One Down...

Hey, Amanda,

I am certainly not wishing away my vacation, rather noting that the first week flew by. This is my attempt at recounting that week.

My day at the beach with the kids was great. C loved his presents--an old-school wooden tool box full of wooden tools and screws and bolts, as well a stuffed monkey that he decided to name Tool Box (how cute is that?)--and we had a great day together. I loved the few hours I had with him and my Sunshine before L and J joined us at the beach. Afterward, we had dinner at their house after our day at the beach, and I finally felt on vacation. There I was eating dinner after 8, when I'm normally thinking about going to bed, on the deck, on a weeknight. How liberating that was!

Then Friday I ran some errands and finished getting ready for D's visit. The weather wasn't great for pool time, but my day at the beach was enough to stave off the depression that had set in with all our rainy weather.

Saturday she arrived and yesterday she left. We had decent weather while she was here and planned according to the forecast. We had a seafood lunch the afternoon she arrived and spent the day catching up. L came up Sunday to join us by the pool and for dinner in Hartford. Monday we did some shopping and went out to lunch, then later in the day went out again for a little more shopping and a couple of appetizers that served as our dinner. Tuesday was the best weather day, and the day we spent mostly by the pool. Yesterday we had lunch at my parents' before she flew home. You know the drill: we read, and chatted and laughed and ate and shopped and did all those things girlfriends do, as you had in Arizona, and as I will again when I visit at the end of this month.

Looking forward to your return from your parents', hoping all is well.

Love,
Barb