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                             Needled Mom and Midlife Mom

Back again from the sunny south.  It was about 20* and a hefty northeast wind when we got off the plane on Monday evening.  After sitting for six hours in the Philly airport because of delays from the storm the day before I didn't care if it was -20* as I was so glad to be home!  Nothing like sleeping in your own bed.

We had a great time for most of it but I got hit with something that just about knocked my socks off on day three and spent most of the night laying on the bathroom floor in between bouts of hurling.  TMI you may say and you would be right.   Thankfully Needled Mom and I had spent some time together before this all came about as we usually spend the last evening chatting up a storm in the lobby and that was out of the question.  We got to sit together the first evening with our guys and chatted away until finally the guys were more then ready to head back to our respective rooms.

We went reef fishing the next day.  It was really rough on the water and I was glad we hadn't chosen deep sea fishing!  I didn't have very good sea legs but managed to stay on my feet and catch about 10 fish.  Nothing really big, only kept one and had it for lunch the rest were either too small or the wrong species.  One was a Grunt fish which was interesting as when our guide held him up to my ear I could hear him making a growling noise! 

 The Hubs always has his Blackberry going.............

Looking for a hand out.

My first catch of the day.  It wasn't big enough to keep so back he went into the ocean.

I caught more then the Hubs!  But of course you don't catch much when you are working on your Blackberry......refer to picture #1.  :o)

It was fun but I was glad to get my feet back on solid ground that wasn't swaying from side to side.  Some of the others caught some fairly big fish and kept them to have for lunch.  The guides did a good job keeping our hooks baited and driving off the sea gulls that would dive right in and steal the bait right off the hooks!  How they didn't swallow the hook is beyond me.

Each morning the men were in a class so the spouses went to breakfast together.  It was nice being waited on and the fruit there is always delicious.  There were several other functions to attend plus the big superbowl party the last evening.  I couldn't go to that but the Pats weren't in it so I didn't really care.  We had to be up at 3:30 the next morning so I got everything packed except for what we needed.  3:30 came really fast and we were on the road to the airport at 4:30.  Our plane left at 7:30. 

I read a wonderful book while on this trip.  It is Blind Courage by Bill Irwin.  He is the blind man that hiked the whole Appalachian Trail about 15 years ago with his guide dog Orient.  What a fabulous book, I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes a true heartwarming story.  It tells of his struggles and also of his relationship with God which grew stronger as the trip went along.  I must admit I had tears running down my face as I read parts of it especially when he had to retire his dog and get another one.  The bond between a blind person and their guide dog is just amazing, true trust and admiration on both parts.  I  heard Mr. Irwin speak and met his guide dog Cody recently and came away truly blessed from it.

So here we are back to the real world with the land of palm trees and beaches many miles away.  Nick had to have a shot in his hock yesterday which is just part of the after care.  He's doing really well and can be ridden in ten days.  The other boys are well and nice and fuzzy.

Guess that's it for today.  Will try to get around to visit and get caught up with you all!