Suzanne Calling

Tonight, I spent a few hours with a high school classmate and her husband over in Tampa. There were lots of laughs and quite a few stories from back then and now, catching up on the different things that have happened in our lives. The funny thing is, back then, we weren't friends. We knew each other, but one would never call us friends. It wasn't until we happened to meet up again online (about 14 years ago), that we both probably were willing to look past the person we once knew and get to know the people we'd become. I'm glad for that, because we have way more shared experiences and situations than we did back then, and that common ground in this case is typically hard to find. So, when she made an appointment for a doctor in my stomping grounds, she contacted me to see if we could meet. Yes, I could have spent the time studying...but I'm glad I didn't.

As I've mentioned in the past, one of my goals in school is to make at least one new friend in each class I take. It definitely helps to have someone to talk about the experience while you're going through it, and sometimes, they've got information that is helpful to you (and vice versa). This semester, though, it seems like the connections I've made with peers have just multiplied. There are people from all of my classes that I'm connecting with daily, and while the conversations may just be school related, it's not just the classroom experience. Instead, we're talking about the other classes, professors, our educational plans and how to accomplish them. In short, we now have an outlet for all those questions that lie ahead. I think the biggest compliment is when another person who is continuing on (or is already in the Ph.D program) asks what classes I'm planning to take in the fall. It says they value me as a classmate and hey, having a known qua...

Today, I shot a video interview of a friend for my Digital Video class. In it, I was supposed to ask why she chose USF, what her major is, favorite professor and what makes USF different than other schools she's attended. The interview was with a friend who has been equally passionate about the USF Poly experience, opposed to separating the school from the USF system and well, that was conveyed in this interview. I'm honestly looking forward to editing the piece together Monday night (after I get my sale copy of Premiere Elements, that is). Then she commented "we should do more of these interviews with ALL the students we can rally, post them on your blog and on You Tube! The media's not talking to us, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't take matters into our own hands!" I have to admit, it makes a lot of sense. So, it looks like my lighting equipment will get a workout, my video skills at a A/B camera setup will be put to good use and I may have some ...

My friend Liz (the woman responsible for pointing me in the right direction academically) had a problem. She was headed down here for her other half's 50th birthday and well, she wasn't quite getting the response from Disney on the little tweaks she wanted to do to make Greg's birthday special. That's not something I wanted to hear, and definitely something I would help fix. So, today, the family headed over to the Boardwalk Resort and ensured that Greg would not forget what birthday he's celebrating. Take a look: It was fun decorating, and especially awesome that Greg was not tipped off in any way. We even met up with them in the parks briefly and he had no idea of what we'd just finished doing to his room. I'm wondering when those balloons will fall off the ceiling and wake them up...

Today was a nice relaxing, sleep in and skip studying kind of day. I'd turned in the first of two term papers and the other one will be a cakewalk. As it was a no-schoolwork day, I figured it was time to do something with the boys. Last week, Chef had lamented to Ed that we rarely do stuff as a family anymore, due to all my studying and Ed's work schedule. In a conversation with me, he'd expressed a desire to go to Epcot. What he did not know is that, as Florida residents, we can purchase an Epcot only annual pass, good for admission after 4pm. Since this is our favorite of the Disney parks, he wondered if we could get them and after conferring with GameTeen, it was decided that the boys would have them for the year. This afternoon, I purchased them online and printed the exchange vouchers, rounded up the boys and we headed to Orlando. I had planned a quick stop to drop off some antenna toppers to my friend, Jill. The quick stop ended up being three hours, in which th...

Last spring and summer semesters, I took online courses in which the professors (both from the St. Pete campus) created podcasts of their lectures, which were posted to Blackboard for students to view throughout the semester. At the time, I ended up uploading them to iTunes and then to my iPod. Several times, I plugged it in to my car stereo and listened to lectures as I drove here and there. While the boys attended scout meetings, I was able to watch a lecture or three and it was great to have that resource, whether I had the laptop with me or not. Even better, by downloading these podcasts, I didn't have to deal with streaming hiccups that can happen with bandwidth. This summer, my friend Jenn decided to take both of these classes. When I realized this, I first offered her my notes. (we became friends over the many study sessions needed to imprint the Psych stats coursework.) The other night, we talked on the phone and she mentioned having Internet issues that meant she'...

...if they realize that we rarely, I mean rarely, go to the beach! In the past seven years, we headed over the Gulf coast about two dozen times, the Atlantic coast none. I came close in my trip to Port Canaveral, Ed with the Space Center. Maybe if we were closer to either coast, it'd cross our minds more often. As it is, there's plenty to do without dipping the toes in water, so we don't feel like we're missing anything. Though, tomorrow, the Atlantic coast calls. We'll be meeting up with Joyce, Tim and their brood for the day. A two hour drive, then a day full of whatever trouble we can get into. Maybe even dipping toes in the water.

Tomorrow, the kids and I are heading up to St. Augustine to spend the day with Donna. It'll be good to see my BFF and spend some time walking around the historic city. She reminded me that the last time we did this, I lamented the lack of a 'real' camera. It'll be good to spend the day shutterbugging with my two favorite kids and my best girlfriend. The bonus? I was double checking to ensure we weren't going to meet insane crowds because of some event going on, and found that their Christmas light display in the historic district is continuing through the 31st. If we do dinner down there, we'll leave the restaurant to the display of many tiny lights. Cool.

It is 29 degrees outside right now. TWENTY NINE! In Florida! So, I did what any other rational person does when faced with cold, winter weather: I cooked. Then I baked, and then I baked some more. First, one of my favorite winter meals that Mom would make, loin of pork with roasted potatoes and pan dripping gravy. The difference is that I seasoned it like I was making Pernil instead of Mom's salt, pepper and garlic. Then, I made a boat load and a half of cookies. Chocolate chip, oatmeal cranberry, peanut butter, then peanut butter cookie cups with Reece's peanut butter cups inside. My friend Meghan's mom, Betty, offered some pumpkin bread in exchange for cookies and that sounded good. So did a nice dinner, so they dined with us tonight. On a cold night, it's good to have company and lively conversation to keep you warm. Now, I'm relaxing in my flannel USF jammies and enjoying the idea that my fridge has plenty of leftovers for the rest of the week. Yum!

This month, many of my friends are escaping the frozen tundras of the north (well, the DC and NYC areas) and are heading to the Mouse's house. Today, the visitors in Florida so infrequently vist, that I had to head over: my old boss from Disney was at the Magic Kingdom. The few hours I spent over there were full of laughter. We hit the highlights. Elaine's best friend saw these while we were on the TTA and we made it the next stop. I like a ride in a convertible at night. I had to give it back. It would be interesting trying to drive that thing home down I-4!

This year's Thanksgiving was nice and low key. A split menu, because we were spending the afternoon at Bob and Maureen's. A bargain turkey and I was ready to brine. Stuffing and twice baked potatoes and we were ready to go. It seems like something is missing when you only make a few things. It was nice to have a relaxing day with friends, but it would have been better to have Ed with us. He has a job, they expected him to work today, and well, you do what you have to. Besides, he's not a turkey fan, so it will be a nice ham meal sometime in the next couple of days. I broke in the mixer by making whipped cream for chocolate cream pie (store bought crust, meet store bought pudding.) Alas, there was an unfortunate pie incident on the way to their house and we didn't enjoy the fruits of the Kitchen Aid. Now, after a snack of leftovers, I'm ready for a nap...

Joyce, Tim and the kids are over at WDW for this week before school starts in NY. Of course, this means we got both families together for dinner, conversation and some birthday cake. We've been checking out the various DVC properties at Walt Disney World one by one, thanks to our various friends coming to visit over the years. This time, the Boardwalk-and a looooooooooong walk from the lobby to their rooms. That said, the DVC accommodations over at Boardwalk seem bigger than Saratoga Springs or the Beach Club Villas. Last year, when they came over to Lakeland to spend time with us, we ended up at Smokey Bones. It had made such an impression on Tim that last month, he wanted to know what the name of the place was and if we dined together over by us or near WDW. (We alternate between going to see them or them coming out to our place). A couple of weeks ago, we passed by a location in Kissimmee and I passed that information on to Joyce. Works for us-we like 'que. Their ki...

We spent an afternoon and evening in our old town last night. Sixteen years in Maryland made it resoundingly 'home' for me. Ed, not so much. It felt strange to see all that had changed, but in the end, the important things didn't. The friendships we carved out in the planned community we liken to Stepford are still the same. Our first stop in Frederick was for lunch at our favorite restaurant when we lived there. We worried that it wasn't as good as remembered, the place that would be the first choice to dine out when the town was our home. No fretting necessary, it was just as delicious as always. Chef and I decided to split a Rasta Pasta entree (of which he easily consumed 2/3), Ed got the Ragin Cajun. They have this delicious Cheesy Beer-Potato soup, and just as would happen five years ago, Chef came over and wormed his way into getting some of that and Dad's lunch. If given the chance, he probably would have done it more. At the meal's end, we wonde...

Send your friends pictures! Donna is traveling for work (finally!) and sent this picture yesterday to show she's really arrived. (A tour of Scandinavia a few months ago got canceled because of a canceled connecting flight). I'm so glad she made it there, but the picture is all I can pull up. Seems that the majority of texts (especially ones with more than one picture) that come my way get hosed in transit. I sent a text last week that I don't even know if it made it to the recipient. So, I sit with this gorgeous picture and wait patiently to hear reports of the lovely time I hope Donna is having when she returns next week. Unless she texted to send a picture of some gorgeous, romantic guy to tell me that she's staying in Rome as a guest at his villa, then I probably won't hear from her and will have to try using my crappy texting phone to send her a text and fail miserably. I think waterlogging my phone short circuited that feature. As I don't use texting,...

People IRL seem puzzled at this phenomenon (doot do dee doo doo), but those who haunt the Net will get this a lot better. Last night, after years of 'seeing' each other on message boards, months of saying we should talk and exchanging phone numbers, Robin and I finally got around to talking. You know what? When we finally did get on the phone, we couldn't stop talking. In many respects, we're kindred spirits. We're both Disney freaks, we both have RSD and we're both transplants to God's Waiting Room. I know that may not be enough to form a bond, but trust me, that's just the tip of the iceberg. It was very cool to chat (for THREE hours that seemed like ten minutes) and finally put a voice to those printed words. She's just as funny on the phone as she is in print, even when talking about serious crap like health woes. We made plans to meet sometime next week and you'll be able to spot us if you're in Kissimee: the woman with the air b...

For those unfamiliar with this, it's a GOOD thing to get Boo'ed! Think of it as a form of Ring and Run, but the person doing the Ringing (or in this case, knocking!) leaves a bag full of goodies! Inside the bag was all of this yummy stuff! Awesome! The concept is that you spread the Boo throughout your neighborhood by Boo-ing two more of your neighbors. We'll be heading out to Target shortly to get the stuff to spread the wealth (and some chocolate for Gameboy to enjoy, but I'll let him partake of the items with dye right before bedtime.) Happy Halloween!

Donna and I whiled away an afternoon in St. Augustine. The weather was dodgy, the waterfront was flooded (apparently, it is a tidal thing) and the shops were pretty interesting. This year, Chef is supposed to learn Florida history. Usually, the school district takes the 4th graders on a trip here, but the budget shortfalls have axed all field trips. Sometime soon, we'll bring the boys here to the fort and historic downtown. The skies weren't the best, but the company definitely was! I could photo hunt to my heart's content and I had a companion who takes the same slow pace that I've adopted. Woohoo! Looking up from a hotel... Donna at Donna's on St. George Street Wind Socks One of the many beautiful archways As I've mentioned to Donna, whenever I find these markers imbedded into a street, I take a picture. This goes back to the ten days on Block Island, when I thought the USGS marker at the lighthouse fascinating. Since then, looking through pictures wil...