good or bad, we posted a CL ad for the deceased xterra before heading into town for more car shopping this morning.  hubby’s phone did not stop ringing all day.  we actually had people waiting in the parking garage to look at it when we got home tonight.  craziness.  and yet my furniture that i’ve been trying to sell on CL for the last four months… crickets.  so, after fielding calls, texts, and emails all day while trying desperately to find our new car, our xterra is now gone.  sold for more than we asked for it (which doesn’t surprise me so much since the volume of response must mean we way underpriced it). 

so long, old friend

she has been such a good car

she has carried us (and housed us) all over this country

and now the pressure is really on for us to find something.  and i learned something very interesting about the auto industry today… turns out most of the big name dealerships are closed on sundays.  while i generally respect a corporation that holds on to that kind of value, i was a bit shocked about it in this industry since it seems to me that most people only really have time to car shop on weekends.  i guess maybe that’s just us though.  anyhow, we could only find two dealerships open today and one of them took up almost the whole afternoon.  we test drove three more cars and still don’t know what we want.  we’re all over the place.  i think the current front runners are the hyundai elantra gt, honda civic lx, toyota prius ii (hippies!), and volkswagen jetta.  all over the place, i tell ya.

i was in a pretty dark place when i disappeared from here back in 2011. i won’t dwell on that. a brand new, sparkly year has come around and it is going to be a great one! afterall, it’s ’13… my lucky number! 2012 ended up being a pretty good year in its own right.

• after spending the month of december 2011 and january 2012 in the hospitals with hubby’s mom (stroke) and my dad (broken hip), everyone was healthy and happy for the holidays this year. MIL is still working hard on her road to recovery and dad has a new health concern that has left him doing monthly treatments all year but they are still in our lives and they are back to enjoying their own lives (dad is especially enjoying his retirement that he finally earned in 2012!).
• i signed up for my 3rd half marathon and sold my registration after a month of training.  i wasn’t feeling it and i have no regrets about it.  it was a great decision.
• i dropped 40 pounds in seven months by making healthy choices.  i exercised more regularly (aquajogging rawks!), watched my portions better, and became more conscientious of where my calories were coming from (no, i do not need that giant glass of milk every night with dinner, no matter how much i love it!).  i now fit into clothes i haven’t been able to wear in about eight years.  sadly, i had just given away the majority of my skinny clothes a couple months before i started this life change so it was a heavy shopping year. 
• i gained back five of those pounds over vacation and the holidays but i’m so not worried about that.
• vacation was epic!  it’ll take me forever to get the travel log finished since there are over 3k photos for me to sort through and narrow down but it was a month of living history.  hubby and i both hit our #1 bucket list destinations (israel and egypt, respectively) and so much more.  i still can’t believe we saw all that we saw. 
• my brudder gave me a new niece and she is perfection.



• we moved into a new home, which is almost the same as our previous home except that we no longer have noise above us.  the moving stress was nearly too much for me but we are doing all the upgrades we always wanted to do and it is turning into a gorgeous, if slightly smaller, home.

the most important thing about 2012 is that we got back to focusing on fun and happiness and i quit letting so much gloom in.  the fact that everyone keeps complementing me on my svelteness has also helped my self-esteem.

some friends of ours host an annual memorial day weekend party at their sister’s lake house. we went last year and had an awesome time. this year, they totally outdid themselves by booking our favorite atlanta band, the bastard suns. i really don’t know how they can possibly top this one.

we got there early in the afternoon and i immediately joined the floatillion in the water while hubby headed straight to the boat with mello to get the skurfing started.

there was a lot of floating around

when scooter and sunny showed up with the suns, i got out for a while to hang out with sunny on the beach. one of these days we need to figure out how to teach her to swim so she can feel comfortable getting in the water with us.

and hanging out on the "beach"

aside from floating, there were plenty of activities. watersports included the skurfing and wakeboarding on the boat, jet skis, and the extremely popular yolo boards. on the beach there was volleyball, bocce ball, ladder ball, bean bag toss, and horseshoes.

hubby paddling by

it was a terrific day but things definately cranked up after sundown.

when the sun went down, the party got loud

mello and nightingale’s oldest son started out the entertainment with his two-person band, it’s not lupus.

"it's not lupus" was the opening band

everyone brought their chairs and blankets up from the beach to relax and be entertained.

hubby and me, enjoying the show

after it’s not lupus, the bastard suns took the “stage”. we’ve been to many of their shows but it was something special to have hung out with them all day and then have a private show from them. the sound was spectacular, though i’m not sure how much the neighbors around the lake appreciated it. they played at least a dozen songs, including rip which they rarely perform live but they played it in honor of all of the men/women who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country. they also played every time i drink, another rare live song which i begged them to play at the last show we went to and they promised “next time”. it was such a great show!

our own private concert from "the bastard suns"

best suns show ever!

after the suns played, there was some makeshift karoake including a suns number sung butchered by hubby, clydesdale, and scooter. the suns suffered through it and advised them not to leave their songs to them. the party went on late into the night before air matresses started to get blown up and laid out all over the house. the next morning several people, including our hosts clydesdale and chef, got up at daylight to get in some final skurfing and yolo boarding. after a hearty breakfast, graciously provided by chef and her sis-in-law (the home owner), our hosts conked out from exhaustion and we headed home.

     

the rest of the pix can be viewed here.

of course, we all know that memorial day is not just about cooking out and having fun. it’s a time to remember all of those who have paid the highest possible price to buy our nation’s freedom and safety. monday morning started with me weeping my way through the film taking chance. if you haven’t seen it, you should. it is beautifully done.

hubby is now half of an iron man!  he completed his first 70.3 event this past weekend and i couldn’t be more proud of him.  for those not in the know, a half iron distance triathlon consists of a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile (half marathon) run.  below is a short storyboard of his journey but the rest of the photos can be found here.

diving in (red wetsuit)

smiling after 1.2 miles in the gulf

a nice wave to the wife on his way out to the bike course

back after 56 miles of pedalling

looking good at the start of the run

that is 100% awesomeness crossing the finish line after a 13.1 mile run!

"1.2 swim, 56 bike, 13.1 run... and your hair still looks great!!!"

hubby stood up a few minutes ago, looked out the window, and yelled MANATEE!  quickly, i grabbed the camera and followed him outside.  it’s only the third we’ve seen here so it’s very exciting 😀  i know the pix aren’t great but considering we’re on the 23rd floor and the surf is up today so focus was shifting a lot… i’m pretty pleased. 

distinctive shape in the water

taking a breather

going back down

a little tail

i completed my second half marathon sunday.  if you’ve read the last few posts, you know i was very concerned about it because my body decided to rebel against me for my last two weeks of training.  add to that the fact that saturday night was thunderstorms and crazy winds.  i was anxious sunday morning.  happily, everything came together to make for a great race day.  i got a decent-for-me night’s sleep, going to sleep about 2100 and waking at 0300, then dozing on/off until the alarm went off at 0500.  the rain cleared out while we were driving over there.  it was cool and windy waiting for the start but there were really only a few short stretches where the wind was truly sucky.  the temperature stayed nice and cool and it was cloudy the whole time so i didn’t have the sun beating down on me, burning me up.  i was aware of my vengeful knee and hip but they weren’t debilitating like they were for my twelve mile training run a couple weeks ago. 

so we got there and found several friends and got in the corral with them even though they were way further up than i should have been pace-wise.  the gun went off and we waited patiently to cross the start line. within seconds, of course, they were gone.  i started my race with laughter because my ipod, with 12.5 hours worth of tunes set to shuffle, chose to start me off with “this one’s gonna hurt” and i just found the irony darned amusing.   i started out faster than i should have but with the crowd pushing around me and my maniacal laughter, that’s to be expected.  i was at a 12′ pace the first half mile and purposely slowed myself down to 13′ by the one mile marker.  by then, the crowds were gone and it was just us slow-pokes.  i think i was at mile 3.8 when the first place guy passed heading the other way (we heard he had just finished when i was around 5.7).  that’s the one really nice thing about an out-and-back course… i love getting to see the crowd going the other way and cheer for them.  sometimes they even cheer back.  i was around 4.5 miles when we started seeing some friends in their final stretch, which is a lot of fun.  truth be told, we have two friends who have just starting running in the last few months and this was their first half… i was secretly hoping to beat them and was disappointed that they passed me so early in the race.  i finally saw them again around mile six which meant they were about a mile ahead of me.  when i got to the turnaround, i hubby commented about how they weren’t that far ahead of me and i expressed my doubts of catching them.  around 7.5, i found them and jogged along with them for a few minutes before giving them some encouragement and moving on.  inside, i was quite pleased.  i knew i hadn’t pulled too far ahead of them because at mile 10 or so, one of them pulled up next to me and we chatted a bit.  honestly, he’s quite a bit faster than me but he was being a good spouse and helping his hubby push through it.  i can totally respect that.  that last couple miles, i felt myself dragging a bit but i truly hit a wall.  i managed to pick it up for the last half mile and even managed a decent sprint for that last .1.  i crossed the finish line with a smile on my face and arms wide open.  it was a very different experience from last year.  a friend from ‘bama who just happened to be vacationing in that town last week was at the finish line and gave me a big hug and congratulations.  a couple minutes later, our friends completed their first half and there were many hugs and congratulations. 

i finished eleven minutes faster than last year and felt better, physically and mentally, about it.  so me being me, i figured i’d do an analytical comparison:

last year, 112 people finished after me, 3 in my age/group.  this year, 180 people finished after me, 22 in my age/group.  while that looks like a vast improvement, i had to take into consideration the fact that there were a lot more finishers this year so i did percentages to track my progress.  i improved by 2.68% overall and 7.03% in my age group – although that’s not really a fair comparison either since i’ve moved into a new age group but i don’t have any good way to normalize that.  i find it interesting that i only passed one person on the 2nd split last year but this year i passed 61 people that second half.  although, since my negative split was actually smaller this year, i can’t really count that as my accomplishment… it just means there were more people improperly trained who fell apart after the turnaround.  all in all, no matter what, i am thrilled with my progress.  i’m especially thrilled with how much stronger of a runner i am.  despite the knee/hip injuries, i am really so much stronger than i was a year ago.  i made it through most of my training without motrin, i have had no shin splints at all, and i’m faster and less tired.  that’s awesome!

warming up my poor boy before the race

i definitely looked more like a runner this year

had a lot more energy too. i looked totally beat before i had even gotten to the turnaround last year but this year i was still having fun and going strong around mile 10 in this pic.

of course, some things don't change at all.

this year i finished with victory arms but hubby didn't catch them in this pic.

my husband totally rocks for running with me and helping me through it. especially since he was already starting to come down with the flu.

time, bling, and purse (strap)

and because i was so much more awesome this year, even the bling was bigger!

alright, so i know that i was dreading the whole birthday thing but i’ve gotta give my hubby credit.  he did a spectacular job of making it the best day ever.  i  was overwhelmed with the thought that he put into making me feel special and loved.  after a day of one suprise after another, he shared his “master plan” with me during dinner:

30 presents for my beautiful wife Arcanai

1. Start of 30 I Love You’s for the day 6:00 – he started out taking a huge risk… his alarm went off at 05:45!  said i, “why is your alarm going off?”  “we’re going out.”  “seriously?!”  of course, while he’s getting out of bed and getting ready, i’m laying there thinking it’s sunday and my sleep-in day and we didn’t get home from the mma fights until after 01:00 so i’ve only had a few hours of sleep.  he lucked out because i had way too much water while eating dinner at midnight so i had actually just gotten back in bed when his alarm went off.  i would have been much less amicable to the idea had i been asleep. 
2. Start of 30 kisses for the day
3. Start of 30 hugs for the day
4. Sunrise at end of pier 6:30 – so he got me out of bed and we headed down to the pier to watch the sunrise.  it was our first time on the new pier and i was surprised at how far it went out.  we were the only ones out there so it was peaceful and quiet and just a lovely morning.  we watched the sun gather its glory from behind our building, ultimately rising over a building a couple doors down from us.   my boy hugged me and loved on me while we enjoyed the start of the new day.  when we started walking back down the pier, the dolphins showed up and we stuck around a bit longer to watch them make their morning trek down the beach.
5. Walk on the beach (quality time) – this got skipped because i was pretty chilly after being out in the cool wind on the pier in my flip-flops and so when he asked if i wanted to go down to the beach i told him my feet were too cold.  he made sure to make it up with another “gift” later in the day… a haircut that about made him wanna cry 🙂
6. Bubble Bath – when we got back, he drew a nice hot bubble bath to warm me up.  it was heavenly.
7. Breakfast in Bed – and when i got out of the bath, he tucked me into bed and served me breakfast… eggs cooked perfectly over medium with bacon and cheese biscuits. 
8. Personal Birthday Card (nothing bought) – this was sitting on my breakfast tray.  a nice little handmade card that says

30 years ago the world got one special girl.  One that would become my wife, partner, and best friend.  I hope today and every day you know how much I love you.

9. Morning Massage (30 Minutes) – after we had finished eating, he pulled out the massage lotion and i was treated to a fabulous full-body massage that lasted nearly an hour. 
10. Birthday Morning Nap– between the hot bubble bath, full belly, and relaxing massage, i was totally ready for the nap!
11. Pier Park Shopping – where i got this very cute blouse
12. Lunch at Pier Park – mmmpanera
13. Marble Slab – omg, it has been so long!  i had the cheesecake ice cream with strawberries mixed in.  so, so good.
14. Trip to Panama City Beach Winery for Wine Tasting – this is such a fun winery.  they do unique and fruity wines and free tastings.
15. Buy Arcanai’s Favorite bottle from the tasting – i was torn between the kiwi, cranberry, and blueberry.  i ended up going with the blueberry but foresee the cranberry in my future as well.
16. Trip to Wal-Mart (we never do anything without going to Wal-Mart) – LOL!!!  i love that he included this on his list.  it’s so true!
17. Birthday Flowers – these lovely tulips.  i heart tulips.
18. Birthday Cake – mmmmcarvelcake
19. 1:33 in the afternoon birth time (Happy Birthday Song)
20. Good ole fashioned spanking 30 lashes – yep, he went there 🙂
21. Funny Movie (holding down couch) – inglorious basterds.  this actually happened before lunch because i needed some time to wake up after the nap.
22. Evening Massage (30 minutes) – this came after the walk on the beach below.  i was shocked when i was instructed to lay down for ANOTHER massage.  i informed him that he was spoiling me and this was going to have to become the sunday norm!
23. Walk on Beach 4:45 (quality time) – we got back from the mall and headed out to the beach for a short walk.  the sand was not nearly as cold as it would have been in the morning.
24. Sunset on Beach – sadly, the clouds were not cooperative.  we stayed on the beach hoping for a sunset but it never came.
25. Personal Bath – this is where he shampooed and conditioned my hair (scalp massage) and then cut it against his will.
26. Dinner with friends Bone Fish Grill 6:30 – there were sixteen of us in all.  good friends, great conversation, fabulous food!
27. Glass of Wine
28. Night Time Walk on beach – dinner ran long so we skipped this to visit with our friends from atlanta, the bastard suns, who were passing through for the night on their winter tour.  they stay at scooter/sunny’s house when they come to town.  sadly, they’re playing an hour away on TUESDAY night so i don’t think we’re going to get to watch them this time around.
29. Hot Tub– i love hot-tubbing on a cool night with a glass of wine 🙂
30. Romantic Movie – when in rome.  the car scene cracks me up!

what a crazy, social, fun halloween weekend!  several weeks ago, sunny invited us to a punkin carving party so the fun started when hubby brought this cutie home earlier this week.

a right cute lil fella

dexter and his victim

dexter hubby

    

punkins of the night

this is my little guy:

my bats in the bellfry

saturday found us going to two parties.  some friends invited us to their big neighborhood party and some other friends invited us to the costume bash at our favorite local club to celebrate halloween and a birthday.  this was the start of my costume prep:

candy corn manicure

i really do love this costume.  sad that i’ll probably need to retire it now that i’ve worn it in both towns i’m likely to.  i even got asked to be in the costume contest at the club.  sadly, i didn’t make it to the final round but i was proud to get recognized.

working the candy corn

arrested for stealing candy corn?

we headed to the first party around quarter of 6 and didn’t get home from the second until 02:00. that’s a lot of candy corning around!  sunday afternoon, we got an invitation to a cookout that we couldn’t refuse.  being social is a blast but i need a weekend to recuperate now!

 

i have very mixed feelings about the matter.  i thought i would cross the finish line with a sense of accomplishment.  i felt… nothing of the sort.  i felt relief at being done.  i felt pride in having such a truly awesome group of friends hanging around just to cheer me on.  but i did not feel like i had really DONE anything; it just didn’t feel like a big deal.  which made me just a little sad because, for me, this should have been a big deal.  it’s so much more than i ever could have seen myself doing.  not because i didn’t think i could but because i never had the desire.  about the only thing that i really felt good about was my time.  after all of my training, i was certain that it was going to take me three hours and fifteen minutes to run a half marathon.  i didn’t see any way around that.  my official chip time was 3:03:54.  i ran it more than eleven minutes faster than i realistically thought i could.  granted, i would have loved to have gotten down to under three hours but i finished knowing that there was absolutely no way that i could have done that today.  i left nothing on the course.  i also felt good about having a negative split.  the second half of my race was nearly two minutes faster than the first half.

hanging toward the back of the crowd to start - the blue shirt just right of my head is cargo starting his 2nd half mary

honestly, i had fun.  i really did.  the first nine miles, i was having just a great time.  after nine miles, i became aware of my legs.  they weren’t hurting or over-tired but i just suddenly felt them.  of course, that’s about the time that the course got a little lonely too.  it was an out-and-back course so the first half, i was able to cheer on all of the fast folks who were already heading back toward me.  when i finally reached the turn-around and started back myself, i had the slower folks still heading out to cheer on.  it made me feel good to cheer others on, whether they really needed it or not.  and it was a thrill every time we passed one of our friends; totally recharged me.  somewhere around the nine mile mark, we had already gone by all of the slower people so it was pretty much just me and my husband. 

at least there were some scenic stretches

look, i'm a runner

and, while i’m on that subject – my husband rocks!  i could not have done that race without him.  he bandited so that he could trot along with me.  he talked with me and kept me company.  he carried the camera to take pix of me and all of our friends.  most importantly, he did all of my aid station stops for me.  when we approached a table, he would grab the bottles out of my fuel belt and go fill them – one with water and one with gatorade.  i never had to stop at a table so i was able to do my walk/fuel breaks when i wanted or needed to rather than when the course dictated them.

my favorite pic of the day; i made hubby stop to take it. if you know him, you know why.

anyhow, i still felt pretty good going past the twelve mile mark.  i was a little surprised because i was sure i should have hit my “wall”.  i became confident that if i hadn’t hit it yet, i wouldn’t.  i looked at my watch and thought i’d be able to finish strong and beat three hours.  and then, the last half mile, there it was.  WHAM!  having never hit a wall before, i could not believe just how debilitating it was.  within mere seconds i went from feeling like i had it in the bag to feeling like i couldn’t possibly pick up my legs anymore.  i have no idea how i managed to keep them moving that last .5 mile.  by the time i finally turned a corner and saw the finish line in the distance, i was chanting to myself that i could do it.  luckily, that was the same time i started to hear my friends screaming my name and the very same sentiments.  that was what i needed to push me.  i found just enough energy to carry myself across the line and i was so glad to be done.  i had intended to pay attention to my finish line photo but i was just too daggum tired to lift my arms in victory.  my friend tat greeted me with a big hug and praise when i crossed and i couldn’t even lift my arms to hug her back.  i was done. 

DONE. in every sense of the word.

i walked around a while, choked down a banana, picked up my medal and my ugly purse, and went back to the line to wait for another friend who had not yet finished.  i walked up the course a bit so that i could meet her and cheer her to the end.  i am so glad that i did not finish with her.  the finish line had been taken down by the time she finished and the crowds were all gone.  i would have been so demoralized.  i’m not sure how she felt about it all but i’m glad that i was there for her.  she was crying by the time she finally crossed where the line had been. 

showing off my well-earned blingage and ugy purse

all in all, it was a positive experience and i’m glad i did it.  it was just a disappointment that it didn’t make me feel better about myself.  and, though the race was quite a bit of fun, the weeks of training were horrible torture that i don’t think i would readily endure again.  we’ll see though.  with this group of nutty friends, anything is possible.

it's official. i'm a half-marathoner

i really did make an effort to be more prepared for my travel log this time but <insert excuse here>.  so, as far as writing, i’m up to day 8 of 14, which really isn’t bad except for the fact that it’s exactly where i was when we got off the ship.  hubby used bioligical warfare on me, infecting me with the cold that he had for the entire vacation, so i’ve been feeling pretty lousy this week.  i know, it’s always excuses with me.  so now i’m trying to decide whether to finish writing or start on pix and get the first half of the trip posted before finishing the rest.  we’ll see.  i’d like to get it knocked out this weekend but i can’t make any promises.  saturday is the florida ironman and all of our friends will be working the event so, most likely, we will too.  we sure have missed everyone around here and we’re looking forward to seeing everyone at the bridge tonight (even though i’m still barely able to breath and my lungs hurt).  it truly is nice to be home and it’s been a beautiful week here.  we’ve had open-window weather all week and the backyard has been gorgeous. 

anyhow, as a show of good faith, i offer these three pix…

this is my favorite pic of hubby and me lately.  it’s from our last night on the cruise, taken by our new alaskan friends.

this was the sunset on our first night back home again.

this is the backyard today.  the tide is coming in some, this morning there were a lot more of those big sandbars.

so last thursday, i broke down and bought a netbook.  i’ve been eyeing her for a couple of weeks but i was hesitant because she’s about the only netbook out there that comes with vista instead of xp.  to be fair, i’ve never used vista but i’ve also never heard good things about it.  when we stopped at walmart for groceries after the bridge run, i decided to go back and see if they had any in stock.  they had one.  and then i noticed the little sign up next to the price tag that said computers with vista on them get a free upgrade to windows 7.  and so i bought her.  unfortunately, we had a lot of errands to run on our way home so, by the time we got there, i was about ready for bed.  i opened the box to look her over but that was it. 

friday morning, the first thing i did was go to windows’ website to read up on this free upgrade deal.  i found that my model, acer aspireone 751h, was indeed eligible for the upgrade so i went on to filling out screens to pre-order my copy of 7.  a couple screens in, it asked for the serial number so i got her back out of the box, gently turned her over, and entered her numbers just to be told by the website that her serial number is ineligible for the upgrade offer.  what?!  so i got to looking around more and found that the upgrade was only eligible for three versions of vista and that the vista basic was not one of them.  i was hurt and angry on behalf of poor cirrus.  and i was confused because, from what i can tell, this model only comes with vista basic so how can the model be eligible if it only comes with an os that is ineligible?  regardless, i felt like i had been duped and was saddened to find myself thinking of returning her. 

there was another model at walmart for the same price but it was 1gb memory and 160gb hard disk.  cirrus has 2gb memory and 250gb hard disk.  not to mention an extra inch and a half over all other models and a full size keyboard.  i really, really liked her.  i looked and looked and couldn’t find any other make or model of netbook with those stats for anywhere near the $300 price range. 

i struggled for several days with the decision:  to return or not to return.  fortunately, i have some awesome friends with much more computer knowledge than myself and dc was able to assuage my concerns about vista. 

feeling much better about the matter, i booted cirrus up for the first time tonight.  and, though i fully acknowledge her drawbacks – inadequate processor seems to be the biggest to me – i am smitten.  she has the most gorgeous screen.  and her keyboard is so easy to type on.  she is white (okay, i would have preferred red but this was the only one they had in stock and white was my second preference  – but i won’t tell her that because i don’t want to give her a complex) and quiet and cool and light as a cloud (yes, these are the reasons for her name).  she’ll even fit in my old purse.  i will say that vista is every bit as frustrating and crappy as everyone says but i’m good.

so, without further ado, i introduce cirrus:

and posing with my work pc to show off her svelteness:

last year’s lobsterfest sand sculpture contest seemed to be a much bigger event than this year.  this year, there were less than ten sculptures, easily half of what we saw last year (although, sadly, i didn’t have a camera with me then).  we met up with scooter and sunny to hang out for a while.  we toured the piles of sand and waited for the first lobster weigh in.  it made for a fun, but super-freaking-hot, afternoon. and i had to cut it a little short for a girls-nigh-out dinner with panda and her friends.

first up, the amateur sculptures.  we had a buxom mer-lobster and seashell:

followed by a mer-lobster dude with a wicked six-pack:

of course, there are a few that did not pass my standards for posting but i had to include this cute little punch-bug.  these pix don’t really show all the details but there are windshield wipers, a vw emblem on the front, a peace sign on the back, and door handles.  i think it’s cute, i reply.

 this was the winner of the day.  i’m guessing not only because of the excellent execution and difficulty of technique (lots of arch pieces in the legs) but because it also did the best job of sticking with this year’s theme of “lobster sub”, which, by the way, was also exemplified by the world-record seventy foot lobster sub sandwich that was made and eaten earlier in the day.  anyhow, the winning sculpture also included a small replica of the restaurant which doesn’t seem to be in the pix i chose to post.  i loved the smile.

here’s the professional sculpture for this year.  while it is pretty cool, i don’t think it’s nearly as impressive as last year’s. 

and here was the first weigh-in of the tournament.  i think he was like 9.3lbs or so.  a friend of ours, stretch, has the winning team every year.  i think he said theirs was 10.8lbs.  that’s a lot of lobster.  moreover, have you ever noticed how freaking ugly these things are?  seriously, who wants to put that in their mouth?

so, as is to be expected when you live at the beach and have visitors… most of the week was spent in or around the water. 

hubby

CIL/sherlock

cousin/writersblock

my cousin’s friend and her son came down from ‘bama tuesday night and they stayed through thursday.  wednesday, while we labored, they went to pensacola to see the blue angels train.  sounded like they had a lot of fun.  they spent thursday on the beach and touring town so as to leave us a nice, quiet work environment and then we dragged them to the bridge for some much needed torture.  happily, it was a much better run for my cousin than our midnight run and i think she had fun (in as much as forcing your body to drag itself over a bridge can be fun).  for me, it was my first time ever doing two laps over the bridge!  granted, i had to start thirty minutes before everyone else in order to finish with the rest of them and i was ready to die at the end, but i did two laps! 

friday, we took another day off and went to the state park so that they could do some fishing from the jetty.  while they were out in heat fishing, i found a nice shady gazebo and grabbed a nap.  until i was awoken by the naval hovercraft coming through the pass.

cool breeze + shade + beach sounds = naptime

hovercrafts are noisy

but still pretty cool - how do i get me one?

after doing some more touring of the park, we came back home where i started on dinner while hubby kayaked and cousin and CIL fished in the backyard.  apparently i missed quite the catch by my cousin when her fish decided to exact revenge by covering her in a healthy coat of blood.  obligatory in-mouth-spurts included.  blech!  sadly, this is also when she discovered that her brand new waterproof camera (same model as my cobalt) had died a watery death.  very, very, very sad, that.  after my fabulous dinner of bacon-wrapped fillets, asparagus, and cob corn, we all headed back down to the beach for some night fishing.  sadly, my cousin did not have any more spectacularly bloody catches but both CIL and hubby managed to reel something in.

writersblock assembling the perilous pink pole

sherlock's big beef stick strikes again!

sherlock's haul

hubby's proud catch

sherlock eyeing hubby's big fish

before leaving this morning, they took one last fishing trip to the beach.  i’m glad they enjoyed it so much but it’s a shame they didn’t get their fishing licenses earlier in the week so that they could have had fishing fun every day.  after a good breakfast, they got on the road around lunchtime.  it was a wonderful visit with my favoritest extended family!