Ok, so I know it's a lame thing to post after not having posted in so long. But you have to start somewhere right?
1. What is your middle name? Rose...ya I like it too :o)
2. What color shirt are you wearing right now? My igloo for rent one. I would tell you all that is written on it, but for sake of time I won't. I'ts real cute though. Red and white.
3. What are you listening to right now? Solopianoradio.com, the best at work music...and mason trying to ask me how long to cook the popcorn for.
4. What is the last digit of the year you were born? 8
5. What was the last thing you ate? Grapes
6. If you were a car what kind would you be? Fast. Quiet. Deadly
7. Favorite Holiday? I love Christmas because I really enjoy giving gifts. Which is a good thing, although my budget doesn't agree. But I enjoy any holiday that I spend with friends or family. Especially with my Aunts and Uncles, Grandparents, etc. The whole works!!
8. Last person you talked to on the phone? Tom, our manager in the Hawaii office. I can't remember the last time I talked to a friend on the phone. It's an exciting life, I know.
9. Favorite radio station: If we had a good selection of stations in this town I might actually list one. Oh, I like 630 on the AM dial.
10. Do you believe in aliens? No. I'm not much of a fantasy, fairy, ailien believing, type person. You can thank my Dad for that. Plus, they're real ugly.
11. Morning or night? Night. But I am getting better at mornings.
12. Favorite snack: It depends on the mood.
13. Potatoes or Rice? Potatoes definitely.
14. Yellow Gold or White Gold? White!!
15. Natural Hair color or Bottled? Natural usually, because most people go with the bottled and end up as Rebeka said "trailer trashey".
16. Eye color? Hazel, unless you're lucky and see the green that I get from my mom. It all kind of depends on the shirt that I'm wearing...Mason just informed me that my left eye is blue and my right eye is green. Uh. Hopefully that's just his opinion. Kinda creepy.
17. What is the oldest childhood memory you have?
18. Do you wear a watch? I couldn't live with out one.
19. Favorite time of day: Choir practice at the middle school, I love those kids.
20. Favorite kind of music: Christian, Classical, but too much classical is annoying.
21. Favorite actor: I'm the one who is clueless when people start rattling off names of peopl that "every one" knows.
22. Favorite actress: See above answer.
23. Where did you meet your significant other? I was saved in my room. Jesus has been my true love ever since.
24. Spring or Fall: Spring!! it gives hopes of warmth and sun. Fall is just pretty for two weeks and then the cold and dark start. I would probably enjoy fall if I lived someplace other than AK.
25. Pierced Ears? Maybe soon.
26. Least Favorite Food: Nothing in particular. Have I ever told you that I love spinach dip?
27. Favorite Vacation spot: Well, I have allways enjoyed going to California, but I liked Hawaii too, and Florida was awsome. So I'm kind of seeing a trend with warm places going on.
28. Do you want your friends to write back? Nothing would make me happeir. Ok, so maybe somethings would...
29. Who is most likely to respond?? What kind of a guilt trip question is this?
30. Who is least likely to respond? Real guilt.
31. Mountains or Oceans? Oceans. As long as they are warm.
32. What would you like to do on a rainy day? Clean my room, catch up on school, wash dishes, do laundrey, clean out my car, send Rebeka her bridal shower pictures, make those appointments that I should have made a month ago. Oh, the question was what would I "want" to do not what I would actually do! Sorry. Be cozy and read or watch a movie.
33. Favorite card game: Rummy, oh but I do have good memories of playing baloney a few summers ago. Not that I remember how to play it now.
34. Single Flowers or Bouquets? I'm a sucker for any flower(s).
35. Have you ever been horse back riding? Yes, I even leased my very own giant piece of glue for a summer. But obviousely those days are over.
36. Do you crack your knuckles? Not too often, I used to be really bad about it.
37. Favorite Breakfast Food: French Tost, pancakes.
38. Have you ever locked your keys in your car? No, well I did lock the keys in mom's car once, but that was just a missunderstanding, a kid told me that they had them, and come to find out. oh there they are in the seat. Thank goodness for hidden spares.
39. Have you ever run out of gas? I don't like to live dangerously. My car gives me enough grief when I do take care of it, none the less, if I didn't!
40. If you won a million dollars what would be the FIRST thing you would do? Pray, because I would need allot of guiadance with what to do with all that money!
41. Have you ever had a ticket? Like to a movie? Sure. No, just kidding, I haven't ever gotten a ticket for a traffic violation.
Well, I think that is a pretty lame question to end with. No depth to it at all. Anwho. Now you all know more about me. Aren't you glad you just wasted the last 5 minutes hoping that I would reveal the deep dark story behind Lanae`, just to find that, uh, there isn't one. Ok, well you just found that I have sarcasm. That's exciting right? :o)
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Well tomorrow's the big day of the concert. It's probably going to be the shortest concert in the history of all time. We only have four songs to go through so the introduction and the bows will take longer than all of the songs together. They were going to have the choir sing on Wednesday night when the band played, but I said that I couldn't do it on a Wednesday because I have church. So I'm not going to complain about the shortness of the concert since it's partly my fault.
On one of the songs that were singing starts out with a solo/duet part that we decided to turn into a trio part. Almost all of the kids in the choir wanted to audition for it, but we narrowed it down to two sets of three girls and then finaly just down to the one group. But the sad new is that we lost one of the girls in the trio because she beat up another girl after school on Monday and is now suspended and who knows if she will ever come back. And then today another girl from the now duet didn't show up to school, so it may become a solo after all. And the ironic thing is, that the girl that got beat up was one of the girls in our second choice group for the trio part, so we can' t even trade groups. This poor girl can't even open her mouth more than a 1/2", and I think that her jaw is broken or something like that. Who knows who started it all or whether it was deserved, but I think they both ought to be spanked.
On a lighter note, Mr. Trimbal had me direct warmups today while he logged the attendance record into the computer. It was fun standing up there acting like I know what I'm doing and these kids actually (kinda) listening to me. It wasn't that big of a deal, just one of those things that changes the pattern of my day and makes me happy. :-)
Well I'm going to stop wasting minutes of my precious sleep time. I'll talk to you all later.
On one of the songs that were singing starts out with a solo/duet part that we decided to turn into a trio part. Almost all of the kids in the choir wanted to audition for it, but we narrowed it down to two sets of three girls and then finaly just down to the one group. But the sad new is that we lost one of the girls in the trio because she beat up another girl after school on Monday and is now suspended and who knows if she will ever come back. And then today another girl from the now duet didn't show up to school, so it may become a solo after all. And the ironic thing is, that the girl that got beat up was one of the girls in our second choice group for the trio part, so we can' t even trade groups. This poor girl can't even open her mouth more than a 1/2", and I think that her jaw is broken or something like that. Who knows who started it all or whether it was deserved, but I think they both ought to be spanked.
On a lighter note, Mr. Trimbal had me direct warmups today while he logged the attendance record into the computer. It was fun standing up there acting like I know what I'm doing and these kids actually (kinda) listening to me. It wasn't that big of a deal, just one of those things that changes the pattern of my day and makes me happy. :-)
Well I'm going to stop wasting minutes of my precious sleep time. I'll talk to you all later.
Monday, October 16, 2006
Today, as most of you know, he whole town didn't have phone or internet service. That's all fine and dandy, except that every one at the office has nothing to do unless we have phones or internet. I did ok since I am working on submittals and I didn't need either of those, but it was still annoying. The phones only rang like 4 times by the select few that actually got through, Eileen and I would jump for the phone like we had never answered one before. It was pretty sad. Speaking of Eileen, please pray for her she is having allot of health problems right now. With out God, I know that I couldn't go through all of the things that she has.
Choir went horrible today. Mr. Trimbal had the choir go out onto the stage so that they could practice for Thursday nights Concert. Which would have been totally harmless besides the point that they were all screaming and jumping around and wouldn't stay in their spots to save their life. And to add to that, the shell behind them was doing a great job of making their shouts even louder. Going through the music was a joke, the stage is attached to the cafeteria where everyone was having lunch so they kept jumping off the risers in the middle of the song and looking out the curtain to see what was going on. The principal ended up coming in and giving a little pep talk about how if they goof off when they practice they won't do as good when they perform. But as you would guess, a bunch of 7 and 8 graders don't really care about what she is saying. I think that they should have written 30 out of the 37 up for detention. But that could be my whole no-tolerance view point coming out. :o)
Well, hopefully tomorrow will be brighter. I'm kind of groggy and slow right now, I think that I just need sleep. Lot's of it. Later
Choir went horrible today. Mr. Trimbal had the choir go out onto the stage so that they could practice for Thursday nights Concert. Which would have been totally harmless besides the point that they were all screaming and jumping around and wouldn't stay in their spots to save their life. And to add to that, the shell behind them was doing a great job of making their shouts even louder. Going through the music was a joke, the stage is attached to the cafeteria where everyone was having lunch so they kept jumping off the risers in the middle of the song and looking out the curtain to see what was going on. The principal ended up coming in and giving a little pep talk about how if they goof off when they practice they won't do as good when they perform. But as you would guess, a bunch of 7 and 8 graders don't really care about what she is saying. I think that they should have written 30 out of the 37 up for detention. But that could be my whole no-tolerance view point coming out. :o)
Well, hopefully tomorrow will be brighter. I'm kind of groggy and slow right now, I think that I just need sleep. Lot's of it. Later
Friday, October 13, 2006
Tonight I went over to Phils for his annual Pig roast. It was allot of fun, really cold though. Oh, and Joanna, ten points on the pumpkin cheese cake. :-)
Anywho. I decided that I am not going to catch up on the rest of my trip. It's pretty meaningless now to keep dragging it all out. And I want to post about what's happening now in my life, not what happened last week. And nothing too exciting happened the last two days anyways. Oh, actually I take that back. I went to a beauty pageant on Saturday night that Ray Noel was in. (The daughter of one of the guys that took us alligator hunting). It was allot of fun to go and watch it all. I have never been to one of those before so it was pretty cool. And after like 20 min. Of sitting with Ray's family they all acted like they had known me since I was in diapers, so that was pretty cool. I am really hoping that their family comes up to Alaska to visit. That was kind of the deal on the Alligator hunt, like they take us, and then we take them. I think the reason why I liked Florida so much was the people there. If I had gone and never met these two families I would have just thought of it as another warm and sunny place, but just with hurricanes.
It's amazing how God puts certain people in our lives. It was really cool because these families were Christians so it wasn't all about hunting and stuff while we were there. Dad and them would talk about hunting, but then also about God. It was just this all around good time.
Ugh, there I go again. Talking about my trip. I've got to stop doing that! Well I'm off to bed. I have to help mom clean and cook tomorrow, and I have a piano lesson, and I have to clean at Todds. And some time I have to put together my music folder for the concert on Thursday. It is coming up way too fast. I just hope that it goes well and I don't do something like drop my music all over the floor, that would be classic.
Until next time.
Anywho. I decided that I am not going to catch up on the rest of my trip. It's pretty meaningless now to keep dragging it all out. And I want to post about what's happening now in my life, not what happened last week. And nothing too exciting happened the last two days anyways. Oh, actually I take that back. I went to a beauty pageant on Saturday night that Ray Noel was in. (The daughter of one of the guys that took us alligator hunting). It was allot of fun to go and watch it all. I have never been to one of those before so it was pretty cool. And after like 20 min. Of sitting with Ray's family they all acted like they had known me since I was in diapers, so that was pretty cool. I am really hoping that their family comes up to Alaska to visit. That was kind of the deal on the Alligator hunt, like they take us, and then we take them. I think the reason why I liked Florida so much was the people there. If I had gone and never met these two families I would have just thought of it as another warm and sunny place, but just with hurricanes.
It's amazing how God puts certain people in our lives. It was really cool because these families were Christians so it wasn't all about hunting and stuff while we were there. Dad and them would talk about hunting, but then also about God. It was just this all around good time.
Ugh, there I go again. Talking about my trip. I've got to stop doing that! Well I'm off to bed. I have to help mom clean and cook tomorrow, and I have a piano lesson, and I have to clean at Todds. And some time I have to put together my music folder for the concert on Thursday. It is coming up way too fast. I just hope that it goes well and I don't do something like drop my music all over the floor, that would be classic.
Until next time.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Ok so I am figureing that most of you are probably going to just look at the pictures and skip the novel that I wrote. That's ok with me, I probably wouldn't read it either. :o) But it's there for those of you who have enough time in your day to do so. You are the lucky ones that get to know what's going on in my crazy mind. =) Love you all. Maybe someday I will finish up telling about the end of my trip. Just think, only three days left! Aren't you all excited?
I Love this Picture
Well this is my favorite picture of all time. Ok so not quite. But is it not georgeous? It is at our hotel in East Point. 
My Aligator
Well I guess that I like this picture so much that I'll post it twice. Either that or it somehow got on here and now I can't get rid of it. You can pick your theory. :o)
Day Seven!!!!
Dad and Foster woke me at like 3 in the morning when they came in from hunting blubbering something about getting a aligator and that we would need to wake up at 7 to go meet the guys and take care of the aligator. All I know is that I was like Uh, ok, huh? And 'clunk' went the head to the pillow.
I got up at seven to take a shower. And much to my dissapointment it was another cold shower. I don't know what it is with me and cold showers this trip! Well I later found out that...well maybe I shouldn't tell you all this, I'ts kind of, uh, blonde...well I guess I will, you all love me right? Well the problem was that I had the "cold" nob on instead of the "warm" how I managed to do that, well I don't know, but that was a wasted shower if you aske me!!
Once we got over to Mr. Dewitt's house (one of the aligator guys) we took the humongous aligator out of the truck and hung it on a tree to take pictures. and more pictures. and more. And then we all got in their truck and drove to the proccessers place. It was hot and they were cutting up alligators (what you're sapposed to do at a proccessors) so you can imagine the smell. Ugh. not the pretties, but I didn't say anything. No I left it up to Foster to do that. :o) I video taped and took pictures while they skined him. I don't recomend any of you with weak stomaches to look at those pictures, just to forwarn you. :-)
Foster and I went to the beach later that after noon with Mr. Ray's (the other aligator guy) wife Jimmy, daughter Ray Noel, and son Hunter. It was allot of fun. These people were so nice and we just really hit it off. I some how didn't end up with any pictures of them, so that's kind of dissapointing. But anywho. the water was awesome, really clear and there was only sand on the bottom, no rocks like the other beaches that I've been to. But the only dowfall was that the water was so clear that you could see the little fishes swimming around your feet. And you all know how I feel about little fishies swimming with me. Well maybe you don't, so here is my theory: if there's little fish, there's probably big fish. And big fish mean that they could swallow me whole. How much lot you take in that theory is your choice, but that's just how I feel about it!
That evening Dad dropped me off in the little town next to ours. It has the coolest name ever: Apalochacola. A definite mouth full! They call it Apaloch for short. But I have to admit that it was kind of fun rattling off the whole word. :) there were a bunch of little touristy shops there and antique stores which were fun to go into. But I didn't have too much time there since they all closed at like 5:30. After that Dad picked me up and we went to dinner with Mr. Dewitt and his wife Connie. You all should be proud of me, I actually tried oysters. And they weren't too bad. Not too good either. :-)
Oh, and I don't know how I forgot to put this in there, but somehow it was decided, I think by Dewitt, that I should go aligator hunting with them again that night. And I actually consented to doing it. Uh...is this Lanae` we're talking about? the lanae`...the girl who doesn't like hunting? Well I guess there's a first for everything!
We met with Ray and Dewitt around 9:30 that night and headed out. They had went hunting in a river type place the night before with all the tangly branches and all that hanging down, so that's what I was expecting. But we actually went out into a bay in the ocean, that was really clear and open. Much more my style. They had been scouting this area for a while and thought that it would be a good spot. And obviously, as most of you know, it was.
So here goes the story that you have all been waiting for: (drum roll please)
It was about a 15 min. boat ride to where we wanted to be, but once we got out there we spotted the one that they had been scouting right away. How they knew that it was the same one I'm not sure, something about it living in the same corner of water most of it's life. But anywho. How you spot them is you have this mega flash light and you scan the top of the water with it. You're going along just seeing water, and boom, there it is. A big glowing eye staring at you. Talk about a little chill going up your back. So we start slowly making our way over to him, but before we get there he dives under the water. And once they do that it's game over until they come up again. They had brought bait just in case this happend though. And let me explain what this bait is. Ok so you know how if we run over an animal here in Alaska, such as a moose or rabbit, we can't take it home right? Well in florida you can. So if they see a raccon that's been road killed, you pull over and stick it in the back of the truck. Once you get home you put it in a bucket and let it sit in the sun for like 4 days. You can imagine the smell that it puts off! So once you're out there and need bait you tie a rope to the racoon and tie a buey to the rope and then put the rope on this pole that you stab into the bottom of the water, and the raccoon is so baloated that it floats on the water like a balloon. Very discriptive, I know. The water I might add is only 3 feet deep with miles and miles of mud beneath it. So after we got this hooked up we went to the other side of the bay to look around for other aligators. We almost got close to some but nothing really came of that. It kind of spooked me though. I had to stand up on the front of the boat where there isn't a ledge and you if I stabbed the aligator a little too hard and lost my balance I would go tumbling in the water on top of it! When I say stabbed I mean harpooned. It's this long metal pole, probably 12 ft long with a spear end on it. The actual spear/hook thing, is only like 4 inches long so it's kind of aquard wobbling around with this huge pole. If we were trying to get one of the aligators to come to us Mr. Ray would lean down into the water and splash around with his hand and make the noise that a young aligator would make, and all of a sudden you would see like 3 aligotors coming right at you. this is actually really dangerous because you don't know if there is an aligator right next to you under the water that is going to pop up and eat your arm off. And yes, he has had close experiances so he usually uses a stick instead of his hand. The water ended up getting too shallow and we had to go back before we got stuck. On our way back we noticed that the aligator that we wanted hadn't eaten the bait yet so we came up from the side of it and this made him go out and catch a whiff of that oh so yummy raccon. We gave him a few minutes to swallow it, but after that, it was game over for little aligator.
He once he realized what he had done he tried to swim away but it was no use since he had a buey traveling behind him. After chasing him around for a while he got tired and let us get close enough to him for Ray to grab the buey and pull him close to the boat. Here it was, the moment that I had been waiting for, I was going to harpoon the aligator. I was ready to give it my all, and I thought that i did, but I guess that I didn't hit it hard enough because after I stabbed down on him he took off with out the hook in him. I was pretty dissapointed at myself that I hadn't gotten it on the first try, but they all reassured me that it was no big deal. We chased him around again and finally pulled him close to the boat. They told me to hit it like I was going to drive it through to the other side of his body, although that is virtually impossible. I struck harder this time and tried to think that, but it didn't quite do the trick for me. I later found out that I was only like a centimeter off the spot that I was sapposed to hit. (right behind the head in the neck next to the arm) Once again. Dissapointment. How could I mess up twice?!! And what if I just couldn't do it? Then what? I had dragged my rear all the way out there and wasn't going to go home with an aligator, and not only that, but I had put these guys out by them taking out this lamo girl that couldn't even spear an aligator! So I was kind of worried. and it didn't help that they were concerned that he would associate us with the raccon that he had just eaten and spit it out. Because then it would be all over for us. But even through this all the guys were really encouraging and kept saying that I would get it next time. (How many next times would there be, is what I was thinking) So all of this rambling was going on in my mind while I prepared for the third time around. They once again pulled him close to the boat and I struck with all my might, which actually didn't feel very hard since I was hitting such a hard surface. I didn't actually think that I had hit him hard enough but they were all excited saying that I had got him and that it had stuck really good. I was so relieved, talk about emotional havok! This is why girls don't hunt people! The Aligator took off and dragged us with him because the harpoon is attached to a rope which is attached to a buey that we hung on to. Once he tired out again Ray pulled him high up to the boat and Dewitt hit him right past the head with a bang stick that was loaded with a 243 bullet. (that might mean something to some of you, but nothing to me) After that they took 1.5 inch tape and taped his jaws closed then took a chisel and a hammer and broke his spinal cord. This is to make sure that after we get him in the boat his reflexes don't kill us all! The guys then heaved him into the boat, which was about approximately 500 lbs. And then it was like this great relief. Yes, I had finally done it and it was over with. I was so tired I had almost falen asleep when we were looking around for other ones. I was so ready to go back and go to sleep.
The aligator kind of creeped me and Dad out though. On our way back to the dock it was kicking around his foot which is probably from reflexes, but then he opens his eye and looks right at Dad and then up and down the boat. Talk about spookey! Let's just say that Dad joined me at the front of the boat, which was away from the aligator's mouth!
So there you all have it. The story of how Lanae` Killed the aligator. Probably not my best writting work but it's all out and you people can stop bugging me about it. :-) I am sorry that it's long, really long actually, but you get what you ask for! Ok well I'm going to go post some pictures of this beast. I"ll talk to you all later.
I got up at seven to take a shower. And much to my dissapointment it was another cold shower. I don't know what it is with me and cold showers this trip! Well I later found out that...well maybe I shouldn't tell you all this, I'ts kind of, uh, blonde...well I guess I will, you all love me right? Well the problem was that I had the "cold" nob on instead of the "warm" how I managed to do that, well I don't know, but that was a wasted shower if you aske me!!
Once we got over to Mr. Dewitt's house (one of the aligator guys) we took the humongous aligator out of the truck and hung it on a tree to take pictures. and more pictures. and more. And then we all got in their truck and drove to the proccessers place. It was hot and they were cutting up alligators (what you're sapposed to do at a proccessors) so you can imagine the smell. Ugh. not the pretties, but I didn't say anything. No I left it up to Foster to do that. :o) I video taped and took pictures while they skined him. I don't recomend any of you with weak stomaches to look at those pictures, just to forwarn you. :-)
Foster and I went to the beach later that after noon with Mr. Ray's (the other aligator guy) wife Jimmy, daughter Ray Noel, and son Hunter. It was allot of fun. These people were so nice and we just really hit it off. I some how didn't end up with any pictures of them, so that's kind of dissapointing. But anywho. the water was awesome, really clear and there was only sand on the bottom, no rocks like the other beaches that I've been to. But the only dowfall was that the water was so clear that you could see the little fishes swimming around your feet. And you all know how I feel about little fishies swimming with me. Well maybe you don't, so here is my theory: if there's little fish, there's probably big fish. And big fish mean that they could swallow me whole. How much lot you take in that theory is your choice, but that's just how I feel about it!
That evening Dad dropped me off in the little town next to ours. It has the coolest name ever: Apalochacola. A definite mouth full! They call it Apaloch for short. But I have to admit that it was kind of fun rattling off the whole word. :) there were a bunch of little touristy shops there and antique stores which were fun to go into. But I didn't have too much time there since they all closed at like 5:30. After that Dad picked me up and we went to dinner with Mr. Dewitt and his wife Connie. You all should be proud of me, I actually tried oysters. And they weren't too bad. Not too good either. :-)
Oh, and I don't know how I forgot to put this in there, but somehow it was decided, I think by Dewitt, that I should go aligator hunting with them again that night. And I actually consented to doing it. Uh...is this Lanae` we're talking about? the lanae`...the girl who doesn't like hunting? Well I guess there's a first for everything!
We met with Ray and Dewitt around 9:30 that night and headed out. They had went hunting in a river type place the night before with all the tangly branches and all that hanging down, so that's what I was expecting. But we actually went out into a bay in the ocean, that was really clear and open. Much more my style. They had been scouting this area for a while and thought that it would be a good spot. And obviously, as most of you know, it was.
So here goes the story that you have all been waiting for: (drum roll please)
It was about a 15 min. boat ride to where we wanted to be, but once we got out there we spotted the one that they had been scouting right away. How they knew that it was the same one I'm not sure, something about it living in the same corner of water most of it's life. But anywho. How you spot them is you have this mega flash light and you scan the top of the water with it. You're going along just seeing water, and boom, there it is. A big glowing eye staring at you. Talk about a little chill going up your back. So we start slowly making our way over to him, but before we get there he dives under the water. And once they do that it's game over until they come up again. They had brought bait just in case this happend though. And let me explain what this bait is. Ok so you know how if we run over an animal here in Alaska, such as a moose or rabbit, we can't take it home right? Well in florida you can. So if they see a raccon that's been road killed, you pull over and stick it in the back of the truck. Once you get home you put it in a bucket and let it sit in the sun for like 4 days. You can imagine the smell that it puts off! So once you're out there and need bait you tie a rope to the racoon and tie a buey to the rope and then put the rope on this pole that you stab into the bottom of the water, and the raccoon is so baloated that it floats on the water like a balloon. Very discriptive, I know. The water I might add is only 3 feet deep with miles and miles of mud beneath it. So after we got this hooked up we went to the other side of the bay to look around for other aligators. We almost got close to some but nothing really came of that. It kind of spooked me though. I had to stand up on the front of the boat where there isn't a ledge and you if I stabbed the aligator a little too hard and lost my balance I would go tumbling in the water on top of it! When I say stabbed I mean harpooned. It's this long metal pole, probably 12 ft long with a spear end on it. The actual spear/hook thing, is only like 4 inches long so it's kind of aquard wobbling around with this huge pole. If we were trying to get one of the aligators to come to us Mr. Ray would lean down into the water and splash around with his hand and make the noise that a young aligator would make, and all of a sudden you would see like 3 aligotors coming right at you. this is actually really dangerous because you don't know if there is an aligator right next to you under the water that is going to pop up and eat your arm off. And yes, he has had close experiances so he usually uses a stick instead of his hand. The water ended up getting too shallow and we had to go back before we got stuck. On our way back we noticed that the aligator that we wanted hadn't eaten the bait yet so we came up from the side of it and this made him go out and catch a whiff of that oh so yummy raccon. We gave him a few minutes to swallow it, but after that, it was game over for little aligator.
He once he realized what he had done he tried to swim away but it was no use since he had a buey traveling behind him. After chasing him around for a while he got tired and let us get close enough to him for Ray to grab the buey and pull him close to the boat. Here it was, the moment that I had been waiting for, I was going to harpoon the aligator. I was ready to give it my all, and I thought that i did, but I guess that I didn't hit it hard enough because after I stabbed down on him he took off with out the hook in him. I was pretty dissapointed at myself that I hadn't gotten it on the first try, but they all reassured me that it was no big deal. We chased him around again and finally pulled him close to the boat. They told me to hit it like I was going to drive it through to the other side of his body, although that is virtually impossible. I struck harder this time and tried to think that, but it didn't quite do the trick for me. I later found out that I was only like a centimeter off the spot that I was sapposed to hit. (right behind the head in the neck next to the arm) Once again. Dissapointment. How could I mess up twice?!! And what if I just couldn't do it? Then what? I had dragged my rear all the way out there and wasn't going to go home with an aligator, and not only that, but I had put these guys out by them taking out this lamo girl that couldn't even spear an aligator! So I was kind of worried. and it didn't help that they were concerned that he would associate us with the raccon that he had just eaten and spit it out. Because then it would be all over for us. But even through this all the guys were really encouraging and kept saying that I would get it next time. (How many next times would there be, is what I was thinking) So all of this rambling was going on in my mind while I prepared for the third time around. They once again pulled him close to the boat and I struck with all my might, which actually didn't feel very hard since I was hitting such a hard surface. I didn't actually think that I had hit him hard enough but they were all excited saying that I had got him and that it had stuck really good. I was so relieved, talk about emotional havok! This is why girls don't hunt people! The Aligator took off and dragged us with him because the harpoon is attached to a rope which is attached to a buey that we hung on to. Once he tired out again Ray pulled him high up to the boat and Dewitt hit him right past the head with a bang stick that was loaded with a 243 bullet. (that might mean something to some of you, but nothing to me) After that they took 1.5 inch tape and taped his jaws closed then took a chisel and a hammer and broke his spinal cord. This is to make sure that after we get him in the boat his reflexes don't kill us all! The guys then heaved him into the boat, which was about approximately 500 lbs. And then it was like this great relief. Yes, I had finally done it and it was over with. I was so tired I had almost falen asleep when we were looking around for other ones. I was so ready to go back and go to sleep.
The aligator kind of creeped me and Dad out though. On our way back to the dock it was kicking around his foot which is probably from reflexes, but then he opens his eye and looks right at Dad and then up and down the boat. Talk about spookey! Let's just say that Dad joined me at the front of the boat, which was away from the aligator's mouth!
So there you all have it. The story of how Lanae` Killed the aligator. Probably not my best writting work but it's all out and you people can stop bugging me about it. :-) I am sorry that it's long, really long actually, but you get what you ask for! Ok well I'm going to go post some pictures of this beast. I"ll talk to you all later.
Day Six!!!!!
Ok so here we are going back in time to last Thursday where I left off:
Dad came back to the hotel around noon and we dragged all of our stuff down to our car and headed out. The drive went well. Actually I take that back. It didn't go "bad" but there was room for improvement! First off, Dad had gotten instructions from the lady at the "sportsmans lodge" where we would be staying in east side. She said that going this way would be faster and that there were only like 3 little towns on the way there and they wouldn't slow us down too much. Well come to find out there were like ten towns and the speed limit averaged at like 50 instead of 70 like the other way would have.
And speaking of speed limits... We were coming off one highway that was 70mph and turning on to another and Dad was on the phone with work and I had my seat down and was resting, so neither of us noticed when the speed turned to 60. That is until the sirens came up behind us. the police said that he clocked us in at 73. Which was probably about right. So the verdict on that one was a $155 dollar fee and 3 points. Or was it 4? I guess that the points can be dismisssed if he takes this on line class (which he plans on doing) but it's not really going to help the fee. So Dad's real excited about that, naturally.
We got in to town around 7. Well I can't really call it a town, village would be more appropriate. It was really cute but tiny. Dad got in contact with his aligator guys and met them around 9 that night while I stayed at the hotel. Sleeping didn't come as easlily as I thought it should. But that could have to do with the fact that there were probably bugs in that room. And yes Tori, I did your routine check on the bed. And thankfully found nothing. If I had I don't know what I would have done there's not really anywhere to run. You go outside and it's like jumping from the pan into the fire! But any who, God blessed and made sure that all the bugs stayed under the bed and didn't crawl in with me. :-)
Dad came back to the hotel around noon and we dragged all of our stuff down to our car and headed out. The drive went well. Actually I take that back. It didn't go "bad" but there was room for improvement! First off, Dad had gotten instructions from the lady at the "sportsmans lodge" where we would be staying in east side. She said that going this way would be faster and that there were only like 3 little towns on the way there and they wouldn't slow us down too much. Well come to find out there were like ten towns and the speed limit averaged at like 50 instead of 70 like the other way would have.
And speaking of speed limits... We were coming off one highway that was 70mph and turning on to another and Dad was on the phone with work and I had my seat down and was resting, so neither of us noticed when the speed turned to 60. That is until the sirens came up behind us. the police said that he clocked us in at 73. Which was probably about right. So the verdict on that one was a $155 dollar fee and 3 points. Or was it 4? I guess that the points can be dismisssed if he takes this on line class (which he plans on doing) but it's not really going to help the fee. So Dad's real excited about that, naturally.
We got in to town around 7. Well I can't really call it a town, village would be more appropriate. It was really cute but tiny. Dad got in contact with his aligator guys and met them around 9 that night while I stayed at the hotel. Sleeping didn't come as easlily as I thought it should. But that could have to do with the fact that there were probably bugs in that room. And yes Tori, I did your routine check on the bed. And thankfully found nothing. If I had I don't know what I would have done there's not really anywhere to run. You go outside and it's like jumping from the pan into the fire! But any who, God blessed and made sure that all the bugs stayed under the bed and didn't crawl in with me. :-)
Monday, October 09, 2006
I'm back!!
Well I got back this afternoon around 5'ish. I have tons and tons to post but I am so tired. Not as tired as I thought I would be, but it's like almost 1 in the morning my time and I have to work tomorrow. So I'll fill every one in tomorrow night. But just FYI: I had a blast. Florida isn't as lame as I thought that it would be and I even want to go back. Well I really need to get to bed because if I'm not careful I'll blab on for an hour or two. So farewell for now.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Day six!!!
Well it's not going to be all about day six since day six has just started, but we have to give the latop to Jerry before we leave this afternoon so I decided that I better get my blogging in first thing. I should be able to continue blogging on Dad's blackberry, but I don't think that I can down load any more pictures. Whaaa. that's dissapointing because I don't think that you all really care about all this bla bla stuff. Anywho.
Church went well last night. the church building was large but there was only about 14 people there. and besides the song leader and his wife the rest were over the age of 70. It was like being in the pioneer home or somthing. But they all had a great spirit so it was a blessing to go.
We went to this little mexican place to eat for dinner last night. Actually the people weren't mexican, they were salvadorians. (I really don't think that's how you spell it) and didnot know a word of english. Uh, ok, am I the only one that thinks that's real weird? How can you live and operate a buisiness, and not just a business, but a restaurant, in the middle of Tampa, florida, and not know a word of English? who knows! We laughed most of the time because Dad loves being in those types of environments, so naturally he wanted to know what everything on the menu that he hadn't heard of was. and the girl was all like, I don't speak english. so we ended up with Foster getting a chicken casadilla and I got fried pork chops, and Dad ordered some steak thing that was really good. and although that turned out ok, Dad wasn't happy until he experianced a mexican desert. I felt bad for this girl, she was probably 22 or something, and she didn't know what ice cream was, or pie, or cake. but we ended up ordering "Flon" It was some custard style dessert. The first bite was delicious, but it was one of those things that the more that you eat, the grosser it is. But Dad got his dessert so that's all that mattered!
I have allot to do this morning. I have to go down stairs and do laundry, take foster to the pool, ask for a late check out, pack our bags that are strewn all over the floor, and have everything ready to go by the time that dad gets back at noon. Which is just 3 hours away. Plus I have to post aquarium pictures, for you all. So I think that I'll get with it. Oh ya, a shower too.
I hope that you all have a fabtaculous day and hopefully I will still be able to post tomorrow.
Church went well last night. the church building was large but there was only about 14 people there. and besides the song leader and his wife the rest were over the age of 70. It was like being in the pioneer home or somthing. But they all had a great spirit so it was a blessing to go.
We went to this little mexican place to eat for dinner last night. Actually the people weren't mexican, they were salvadorians. (I really don't think that's how you spell it) and didnot know a word of english. Uh, ok, am I the only one that thinks that's real weird? How can you live and operate a buisiness, and not just a business, but a restaurant, in the middle of Tampa, florida, and not know a word of English? who knows! We laughed most of the time because Dad loves being in those types of environments, so naturally he wanted to know what everything on the menu that he hadn't heard of was. and the girl was all like, I don't speak english. so we ended up with Foster getting a chicken casadilla and I got fried pork chops, and Dad ordered some steak thing that was really good. and although that turned out ok, Dad wasn't happy until he experianced a mexican desert. I felt bad for this girl, she was probably 22 or something, and she didn't know what ice cream was, or pie, or cake. but we ended up ordering "Flon" It was some custard style dessert. The first bite was delicious, but it was one of those things that the more that you eat, the grosser it is. But Dad got his dessert so that's all that mattered!
I have allot to do this morning. I have to go down stairs and do laundry, take foster to the pool, ask for a late check out, pack our bags that are strewn all over the floor, and have everything ready to go by the time that dad gets back at noon. Which is just 3 hours away. Plus I have to post aquarium pictures, for you all. So I think that I'll get with it. Oh ya, a shower too.
I hope that you all have a fabtaculous day and hopefully I will still be able to post tomorrow.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
this is the view out our window. It's actually allot more vast than it looks. and I am totaly convinced that his hotel is ok. A lady just nocked on my door and handed me a little bag of chocolate covered pretzels, and asked if I would like fresh towels. Ya tori, you're right. I'm ok with this kind of living. but don't believe that I don't really apreciate "real" people!
Day five!!!!
Well the aquarium went great. Foster enjoyed it even more than I thought that he would. Allways a plus! He especially enjoyed the water area outside that kids can play in. We were able to watch divers in with the sharks and other fish and they told us a bunch of educational stuff that I've already forgotten, but hopefully foster remembers. It wasn't just fish either, they had birds from the wetlands also. So all in all, it was a very good choice. I need to figure out what church we are going to tonight, so I'll talk to you all later.
Here's Foster living it up in the luxurious, fluffy, down blankets.
Foster and I on the Trolly. He love it until they told us that it was the wrong one and that we would have to go to the next stop, which turned into like 3 stops later. He was highly dissapointed that the side of the trolly said that it went to hyde city, but that the driver said that it was wrong. The poor kid couldn't understand why it would say something like that and then not actually go there. So all in all, he's very dissapointed with the trolly system.
this is the back side of our Hotel. We are the ones on the very top, and over to the right. Scary, I know.
Ok so Foster was not very happy in this picture. He had just convinced us that he absolutely loved splash mountain, so we get back on it, and we end up getting allot more wet the second time since we were in the very front. But the good thing was that we only had to listen to him whine for 5 minutes because the sun dried him up in no time. 
Woody's round up gang was parading down the street so we got to join in.
They had some big musical thing about dreams coming true or something like that. Not quite christian I know, but it was pretty cool.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
scroll down please...again
Well, Dad is turning out the lights on me, so I'll finish posting pictures in the morning. But besides that you all know the drill: scroll down to the "day three and four" posting, and then come on back up. Oh, and enjoy the novel. :o)
Day three and four!!!!
We almost melted at Disney world yesterday, instead we settled for the wilted look. It was the same story as usual with foster, at first he was timid and then he was allover the place. We ended up taking him on every ride in the park (besides the baby rides) and that includes the space mountain rollercoaster. So all in all it went well. I will never come here on spring break though. Oh there was allot of people. And it was ok but any more would have been just annoying. But any who.
After Disney we drove here to Tampa, it was about 11:30 before we got to bed. Well, actually we seemed to keep up the vacation tradition of staying up past 12. This hotel is really nice, all business and class. And then….dun dun da……the Clarks arrive!!! We pull up to the front entrance, a gentleman comes and opens my door and then Foster’s, he goes to greet Dad and figure our parking and such, but we didn’t quite understand that this was a valet only hotel, so when the guy wanted our keys it was kind of confusing. We go inside to check in and Dad is in his swimming trunks and Hawaiian shirt, Foster and I are in our Bermuda shorts, tee shirts, and sandles. Normal right for a person visiting florida, right? Well all I’m seeing in this vast and gorgeous lobby is men and ladies in suits and dress wear. Ok, so we’re talking sore thumb extreme. But it’s all good, it’s late nobody really cares. So we go back to the car to get our luggage and I start getting it out of the car and one out of the ten guys just standing there waiting to help come rushing over with one of their carts, And Dad and him finish doing the luggage while I sift through the the mcdonalds bags, paper plates, misc. car stuff that gets thrown all over the place and ends up falling on the ground when you open doors. Talk about funny! But we’re just getting started. Dad’s in at the back of the car all the while telling the guy not to mind us because we’re used to $29.99 a night motels, and then trying to talk the guy into letting us take our own luggage up to our room. He tried to ignore Dad at first and just do his job, but Dad was persistent so he finally let us have the cart. And we had almost made it to the elevator when another one of them comes running over apologizing for us having it. It was a very awkward ride all the way up to the 27th floor. The guy tried conversation about something or other. I don't really remember, it was the usual questions like: are you enjoying your vacation? And then telling us that the spa and pool was on the third floor. (like we're going to use the spa!) :0) And then Dad told him that we're not really use to this, and he could just call us joe hick. hahahaha. I smiled, it was all I could do not to burst out laughing at how weird we looked. It was quite the procedure getting into the room but well worth it since it's really nice here.
This morning I went down to the conceirge desk and looked into shopping in the area. Well, let's just say that there aren't any real stores, just places that think it's normal to spend $110 for a shirt. Hello? We're talking about real people here who shop at walmart and are dragging their little brother up and down the streets by foot and trolly. He did really well, well as good as could be expectetd, but that could have to do with the fact that I bribed him with cold stones creamery. Actually, I "rewarded" him for his great behavior. Sounds way more political huh?
We just kind of hung out for most of the day and spent a while down at the pool but it was good to not really have anywhere to go. Tonight Dad and I tried figureing out the rest of the trip. The final verdict is that he's going to figure it out. I am way to opinionated to go with the flow every time that he changes his plan. So I'll just go along with what ever happens.
I'm actually excited though because Dad is going aligator hunting on thursday night so we will be out in the middle of no where. I like staying in the city but I don't feel like I got the actuall experiance of the state.
Foster and I will be going to the aquarium down the street tomorrow. It should be fun because not only do they have the aquarium but also a water area to play in. So it will be cool for us to have something to do.
So I'm done rambling on now. But maybe I'll down load a few pictures before heading out to bed. Love you all!
After Disney we drove here to Tampa, it was about 11:30 before we got to bed. Well, actually we seemed to keep up the vacation tradition of staying up past 12. This hotel is really nice, all business and class. And then….dun dun da……the Clarks arrive!!! We pull up to the front entrance, a gentleman comes and opens my door and then Foster’s, he goes to greet Dad and figure our parking and such, but we didn’t quite understand that this was a valet only hotel, so when the guy wanted our keys it was kind of confusing. We go inside to check in and Dad is in his swimming trunks and Hawaiian shirt, Foster and I are in our Bermuda shorts, tee shirts, and sandles. Normal right for a person visiting florida, right? Well all I’m seeing in this vast and gorgeous lobby is men and ladies in suits and dress wear. Ok, so we’re talking sore thumb extreme. But it’s all good, it’s late nobody really cares. So we go back to the car to get our luggage and I start getting it out of the car and one out of the ten guys just standing there waiting to help come rushing over with one of their carts, And Dad and him finish doing the luggage while I sift through the the mcdonalds bags, paper plates, misc. car stuff that gets thrown all over the place and ends up falling on the ground when you open doors. Talk about funny! But we’re just getting started. Dad’s in at the back of the car all the while telling the guy not to mind us because we’re used to $29.99 a night motels, and then trying to talk the guy into letting us take our own luggage up to our room. He tried to ignore Dad at first and just do his job, but Dad was persistent so he finally let us have the cart. And we had almost made it to the elevator when another one of them comes running over apologizing for us having it. It was a very awkward ride all the way up to the 27th floor. The guy tried conversation about something or other. I don't really remember, it was the usual questions like: are you enjoying your vacation? And then telling us that the spa and pool was on the third floor. (like we're going to use the spa!) :0) And then Dad told him that we're not really use to this, and he could just call us joe hick. hahahaha. I smiled, it was all I could do not to burst out laughing at how weird we looked. It was quite the procedure getting into the room but well worth it since it's really nice here.
This morning I went down to the conceirge desk and looked into shopping in the area. Well, let's just say that there aren't any real stores, just places that think it's normal to spend $110 for a shirt. Hello? We're talking about real people here who shop at walmart and are dragging their little brother up and down the streets by foot and trolly. He did really well, well as good as could be expectetd, but that could have to do with the fact that I bribed him with cold stones creamery. Actually, I "rewarded" him for his great behavior. Sounds way more political huh?
We just kind of hung out for most of the day and spent a while down at the pool but it was good to not really have anywhere to go. Tonight Dad and I tried figureing out the rest of the trip. The final verdict is that he's going to figure it out. I am way to opinionated to go with the flow every time that he changes his plan. So I'll just go along with what ever happens.
I'm actually excited though because Dad is going aligator hunting on thursday night so we will be out in the middle of no where. I like staying in the city but I don't feel like I got the actuall experiance of the state.
Foster and I will be going to the aquarium down the street tomorrow. It should be fun because not only do they have the aquarium but also a water area to play in. So it will be cool for us to have something to do.
So I'm done rambling on now. But maybe I'll down load a few pictures before heading out to bed. Love you all!
Sunday, October 01, 2006
please scroll down
Well this is really out of order. It took me an hour just to load these pictures on her, ugh. So my suggestion to you all is that you scroll down to the "day two" post and then go from there up. It might make a little more sense. Good night every one!
This is the Daytona 500. for those of you who, like myself, do not know what that is, it's some big famous car racing stadium.
Here we have a krispy kreme, if you don't know what this is, well, you're hopeless! We didn't have time to go in this one, but I promise you that we will by the end of this trip.
Day two pictures.
Well here they all are folks. Well, not all of them, we actually took 119 just today. But I don't really want to be sitting down in the lobby for that long, and you probably don't want to see them all. But here are some of the better ones...
Day two!!
Well today we ended up going to first baptist church in Ocoee. I'ts about 30 minutes away from here. It went pretty good. The message was fine, but Dad said that he read in their little booklet that he's from some college (I can't remember where) that promotes easy believeism, so that's not too good (duh) but you couldn't have told from what he preached.
We ended up going to Datona Beach after Services. That was pretty cool. I've always heard the name, and it's like printed on shirts, so the fact that I actually went there is cool. :-) The tide was high today so we went to the spot where it was flat for swimming. And yes, Dad did make his sand castle. :-) I don't think that there has been a time that he went to a beach and didn't make a sand castle. I think that's awsome. Anywho, after being there for a few hours we went to leave, but ended up going to the spot on the beach with all the waves and strong current. I had already changed and didn't want to get my bathing suit back on, but Dad and Foster were still in their shorts, so they went and dove in. Well, not quite dove, but you know. :o) I got lot's of video taping of it and also pictures. Oh ya, pictures, well I kind of forgot about those, I will have to go upstairs and get the memory card so that I can down load some for you guys. I am down at the pool right now with foster. Can you believe that he wanted to go swimming again after spending all day swimming? Crazy kid.
On our way home we stopped at a few tourist stores but I didn't end up with too much luck. and speaking of shopping, I can't believe that I forgot to mention that I went to Cato's yesterday. Love at first sight. Well, actually, I was in love with the store from all the things that I had heard about it before I even saw it. But you get my point. It was pretty cool that the first store that we went to on the entire trip was the one that I wanted to go to the most. I made sure to thank Dad for that! We still have to do the whole outlet mall thing, but I'm not too worried, we'll get there eventually.
Well, I'm going to go up stairs and get that memory card. So I'll see you all in a bit.
We ended up going to Datona Beach after Services. That was pretty cool. I've always heard the name, and it's like printed on shirts, so the fact that I actually went there is cool. :-) The tide was high today so we went to the spot where it was flat for swimming. And yes, Dad did make his sand castle. :-) I don't think that there has been a time that he went to a beach and didn't make a sand castle. I think that's awsome. Anywho, after being there for a few hours we went to leave, but ended up going to the spot on the beach with all the waves and strong current. I had already changed and didn't want to get my bathing suit back on, but Dad and Foster were still in their shorts, so they went and dove in. Well, not quite dove, but you know. :o) I got lot's of video taping of it and also pictures. Oh ya, pictures, well I kind of forgot about those, I will have to go upstairs and get the memory card so that I can down load some for you guys. I am down at the pool right now with foster. Can you believe that he wanted to go swimming again after spending all day swimming? Crazy kid.
On our way home we stopped at a few tourist stores but I didn't end up with too much luck. and speaking of shopping, I can't believe that I forgot to mention that I went to Cato's yesterday. Love at first sight. Well, actually, I was in love with the store from all the things that I had heard about it before I even saw it. But you get my point. It was pretty cool that the first store that we went to on the entire trip was the one that I wanted to go to the most. I made sure to thank Dad for that! We still have to do the whole outlet mall thing, but I'm not too worried, we'll get there eventually.
Well, I'm going to go up stairs and get that memory card. So I'll see you all in a bit.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
