Suwanee River & SeaWorld: Lesson Two of 2018

We, the little family and I, did our second getaway of 2018! We went north to the Suwanee River. My husband and I have long wanted a cabin for a second home; a getaway; a piece of woods to retreat within and explore. We thought, after a long search, that this land and small cabin we found were absolutely just right, so we visited it on Saturday. It was nearly a five hour drive to get there (plus a speeding ticket, ouch) and when we saw the property our jaws dropped. It was everything we ever wanted, but it was so remote that it made my husband leery*. He was quiet on our drive out of there, and I knew he was upset. I offered to drive home, but we decided it was too far and we had promised a "hotel" night to the kids, thinking we'd be drawing up an offer on Sunday. Our kids LOVE hotels! We couldn't disappoint. Gainesville hotel rooms were largely booked so we kept on driving and decided while children slept in the car that we would head to Orlando. You can imagine their delight when we found a last minute suite for a great deal, and then we said we'd do SeaWorld the next day! They went full bananas -- we've deprived them of all things Orlando (except the great science museum there, ha!); remember, we want the not-too-remote cabin in the woods, folks!

Here you will see that old Suwanee River (could be your view if you like remote remote remote):

At SeaWorld, a Guy Harvey mural:

We had lunch with sharks, etc.

We saw penguins!

Sea turtles!

And flamingos!

And yes, there was even a coffee stop before the SeaWorld madness.

Even though it didn't turn out how we wanted on the Suwanee, by golly, we had a great time making our way to North Florida and pit-stopping in Central FL on our way home.

*Listen to your gut, your spidey senses, your tingling spines. We joked that in another universe today, on a cosmic loop, we bought the cabin and we were all murdered there the first weekend we stayed in it. Yes! We are one horror story away from Stephen King status. 

Twenty Eighteen, oh hello!

Oh hello Twenty Eighteen! How are you doing!

I rang in the New Year with family in Montana (Yellowstone NP, Big Sky, Bozeman) and I'm still holding on to the last few days of January since it was a such wonderful month with family and fir trees on all sides of me. I mean, will you just look below? It was such a gift to be in the geology and ecology of Yellowstone on New Year's Day.

Suns up on 2018 though, and it's time to get busy with my resolution. I'm keeping it simple this year, and instead of a lengthy list, 2018 will be a year of learning for me. I'm looking forward to trying all manner of new things or getting better at old things. I'm going to be stuffing as much as I can through my learning filter*. I can't wait to tell you all the books I've already smashed into January! All the new things I've learned! Come with this reader, woman, mother and yes, still coffee drinker, and let's learn.

*What did I learn today? Never, ever, ever, ever send an email when you're cross. I wasn't on the giving or receiving end of an angry email, but I was reading some you-can't-take-that-back kind of communication unfold in real time as part of a larger group. Today was an amazing example of how poorly it looks to be involved in an email drama. No, I don't tend to send emails when I'm fired up. But I do tend to find people and their behaviors fascinating in general, especially when they believe they are justified in what they've dished out with furious finger pecks! 

coffee, cheer, librarian's christmas tree

I am addicted to the A L P H A B E T. I even went to work for it full-time as a librarian. And each holiday, I load our Christmas tree with letter ornaments. I'm not even close to having the entire A-Z, and have many duplicates of my little family's first name initials and many, many Bs.

We put up our tree before Thanksgiving this year; always gotta get that Costco tree deal!

Finally, treated myself to a cup of coffee. Because moms cannot survive the holidays without it!