Monday, August 31, 2009

All Good things....

...unfortunately, must come to an end. Boo-hoo! Getting back into the grind was exceedingly difficult today. I hit the snooze button at least 6 times this morning.

We had a wonderful vacation at a rented cottage on a river near the ocean. Indeed, the river ebbed and rose with the tide and you could smell the ocean through the pine needles. And it was utterly private - no neighbours at all, anywhere. Bliss!

Our first week was very hot and humid, which was fine with us - we went to the beach, walked on the sand, swam in the ocean, and left the windows open at night at the cottage to let the breeze cool us down. Two of my neices and their kids came over one day, which we spent by the ocean and had a great seafood meal at a restaurant before they went back.

Our good friends George and Barb, Don and Mar, and Shaun and Mary came over one weekend and spent it with us. Oh, the fun we had! Incredible food (thanks guys for all your contributions!), lots of wine and beer (and a little 4-20!), many laughs, midday swims in the river, midnight swims in the river (Barb in her PJs! on Brad's shoulders), a few moments of panic (for me mostly when the galldarn alarm wouldn't stop beeping and then the fire alarm went off, too! - this actually worked in my favour later in the evening, however, when we were playing charades and I had to act out Desperate Housewives!). I think it's safe to say that a good time was had by all... Brad and I were very pleased that we we able to spend part of our vacation with such great friends.

Having the dogs along was a bonus! They loved the place and enjoyed our relaxed pace. Kaiser looked at me as though I were crazy when the alarm went off at 5:35 this a.m.!

Bradley and I bickered quite a bit for the first few days, more so than usual, (I think it stemmed from being around each other 24-7), and so much so that on the 3rd or 4th day, I started the morning off by inquiring what he wanted to fight about on that particular day! LOL. But we we got over that, as we always do.

Oh, and I won $125 in the lotto while we were there! Yipee! I parlayed that into $125,000 when I first told our friends (and I had going them for a minute or so!).

All and all, it was great to get away, great to be off work for 2 weeks straight, great to share it with my friend and partner and for us to share it with our friends and loved ones. And it sucks that it's over!

Here's some pics (and we definitely need a new camera!):

Sigh....


A typical sunset down by the river


Part of the backyard!


Hail! Hail! The Gang's All Here! (Well, almost all - our Paulie wasn't there cuz he was on vacation out West)


Brad, Barb, and Mar cooking up a storm!


Spinning yarns on the deck


Memories of Tuscany! Shaun and Mary get serious in the kitchen!


Ye humble abode


View from the riverbank


Happy pooches!

6 comments:

Maurice said...

Nice to see you're back and had a great vacation.

Jim said...

We're glad to hear you guys had a great vacation. Thanks for sharing your pics. They do indeed look very inviting and relaxing. We sure hope being back to reality hasn't been too cruel so far. :)

Mark in DE said...

2 weeks of relaxing on the river, near the ocean, at a secluded cottage sounds divine to me! Glad you enjoyed it so much.

Joy said...

I love that cabin and the views! How lovely!

Joy said...

Oh, I meant to add how funny that was to ask what to fight about today! Definitely would de-fuse a situation and get things back on track.

Jeff said...

Hey Maurice!! Nice to see you! :)

(And everyone else, too! :)_