I can't stop singing it -

"SAAWEEEEEEEEEET CAAROOLIIIIIIIIIINNNNEEEE

-- DUH DUH DAAAAHHHH --

good times NEVER seemed SOO GOOOOOD,

IIIIII've BEEN INCLIIIIINED

-- DUH DAH DAAAAAH --

to BELIEEEEEVE they NEVER WOUUUUUULD!!!!

OOOHH WHOOAA, SWEEEEET CAROLIIIIIIIIINE!!!!"

If my Mom hasn't fainted yet because I just posted that on my blog (she hasn't...yet) and no one has fallen out of their seat in shock, and if you can still hear out of your ears, clearly you have not been in my house in the past 3 hours, because I've been singing it NONSTOP since I started listening to it, at about ... 3 hours ago. AND I CAN'T STOP.

It is a highly addicting song. If you don't know what it is, clearly then you do not have a dream of being in Fenway Park at the bottom of the 8th inning when EVERYONE in the stands cheers, claps their hands and sings along to "Sweet Caroline", because, hey, it's been tradition since 2002, and that's why the Boston Red Sox WIN.

Or that's what the Boston Red Soxs think.

The point is, is that I want to do that .... it's a dream of mine. How amazing is it to get to sing and have all this fun with all those people while cheering on the Boston Red Sox? Dude.

*Fun fact: My mom, our dear friend: L., and I drove past Fenway Park THREE TIMES in downtown Boston, and it was amazing ... still makes me laugh, those memories. :D*

**If you have no idea what "Sweet Caroline" is, ask your parents. It's their generation. If they don't know, then you have A. Really young parents B. Never heard of Neil Diamond C. Are probably homeschooled and your parents don't like that song. (I can mention C. because I fall under half that category), SO ... just insert "Take me out to the ball game" and you pretty much come up with the same sort of situation that I am in. **

Oh, and I may or may not be available tomorrow, if perhaps sometime between tomorrow morning and tomorrow afternoon my parents donate me to a local ballpark because I won't stop singing that song.

So anyways.

I think that all the "Sweet Caroline" singing was really brought up because earlier today I thought about baseball, because I had lunch from a hot-dog stand at Lowe's, (ohhh yeah!), and I really only get hot-dogs like that when I'm at the concession stands at a baseball game. I giggled and laughed and skipped back to the car and sang ... no ... not "Sweet Caroline", it was another song ... which I will not post because I don't like some of the lyrics, but it made me think of Gabe. :) *laugh* Figure that out.

Off topic. It's 11:42pm. So yes, the hot-dog was delicious and so was my root beer.

Back to "Sweet Caroline". So I went on my g-mail, and put up those lyrics above in my little status-y-box-thing (you know what it is) and of course, several people instantly popped up, and were laughing at me, which was rather ... the point, (ARE YOU STILL READING THIS?), and Becca was one of them ... we very much enjoy chatting online, since we would drive our families CRAZY if we talked on the phone. True story, people.

Yes, she noticed that I had a song stuck in my head, and she laughed, let it slide and let me sing ... she usually feeds my at-the-top-of-my-lungs-singing by giving me more and more songs to listen to. So I thought about Becs. And I thought about Sweet Caroline.

And then I thought about this expedition we had, and since it is a Saturday night...perfect for my "Whatever I want" Editing, I went at it. I'm so glad I did. Because somewhere between the 3rd picture, the 37th replay of "Sweet Caroline" and a whole lot of Black and White, and lots of giggling because I remember how fun that day was, and how we almost died from the heat ...

I found the joy to blog. :D HAHa hahahahaa hahaha!!

So there we were. In Winter Park. After Panera Bread Lunch. Hiking up the VLPRIHH: Very Long Parking Ramp In Hideous Heat. You would not believe how hot and wimpy we all were. Ok, I suppose I should mention that I was hot and wimpy. Everyone else was just hot. And Mom was like ... eons ahead of me, us being the only fun two with the car on the TOP level. *pitiful look*

SEE? Case in point.

stop laughing. you don't live here. and if you do, then you can laugh.

We went to Leu Gardens, and I took pictures. And then I decided to do a whole post in Black and White, because I LOVE Black and White and everything looks better and less HOT.

... and because Bec's Converse look better in Black and White, and so does the cypress. :)

Doesn't this look just glorious and romantic? *oh sigh* Change that to *oh faint*, because it was about 98 degrees outside (no joke) and that's without the humidity factored in. Even in Black and White, I can still feel the searing heat that made the roses look painted some lovely moist colored hue because the humidity was cloaking us like a wet blanket.

... and I'm not exaggerating about that. The heat OR the roses ... haha.

More Case in Point of Heat.

Someone. Somewhere. Was getting a huge kick out of the sign that said: "No splashing or playing in the fountains.", but as the workers tooled by in the golf carts, I am pretty sure they weren't laughing. They wanted to dunk their heads in as much as I did. Or lay down in it, like I wanted to. I broke the rules and only stuck my arms in up to my elbows and splashed a little. It was sooo sooo tempting .... I really don't like breaking the rules. *looks innocent*

*Swoon* We found a guy. I know he looks a little rough and dark and well, rugged ... but that's how Becs and I roll. We have a thing for farmers, cowboys, ruggedness, big trucks, tractors, boots, and jean overalls. Not to mention he was holding oranges. We might have kissed him on the cheeks. We'll never tell. And Becs? You are soo pretty sittin' next to 'im. LOVE!

Seriously! We might have liked him ... a lot. What is there NOT to like?

Don't worry ... our Mamas were standing RIGHT THERE. LAUGHING. *cough*

... and then we trudged as gracefully as we could back towards La Maison. Forget the French, we trudged back towards the Leu Plantation Home. It's huge and I love it. And my Mama is SOOO adorable because look ... she's holding my purse and it dwarfs her. hahahaa!! :D

... it was a lovely day, albeit the heat, and that was just a small part of it!! Thank you, Foster family, for a great time with ya'll!! :) Hahaha ... I'll post some pics in color later!!

"You shoulda' seeeen it in colooorrrrrrrr" - shout-out to BECS! hahaha! :)

Thanks for lovin' me, Becs. "SAWEEEET CAROLIIIIINE!!!!!" :D Love you.

As you might have guessed ... about 7 lines into this blog post ... is that Jean Marie is back. At least the half-driving-everyone-crazy-side is working rather well again, which is good, because it's also the side that inspires all the laughing, giggling, teasing and singing that has been somewhat missing from this blog. It's been missing because I've been missing that part.

It's not back in full force, except tonight, (obviously), and all I can say is ....

I blame "Sweet Caroline" for that.

I love you, sweet sweet people ....

may God bless and keep you safe,

and don't take these fun and precious times or "little things" for granted ...

Thanks for readin' ... ya'll come back now, if ya'll aren't ready to throw a

snowcone on my head because you can't get the chorus out of your head like me ....

Love,

~ Jean Marie ~

On second thought ... bring on the snowcone war. It's really hot here.

** I, by no means endorse the lyrics to the song, just that the song is FUN** ;)