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Scott Lake is about 1 mile away from our house. After the 1st hurricane went through (Alberto) a lot of water was dumped on the lake causing the sludge on the bottom to be pushed into a cavity and cause a large hole that has eaten the lake and everything in it. Now the beautiful homes, on what used to be a bank, over look a huge sand pit with a few puddles and stinky dead fish. It has been one of the top stories in the Tampa Bay area news all week. Our neighbor was quoted in the paper today. It’s a sad situation. If you want to read today’s article go to: The Lake Is Dry.

We are so lucky to have our season passes to Disney. We have been lots of times since January. We can’t go from June 11th-August 17th because our passes are blocked then. We went to Epcot the other day. The first time we went to Epcot it was cold and rainy. We missed so many things. It was our first park visit so we weren’t sure how things worked anyway.

My 2 favorite attractions were the ride called Soarin’ which is inside the “Land” building. It is amazing! I also loved seeing Crush from Finding Nemo. He’s the turtle Dad dude. There is an interactive show inside the “Sea” building. It is incredible and hilarious.

If you decide to go to just one park it is $63.00 for the day. I might have suggested MGM which is great, but now I think Epcot is the best. I do really like Animal Kingdom too.

Bob was selected to participate in Leadership Lakeland this past year. There are around 30 people selected every year by a panel of judges. You have to write a paper and fill out an application. This program is sponsered by the Chamber of Commerce. They take 1 day a month to tour various businesses and establishments in Lakeland. They went everywhere from the dump to the jail to the hospital and more.

At the end of the year they have to put on a play which has been called “The Thing” for years I guess. Bob got all into this. He was the star, Dr. Thing-a-ma-Bob. He got to wear a Dr. coat and stethascope. He was very funny. He got lots of laughs. He had Eric get a video clip of a computer fighter plane game that he hooked up with an actual heart surgery video and made it look like he was using the equipment to play a game while he was conducting surgery. All the participants looked like they enjoyed it. I think Bob’s favorite part was getting to pretend he was a doctor for a while.

This morning Bob promised Andrew a big breakfast. Of course he had to go up into the attic for just a little while first. As he slipped up into the attic to conduct his science experiment Andrew waited hungrily at the bottom of the pull down ladder.

Around 9:30 I thought I would make something special for Andrew and Bob. I searched for recipes for Monkey Bread. Apparently the rest of the country makes Monkey Bread from refrigerated biscuits. It isn’t anything like the dark brown sweet bread with raisins that Mom used to make. Something in that bread causes gas which we all know is really called “shooting a monkey”.

So I made the biscuit kind by cutting each biscuit into 4 pieces and rolling in cinnamon and sugar, placing in a greased dish and drizzling with a butter, cinnamon, and sugar mixture that I heated until sugar disolved. Then I baked it at 350 for 30 minutes.

Just as it finished baking Bob came down from the attic. He and Andrew enjoyed the monkey bread with scrambled eggs and bacon. David and Eric helped eat the “bread” and there was not a crumb left.

Everyone I talk to today is suffering to some degree with this high pollen count. My eyes are puffy and itchy and my head feels like it’s going to pop.

I checked the local pollen count, it was 10.5 today. I put in the Tucker zip code and found out that it’s 9.5 there, so it must be bad all over the south.

Have you noticed any yellow stuff at your house?

My neighbor Jill usually gives the boys a ride to school in the morning and I pick up in the afternoon. Today I have scouts so I drove this morning. We dropped David off early for Breakfast Club. Then we waited for school to open in the car line. This morning the boys (Sam, 5, Andrew 9, and Frank, 6) asked if we could play Cash Cab while we waited. I got to be the host while they were the lucky people who happened to get into the Cash Cab.

They did a great job racking up money on questions about businesses, newspaper names, capitals, sports, presidents. They only had 2 strikes and were up to $800. Andrew had to use his mobile shout out to call his dad to find out the name of Lakeland’s mayor. Luckily his dad knew the answer earning them an additional $100.00. The car line was starting to move. I warned them that 1 more strike and I would have to kick them out of the Cash Cab. They knew that Mercury was the closest planet to the sun. Now they had $1000.00. They didn’t know which planet was closest to Earth. Fortunately we were right in front of the school when I kicked them out of the Cash Cab. No big winners today.

You can see the real Cash Cab on the Discovery channel.

Ever since I started exercising on a regular basis last August 1st, I have all new problems. First my knees started hurting, then my arches in my feet, then my shoulder. I have never had so many aches and pains. I’m not sure if this is worth it. I guess my heart is in better shape, but what about everything else? I look like a really old person when I get up from sitting on the floor. I’m curious about the ads that will come up with this message. One might actually help me.

For the past 4 weekends Bob has been in the attic. People call to speak with him, neighbors ask about him, he doesn’t come down. He has installed lights and switches, flooring, insulation, and even has his favorite music playing up there. When the kids need to tell him something they stand on chairs or stools and yell through the vents.

He comes down to go to work on Monday mornings. He says he’s going back up this weekend.

My Mom’s group at church is reading and discussing The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families. One of the main goals in the book is to come up with a family mission statement. We have talked about this as a family a couple of times. I have a list of questions to review together to help us come up with our own mission statement.

We got about half way through this long list last week. What I found out from our first family meeting was that each of our children wanted the same thing. Almost at the same time they each said they want one on one time with a parent. I went ahead and wrote the times in on a calendar so we will remember.

Another idea in the book is to have the extended family come up with a mission statement. I will mention this again soon. I just want you to be prepared.

Unfortunately I turned on the T.V. to catch the end of Dr. Phil while Andrew was still at the kitchen table doing his homework. I was getting cookies out of the oven when I realized the news was on and there was another tragic story about someone attacking a girl. Before I could get over there to turn off the T.V. the bad news was out.

Andrew started repeating the story to me like I hadn’t heard it. He said it didn’t sound too bad though, that the guy had just strapped a battery on the girl’s back. I was a little relieved that he hadn’t understood the full meaning of the story. I did end up explaining what they meant by “battery”, but I turned the T.V. off and made a mental note not to turn it back on while Andrew is doing his homework and especially when the news is coming on.