I'd Rather be Here

Ever have one of those days? You know the kind. You wake up and realize that it all started going wrong before you even woke up and there is no right side of the bed to get up on? Yeah, THAT kind of day. This is one of them.

So far today I have:

1. Woke up 2 hours late due to not setting the alarm the night before. Here is the "going wrong before you even wake up part".

2. Got fired. The conversation went like this:

NOTE: I love my job and have the best boss in the world. The above certainly helped to bring a spot of sunshine to my otherwise bleak morning. :P

3. Couldn't get out of my own way while getting ready for work. Probably a symptom of the weird time warp due to waking up late.

4. Dropped my keys in a snowbank, somewhere, while moving my trash barrel out of the way. One minute they were in my hand, the next they were gone, gone, gone... Most likely sucked into the weird time warp space void I created by getting up late this morning. A HUGE thank you out to my neighbor Shawn for helping me to locate them. "I just saw a small hole in the snow!" says he.

5. Nearly ran out of gas on the way to work. Perhaps I exaggerate a bit. Quite possibly I was just under an 1/8th of a tank and would have made it to work and back just fine. But hey, my mom said never to go under 1/4 in cold weather and it was 1 out. ONE, I tell you! (Fahrenheit, Becky, Fahrenheit). I think the gas in my truck was sucked out while I was sleeping late. Gas Siphoning Gremlins broke into my garage and drank my tank dry. Uh huh...

6. Left my work sweatshirt at home. Fresh out of the dryer this morning and ready to go. I can see it now, curled up happily in a patch of sun on my kitchen table... sleeping. I'm sure it's much happier there than here in the cold. cold, COLD office.

7. I left my "Shop Shoes" at home. In Canada, you have 2 pairs of shoes for work (and home) - You have the shoes that you wear to get to work (known as "Outside Shoes") and the shoes that you wear inside the building at work (home, Dr. Offices, friends houses, etc) known at our workplace as "Shop Shoes". My Shop Shoes are enjoying a day of leisure, at home, while I am wandering around in my stocking feet waiting for my Outside Shoes to dry...

Interesting how quickly a day can roll downhill, like a giant snowball. For now, I'll dream of being here instead:

Sand Art

Remember when you were a kid and you loved to draw and color?

I was fortunate enough to spend a couple of days at the beach in Florida with my amazing cousin, Gayle. What a joy it was to sit back and relax. Or in my case, smooth the sand and draw! I have to say that this was the most relaxing trip I have taken in a long time. No work phone, no email, limited online time... bliss!

I can't help but think of all of my friends back home and I hope to bring a smile to their faces and a bit of relaxation to their day.

Enjoy the pics

The Beach!



October 9th and we are off on an adventure, my cousin and I...

The destination?

FLORIDA! And on the way, adventure ensued...

We set out at 7:15am to drop of my cousin Gayle's daughter at school, planned on a quick stop at the local Race Way Convenience store for gas, coffee, water, and snacks, and figured we would soon be on our way. Our first stop, Albertville Middle School, was uneventful. A quick hug for my neice, a "have a great day" and she was off to higher learning for the day. Next up, Race Way.

We pulled into the parking lot and immediately noticed that there was quite a bit of activity. Namely 3 unmarked police vehicles, a suspect in hand cuffs, and at least a dozen under cover officers milling around a pickup truck at the gas pumps. And we had a front row view as we had unwittingly pulled up at the gas pump directly next to the action. One perp stuffed in the back of a car and several cops swarming his truck, all while glancing our way with a "um, what are you doing?" look on their faces, we set to gassing the car and shopping. According to the cashier, the police had been after this guy for quite a while and this morning, they got their man.

Safely away after the excitement, we were heading southeast towards Florida and the beach. A couple of hours of girl gab later, and we had driven straight past our exit off of RT 65. Recalculating, recalculating, recalculated! Every road leads to Florida apparently. Or at least every southbound road.

Along the way we saw quite a few cotton fields. I've never seen a cotton field in person. Perhaps I'll take a picture later. :D You know I will! A stop in Baker gave us the "Sign Store". For more on that, click here (coming soon - I've got to write it up).

After 6 hours of driving through forest land, we were delighted to make civilization and LUNCH! Peppers Mexican Restaurant and fresh Taco Salads (in taco shaped edible salad bowls!) were amazing!

2 minutes later, we were at the beach!

White sand, blue/green water, sun, surf, and NO RESPONSIBILITIES! :D Sign me up! This was the most relaxing day that I have spent in a long time.

More photos here.

The Beach

Sometimes you just need to spend a day at the beach.

My favorite beach is Short Sands Beach in York, Maine. I enjoy this beach more for the nostalgia that it creates than for anything else. In fact, it has become a terrible beach to swim at or walk on as Hurricane Sandy has removed most of the sand and left sharp rocks exposed on the shoreline. It is now a 15 minute, pain laden process to get out into the water for a swim. But we do it anyway because it is all part of what we are at this beach for.

Let me take you back in time. In the late 1970's, our family was living in Concord, NH. I'm not sure how we found Short Sands Beach but we did and thus began a family tradition. Each summer my mom would pack up a cooler with lunch, drinks, & snacks, and bundle the 3 of  us girls into the car with our swimsuits, blanket, towels, frisbees, and other general beach gear, and head to York, Maine for the day. We didn't usually make this trip more than once or twice a summer as it was an hour and a half drive from Concord to York.

Upon arrival, we would feed the meter with quarters and head down to the sand to locate the perfect spot to set up for the day. Blanket & towels arranged and cooler settled, we were off to the water. The rules were, don't go in past your armpits, stay together, and try to remain in a direct line with the blanket (or as close as possible so Mom could find us). Hours of swimming, splashing, body surfing, seaglass hunting, and shell collecting awaited us!

My mom was the best packed lunch maker ever! She didn't pack pre-made peanut butter and jelly. No, she would pack all the fixings for BLT's so that we could build our own at lunchtime. There were always chips, veggies, fruit, and some form of juice in the orange tupperware juice pitcher. Yeah, you know the one, with the button on the top of the lid. Our favorite juice was what has recently become known in our family as Nonna Juice (because my Mom is now Nonna and she always makes it) - Grape juice mixed with Lemonade.

After lunch there was THE GOLDENROD! This is an old fashion restaurant, soda/ice cream bar, and TAFFY FACTORY right on the beach! This is the magic of Short Sands Beach. The taffy is made in the window. You can watch the process from the syrup cooking in the copper kettles all the way through cooling, flavoring, stretching, and wrapping. And of course, you can then go in and buy a box! The smell is amazing outside the plate glass windows as you watch the process. Even now, 35 years later, I am in love with the smell and watching the taffy be made.

Flash forward to 1992 - I took my son for his first trip to York Beach and made it a tradition that we go at least once a year. It soon became a frequent destination when we moved to the Seacoast area in 1994. I have pictures of Matthew eating ice cream, licking giant lollipops, carrying his younger cousins on his shoulders to see the taffy being made, playing on the playground, and posing in the infamous Dead Bear Shirt. It is safe to say that he is as much in love with the memories as I am. My recent Facebook post while home on vacation indicated I was headed to the beach and taffy. His response: "BRING ME ALL THE TAFFYS". Needless to say, he received a 2lb box on my way through Chicago. <3

My last trip to Short Sands Beach was today, with my Mom. It is the last day of my vacation in NH and I couldn't think of anything I would rather do than sit on the beach, soak up the sun, splash in the waves, visit the shops, and have a bite to eat with my Mom. This has been the most relaxing day of my entire visit and I enjoyed every second of it.