kokomeau

Kevanna!

Posted on June 7, 2013 by kokomeau

June 1 to June 5 2013 was really fun! Kevanna (Kevin and Savanna) finally came for a visit, and we all had a great time! Thom and I love to go to the beach, and we love to boogie-board. But that doesn’t mean everybody does. And sometimes we have to remember that just because we like it, we can’t just assume our guests will enjoy it as well. We get some pretty good-sized waves here, and the rip current can be pretty intimidating. We’ve been playing in the waves for a while now, so we tend to forget how scary they can be. Plus, if you’re little, like Savanna, well, the waves are even larger. But off we went, hoping against hope they’d love it as much as we do.

AND THEY DID!!!!

What a great time we all had! We ate in, we ate out, we visited an IMAX theater and explored St. Augustine, we sunbathed and enjoyed coffee on the lanai. But best of all we played in the ocean as much as we could. Kevin took right to it. Savanna struggled with a too-big board, but once we found her the right size, she went at it like a pro. We all got rolled around in the surf a bit, especially Savanna (ouch!), but she was a great sport and went fearlessly back at it.

It all went too fast, but they’ve promised to come back. And we’re holding them to it!

Here’s more photos of fun! [portfolio-gallery include=2261]

Randomness

In case you missed some of these…Happy Birthday, Dad

Posted on June 6, 2013 by kokomeau

[portfolio-gallery include=1449]

Florida Fun, Randomness

Before…and After!

Posted on May 27, 2013 by kokomeau

[portfolio-gallery include=2139]We’re finally into our new house! Completely! After spending a full day last weekend moving the rest of our junk into our new garage, we’ll have the rental cleaned next week and will be DONE with renting forever. Now comes the unpacking, sorting, and putting away all the stuff we’ll keep, with the rest of it left in the garage for a future sale. But that’s down the road a bit. The past couple of weeks have been filled with cleaning, painting, and shopping, with poor Thom taking the brunt of the work because of my job. The garage and the outside, which is in desperate need of a paint job, had to wait while we re-did the inside. Kevanna is coming next weekend, and we HAD to have it ready for them! Thom’s brother-in-law was down this past week and installed a beautiful set of French patio doors that just make the room. Here’s some befores and afters:

First, the living area looking out to the front door. We removed the curtains, then Thom took down the wallpaper border on the left. We decided to stay with the same color as the rest of the room, and since there was a can of paint in the garage with the name on it, we were able to match it perfectly! We put some 2″ white wood blinds in the front window. A new front door and screen door are in our future.

The kitchen had some big changes. We had to put a new counter top in as the old one was actually warped. Thom spent days sanding and painting the cupboard doors and drawer fronts, including the wood around the light fixture. We were forced to get a new (used) fridge, so we went for a big white side-by-side. We hope to replace the stove and microwave with white ones down the road.

But I have to say our most favorite improvement is in our beautiful little lanai! Here are a couple of before and a couple of after pictures. The lanai was just filthy when we got in there. No one had lived in the house for over two years. Once we cleaned it, we realized it had beautiful tile under all the dirt. But the slider had to go. It wouldn’t slide; it kept falling off the track. It made all kinds of noise. It just begged to be replaced! Huge thanks go to Bobby for such a great job installing it with some help from Thom. The perfect housewarming gift!

So, aside from the bedrooms, which really didn’t need any big fixes, I think we’re ready for our first company! (We just have to keep them out of the garage.)

Family & Friends, Randomness

Anticipation

Posted on May 18, 2013 by kokomeau

an·tic·i·pa·tion: 1 : the act of looking forward; especially : pleasurable expectation; 2 : visualization of a future event or state

I have to say, I have a love/hate relationship with anticipation. I love surprises, the spur-of-the-moment, the let’s-not-think-too-much-about-it-in-case-we-talk-ourselves-out-of-it kind of impetuousness that began in my teens and has not yet left me. I’m not saying I like living on the edge, but I’m all for jumping into the car and just driving, or getting short notice of a trip home and really enjoying the whole experience, the good, the bad–all of it. But I also love looking forward to things, thinking about them, trying to decide the hows, then whens, the wheres.

So here’s a rundown of the past few months regarding the theme of ‘anticipation’ and how it has applied to my life lately:

Anticipation #1: Buying a house on a short sale. If you’ve ever heard about how difficult this can be, you’ve heard correctly. While not impossible, it is definitely stressful. This kind of anticipation I can do without. You actually do not know until you sign the papers whether you have a done deal or not. The ups and downs of that roller coaster ride will not quickly be forgotten.
Anticipation #2: Going to Disney Flower and Garden Show and looking forward to that Soarin‘ ride. Awesome!!! And trying to fit this in with packing, working, beaching, packing and working.
Anticipation #3: A stupendous, impulsive acceptance of an offer to fly home for my son’s graduation party, a quick overnight totally worth the stress of missing the first leg of my flight (see previous post about Amy).
Anticipation #4: Finally moving into the new house (even though half our stuff is still at the old one); sleeping here, waking here, driving to and from work from here (1 mile!). But tomorrow should be the end of the dreaded anticipation of renting a truck and moving the rest here. To. Be. Finally. Done.

And then these little anticipations, like looking forward to having our wretched patio door replaced with lovely French doors that will open out onto the screened lanai (must wait 4 days! Anticipation!). Like seeing the kitchen come together after Thom took all the doors and drawers down and repainted them. Like going to work with the broken old counter in the kitchen, only to come home to a beautiful NEW gray counter to go with our now white cupboards! I love leaving the house in the morning and coming home later and seeing new things on the walls, new paint on the lanai, a slightly different room arrangement. Those are FUN surprises!

Anticipation #5: Kevanna. They are flying down in 14 days. 14. This is when I love/hate anticipation. I love to look forward to having them here. I love that I know they’re going to love it here and have a great time. I love that they’ll love our new place, because that’s the kind of people they are. Frankly, I love having that ‘deadline’ to get things moving more quickly around here so it’s more than ready for our first visitors in our new home. What I hate about this sweet anticipation is that the hours are going by in a jumble of preparation, and I have to spend all my days at work where time seems to drag slower than a bored manatee. I could be doing soooo much more around here. So while the days are, on their own, going slowly till they arrive, I know without any doubt that we’ll be looking at 5 of the fastest days the earth has ever seen while they’re here with us.
Anticipation #6: Caitlin’s wedding. It’s at the end of June. I’m flying in the 27th, a Thursday. I’m still debating whether to spend the money on a car. I don’t want to pack much, but I’m thinking all about that, anticipating the unpredictability of Michigan weather, what clothes to bring, where I’ll be staying, who I’ll be seeing until I leave on the 4th.
Anticipation #7: The moving south of my knittin’ sista’ ‘Neet and Dean. Never in a billion, gazillion years did it ever even take a baby step across my mind that she would really want to move down here. I can’t put into words how very happy — just really HAPPY — this makes me. And I look at hundreds of houses online and send link after link to her, sometimes even going to the house itself and taking pictures of it and talking/walking though it with her on the phone. Her cabin sale just HAS to go through. C’mon Dad, C’mon Murph, Amy, Ria…this little project shouldn’t be hard for any of you, so let’s make it happen!

Yes, anticipation can be fun if you’re the patient type. I’ve been told it’s not my thing Instead of I’M PATIENT, I’m more without the apostrophe: IMPATIENT. I do think the life lesson I’m here to learn has to do with patience and my lack of it., and I will say that at least I do feel like I’m more patient than I was even two years ago. Sure, I still stew and worry about how things are going to get done and when. But I’ve also learned to try and step away from the project so no one gets hurt, especially Thom.

So yes, lots of anticipation going on around here. The vast majority of it is good, for a change.Summer is coming, family is coming,the beaches are calling our names. I’ve got the days off work to just enjoy being with the kids. I hope there’s a good Florida thunderstorm while we’re at the ocean. I hope we see dolphins and pelicans. And I wonder, were we to get up in the early hours of the morning, if we might just spot a female leatherback turtle, one who has spent the past 10 years of her life in anticipation of moving her nearly 6-foot girth up the very beach where she was born to the dunes to lay her hundred eggs and then turn and slowly make her way back to the water, never to see her offspring again.

Or will she…….? Something to anticipate!

Family & Friends, Randomness

Amy Does it Again.

Posted on April 27, 2013 by kokomeau

My youngest son, Kevin, had finally earned his Bachelor’s Degree the hard way, working during the day, classes at night. His bride, Savanna, wanted him to don the cap and gown and walk the walk, but he didn’t want to spend the money, the time, or any further effort. He was DONE! YIPPEE!! Instead, she planned a surprise graduation party for him. I had heard about it kind of by accident through Facebook, since living a thousand miles away, I obviously I couldn’t attend. On my nightly chat with Sarah on my drive home from work she told me she and Nate would certainly be there. I said if I were independently wealthy, I’d hop on a plane over the weekend and just surprise him. “But,” I said, “at least I’ll see him in June, so that’s okay.”

Two days later, rather early in the morning, I got a phone call from Sarah. When it’s that early, I have to wonder if she’s okay. It’s been a tough year. She sounded funny, kind of muffled. “I know,” she said, I’m under my covers.” Then she proceeded to preface what she had to say with, “I want you to be open-minded, spontaneous, think spur-of-the-moment.” And then she surprised me with, “I want to fly you home for Kev’s party.”

WHAT?!?!?

Three mornings and several excited phone calls to Savanna later, Thom, Sadie and I hopped in the car and headed to Daytona for my 8:30 flight connecting in Charlotte and Chicago and then finally to Traverse City. The plan was for Sarah to pick me up, drive to Boyne to change clothes, then head to Gaylord’s bowling alley before 6:00 p.m. where Savanna would bring an unsuspecting husband to his surprise graduation/bowling party. It seemed perfect, and I was looking forward to surprising not only my son, but some of my siblings, as well, who I knew would be there to celebrate with him.

20 minutes into the 30-minute drive to Daytona’s airport, I pulled out my boarding pass just to double-check the time. I literally gasped when I saw what was on it: “FLT 2291 DPT 7:02 AM DAB ARR 8:36 AM CLT.”

WHAT?!?!?

I can’t even begin to express my thoughts when I realized I had 10 minutes until my flight left and I wasn’t even at the airport. I picked up the phone mumbling frantically, “Who do I call?” “You can’t call the airline!” “You can’t even call the damned AIRPORT!” Thom – God love him – didn’t say too much, though I know without a doubt he was thinking, “How in the world did you get that wrong????” We just continued on our way at a bit faster pace, all the while my head spinning with a million thoughts: What do I do? How will I get there? What can I possibly tell Sarah who just spent MANY hundreds of dollars to fly me home? Will the flight be delayed? No! Of course not! It’s the first flight out!

I’ve missed a plane only once before in my entire life, and it’s a feeling you never forget. And now I was going to experience it again.

Thom pulled up to the front doors, and I grabbed my backpack and jumped out yelling, “Don’t leave!” I ran up to the now very empty ticket counter and saw two young men coming out the doors, no doubt finishing up sending my flight on its way. I asked them if the 7:02 flight had left, and they assured me it had. I put my head down on the counter, then looked up and said, “I need your help.” After a whole heck of a lot of typing, several bouts of tears, a half hour and a couple of phone calls later, Alex said to me, “Well, because you missed this flight, your seat from Chicago to Traverse City has been given away…

WHAT?!?!?

…but if you can get to Jacksonville, there’s a direct flight to Chicago at 10:40 with a pretty tight Traverse City connection that you could go standby on.” With my head spinning, I said, “Put me on it.”

The hour and a half drive to JAX was relatively quiet, but again, when Thom pulled up to the terminal, I suggested he not leave ‘just in case.’ The empty ticket counter yielded me an agent who, after listening to my tearful tale of idiocy, gave me back my seat to TC, but informed me that yes, I could most likely make the connection except that my flight to Chicago was now delayed 40 minutes, which would put me at O’Hare 10 minutes after my TC flight left.

WHAT?!?!?

Deciding NOT to tell Thom about that last bit, I called him and told him I was on my way, have a safe drive home, see you tomorrow, and went to my gate just hoping against all hope that we had good tailwinds and the flight to TC was delayed. What else could I do?

At the departure gate, I thought I’d see if there was any new information on the 40-minute delayed flight to Chicago, what gate this flight went into, what gate that flight left from, and if there were any miracles available. There was a lovely woman at the counter who, after listening to my story of my son’s graduation, my idiocy, and seeing my eyes filling up with desperation, finally said to me, “Listen, I’m definitely not supposed to do this, but I’m gonna ask that a cart be waiting for you when you get to Chicago, and they can get you to your next gate faster than if you ran, because they can go underground and around places you can’t go. I’ll do everything I can to get you on that flight, and we gonna pray it happens.” I quietly thanked her, and then started praying to the one person who I knew was the airport connection I needed. AMY!

My nickname for Amy is ‘Sparky.’ Living in Belleville and being 20 minutes from Metro Airport, she was always willing and able to get me to and from the airport any time of the day or night, sometimes through sleeting snow, sometimes out of bed and still in her red, one-piece star pajamas. She’d answer her phone, “Sparky’s airport transport. How can I assist you today?” I called on her again, “Amy…Sparky…Please, PLEASE help me make my connection in TC. See what you can do up there. Please…”

And while Ms. Lovely at the counter was typing notes into my ticket, I happened to glance at the information on the board. Suddenly my flight was only 20 minutes late, which meant I now had a 10-minute window in Chicago to make my connection!

WHAT?!?!?

I had the lady look at the board. I asked her if that didn’t just change from 40 minutes delayed to 20 minutes delayed. She looked at me and said quietly, “Yes.” I asked her if that happens very often, and she said, “No; hardly ever.” We looked at each other and smiled.

Thanks, Sparky.

PS: Yes, I made the connection.

Florida Fun, Randomness

A Little Slice of Heaven

Posted on April 13, 2013November 19, 2019 by kokomeau

When we moved to Florida a little over a year and a half ago, I had some concerns about the summers. I’d lived in southern Louisiana a million years ago, and the heat there was absolutely unbearable. It wasn’t just hot. It was that sticky suck-in-your-breath-and-hope-some-oxygen-gets-through kind of hot. After leaving there, I swore I’d never live in that kind of climate again.

Fast-forward about 30 years and — who knew? — here I am, living in northeast Florida. Granted, it’s not Louisiana, though from what I can tell on the map, it’s about the same latitude as my previous southern home. But here’s the difference:

We have seasons here! Granted, summer is the longest, whereas in Michigan winter is the longest. But come late fall, things cool down to occasional sweater weather, many trees lose their leaves, the deep and vivid greens fade to a duller hue, and traffic picks up. And I love it. (Well, not the traffic part). The fall brings with it the most beautiful colors in flowers and shrubbery. I have new favorites like Muhly Grass, Bouganvillea, and Bottle Brush trees. The Magnolia trees with their huge white blossoms and deep green leaves are everywhere. And where we live, outdoor activity is encouraged with beautiful walking/bicycle paths that go for miles and miles through the Florida wilderness.

We’ve been here two winters now. The first winter was so mild we were in the ocean every month, and we sort of laughed when we were told this wasn’t exactly typical. This past winter was cooler with water temps going to the low 60’s. That may have prevented us spending as much time in the ocean, but the benefits were seeing Right Whales, northern Gannets, and Florida Manatee.

Now it’s spring. And what is my very favorite part of spring is probably the bane of many Florida natives. What I thought was the Kudzu Vine is actually just a wild grape vine, but God, I love this thing! I wonder if it’s because it somehow reminds of a beautiful snow that blankets some pretty barren landscaping during northern Michigan winters. This vine dies off quickly at the first early frost. But come spring, the dull green forests start to come alive, and along with that comes the vine, eventually spreading itself over trees and brush until it looks like someone threw a brilliant green blanket over them! I’ve learned it’s not a good thing. I’ve learned that it can kill what it covers because the sun can’t get through. I don’t know too much about that. I just know I really like how it looks, and when I see that, I know that summer will soon be in full bloom. And since we’re near the Atlantic Ocean, we’re finding the heat of the northeast Florida summer is relieved by a beautiful tropical breeze that lends itself to early morning walks and late evening activities.

Yeah, we like it here. We don’t get the thousands of spring-breakers because our winter temps are moderate; that’s a good thing. And while we get plenty of snowbirds, our population doesn’t double in the winter like the southern or gulf areas. We’re more temperate here, slower and somehow calmer than any other area of Florida I’ve been. We got lucky finding this place. Thom’s always saying I should quit telling people how great it is here or we’ll end up like Naples or Lauderdale. But it’s hard not to talk about when we feel so fortunate to have found a little slice of heaven right here on earth.

Family & Friends

Lucky Enough

Posted on March 17, 2013 by kokomeau

*´¨)
¸.•´¸.•*´¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•` HAPPY ST. PATTY’S DAY!

“Thinking of wonderful past parties with Jan the piano player, Dad the entertainer, Mom the hostess with the most-ess, and more fun, singing and laughter than oughta be legal! It was a tradition that began way before my time but ended up including generations of O’Connor friends and family. While I’m sad because it’s over, I’m smiling because it happened! Miss you ALL!!”

And I do. I think I can say without question that anyone who was ever involved in any of these get-togethers, from the early 1950’s until the last one in 2005, has happy, joyful memories. My mom always says no one does sing-alongs anymore, and I think she’s right. Not like they did. There was always a piano player, from Ag, Kevin, and John, to Mom, Joe, and finally Jan…wonderful, amazing, talented Jan, a life-long professional entertainer who, in her twilight years, chose to play piano at the O’Connors’ St. Patrick’s Day party rather than anywhere else that would have PAID her to play. She could play anything, and she could follow Dad’s ‘singing’ like they’d been performing together for years.

“Chloe” (“Ya don’t say!”), “Me and My Shadow” (Dad and Carl), and a personal favorite, “Shanty Town,” along with every Irish song we knew. Why, we finally had our own songbooks made up — pages and pages of the words to all the songs one could think of. “Charlie’s Songbook” it was called, and we had loads of them. But even with so many copies, people still had to share. After every song, you’d hear someone shout out, “Number 28!” or “Number 103!” or just the name of the song they wanted. And then, “What PAGE?!?” And Jan would play.

And the harmonizing! We of course had to include some of the musicals, especially Dad’s favorite, The Music Man. We’d split into two groups, and the guys would start “Lida Rose.” When the time was right –and often when it wasn’t — the girls would join in with “Sweet and Low,” each group leaning into themselves to hear if they were following their own song or getting distracted by the louder bunch. While I’ll have to admit some years were better than others, when we’d finally hit that last, sweet harmonized note, with everyone finally reaching the right tone…why, THAT was something else. And the memory of those satisfied smiles on our faces and the cheers all around — either because we were that good or because it was finally over — will be tucked away to bring out and enjoy year after year. (Charlie O: “We should take this on the road!” )

Typing this, the past floods in when, as children on Kingston, we would be lined up at the top of the stairs, legs hanging through the railings, listening to the laughter, the singing, to Dad with his crazy one-liners that we didn’t understand but would cause more laughter. We learned the old songs that way, songs that are slowly dying out for lack of singing them, sharing them. 30 years later, to have been a part of that tradition, hosting those same parties and sharing them with my own kids, was a gift I wasn’t aware of until now, when it’s over.

I was one of the lucky 11. I was lucky enough to be born into a family who cherished and celebrated its Irish heritage. I never knew my mother wasn’t Irish until years later. She embraced Dad’s love o’ the Irish as if she were born into it, and she encouraged it in us all. We see this saying used in many ways, but in what I consider its original form, If you’re lucky enough to be Irish, you’re lucky enough.

Sláinte!

Randomness

A Year in a Life

Posted on March 3, 2013 by kokomeau

March 3rd, the one-year anniversary of Rick’s passing. How is that possible? I wrote then that I could not imagine her without him. He’s been gone a year, and I now I believe that she does not go on without him. He’s with her in the eagle she spies circling overhead or the antler she finds in the woods. She talks to him daily on her walks through the familiar trails where they spent so much time together. His occasional ‘visits’ at night help her get through those days of putting one step in front of another until she finds that yet another 24 hours have gone by.

Her new normal keeps her busy with the house, the dogs, her kids, her friends. She runs marathons and cleans like a demon. I talk with her daily and am constantly amazed at the strength she shows when I know just by her voice that maybe today wasn’t a good day.

She even braved her first solo flight and came to Florida for a visit. It was wonderful. We spent time at the beach, on bike rides, and just talking until her short trip was over. She said it was the first time in more than 7 months that she felt ‘normal.’

She’s started reading again. She’s letting go of unrealistic expectations both of herself and others. She’s getting her ‘moxy’ back. She’s beginning to look forward to what might be, what he prepared her for, never letting go of the memory that makes her strong enough to face a future on her own.

Well, not really on her own.