I don't need to explain it to you, right? Most of you have taken a week-long vacation (mine was in Williamsburg last week, so I had a good excuse for the blog silence—for once :) ) and come back to have all of the tension you've relaxed away hit you harder than ever. If you're lucky, it's only ten-fold. If not, it's a hundred.
I've been cranked up to a thousand.
The good news: I finished line edits on Under the Moon and sent those to my editor, and submitted a requested manuscript elsewhere. I have a cover for Behind the Scenes, and should soon get the final JPGs so I can post it.
The challenge: Juggling writing one manuscript and revising another with working extra hours and keeping up with client work. While handling soccer practices, the start of school in a week, and half a dozen appointments for the kids and myself. Head down, keep going until everything is done, on time. Ready set go.
But you're not here to listen to me whine about good things! Deadlines and client work and extra hours are good things! They sure beat rejections and unemployment, for pete's sake.
Unfortunately, deadlines and extra hours leave me precious little to talk about here. *thinks*
Okay, some of the usual fallbacks:
We saw Captain America on vacation. I was so happy the timing worked out so I didn't have to go to the Glee movie with the kids. I like Glee, but I don't need Gleemersion. The kids liked it more than they expected.
I loved Captain America. Well, I found the overly skinny CGI distracting. Ditto with the overly buff CGI. Once they padded Chris up instead of sticking his head on another body, it all worked a lot better. But other than that, I liked the story a lot, and loved Howard Stark and the Red Skull. The ending wasn't what you'd expect or even want if the movie were stand alone, but knowing it's all setup for The Avengers made it okay.
And hey, if you haven't seen it yet, stay after the credits. We were the only ones in the theater who did. I was all, "seriously?" They were obviously not even semi-dedicated fans. All these movies have a quick scene at the end. Maybe they didn't like those. Maybe they thought finding Thor's hammer at the end of Iron Man 2 was lame, or that Loki being alive at the end of Thor wasn't worth the wait. But this one was so worth it. They had a trailer for The Avengers, and OhMyGod, I don't know if I can actually handle watching that. All those superheroes in one room? Tony Stark and Thor and Captain America? *shiver*
Many of my summer shows are done already. I miss Auggie. Like, a lot. But I'm loving Haven, even though, really, all of my enjoyment is wrapped up in the anticipation of something happening between Nathan and Audrey. I just want to see that look on his face when she touches him. And she's so oblivious! It's not just that, of course, the mystery is intriguing, and the Troubles they come up with are clever. This show will hold me into the fall. Especially since I won't have any time for TV!
I can't say I'm liking Torchwood as much as I have in the past. There's way too little emphasis on Torchwood itself, and too much on the horrors of no one dying. I'm two episodes behind, so I don't know if that changes. I hope so. That's a lot of money for a show we don't like.
So that's pretty much all I've got! What about you? Comments on these things, or other entertainment that's been filling your summer? How was your vacation?
Showing posts with label Vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vacation. Show all posts
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Tuesday, June 08, 2010
Last Day of School
We did not start today off right.
But only, luckily, in the most minor way. You know what's very, very frustrating? Out of 180 school days, the bus arrived late oh, maybe 100 of them. On time about 76 more. Then, suddenly, last Thursday, she's four minutes early. Friday, she was so early we missed it. Yesterday, four minutes early again. Today we had to run for it because she was six freaking minutes early! It takes us less than a minute to get to the bus stop; we thought we had plenty of time. Poor Number Two had to run with her backpack and viola.
We're supposed to be giddy this morning, not grumpy and sweaty.
And thus begins the fifth of my summers "off."
Four years ago, June 8 was the first day of the first summer vacation my kids had ever had. The decade before that, they'd been in day care, which was either preschool or summer camp.
It didn't take them...okay, any of us...long to acclimate. :)
The kids are, of course, excited, even though this summer will likely mean another change. Their father just got a new job that necessitates me also getting a (steady, outside-the-house) job. I'm working on it, and will likely (hopefully!) start working part time in July.
Number Two is the age her sister was when I quit my day job and started working at home. That's kind of poetic, isn't it?
What I'm looking forward to this summer:
1. Not having to get up early every day.
2. Long days, lots of light.
3. No crazy schedules.
4. Salute to Supernatural convention in July.
What I'm not looking forward to:
1. Trying to keep the kids active, especially when I'm not here half the day.
2. Fitting in a day job, my freelance work, activities with the kids, keeping the house decent (though I can put that under "keeping the kids active"), and writing time.
3. Not going on our Cape Cod vacation, which we canceled due to the husband's new job. It was an easy decision, but now lots of my friends have already been to (or are currently at!) the beach, and I'm longing for it.
I know some people have already started their summer vacations, and some have a couple of weeks to go. What's your summer going to be like?
But only, luckily, in the most minor way. You know what's very, very frustrating? Out of 180 school days, the bus arrived late oh, maybe 100 of them. On time about 76 more. Then, suddenly, last Thursday, she's four minutes early. Friday, she was so early we missed it. Yesterday, four minutes early again. Today we had to run for it because she was six freaking minutes early! It takes us less than a minute to get to the bus stop; we thought we had plenty of time. Poor Number Two had to run with her backpack and viola.
We're supposed to be giddy this morning, not grumpy and sweaty.
And thus begins the fifth of my summers "off."
Four years ago, June 8 was the first day of the first summer vacation my kids had ever had. The decade before that, they'd been in day care, which was either preschool or summer camp.
It didn't take them...okay, any of us...long to acclimate. :)
The kids are, of course, excited, even though this summer will likely mean another change. Their father just got a new job that necessitates me also getting a (steady, outside-the-house) job. I'm working on it, and will likely (hopefully!) start working part time in July.
Number Two is the age her sister was when I quit my day job and started working at home. That's kind of poetic, isn't it?
What I'm looking forward to this summer:
1. Not having to get up early every day.
2. Long days, lots of light.
3. No crazy schedules.
4. Salute to Supernatural convention in July.
What I'm not looking forward to:
1. Trying to keep the kids active, especially when I'm not here half the day.
2. Fitting in a day job, my freelance work, activities with the kids, keeping the house decent (though I can put that under "keeping the kids active"), and writing time.
3. Not going on our Cape Cod vacation, which we canceled due to the husband's new job. It was an easy decision, but now lots of my friends have already been to (or are currently at!) the beach, and I'm longing for it.
I know some people have already started their summer vacations, and some have a couple of weeks to go. What's your summer going to be like?
Monday, June 07, 2010
Good Old Days
Number Two mentioned to me yesterday about how long it's been since I blogged. Two weeks! Geez!
I blame the camera. It was never where I wanted it to be. If I was on the laptop upstairs, the camera was downstairs. If I was downstairs, it was up in the kitchen. And everything I wanted to blog about required a picture.
So I finally got my act together, and here it is.
A little anticlimactic, huh? But let me set the scene.
We were at my cousin Joey's. (everyone else calls him Joe, but to me, he's just like the little cousin I grew up with, except taller. Okay, a lot taller, but still. He's Joey.) Anyway, it was me, and my brother, and my cousins, and their mother, and her father, and we're having a lovely time on the back deck, and suddenly, I hear it. Music. But not just any music. Special music.
It was the ice cream truck.
I was the only one, sadly, who got excited by this. Maybe in Massachusetts they still have ice cream trucks every day, but here in lame-o Pennsylvania, we NEVER have them. So we HAD to run after the truck! And we did! This pic is of course the Numbers catching it. I only pretended to run. :) After I snagged my cousin's camera because I'd left mine on the deck.
Yes, the picture I wanted was not even on my camera that was never where I needed it.
So that was our fit of nostalgia. I got ice cream for the girls and for the nephews, popping Spider Man's bubble gum eyes off before handing them over. The bribery didn't really work. I didn't get hugs goodbye that night.
But now that summer vacation is here (as of 10:45 tomorrow morning), I can't help the nostalgia. There is nothing so symbolic of summer as the ice cream truck! We need to start a business here in Central PA.
Who's in?
I blame the camera. It was never where I wanted it to be. If I was on the laptop upstairs, the camera was downstairs. If I was downstairs, it was up in the kitchen. And everything I wanted to blog about required a picture.
So I finally got my act together, and here it is.
A little anticlimactic, huh? But let me set the scene.
We were at my cousin Joey's. (everyone else calls him Joe, but to me, he's just like the little cousin I grew up with, except taller. Okay, a lot taller, but still. He's Joey.) Anyway, it was me, and my brother, and my cousins, and their mother, and her father, and we're having a lovely time on the back deck, and suddenly, I hear it. Music. But not just any music. Special music.
It was the ice cream truck.
I was the only one, sadly, who got excited by this. Maybe in Massachusetts they still have ice cream trucks every day, but here in lame-o Pennsylvania, we NEVER have them. So we HAD to run after the truck! And we did! This pic is of course the Numbers catching it. I only pretended to run. :) After I snagged my cousin's camera because I'd left mine on the deck.
Yes, the picture I wanted was not even on my camera that was never where I needed it.
So that was our fit of nostalgia. I got ice cream for the girls and for the nephews, popping Spider Man's bubble gum eyes off before handing them over. The bribery didn't really work. I didn't get hugs goodbye that night.
But now that summer vacation is here (as of 10:45 tomorrow morning), I can't help the nostalgia. There is nothing so symbolic of summer as the ice cream truck! We need to start a business here in Central PA.
Who's in?
Monday, August 10, 2009
Let Me Be Random
I'm ba-ack! Yay.
So I've traveled a lot this summer. Tennessee for a week, Maryland for a soccer game, DC two days in a row for a booksigning and then professional meetings, New York and back, and then Myrtle Beach. The longer trips put us through West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina. That's a lot of states in 7 weeks.
What I've found really interesting is that gas prices have been essentially the same everywhere I went, even New York City. I've been amazed by that. Of course, I made that observation, then got home and gas here in Podunkville, PA, is 20 cents a gallon higher than it was yesterday in Myrtle Beach, Ultra-Commercial Vacationville. That's, like, opposite how things usually are.
Most of you probably don't pay attention, but if you look, you'll see this post was put up around 2:30 a.m.-ish. I got up this morning, did some chores, and spent several hours working (both household and professional stuff). I didn't do the four most important things on my list before the family talked me into a movie, and I had to do grocery shopping (yes, I live in the freakin' grocery store!!!). Then I made dinner. I came back and did two of the important things, but it was 10:30 and my brain was fogged, so doing the other two important things would be stupid. They need a sharp brain. So I brainstormed with a friend who's writing proposals for her publisher, and started catching up on blog reading. Which I've just completed (almost), and it inspired me to blog.
But now I feel I wasted four hours of what could have been productive time. It wouldn't have been. Revisions and critiques are a lot harder than reading blogs. Especially when I don't comment.
Then I felt guilty, because Jessica/jade_kadir did a meme that said I was one of the three people she talks to most online, and with vacation and busyness that led to late reading, I've been very silent lately. And Gail/un_conscience said no one seemed interested in her SPN recaps, and I totally am, but never commented on them...ref. vacation and busyness and reading several days after the post went up.
But even when I'm not busy, I don't comment much, on any of the blogs I read. Sometimes it's because I tend to read them late at night, like I did tonight, and that generally means tired brain = can't think of pithy comments. Sometimes I don't even need that excuse, I just don't have anything to contribute. But it doesn't mean the people I'm reading are shouting into the wilderness. I'm always entertained and they are always making a connection, even if they don't know it.
I need to become better about telling them.
I saw two movies this weekend. Friday, while J and Number One saw GI Joe, Number Two and I saw Aliens in the Attic. I was pleasantly surprised. It was funny, and decently acted, and far, far better than, say, the Hannah Montana movie. Today Number Two talked Daddy into seeing that with her, and Number One and I went to (500) Days of Summer. I knew it was one of those typically downer-topiced indies, but I've loved Joseph Gordon-Levitt since Third Rock from the Sun and Zooey Deschanel is decent. I found the movie delightful, because it did three things:
1. Used a non-linear timeline to break up the downer stuff with happy stuff.
2. Made the downer stuff funny, even while it was tragic.
3. Ended on a high note.
So definitely worth the price of a ticket.
The downside to taking vacation at the beginning of August is that when you get back, the month is nearly half gone. I know, the math doesn't compute, we were only gone 8 days, but yeah. I have 22 days to my deadline, and must finish the paid critique before then, too, and the schedule is full of soccer and back-to-school stuff, and if I have time to blog at all, it will probably be at 2:42 a.m. every time.
I know. I can see you wincing. Me, too.
So I've traveled a lot this summer. Tennessee for a week, Maryland for a soccer game, DC two days in a row for a booksigning and then professional meetings, New York and back, and then Myrtle Beach. The longer trips put us through West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina. That's a lot of states in 7 weeks.
What I've found really interesting is that gas prices have been essentially the same everywhere I went, even New York City. I've been amazed by that. Of course, I made that observation, then got home and gas here in Podunkville, PA, is 20 cents a gallon higher than it was yesterday in Myrtle Beach, Ultra-Commercial Vacationville. That's, like, opposite how things usually are.
Most of you probably don't pay attention, but if you look, you'll see this post was put up around 2:30 a.m.-ish. I got up this morning, did some chores, and spent several hours working (both household and professional stuff). I didn't do the four most important things on my list before the family talked me into a movie, and I had to do grocery shopping (yes, I live in the freakin' grocery store!!!). Then I made dinner. I came back and did two of the important things, but it was 10:30 and my brain was fogged, so doing the other two important things would be stupid. They need a sharp brain. So I brainstormed with a friend who's writing proposals for her publisher, and started catching up on blog reading. Which I've just completed (almost), and it inspired me to blog.
But now I feel I wasted four hours of what could have been productive time. It wouldn't have been. Revisions and critiques are a lot harder than reading blogs. Especially when I don't comment.
Then I felt guilty, because Jessica/jade_kadir did a meme that said I was one of the three people she talks to most online, and with vacation and busyness that led to late reading, I've been very silent lately. And Gail/un_conscience said no one seemed interested in her SPN recaps, and I totally am, but never commented on them...ref. vacation and busyness and reading several days after the post went up.
But even when I'm not busy, I don't comment much, on any of the blogs I read. Sometimes it's because I tend to read them late at night, like I did tonight, and that generally means tired brain = can't think of pithy comments. Sometimes I don't even need that excuse, I just don't have anything to contribute. But it doesn't mean the people I'm reading are shouting into the wilderness. I'm always entertained and they are always making a connection, even if they don't know it.
I need to become better about telling them.
I saw two movies this weekend. Friday, while J and Number One saw GI Joe, Number Two and I saw Aliens in the Attic. I was pleasantly surprised. It was funny, and decently acted, and far, far better than, say, the Hannah Montana movie. Today Number Two talked Daddy into seeing that with her, and Number One and I went to (500) Days of Summer. I knew it was one of those typically downer-topiced indies, but I've loved Joseph Gordon-Levitt since Third Rock from the Sun and Zooey Deschanel is decent. I found the movie delightful, because it did three things:
1. Used a non-linear timeline to break up the downer stuff with happy stuff.
2. Made the downer stuff funny, even while it was tragic.
3. Ended on a high note.
So definitely worth the price of a ticket.
The downside to taking vacation at the beginning of August is that when you get back, the month is nearly half gone. I know, the math doesn't compute, we were only gone 8 days, but yeah. I have 22 days to my deadline, and must finish the paid critique before then, too, and the schedule is full of soccer and back-to-school stuff, and if I have time to blog at all, it will probably be at 2:42 a.m. every time.
I know. I can see you wincing. Me, too.
Friday, August 07, 2009
Winding Down
The rest of the week has become a blur. We did the beach the last two days, and it didn't storm, but we all did get a little roasted. I keep lamenting my inability to stay at the beach for an entire day, like we always did when we were kids, but MAN, the sun is so much stronger now. I blame Tiffany Amber-Thiessen and her can of hairspray per episode.
I've changed in other ways, too. When we first got here, I kept scoffing at the beach club pool. I mean, we had the whole friggin' ocean at our feet! But then Wednesday, we rinsed off and swam in the pool before driving back to the resort, and that was actually kind of nice. Soothing, after the action of the waves and the stickiness of the salt and graininess of the sand.
One thing that hasn't changed is my preference for northern beaches. When the water temperature is only five degrees cooler than the air, there's nothing refreshing about it. I don't want to take a bath, I want to cool off from the deadly heat and humidity.
Gah. I sound like such a complainer! I'm at the beach. On vacation. And really, I'm loving it. I just spent so much time at the beach when I was a kid, my brain won't stop making comparisons.
Yesterday we did a banana boat ride. O. M. G. My arms ache like crazy. The ad on the website says all you have to do is hold on! HA. That's all. We were waiting by the water, watching the previous group coming in, and they capsized twice. That freaked out Number Two, and I tried to give her an out, but the boat was there and she said it was too late, so we got on, and she fretted the whole time about getting dumped in the ocean, a mile from shore, and I fretted about her fretting. Other than that, it was FUN. We had one near mishap when we tilted a little too far right and Number One, who was in the front and the most difficult position to hold on to (not to mention, facing the spray), nearly got dumped off. She wound up sprawled across the boat on her stomach. The guy running the Jet Ski pulling the boat was very good, though. He stopped immediately so we could right ourselves, and most of the ride, he hit the waves in the easiest possible way to stay on.
So we're aiming in to shore. I'd told Number Two we wouldn't capsize. Then we're almost there, and a wave tilts us, and Number One tilts left, and so do I, and then she overcompensates and flips us all off to the right. I kicked J pretty hard--couln't help it, he fell on top of me--but thought it was Number Two. I'm searching frantically for her, say, "Where is she?!" to J, and he chuckles.
"She's on the boat."
She was the only one who didn't fall off!
So that was quite an adventure. After hiking in the Myrtle Beach State Park in the morning, doing the boat ride, and battling the choppiest surf yet for a little while, we were pretty beat.
And Number Two STILL wanted to go to the pool last night! She's lucky she has such a game Daddy. Lame-o Mommy would have just sat poolside and read (which I did) and made her swim on her own.
I like dunking in the pool and cooling off (or whatever), but I'm not much into swimming in the pool for very long. The exception is the lazy river, which seems to be all the rage now. They have them everywhere we go. It's totally aimless floating, but since you're going somewhere, it feels like a purpose? I don't know. I just like it. And after Number Two got scolded for floating under her innertube, the guy telling her she was going to get her feet tore up, I had an idea. And guess what? The bottom of a lazy river is an AWESOME exfoliator for heel calluses.
Today's our last day, and we're all sad. We'll do the beach one more time (with the accompanying two more loads of laundry) and Number One talked J into taking her to see GI Joe, so I get to take Number Two to see Aliens in the Attic (yay). We also might go get a picture taken with baby tigers and apes. That one's up in the air.
Then it's the long drive back tomorrow. I won't sigh. Saving up all our points for two years (plus borrowing from next year) allowed us to have two vacations this summer, and I know a lot of people don't even get to do one. We're lucky.
Still...I've got doctor's appointments and soccer practices and meetings and a looming deadline waiting for me when I get home, and I'm just not ready to face that yet.
I've changed in other ways, too. When we first got here, I kept scoffing at the beach club pool. I mean, we had the whole friggin' ocean at our feet! But then Wednesday, we rinsed off and swam in the pool before driving back to the resort, and that was actually kind of nice. Soothing, after the action of the waves and the stickiness of the salt and graininess of the sand.
One thing that hasn't changed is my preference for northern beaches. When the water temperature is only five degrees cooler than the air, there's nothing refreshing about it. I don't want to take a bath, I want to cool off from the deadly heat and humidity.
Gah. I sound like such a complainer! I'm at the beach. On vacation. And really, I'm loving it. I just spent so much time at the beach when I was a kid, my brain won't stop making comparisons.
Yesterday we did a banana boat ride. O. M. G. My arms ache like crazy. The ad on the website says all you have to do is hold on! HA. That's all. We were waiting by the water, watching the previous group coming in, and they capsized twice. That freaked out Number Two, and I tried to give her an out, but the boat was there and she said it was too late, so we got on, and she fretted the whole time about getting dumped in the ocean, a mile from shore, and I fretted about her fretting. Other than that, it was FUN. We had one near mishap when we tilted a little too far right and Number One, who was in the front and the most difficult position to hold on to (not to mention, facing the spray), nearly got dumped off. She wound up sprawled across the boat on her stomach. The guy running the Jet Ski pulling the boat was very good, though. He stopped immediately so we could right ourselves, and most of the ride, he hit the waves in the easiest possible way to stay on.
So we're aiming in to shore. I'd told Number Two we wouldn't capsize. Then we're almost there, and a wave tilts us, and Number One tilts left, and so do I, and then she overcompensates and flips us all off to the right. I kicked J pretty hard--couln't help it, he fell on top of me--but thought it was Number Two. I'm searching frantically for her, say, "Where is she?!" to J, and he chuckles.
"She's on the boat."
She was the only one who didn't fall off!
So that was quite an adventure. After hiking in the Myrtle Beach State Park in the morning, doing the boat ride, and battling the choppiest surf yet for a little while, we were pretty beat.
And Number Two STILL wanted to go to the pool last night! She's lucky she has such a game Daddy. Lame-o Mommy would have just sat poolside and read (which I did) and made her swim on her own.
I like dunking in the pool and cooling off (or whatever), but I'm not much into swimming in the pool for very long. The exception is the lazy river, which seems to be all the rage now. They have them everywhere we go. It's totally aimless floating, but since you're going somewhere, it feels like a purpose? I don't know. I just like it. And after Number Two got scolded for floating under her innertube, the guy telling her she was going to get her feet tore up, I had an idea. And guess what? The bottom of a lazy river is an AWESOME exfoliator for heel calluses.
Today's our last day, and we're all sad. We'll do the beach one more time (with the accompanying two more loads of laundry) and Number One talked J into taking her to see GI Joe, so I get to take Number Two to see Aliens in the Attic (yay). We also might go get a picture taken with baby tigers and apes. That one's up in the air.
Then it's the long drive back tomorrow. I won't sigh. Saving up all our points for two years (plus borrowing from next year) allowed us to have two vacations this summer, and I know a lot of people don't even get to do one. We're lucky.
Still...I've got doctor's appointments and soccer practices and meetings and a looming deadline waiting for me when I get home, and I'm just not ready to face that yet.
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Deja Vacation
Day 1: 13.5 hours of driving instead of the 9 it should be, mainly because of congested traffic. J is a trouper, for sure, for doing most of the driving.
Day 2: Got about an hour and a half at the beach before it started to storm. The beach club that gives us access to the beach had water damage so the lockers, showers, changing rooms, and snack bar are all closed. No one bothered to tell us, even when we called the front desk about using the beach club.
Spent most of the day running all over town trying to find a second bathing suit for Number One (found one, as well as replacements for my broken flip-flops). Did grocery shopping (twice), three loads of laundry and the dishes.
This is vacation?
~~~~~~~
Didn't get a chance to post...
Day 3: Repeat of day 2--just under two hours at the beach, rain started. Didn't storm as badly, but we didn't go out again. Except, oh, wait, to the grocery store. *sigh* We did get to Rioz for dinner--awesome Brazilian steakhouse--and then played mini golf and swam in the pool.
Day 4: Lazy day, letting injuries heal (not me this time!) and taking a break from the beach. Of course, it didn't rain. *sigh* Went to Magiquest, the fastest hour and a half in history, and narrowly defeated Number Two at a duel. Then we went in search of a bookstore and spent lots of money on books! Best part of the vacation so far! LOL
Now the kids are all over me to go pick up Sonic for dinner. We don't have Sonic at home, so it's a treat. A cheap one, luckily, since Rioz cost us two bills. Ouch.
Luckily, the beach is free. Hey, honey, how's your leg...?
Day 2: Got about an hour and a half at the beach before it started to storm. The beach club that gives us access to the beach had water damage so the lockers, showers, changing rooms, and snack bar are all closed. No one bothered to tell us, even when we called the front desk about using the beach club.
Spent most of the day running all over town trying to find a second bathing suit for Number One (found one, as well as replacements for my broken flip-flops). Did grocery shopping (twice), three loads of laundry and the dishes.
This is vacation?
~~~~~~~
Didn't get a chance to post...
Day 3: Repeat of day 2--just under two hours at the beach, rain started. Didn't storm as badly, but we didn't go out again. Except, oh, wait, to the grocery store. *sigh* We did get to Rioz for dinner--awesome Brazilian steakhouse--and then played mini golf and swam in the pool.
Day 4: Lazy day, letting injuries heal (not me this time!) and taking a break from the beach. Of course, it didn't rain. *sigh* Went to Magiquest, the fastest hour and a half in history, and narrowly defeated Number Two at a duel. Then we went in search of a bookstore and spent lots of money on books! Best part of the vacation so far! LOL
Now the kids are all over me to go pick up Sonic for dinner. We don't have Sonic at home, so it's a treat. A cheap one, luckily, since Rioz cost us two bills. Ouch.
Luckily, the beach is free. Hey, honey, how's your leg...?
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Five Things Make a Post
CE Murphy is always saying that on her blog, and I keep thinking of little things to post, and that sounded more interesting to put in the subject line than something generically random.
1. I have a vacation story I forgot to tell. It's not that unique, but still amazing. We were down in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, near the Great Smoky Mountains, right on the edge of the national park, and nearly 600 miles from home.
So on Wednesday night of last week, I was walking back to our cabin from the pool. There's a couple sitting on the porch of the cabin next to ours, and the guy calls out to me. A few questions about our hot tub, our grill, etc. I, cold and wet and anti-social, kept trying to escape into the cabin, but he kept calling out to me. Finally, he asked where we're from.
Me: "Pennsylvania."
Him: "Us, too!" Before I can ask, he adds, "Harrisburg area!"
Okay, that's freaky, so I stop and actually give him my attention. "So are we!"
Together: "Mechanicsburg!"
Turns out, they live literally about a block away from us. Their street is behind our house, on the other side of the parallel street. He had his granddaughters with him, and Number One had come outside when she heard me yelling across, so he asked how old my girls were. Turns out...his younger granddaughter and Number One hang out in the mornings before school.
I apologized to him for being so rude. I told him if I was never going to see him again I wouldn't care, but since I could run into him at the grocery store... He didn't really listen, so I don't think he even noticed my rudeness.
2. I'm going to say something I never thought I'd say. In fact, some of you may think this isn't me, that my blog's been hijacked.
Scratch that. Very few of you will have any idea what I'm talking about. Where's Kim W. when I need her?! Oh, well, I'll say it anyway.
Terrell Owens has earned my respect.
I know. Totally O.o and :o and whatever the emoticon is for "are you out of your freakin' mind?"
You may know I really, REALLY don't like reality TV. I don't watch any, and never have. But on vacation, the kids wanted to watch Super Stars, and I was reading in the same room (family togetherness, 24/7) and got...well, hooked. It's going to be a regular Tuesday-night family date now.
The premise of the show is that a celebrity gets paired with an athlete. The kids wanted to watch because their favorite dancer from DWTS, Maks, is one of the celebrities. And it's a really fun show, with fun personalities. All except one. And no, that one is not Terrell Owens.
T.O. is the most loudmouthed, obnoxious member of the NFL. He is arrogant, disruptive to every team he is on...and, unfortunately, talented enough to make them tolerate it. But on Super Stars, he's met his match.
His partner is some supermodel I've never heard of. She spends all her time pooching her lips and smoothing her hair off her face. She wore goggles in one of the events--the only person who did--so she wouldn't mess up her eye makeup. And she continuously harangued her partner.
EVERY other team was supportive of each other, no matter how poorly they did, and even of other teams. By last night's show, the second round of competition, there was true camaraderie among everyone--except her. She is so friggin' SNOTTY. They got eliminated in the first round, but due to injury were brought back. No matter how poorly she does, everything is T.O.'s fault. She drops non-stop F-bombs, says "you call yourself an athlete?" and "you're not worth the millions they pay you" and so on. She's HATEFUL.
And here's why I respect T.O. He's totally the kind of guy who can give as good as he gets. But it wasn't that kind of environment, and he NEVER said anything back to her. He tried, very hard, to be a good sport, to cheer her on, to be a team player. He took her crap and refrained from whacking her upside the head, which I, a non-violent person most of the time, felt was completely justified. The worst he did was say, "I feel sorry for your boyfriend" as they walked away and he probably thought they were off camera.
Good for you, T.O. Impressive stuff.
~~~~~~~~~~
Okay, well, 5 things can't make a post when you're this long-winded. Plus, I can't remember what else I was going to post about. Hope I wasn't too boring--I promise, tomorrow I'll be shorter and more interesting. I think.
1. I have a vacation story I forgot to tell. It's not that unique, but still amazing. We were down in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, near the Great Smoky Mountains, right on the edge of the national park, and nearly 600 miles from home.
So on Wednesday night of last week, I was walking back to our cabin from the pool. There's a couple sitting on the porch of the cabin next to ours, and the guy calls out to me. A few questions about our hot tub, our grill, etc. I, cold and wet and anti-social, kept trying to escape into the cabin, but he kept calling out to me. Finally, he asked where we're from.
Me: "Pennsylvania."
Him: "Us, too!" Before I can ask, he adds, "Harrisburg area!"
Okay, that's freaky, so I stop and actually give him my attention. "So are we!"
Together: "Mechanicsburg!"
Turns out, they live literally about a block away from us. Their street is behind our house, on the other side of the parallel street. He had his granddaughters with him, and Number One had come outside when she heard me yelling across, so he asked how old my girls were. Turns out...his younger granddaughter and Number One hang out in the mornings before school.
I apologized to him for being so rude. I told him if I was never going to see him again I wouldn't care, but since I could run into him at the grocery store... He didn't really listen, so I don't think he even noticed my rudeness.
2. I'm going to say something I never thought I'd say. In fact, some of you may think this isn't me, that my blog's been hijacked.
Scratch that. Very few of you will have any idea what I'm talking about. Where's Kim W. when I need her?! Oh, well, I'll say it anyway.
Terrell Owens has earned my respect.
I know. Totally O.o and :o and whatever the emoticon is for "are you out of your freakin' mind?"
You may know I really, REALLY don't like reality TV. I don't watch any, and never have. But on vacation, the kids wanted to watch Super Stars, and I was reading in the same room (family togetherness, 24/7) and got...well, hooked. It's going to be a regular Tuesday-night family date now.
The premise of the show is that a celebrity gets paired with an athlete. The kids wanted to watch because their favorite dancer from DWTS, Maks, is one of the celebrities. And it's a really fun show, with fun personalities. All except one. And no, that one is not Terrell Owens.
T.O. is the most loudmouthed, obnoxious member of the NFL. He is arrogant, disruptive to every team he is on...and, unfortunately, talented enough to make them tolerate it. But on Super Stars, he's met his match.
His partner is some supermodel I've never heard of. She spends all her time pooching her lips and smoothing her hair off her face. She wore goggles in one of the events--the only person who did--so she wouldn't mess up her eye makeup. And she continuously harangued her partner.
EVERY other team was supportive of each other, no matter how poorly they did, and even of other teams. By last night's show, the second round of competition, there was true camaraderie among everyone--except her. She is so friggin' SNOTTY. They got eliminated in the first round, but due to injury were brought back. No matter how poorly she does, everything is T.O.'s fault. She drops non-stop F-bombs, says "you call yourself an athlete?" and "you're not worth the millions they pay you" and so on. She's HATEFUL.
And here's why I respect T.O. He's totally the kind of guy who can give as good as he gets. But it wasn't that kind of environment, and he NEVER said anything back to her. He tried, very hard, to be a good sport, to cheer her on, to be a team player. He took her crap and refrained from whacking her upside the head, which I, a non-violent person most of the time, felt was completely justified. The worst he did was say, "I feel sorry for your boyfriend" as they walked away and he probably thought they were off camera.
Good for you, T.O. Impressive stuff.
~~~~~~~~~~
Okay, well, 5 things can't make a post when you're this long-winded. Plus, I can't remember what else I was going to post about. Hope I wasn't too boring--I promise, tomorrow I'll be shorter and more interesting. I think.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Summer Excitement
I'm back from vacation! I fully intended to post while I was away, but barely had time to keep up with my e-mail. We had a lot of fun. White-water rafting, obviously, though class 2 rapids aren't exactly "white." Number Two begged us to go to the upper river later in the week, which had class 3 and 4 rapids, and we said maybe next time. My friend Jody Wallace came to see us, with her adorable children, and we spent a great day at the pool, evening at Dixie Stampede, and breakfast at Mama's Table or whatever it was called. In between we walked all over Gatlinburg, toured Cades Cove (and caught ONE five-second glimpse of a bear, despite the warnings everywhere of how active they've been), and played mini golf. Number Two's influence again. She's a fanatic.
As promised, here's what my knee looked like a few minutes after it happened:
I thought the pattern was pretty. The damned thing still hurts, because the skin gets pulled with every step I take, and there's no comfortable position for it when I'm not moving.
My inattentiveness didn't stop there. Thursday or Friday, I'm not sure when, I ran over my middle toe on my right foot with the bathroom door. I did some kind of damage, not sure what--nail bed, probably--because even though the toe itself doesn't hurt anymore, I can't wear a sock. I know. Weird, right? I put on my socks to go work out yesterday morning and the pressure of the sock on the toenail was too intense. I don't think Planet Fitness allows flip-flops on the treadmill. So no workouts this week.
Let's see, what else...oh. Yeah. Stupid animals have FILTHED up my house! I don't know, I think they had a party. How else could there be so much dirt and fur scattered so far and wide? We had a family obligation on Sunday, and yesterday I caught up with the checkbook and e-mail and grocery shopping and stuff, so today's been cleaning. I'm getting there, but I had something going on that kept me tethered to the computer. I kept forcing myself to go vacuum...then come back and check e-mail...then go scrub the bathroom...check e-mail...find reasons to stay at my desk--hey, I need to blog! LOL It's over for now, so I'm off to finish de-furring my floors.
I just wish it lasted for more than five minutes. :(
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Smokin' Day One
First day of vacation in the Great Smoky Mountains!
Yesterday was 10 hours of travel, and though we started out in a torrential downpour, the drive was mostly really good.
Shoney's is the most ubiquitous restaurant in the world, and I get queasy thinking about eating there again. The food was fine (except for Number One's steak--J said "never order steak in a place like this!) but the faucet in the bathroom was so corroded there was a hole in it. For some reason, that really grosses me out.
Tennessee is beautiful. A lot of the time I can't tell we're not in Pennsylvania, but then the land opens up and it's a little more rolling, and of course the mountains are grander. I can't believe all the trailers/mobile homes here. Most of them are situated on huge tracts of land. Odd.
Today we woke around 6 to thunderous storms. They moved on after a while, and the weather was good enough to hike the Laurel Falls trail in the park. It was excellent. Just enough of a hike for us out-of-shape adults, with natural A/C at the falls themselves to cool us after the uphill climb.
On the way down, I hit a patch of...well, patching on the paved trail, and my food skidded out from under me and I landed hard on my knee.
Twice.
J tells me "slow down, small steps!" I told him I'm not 5. After I realized the patches and my right sneaker didn't get along, I was fine. I took a cool picture I'll post when we get home, since I failed to bring the camera cable.
It rained hard again on the way back to our sweet cabin (I think this place is bigger than my house), but when it stopped we went swimming. Then I drove the one-hour round trip to town to get pizza for dinner.
Yeah, that's a bit of a lament, that we're so far out of Gatlinburg. It's not really a full half hour to get to town or a park entrance, but it's not close, either.
Tomorrow we're tackling white water rafting, and then I think I need to do laundry already. (We had to pack light due to reduced trunk space in the hybrid--but it's worth it to get 37+ mpg!) I'll give an injury report afterward. :)
Yesterday was 10 hours of travel, and though we started out in a torrential downpour, the drive was mostly really good.
Shoney's is the most ubiquitous restaurant in the world, and I get queasy thinking about eating there again. The food was fine (except for Number One's steak--J said "never order steak in a place like this!) but the faucet in the bathroom was so corroded there was a hole in it. For some reason, that really grosses me out.
Tennessee is beautiful. A lot of the time I can't tell we're not in Pennsylvania, but then the land opens up and it's a little more rolling, and of course the mountains are grander. I can't believe all the trailers/mobile homes here. Most of them are situated on huge tracts of land. Odd.
Today we woke around 6 to thunderous storms. They moved on after a while, and the weather was good enough to hike the Laurel Falls trail in the park. It was excellent. Just enough of a hike for us out-of-shape adults, with natural A/C at the falls themselves to cool us after the uphill climb.
On the way down, I hit a patch of...well, patching on the paved trail, and my food skidded out from under me and I landed hard on my knee.
Twice.
J tells me "slow down, small steps!" I told him I'm not 5. After I realized the patches and my right sneaker didn't get along, I was fine. I took a cool picture I'll post when we get home, since I failed to bring the camera cable.
It rained hard again on the way back to our sweet cabin (I think this place is bigger than my house), but when it stopped we went swimming. Then I drove the one-hour round trip to town to get pizza for dinner.
Yeah, that's a bit of a lament, that we're so far out of Gatlinburg. It's not really a full half hour to get to town or a park entrance, but it's not close, either.
Tomorrow we're tackling white water rafting, and then I think I need to do laundry already. (We had to pack light due to reduced trunk space in the hybrid--but it's worth it to get 37+ mpg!) I'll give an injury report afterward. :)
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Wrap-Up
Today is the last day of summer vacation--not the last day of summer, of course, that's nearly a month away, thank goodness. And it's not the start of "fall activities" in general because we've been doing soccer in one capacity or another all summer.
But it is the first day of school. So today is The End.
~~~~~~~~~
I was going to post about dining on vacation, but instead of doing a whole separate post, I'll just mention it here. It can really be summed up in one sentence:
We spent about twice as much on food as on attractions.
We stay in time share, so we have a full kitchen, but we weren't really inclined to either shop or cook much. Probably partly affected by our late-Sunday trip to Wal Mart for frozen stuff to make for arrival-night dinner. I have NEVER seen a Wal Mart so packed. Out of 24 or so check-outs, they had less than a dozen in service, and the lines snaked through the racks of T-shirts and artfully arranged produce. We managed to grab a line with only three people ahead of us, but they were either non-English speakers or taking advantage of their ESL appearance to have 60+ items in their carts in a 20-item line. Very annoying.
Most of our dining out was pretty mundane, even when it was very good. One stood out. Rioz is a new Brazilian steakhouse. They have fixed price dining with huge salad bar containing not only regular salad and prepared salads but all kinds of cheeses, hot and cold seafood dishes, and sushi. Each table gets cheddar mashed potatoes, polenta, and cinnamon bananas. The meat course is delivered by gauchos carrying over a dozen cuts and preparations of beef, pork, chicken, and lamb. If you want them to offer it, you have a paperboard disk that's green on one side. If you have enough and want them to leave you alone for a while, you flip it to the red side. They also make an awesome drink, Caipirinha, at table-side. And they have an incredible dessert cart. We spent over $50 more there than any other restaurant, even though they ended up not charging for one of the kids. But it was well worth it.
~~~~~~~~~
Yesterday Number One's soccer team participated in the first tournament of the year. They did well enough in the seeding round to put us at 3rd seed in the bottom bracket, which is a good place to be. They played the 6th seed and won 1-0, though the game was delayed twice and called early due to storms.
Yesterday the weather was horrible. Nearly 100 degrees, very still, humid air. Once the storm hit, it dropped to 72 in about a minute and a half. I do not exaggerate. Unfortunately, it stormed all night down there in Gettysburg, flooding the fields so that they canceled today's games. Which was ironic, as the weather was simply gorgeous today--80 with low humidity and a nice breeze.
Oh, well. At least we didn't have to get up at 6:00 this morning.
~~~~~~~~~
I had, like, six other things I wanted to blog about. How many times do I have to forgot blog topics and book ideas and scene development and charactization elements before I learn to write stuff down?
I need a holster. With a pen and pad. Seriously.
~~~~~~~~~
Okay, I'll end you all breathing a sigh of relief that this wrap-up is so short and simply say, to those of you who are also facing a new school year and new freedom tomorrow...
Good Luck and Congratulations!
But it is the first day of school. So today is The End.
~~~~~~~~~
I was going to post about dining on vacation, but instead of doing a whole separate post, I'll just mention it here. It can really be summed up in one sentence:
We spent about twice as much on food as on attractions.
We stay in time share, so we have a full kitchen, but we weren't really inclined to either shop or cook much. Probably partly affected by our late-Sunday trip to Wal Mart for frozen stuff to make for arrival-night dinner. I have NEVER seen a Wal Mart so packed. Out of 24 or so check-outs, they had less than a dozen in service, and the lines snaked through the racks of T-shirts and artfully arranged produce. We managed to grab a line with only three people ahead of us, but they were either non-English speakers or taking advantage of their ESL appearance to have 60+ items in their carts in a 20-item line. Very annoying.
Most of our dining out was pretty mundane, even when it was very good. One stood out. Rioz is a new Brazilian steakhouse. They have fixed price dining with huge salad bar containing not only regular salad and prepared salads but all kinds of cheeses, hot and cold seafood dishes, and sushi. Each table gets cheddar mashed potatoes, polenta, and cinnamon bananas. The meat course is delivered by gauchos carrying over a dozen cuts and preparations of beef, pork, chicken, and lamb. If you want them to offer it, you have a paperboard disk that's green on one side. If you have enough and want them to leave you alone for a while, you flip it to the red side. They also make an awesome drink, Caipirinha, at table-side. And they have an incredible dessert cart. We spent over $50 more there than any other restaurant, even though they ended up not charging for one of the kids. But it was well worth it.
~~~~~~~~~
Yesterday Number One's soccer team participated in the first tournament of the year. They did well enough in the seeding round to put us at 3rd seed in the bottom bracket, which is a good place to be. They played the 6th seed and won 1-0, though the game was delayed twice and called early due to storms.
Yesterday the weather was horrible. Nearly 100 degrees, very still, humid air. Once the storm hit, it dropped to 72 in about a minute and a half. I do not exaggerate. Unfortunately, it stormed all night down there in Gettysburg, flooding the fields so that they canceled today's games. Which was ironic, as the weather was simply gorgeous today--80 with low humidity and a nice breeze.
Oh, well. At least we didn't have to get up at 6:00 this morning.
~~~~~~~~~
I had, like, six other things I wanted to blog about. How many times do I have to forgot blog topics and book ideas and scene development and charactization elements before I learn to write stuff down?
I need a holster. With a pen and pad. Seriously.
~~~~~~~~~
Okay, I'll end you all breathing a sigh of relief that this wrap-up is so short and simply say, to those of you who are also facing a new school year and new freedom tomorrow...
Good Luck and Congratulations!
Thursday, August 23, 2007
AT the Beach, Not ON the Beach
Apparently the major attraction area at Myrtle Beach is Broadway at the Beach. My husband noted that it isn't anywhere near the beach. I pointed out they don't say Broadway ON the Beach. In fact, in a commercial town like that, if you're not standing on the sand a few feet from the waves, you can hardly tell you're anywhere near the ocean.
Anyway.
BATB is pretty much a big black hole that you just toss money into. Hundred-dollar bills, if you please. But they do manage to give you a little bit of fun while you're doing it.
Within BATB we went to the movies, spent a day in the water park, did MagiQuest, and explored Ripley's Aquarium.
The cinema was the nicest one I've been to since Showcase in West Springfield, MA (that one had a full dinner menu in the food court!). The Carmike has really soft velour seats and uses Christie projectors, which are amazingly clear. We don't have those here in Where The Hell Is That, Pennsylvania.
The water park was okay. The few cool rides were overwhelmed by the hour-long lines. The wave pool is always good, but the lazy river was booorrrring and the whole place needed updating. There's another, better-sounding water park in MB, but we got free tickets to this one for listening to a pitch from the South Beach Resort. And since we bought a unit there, we get free tickets every year.
Ripley's Aquarium was cool, your typical aquarium. I liked the dangerous reef, which we toured on a moving walkway that wound around through tunnels in the tank. The sharks and rays swam over us, which was cool. But my favorite thing was this:
There was only one in the tank, with a bunch of weedy seadragons (not as leafy), but I could have watched it all day.
Probably the most fun thing we did at BATB was MagiQuest. Our ownership got us a 40% discount there (it pays to buy time share from the company that owns 71% of the town!). You buy a wand that is computerized. When you point it at stuff, it communicates with it. Opens chests and gives you gold. Collects items virtually. You go on quests to collect certain runes that enable you to have adventures (which are like expanded quests). There's a castle with a dungeon and a crypt, a treehouse, and various magical beings to visit (on screens). We ended up going twice, and I think if it didn't make our feet so tired, the kids and I could have gone again. The wants will retain their info for the next time, so we can finish the last quest we didn't quite make in time.
Outside BATB, we did mini golf twice. MB is considered the (or at least A) mini-golf capital of the world. These places are elaborate! We did one that had two courses, one around a lake, one in caves (we chose the caves on that 95+-degree day!) and one that was a pirate theme, with special effects making it seem like pirates were firing on us, cannon fire hitting the water near us.
The best thing we did on the whole trip though was a boat trip with Hurricane Fleet. It starts and ends with a leisurely cruise through part of the intracoastal waterway. When we got out to open ocean, it was very windy and the swells were five to six feet, which meant lots of up and down as we went out. We loved it! Usually the boat follows a working shrimp boat and explains what they are doing, but the only one nearby had its nets raised. We spent our ocean time chasing a pod of seven dolphins, which were moving around quite a big in the choppy surf. That was very cool. Then the guide dumped a pail of stuff that gets caught in the shrimp nets out to show the kids. We saw sand dollars, squid, jellyfish, and more (I started to feel sick from the exhaust since we were facing leeward at that point so I didn't see everything he had).
We spent twice as much on dining as we did on attractions. I'll talk about how much was worth it next time. :)
Anyway.
BATB is pretty much a big black hole that you just toss money into. Hundred-dollar bills, if you please. But they do manage to give you a little bit of fun while you're doing it.
Within BATB we went to the movies, spent a day in the water park, did MagiQuest, and explored Ripley's Aquarium.
The cinema was the nicest one I've been to since Showcase in West Springfield, MA (that one had a full dinner menu in the food court!). The Carmike has really soft velour seats and uses Christie projectors, which are amazingly clear. We don't have those here in Where The Hell Is That, Pennsylvania.
The water park was okay. The few cool rides were overwhelmed by the hour-long lines. The wave pool is always good, but the lazy river was booorrrring and the whole place needed updating. There's another, better-sounding water park in MB, but we got free tickets to this one for listening to a pitch from the South Beach Resort. And since we bought a unit there, we get free tickets every year.
Ripley's Aquarium was cool, your typical aquarium. I liked the dangerous reef, which we toured on a moving walkway that wound around through tunnels in the tank. The sharks and rays swam over us, which was cool. But my favorite thing was this:
There was only one in the tank, with a bunch of weedy seadragons (not as leafy), but I could have watched it all day.
Probably the most fun thing we did at BATB was MagiQuest. Our ownership got us a 40% discount there (it pays to buy time share from the company that owns 71% of the town!). You buy a wand that is computerized. When you point it at stuff, it communicates with it. Opens chests and gives you gold. Collects items virtually. You go on quests to collect certain runes that enable you to have adventures (which are like expanded quests). There's a castle with a dungeon and a crypt, a treehouse, and various magical beings to visit (on screens). We ended up going twice, and I think if it didn't make our feet so tired, the kids and I could have gone again. The wants will retain their info for the next time, so we can finish the last quest we didn't quite make in time.
Outside BATB, we did mini golf twice. MB is considered the (or at least A) mini-golf capital of the world. These places are elaborate! We did one that had two courses, one around a lake, one in caves (we chose the caves on that 95+-degree day!) and one that was a pirate theme, with special effects making it seem like pirates were firing on us, cannon fire hitting the water near us.
The best thing we did on the whole trip though was a boat trip with Hurricane Fleet. It starts and ends with a leisurely cruise through part of the intracoastal waterway. When we got out to open ocean, it was very windy and the swells were five to six feet, which meant lots of up and down as we went out. We loved it! Usually the boat follows a working shrimp boat and explains what they are doing, but the only one nearby had its nets raised. We spent our ocean time chasing a pod of seven dolphins, which were moving around quite a big in the choppy surf. That was very cool. Then the guide dumped a pail of stuff that gets caught in the shrimp nets out to show the kids. We saw sand dollars, squid, jellyfish, and more (I started to feel sick from the exhaust since we were facing leeward at that point so I didn't see everything he had).
We spent twice as much on dining as we did on attractions. I'll talk about how much was worth it next time. :)
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Beachy
I grew up at the beach. Well, not as literally as I would have liked, but I come from a long line of beachgoers. We frequented Cape Cod and the Connecticut beaches, but the majority of our day trips and week-long vacations were taken at Misquamicut, Rhode Island. I spent the summer after my freshman year working at a concession stand on the beach on Long Island Sound.
When we went on day trips to the beach, it was a total event. We brought coolers of fried chicken and fruit and drinks. We'd get there really early to stake out our place on the state beach, and try to pick a spot close enough to the water so my mother could watch us, while far enough away that at high tide in the late afternoon we wouldn't get flooded. We often missed the target. :) We'd stay on the beach until the sun started to drop, then shower and change in the giant bath house and go to Paddy's Wigwam for dinner.
I am never as still as I can be on the beach. Not just lying on my towel, burning my back and the backs of my legs six shades darker than my front while I read for hours. But sometimes, just standing, feeling the rhythm of the surf and the wind and allowing it to calm my center.
Our beach vacation last week? Was nothing like that.
Not all of the differences were negative--in fact, most of them weren't. The world is different now. I worried about the damage to my kids (not to mention my own potential sunburn) with the thinner ozone layer, so we didn't spend days at a time on the beach. We went three times, always late in the day, and only for a couple of hours. The beaches were amazingly EMPTY. Seriously! Totally empty. Part of that was because the local schools were already back in session, but where the heck were all the tourists? (In Broadway at the Beach, apparently, but that's another post.) I liked that--I am so not into crowds.
The sand was very soft, and the free parking just over the dunes was nice. The shell collection was stellar, though I ended up with only three tiny, perfect specimens. The water was clear. But MAN, was it warm! I'm sorry, there is something seriously wrong with that. Sure, it's painful to walk into icy water in June up North. But when it's 98 degrees, it's also refreshing. None of the water I put my body into last week was in any way refreshing. Not that South Carolina has any control over that, of course.
We spent all our beach time in the water, which was the best part. I love bodysurfing, but let me tell you, the mojo of my youth is gone. When I was a kid, as far as I knew, boogie boards didn't exist. You crouched in the water, timed it, put your head down, and rode those babies into the sand. I think my memory is slightly faulty about how good at it I was, but I'm definitely worse now.
Part of it was the surf. High winds most of the week, plus really strong cross currents (the waves were at a 45- to 90-degree angle with the shore), made the waves very choppy. They crested in all the wrong places. But my kids, who haven't had much (if any) experience at this, took two minutes of my instructions and became experts. The little one, especially, had excellent timing to catch the waves. Using a boogie board makes it easier, of course, but I wasn't getting anywhere with those, either. I decided the vast different in my weight between then and now was the reason I couldn't race in to shore.
Until my husband soared past me. Jerk.
Despite my failure to ride much, we had a lot of fun. The first time we went, the surf was SO choppy you couldn't stand in one place at any point in the water. It was constantly pulling us in every direction. Good exercise, but worrisome for a mother. I wondered how my mother ever bore it, watching us swim from way up on the shore. I stayed within five feet of my kids at all times. A storm rolled in as we were getting ready to leave, so it cut that visit short. The Thursday visit was nearly the same, though maybe slightly tamer water. Saturday, everything had completely reversed. The surf was still choppy, but now heading the other way down the beach, and the wind was in the opposite direction, too.
The worst part was that after 36 summers of swimming in the ocean, sometimes with a jellyfish every two feet, and never in my life being stung...this time I got stung, with nary a jelly in sight. Okay, they're clear. Of course I couldn't see them. And it's possible that's not what it was. But I don't know what else it could have been. At first I thought the cable on my board had rubbed my thigh, but when I brushed it with my hand it hurt there, too, and then on my opposite knee. I was pretty pissed. Speaking of which, luckily, the pain was minor and subsided quickly, so no, no one peed on me. I rubbed sand on it and went back in the water and eventually all the sensation went away. On the last day Number One got stung on her hand, bad enough to get welts, but it faded as quickly for her, too.
And finally, my last comment, about the lessons of our childhood. After so many years of being told The Rules, it was easy to impart them to my kids. How to use care and good judgment in inherently dangerous water. How to stay aware of the people around them when boogie boarding. How deep they were allowed to go, both in wave and in trough.
But the really funny rule was the one about watching where our stuff was on the beach, and keeping oriented to it. All my life I've swum with one eye on the striped umbrella next to our blanket, or whatever bright thing I was able to see with my extreme nearsightedness (oh, that's something that was different, too, in a good way--I had disposable contacts this time!). So I taught my kids, especially with the very strong longshore current, to keep an eye on our chair and move back so we were always in front of it.
Except unlike when I was a kid, all four of us were always in the water. My mother usually kept an eye on us from shore, so it was important we stay where she could see us. But last week, we were always together so it didn't MATTER that we were a quarter mile away from our stuff. Even once I realized that, though, I still kept checking for it, and making everyone move back up the beach. It was far too ingrained of a Rule to defy. :)
So, tomorrow (which is really today already) I'll talk about what we did all week that kept us away from the beach.
When we went on day trips to the beach, it was a total event. We brought coolers of fried chicken and fruit and drinks. We'd get there really early to stake out our place on the state beach, and try to pick a spot close enough to the water so my mother could watch us, while far enough away that at high tide in the late afternoon we wouldn't get flooded. We often missed the target. :) We'd stay on the beach until the sun started to drop, then shower and change in the giant bath house and go to Paddy's Wigwam for dinner.
I am never as still as I can be on the beach. Not just lying on my towel, burning my back and the backs of my legs six shades darker than my front while I read for hours. But sometimes, just standing, feeling the rhythm of the surf and the wind and allowing it to calm my center.
Our beach vacation last week? Was nothing like that.
Not all of the differences were negative--in fact, most of them weren't. The world is different now. I worried about the damage to my kids (not to mention my own potential sunburn) with the thinner ozone layer, so we didn't spend days at a time on the beach. We went three times, always late in the day, and only for a couple of hours. The beaches were amazingly EMPTY. Seriously! Totally empty. Part of that was because the local schools were already back in session, but where the heck were all the tourists? (In Broadway at the Beach, apparently, but that's another post.) I liked that--I am so not into crowds.
The sand was very soft, and the free parking just over the dunes was nice. The shell collection was stellar, though I ended up with only three tiny, perfect specimens. The water was clear. But MAN, was it warm! I'm sorry, there is something seriously wrong with that. Sure, it's painful to walk into icy water in June up North. But when it's 98 degrees, it's also refreshing. None of the water I put my body into last week was in any way refreshing. Not that South Carolina has any control over that, of course.
We spent all our beach time in the water, which was the best part. I love bodysurfing, but let me tell you, the mojo of my youth is gone. When I was a kid, as far as I knew, boogie boards didn't exist. You crouched in the water, timed it, put your head down, and rode those babies into the sand. I think my memory is slightly faulty about how good at it I was, but I'm definitely worse now.
Part of it was the surf. High winds most of the week, plus really strong cross currents (the waves were at a 45- to 90-degree angle with the shore), made the waves very choppy. They crested in all the wrong places. But my kids, who haven't had much (if any) experience at this, took two minutes of my instructions and became experts. The little one, especially, had excellent timing to catch the waves. Using a boogie board makes it easier, of course, but I wasn't getting anywhere with those, either. I decided the vast different in my weight between then and now was the reason I couldn't race in to shore.
Until my husband soared past me. Jerk.
Despite my failure to ride much, we had a lot of fun. The first time we went, the surf was SO choppy you couldn't stand in one place at any point in the water. It was constantly pulling us in every direction. Good exercise, but worrisome for a mother. I wondered how my mother ever bore it, watching us swim from way up on the shore. I stayed within five feet of my kids at all times. A storm rolled in as we were getting ready to leave, so it cut that visit short. The Thursday visit was nearly the same, though maybe slightly tamer water. Saturday, everything had completely reversed. The surf was still choppy, but now heading the other way down the beach, and the wind was in the opposite direction, too.
The worst part was that after 36 summers of swimming in the ocean, sometimes with a jellyfish every two feet, and never in my life being stung...this time I got stung, with nary a jelly in sight. Okay, they're clear. Of course I couldn't see them. And it's possible that's not what it was. But I don't know what else it could have been. At first I thought the cable on my board had rubbed my thigh, but when I brushed it with my hand it hurt there, too, and then on my opposite knee. I was pretty pissed. Speaking of which, luckily, the pain was minor and subsided quickly, so no, no one peed on me. I rubbed sand on it and went back in the water and eventually all the sensation went away. On the last day Number One got stung on her hand, bad enough to get welts, but it faded as quickly for her, too.
And finally, my last comment, about the lessons of our childhood. After so many years of being told The Rules, it was easy to impart them to my kids. How to use care and good judgment in inherently dangerous water. How to stay aware of the people around them when boogie boarding. How deep they were allowed to go, both in wave and in trough.
But the really funny rule was the one about watching where our stuff was on the beach, and keeping oriented to it. All my life I've swum with one eye on the striped umbrella next to our blanket, or whatever bright thing I was able to see with my extreme nearsightedness (oh, that's something that was different, too, in a good way--I had disposable contacts this time!). So I taught my kids, especially with the very strong longshore current, to keep an eye on our chair and move back so we were always in front of it.
Except unlike when I was a kid, all four of us were always in the water. My mother usually kept an eye on us from shore, so it was important we stay where she could see us. But last week, we were always together so it didn't MATTER that we were a quarter mile away from our stuff. Even once I realized that, though, I still kept checking for it, and making everyone move back up the beach. It was far too ingrained of a Rule to defy. :)
So, tomorrow (which is really today already) I'll talk about what we did all week that kept us away from the beach.
Monday, August 20, 2007
I'm Back, and I'm Bushed
We got back from vacation last night, and all day today, as I tried to play catchup, people asked me if I was bushed/whooped/exhausted. I kept saying no, but now I am.
Of course, it's nearly midnight. That might have something to do with it. :)
We had a great vacation. I have plenty to blog about, but I will break it down over the next few days, so as not to overwhelm with one big Mega-Post. Tonight I shall simply mention a few random things.
I saw Stardust with my 12-year-old on vacation. It was a wonderful movie, and made me think maybe I should be reading Neil Gaiman. It had some very male influences (all the murder at the end, and the "prologue" at the beginning where a guy crosses into a new world but all he does is get laid and run away home), but those are balanced by the heart--and, of course, the romance. :) The acting was superb. I wasn't very enamored of the hero in the beginning, but fell completely in love by the end. Robert de Niro was a delight, as was Michelle Pfeiffer, one of my favorite all-time actresses (ever since Grease II). This is one I could see buying and shelving next to The Princess Bride.
I got the final proofing of The Color of Courage done and submitted to my agent, so now I should be getting back to Hummingbird. Smack me if the progress bar doesn't move. I haven't looked to see how many pages a day I need between now and next Saturday (9/1) to meet my goal of completing the draft. Too many, I'm afraid. But I'm determined.
The problem is, this week is preparation for the kids going back to school. So we have school shopping to do, and soccer practice, and three dentist visits (each kid and me), and next weekend is a soccer tournament (six games, all played an hour away over two days, which means we won't be home much at all). Plus, we have to visit each of the schools, get the middle schooler's schedule, meet the third-grader's teacher and see where all the classrooms are, etc.
Next week, of course, should be better, as they'll be in school and I shall have tons of time to write. Except for taking the car in for repair (assuming they can figure out what's wrong). And more soccer practices every evening. And lunch with my old coworkers, because I've been putting them off all summer, though I can keep that short and I always combine it with a necessary trip to the post office, which is a block away.
Overall, I'm very excited about school being back in. :)
The other thing I'm excited about is my new nephew. Miller Logan Jacobus is a looong baby (21.75 inches!) and a normal weight (which I can't remember right now) and he looks like he's a very relaxed, contemplative kid. Since he's my brother's son, I'm sure that won't last. :) I can't wait to see him.
So, tomorrow I'll talk about the beach portion of my vacation, and how it's so funny that deeply ingrained rules from childhood can dictate your actions in adulthood. And what happened to me for the first time ever at the beach. Stay tuned!
Of course, it's nearly midnight. That might have something to do with it. :)
We had a great vacation. I have plenty to blog about, but I will break it down over the next few days, so as not to overwhelm with one big Mega-Post. Tonight I shall simply mention a few random things.
I saw Stardust with my 12-year-old on vacation. It was a wonderful movie, and made me think maybe I should be reading Neil Gaiman. It had some very male influences (all the murder at the end, and the "prologue" at the beginning where a guy crosses into a new world but all he does is get laid and run away home), but those are balanced by the heart--and, of course, the romance. :) The acting was superb. I wasn't very enamored of the hero in the beginning, but fell completely in love by the end. Robert de Niro was a delight, as was Michelle Pfeiffer, one of my favorite all-time actresses (ever since Grease II). This is one I could see buying and shelving next to The Princess Bride.
I got the final proofing of The Color of Courage done and submitted to my agent, so now I should be getting back to Hummingbird. Smack me if the progress bar doesn't move. I haven't looked to see how many pages a day I need between now and next Saturday (9/1) to meet my goal of completing the draft. Too many, I'm afraid. But I'm determined.
The problem is, this week is preparation for the kids going back to school. So we have school shopping to do, and soccer practice, and three dentist visits (each kid and me), and next weekend is a soccer tournament (six games, all played an hour away over two days, which means we won't be home much at all). Plus, we have to visit each of the schools, get the middle schooler's schedule, meet the third-grader's teacher and see where all the classrooms are, etc.
Next week, of course, should be better, as they'll be in school and I shall have tons of time to write. Except for taking the car in for repair (assuming they can figure out what's wrong). And more soccer practices every evening. And lunch with my old coworkers, because I've been putting them off all summer, though I can keep that short and I always combine it with a necessary trip to the post office, which is a block away.
Overall, I'm very excited about school being back in. :)
The other thing I'm excited about is my new nephew. Miller Logan Jacobus is a looong baby (21.75 inches!) and a normal weight (which I can't remember right now) and he looks like he's a very relaxed, contemplative kid. Since he's my brother's son, I'm sure that won't last. :) I can't wait to see him.
So, tomorrow I'll talk about the beach portion of my vacation, and how it's so funny that deeply ingrained rules from childhood can dictate your actions in adulthood. And what happened to me for the first time ever at the beach. Stay tuned!
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