Happy Wednesday!

I just got back yesterday from our family vacation in Orlando. It was a blast--we went to Epcot, Magic Kingdom, Universal Studios, and even a luau. The weather actually wasn't that horrible--it was rainy, but it kept it cool. And I got to see the Harry Potter section in Universal (which was INCREDIBLE!).

What about you--taken any fun vacays this summer or have any planned?

My magical summer of adventure

I'm pretty sure this is going to be my magical summer. I have tons of stuff planned--not just for booksignings, but vacays!

In two days, I'm going to Kalahari, a water park in Sandusky. It will truly be a thing of wonder. I haven't been to a water park in forEVER. You guys, I even bought a bathing suit for it. That's how awesome it's going to be.

In June, I'm doing a signing in Columbus, OH. I'm also going to visit my sister in Louisville, KY--we're going to get into some crazy shenanigans!

In July, I'm going to Disney with the whole family (kids, parents, sister). I'm doing a signing in Hudson, OH. And I'm going to NYC for an awesome writer's retreat/signing!

In August, I'm going to Salem, MA with the kiddies. I haven't been to Mass in so long, and I'm looking forward to walking around and soaking in the rich history of the area.

In September, I'm going back to Toronto for a signing.

What plans do you have for the summer? Doing anything fun?

The Changing Role of Adolescent-hood

As you may remember from last week, I've been on vacation in Hilton Head. And I should note that I'm tan. Very tan. Yay!

I'm home now, and just in time, as the island is currently under mandatory evacuation due to Hurricane Hanna. (I hope my cousin Natalie left last night after work rather than get stuck in potentially up to 8 hours of standstill traffic leaving the island...trust me, it sucks...been there, done that.)

Anyway, I got to spend some quality time with the relatives on my mom's side this past week (I've got some of them in the picture at the top of the post...from left to right: my grandmother; my cousin Lauren, who is studying for the MCATs at the moment because she takes them a week from tomorrow; me; my Aunt Bobbie). It's always a treat to see them, especially my grandmother.

My grandmother, who we call Gaga, will be 90 in May. She was born in NYC, and grew up in Spanish Harlem, the daughter of Ukrainian immigrants. Gaga was the oldest of 5 children, so when she graduated from high school at age 15 at the height of the Great Depression in 1934, she couldn't afford to attend college, despite her fervent desire to go. So off to work she went, to help her mother and stepfather (her father had passed when she was younger) provide for her younger brothers and sister.

Yes, age 15. At an age when most teens today are going to Homecoming dances and football games, my grandmother was out in the working world and essentially raising a family (albeit her siblings) because her parents worked long, long hours and money was extremely tight. She sacrificed her own teen years so that her siblings teen years would be a little better.

She married my grandfather, her high school sweetheart (a neighborhood boy...son of Puerto Rican immigrants), at age 19. Had she followed her dreams and gone to college straight out of high school (remember, she graduated really young), she would have graduated by then, but that wasn't in the cards.

But she never gave up her dream of pursuing higher education. After raising five children, Gaga started commuting into the City to attend Hunter College when my Uncle Dick was in college, my mom was in high school, my Aunt Cookie and Uncle Peter were in junior high, and my Aunt Bobbie in elementary school. She majored in Spanish and French, and then got her teaching certificate.

So in the 1960s, more than 30 years after she graduated high school and started working, Gaga became a high school Spanish teacher. She retired in the early 80s (I remember going to the Spanish class Christmas party when I was 3 or 4 and getting to take a whack at the pinata), but to this day, continues to help tutor students in Spanish.

My grandma, whose teen years were not conventional by today's standards, taught me the importance of education and achieving your dreams, no matter what the odds. She's my hero.

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LABOR DAY

Here in the US, it's Labor Day. Which means I plan to do a whole lotta nothing.

According to Wikipedia:

Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September. The holiday originated in 1882 as the Central Labor Union (of New York City) sought to create "a day off for the working citizens".

Congress made Labor Day a federal holiday in 1894.^[1] All fifty states have made Labor Day a state holiday.

Traditionally, Labor Day is celebrated by most Americans as the symbolic end of the summer.

The symbolic end of summer. Sigh. Is it really over?

Today I slept late (9:00...that really is late when you're 'old', as my children like to say). Hubby baked some orange creme rolls for breakfast. We've had coffee and watched a movie and probably I'll go buy groceries today. But that's it. No laboring on Labor Day. (shouldn't they rename the holiday? Unlabor Day?)

I'm sad summer is over. I can still go to the lake on the weekends. It won't get too cold here until sometime in October. But it's not the same. School has started which means homework, soccer 4 days a week, cross country 6 days a week, early mornings to make it to school on time and late nights studying and finishing homework.

Sigh. I'm going to miss summer. But the older I get, the quicker the summer seems to come. So it won't be long until next year. And I'm already ready.

My cabin vacation

Sorry I'm late posting, but I JUST got back in from my vacay in Hocking Hills, Ohio (which is in the middle of the state, south of Columbus). We stayed for 3 days in some GORGEOUS cabins down there.

While we were there, we went canoeing (I didn't fall in, thank GOD, haha--though the manpanion's canoe that he was sharing with my aunt tipped...poor them!). We also went hiking on a trail at Old Man's Cave. Here are a couple of photos of my trip (of course, all images copyright Rhonda Stapleton 2008):

Here's an image of our cabin. It was 3 stories--had 5 bedrooms. A fully decked-out kitchen (dude, it had a dishwasher. I DON'T HAVE A DISHWASHER IN MY HOUSE! Waaaaah!). Three porches. A hot tub big enough for 8 (oh man, I lived in the hot tub). Air conditioning.

I tell ya, this is my idea of camping! LOL

We went on a hike in one of the state park areas. It was absolutely stunning, the view in the woods. I couldn't believe how many photo shots I kept wanting to take!

This bridge was SO pretty. It was a stone construction. I had to take a shot, of course.

This was another lovely bridge--wooden this time. The walkways were mostly smooth from traffic, but you had to be careful where you walked--there were tree roots and rocks and such all over the place!

A beautiful scene with dappled sunlight streaming through the leaves. Aaaah, I'm such a poet. LOL.

Anyway, it was the perfect mini-vacation with the perfect weather. Couldn't have asked for better temperatures!

I was also highly productive writing-wise, thank you very much. I got 3 chapters revised and added 12 new pages to my manuscript. YAY me!

So, what about you--any good camping stories? Fantastic places you like to visit?

I'm a survivor!

I survived a holiday weekend.

You might be thinking this is a snarky comment geared toward my b-i-l and family; but I assure you, it is not.

They were fantastic. It was great to see my niece again. It's been two years. She's 13 now and looks 16. They need to keep her locked in a room with blacked out windows. Our families get along well, even though we're vastly different. We had a great time.

Until Saturday afternoon.

No. I didn't survive my family. My family and I survived Mother Nature.

We got up early and drove the hour and a half to Lake Ouachita where my parents have a lakehouse and a party barge at our disposal. It was a beautiful day. Sun was shining and a breeze was blowing. Perfect for working on my tan.

About 1:00 we see some clouds building to the west of us. (Okay, I was told they were to our west. Frankly, they looked like they were directly in front of us to me...)
My dad calls and tells us not to worry, the storms were going North of us...we would be fine. We get the kids out of the water as the lightning show begins about ten miles away. The breeze turns to gusting winds, and we have to hustle to tie the boats up better.

But we decide to wait it out because they were clearly going North. (or, if you're me, they were going to the right of us.)


Until a Low Pressure system moved in.



It was bizarre. I practically grew up on the lake and I'm a pretty good judge of when to pack it up and get moving. I did suggest we might want to think about leaving, but when Daddy called and said "Don't worry." we carried on.

Bad idea.

The waves on the lake shifted and we realized that big, ugly storm system was being pushed right back toward us. Lightning was streaking to the ground and icy rain pelted us like darts. At this point, we had to try to wait out the storm, there was no way the party barge could withstand the winds and rains.

After about 45 minutes of terrifying weather, it calmed. Of course, the storm was headed directly toward our harbor, but since we were traveling via pontoon (aka the snail boat) we would just follow the storm in. Right?

Wrong.


The storm stalled over the lake so we had to drive directly through the belly of the beast. My husband, Captain Fishdog, managed beautifully.

It was pretty exciting. And scary. At one point I thought it was sleeting, the rain was so cold and hard. It actually felt good when we'd hit a big wave in the lake and we'd get sprayed with the ultra warm lake water.

We ended up beating the storm to the harbor. It was bizarre. I guess it just hung out over the lake about 2 miles from the marina. We pulled into the dock and warned several families who were loading up their boats not to go out there, but they didn't listen. Methinks they regretted that choice about twenty minutes later.

Summer Vacation!

For lots of teens, it's already summer vacation, or it will be any day now. If I was still in high school, it wouldn't be summer vacation for me just yet...we always went until mid-to-late June. But I know my cousins in South Carolina are on break now.

Anyway, that's what sucks about growing up. No more endless weeks of summer. I only realize it's almost summer now because it's warmer in the morning while I walk to work, and the neighborhood pools have opened. But do I get a summer vacation?

No, not really. :(

OK, I really shouldn't complain. Last year at this time, I was hiking in the rainforest near Arenal Volcano in Costa Rica, and two years ago today, I was taking a tour of a native village that had a lot of totem poles in Ketchikan, Alaska. And I also went to England and France last August.

So yeah, I do get vacations. Usually. Not this year, though. My big vacation of the summer will be the RWA National Conference in San Francisco. Which will be awesome. Don't get me wrong.

But it's not Costa Rica.

Anyway, what are your summer vacation plans?