Nummmb.
Another beach vacation come and gone. We had a pleasant, relaxing week in a new-to-us house right next to the Artists' Colony and, as usual, spent most of our time laying on the beach or reading at the house. I have a pretty decent tan now to make up for the sunless winter in AA, but my next task is going to be maintaining it until Move-In. Justine read the entire "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" series while Mom finished "Calculating God" and "The Devil Wears Prada," which she passed on to me as I struggled through "The Sparrow." It's an interesting book, but it's taking me absolutely forever to read. Hence, I put it aside and started "The Devil Wears Prada"--much more entertaining and hey, no one's dying on a mysterious planet in Alpha Centuri.
We spent a great deal of time speculating on Seaside's new downfalls, such as its dwindling number of family-friendly restaurants, its price gouge on basically everything, and its knack for running off decent shops in favor of more ridiculous ones. For instance, do they really need a Lacoste there? Of course, we also bitched about our lack of cell phone service, which became pretty amusing as well when I discovered by accident I could get the most bars in the refrigerator. It wasn't so funny when Verizon dropped my rare calls with Chris, but what can I do? I've leveled with the fact that not only am I not going to see him all summer, I'm also not going to talk to him more than about three times a week at best. But hey, he's having fun, I'm having fun, and we'll be back in AA at the end of the summer. And as for Seaside, well... I suppose it would take more than a $60 straw hat to run us off quite yet.
Favorite moments, in brief: when the check-in guy said to Dad, "Give me your cell phone [number]," and Dad almost handed him his phone; when the waiter at the Shades-replacement asked us if everything was okay when we hadn't received our food yet, and I mimed eating the mustard; when we watched "Wedding Crashers" as a family; when Jus and I went through every photo on my computer, for her approval or disapproval; when Mom got a little buzzed at Cafe 30-A, pointed to her lips, and said, "Nummmb"; when we watched family videos of the longest day in Jus' life, which included such moments as, "Oran' noos'... no, appa joos, Dad!" and "Pay Yegos?"
Poor Puppy had a rather traumatic reunion with us yesterday, however. When we came home, he was floating dejectedly in the bottom of his hurricane glass, hardly moving in the bowl full of cruddy water and fish feed bits. Mom, horrified for her baby, immediately started cleaning his bowl while we unloaded the car. Aside from managing to break the glass, she also dropped him on the counter as Jus and I screamed. It was fairly comedic, actually, with us screaming for Dad as Mom cried, "Oh! Oh, Puppy! Oh, no!" Just as he started flopping towards the sink, Mom grabbed a spoon and saved him. Hahahaha, welcome home. He looks much happier now, though; I think he missed us as much as we missed him.
On a negative note, I think I have strep throat again, which is quite untimely. I start back at work tomorrow morning after an early doctor's appointment, and my mom's surgery is tomorrow morning, too, so... this needs to go away, now. But, back on a positive note, my gramma comes in today from Florida to help out while Mom's recovering, and we're leaving soon to pick her up from the airport. I haven't seen her since my graduation, so I'm pretty excited.
We spent a great deal of time speculating on Seaside's new downfalls, such as its dwindling number of family-friendly restaurants, its price gouge on basically everything, and its knack for running off decent shops in favor of more ridiculous ones. For instance, do they really need a Lacoste there? Of course, we also bitched about our lack of cell phone service, which became pretty amusing as well when I discovered by accident I could get the most bars in the refrigerator. It wasn't so funny when Verizon dropped my rare calls with Chris, but what can I do? I've leveled with the fact that not only am I not going to see him all summer, I'm also not going to talk to him more than about three times a week at best. But hey, he's having fun, I'm having fun, and we'll be back in AA at the end of the summer. And as for Seaside, well... I suppose it would take more than a $60 straw hat to run us off quite yet.
Favorite moments, in brief: when the check-in guy said to Dad, "Give me your cell phone [number]," and Dad almost handed him his phone; when the waiter at the Shades-replacement asked us if everything was okay when we hadn't received our food yet, and I mimed eating the mustard; when we watched "Wedding Crashers" as a family; when Jus and I went through every photo on my computer, for her approval or disapproval; when Mom got a little buzzed at Cafe 30-A, pointed to her lips, and said, "Nummmb"; when we watched family videos of the longest day in Jus' life, which included such moments as, "Oran' noos'... no, appa joos, Dad!" and "Pay Yegos?"
Poor Puppy had a rather traumatic reunion with us yesterday, however. When we came home, he was floating dejectedly in the bottom of his hurricane glass, hardly moving in the bowl full of cruddy water and fish feed bits. Mom, horrified for her baby, immediately started cleaning his bowl while we unloaded the car. Aside from managing to break the glass, she also dropped him on the counter as Jus and I screamed. It was fairly comedic, actually, with us screaming for Dad as Mom cried, "Oh! Oh, Puppy! Oh, no!" Just as he started flopping towards the sink, Mom grabbed a spoon and saved him. Hahahaha, welcome home. He looks much happier now, though; I think he missed us as much as we missed him.
On a negative note, I think I have strep throat again, which is quite untimely. I start back at work tomorrow morning after an early doctor's appointment, and my mom's surgery is tomorrow morning, too, so... this needs to go away, now. But, back on a positive note, my gramma comes in today from Florida to help out while Mom's recovering, and we're leaving soon to pick her up from the airport. I haven't seen her since my graduation, so I'm pretty excited.