After visiting Karen and Trev in Vermont, my next stop was Florida to see Lila who I am volunteered in China with in April at Starfish Foster Home. Karen drove me to the airport in Burlington (very much appreciated) and I was horrified to find out that my suitcase was 6 pounds overweight.
Sorry. I have to talk in that old fashioned term as that's was they use here.
Move with the times America, move with the times.
Anyhoo it was kind of scary considering I had left a case full of stuff in New York and basically all I had bought in Vermont was some wool and knitting needles. The man at the counter let me take some stuff out and put it in my carry on. I'm curious to know what this achieves. It's still going on the plane, it just means that I have to carry it. Oh well, it saved me $50 by taking a shopping bag with some shoes and clothes in it on board. But still, it seems kind of ridiculous.
So I made it to Florida and Lila met me at the airport and we drove to where she and her husband Harry live in Jensen Beach. This is actually their winter home. They are called "snow birds". People who spend half the year at home (which for them is Indiana) and then the other half - the cold half - in Florida. Originally they would drive down in their motorhome but now they have a permanent place right on the water in a park called Ocean Breeze. They have a little dog (and when I say little I mean tiny) called Bubba and a cat called TC. Which is short for The Cat. TC is a big cat (not fat, just big.......kind of tall actually which is an odd term to use for a cat) and Bubba doesn't actually realise that he is a dog.
Of course that could be because his Mum and Dad (aka Lila and Harry) treat him like their baby. I tried to get a photo of TC and Bubba together so you could see the size difference but for some reason they wouldn't sit still for the photo when I asked them to.
Bubba gets three - yes you read that correctly, three - walks a day and everyone in the park knows who he is. He has this funny way of going to the bathroom where he walks on his front two paws and this is what he is known for.
I had a great time relaxing in Florida. Harry kept telling Lila she was a bad host and should be taking me out sightseeing. But I was there to see Lila and with all the talking we did, we didn't have time for sightseeing. Naturally we spent hours talking about Starfish and the babies and we both agreed that it was so much better to talk to someone who was there. Don't get me wrong, everyone is interested when I tell them about it. But Lila just gets it in a way that no-one else can.
While we did spend quite a bit of time on the couch talking and watching t.v. (I am completely into a show called "Clean House" where a team de-clutters and then decorates peoples houses - I am totally amazed at the amount of absolute crap people keep in their houses and would soooooo love to be on that show) we did go for walks, go out for dinner and went to the movies twice. Harry's not keen on the movies so Lila was glad to have someone to go with and the first one was "The Blind Side." It's a true story starring Sandra Bullock and was great - I definitely recommend it. The second time there wasn't a lot on that we wanted to see so we went to "Men Who Stare At Goats."
Wait until it comes out on dvd.
Actually don't pay for it. Wait until it is on t.v.
So I had a wonderful time visiting Lila and Harry who, like everyone I have stayed with, completely spoilt me. I'm not sure how I'm going to cope going back to normal life when I get home.
Although who am I kidding? I'll be living with my Mum. And who spoils me more than her?
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