toenail fungus and other summer experiences

school has been out for 24 days. 24 long, hot days. for the kids, this means 24 days of swimming, riding bikes, sleeping in, bickering, and finding new and unusual ways to drive me batty. for me this means sleeping in, breaking up fights, making millions of grilled cheese sandwiches, and going to publix as often as possible to escape the chaos.

we've already had some big adventures this summer. we've been to the beach and to a couple of out-of-town lacrosse tournaments. and, white water.....

this is the first year we have purchased season passes. i've avoided it for several reasons. but, if i'm going to be perfectly honest, i'm grossed out by the place. white water is another dimension - that just happens to be 15 minutes from my house. i have no idea where most of these people are coming from, but it is apparent that they are not concerned with their appearance. or their hygiene. it's hot in atlanta, and i totally understand the desire to wear as little clothing as possible. however, some of the clothing choices leave very little to the imagination....

sometimes i'm just not quite sure where to focus my eyes. i try to avoid staring at the over-sized bodies stuffed into under-sized bikinis....so i let my eyes wander.....down.....and then i remember....NEVER, EVER look down at white water! hideous, massively disgusting feet at every turn. toenail fungus the likes of which i have never experienced in all my almost 40 years. if it wasn't so icky, it would be fascinating.

i'm a bit of a germ o phobe. this just adds to the multitude of challenges we face at white water. the first time we went, i decided to try out the lunch options. i bathed the kids and myself in purell, and we headed over to the burger place. after waiting in line for 45 minutes and throwing $42 on the counter, we found a spot to sit down (no shady spots left, so we sat on the surface of the sun) and bit into our burgers. BLECH! i think my kids would have preferred brussel sprouts. the fries were good though :)

this having been said, we will be returning this week. now that i know the food is awful and the feet are heinous, i can plan accordingly. it is summer after-all. and it's worth the ick to be able to sit in the shade with my kindle for a few hours....

sometimes the right thing still feels wrong

recently, it became necessary for me to say goodbye to a friend who i thought would be in my life forever. for me, it feels like a divorce. although i know the "break-up" was absolutely the right move, i'm fighting some very conflicted feelings.

as i've worked through these feelings the past several days, i've thought about relationships both good and bad. positive and negative. we all have them. why do we hang onto relationships that are toxic? friendship should be easy and fun. our friends should be the ones who lift us up and make us feel special. life is hard. and short. we should embrace the positive and cut out the negative whenever possible.

i'm the kind of person who hangs onto people for life. some might call it loyalty, some might call it desperation. whatever the reason, i'm not used to ending relationships.

so, if i know it was right, why does it feel wrong?

love hate and pralines

tomorrow the kids and i head down to tybee island. we take this trip at least once per year. the kids love fishing off the pier on tybee. i love sitting and looking out at the ocean. we spend the first couple of days on the beach, and when everyone is sufficiently crispy, we take a day to go into savannah.

for me, this is always a trip down memory lane. for them, it's torture worse than death. i bribe them with pralines as i point out my old high school, my old house, all my friends houses, the synagogue where we were married, the bench where i had my first kiss, my favorite chinese restaurant (now a dry cleaner), favorite deli which served my favorite grilled cheese sandwich, the curb i tripped over and broke my toe, the hospital where my dad died, the mall, my favorite taco bell, favorite gyro wrap (now called great wraps - not sure why?), my grandparents old house, the gas station that sold me beer when i was 15 (i leave that part out of my narration), the parking meter i always parked by because it was always broken, the seafood restaurant with the really, really good hushpuppies, .....and the list goes on and on....

we always make a trip to bonaventure cemetery where my dad is buried. it is one of my favorite places in the world. huge oak trees hanging heavy with spanish moss and old, old grave stones overlooking the marsh. we usually spend the first 10 minutes searching for the grave site (i swear they move it around to mess with my head). by this point we're dying from dehydration and heat stroke. when i return from the car with the water, i find that someone has been kicking dirt on someone. then find out that the dirt is really a fire ant mound. screaming ensues. followed by crying. so, we leave. good times. always glad to spend quality time in what should be such a peaceful place.

on the way back to the beach i always wonder why i bother. but then i remember. i bother because it's my history. hopefully one day they will bring their own families on tours of their childhoods and their kids won't give a crap either. that's love, right?