Thursday, June 25, 2009

The Weather is Here, Wish You Were Beautiful...


Finally getting my land legs back after being on vacation for a week, I realized I had sorely neglected my writing. So much sand, sun and fun with the family left hardly any time to write or read. I am certainly not complaining about my vacation. But my usual day always includes writing for a minimum of thirty minutes.
The kids had a blast, scooting from the ocean to the pool, and then back again. We had a wonderful view from the twenty-third floor. And, I managed to get vaguely beige in the sun (since my skin color can never actually be called "tan").

We started the trip in a way that gave me grave concern: First, I broke my toe before we ever finished packing. I banged it on a chair in such a way and in such a velocity that I knew instantly it was broken. Fortunately, it was the middle toe at the very end. So, while it was a very unattractive purplish-black all week long, it bothered me very little.

Secondly, it took the eleven of us thirteen-and-a-half hours to make the eight-hour trip. Between church, bathroom breaks and food stops, we averaged at least a stop every couple of exits. We were more than slightly batty by the time we were pulling our luggage onto the valet cart.

The very good news is that we were lulled to sleep that night by the sounds of the ocean, and all was forgotten by the morning. We got up and stepped straight into our swimming suits. Then we put on sunblock with such voraciousness that it felt like the equivalent of wrapping ourselves in tent tarp. Regardless of all our outstanding efforts, we all managed to get burned somewhere on our bodies. And now we are all peeling like an entire tribe of lepers.
The top meal of the week goes to my brother and sister-in-law, who made a chicken Parmesan, which, as my dear hubby would say, "could make you want to slap your mama!" The only thing topping that was, as usual, her fabulous dessert, which was a brownie torte this year (YUM!)!

The top event, according to the kids, was a tie between put-put and driving the go-carts. We adults favored hanging out by the ocean under a tent that hubby had erected for us.

We had many funny moments, like when my niece was "fixing" my younger daughter's hair, and just about pulled every hair out of her head. The very serious paper football game between hubby and all the kids made for quite a few giggles. And the funniest morning hair went hands-down to my nephew.

Number 3 quote of the week is by my hubby: "Am I getting too much sun?"

Number 2 quote of the week is by my son: "Why isn't Father's Day during football season?"

Number 1 quote of the week is by my nephew, as we were bobbing around in the ocean: "You know, when you pee in the water, fish try to nibble your toes."

It was a wonderful vacation. As always, I didn't want to leave. And, as always, I've already started the count-down for next year's trip.

I'm glad to be back in my own bathroom and in my own bed. And I'm glad to be writing again. But, I'm pretty sure I could write at the beach... Well, I could try, anyway...



Saturday, June 13, 2009

Just A Little Note...

I had the pleasure today to meet with a very talented group of creative, inviting people, who are writers. When we introduced ourselves, I mentioned that I have a website called: http://www.mommybarbie.com/. After we left, I realized I had been busy writing other things and really had not posted much lately on my blog.

However, I have been blogging about a Faith Journey my family is taking this summer at: http://faithwalk-about.blogger.com. And I have also been writing an historical fiction novel about Elizabeth, John the Baptist's mother.

I also wanted to mention that I have some favorite past entries from my blog that will (hopefully) give the reader a snapshot of the kind of thing this blog is about.


  1. "Mommy Barbie"- 3/19/08
  2. "Did I Just Say That?"- 4/26/08
  3. "The Toy Commune"- 4/30/08
  4. "The Cats and the Kids"- 5/6/08
  5. "Child's Play"- 7/2/08
  6. "Peter Pan Loses His Shadow"- 7/18/08
  7. "Just Add Water"- 8/13/08
  8. "Give Me a 'HUH'?"-11/13/08

All of my entries are certainly heart-felt. I try to inject humor into the "stuff" that happens in my world so that I don't take myself to seriously. I hope you enjoy it.

To my new friends I met today: I look forward to seeing you again soon!