I Need To Learn To Chill

I give up. I will never find a suitable substitute for Cremora. We're only going to be in Florida for 2 more weeks so I'm just going to have to suck it up till I get home. It will give me something to look forward to. Not that I'm not looking forward to seeing my family. My family does rate above Cremora. No, really they do!

I'm ready to go home. I have to go home so I can have something to write about. Let's face it. I've written 3 blogs about creamer. I've already written about riding my bike into town and going to the library. That's all I got. The weather has gotten better so there is a greater chance of my having an adventure to talk about.

It has been nice however not having a schedule. Where reading, crocheting, and taking a walk are the highlights of my day. The problem is that I didn't bring as much stuff with me as I normally do, so consequently I have less activities to occupy my time. I haven't gone over to the geriatric exercise classes as of yet. Maybe I should it might offer some entertainment. For now I'm going to go read my book, play a little nintendo scrabble and go to bed.

I'm not really complaining. I know I am one lucky girl in many many ways.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to Cole and Zach. With your birthdays so close you might as well just make it a week long party. I hope you have a wonderful birthday. XXXOOO

I'm Not Whistling Dixie

Morning coffee was ok. Not great, just ok. Winn Dixie creamer is the faker version of fake creamer. On it's own, Winn Dixie is definitely a thumbs down, however; with a splash of CoffeeMate Almond Creme it was tolerable. The Almond Creme by itself is too sweet, plus I don't like flavored coffee in the morning (I told you I was picky). Tomorrow I will try plain 'ol half and half. I'll let you know how that turns out.

Lauren made a good point on my last blog. I could have had the Cremora shipped here cheaper than buying all those other creamers. That is definitely true, but I wanted to hopefully find an acceptable alternative to the Cremora so I wouldn't be so dependent on it. It's embarrassing to pull a 22oz bottle of creamer out of my purse at a restaurant, but don't think that I haven't done it. I would put the creamer in a smaller container in my purse, but I'm afraid people would get the wrong idea when I pulled out a bag of white powder. Terrorist? or druggie?

My quest continues. I will not rest until I find an answer.

I Need A Fix

I'm trying to stay calm, but as each day goes by I get more and more anxious. I'm about to run out of coffee creamer. This is serious! If you know me, you know I am very particular about my coffee. First, it has to be quality coffee; 100% Arabica, preferably made with a Bunn coffee maker. Then, 1/2 teaspoon of splenda (more or less depending on the size of the cup). Finally the most important part; Cremora. Not CoffeeMate, not half and half or some cheap store brand. It has to be Cremora. Enough Cremora to make the coffee carmel color. Nothing else will do and I will go without before I comprimise my standards. Normally Walmart sells Cremora, but when we checked here in Florida they didn't have it.

So I did what any desperate person would do. I looked on the internet for suppliers. I emailed Bordens directly. Apparently they have no distributors within 100 miles of Chokoloskee that sells Cremora. Walmart has it on their website, but it says it's only sold in stores. I came one click away from ordering a case of Cremora from buythecase.com. It was going to cost me $60 for (12) 16oz containers. That's almost triple what I pay for it at home. What can I say, I'm an addict. I even checked the postage for shipping a container from Ft. Wayne. It would be around $7.50 to ship a $4.00 container of creamer.

I still may call Amanda and have her ship me a jar, but for now I am going to see if I can get by with some flavored CoffeeMate, half and half and Winn Dixie brand. Yes, I bought all of those today when we went shopping. I still have enough Cremora that I can try the others and still have time to have Amanda send me some.

Cremora is my nicotine, but really I could stop any time I wanted. I wonder if there is such a thing as creamer detox?

Navigating In The Everlglades

Almost hit 60 degrees today. I decided to take advantage of it and I rode my bike into Everglade City. Made my usual stops: Hardware store, library, gift shop etc....I took a detour down a road I've never been on before. I know that's hard to believe since there are so few roads. The destination was Plantation Island. It's just a small little community of probably 100 or so houses, shacks and mobile homes. I knew what was there because we've gone past it before in the boat, but I've never ridden through the area. I pasted a couple cars that were leaving the area, but once I got into the populated area I saw NO ONE! Seriously not one person. I felt like Will Smith in "I Am Legend" where he finds himself alone in the world. The only noise was water turning over a water wheel in a small little pond in some one's front yard and a few birds chirping. It was a little freaky. I expected to be ambushed by the townspeople at any moment and held prisoner being forced to clean fish for the rest of my life or maybe worse. I rode up and down every dead end street nothing stirring, not even a mouse (It's too cold for the mice). Finally I notice movement. I see a little old lady slightly bent over, shuffling down her driveway. She was wearing white knee high rubber crabbing boots and carrying a bottle of something. She was heading toward a bush and I thought that maybe she had something in the bottle that she was going to spray on the bush. When I got closer I saw what she really had was a liter bottle of Canadian Mist. Classic! I said "Hi" as I passed her and she responded. I'm not sure what she said, I was too busy giggling to myself. I turned around when I got to the corner to see what she was doing. She was still huddled around the bush. Maybe that is where she keeps her stash so her husband can't steal it. Drinking and fishing are the favorite past times of the locals here. Some people do one or the other, but most people do both. There is a bumper sticker at the hardware store that says: "Chokoloskee, A Drinking Village With A Fishing Problem."

As I am leaving and heading back up the causeway, a car passes me going into the village. It's a little old man with yellowish white hair and beard and a sunken mouth. He stares at me then gives me a two finger wave. I figured that was his salute to me for making it out alive.

Cold Weather Rescue

I briefly ventured out of the house today to visit the thrift store. It's my favorite place to find treasures extremely cheap. However, the bad economy has even hit the thrift store. People aren't donating like they used to, so bargains are few and far between. After the thrift store Joe and I decided to go to the library. We had to hurry and browse because it was almost noon which is the librarian/county clerk/BMV lady's lunch time. She closes at noon on the dot; she doesn't care how many people are in there. She scares me so I do what she says. Plus she runs most every county office so you really don't want to get on her bad side or you may not get your fishing license.

The sun is out today but it's still in the 50's. I was outside for a bit pulling weeds when I happened on a little lizard on the sidewalk. Normally you can't catch those suckers; they are fast. This little guy however didn't even move when I reached down to pick him up. I wasn't even sure he was still alive. I brought him into the condo and watched him intently for a couple of minutes waiting for him to breath. It took awhile but I finally saw movement in his little chest. HE'S ALIVE!
I put him in a little cage that I had from when Bryan had a hermit crab at one time. As he warmed up I saw a little more movement. Joe and I debated for 20 minutes on what species of lizard he is. I say he's a Gecko and Joe says he's an Anole. While the Anoles are much more common in Florida, I presented overwhelming evidence to Joe that it was indeed a Gecko; a Marbled Gecko to be precise. As usual I was right.

He's breathing much more regularly now, but he's not moving too much. They are nocturnal so maybe he's just sleeping. I looked over at him earlier and he opened his mouth wide and kind of shook his head. I thought; Oh he's waking up, I saved him! He opened up his mouth again, but this time he puked up something black and slimy. Upon inspection of the black slimy thing I determined that it is some kind of insect larvae. I was just about ready to eat lunch but I think I'll pass. I was worried about what I was going to feed him to nurse him back to health. It's to cold to find any insects, but now I don't have to worry. He can re-eat his regurgitated meal.

When it warms up I will release him back into the wilderness that is Chokoloskee. Hopefully he won't get run over by an old guy driving a golf cart.

Time On My Hands

Woke up to 30 degrees this morning and ice on the deck. This is not the Florida that I want to be in. I'd rather be home with the snow, at least there would be something to do; like sledding. Joe and I actually braved the cold the other day and went swimming and sat in the hot tub. The pool across the street is 92 degrees. I would love to see the heating bill for that.

According to the news, alcohol sales are up in SouthWest Florida. Apparently if you can't go outside, the next best thing to do is drink.

So what else is there to do when it's cold outside and you've been drinking???????
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Paint pictures on little shells and rearrange the furniture of course.