Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Halfway Point

Well, we're at the halfway mark of our Alabama trip, and so far, it's been really nice. I was able to play piano a couple days ago, and yesterday we went to visit Sandra, a friend of my parents', and her son Heath. We actually got together a few years ago in Germany, but this time was a lot more enjoyable.

We dropped Ginger off at Sandra's office, and headed to Callaway Gardens. We had lunch first---Subway for the kids and barbecue for the adults, but I wound up helping my mom with her sandwich---and heading to the butterfly exhibit. We got some rather nice photos, but when the butterfly exhibit wound down to seeing two kinds of cockroaches behind glass, a tarantula, and the freakiest praying mantis-of-sorts, we found the gift shop to be rather bug-free. We even found some other girl named Annabelle, spelled the same way! That hasn't happened since we saw Annabelle's Wish on VHS.

We also saw the Florida State circus, which was really cool. There was only one guy on a unicycle, but it was a giraffe uni and he juggled on it, so it made up for the one-wheel deficiency. When they said not to try any of this stuff at home, I was expecting to have to jab my mom in the side if they brought out unicyclers, saying it was "too late not to try it at home".

Once we were done at the gardens, we picked up the dog and headed to Sandra's house for a really nice cookout. The main course was steak, which I don't eat, so I made myself a meal of cheese, crackers, tomato & mozzarella salad, and baked potato. The girl I was sitting next to kept on giving Ginger food from her plate (Too much cheese, tons of potato, and about half her pound cake), and now Ginger has an upset stomach. It must have been nice while it lasted, though.

The BEST thing about yesterday, though, is this one guy's first impression of me. When he saw me, what did he tell my mom he thought I was? Pretty? Older? Smart? No, something even better than all of those put together: adopted from Eastern Europe!

When he told me, he added that he didn't mean to offend me. I told him no worries: having someone think you look like you're from Eastern Europe is about the biggest form of flattery among my friends (Well, at least Maya and I). My mom told me he thought I was originally from Ukraine or---get this---Russia. Yes, Maya, if you're reading this, RUSSIA.

Guinea pig squeaks!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

You do have some Russian heritage. Your great-great-great grandfather was from Ukraine.

Anonymous said...

Guiena pig squeaks! LOL Hey, tell all your friends to vote in the poll on my blog! Tell your mom and any other relavtives that post too! Thanks BFF!

Anonymous said...

Hey, AB - Did you know you have a second cousin once removed who was a member of the FSU Circus in the 1960s? I think she was a trapeze flyer, but I don't remember for sure.

Anonymous said...

Oops--correction: She's my second cousin, so she's your mom's second cousin once removed and yours twice removed.

Uta said...

Oh I love Callaway Gardens! They are so beautiful down there. I wish we could've met up. :(

So, fess up. You're really from Russia, aren't you? XD

Alicebelle said...

Dunno. Perhaps I'm the Romanov my mom wanted to be!

"How do you like your stronganoff?"

"I never cared for stronganoff."

"She said that like a Romanov!"

Anonymous said...

Oops, I had one too many greats in my above comment. I meant to say great,great grandfather. I was actually correct though as the triple-great grandfather was also from Ukraine. As a matter of family lore, he made boots for the Russian Army under Czar Nicholas. There is your Romanov connection.

Anonymous said...

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!
....
AHHHHHHHHHHH!
Congrats on your Russian ness!

BUT I HATE YOU SO MUCH, YOU HAVE RUSSIAN HERRITAGE AND LOOK LIKE A RUHUHUHUHSIAN!!!!!!!

Now I must teach you russian. You have no excuse.
Repeat after me:
Bolshoiye spaseeba, Maya!
Paka!
Da Sveedanya!