Mountain Retreat

After our short visit home, we decided to spend a little more time in our families’ terroir: the Appalachian Mountains.  Both Greg and I share our ancestry of being Americans from before the United States formed.  We can trace our relatives entry into the colonies of South Carolina and Virginia as well as sharing Native American blood.  We both prefer the low country of South Carolina and Georgia, but felt drawn to ramble through the winding roads of the Smoky Mountains of North Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas.

Luckily for us, we have a cabin retreat in the family, too.  Located near Epworth, GA on the Fighting Town Creek, my aunt and parents own a small. rustic cabin just perfect for us to escape cell phones, internet, computers, television, and all communication except family.  With the chilly, damp weather, we built a fire and ensconced ourselves inside with knitting, good books and great food.

After the whirlwind of seeing familiar faces at home, I felt more conflicted than ever wondering if we had made the right decision to pull the kids from their schools, friends and family.  The cabin became the perfect bubble to relax and forget traveling, budgeting, and worrying over the choice we have made and giving up our main income for one year.  While the kids caught up on school, Greg grilled marinated steak and vegetables by the creek and I worked on knitting a baby blanket for a friend due in December.  

Time Slowed.  I thought of the scripture from the Bible that has always been elusive to me:  “Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10.  In our frenetic modern lives, who takes time to be still?  We have worked so hard to manage this sabbatical year, physically and financially.  Since making the leap, I have felt pressured to make the most of every moment because I know we will never have a year like this again. I didn’t realize until being still at the cabin that God IS.  God is with us in the mountains, at the beach, on the road, at home, at school, at work, and on sabbatical. Everywhere.  The trick is learning to be still to KNOW this.  

That night, after a delicious dinner and a fantastic dessert of roasted marshmallows, we sat together around the fire.  With Wyatt near me on the chair, Emma in my lap, and Anabel next to her dad on the couch, Greg read us 5 Minute Mysteries.  We laughed and applauded each person’s attempt to solve the mystery.  With that one evening of being still together, I forgot all my doubts.  

If you can, try being still with your family this weekend.  I highly recommend it.

We're Front Page News!

Thanks to the Cherokee Tribune and writer Megan Thornton for publishing an outstanding article about our year long adventure!  When Megan called to interview me, I rattled on excitedly about our sabbatical never realizing we would make front page headlines:

"An Experience Like No Other"

By Megan Thornton

Great title and so true!  If you missed the article in the paper, here's the link:  Our Article.

Carpe Diem!

Being back home in Georgia for our brief sojourn, we visited Greg's parents' graves today. As we placed new flowers for the winter season in the urns and on the headstone, we felt reminded and reassured that we are doing the right thing by taking a year to travel with our children. What once seemed so crazy, now seems to make perfect sense.

Greg's mom and dad, Emily and Charles, worked hard all their lives.  They worked diligently for others in various fields and then, diligently for themselves when they started Charles's construction company and later, their concrete business.  They had one child whom they loved very much, but they didn't always get to spend a lot of time with him when he was a kid because they were always working.  Emily died at the age of 45 from breast cancer and Charles died at the age of 62 from melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer.  Neither one lived to enjoy one day of retirement.

So, today, we celebrated their lives and achievements.  We told the kids stories of their grandparents who love them dearly from above.  We prayed they watch over us during this year and keep us safe on our travels.  And I prayed that I can learn to slow down, be content, and appreciate the gift of our year off with our children.  I know this is a once in a lifetime experience.

Why wait for retirement to experience it?  Who knows what tomorrow may bring?  "For tomorrow may rain, so I'll follow the sun..."

Carpe Diem, Folks!

Eating Your Way Around New Orleans

With a husband who's a chef and three growing kids, one inescapable question when traveling is "Where are we eating next?"  Let me clarify: it's not, "When are we eating?" or "Where are we eating?' or even, "What are we eating?"  Always, "WHERE are we eating NEXT?"

In New Orleans, that question is hard to answer.  Not to think of a place to eat, but to choose one.  So we decided to make our visit one giant progressive meal.

We began with beignets and chicory coffee at the world famous Cafe du Monde.  Located on Decatur Street right at the river in the French Quarter, it is perfect for eating and people watching. As the wind blew the powdered sugar into our faces, we witnessed a man transform from human to truck in less than five seconds.  Drivers with horses offered carriage rides to visitors and LSU fans spontaneously broke into cheers at the sight of their Alabama rivals.  Breakfast at the Cafe du Monde definitely came with a show!

After viewing the great Mississippi River, we meandered through the French Market nibbling on samples along the way.  There's nothing like the luxury of sipping great coffee while looking at interesting things. The French Market has anything you might like, from fine china to tacky T-shirts. We settled for a Mardi-Gras mask Christmas ornament and were on our way.

Finally out of the French Quarter, we had walked up an appetite by the time we made it to Mother's Restaurant on Poydras Street near Harrah's Casino and just up a couple blocks from the Hilton Riverside where the NAGC convention was taking place.  Here, we waited in line with other hungry folks to place our order at the counter, get our drinks then find a seat.  By the time our friendly hostess brought our food, we were starved (Hyperbole, obviously!)  Pleasingly placed in front of us were two Ferdie Specials, grits with debris, jambalaya, gumbo and a salad.  The Ferdie Specials lived up to their names: slices of baked ham, roasted beef, cheese and slaw on buns soaked in the debris (all the drippings from the roast beef.)  We all made short work of these amazing sandwiches.  Being a GRIT (Girl Raised In the South) herself, Anabel thoroughly enjoyed her grits covered in the debris sauce. Greg devoured the gumbo while I savored the jambalaya sharing the abundance of andouille sausage with Wyatt.  Little Emma quietly ate her salad with ranch dressing. (We think she may have been switched at birth.)

After my convention presentation, Greg met me for round three of our progressive meal.  We started with charbroiled oysters at Drago's Restaurant in the Hilton Riverside.  Perfectly grilled, seared and topped with garlic butter and parmesan cheese, these oysters melted in my mouth and paired beautifully with my Cosmopolitan.

Afterward Drago's, we strolled the streets of the French Quarter to our next destination, Felix's Oyster House.  Most people come to Felix's with one thing on their mind, fresh Apalachicola Oysters on the half shell. You can't go wrong with a dozen of these beauties and a pint of Abita Beer, Louisiana's own brew.  Mix up your own cocktail sauce with freshly ground horseradish and dig in!

After two dozen raw oysters, we decided to do some people watching on Bourbon Street.  I'm sure most of the people we saw wouldn't be happy that we saw them doing the things they were doing... I'm trying to forget it as we speak.  (Notice, I'm not mentioning what the kids were eating?  That's because New Orleans After Dark is not for minors.  Parents, please remember this!  Our kids were happily eating pizza and watching Disney's The Princess and the Frog in our hotel room.)

We ended our progressive dinner with fresh fruit daiquiris and gumbo at The Gumbo Shop.  Greg tried the cantalope and honey dew melon daiquiris while I enjoyed the sweeter banana one.  We shared a cup of seafood gumbo, boudin with mustard sauce and crawfish remoulade.  We were so stuffed we could hardly finish our ice cream with pralines.  What can I say?  Life on the road is hard.

Believe it or not, we did not eat here, but
I will be performing the "I gained 10 pounds
in Nawlins Blues" November 18 - 20.

When I get on the scales, I'm sure I'll be singing the blues, but today was worth it.


.

NAGC Convention... and All That Jazz

An impressed Bill Nye offered to take me
to the moon after seeing my presentation.*

Recently, I had the privilege of presenting the curriculum material of my new book, Teaching Technology through Interest Projects to colleagues at the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana.  In April, when I accepted the invitation to speak, I had no idea I would be so nervous come November!  Thanks to the support of my husband, family and friends, I survived many people's worst fear: public speaking.

My presentation room was packed (A special thank you to those attending!) and my audience was extremely receptive and engaged in my material.  I had teachers and administrators asking pertinent questions during my slideshow and giving positive feedback afterwards.  Of course, I made each attendee sign an affidavit that they promised to by my book as soon as it is released by The Critical Thinking Company.  (Hey, a girl on sabbatical has got to eat.)

At the end of my hour, I had one administrator approach me to ask if I would be available to teach my Interest Projects' curriculum to her staff.  I answered with a resounding, YES!  Suddenly, a new career path appeared before me:  I could teach the teachers and travel, presenting/promoting my material around the country.

That one magical hour at NAGC in New Orleans cured my public speaking fear.  Funny, how successful experiences do that, isn't it?   So if anyone out there needs a speaker for your faculty, I'm available.



*Bill Nye did not see my presentation.

Traveling with a Dog is for the Birds (play song while reading post)

As I write this post, our dog, Ginger, is curled up on the console between the two front seats insisting on putting her head in my lap/laptop.  Everything, including writing, is a little more difficult when traveling with a dog.  

Here’s our top ten reasons NOT to bring a dog on your travels:

10.  While in the car, you have to make room for the dog in already awkwardly tight spaces. 

9.    You have to stop twice as much to walk the dog.  

8.    You have kids fighting for the dog to sit with them.

7.    You can’t “Name Your Own Price” on Priceline because you can’t be sure the hotel you get is “Pet Friendly.”  

6.    You have to pay a very high nonrefundable pet fee to stay in nice hotel or stay in a less nice “motel” like in 

        Pensacola, Florida.  

5.    You have to wake up early and get dressed to walk the dog.  

4.    When staying in a city, you have to walk around further to find just the right spot for a country dog to do their                     

        business.  

3. You must always carry “poop” bags.

2.     You must have awkward conversations with strangers while your dogs smell each other’s bottoms.

and the Number One reason NOT to bring a dog on your travels....

Three words: POOP, POOP, POOP

Let’s face it:  There’s only one reason to bring your dog on your travels and it’s the reason you have a dog in the first place:

Unconditional love no matter where in the world you are!  

So, if you are bringing Fido along, here are some things we learned traveling with Ginger on this trip:

• La Quinta Hotels allow any size dog and many other types of pets at no additional charge.  However, all La Quintas are not created equally.  The one in Pensacola was a motel with rooms opening to the outside which is little less than desirable for a family.  The hotel lobby smelled  so I passed on visiting the free breakfast.  Conversely, the La Quinta in New Orleans was an extremely clean hotel with valet parking in a safe, family friendly area and a very nice staff. We booked the AAA rate and for $89/night we got a spacious room that included a great buffet breakfast and a wonderful location within walking distance of all the fun stuff in the French Quarter and near the River.

• Rest Areas are your friend.  Stop at each for potty breaks and leg stretches so the dog will be calmer in the car.

• Comfort harnesses are a must for walking your dog safely and humanely in a city.  No strangled or accidentally liberated dogs on a harness’s watch!

• Lastly, invest in some extra toys or treats for your dog so you can sightsee and eat dog-free.  A happy dog in the hotel room makes for a happy family at dinner.

Tricks or Treats

“Best Halloween Ever!” exclaimed Wyatt on the morning of November 1st.  I was so relieved to hear those words.  

Every parent wants their kids to have happy memories and positive experiences in their lives, especially for holidays. As a room mom, I have spent many an hour preparing special arts and crafts activities and preparing for Halloween from stuffing treat bags to painting faces.  I am sure many Moms can relate.  So I was feeling a little guilty about our first holiday on sabbatical and away from our normal traditions and routines.  No Halloween party this year to kill myself planning and prepping. No decorating the house for trick or treaters.  No school treats to bake or buy.  No group arts and crafts to plan.  Sweet deal for this tired Mom, but our kids started thinking there would be no sweets for them at all.

Fripp Island is a great family vacation spot, but there are only 5 children residents.  Still, we thought it would be fun to go around the island trick or treating on the golf cart. One house said we were the first they had ever had on the island and quickly, scrambled to find the kids microwave popcorn and jello cups.  Very nice, but not exactly the candy haul the kids were used to.   Luckily, we have two sets of fabulous retiree neighbors that prepared special treat bags and pails for the kids.  Thanks again, Steve and Mary and Patti and Buck!  You are very thoughtful neighbors!

Still...it just wasn’t a lot of fun like trick or treating in Carmichael Farms with our neighborhood party, costume contest, hayride and all the kids walking from house to house together.  Then, we had a great idea!  What if we go trick or treat all the haunted houses we passed on our Ghost Tour of Beaufort?  Wouldn’t it be so cool to trick or treat a real haunted house!

It was more than cool; It was AWESOME!  Beaufort folk KNOW how to do Halloween right!  Houses were tricked out with spooky surprises and their owners, in full costume, sat on their porches and welcomed each child, commenting on costumes and dropping haunting references.  Greg and I were very proud to hear several homeowners complimenting our kids for their good manners as any parent would be.

We walked the haunted streets of Beaufort as a local and loved it!  Thanks for making us feel at home Beaufort!  And thanks for a very happy Halloween!

Dead Men Tell No Tales.

One Home in Historic Beaufort Ready for Halloween

Right after I took this picture, the house ate the car!