Confessions of a Misplaced Southern Belle

Not so misplaced anymore!

daily life

It’s been a day….Blogmas Day 8

Pandemic teaching is a lot. Some days are better than others. Today, the kids were fine, it’s admin that’s driving me nuts. You win some, you lose some. So, not to dwell two much on the negative, I present to you some of my sweet girl Idunn (pronounced Eden). She is looking at me over the ottoman because there’s a tennis ball under there that she wants me to get for her, despite the fact that are at least 10 other tennis balls scattered around. She turned 8 on Sunday and is my shadow. When I was home for most of November, she wouldn’t leave my si

Idunn is peeping over the ottoman because there’s a tennis ball underneath and she want is.

Ten on Tuesday—Blogmas Day 7

If you have been reading blogs before Instagram and TikTok took over, you may remember when Carole over at Carole Knits hosted a Ten on Tuesday. I think she still does something similar, but not as often. Anyway, I thought I’d dust off that tradition and try out a Ten on Tuesday. Today’s list is Ten of my favorite things about the Holiday Season.

  1. Christmas lights!
  2. Cooler weather means lower electric bill. (I’m in Florida, I’ll take what I can get!)
  3. Being able to wear long sleeves.
  4. Christmas decor.
  5. Hallmark Christmas movies! (My family makes fun of me, but I think they secretly like them)
  6. Being able to read for pleasure. Currently grad school takes up that free time.
  7. Knitting!
  8. Starbucks holiday drinks (Well, not the last two years since they discontinued my fave…gingerbread latte.)
  9. Holiday Break
  10. Homemade Christmas Candy. (I like to make my Great-great Aunt’s Heavenly Hash candy)

What are your ten favorite Christmas or Holiday things?

Sunday-ing. Blogmas Day 5

For the past six years, our favorite place to go while in St. Pete is Bandit Coffee on Central Ave. (I think I discovered it a year after it opened). For the last few months, Amanda and I have made it a Sunday morning tradition to go get coffee and breakfast, often getting the newest pastry offerings. This is one of the most welcoming and unpretentious coffee shops in St. Pete. Prior to the pandemic, it wasn’t unusual for Amanda to head up to work for a while, and even now, it’s not unusual for us to make a run over the Skyway after work for a coffee fix. (Yes, it’s 20 minutes from home, but it’s worth it.). Their interior has been closed since March of 2020 but has managed to survive, thrive AND expand it’s food offerings for drive up only. Earlier in the year, the Tampa Bay Times wrote an article on how they stayed open through the pandemic when many places closed. If you’d like to read about it, go HERE. Sara never fails to ask how we are doing when we see her, and I can’t wait for the time when they are ready to reopen their interior. If you are in St. Pete, please stop in for a coffee and a pastry made by their amazing pastry chef. Today I had their parfait bowl because I’m still not back to eating bread, but oh, my goodness, there is some sort of glaze or syrup on this that is just delicious. Just look at the strawberries, blueberries, bananas and this luscious granola, all on top of some silky smooth Greek yogurt. Follow them on Instagram Bandit St. Pete for photos that will make you want to get up on a weekend, or any day, and grab a coffee and a pastry. PS. We adore the shortbreads 🙂

Look! A Squirrel! Blogmas Day 4

Today I had to go out to Coquina Beach on Anna Maria Island to photograph a very sweet family. I have had the privilege of photographing them for seven years now. (I’ll post sneaks tomorrow) While I was waiting for them, this squirrel decide that he(or she) would be my model. It was a nice way to spend the time. I shot these on my iPhone with minimal editing. I think the only thing I did was crop them a little bit.

Thanks for posing for me

Meanwhile, back at home, Amanda is puppy sitting this one, Luna is seventeen weeks old. Our dogs can’t be bothered. Poor thing, she just wants to play, all of the time.

How is your weekend going?

Blogmas Day 3. A Foggy Start

Foggy morning on campus

This morning I woke up to a rather foggy morning here in Florida. The closer I got to the river, the thicker the fog got. This above photo was taken on campus about 6:15 this morning. Yes, I was already at work. I needed to get a head start today. Anyway, our TSA kiddos came in this morning to check in and to test their bridge to see how much weight it would hold. They built it yesterday, had to let it cure and then tested it this morning. They are prepping for our state competition in February. Speaking of which, some of the weekend will be spent on registering for that event and working on a parent letter home.

Testing a bridge

After school I had an amazing facial that just made my whole month. I’ve been going to Elizabeth for a couple of years and she is awesome and such a wonderful place. Tomorrow is an early morning photoshoot at the beach and then I have some things to do around here, including cleaning out my closet. Doesn’t that sound like fun? Hope your weekend is amazing!

Re-entry- Blogmas Day 2

After taking most of November off due to medical leave, this week back at work has been exhausting. I could go on a rant about how my kids didn’t do anything while I was out and what a mess this year has been, but I’m just going to keep reminding myself that Winter Break is less than three weeks away, I’m finished with this semester of grad school, I can now read and knit without guilt and that I’m recovering nicely. 🙂 We have a crazy weekend coming up. I have a photoshoot Saturday morning and we are puppy-siting for a friend. Adding the puppy to our crazy three labs should be entertaining! lol Hope everyone is having a great week.

This and That

Spring Break has come and gone. We didn’t go anywhere, and truth be told, I didn’t do anything productive. Well, I did write a paper for one of my grad school classes, but that had to be done anyway. I’m just trying to get through this semester. I wanted to quit after that awful February, but like Joel says, just get keep plugging on. We did binge both seasons of A Discovery of Witches, but I don’t think that counts as productive. I don’t know, I’m just tired all of the time. Aren’t we all though? Anyway, here are some photos from the last few weeks.

Freyja, April 3, 2021
Sunset March 29, 2021
Idunn
Annie, my sister’s cat, in Louisiana, Feb. 27, 2021
On the way back from Dad’s funeral, wearing his hat. (I didn’t want to squash it in the suitcase) Th

Before and After

May 26, 2019

I simultaneously love this photo and hate this photo. I love this photo because it is a photo of friends who are puppy raisers and it was also the cover photo for a local magazine. I hate this photo because the shoot took place the day before my mom died and in my brain, it marks “before”. Rationally, one doesn’t have anything to do with the other, but my psyche has tied this photoshoot with me not being in Louisiana when my mom died, which is ridiculous, because with the information that I had at the time, I don’t think I would have done things any differently.

A little backstory. My mom was diagnosed in April 2019 (I forget the exact date, but for some reason I want to say the 4th.) with pancreatic cancer. At the time of diagnosis, she was 66 years old. After various scans, and tests, we discovered that it stage 4 and it had spread to her liver and her lung. I had planned to spend all summer with her, and skip TSA Nationals. (I’m one of three advisors for out TSA Chapter at my school. Our National competition is at the end of June every year.)

The plan was for me to drive to Louisiana around June 7th and stay until I had to return to Florida for the 2019-20 school year. Mom ended up in the hospital for blood clots in late May. She called and asked if I could come home earlier and I said sure, I’d be there the 28th as she was feeling better, was scheduled to go home as she didn’t want to be in the hospital any more and she was going to forego treatment. Wednesday, May 22nd, she was discharged home to hospice care. At that time she was stable and was having friends come over to see her on Friday like it wasn’t a big deal. I had the photoshoot scheduled on Sunday, I would pick up the rental car on Monday the 27th, spend the night about half way and drive the rest of the way on Tuesday. There was no indication that anything was imminent, or if it was, it wasn’t information that I had.

Sunday afternoon, as I was leaving Chip and Chris’s, I got a call from my sister asking me if I could manage to get there on Monday, as Mom had taken a turn and she was afraid she would be unconscious by the time I got there. I called the rental car company to see if I could pick the car up early, and on Sunday evening, picked up the rental, hurriedly packed some clothes, called my principal to let her know that I had to leave and give instructions on how to give my final exam, (we still had a week of school left) and around 4 am on Monday, started driving from my home home in Manatee County Florida to Dry Prong, La, a solid fourteen to fifteen hour drive. Detours for road construction on I-75 and a delay near Mobile due to heavy Memorial Day traffic, made the drive all the more nerve wracking and anxiety inducing. Somewhere on Hwy 190 in Louisiana, northwest of Baton Rouge, I got a phone call from my brother. Mom was having trouble. He tried to reassure me that I would make it, but I was still about two hours, maybe less, away. I hung up, started sobbing, and then about ten minutes later, called my brother back told him to take the phone to Mom. I told her that I loved her and that if she was ready to go, she could, she didn’t have to wait for me, but I was on my way. She was unconscious at that point, and on morphine, but I was at least able to tell her I loved her. For the next hour and a half, I drove and sobbed. At some point, my husband called me and started talking to me about nothing and everything. At the time I thought he was just trying to keep my mind off the rest of the drive.

I finally drove into the driveway around 7pm, I think. It’s all a blur. My youngest brother was waiting for me in the driveway, and I took one look at him and knew. Mom was gone, and I didn’t make it. She passed away about 15 minutes after I had called. That hour and a half that Joel kept me on the phone? He and Amanda knew that Mom had passed as Kevin (my other brother) called them. They made the decision to not tell me as I was still driving. At the time I was so mad at them for not telling me, but looking back it was the right decision.

Mom on Lake St Martin in 2016.

Meanwhile, the week after the funeral, I edited this session in order to have it ready for the deadline that the magazine needed. No biggie, I didn’t have a lot to do as my sister and one brother had returned to work, and my other brother andI were hanging out with my dad and writing thank you notes , and tying up loose sends from the funeral. I ended up staying two weeks before driving back to Florida.

Cover of Bayside Living

I was home about a week then turned around and took 30 kids and adults to Washington DC for that National Conference that I planned on skipping.

SEHS TSA in Washington DC. June 2019

Two days after we returned home from the conference, I photographed my best friend’s wedding on July 4, 2019 and then basically put down my cameras except for a handful of times.

July 4, 2019

Over the last 22 months, my love for photography and anything creative has taken a nose dive. Prior to May 27, 2019, in addition to my regular job, I also did photo shoots, and was a volunteer photographer for Southeastern Guide Dogs. I have had little to no desire to photograph anything beyond the occasional shots on my phone. I have photographed maybe two families and then a handful of puppy raiser days and in-for training days for SEGD, but beyond that, I have no desire. Of course, 2020 and the pandemic was it’s own thing, and unlike a lot people, took away my creativity instead of stoking it.

I guess it’s just been one thing after another since 2019 and finally I feel like the creativity has started to creep back in. The desire to knit has slowly returned, as has the desire to write. I am also slowly beginning to think about a photo challenge that DOESN’T use my phone to force me to take Big and Little Mama (my cameras) out for a spin.

It took me a while to figure out why I had this block, and I think it’s been just sheer overload of everything. Work, mom’s diagnosis and death, starting grad school, my dad’s illness, and his passing last month, pandemic, the crazy election, serving on a Board of Directors (I’ve since resigned to give myself my breathing room) and just daily life. I am hoping that I am finally chipping away at that block and maybe some of my creative self returns. I have missed her.

Flu Season

Flu Season

Now more than ever it is important to get your annual flu shot. CVS (and other places) offer free flu shots and often gives you a shopping reward. Publix gives you a $10 gift card with your flu shot. I was in and out in less than 20 minute. I was picking up a prescription anyway so I just got mine while I was there anyway.