Vacation- day 1

Well last Monday I finally reached it- vacation! I was totally stressed out and of course Sunday call was super busy with lots of parent calls, neeing to see a baby born 6 weeks early just as I was about to leave the hospital, and some calls even after midnight when I was technically on vacation.

That morning we got up quite early, dropped off the necessary papers at work to inform my boss of the details of my phone calls and baby patients. We then took off in the murk and 40 degree weather for Savannah. I was so tired I actually slept in the car which never happens!

We got there about 11, after a stop in Dublin at Cracker Barrell for breakfast. We had the best waitress there- she was super sweet. She saw my face when she offered me coffee initially and kept my cup filled the entire time despite her being busy. And then when we left she gave me a full to go cup to take with me. Needless to say she got a great tip. Anywho, when we arrived in Savannah we found our hotel but couldn't check in yet, so we took the map they gave us and started walking. Eventually it warmed up a little. We walked all around River and Bay streets, looking in galleries and outdoor markets. We saw St. John's Cathedral, which was right near our inn. We went up and down Broughton St, and Bull St. We just basically walked all day.

In the evening, we checked in and then headed back to Fiddlers Crab shack for some fresh but not expensive seafood. The dinner was great, but we sat outside so I got eaten by midges. Who knew they bit? and HURT? But we met a nice older couple from Minnesota and a couple with a baby from Augusta. He was fussy and J was still eating so i got to hold him and play with him while they finished dinner. They thanked me a lot, but honestly I think they did me a favor.

To finish off the night we wewnt down the road to Kevin Barry's, an Irish pub with live music every night. They even had a listening room with no smoking where we sat and drank beer and sang Irish folk song for several hours before stumbling home to bed.

Vacation- day 2

The second day, we headed out to Tybee Island after breakfast. The drive was beautiful, and it was so good to smell the ocean again. We went into one of the local stores to get T-shirts and met a nice vendor from Miami. He gave us a preseason discount, but it might have just been because he liked me. Anyway we ended up getting towels and bathing suits since it was so warm out and then we went swimming!!!

The beach was beautiful with a long pier that stretched out far into the ocean. We walked out to the end and saw a man who had just caught a small shark and was throwing it back. Then we went down to the beach and waded into the water. To me it wasn't very cold, but J thought otherwise. I went all the way in fairly quickly and hung out in the waves for a while before going back in to get J, who eventually made it all the way in with me. We stayed in for about a half hour and then took a long walk on the beach. We ended up collecting shells for about an hour before heading to the lighthouse (sadly closed) and Fort Pulaski.

The fort was an amazing feat of engineering, a huge masonry fort with cannon that could fire 5 miles or more. Unfortunately, it was finished just before the invention of rifled cannon so though it took 8 years to build it only lasted 2 days in the Civil War. The rifled cannon were aimed at one spot and broke through the wall, giving the Union a straight shot to the munitions where there was 40000 lb of gunpowder...so fight over. I got a very nice set of glass pens and colored inks there.

Before we headed home we went to a live jazz and tapas bar for dinner and then went home.

Vacation- the rest

The rest of vacation was pretty calm really. We came back late Tuesday night much to the joy of our dogs. We spent Wednesday recuperating. Thursday we were going to go to Chattanooga but were too tired. Friday we spent the day up in Bethlehem visiting our old neighbors.

On Saturday I headed off camping with my closest friends and J stayed home. The camp was wet but otherwise quite pretty. My friends were as always fabulous. We had a big potluck dinner that night, drinking scoth and whickey around the fire. We ate a multitude of smores and chocolate dipped, whip cream topped strawberries for desert. Everyone sat around talking until late in the evening and then we drifted off one by one to our sleeping bags.

Sunday morning I packed up and headed back home. There was laundry doing and dish washing, getting ready for work the next day. But most of the afternoon and evening I spent hanging out with J and trying to calm down the dogs who were still quite upset by my multiple absences.

And that was all.

FYI- other issues

Finances- OK if just barely. Between the little spending we did on vacation and J getting paid a week late things were really close to the wire for a minute (like dollars from overdraft. Now that his check is in the bank we should be OK baring major unforseen expenses. Sadly this left us with a small amount of credit card to pay down but less than $500 which should be pretty easy especially if we sell the house.

House- The house is under contract, the inspection done. I'm waiting to hear from our realtor about the negotitions about the reapirs after inspection. I've emailed J's ex and hopefully the rest of the process will go smoothly.

Car- Finally got the insurance company to pay the repair shop. They think I'll have my car back within the week. All the repairs are covered excet for some minor damage to the front door. That I'll have to pay out of pocket.