Another Week, Wildlife Drive, and my View on Recent World Events

First, another Anna orthodontics update. We made the decision to try the Herbst. We found a local orthodontist, just 2 minutes from her school. We had them take off her braces and officially notified her former orthodontist. Then we brought her to her dentist for a cleaning. Anna told her about the saga (I wasn't allowed back) and when Anna was done, she came out and told me she disagreed with our course of action! She said she had the exact same issues and she really thought Anna needed to have her top premolars removed for the Herbst to work. She asked us to get one more opinion from an orthodontist she respects. Ugh!!! Every time we think we're done... But, we decided to get the last opinion. To recap: Orlando ortho, opinion #1 (jaw surgery); Surgeon, opinion #2 (remove all premolars and wisdom teeth then surgery); South FL ortho, opinion #3 (forsus); Orlando ortho 2, opinion #4 (Herbst); Dentist, opinion #5 (remove teeth + Herbst); and finally Orlando Ortho 3 for opinion #6. So many opinions! The latest orthodontist is about 20 minutes away. We did the consult and she suggested the same course of action as the one next to Anna's school (opinion #3). But, we liked her a little better. So, we decided to go with her, even though it isn't as convenient. I signed the contract today, they did Anna's molds and she will get the device on February 15th. I am so ready to have this treatment underway! 

Today is MLK Jr day. We found an awesome activity, perfect for social distancing. It was a nature drive along Lake Apopka. And, it was pretty amazing. We saw 22 alligators, and a million birds. It is an 11 mile drive.  The speed limit is 10mph and there are a couple of places to park and walk around. In total, we spent about 2 hours there. We enjoyed rolling our windows down and listening to the sounds of the many birds and keeping track of the alligators. Supposedly there are other animals, like bobcats, raccoons, coyotes, opossums, etc. But, we didn't see any this visit. We brought a picnic lunch, but didn't find a good place to eat at lunchtime, so we ended up eating in our car, then going to Dairy Queen for dessert. 

I think this was my favorite, the heron (I think), cardinal (I think) and alligator. Can you find them all?

I took this picture with no zoom, that is how close the alligator was and this was at the point where we were out walking (we kept Luke close by).

Now zoomed in a bit to show his size.

Sweet lovebirds.

Jack with Lake Apopka in the background.

It was a fun morning and I want us to try and visit in every season to see how it changes. It is kind of nice that we let our Disney passes expire. Otherwise, there is a good chance we would have just gone there instead of venturing out and trying something new. Or, maybe not. We haven't been to any theme parks since mid-December. The numbers in Florida have been really high the past few weeks, but we are finally beginning to see things level out a bit. I am hoping that maybe sometime next month we can start venturing out more. It seems silly to take risks now when we are so close to a vaccine and it can be hard for me to judge what risks are worth it. We let Anna go to school and Kara has friends that she plays with, as does Luke. But, there is a lot we are avoiding. It will be so nice when life gets back to normal.

In other news, Luke and I read Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. It was a fun read and we liked sitting down together. After we finished, we watched both movies. We really enjoyed both versions. If I had to choose, I would pick the newer one, as it more closely followed the book. But, it is a close call. 

The Vivint people came by this week. They started their spiel with, "I'm not hear to sell you anything" and mentioned how more people would be coming through the neighborhood in a couple of weeks. I am not sure if there was an intentional disconnect or I missed something, but I invited them in because I wanted more information. I told them up front that I was not interested in buying anything today and they responded with, "we wouldn't expect you to." I thought I was gathering data and I am interested in more home security. But, I can't make a decision like that on the fly. And, somehow we reached a point where they were asking for my social security number to schedule an installation?!?!?! Apparently me not buying anything today to them meant that I would pay later. They were super hard-selling and making me feel guilty, as though I had intentionally mislead them. It was very awkward and uncomfortable. Thomas was in the garage working on something (smartly avoiding all of this) and I finally had to go get him to tell them to leave. It was that bad. I also realized that I had provided a tremendous amount of personal information during our super long encounter. They asked a lot of personal questions and I stupidly answered them (trying to be polite and trying to get them out the door). Things like how many kids we have and their ages and where I work. The whole thing was really bothersome and I am still kicking myself for letting them in in the first place. Lesson learned!

Okay, my thoughts on current affairs. First, I am appalled by the Republican Party (with a few exceptions, like Mitt Romney, Paul Mitchell, and Larry Hogan). I have been a registered Republican since I was 18. But, I am changing my affiliation to Independent. I know both parties have (significant) problems, but I feel like the Republicans especially have towed their party line at the expense of what is right or moral. I am not saying it couldn't happen with the Democrats, but since they weren't the ones in power, it wasn't (at least this time). The claims of election fraud and the continued cries that the Democrats stole the election were my final straw. I find it beyond ridiculous. The campaign filed over 60 lawsuits. That is a lot of different judges, many Republican, some Trump appointees, that had the opportunity to hear the "evidence" and it just wasn't there. Yet, they publicly claimed otherwise. I read some of the courtroom transcripts and there truly wasn't any factual support for the claims they made, yet they still mislead the public with false allegations. Some changed their tune after the Capitol riot; for example, I saw Mitch McConnell on tv saying that Trump was alleging thousands of cases of voter fraud and he asked them to show him evidence of just 10 and they couldn't do it. But, for me, it was too little too late. As a lawyer, a public servant, and really just a human being who loves her country, I am deeply embarrassed by this behavior. The amount of discord in this country is terrible and I believe it has flown from the top down. And, I am just done. There is a lot more I could say, but I think that is enough to memorialize my feelings on post-election politics. 

I am praying that things get better with Biden. I don't agree with many of his policy positions, but at least I believe he is a decent human being, which frankly is enough for me right now. 

And, to end on a happier note, some pictures of kids in trees:

Can you find her in this one?