I took the picture below at Miami Beach, yesterday.



Bobby had to attend a conference in Miami yesterday, so he asked me to go down with him so that he'd have company in the car. I was dubious at first : my going meant that Stephen and Emily would be on their own for virtually the whole day - something they've never experienced before. I really didn't like that thought - not from the safety aspect, we live in a very safe area as far as crime goes, and they're both pretty responsible kids, not the type to burn down the house trying to make toast or whatever - but just because I hated to think of them having to get their own breakfast, see themselves onto the bus, and then, even worse, come home to a lonely, empty house. They both still really enjoy all coming-home rituals that have grown up over the years : the tea, the snack, the ceremonial unpacking of homework (Ems) and the exhausted slump onto the couch and demands for sympathy over the various injustices inflicted upon him by the school system (Steve). But Bobby really, really wanted me (and, by default, Sophs) to go along, so I ran the idea past the kids, and they were actually okay with it. Not happy, but prepared to do it. They were very sweet about it actually - they are really turning into empathic people. More on that later ...

So, we left home at 6.30 yesterday morning and were in Miami by 10. The convention center where Bobby had his conference was near South Beach, so Sophs and I dropped him off, parked the car in parking garage, and set off to enjoy our day. We wandered down the very attractive Lincoln Road, ... they're not kidding about all the beautiful people. I felt very suburban and plodding and matronly. And then we headed down to the beach. South Beach actually feels a lot like Durban's North Beach. Same kind of vibe - a bit glitzier of course, but very similar. And the beach is physically similar to North Beach : the sand has the same texture and colour, the pedestrian area is similar ... The Miami water is more of a turquoise colour, though. And there aren't any surfers.

So Sophie and I had a wonderful time in the waves. The water was beautifully warm, the sun was shining, there was a gentle breeze - it was gorgeous.

When we'd had enough, at around 3, we showered, and then walked along the road opposite the beach till we found a pretty cafe. I had a cappucino and Sophs had a chocolate milk and some cookies.

Then we walked back to meet Bobby - the timing was perfect. Sophie really enjoyed all the art deco buildings, and we read up about art deco architecture this morning. She learns so much more being out in the world than she ever did in school. It's a shame that Steve and Ems don't want to be homeschooled. However, they are old enough to know their own minds, and I respect their choices ... usually.

This morning we discovered that using last year's sunscreen isn't a good idea. We are both quite sunburned : my nose, and Soph's shoulders, are the worst. I feel really stupid, because I think a similar thing happened last year, and I promised myself I wouldn't make the same mistake again.

Today has been a frenzy of phone calls. The main thing I've accomplished is that I've booked myself a trip to Cape Town. I leave Orlando on May 27, and fly out of Cape Town again on June 10. I would've liked to have been able to stay for longer than two weeks, but it'll be hard enough on the kids and Bobby as it is. All four of them are being so, so sweet about this. Emmy told me "You should go, mom. I would want to visit you if you were sick and I was grown-up". I actually managed to find a reasonable fare, which was a bonus : most of the flights that are left are really pricy. The travel agency that I used is run by an ex-South African, and specialises in flights to Africa. The price I got was about $500 cheaper than the best fare that travelocity.com could do for me, and infinitely cheaper than any of the various airlines' own websites had on offer. Why is it that the airlines themselves always offer more expensive fares than places like expedia.com and travelocity.com? You'd think they'd want their best prices on their own site. Anyhow, so the cost is not too hideous, but the flights themselves are not great. I have to leave Orlando at 7am on the 27th, which means being at the airport at 5, which means leaving here at 4.15. I get to JFK at 9-ish, and then I have to hang around there till 5.30 pm, when I leave for Jo'burg. What the heck am I going to do there for a whole day? It's 15.5 hours to Jo'burg (they stop in Senegal to refuel), and then another 2 or so to Cape Town. Ugh. I only have a couple of hours in Jo'burg between those two flights, and I have to clear customs, so I hope the JFK-JBG leg isn't delayed, or I'll miss the flight to Cape Town. When I return, I do the same thing in reverse.

My parents are really happy that I'm going out there, and I'm really happy that I'll see them ... I spoke to my mom a couple of times today and she sounds really upbeat and positive. She really likes the specialist she's seeing, says he's wonderful .... I'm so glad they're in SA rather than here, I'd hate to think of my mom having to deal with the US's medical insanity.

Aside from booking my ticket today, I've also called the neurologist's office to remind them to send our bill to the insurance so that, with any luck, we'll get at least part of what we paid back. Then I called the insurance to find out what was happening with the approval for growth hormone. Apparently, a couple of weeks ago they received "some chart notes" from the endo's office, but they had no idea why they'd been sent them. So I asked whether they'd contacted the endo's office to find out what was going on, and they said (sounding a little sheepish, I'm glad to say) "No, we just put the information in a "pending" file and thought we'd wait to hear more." Geez, could you be a little less pro-active? You might injure yourself with all that frenzied attention to detail. Oh, and I also called a realtor today : I want to start looking for houses for real. It would be nice if I'd found the right house before I leave for Cape Town.

And Sophs and I did some fun homeschooling.

We had climbing tonight and I enjoyed it - climbed a couple of things I hadn't managed last week, it was really fun. Got home, had dinner (I'd put it in the crock-pot) and was feeling pretty okay about life, until I read an article about breast cancer that someone had suggested I look at ... it's a pretty depressing article, so now I'm feeling tearful and sick to the pit of my stomach again.