Between the snorer and the kids partying on the deck on the other side of my wall, sleep was fleeting. Wide awake at 5 - our 6, but was able to doze. Puttered online then went downstairs to forage for breakfast. John's sister Cuqui (Cookie) and her family were up.
Her brother Jorge, and husband Rich were heading out for a jog. I poured myself a coffee and stewed about packing the wrong camera battery charger. My mood improved significantly when I found a squeeze bottle of Welch's grape jelly. I love America! I squeezed the jelly onto 2 slices of whole grain bread. Battery-shmattery. I was in jam sandwich heaven.
Then Cuqui spoiled it all by announcing that she was heading to the beach to lead a mini boot camp. Would I care to join them? Not really, but really, why not?
By 7:15 we had crossed the street to the beach and were doing lunges and jumping jacks in the sand. The day was shaping up to be heavenly. And it was.
By lunch time I had purchased a battery charger and spent a fun time at Walmart with Kim and her son Matt.
Matt is burnt to a crisp, courtesy of 2 hours of jet skiing without sunscreen.
Did I mention that he is a redhead? It hurts to look at his bright red skin. Matt was in so much pain that he used a motorized scooter/buggy to shop. We found out that a young kid in scooter is a chick magnet! Matt was stopped at least a half dozen times by women sympathizing with him about his burns. People were in and out of the house all day doing shopping, getting hair and nails done and taking trips to the beach. I passed on a shoe shopping spree in favor of joining the young ones for a swim. The water was surprisingly warm. I walked along the beach for an hour before swimming. I can never get enough of watching the persistent waves make their way to shore. As I stood in the water, with the waves splashing my legs, I made a promise to myself to spend an extended vacation, or a short-term move to a home by the sea.
My bucket list started, I returned to the beach house and yakked with mom and aunties on the balcony overlooking the beach. We were on a strict schedule that afternoon - everyone had to be at the air force base at 4:00 to get registered for the next day's ceremony. I counted 8 cars in the lot. That done, we drove further east to have dinner at a Chinese food buffet. I didn't count us all there but I estimate that there were 34 of us.
Some more shopping on our way home, then entertainment by one of John's nephews. He is a - well, not a juggler - though he does do something called contact juggling that's fun to watch. Johnny twirled fire sticks for us tonight. Lots of oohs and ahhs and singing of "Hot, hot, hot".
Mom and the aunties made their goodbyes and I decided to call it a night. John's retirement ceremony is tomorrow morning at 9:00 am. Once again, we have our marching orders - everyone out of the house by 7:30. Kim, Cindy and I have to leave a bit earlier as we have to pick up flowers on the way. We are all concerned about how we will survive the outdoor ceremony, but we know that a little heat and humidity for an hour is a small price to pay to pay our respects to our one-legged military hero.
I have no idea what to expect, but know that my camera and Kleenex will be working overtime.
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