Hope springs eternal

So, most of the past week's vacation was a wash for my sister and her family, if you'll pardon the pun. They had all kinds of plans to go to the beach and let the kids spend most of the time outside playing in the little inflatable pool my mom purchased for the occasion, in addition to lots of bubbles and water toys. Alas, none of that was to be. It rained every day of their vacation thanks to a low front that has camped out over Texas for almost a month. Of course, it wasn't raining in *their* part of Texas during the week. Such is life, I guess (although it still makes for a crummy vacation).

I arrived on Wednesday evening and rather enjoyed spending three days in the rain. In addition to enjoying all that humidity that my skin and hair just soaked up, it was also a surprising 15-20 degrees cooler in Bay City than in ABQ. And happily, the clouds also stayed away long enough for the fire works display to go on as planned on Wednesday evening. The Bay City celebration included jumpers for the children, Otto the Helicopter's firework show, and a firework display that made us all oh and ah.

Abigail was happy to find, upon investigation of my "packpack" shortly after my arrival, that I did, indeed, have the kind of gum she prefers. As she was chattering on during one conversation, she explained that while my gum was good, she really liked her Mama's gum better but Mama didn't have any in her purse. Score one for Aunt Carrie. Abigail was also entertained by my iPod, commandeering both earpieces after I shared just one. I think she managed to scan just about every song and podcast I've got. When I was still a little bit in charge, I skipped one song, unnecessarily explaining, "That one has a bad word in it." I don't know if she'd actually pick up on it but I didn't want to be responsible for her learning the use of "ass." That became her battlecry as she'd fast forward through the playlist. Huh--who knew Enya, the B-52's, or the Learn Spanish podcast all contain bad words.

After dinner on Wednesday, when the "packpack" was in the back of the Suburban, we continued the investigation with my purse. I impressed my mom and sister with the wide amount of items I can get into a smallish purse. Abigail was most impressed with an emery stone I have. It's round and stored in a case about the size of a compact. She was enthralled with that thing, requesting my "stone" every time we got in the car after that, just wanting to hold it. She also explained the use of it to everyone in the car, telling her dad, "It's very good for rough nails." We further examined the contents of my wallet when my mom actually wanted to use the emery stone, holding on to both the wallet and emery stone when Mom finished using it. Abigail was disappointed when I wouldn't give her the emery stone when we got back into the car after the fireworks. It was quiet for a bit then her little voice piped up, "Can I have your wallet?" (She didn't get that either.)

It wasn't raining on Thursday morning in Bay City so everyone loaded up after lunch and we headed to the beach. About halfway there, it started pouring down rain. We soldiered on, optimistic that we'd drive out of the storm in the next 15 minutes. Unfortunately, it continued to rain. Amy, Mom, Abigail, and I ran to one of the shelters on the beach and then Mom and Abigail decided to head on down to the beach. The surf was really rough--Mom never let go of her death-grip on Abigail--but Abs got to play in the ocean which is exactly what she wanted to do. She didn't seem to care that it was raining the whole time. During one lull, the rest of us waded down to the surf and played for a bit longer until it began thundering, ending the rainy outing to the beach.

Amy and her family left Friday morning so Mom and I ran a few errands and stopped by the still-under-construction new house. We got caught during one downpour in the house next door that is also under construction. During the 2o minutes or so we were in there, we decided how we'd completely change the floor plan to make it better and tried to convince the electrician who was working to add another outlet box at counter-height for the breakfast bar (he didn't do it but agreed it would be a good idea). Mom, Dad, and I also stayed up *way* too late chatting about everything and everyone on Friday night, not going to bed until about 1:30. There is a very good reason we all have that 10:00 bedtime. We were three very cranky, crabby beings on Saturday.

It was raining in ABQ when I arrived back home Saturday night but as much as most of TX doesn't need more rain, we desperately need it. Paul and I have another busy week this week, including the Triple-A Home Run Derby on Monday and the All-Star Game on Wednesday. Then I'll probably make a quick trip to visit my grandparents in Sunray before heading back home to get ready for vacation and finish up a few projects I wanted to finish before the end of summer. Once we get home from Hawaii, there will only be one week before school starts again. Just doesn't seem possible--I need a few more weeks to get everything done.