are not abundant on the 407 (actually non-existant) so although we did not want to spare the time, we all agreed driving on empty would probably complicate things. We arrived in Buffalo in record time :) but parking at the airport was the next hurdle. I have never done "Park and Fly" before, so after realizing "Short Term" parking was not what we wanted, we set out to get to "Long Term." Thought we followed the right signs, but the lot which said "Long Term" had the bar across, and we didn't know how to get in. With one hour left till take off, we were, needless to say, getting a little anxious, but just at that moment a car drove in, the bar went up, and we squeaked in behind her. She was NOT impressed. She informed us that this was an employee's only parking lot and an ID card was needed to get back out. Oh. Fortunately, she was willing to reverse and exit the lot to let us out (whew!) I hope she didn't see our Canadian license plate. The white hair said it all, I guess. Anyways, we searched again to get to the right lot, but in our mad scramble to get in the shuttle, we forgot to make a note of where we parked (you would have, too) so I just hope when we return it is not bitter cold and not too dark!! Found the air-trans desk, but I was so paranoid of not making it to the Gate in time that after the suitcases were checked and weighed, I stood on the scale too, thinking in my haste that that was where we had to check in too. Got off in a hurry. The inspection area was another stress. They have a machine now that blows air over you, which makes your hair stand on end (it already was) and your clothes puff out. Glad I wasn't wearing a skirt. Bertha was well behind us because she had used the washrom first (no wonder), so, worried (again) that she didn't know where we were, I whistled. Real loud. Scared the living daylights out of everyone, but got Bertha's attention. My little darlings would NOT have been impressed. Found our Gate, grabbed a much anticipated coffee, and boarded the plane. What a nice seat we had. It was the opposite of First Class because it was at the very back of the plane, but boy, was it nice. No view, but 5 seats between the three of us, and no noise or commotion from any other passengers. Ahhhh!

The hotel is so homey, well, except cleaner than home. :) We saw an amazing sunset over the water and strolled down the beach. We decided to go into town for supper because we all needed a "few things," so after a delightful Pizza Hut supper and Wal-Mart stop, we headed back. Never drive with me and discuss deep subjects at the same time. All of a sudden the road disappeared and I was on a grassy median. Going up and down that curb was not very wise, but we are quite sure the car survived - hopefully "Thrifty" doesn't check cars underneath and hopefully they won't read this e-mail. Back at the hotel, we had the first lost purse scare (plus mastercard, driver's license, passport etc.) but fortunately, we had just overlooked it in the dark. From our hotel balcony, Janet and I saw the pool and decided to go for a late night dip. Janet missed the first step, and from my viewpoint (the hot tub) looked like she was just about to break her neck. Arms and legs went flying all direction, but oh so thankfullly all that broke was her watch band, not her ankle or anything else that would affect our trip adversely. It makes you realize once again that it is only by His mercies that we are not consumed, and that each day is a gift.
Well, time to let my sister use this wonderful tool. You are not in our sight but certainly in our hearts.

Love and prayers,
Mom.

EDITOR'S NOTE: so who is signing up to join her on her next trip?? :)