New Friends

Moving is hard on everyone. I worry about the kids making new friends and fitting in. I worry for Lee, hoping that his new work environment will be a positive one. I worry about settling into our house, about finding the right mix for our lives. Every time we move, the concerns are generally the same, with minor variations.

One thing that I struggle with personally is making new friends. I've found that men are less prone to need intimate friendships beyond their spouse. I hate to generalize and do not in any way mean to say that men don't need friends. However, men get much of their daily social needs met in the workplace. No matter what country, city or state we live in, Lee will always have interactions at work and will always be able to develop relationships in that environment.

Women are creatures of a different nature. We thrive on deep lasting friendships with other women. We need our 'girl time'. We need someone with whom we can talk and talk, even if it's not about anything serious or deep. When you relocate a stay at home mom, it takes a lot of hard work and effort to explore, find and cultivate satisfying relationships.

I think making new friends is a lot like dating. You meet someone you think might be a good fit for your personality and then one of you has to be the brave one- the one who goes out on a limb and makes an invitation to socialize - someone has to ask the other out for a first date, so to speak. Then, you try to find an activity where you can get to know each other, but you choose carefully. If you have young children at home it's a little easier because you can use them as an excuse to socialize, or to end the 'date' if things aren't clicking. After the 'first date', if it goes well, you are left wondering if she liked you as much as you liked her, or vice versa. Should I call her, should I wait for her to call me? How long should I wait? I don't want to be a stalker, after all! It's a precarious process and I've found that you can live in a place for years and never find 'Mrs/Ms. Right'.

I made a new friend today. We sat next to each other at the gymnastics gym, talked politely for awhile and I got up the courage to give her my phone number. She gave me her number but I was too nervous to call. Maybe it's just the action of stepping outside one's comfort zone. Lucky for me, my new friend was bold and called me, inviting me out to lunch. I was a little nervous.... what would we talk about, just the two of us, face to face with no children to hide behind? I couldn't even remember exactly what she looked like, having met her only once.

So I made sure to get to the restaurant a little early, so I could scan all the incoming patrons. I actually worried the night before about this lunch date. Usually I just rely on making friends at church, which is comfortable and safe. Much to my happiness and relief, lunch was so fun! We had plenty of things to talk about, we had a lot of things in common, and we spent over an hour and a half gabbing. Maybe she won't become my new BFF, but it sure was nice to get out of the apartment and make a new friend.

Just an Ordinary Day.... Thank Goodness!

Today was a great day. The weather was perfect! Lee has had a full month's vacation since we arrived in Tampa, using up his vacation time leftover from China. It has been wonderful, hanging out all day with Lee.

This morning we got up together with the kids and dropped them off at school. We then had breakfast together at a tasty little restaurant across the street from the school called The Brunchery. Then Lee dropped me off at a friend's house and he went off for a game of golf. My friend Allison and I took a 6 mile walk, which was invigorating and fun. I really needed some girl time. Lee has been a wonderful companion for the last 8 weeks, but a girl needs her girlfriends! After the walk Allison took me to the golf course so I could pick up the car and go get the kids from their half day at school. It was such a gorgeous day that I decided to walk the mile to the school instead. I had the dog with me, who was completely worn out from her 6 mile walk. She was a bit resistant to the idea of walking back to the car with the kids and actually sat down in protest a few times along the way!

We headed home to swim at the apartment complex. The weather was in the upper 80's - perfect for swimming without getting too hot. I cooked up my first tuna casserole ever, and it was yummy! The kids protested, except Cooper who loved the casserole until he found out it had tuna in it. Mind you, he doesn't even know what tuna is, but it sounded gross so he immediately changed his mind about the macaroni he was eating. It was funny, but also annoying.

After dinner I took Eve and Cooper to karate. Ally wanted to come watch so we each brought a book and sat companionably reading side by side. We came home, checked homework, signed folders, read a story, said prayers, did tuck ins, and finished up a great day. Hopefully tomorrow will be just as uneventfully blissful as today!

Lowry Park Zoo, Tampa FL

Last Saturday I declared that I would not spend another day cooped up in our stuffy little apartment. I did my research and concluded that a visit to The Florida Aquarium would be the perfect (and most affordable) solution to my apartment blues. We spent a lovely two hours at the aquarium and then proceeded to purchase a one year family membership (my affordable activity suddenly wasn't so affordable anymore!).

With our membership paperwork came a blue sheet of paper, listing reciprocating facilities where our membership would gain us various discounts. So for the last week I have been scouring that blue paper for deals. So far we've eaten at two restaurants which each offered a nice incentive and today we went to the Tampa Zoo for FREE. Wohoo! For the month of September, members of the Florida Aquarium receive free entry to Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo.

I love this day and age because technology makes our lives so much easier. I was able to peruse the park's website and glean lots of useful bits of information, like the fact that the Zoo has two water parks for the kids to cool off in. So, we started our adventure with a little water play to get nice and cool before trekking through the forests of Asia, the prairies of Africa and the Florida Gulf Coast.





I was initially quite doubtful as to the quality of the zoo, given that our visit began with lots of unsuccessful attempts to find the animals in their habitats. However, as the day progressed, we found lots of fun and unique exhibits.

I think one of our favorite exhibits was Stingray Bay, where we got to hand feed stingrays and touch and feel them in the tank. For the low affordable price of $3, I purchased two shrimp and one small fish (same size as the shrimp) to feed the rays. It was so neat! They actually swam right up to us and took the food right out of our hands. They got really aggressive and splashed quite a bit, which surprised us all!













We also got to give the kids a little lesson on the facts of life.



Eve and Ally's responses were identical "Eeeewwwww!!!!"

We saw manatees, which I had never seen up close before.









We saw some interesting animal interactions:





The kids got to ride the log ride. Ally is my daredevil, through and through. She was ready to go again and again. Eve didn't quite think too highly of the her log ride experience and Cooper was on the fence.





We made friends with a giraffe:



And some goats:









Overall, it was a pretty good day at the zoo. And the best part was getting in free! (Ok, not really the best part, but it didn't hurt my feelings too much...)

There are still a few weekends left in September, so who knows... maybe we'll do it again!

Update on the Baby Deer

You might remember our wonderful experience with the baby deer in my parents' backyard this summer. It was truly a memorable morning for the Cannon kids. My dad recently emailed to say that our sweet friend is alive and doing well. I guess she/he is still paying regular visits to their backyard, but this time she's brought along her mother.











Thanks dad, for sharing these pictures with us. What a magical moment! I'm so thankful we were able to share it with two of my favorite people in the whole world!

Thankful

11+ years ago I married my handsome prince and left the world of unwanted roommates forever. I was SO thankful to never have to share my home with someone I didn't like ever again. For all you previous roommates out there (Tanya, Rebecca, Ernie, Jill, Brian, etc.....) I'm not talking about you.

Likewise, when I got married I left the world of apartment dwelling far, far behind, much to my pleasure. Actually, come to think of it, I don't think I ever did live in an apartment.... with the exception of a few months in San Diego before we got married.

Just a few things I'll be thankful for when we move to our new home and leave our apartment forever:

• A kitchen with a pantry.
• A dishwasher that doesn't just move the food around, but actually cleans the dishes.
• Having an eating area big enough that I can get up from the table without moving the table to get out.
• Not having to store food in my linen closet due to the aforementioned lack of pantry.
• Not having upstairs neighbors, across the hall neighbors, or sharing a wall with neighbors.

In our new house I will be so thankful for:

• A safe neighborhood for my kids to ride bikes in.
• Having enough space to walk without bumping into furniture.
• Living one mile from the elementary school instead of 10 miles away.
• Not having groups of random teenagers hanging out near my front door at midnight.
• A garage, so our bikes don't have to be stored in Cooper's bedroom.
• Not having to carry groceries from the parking lot to the apartment.

Here's a few extreme luxuries I've missed in China and can't wait to have again in our new home:

• Water/Ice dispenser in the freezer door
• Deep freezer for food storage
• 3 car garage for all our toys
• A swimming pool in the backyard
• 2 cars
• A separate room for an office/guest room.