what? seriously?

Well here we are down in Florida, in the nice warm sunshine, and ugh, the pool in Grandma's park is closed...for the entire week! We found this little tidbit out the hard way, as we were all dressed in swimsuits and walking to that pool yesterday. So, we packed up and went to...

Clearwater Beach, on the Gulf coast.

It's gorgeous there. We parked in a garage right near the beach, literally took an elevator down, and lo and behold, the first floor of the garage was a store, it was weird, which opened up onto the beach. A hop, skip, and a jump. We brought a chair for me, from Grandma's, yay, and the girls put their towels down, and ahhhhh. The water was clear and not too chilly, we played in the waves in between getting a bit hot in the sun. What's not to like?

Well, it's an hour and a half each way from Grandma's house. Actually longer to get home, traffic. The drive is pretty, we saw a dolphin while going over a bridge. But it's a lot of driving to do every day.

Today, it's forecast for afternoon/evening showers, so we are going to a huge cemetery, and no, the girls are not actually thrilled. We might go bowling too.

Tomorrow, maybe beach again.

It's a bummer that the pool is out of order. We can't even go down and take a dip in the hot tub in the evenings.

Turns out, as much as I adore sunshine when I'm near the water, the heat and humidity pretty much kill me. When it's 12 degrees at home, I feel like a huge jerk complaining about almost 90 degree heat, but ugh. :)

So a trip to the cemetery today...well...Paul really wants to go, I'm just hoping I don't faint or sweat to death.

Also, when you're not a skinny gal, it's hard to find the balance of comfort and not being too slobby, when you're with your m-i-l, you know, your husband's mama. She is as thin as a rail, and when your tummy hangs over your shorts and your upper arms do that jiggly thing... when it's this hot at home, well, I just throw on a tank top and shorts, and let what jiggles jiggle.

Also, she's old, and she gets cold. She starts closing the windows out on her sitting porch, and then, the ceiling fan is chilling her too, and I'm like dripping. She keeps telling me I'll understand when I'm 89. The rest of the place is air-conditioned, but she doesn't like it too cool.

And I'm not complaining. I'm simply owning up that though it seems like I'm just the vacationing fool lately, it's not all sunshine and puppy dogs.

We do have nice tans though.

And thankfully, my faith that God knows just what I need doesn't disappear on vacation.

My family...we are not super neat. Not dirty, not that, but we are drapers and droppers and pilers. Grandma, she is neat, to a fault. She will bring one...yes ONE...empty can out to the returnables bag in the shed. She keeps all neat and tidy and out of sight. Then we come. And oh dear. With our water bottles and seltzer cans and beach towels, phones charging and a few pairs of shoes each. So we have to up our game, and be neater, so we don't stress her out. I like neatness too, so it's nice to be in a neat and tidy house. But shh, when I think of home, and leaving my coffee cup near my chair (what!!!? I'm gonna have another cup! And use it again!!), it makes me a little homesick.

I miss the dogs too. I really do. Their messy paws and whining to go out, then barking to come back in, but their affection and gladness to see me each time I come back into the room....

The thing is, no matter where we go, or what we do, we bring our own selves with us. And our own self is what determines our happiness. I can fool myself that someone else' opinion or actions is the cause of my distress, but it's really how I take it. And no matter where I go or what I do, there's always room for to be kinder, more patient, and get closer to God. It's nice to get away from so many responsibilities, and to enjoy some down time and warmth, and have fun with the girls, and spend so much good time with Paul, and visit with Grandma, but there's still always that work that needs to go on in my heart.

So staying in someone else's home isn't my naturally favorite cup of tea, but I'm working with it, and working on being thankful. Paul is plotting what graves to look for in the cemetery. eeks.