Struggling a bit lately...

There are moments in my life where I find myself so carefree and content that I stop whatever I'm doing and begin to reflect on the possible reasons why I have such an easy life. And then I imagine less-fortunate, exploited, and/or painfully uneducated and forgotten people (i.e. Appalachian area) who must not have these moments, and I start to feel a bit guilty and down about the state of those peoples' lives. So...other than the things you can control, why do bad things, sometimes befall good people, and good things. sometimes happen to bad people? And how did I luck out with my life? Is it just that- luck? A random lottery draw?

I wonder if I'll get these answers upon my death. ? Morbid thought, but really, I wonder if I'll ever know the answers to these questions.

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Today, my family and I made the trek to South Beach. We are not wild about Miami, though I will say that if you have to live in South Florida in general, it's probably the best place you can be.
Anyways, we made the trek because my brother likes a German bar down there and wanted to take my husband to drink some beer and eat some meat there. (Consuming these two foods is unquestionably one of my brother's favorite pastimes). "My mother and I will go to the Seaquarium," I think to myself. Well, then I see online that it's mostly outdoors, not like an Aquarium which is generally an indoor affair. So I let my brother and my hubby know that they can go without me; I don't want to have Alyssa out for a few hours in the sun. "Go to the Lincoln Road mall!" my brother suggests. I picture an indoor mall, as malls generally are indoor establishments.

We arrive, and of course, the "mall" is less like an indoor mall, and more of an outdoor shopping district.
So, the end result is still me and my sweaty, miserable 8-month old hanging out in this 90+ degree weather without shade, save a few tiny awnings sprinkled here and there. It wasn't even shaded like I can say the Las Olas shopping district is shaded. ::sigh::

For two hours we walked around. Alyssa was so hot and sweaty that she basically just sat limp in my arms or in her stroller with her head down, looking at the floor or her stroller straps. Such a sad sight. We kept her hydrated and moving and took her into some over-priced yuck stores every now and then to cool off. Ugh! My parents and I eventually met up with my brother and husband at said bar/restaurant, and we hung out there for another hour or so. Alyssa perked up in the A/C, but was still sticky with dried sweat, and in need of a diaper change.
The thing about this restaurant and with the others we stopped at in that area- no changing table, and nowhere in the tiny bathrooms to even use as a makeshift one. Awesome. All in all, I'd say that that area is great to bring your baby to. What was my brother thinking???
I know that area can be fun, but not with a baby in tow, especially during the hottest part of the day, during what is arguably one of the hottest months of the year in South Florida...with cloth diapers. After three hours of this, we had to make another three stops: one at a pizza place, one at an empanada place, and one at an establishment offering 200 different kinds of beer.

Alyssa screamed on the way home, eventually passing out for a bit. When we arrived home, I fed her dinner, played with her, gave her a bath, and helped her pass out around 10:30. So here I am in bed finally, writing this.

What a day!

I am looking forward to tomorrow when I will insist that Michael and I go to the pool with Alyssa and possibly to a used bookstore I spotted over on Oakland.

Tuesday night, Michael, Alyssa, my mother in law, and I will all be driving up at 4am to Tampa, and then back down around 9:00pm to avoid a hotel stay. Whew! Another day I'm kind of concerned about surviving. Mainly because of the babe.

And finally, we were hit with a surprise $1500 fee by our association that should have been payed at the time of closing, but wasn't. So, we're scrambling to pull that out of our already-thin budget and in an effort to cut back and cover part of that, I doubt I'm going with Michael to Portland. Michael will probably fly up early on the 8th and fly back down that same night to once again, avoid hotel costs.

Can I win the lottery anytime soon, please? lol :)

Okay, off to cuddle with my baby!!! Hubby is still downstairs killing zombies, but I'll cuddle with him too when he finally makes it back up here! :p