You'll Be a Song I'll Sing

I was on short visit to see some friends. I returned tonight though my luggage is in a far away state. Computer time while away was short so I have a lot of online catching up to do.

Hunting around tonight for pieces of my costume.

Had I been smart... I would have gotten a Wild Things one last month. It would have been warm but the down side is that I might get upset if anything from the bonfire got on it.

Feeling like there just isn't enough time in the day to get everything done I want.

Finished another book yesterday.

Late Thursday people started trickling in the house behind us. We saw them yesterday on the beach. Last night I went to bed early since we're on the road today. There is a table with chairs on the porch (ours has chairs with side tables) and they were up talking and playing cards. At first I was a little annoyed but there are worse sounds than laughter/people enjoying themselves to hear.

Speaking of which... one of the nephews just woke up fussy. Not sure what makes a young one start crying so early in the morning. I can't tell if he went back to bed or not.

Today is the last full day at the beach house. We have to be out tomorrow by 10am. We'll drive to Durham for lunch and then head back to Ohio.

My in-laws kept asking me if I was doing what I wanted to be doing which I thought was a little weird at first. But they did the same thing last year when my husband was with us (he's at home with Sammy).

Mostly we've stayed here in the surrounding area - Topsail Beach, Surf City and Sneads Ferry. The other day we went to the NC Aquarium at Fort Bliss and it was perfect for my nephews. It was hands-on and they got to touch starfish, stingrays and horseshoe crabs.

I haven't done any fishing although we did rent a pole this year. My bro-in-law has done that. He caught a few small fish and a stingray.

Because I only see my nephews a few times a year it takes them several days to warm up to me. Yesterday I was a construction worker who rebuilt their home, got to play in some pillow fights, played hide and seek and read them a story. Last night we went to Nikki's Chinese and Sushi for dinner to celebrate my sis-in-law getting her Master's. I ordered the California and Spicy Tuna rolls which was too much with my General Tso's combo (which included Hot and Sour soup). When the menu said two rolls I thought it meant 2 - 4 pieces of each. I got something like 12 of each. My nephews were chowing down on the edamame beforehand (which I haven't had in years thanks to the Crohn's but seems to be okay to have now) and practically ate all of their parents' sushi. They got my extras.

~C~ wanted to try the spicy tuna and I told him it was spicy but I didn't taste the sauce so I didn't think it was spicy. He wanted to try it so I gave him a piece. While he ate it I asked how he liked it. Then I realized he was still chewing and apologized for asking him while his mouth was full. When ~C~ could respond he just reached for his glass of water and began drinking it. Very funny.

My little nephew likes to play the "block" game with his food. Someone will pretend to reach for a piece and ~W~ will put his hands over his food in a protective gesture like he's blocking the person from it. It's pretty funny. He did that unprompted last night with the dish of edamame set in front of him.

I never got pictures from anyone else last year so I'm hoping that this year I do. Even though we take a lot of the same pictures it's nice to get some different angles or to get the pictures for the times we missed (like the beach time I've missed because of my sunburn).

I've read several books while here (The Accidental Demon Slayer, The Pharmacist's Mate, A Change in Altitude, Walking in Circles Before Lying Down), finished one (The Shimmer) and started 3 others.

Friday - drove to North Carolina.  Okay, I slept most of the way and someone else did the driving.
Saturday - had breakfast at Elmo's and drove the rest of the way to the beach.  Got pizza and went grocery shopping.  Finished The Shimmer and started A Change in Altitude.
Sunday - woke up to the sounds of children walking around on the floor above me. Surprised to hear news of Polanski's arrest.  Caught up on internet land. About to have breakfast.

Packing for vacation.  Up late but I get to sleep during the drive.

At the end of April I went to see the eye doctor.  My eyesight doesn't change much so I now have about 4 pairs of eyeglasses (including a pair of sunglasses) I can use interchangably.  My doctor asked if I wanted to go back to contacts and I said, "While they're nice for special occasions, I'd really rather sleep in each morning than fight with putting them in."  She wasn't sure what I meant at first and then she told me I have high elasticity around my eyes and that's why I didn't have any wrinkles yet.  Yay Mary Kay!  :)

Yesterday I watched three movies (Catch and Release, Then She Found Me and Stardust).  Stardust was probably my favorite of the three.

I've been trying to go to bed around the same time but yesterday I went to bed around midnight.  We woke up at 10:15am.  Mostly Sammy has been sleeping under the bed but last night he started on his bed.  Since eating the hamburger buns he's being doing the reverse sneeze thing at odd times.  I woke up during the night to him doing it and told him it was okay - he walked over to me, let me pet him for a little bit and he stopped doing it. 

I thought I would go to Details for lunch but I really don't want to get dressed nicely, put on makeup, etc today.  I may stop by the post office to mail out a return to Land's End that's been on my to do list for the last month.  :)

I've worked out two days in a row.  I feel like I should work out today but I'm not sure I want to! LOL  I alternate between the cardio and the strength training so I'm not using the same muscles.  Sammy likes to lie under the guest bed or lie on the end of the yoga mat. 

There's nothing "good" at the movies.  I have a few things waiting for me at the library but they were closed Sunday and Monday for the holiday.  I can pick up my stuff today.  :)

Found my NaNo2008 and read the first few chapters yesterday.

I finally convinced my husband to go to California so I can see my friend and her 4-month-old baby and he can see his friend.  The problem is that one lives in San Bernardino and the other lives in Los Angeles.  Since hubby's trip is work related that takes precedence.  It was just too difficult to plan everything so he's going by himself and I'll go next year. 

I still took the time off work though, so I plan on doing stuff that I don't normally do.  One of those things was attending the Hills Market Salmon Roast that's held every year.  I thought it was tomorrow but it was actually today.  Scratch that off my to do list, I guess.  :)

Going back to work was much easier than I thought it would be. I had 318 emails and 5 voice mails waiting for me. Nearly everything has been answered because most heeded my advice to not leave me a voice mail and to call the hotline number and to not expect an answer to the email from me and email the generic mailbox. Of course... all the direct contacts started up again as soon as word got out that I was a back in the office. :)

After work today I ran some errands (including getting groceries for different meals this week). Right now I am downloading the vacation pictures from the memory card to my PC. Hubby is itching to see some movies but he's being understanding about my taking time to write.

I'm still running behind on NaNo. I wrote another 1241 words for a total word count of 4241. I stayed up a little bit later than usual to catch one of the World Series of Poker shows. I think I have another 1 - 2 hours to watch before learning who is at the final table.

The ocean waves are going to lull me to sleep for the last time. We leave tomorrow morning.

Today I went to the beach for the last time. My nephews played in the sand but I went down to the water a few times. Lots of seaweed on the shore. We saw a lady throwing a frisbee for her dog. A few houses down is a home owned by one of the lawyers in town. None of us know him personally so we didn't stop by to say hello. Sister-in-law was at the beach too. Hubby stayed inside to read. Brother-in-law, Mom-in-law and Dad-in-law all went fishing this morning. They caught blue, puffer fish and other stuff but gave them away to someone else.

For Halloween we drove to Hampstead for their Halloween festival. It was a bunch of booths at one of the soccer fields at the Kiwanis park. Every booth gave out candy and there was one of those inflatible playgrounds for kids. Oldest nephew only wanted to get candy on one side of the field. There was a John Deere tractor that took people for a hay ride. There was a booth with Dominos pizza, popcorn, hot chocolate, soda, water, sausages, and sausages with peppers and onions. It's a really smart idea to have all the kids go to one place like that since there's no telling how many houses on a street or even a block will be giving out candy. The most memorial costume was the little pink princess with her pumpkin escort. The pumpkin was a Weimaraner puppy that was too cute. Made me miss Sammy. I know... hard to believe, isn't it?

Hubby asked me if I'd want to live here and I said it would be nice to get away now and then for novel writing but I wouldn't want to live here all of the time. Last night we had dinner at II Beauchaines. ~C~ was told he could have ice cream so we went to Lunapops which was closed. Then we went to Ice Cream place that was closed. So we ended up at the New York Delicatessen where we got soft serve and an M&M cookie. They were closing up at 7:30pm - almost unheard of in Columbus on a Thursday night. That would take some getting used to. :)

Yesterday was probably our coldest day yet.  This morning the dolphins were swimming right by the house.  I was too late to see them up close and only got to see piece of them coming out of the water.  Some birds were dive bombing the water to catch fish.  We try to plan things for the adults to do after the kids go to bed it's not really been successful.  The kids are early risers so half of the adults are in bed around 9:30pm.

We wanted to go to the aquarium but the idea was vetoed.  There is a nearby pier where fishing gear can be rented.  Might be nice but I'd probably get bored.  We ate shrimp and crab legs the other night.  Can't remember when I last had crab legs.  The catering place at work has clam crab bisque soup on Fridays which I often get; but the crab is fake!

Finished up Ever yesterday.  Began reading Ruhlman's The Soul of a Chef.

This morning I played Go Fish with ~C~ who is 3 years old.  He's sweet; he kept trying to give us his cards instead of keeping them for himself.

Today we "drove into town".  I think trying to look at all the houses made me car sick.  There is roller skating every night above the post office.  We went to a super cute bookstore (I think it was called Half Quarter Moon), bought superfresh crab legs and shrimp, window shopped at a tacky store (the saltwater taffy in the Top Sail souvenoir box was made in China), and checked out the abandoned arcade.  It looks like the arcade is only staffed during the summer season when all of the tourists are here.  But it takes real quarters!

During yesterday's walk I saw a crab, two stingrays, and a jellyfish washed up on the beach. 

I read Sarah's Key in one day and have started Ever.

Last night I went for a walk on the beach with my husband and father-in-law.  It was so dark out we had to use a flashlight to make sure we wouldn't walk into the water.  No moon was out and the stars in the sky were bright against their black background.  The sky looked like one of those constellation shows at the planetarium or a CGI generated sky in a movie.

I didn't think this would happen in my lifetime.  I'm on vacation with my husband by the Atlantic Ocean.  It's beautiful (and wet).

With the recent trips my calendar feels a little out of control trying to catch up on everything (honestly I've started some LJ entries about the trips) around the house and get finances in order before the annual big squeeze (September and October are usually lean months due to trip expenses). The plus side is that my Crohn's isn't acting up from the stress (mostly placed on me by me).

I think I just want to go to bed.

I've made a few trips out of town and the most recent was this weekend. We went to Cleveland for half of Saturday and today. Had a lot of fun with just me and my honey.

In case you didn't guess, I'm back to the ordinary.

Sweeps officially begins tomorrow so the day job will be very busy!

While on vacation I finished a book that I'd been reading for a review.  Monday at home was so relaxing I began writing the review right away instead of putting it off for the book to digest.

There's nothing like the Pope following you around town to bring down a person's vacation.  :)

Got into New York yesterday afternoon.  Had a skinny hotdog for lunch at one of the plazas downtown.  Went to some museums/art galleries.  I think I'd like to live in portions of the Frick house.  Was transported to Vienna for dinner then got to see a comic in a Chicago jazz club that looked a lot like a young Warren Beatty. 

Happy Easter! We celebrated the holiday the way we celebrate most holidays - by not celebrating. Sammy let us sleep in late (after 10am). After breakfast we saw Vantage Point then traveled to two Skylines hoping they'd be open for lunch. Wendy's was so they got our business. A nap was also on the agenda and I spent about an hour working on writing stuff (typing up or editing things I'd written the last two weeks). Then the Easter Miracle happened and fluffy flakes began falling from the sky.

Yesterday we had friends over for dinner. The company was good and the dinner was yummy. We had beef brisket from Weiland's. I had considered making a lamb shoulder roast but could not find one at any market that morning. For dessert I tried to make a terrine but it wasn't as great as it could have been. I bought three kinds of ice cream from Jeni's and the bread pan only fit two pints of ice cream. Honey Vanilla Bean, ground cream sandwich cookies, Salty Carmel and more ground cream sandwich cookies. When it came time to cut it, I think I'd taken it out too early (some of the ice cream was melty soft) or it hadn't been frozen long enough to get solid. It was still tasty. Our friends threatened to sneak Sammy home under their coats. It was the first time I thought, "I think I like having him around." It must be the morning cuddle sessions. One time when we were talking in the living room he plopped down with one leg on the fireplace just like an Olan Mills pose. From the other angle it looked like he'd laid down to chat with our corgi figure.

My husband said his turning point was probably last weekend. I'd attempted to make sugar free jello squares but my recipe was completely off and it was much more like sugar free jello slivers. Hubby let Sammy eat some from his finger. Sammy seemed to like it so hubby set a bigger piece on the kitchen floor. Sammy licked at it and tried to eat it. Then he dive bombed and tried to roll in it. He missed. Sammy did the dive bomb move again and finally got some in his fur. It was one of those funny moments when you have no idea why it is happening and can only stand by and let it play out.

I think dinner is more beef brisket tonight unless hubby wants me to make Skyline. I know he prefers it the way the restaurant makes it to how I make it.

On Thursday my mother's surgery went well. She'd had the same thing done in December but the doctor seemed to make a mess of things. The biopsy so far shows no cancer. Hubby took Friday and tomorrow off work. We're talking about a vacation in April.

This weekend I bought new tennis shoes which feel so comfy. I know my in-laws have booked a vacation beach home for October. The bathing suit hunt began this weekend. (I haven't owned one that fit since college.)