On Geocaching with the Fam—Updated!

During a brief moment of respite between what seemed an endless flow of patients, I searched online for something the family could do for fun over the weekend. I didn’t want to do yet another escape room, as we’ve already done almost all of the local ones, and it was always the same old “find the code, decipher the phrase” stuff—as cliche as “It’s not who you are, it’s who they think you are.”  As old and tired as a balding octogenarian staring back at himself in a gilded mirror. Mirrors never mask the truth, do they?

Anyway, as I was brainstorming, a thought popped into my head. I pulled out my phone and opened a geocaching app. To my delight, the screen exploded with hundreds of green points, and a few blue and gold ones that signified a special cache. 

Perfect! Well, perfect for me, but I still had to run it past Aidan and Joe. I knew James would be down for it, so no need to ask him. 

As I suspected, they were down, too. As many of you probably know, “down” in young peoplese means “up for.”

So I searched for an interesting cache to focus on, and discovered the oldest cache in Florida is located in nearby Marco Island. That was perfect, and by the comments I read, could be exciting as well. Alligators, black bear, and panthers were all known to inhabit the area. 

After church this morning, we set off. Once we arrived, we were gently reminded by several signs about the potential animal activity we might encounter, even though there’s never been an attack on the trail in its history. 

Which reminds me—the history of the trail through the Collier Seminole State Park is incredible. It used to be a bustling “highway” in 1916. The kids couldn’t resist doing an imitation of about how fast cars traveled back then, and we all laughed.

We laughed a lot today. 

Updated part: I had an updated blurb here, which descriptively told of how we came across two of the three main predators on our hike. But it seems to have disappeared. So I’ll just say we came across an alligator and bear poop. Lol.

About a half mile into our three mile journey, another green blip appeared on geocache app. Excited to intercept our first find, we sped towards a gnarled fallen tree that my imagination molded into a withered brown alien. 

The cache, nestled in the tree’s massive roots, begged us for release, so we happily obliged. 

Here’s Aidan being funny with the joke birding binoculars I bought her. I’m not sure if I mentioned this before, but Aidan has become an avid and enthusiastic bird watcher. She takes at least one twelve mile hike per week to walk the Rookery Bird Watching trail near our house. It’s meditation for her, a balm for her soul. 

As we strolled down the trail, Aidan kept us laughing, and it was really good to see her and Joe hanging together with smiles on their faces. A warmth spread through my entire being, and it wasn’t just from the pleasant sunlight through the trees. The weather was great—not too warm or cold, but just right.

The terrain was typical Florida pine forest, with pine needles covering white sand and dirt like a blanket that crunched under our feet. Every so often we’d see a splash of color—usually red or purple.

Or an extra tall lone palm.

Finally, we arrived at our destination—the famous “Christmas Cache.” It had some interesting stuff in it, but we decided to take a coin, and leave the following....Aidan made up and wrote the little poem on the spot. We put the items in a ziplock bag, and returned the cache where we found it.

On the hike back, I found a whole bunch of little bramble type things on my shirt. The kids thought it was funny that I called them “brambles.” So, Aidan  quipped, “You’re the Bramble Mam.” Then proceeded to play “Black Betty” on her phone and substitute “bramble mam” for  “bam-ba-lam.” I laughed pretty hard....we all did. 

Here are a couple more pics:

Well, it’s time to get ready for work after a wonderful, refreshing weekend. Happy Monday!

Second Place!

We won second place in this year’s Christmas decorating contest!

So Much! Updated with some pics!

Wow....it’s been awhile....

SO much I have to write about...so much has happened since I last wrote...I don’t even know where to start!

I’m feeling so happy and blessed to have all three kids here for Christmas...Callie flew in from San Francisco a couple days ago, and I’ve already got her hooked on The Good Doctor.

When she got here after her red eye flight, she curled up on the downstairs couch with Aidan, and they fell asleep...

 And today we learned and played a new song together…her on the electric guitar and me in the acoustics—Can’t Help Falling in Love, the Hailey Reinhart version. We sound pretty good together, I must say...I’ll put up a video next time we attempt it. 

Oh! I finally got my first Fortnite win!

The house is decorated inside and out, and the presents are wrapped and under the tree=I’m ahead of schedule this year, for once.  The upstairs tree has an annoying flickering lightbulb though, and I need to change it but keep forgetting. Lol. 

Here’s a pic right after I put the ornaments on...Zuri, being the wisecracker she is, thought she was the “present,” instead of just a tolerable nuisance. Lol.

Healthwise, its been a pretty rough last few weeks, but I have a very good neurologist now that will help out the mess I’ve made of my C-spine over the last couple decades of what he calls “thrill seeking.” That’s what I call surfing, racing, jet skiing, and all the other competitive sports I’ve done all my life. AND I’ve finally got to be tested (after several years of “forgetting” for that Pheochromacytoma. I’ll start that test on Tuesday and will hopefully have results by next weekend. 

Here’s my report from the MRI I had over a year ago...my neurologist said he’d bet the MRI I get next week will look significantly worse. 

But the coolest part about my neurologist is that he has a daughter with autism and she actually had a painting chosen by the UN for an autism awareness postage stamp. It’s called “Crazy Love,” and when he realized I have Aspergers, he was very interested in how I adapted to challenges in communication and social skills in life. He’s authored 15 books on ADHD, and he told me about some of his theories and ways he’s come up with to cope with challenges. Right off the bat, out of the blue, he asked what my IQ was. I sat there for a second, wondering what he thinking, but I told him, and he said that I’ve clearly used my “brilliance” to adapt. I laughed and said my “brilliance” is really just watching others and imitating social norms. He said that it was still brilliance, because many with the lower functioning autism having quite mastered it.

I told him I was nowhere near mastering it. I couldn’t even maintain eye contact with him. 

Then he said I was the “most adorable sweet pea,” and it wasn’t in a sexual or flirty way, but like a fatherly way. 

I LOVE this doctor. He UNDERSTOOD me. He GOT me, and he made me feel good about having autism. And not only that, after his exam, he knew exactly where the problem is stemming from—my neck—and is already taking steps to help before even having the results of the MRIs. I had an EMG, which is a nerve conduction study, today. He discovered there is clearly some nerve involvement which makes one side weaker than the other. So, he prescribed a couple of medicines, and I’ll start occupational therapy next week, too. 

AND, he asked me to become a part of a foundation he’s involved in — to be a mentor to others with autism, and other developmental disabilities. But the STARability Foundation doesn’t focus on disabilities, it focuses on abilities, which every single person has in one way or another. We focus on strengths, not weaknesses. Anyway, I contacted the lady he told me to contact, and we are meeting next week. I’m SO excited about this—it’s been a passion and a dream for so long, and now there are so many things in the works to make it a dream come true. I’m BEYOND excited. I’m so glad I didn’t listen to my inner voice that wanted to skip this morning’s appointment!

Okay, so other things....It looks like Joe is going to PRINCETON! And he also won a big trophy today in a math competition. And last weekend, his team won their Model UN competition and he got Outstanding Delagate, an award he has been seeking for a couple years now. I’m BEYOND proud!

Aidan is doing great in her job, working hard six days a week, and quickly making the right kind of friends. Her boyfriend, Adam, has a great job and treats her like a princess—he won’t let her open a single door. He’s a very well-mannered country boy, and he had Thanksgiving dinner with us.

Here’s a quiz thing she took on FB—how perfect!

And Callie likes college life so far, although she misses her friends and cousins in Santa Barbara. 

My job is still awesome, and I love going to work every day. 

Here’s me in a shirt I bought my self as an early Christmas present. And the second pic is a matching Viking torc and bracelet:

Anyway, that’s just the tip of the iceberg...I’ll try to post pics and videos soon!

New Look

I gave myself bangs for the Halloween costume I wore for a full thirty minutes:

In My Head

This is the latest song I can’t get out of my head. Love the heavy drums...

Took a break, but now am back

Hey y’all,
I got all your emails and pm’s. I’m sorry I haven’t been around, but I decided to take a break from the Internet and blogs in general to concentrate on other things.

Aidan has settled in, and had a job offered to her the first week she was here, and in the most awesome way. She and her friend Reilly had been going to a local Sports Bar and Grill near our house, a family-friendly place, but they also had pool tables, and Aidan likes to play pool. One night, Aidan witnessed an older gentleman (about 65 years old) getting shoved by an obnoxious twenty-something year old guy. She walked right up to that punk, told him that what he did was not right and that the kid should apologize. The kid stormed away and Aidan asked the older man if he was okay. They chatted for a bit, then the owner of the restaurant approached Aidan and said he had noticed her there before and that she got along with everybody. He said he really admired her standing up to protect the older man, who happened to be a long time patron of the bar and the bar owners friend. He offered her a job on the spot, and Aidan has been training six days a week as the new bartender. She’s making more money than she did in NSB and when she’s through training and allowed to accept tips, she could be making more money than I am, at least for the winter season.

And she has a new boyfriend, a real nice kid her age named Adam. He has a VERY good job—one where he only works six months a year and makes more in that six months than most make in a year. He ate Thanksgiving dinner with us, and impressed me right off the bat by opening doors for Aidan, pullling our the chair for her before she could sit, and just being a nice young gentleman. So refreshing!

So, we’ve had some good family time, and Aidan and I have started going to church together on Sunday mornings.

I’ve also been busy writing a book and a screenplay. I have the outline of the book done, and the idea for the screenplay developing in my head. And no, neither is chase-related. All I have to say about the chase is that I believe the main message of F’s chase is: WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE.

With all the changes of Aidan coming to live here, and being busy at work, and getting Joe’s application to Princeton done, I was feeling overwhelmed. So, I booked an hour in a float tank—one of those salt water isolation tanks where you float effortlessly in total darkness and total silence. It was AMAZING. I have never felt so comfortable, and an hour has never passed so quickly. I came out feeling so refreshed and so relaxed that I felt free and weightless. I told one of my friends about the experience and they generously bought me three more sessions. Too generous, you know who you are.

Anyway, I just wanted to give a short updat. I have pics too, and will post them when my laptop charges.

Happy Monday! Let’s get this week started right, with a clear mind and kindness toward our fellow man.

I’m Baaacckkk!

Sort of. Just wanted you all to know that I am going to write a new, long post about my goings on. I have a lot of fun pics to show you and a few adventures to write about. Lots going on, and life is good. So stay tuned!