Flat Stanley

Flat Stanley came home from school with Mailia yesterday. He will be spending a few days with us so we can show him around here. Then he will be heading to Aunt Sheila's in Michigan to see how things are different up there. Last night he went to Publix with us to help sell Girl Scout cookies. We (they) did very well! :-)

The Daytona 450

What a rotten, pitiful ending (unless you're a Matt Kenseth fan) to this great American tradition. Called because of rain. In hindsight..........I'm soooooooo glad we stayed home to watch it. The let down was huge, but not as bad as it would have been, trying to navigate the crowds of unhappy, even angry, people all trying to get out of there last night.
So I will stop whining now because we didn't get to go this year. :-)

The Great American Race!

The Daytona 500 is today! Finally! NASCAR has the longest running season in sports, (10 months) but those two months that they don't race, are the l-o-n-g-e-s-t. There is just no explaining the roar of the engines, the speed, and the wins, unless you're another NASCAR fan. And nothing comes close to actually being in the stands when the 'most famous words in motorsports' are announced........."Gentlemen, start your engines!"
We are not able to attend this year, and that has been a little tough to accept. Mailia so wanted to see Jimmie and get his 3-peat t-shirt. I wanted to see Jeff's new paint scheme up close. But mostly we wanted to hear the roar and simply be there and be a part of the greatest spectacle in racing. That's not happening this year, but we will be watching this afternoon and cheering our favorite drivers to victory.
And when all is said and done...........we will not have to battle the traffic to drive home afterwards :-)

The Smile Mile

Mailia ran "The Smile Mile" yesterday in Orlando. She finished in 8 min. 40 sec. Not bad for her first time out. It's a great event for kids. All kids get a medal for finishing, no matter how long it takes. She was worn out after, fell asleep in the car going home, but she was happy and proud of herself. We were too!

Moving to the North Pole

Desperate times call for desperate measures. We are in the former, and planning the latter.
Mailia's Dad was laid off his job (again) back in Nov. He got another job almost immediately, but it pays barely half of what he was paid at the prior job, and no benefits. We have tried to stay positive, but as you all know, jobs that pay well and offer health insurance, are rare to begin with, and hundreds, if not thousands, of people in our shoes, are all vying for that rare job. We have done all we know how to do, selling things on Craig's list, yard sales to sell the rest, and a moving sale in the works. We are hanging onto our house by a thread, while the phone rings off the wall with other banks wanting car payments and such. Each day seems to be more discouraging than the day before.
So we have started to make arrangements to move back to the North Pole (Michigan) where we will have a place to stay with family, and most of all, family to help us get back on our feet. It is very humbling, to say the least, to have to start over at this point in our lives. Losing everything we've worked for all these years is hard to swallow, but we know that we have each other. If a change isn't made soon, I worry that our relationships and even our health could be affected by all the grim scenarios that surround us. We don't want that for ourselves, and we can't have that for Mailia.
Not wishing to bring gloom and doom to all my friends out there, just a little heads up about what's going on in our world. With the internet, and this blog and email, I will never be far from my friends anywhere. Will just be closer to family.
I try not to think about sub-zero temps and blizzards and such, but know that that's the trade-off for the ungodly hot summers here in Florida. We will adjust.
We have no set date yet. If we can hang on a little longer, M. and I plan to pack as much as we can into a U-haul and head north when school is out in June. Dad will stay here for awhile and try to sell the house. If a job becomes available in MI for either of us, we would have to go much sooner.
I've heard that the way to make God laugh is to tell him your plans. :-) So He may be chuckling right now as I write this. But whatever happens, we will do what we have to do.
I'll update the blog if/when there are any new developments. For now, we are enjoying our warm weekend and lots of sunshine. :-)
Hugs,
Mailia's Mom

8 Days til Daytona!

The Bud Shootout is tonight. We all watched the practice sessions last night because it's been soooooooo long since we heard those engines roar. :-) Jimmie is growing a beard, Jeff is cute as ever, and his #24 paint scheme is great. We are unable to actually attend the race this year, but we'll be track-side in our living room next Sun. afternoon.
Welcome back to Daytona boys!!! We've missed you.