Clearly, people are either blind, inconsiderate, or just plain stupid. We went to Hideaway Cafe tonight to see the Sarah Mac Band perform. It’s just an incredible venue because it’s small and intimate. And because the people who generally attend these shows are actually there to hear the band or artist perform. Unfortunately, tonight was not one of those nights, and sadly, it took away from our enjoyment of the show. However, Sarah has such a strong voice that even with all the chatter in our ears, I was still moved to tears during several songs.
I can’t believe it’s taken me almost a week to write this post, or that it’s been a week since I last blogged. To say that life has been a bit crazy is a complete understatement. Don’t get me wrong, it’s all good stuff…well, mostly anyway. I gave a bit of a sneak peek with my blog on Saturday but that was more of an experiment than an actual blog. I really wanted to see how my mobile WordPress worked so thanks so much for those of you who checked in on my completely random posts that day.
Our weekend got off to a great start Saturday morning. We began our adventure by attending the Tampa Bay Rays Fan Fest. Unfortunately, this was not the fun filled event we remembered from years past. The last time we went to Fan Fest, the Rays weren’t such a great team and the number of people in attendance was probably a tenth of the number that attended Saturday’s event. This is great for the Rays and Tampa Bay, but not so great for us. Also, the kids were younger so activities like running the bases and face painting got them really excited. Not so much now. There just weren’t a lot of activities for the 9 and 11 year olds to take part in so we cut our trip to Tropicana Field pretty short. Of course, we did get Danny to be silly for at least one picture.
We left Fan Fest and headed to downtown St. Pete. This is one of my most favorite places and Gil and I even plan to live there after Daniel graduates high school. Until then, we are pretty much married to the New Tampa/Wesley Chapel area so that we can be close to the kids and there for all of their extracurricular activities.
The next hour or so was almost like being in heaven for me. Gil and kids went for a walk to Haslam’s Book Store while I browsed Silk Road Needlepoint. I had not been in a needlepoint shop in years and it was like a flood of memories came over me and my creative juices just started flowing like a river. I wanted to stitch all of the beautiful hand painted canvases and I longed to hold and feel each of the hundreds of fibers lining their walls. I have got to get a grip on my life so that I can make time to stitch again. It really is the most therapeutic thing I’ve ever done and being in that shop Saturday was a great big reminder of how much I miss it.
After we grabbed some lunch, we went for a walk toward The Pier. We never quite made it all the way to the end because we were completely distracted by the beautiful little beach along the way. We just sat there and relaxed for what seemed like hours. The kids played in the sand and threw the ball around. It was such a beautiful day and solidified one of the many reasons why we choose to live in Florida.
Our next stop for the day was at the St. Pete Times Forum for the Tampa Bay Lightning vs. the Florida Panthers hockey game. It was Natalie’s first ever hockey game and she really seemed to enjoy it. Gil spent a good bit of time during the game explaining the rules and answering all of her questions. I think both of the kids had a good time. Me…not so much. I like to watch hockey but we had seats in the 300 level of the arena and I don’t do so good up there. I don’t mind the height so much as the angle of the seats. I’ll be honest in that as long as I was sitting down, I had no problems, but the minute I went vertical, my whole world started swaying. I really hate it up there and it kind of made for an unpleasant experience for me each time I had to get out of my seat. I thought maybe I could make it work but I’m pretty sure that I’ll have to avoid all future events in which I can only get the nosebleed seats.
When the game was over, we headed out of the arena to see the band Tonic perform live in the plaza just outside. Unfortunately, the long day and our pure exhaustion kept us from enjoying the show so we headed home. Besides, we needed to recharge for the next day’s events.
Sunday morning came and off we went to the Florida State Fair. Woo Hoo…..time for rides and crowds and skeery people and fried foods and carnies and more fried foods and…okay, you get the picture. I really don’t have a lot to say about this day so I’ll just show you with some of the shots from our adventure.  We had a blast but thank goodness Monday was a holiday because I was completely pooped by Sunday night. It was exhausting but the fun and laughter we shared those two days made it all worthwhile. It’s not often that we get to hang out so much doing quality stuff so for me, it was a perfect weekend. Â
Yes, that IS Gil's head at the back of the coaster.The kids are there somewhere.
Check out this video of the kids in the giant plastic balls. It’s pretty funny. And really gross when you think about all the cooties living in those giant germ incubators.
draft
Purrfectlee Imperfect 