v2, d108: Vacation Recap?

We're home, we had a good week, we saw some folks, did some stuff. The ride back had some...complications...that I will keep from you. For your own good. But it took a little longer. We're all pretty tired.

Usually, I get back from vacation and I'm totally relaxed and refreshed and refocused and ready to get back to stuff. This time is totally different. For the first time, I'm not sure I'm ready for the stuff that is coming next. I don't necessarily wish we could stay away for longer, but I'm not entirely sure I want next week to start tomorrow, either. It's an odd feeling, for me at least.

Big things. Big things may be happening. Starting tomorrow. Watch this space for more.

And more videos, of course. And more hockey tidbits. And hopefully something amusing from time to time.

Also, read a Western. Especially if you haven't read one before. Broaden your horizons.

Do it.

v2, d106: Vay-Cay

Good day of sleeping in, watching World Cup sadness, following the NHL draft via Twitter, sitting around and talking with parents, reading a library book, eating good food, and playing with my son. Very, very nice day.

Don't count on daily blogging during this vacation. I'm a busy man right now :-)

P.S. Dear Tropical Storm Alex, please don't wipe out my hometown. I need an apartment to come home to. And friends. I need those, too. FEMA won't get new friends to me for at least a couple of years.

v2, d105: I'm Checkin Iiiiiin....

Kudos to anyone who immediately recognized the reference.

Anyway, just wanted to check in to let you all know I made it home all right. We are all very, very tired. Tomorrow the grandparents are taking the little boy all morning long, so we parent types should get to sleep in till noon or so. That will be nice.

Watched the first round of the NHL draft on Versus tonight. Always surprised at how much I enjoy the draft.

G'nite.

v2, d83: Beach party!!

Went down to the Gulf with the family-in-law today. You know, despite living in Houston for almost five years, I'd never been to Galveston. I'd actually been to the Pacific more times than I'd been to the Gulf since I moved here. Very sad, yet true.

Anyway, today's trip was a blast. My beach-going experiences have all been based on the tourist-heavy beaches of southern California, so the relatively sparsely-attended (even on Memorial Day!) Galveston beach was refreshing. It was also nice that the water wasn't so cold you had to get out after about fifteen minutes due to your toes turning different colors/losing all feeling.

Julie, Christina, and I ventured out far enough that there were fish swimming literally right to us. At one point, two fish leaped out of the water in tandem between Julie and I when we were about ten feet apart. This meant the pelicans also came pretty close. Robbie came briefly out to join us (the water was really only approaching chest-high to me at that point) and couldn't stay focused on one spot long enough to actually see many fish, but he enjoyed it anyway.

That kid LOVED the ocean! He played hard the entire time we were there. He would shriek with delight every time a wave would hit that was high enough to splash him in the face or knock him slightly off-balance. He divided his time pretty equally digging sand into a bucket, digging water into a bucket, jumping over waves by holding someone's hands, wading by himself, running through the lowest-tide area, filling up his bucket with water, and just hanging out in "deeper" water in my arms. I was afraid we weren't going to get him to leave without throwing a major fit, but I said the magic word (McDonald's) and we were off.

Now that I know the beach isn't going to be horribly crowded, and now that I know how much the kid loves it, hopefully we can make the occasional trip down to the coast.

Meanwhile: Remember, everyone, hurricane season starts June 1st! Last year, the only North American hurricane landfall was in Canada somewhere. While I wouldn't mind another mild summer of storms, Experts are predicting the WORST SEASON IN HISTORY!!! Of course, they've been predicting this worst season in history for the last four years, and I think it's only happened once, so we shall see.

v2, d82: Pool Party!

Today, my entire family-in-law invaded the pool. It was pretty awesome. We kind of took turns passing Robbie around, cleaning debris from Friday night's storm out of the pool, and just sort of relaxing. Even Kim got in the water, and I think the last time I saw her go swimming was when we went to California in the summer of 2008. We decided to get out of the pool when the massive claps of thunder started.

Darn storm.

It also moved our picnic inside.

Tomorrow is going to be a beach day. I don't know what the beach will look like for Memorial Day. I'm guessing pretty crazy crowded. That's okay, though. I generally enjoy big family outings, especially when beaches are involved.

Meanwhile, my back is getting slightly better.

Hm..what else is going on...

I have a new "feature" I want to try, but I'm going to wait until my living room isn't also a guest bedroom so I don't have to worry about being up so late.

As it is, I'm going to finish up a script that I'm sending in for publication. If you can, please pray for this. I really need to find a way for this writing hobby to start paying. Forget college, I got to put this kid through day care, first!