A Day At The Beach

Yesterday was our beach day of our vacation week, and we headed to Ocean City, New Jersey. It was just perfect - sunny, with a cool breeze, and not many people around. We had not been to the shore since before the pandemic, and it was nice to see that the Atlantic Ocean was still there doing what it does best. 

It was pretty uncrowded - we got there in the middle of the day, and I guess since most kiddos are still in school, there were only a few other people sitting on the beach. And the water is still really cold, so no one was in the water.

The ocean didn't care though - it was pretty rough and choppy, and therefore extra noisy. But the beach actually does belong to it, so we have no right to tell it to be quiet. 😉

Then around 4, we left to go get the car and head to Somers Point, New Jersey, which is just over the bridge. It was time to make a visit to one of our most fave places in the universe, that nearly closed last year after having a tough time during the pandemic. Thank God they were able to stay open!

We love this place so much! It's the typical beachy place like we both remember from when we were kids and took summer vacations to the shore. Formica tables, paper plates and cups, and too much food - we ate most of what we ordered except they gave us too many french fries, and as The Tim said, they give the leftovers to the seagulls, so they won't go to waste.

We got home about 8 pm and still had time to cuddle with the kitties, have a cup of tea and watch some shows before we headed to bed. 

I hope this year we'll get our act together and take more day trips to the shore. It's so close, and such a lovely way to spend a day. And I just love the ocean and how it is both so appealing and so frightening. I could watch the waves come in forever.

Today is final preparations to celebrate one year of Alfie, and then tomorrow we head to Annapolis for the day. Sunday it's back to work for me, and Monday for The Tim. 

Real life can be annoying, right?

Whatever is in store for your weekend, I hope you can have time to relax and enjoy it. Take care.

Sunday Night

Ugh  Back to work tomorrow after a week of vacation that even though it wasn't perfect, was still better than being at work.  I'm already telling myself that at least next weekend is a long weekend for Labor Day.  I hate wishing the week away like that, and am trying not to do it other than related to work.

Thank you for all of your kind words and concern after my last post.  To make a very long story short, I had been lucky enough to have two interviews for a new job at a place I think I would enjoy working.  I had not been assuming the job would be mine, but I felt I'd done pretty well at the interviews, and more importantly, it gave me hope that I could leave where I am, which is becoming more and more toxic every day.  So even though I hated going to work, I had hope.  Well, last Tuesday I got an e-mail from the HR person at the other place, telling me they were not "going further with your candidacy."  That's bad enough, but it was also the very first thing I saw on Tuesday morning, which didn't help.  Jobs of any kind are few and very far between around here, and it was the first call I've had for an interview in 2+ years of looking.  To say it was upsetting is putting it mildly.

I worked really hard last week to not let it ruin my whole week, and to concentrate on the good as much as possible.  For the most part, I was successful.  And as a dear friend said, try to focus on the small good things, and that you enjoy your life outside of work.  It doesn't solve anything, but it does help.  Those are wise words - I just hope I can keep them in mind.

So you see I am fine, and plugging away at other things.  Like my lemon meringue pie, which was a success - nice and tart but not too sour.  The last pieces will be for tonight (bad timing there!).  I am really thrilled with how well it turned out.

Our beach day was perfect - the temperatures were in the low 80s and there was no humidity to notice at all.  After we left the beach, we went and had a late lunch/early dinner at our fave clam shack, so that was a treat as well.  Sadly, it's the first time we made it to the shore this year.  Not that we usually go every weekend, but almost always it's more than just once by this time during the summer.

I've also been knitting of course, and I gotta tell you - I was really hoping the Scattered Wishes shawl would be finished by Labor Day weekend.  Not because it had to be, just because I thought that would be a good time for it to be finished.  I am on the lace border, which is 26 rows - 13 lace-patterned, and the other 13 just knitting back.  As you may recall, lace knitting and I do not have a solid relationship  And that lace border is kicking my butt!  Whether or not I've been using a lifeline, regardless of how slowly I go, it's just been a mess.  I am however, determined to "get" it.  I am back at Row 1 of the border, and will try my practice of *only* working on it first thing in the morning when I am freshest (and possibly only on weekends), and only do two rows at a time.  Every time I feel confident going past the second row I'm doing, I screw up.  I'm sure it's as much psychological as anything else, but I am determined to get it done!  Maybe just not by Labor Day ... ;-)

My socks are going well, and I've been reading a book I'm really enjoying.  This morning I spent about an hour and a half cleaning up in the garden.  Other than watering things, when it's really hot and humid, I just can't handle cleaning up.  But it looks pretty good right now  A few of the flowers we planted never made it, so I just pulled them up, but others are doing OK, and some are very happy!

This has also recently started:

Here is Pip, happily curled up and napping.  You can't necessarily tell from the photo, but he has decided that the small cubby under the table in our TV watching area, where I keep my laptop, is his new fave place to relax and hang out,  He barely fits, and it takes him a few minutes to get situated.  He's content to be there whether or not the laptop is.  Sigh.  He is a weird cat!  If any of the others attempted this, he would narc them out in a second, especially if they got on top of the laptop ...

The weather is still nice here, which is enjoyable not just during the day, but nice for sleeping at night.  I keep thinking of everyone having to deal with the hurricane and its after effects in the Houston area, and hope they get some relief sooner rather than later.  It looks as if a lot of people are checking in on their neighbors and trying to help one another, and I know that some Philadelphia firefighters left today for the area to do what they could.  When something like this happens, it really does take a village.

And that's all from here on a Sunday night.  I hope you had a good weekend, and that the week ahead will treat you well.  I'll be back soon with a giveaway to celebrate (belatedly) my blog anniversary, so stay tuned!

The 12-Hour Beach Vacation

Last week at this time, I could not wait for the end of the workday (even more than usual), because we were going to leave after I got home for a long weekend in Rehoboth Beach with my niece Amanda and her husband Pat.  This had been planned for a few months, and to say I'd been looking forward to it would be an understatement.

When we go to Rehoboth Beach, Dug comes with us, and he *loves* it.  Amanda and Pat are two of his favorites, and he loves the house where we stay, because it has screened in back and front porches, and there is a little lake with a path around it in the back.  He thinks it's just the best.

The couple of days before, he'd had diarrhea, but he gets it occasionally, and nine times out of ten it clears up on its own.  So we piled ourselves and our stuff into the car, and arrived around 10:00 p.m.  We spent the rest of the evening laughing, talking, and drinking wine, and Dug went out a few times more than usual, but still just had the same problem, nothing else.  But overnight, he woke us up after having accidents two different times.  We figured we would run to the grocery store in the morning and get some chicken and rice and start him on a bland diet, as the vet usually suggests.

But in the morning the kitchen floor was covered in blood.  He seemed his usual self - not lethargic, or sick, or anything - but we decided we had to head home so we could take him to the vet.   So we ate breakfast, visited a little longer, and then packed up again and headed home.  We left around 10:00 a.m.

A 12-hour beach vacation.

Fortunately, the vet said he was fine overall, but was suffering from colitis, and would need some antibiotics for 7 days, and the chicken-rice diet for 10 days.  By Saturday he was fine, and by Sunday his system was reacting properly.

So instead of a beach vacation, we had a long weekend at home with absolutely no plans.  It turned out to be great.  Saturday we checked out a new outlet mall not far from us, where The Tim found two pairs of shoes, and I got a sweater.  Then we came home, relaxed, and watched the Notre Dame football game.   Sunday we worked on some projects around the house, and caught up on some movies we'd recorded.  Monday we got our Halloween decorations out (not that we have that many, but still it's fun to decorate) and made our house look a little more spooky than usual.

I wish we'd been able to stay at the beach, but it all worked out for the best.  I even finished a book and got a good amount of knitting accomplished!  But most importantly of all, by the end of the weekend, this guy was back to being 100% healthy, and trying on some Halloween  costumes.

To quote some famous guy, "All's well that ends well."