NEW FLORIDA RESIDENT BLOG

 Welcome to paradise. Where I grew up winter storms would lock us indoors for days.  When we finally managed to make it outside we did all kinds of things that we hadn’t been allowed to do indoors. My best friend and I would wait for the warmest part of the day and then walk across the lakes that were slowly thawing in the early spring sunshine. It was pretty scary hearing the ice crack under our feet but, exciting too and no one was around to suggest otherwise.  Parents I know today spend an awful lot of time making sure their kids don’t ever do anything dangerous and then complain when they sit inside and play on computers...........   If we are awake and not at work or school you can probably locate every member of our family outdoors. Except our dog, he loves the AC.  Our parenting plan includes allowing our son to do dangerous things carefully so that we are sure we are raising a critical thinker that knows how to evaluate and adjust for risk. This philosophy seems to be paying of

 Welcome to paradise.  I worked in restaurants when I was in junior high school and high school. Mostly in the summer on cape cod, and I can only remember one time when I took care of a famous musician and his model wife. They were pretty nice but I recall that her hat seemed to belong at the Kentucky Derby, and thinking she was just desperate for attention.  It strikes me now that if people have real money and/or power they tend to not be focused on getting attention. I had Christmas dinner with a former President of the United States and spent the night hanging out with his wife because I thought he was an embarrassment (side bar it’s not who you think).   So, when all is said and done, I am kind of over restaurants. Of course, we have a rising second grader in the house and don’t want him to be a kid that does not know how to conduct himself in a public setting having a meal.  There’s a cool pizza restaurant near our house that we go to on a regular basis and then once in a while wi