I saw this today and it gave me a laugh and so I thought I'd share it with you. 

I've spent the last two days sitting in one place and trying to pay attention to the world around me.  Today was a bit better but this virus has knocked me on my ass.  I had very little voice but today it seems to be better.  Tea with honey is a lifesaver but I'm tired of tea at this point. 

I've done some knitting.  By knitting very very slowly, I was able to work on the beaded shawl.  I am on the final clue and am feeling hopeful.  I'll be back to work tomorrow.  If we take more than 2 days off in a row, the HR people get involved and it gets ugly.  I feel better but am still congested.  I'll just take it slow when I go back.  I can only imagine the mess I'm facing.

Things around here have very quickly moved back to normal.  Pk was disappointed that more trees didn't come down.  He's always on the look out for more stash.  We're not in a flood prone area so we were safe, just the water in the lowest level of the house and that's gone. 

And someone asked why a vacuum would be on the Emergency List.  It's a wet/dry shop vac.  It's what we've always used as a vacuum cleaner because of the hardwood floors.  Evidently, everyone else  thought they'd be a good thing to have.  Pk is going to see if he can fix ours but usually, when the motor goes, it's gone for good.

Tomorrow we'll try to go grocery shopping and see if they've restocked the shelves. 

Oh, and another comic from yesterday that made me laugh out loud.  XKCD is one of my favorites and I look forward to his strips

I do spend a good portion of my early morning looking at comics.  I like to start my day off with a laugh.  And today, I'm sharing some with you.

Here we are on the flip side.  Irene has left the area and is now menacing New England.  We were surprisingly lucky and I have no photos of local devastation to show you.(Emily and Katie came through the storm with only minor issues as well.  We're very lucky)  If you want to see the damage, you can look at msn or cnn or one of the other news organizations. 

It rained like the dickens yesterday afternoon and well into last night.  There didn't seem to be very much heavy wind but a branch from one of our trees  broke off and thumped against the back of the house.  THAT was startling.  And I discovered that I didn't mind the storm as much when it was light.  When it got dark and I couldn't see what was happening, that bothered me and my anxiety level rose a bit.  Around about 11 pm or so, it seemed to slacken off and the rain never picked back up after that.  It continured to rain most of the night but more quietly.

Right now at 5 pm, it's breezy and the wind is dry.  The temps are in the 70's and the humidity is down quite a bit.  And a bit of trivia.  Someone told me that the last time we had an earthquake and a hurricane in the same week was in 1949.  It's ok with me if we wait another 60 years before it happens again.

We tried to go grocery shopping Friday afternoon but there were no carts to be found.  The store wasn't too crowded but the carts were all in use.  We decided to pick up some snacky foods and do the shopping later in the week.  It's actually a good decision since the locusts picked the shelves clean.  We use a shop vac as a vacuum cleaner in the house.  It died sometime this week and I went to home depot to buy another one and the guy laughed at me.  Evidently these are on the list of emergency supplies that people were buying up in preparation for the hurricane.  I just needed a new vacuum. 

We made as many preparations as we could.  We have extra water and had candles and flashlights and emergency yarn.  I was prepared with some simple projects to knit but it was never necessary.  Our power flickered two or three times during the height of the storm but never went out. 

Friday, I taught Handle with Care and then Pk and I left work early to go out to lunch (and grocery shopping).  We had a nice lunch and then came home.  It was a good day.  Handle with Care went well even if I did have to take a big guy down to the floor wearing my white jeans.

Saturday morning I woke up with a head full of snot and a sore throat.  I drank tea with honey and sucked on cough drops most of the day.  I am thoroughly sick of both at this point.  I am still congested today but it's not as bad and the soreness is less. 

I spent lots of time working on my beaded shawl.  I haven't seen it spread out at all since it got too big to just use my hands.  I got out some pins and a blocking square to check it out. I'm on row 215 of 256 so I'm making slow but steady progress.  I like the way the leaves are developing as I make my way toward the ends.  There are a lot of stitches in each row so it takes me about half an hour to complete one.  The next section is beaded so it'll move slower still.  I figure it'll be done by the time the weather cools down enough to wear it. 

I also finished another pair of Embossed leaves socks.  I seem to be on a jag.  The yarn is called Mirkwood (the name of a forest in the Fellowship of the Ring) so I thought a leafy pattern would be especially appropriate.  I love the way they look.  These are a gift so they won't be gracing my feet.  I wore my anklets this past week under a pair of pants.  As I crossed my legs, they peeked out from under my pants legs and got lots of compliments. 

We're sitting here feeling kind of disoriented and tired.  Yesterday/last night wasn't all that tough but the stress level of all the hype for the impending storm is taking a toll. On Saturday I got to the point of just wanting the storm to get here already so we could deal with it.  The build up was overwhelming.   I feel exhausted and Pk keeps saying how he just feels "out of it".  I put some dinner in the crockpot this morning and in a short while, I'm going down and dish it out.  We'll probably have an early night and then it's back to work tomorrow.  It doesn't feel like we had much of a weekend but that happens sometimes. 

And it's Labor Day next weekend already.  How did that happen.  I swear it was just Memorial day.  This summer for all its excesses, just sped by. 

And that's the week that was.  I'm looking forward to a quieter week, although maybe I shouldn't say that.....

'Whole lotta shaking goin' on'.....

I guess by now it's not news that we had an Earthquake here on Tuesday.  I have never felt anything like that before and it was scary.  I know all the Californians are laughing at us but when it's a unique and new experience, it's a whole 'nother story.

I let my group talk about how they felt and because I told them I was scared, it seemed to give them permission to admit that they were afraid as well.  I think what scared me was that I had no idea what to do.  I can tell you what to do if there's an air raid (get under your desk and pull your coat over your head- it's what they taught us in the 60's when I was in school), or a hurricane but I have no experience with earthquakes. 

I was in a medication review with the doctor and a patient and we all looked at each other in puzzlement as our chairs started to shake.  I am a knee bouncer and I thought the woman next to me must be really bouncing her knees but when I looked over, she wasn't moving.  The doctor, who is from California, said "this is an earthquake" and we were still puzzled.  We all gathered in the lobby of our building.  I will admit to feeling anxious and scared.  Why we stayed in the building, I have no idea.  I told you we didn't know what to do.

Eventually, they told us to go back to work.  A few minutes later, Peter Kevin showed up.  (A little backstory; Our plan is that if ever there is an emergency and we're at work, I'm supposed to stay where I am and he will come to me so we can get home together.)  When I asked, "what are you doing here?", he said "I came to make sure you were ok.  The cell phones aren't working and I couldn't reach you". 

How wonderful is that? 

It turned out that they suspended train service across the bridge and we managed to get a ride home with a coworker who had driven so I left a bit early.  All in all, an odd afternoon.

And now we are in the path of a hurricane named Irene.  There is talk of the End of Days.  It makes me laugh since it's hurricane season and it's not unknown for them to make landfall here.  Fortunately, we don't often get much more than some wind and rain but it does happen.  We are far enough inland that we don't bear the brunt of the storm.

And if it is the End of Days, what can we do about it anyway? 

In more mundane, but much more (to me) interesting news, my knitting group has grown to "a few" women from just  two.  One of them has already crocheted a bed sized afghan and is working on another.  One is now buying her "real yarn" since she's been practicing on some " practice yarn" and is ready to make some Christmas gift scarves.  One is still trying to manipulate the sticks.  She's a lefty and very fortunately, I found some written directions for lefties and I can knit left handed (slowly) if I have to.  And another is coming along really well.  It's a good group and I'm looking forward to the time when I can pick up my own knitting when it's group time.  Right now, I am stuck in teacher mode and spend most of the hour helping folks get it.

So, I'm off to get some charts for the nurse and make some phone calls and write a dozen or so treatment plans.  I hope, wherever you all are, that you are safe and dry and the ground beneath your feet is stable.  That's something I won't take for granted anymore.

Good Monday morning to you all. 

I was texting Emily last night and asked how her weekend had gone.  She said "boring but productive".  Seems like a lot of that was going around. 

We had a "boring" weekend and I was even fairly productive.  The weather was so humid that any kind of movement caused copious amounts of sweating.  Friday we hung out at the bookstore and looked at magazines.  As I get older, I am finding that I feel less and less like buying magazines.  It has to have several things in it that I find attractive for me to put out my money.  And that's happening less and less.  Pk perused the computer books (and man, those are big and heavy!)

One of the stated reasons for buying his ipad was that he wouldn't have to carry the large, heavy books back and forth to work.  He bought a few computer ebooks and will buy a few more as time goes on to replace the big clunky ones with electronic ones.  Saves his back.

Saturday, we did the housekeeping chores.  He edged the lawn in preparation to mow but the rain came back and he didn't get the chance.  I cleaned and did the laundry and knit.  Remember this swatch?  It's the silk/alpaca blend In Dreams shawl kal.  Most of the people have finished but I had some trouble keeping my inc3 and my pfb in order and my stitch count was off.  I finally ripped back to where I knew it was correct and have been working on it steadily.

It's slow going.  I'm in a section with no beads and it still takes me 20-30 minutes a row.  I'm on row 203 with 256 (?) or so rows in total.  It feels wonderfully soft to work on and I love the slightly fuzzy look of the piece.  I am grateful for my Ott light since the color is dark enough that I wouldn't be able to work on it after dinner.  I spent part of Saturday and most of Sunday knitting on this.  It's hard to see much difference since the rows are so long.  And I haven't gotten to the final beaded section yet.

I also spent some time sorting out the blue and white socks.  I (mostly) finished one.  Well, I did finish it but didn't like how it looks and ripped out the top.  It's sitting on spare needles until I get the other one to that point and then I'll decide how to finish off the tops.  The second sock was not patterning like the first one and I discovered it was off by 2 stitches.  I ripped back to the beginning of the foot (they're toe up) and added two stitches and now they are both crazy vertical stripes.  Funny, how much difference two stitches can make.

I was perusing blogs this morning and Susan linked to an article that was published online regarding women as strong human beings.  The author seems we're all sinking into softness and there aren't any 'badass' women anymore.

I'm not sure Badass was a state of womanhood I aspired to.(I took an internet quiz-and you know accurate those are- that told me my spirit animal was a grizzly bear.  My family thinks this is hilarious and calls me the teddy bear).  I have always admired women for their strength.  The women who command the most respect are the ones who get up every morning and do what needs to be done and then go to bed and get up and do the same thing over the next day.  Without complaint.  Those are strong, and yes, badass women.  They take no shit, they take care of business, they run their own little worlds.

Do I admire women like Hillary Clinton?  Of course.  She's smart and strong and able to get things done.  But so is my neighbor. She's also strong and smart and able to get things done.  I don't think women are any less Strong than we ever were.  The writer thinks that because we blog about the small things in our lives (like KNITTING for instance) we are less than we were. 

Maybe because we are able to still see the small, comforting things we are actually better and stronger than we ever were.  I may never be Courtney Love (but who really wants to?) but I can still belt out Bat out of Hell with the best of them.  I will continue to notice the small things in my world and talk about them.  I will continue to post photos of my cat, my knitting, my family because these are the things that give me the strength to do what I need to every day. 

And I wear my tattoos and my body piercing with pride. Inside I am really a grizzly bear......

Today was a good day.  It started out a bit rocky, I had a huge wave of nausea while just sitting at my desk early this morning.  Bad enough that I reached for one of the 7.5 ounce cans of Coke I keep in the fridge in my office.  They're cute and are just about enough soda for me at one time.  It always seems to settle my stomach.  After about an hour and a half, it was better.  I don't know what the magic ingredient is, but I love it.

It passed and I had supervision and led a group and then just put out little fires all afternoon. 

Pk and I learned that a performer of whom we'd heard but with whom we were not familiar, was playing at a local park for free tonight.  We decided to get some sandwiches and head over early for an al fresco dinner and some music.

The park was beautiful.  It features a small amphitheater (I had to look that up since it looks wrong) and benches all around the front with lovely large trees in the back.

We sat at the top and had a good time hearing a new (to us) musician.  Only problem is that people around us were so disrespectful.  They couldn't sit still or be quiet for even a few minutes.  I know it's a free concert but still, the person on the stage deserves some respect.

The lighting guy had some really cool effects that were projected onto the trees behind the stage.  They made it look  like the trees were moving.  I stopped to tell the lighting guy how much I enjoyed his part in the show and his whole face lit up. 

Here's Chris Smither singing Origin of the Species.  It was a good one.  The man is 67 years old (and has a 7 year old daughter).  He has a wonderfully craggy voice and writes intelligent songs.  We're now on a mission to find some of his cds.

And I'd like to say one more thing about the Microagressions website.  I hope I didn't come off as totally unsympathetic toward people who felt like they had been disregarded or insulted or devalued.  I didn't mean it that way.  Olivia made a good point when she said  (I'm paraphrasing here) that if we allow all of these small disrespects go unmentioned, they can become big things and can snowball until people feel totally devalued or unworthy.  I don't want that to happen and I actually do take the time to ask if someone says something that comes out sounding wrong.  "Did you mean to say that, because it sounds like you're saying this"?  It's not always easy to point out something like that without offending someone.

If people can read what others are experiencing and it helps them to become more sensitive to their own way of speaking and their own feelings/prejudices, then it's a worthwhile site. 

I have my fiber craft group tomorrow.  I have hopes that at least 4 people are coming.  The interesting thing is that there's chatter among the group members between groups.  It's very cool.

I'm off to search for some mandalas here on the computer at home.  The security program at work won't let me access the websites.  "Colleague, you are not permitted to view that website" (or something similar) shows up on the screen.  I can't look up breast cancer either without going in circles due to the word BREAST.  Youtube is also right out.  Of course, facebook is ok and thankfully, I can usually read blogs during lunch.  Some days it's random and I'm never sure where it'll draw the line so I will search out new and more challenging designs for my group tomorrow.  I use them to introduce a mild and unthreatening form of meditation.  Most folks really enjoy coloring them into intricate designs.  Them make me feel peaceful.

Good night!

I woke this morning to the sounds of rumbling thunder.  The kind you hear just outside your consciousness but still feel in your bones.  I tried to burrow back down into the bed but I was awake and sometimes that's enough.

The thunder is still there, off in the distance, threatening but the rain is steady and fairly gentle.  The good thing is, we needed this.  Everything will be green for a bit now.  The bad part is we had planned to go to the art museum today.  We are not usually people who are put off by the weather but the parking for the museum involves a walk of some distance and we'd be soaked. 

Quaker Bridge from the top

It's hard to complain (well, not really.  It's easy to complain, just no one wants to hear it) when we've just had some of the loveliest summer days imaginable.  Pk and I went for a drive through the woods on Friday.  This is Quaker Bridge (built by the Quakers in 1722) across the Batsto river.  It's a little disconcerting to stand on since you can look down and see the river.  It's probably less than 3 feet deep but still.....



and the bottom



The water is brown (from the iron in the soil.  Batsto was known for it's iron ore) but clear.  We drove through the forest just breathing in the clean, pine scented air.  Not PineSol scented.  Just fresh and green.  We saw less than 10 other people the whole trip through.  When we stopped the car to walk on the bridge, the silence was all encompassing. 

We stopped at the Visitor's Center intending to find a spot to have a picnic near the lake but discovered that the lower half of Batsto Village was closed.  This was disappointing but we're flexible so we headed home to pick up Elanor and head for the other river to have dinner.

We stopped at the farm stand (with the honor box) and happened to see the woman who runs it.  She was filling a bag with vegetables and wanted me to know that she wasn't stealing.  I told her we stopped here frequently and always wondered if most people payed.  She said "about 90%.  We figure most people pay.  You know who the worst offenders are?  Middle aged women".  I was surprised but being a middle aged woman myself, didn't say anything.  I had my cash in my hand.  We bought some long thing white eggplant, some tomatoes and some tomatillos. 

We had a nice dinner while watching ships coming and going on the river and then headed home.  An altogether satisfying summer day.

Yesterday was shopping, cleaning and laundry and humidity.  You could feel it creeping up anytime you moved.  And then the rains started last night.  It's supposed to rain today through Tuesday on and off so our beach plans for tomorrow are kind of shot.  Peter Kevin said something about going to work tomorrow if we couldn't go to the beach but I'm thinking I'd take the day anyway.  Mondays are my longest days.  I'd like to have it off.

Emily pointed me to a website Microaggressions and I'm not sure how I feel about it.  It's a place for people to post/comment on things that have happened to them that made them feel uncomfortable on some level.  Some are women who were put down by men for being female, some are trans/bi gendered individual who were treated unfairly.  Em said it made her think about the way she treats others.  I guess if that's the purpose it serves, then maybe it's a good thing.

But, I also wonder about some of these people who took the time to write (I figure they must have felt strongly enough to write about the incident).  I believe they felt belittled, ignored, outraged, insulted and many other emotions.  I keep thinking about my father telling me to "grow a thicker skin".  I know this is going to sound calloused, but I kept thinking that as I read some of the bits.  It IS NOT nice to have someone discredit you for something you are but I wonder why it gives some folks such angst.  I also am aware that I am writing this as a white heterosexual woman in America and that may make a huge difference in my life experiences.  

I'm finding it diffucult to express what I want to say without sounding intolerant myself.  I know I have my prejudices but I work hard to see them and to overcome them.  I see too many folks disregarded every day because of conditions they can't help.  I don't want to be part of the problem but I don't know that I see complaining about it as helpful.  Or maybe it's just cathartic? 

What do you think?



the birthday party table decoration.

 Friday was Kate's 22nd birthday.  We took her to get pizza and then to see Captain America.  Now, I'm not a huge comic book hero fan and I will admit to knowing nothing at all about Cpt America so I went into this open minded.

I loved it.  Out and out loved.  I mean what's not to love about a movie where the good guys (who are all young and buff) win and the bad guys (the really bad guy had a red skull but I understand that's part of the original storyline) lose?  Pk and I really enjoyed it and I think Kate did too.

We had dinner at Kate and Patrick's house on Sunday.  A few weeks ago, Patrick asked me for a cake recipe so he could make a cake for Kate.  Since I know she loves blueberries, I gave him an apple cake recipe (one that I know will almost never fail) and told him to substitute blueberries for apples.  I've done it before and it's delicious. 

Patrick made the cake on Saturday night and left in the pan overnight.  I know, I know (I can hear all the bakers out there gasping).  I told him that it was a mistake and they managed to get it out of the pan and put it together like a puzzle and it looks good doesn't it?  It WAS good.  Very tasty. 

Kate called me early Sunday morning and asked for cupcakes so I made a batch and frosted them and we took them with us, just in case.  She didn't need them and they ended up in the freezer.    My mom used to make us cupcakes for our lunches and freeze them.  Kate took some with them for their shore vacation and they'll have the rest for later. 

We are being self indulgent again and taking Friday and Monday off.  I can't wait.  No real plans, just some time off.  It will probably include a beach day but I'm not sure what else.

Summer seems to be winding down quickly.  It's almost the middle of August already.  It's hazy and humid here and we are relying on the a/c to get to sleep at night.  It cost us 50 dollars extra in electricity for July.  I figure my sanity is worth 50 dollars. 

And one last shot.  Here's Kobold (Kate and Patrick's dog) watching out the window.  Kate and Patrick had gone to the deli and he was waiting for them to come home.  That's his chair.  You can't see in the photo but those windows (which look oddly crooked) are covered in nose prints.  He likes to be able to see out the windows.

So, that's all that's new with us.  What's new with you?

Just a quick note to share today's inspiration

"Smile, breathe and go slowly."

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Isn't that good advice for a mid week?  I know I tend to rush (or try to rush) through the week to get to the weekend.  Once in a while, I wonder what I've missed by hurrying through the days.  I can't get them back once I've barreled through them.  Just for today, I'm going to let the day unfold as it wants and not try to rush through to the end.  And I'll smile at people and make them want to slow down.

We had our annual eye exams last night.  Pk needs stronger reading glasses, a sign of aging with which he is not thrilled.  My vision is unchanged (yay eyes!) but I opted for new glasses because I have not been thrilled with the ones I have had for the past year.  My new ones are thinner and lighter than the present ones and are a metallic copper color.  They have only half frames (which seems to be the style right now) and the optical company charges 8 dollars to prepare the lenses for this.  They have to grind the edges specially.  I also pay more for lineless bifocals and for high tech thin lenses.  My vision is bad (legally blind without the glasses, 20/20 with them) and the lenses would be so thick if I went with the regular plastic lenses.  I willingly pay for the thinner lenses.   We'll have them in about a week.

I have group this morning and as I was scrounging around for ideas, I remembered hearing a bit on the radio bemoaning the lack of life skills teaching in schools today.  And so, I started wondering what constitutes life skills in today's world.  I remember learning to fill out a check in high school but today write so few checks that although my bank has changed hands 3 times, I am still using the checks from 3 banks back (the numbers haven't changed so it's all good).  I did some online searching (is using a computer a life skill now?) and came up with a United Nations report on what skills are necessary for folks to get by in life.  Things like decision making; problem solving; creative thinking; and self awareness, and on and on.  Some good skills.  If someone grows up in an impoverished (either economically or emotionally) family they wouldn't necessarily grow up knowing/learning these things.  How do you know you don't know them?  How do you then learn them?  I think this could be an interesting group and it'll depend on how awake my folks are today.

And my new crocheter?  She came in on Monday (and I wasn't here) and showed off a scarf she had made over the weekend.  She was so proud!  She's already planning one for her daughter for Christmas.  This made me so thrilled.  Whoot!  And another one is gathered into the fold.

I'm off to do a little bit more research for the group (and they think we just pull this stuff out of our brains) and get ready to start the day.  Get out there, move slowly and smile!

This was a 'get out of Dodge' kind of weekend for us, especially for Peter Kevin.  Friday night we went shopping for birthday presents for Kate (yes, Kate, that's presents with an s).  She's going to be 22 on Friday (I'm not sure how that happened.  I'm pretty sure I'm not old enough for this).  We got home and had an early night since we were going to get up early to go to look at tools.

We travelled to Lambertville, about an hour and a half away.  I took some knitting.  One of my favorite sock patterns, Embossed Leaves, done in a yarn called Mirkwood.  The greens and browns and greys seemed perfect for a leaf pattern.  I figured it was a nice day, I could sit in the car and wait while Pk talked to the tool selling guy. 

This worked for about a half hour until I started to feel an urgent need for a bathroom.  Since I hadn't gone in with him, I didn't want to knock on a stranger's door and ask to use the facilities.  I sent him a text asking how long it was going to be.  No response.  I texted again explaining the urgency of my need.  No response.  Finally, I moved over to the driver's seat and went to find public facilities.  Thank goodness gas stations still have public bathrooms is all I can say.  They might not be ideal but they are handy in a pinch.  This one was fairly clean and I was back parked outside of the tool guy's house before Pk even knew I was gone.  Crisis averted. 

We then did the grocery shopping (at the fancy store).  It was so crowded with the most oblivious people I've ever seen all congregated in one place.  Leaving carts willy nilly in the aisles, cutting in front of me as I pushed the cart along.  We only go to this store two or three times a year to liven up the grocery shopping.  Partly because they're higher in price than our regular store and partly because they seem to attract a very oblivious crowd. 

Sunday, Pk went to Washington DC to the Galoot Fest.  The east coast galoots get together once a year to talk tools and learn a new technique.  I'm not sure why they always decide to do it in the heat of the summer.  I think maybe next year they'll gather in the spring or fall.  He left early in the morning and came home by dinner time.  A good time was had by all according to him. I putzed around the house, played with the spinning and did the laundry.  A nice quiet day which I enjoyed immensely.   I made some omelettes for dinner and we watched some stand up comedy. 

Today, we got up early and headed eastward to the beach.  We decided to go to Cape May.  New Jersey is a long state and Cape May is at the tip of the bottom.  It's a small beach town filled with gorgeous vacation and permenant homes.  We got down there by 10:30, found a place to park on the street and bought our beach tags and I had my toes in the sand within minutes.  It was a glorious day!  We almost didn't go because the weather report was for thunderstorms.  When we got up, the sky was clear and cloudless so we went for it. 

And it was a glorious day.  The beach became fairly crowded quickly.  Lots of folks for a Monday.  We would never go to the beach on a weekend day, too many people, too much traffic.  A Monday is a good bet, though.

The ocean was calm and the waves were gentle.  The sand is full of broken shells and it was an adventure to walk to the water.  We've always laughed at people who wore 'water shoes' but today, we understood the necessity.

The water was cold.  Very cold.  Get in and get out cold.  There must have been a storm off the coast somewhere because there was a lot of plant life floating in the sea water.

And dolphins!  We saw pods of dolphins frolicking out in the waves.  It was so cool!  They were jumping up out of the water!  There are large sightseeing boats that are for Whale Watching and Dolphin Watching but I'd think the large motors would scare them away.  They don't.   A few dolphins were chasing the boats, jumping up and down in the wake. 

We stayed until about 4 o'clock and got home shortly after 5:30 with intentions of going back in two weeks.  I have a tendency to forget how much I love the beach when I don't go often.

We got home between thunder cells.  I could tell one had passed through by the puddles and bits of trees on the ground.  And while I was putting some dinner in the oven, another one passed overhead.  Bright lightning and cracks of thunder.  It seems to have passed on now and the sky is brightening.  It rained somewhat but nothing like they were predicting (Large Hail! Gusty Winds! Heavy Downpours!!). 

We're getting ready to eat dinner and then get ourselves back together for going to work tomorrow.  Sigh.  We'd really rather go back to the beach.