What a Week

by Anna Arnett

I'm wondering if I'm getting a little too old for all this traipsing around. I flew to Florida with my daughter last Tuesday, and came home this. We went mostly to see her granddaughter--my great granddaughter--act in an elementary school musical producion. Rylee is in fourth grade and has struggled with the usual 'younger sister' complex, but happily found a talent she excelled in. She can belt out a song--on tune--and project a sassy character.

It was worth the trip. I'm amazed at the quality of production from such young kids, fifth grade and under. They've been working on it the whole year. The costumes were fantastic, and the backdrops excellent. Many of the kids sang very well, though occasionally the tunes became difficult to recognize, and harmonizing was anything but. Still, the young voices charmed and delighted us. Oh, the production was Seussian Jr., or something close to that. Dr. Suess characters, especially from the "Cat in the Hat", "Horton Hears a Who", and "Horton Hatches an Egg" sang, danced, and romped around the stage. We were biased, but we thought Rylee was the best of the bunch.

We also shopped, taxied kids, stayed up half the nights playing "Clue", drove across the Everglades, stayed a night in a hotel in Ft. Lauderdale, then drove to Key Largo, which we thought would be far enough to at least say we'd been to the Florida Keys. However it seemed more like crossing a river into another town. How could we go back without driving some distance with water stretching out on both sides of the road? So we kept on driving until we finally found the southernmost spot in the continental United States, where we stood in line for the privilege of taking our pictures to prove we'd arrived.

Just before sundown, we found the Key Largo Branch chapel, with several cars in the parking lot. Some friendly Primary children begged us to stay overnight. "You can come to church in your slacks," they promised. Half our group wanted to stay, but Eileen is in the Primary presidency, and the president and secretary would not be there. Besides, it was Ward Conference. We arrived back home at about two in the morning. Somehow, getting to church on time seemed almost insurmountable.

Monday I got slightly sunburned and very windblown riding in an air boat, looking at crockodiles, turtles, birds (including a bald eagle) and finally seeing what an egret looks like. The weather surprised me, almost as dry as Phoenix, and in the low 80's. Lovely, all week. That night was the production (we'd gone to a dress rehearsal earlier) and on the way home Kat made a wrong turn, putting her on the freeway with no exit available for seven miles! What an adventure!

I think I got at least two hours sleep before we had to leave, but the early flight got us home in time to rest a little bit before getting ready for the ANWA chapter meeting at our house.

Today (Wednesday) was my turn to blog, and I planned to get right at it. But I had a dozen (tat's all) phone messages to recover, over 200 email messages to skim over and friends from New Hampshire to meet at the Capitol Building in Phoenix. I knew I'd have plenty of time this evening, but instead I went with a granddaughter and her husband to the Diamondback-Phillies ballgame, totally forgetting until on the way home that it was my blog day. So already it's past midnight..... Again..... Just like it was last time I blogged. I'm sorry, sleepy, repentant, but happy. I still haven't unpacked. But there's always tomorrow. Woops, it's already that.

Tweeked to look like it was posted on Wednesday--Editor