Muffins Over $7.99.
Wahoooooo! Not only am I back from the Ocean, I am back among the functional 'Net world. No more stealing guilty glances at a website or two between phone calls at work, turning my head on a swivel every time someone walks within the vicinity of my cubicle. Okay, so I'll still be doing that, but the important thing is that I don't have to rely on it as my sole contact with the Internet and my friends that can be found therein. What I'm saying is that if you actually want to speak to me, you no longer have to log on between 11 am and 5 pm and cross your fingers. Cable Internet, suckers, and I'll be on allllll the time. Unless I let Mikey have a turn. I'm considering it...
I'm glad to be back in my home, but I just can't tell you how great it was to get away. This vacation was truly an escape, and it could not have gone better. We had a small crowd - my sister, my parents, and yours truly. We've rarely taken an Ocean City vacation that was just the four of us, and it was more relaxing. We had plenty of room in the apartment where we stayed, and we weren't getting pulled in seven different directions. I like keeping busy as much as the next guy, but it was nice to not have to do anything. We are a pretty low-maintenance bunch. Sure, there were a few things I would have done that we just didn't get to - my sister was expecting some friends who didn't make it, which put the kibosh on mini-golf. But honestly, I am a legendarily rotten mini-golfer, and I really don't know where my bizarre compulsion to play this year started. Also, I got my sister on board for another wacky scheme; Olde Tyme Photos (or whatever ass-backwards way they spell it). My parents pooh-poohed it long ago as a waste of money, and that always stuck with me. But when I really stopped and thought about it, the idea of a sepia-toned photograph of my sister and I dressed as drunken Civil War generals is hard to top. We just never pulled the trigger, and I suppose I'll do something else with those fifteen dollars.
Speaking of my sister, it was really great just to hang out with her all week, no distractions. We truly do get along well together, most of the time. I get a kick out of cracking especially stupid and/or ridiculous jokes around her, because she'll complain about it even as she's laughing. She just can't help herself. One such gag was the title/subject of this entry. We passed a boardwalk store called "Nothing Over $7.99", which I read as, "Muffins Over $7.99...sounds like a really bad business venture". Yeah...you had to be there.
More than anything, I enjoyed the Atlantic Ocean itself. I haven't been swimming since last summer, and it's been especially hot and muggy the past few weeks, particularly trudging in and out of the office in the middle of the city. Even with the calming ocean breeze, it was pretty damn hot in O.C., too. (Not to mention the sand...yeeeooowww.) So I spent as much time as I could just floating, frolicking, swimming, and wiping out in the waves. There is something very calming and yet stimulating about the ocean for me. I'm never self conscious, and I love the sensation of waves breaking over my head, just that helpless feeling of being at the mercy of the elements as you're shoved and tossed fifteen or more feet away from where you had stood. Sure, a couple times it can actually be frightening (I almost spiked my head into the ocean floor once), but it is a rush.
Oh, and I saw some dolphins. Their fins kept cresting up over the water, a whole group (school? gaggle? pride? mess?) of them. If it weren't for all those pesky lifeguards, maybe I would've charged out for a swim with them. That's one of those things that you're contractually required to say that you'd like to do before you die, after all.
Also, fat people apparently don't like to wear clothes. I'm all about a positive self-body image, and sometimes I even like a few curves, but there is a difference between being proud and oblivious. Even average-sized people can look like ten pounds of crap in a five pound bag if they have no idea how to dress themselves. Sheesh.
But let's end on a good note...five days until my birthday. LOVE ME! It's not too late for presents! Hell, I'll settle for less. :)
I'm glad to be back in my home, but I just can't tell you how great it was to get away. This vacation was truly an escape, and it could not have gone better. We had a small crowd - my sister, my parents, and yours truly. We've rarely taken an Ocean City vacation that was just the four of us, and it was more relaxing. We had plenty of room in the apartment where we stayed, and we weren't getting pulled in seven different directions. I like keeping busy as much as the next guy, but it was nice to not have to do anything. We are a pretty low-maintenance bunch. Sure, there were a few things I would have done that we just didn't get to - my sister was expecting some friends who didn't make it, which put the kibosh on mini-golf. But honestly, I am a legendarily rotten mini-golfer, and I really don't know where my bizarre compulsion to play this year started. Also, I got my sister on board for another wacky scheme; Olde Tyme Photos (or whatever ass-backwards way they spell it). My parents pooh-poohed it long ago as a waste of money, and that always stuck with me. But when I really stopped and thought about it, the idea of a sepia-toned photograph of my sister and I dressed as drunken Civil War generals is hard to top. We just never pulled the trigger, and I suppose I'll do something else with those fifteen dollars.
Speaking of my sister, it was really great just to hang out with her all week, no distractions. We truly do get along well together, most of the time. I get a kick out of cracking especially stupid and/or ridiculous jokes around her, because she'll complain about it even as she's laughing. She just can't help herself. One such gag was the title/subject of this entry. We passed a boardwalk store called "Nothing Over $7.99", which I read as, "Muffins Over $7.99...sounds like a really bad business venture". Yeah...you had to be there.
More than anything, I enjoyed the Atlantic Ocean itself. I haven't been swimming since last summer, and it's been especially hot and muggy the past few weeks, particularly trudging in and out of the office in the middle of the city. Even with the calming ocean breeze, it was pretty damn hot in O.C., too. (Not to mention the sand...yeeeooowww.) So I spent as much time as I could just floating, frolicking, swimming, and wiping out in the waves. There is something very calming and yet stimulating about the ocean for me. I'm never self conscious, and I love the sensation of waves breaking over my head, just that helpless feeling of being at the mercy of the elements as you're shoved and tossed fifteen or more feet away from where you had stood. Sure, a couple times it can actually be frightening (I almost spiked my head into the ocean floor once), but it is a rush.
Oh, and I saw some dolphins. Their fins kept cresting up over the water, a whole group (school? gaggle? pride? mess?) of them. If it weren't for all those pesky lifeguards, maybe I would've charged out for a swim with them. That's one of those things that you're contractually required to say that you'd like to do before you die, after all.
Also, fat people apparently don't like to wear clothes. I'm all about a positive self-body image, and sometimes I even like a few curves, but there is a difference between being proud and oblivious. Even average-sized people can look like ten pounds of crap in a five pound bag if they have no idea how to dress themselves. Sheesh.
But let's end on a good note...five days until my birthday. LOVE ME! It's not too late for presents! Hell, I'll settle for less. :)