"I used to fear this life, this suburban mortgage and white fence and a baby on my hip. I want more, I used to think. I wanted Spain and novels and wild loves and adventures.
(My friend A'Dell does these "seven quick takes" posts from time to time -- she put one up last week, in fact -- and I'm blatantly stealing this idea from her because that's what you get to do when you're friends with smart people. Steal their ideas and then serve them cocktails so they'll forgive you.)
1. I actually meant that cocktail part literally. I made this lemon light cocktail for Kristie and A'Dell for Mother's Day, and it was delicious. Make one for yourself tonight because it's Wednesday and sometimes Wednesdays need cocktails.
2. I also posted on Style Lush about my (sad and pathetically) bare living room wall and how I need to do something with this wall before I just give Kyle a book of stickers and let him go to town. Anyway, I think I've very nearly narrowed it down between filling it with different canvas prints or a bunch of symmetrical (but very large) white framed photos of our travels. Anyone want to vote to sway me one way or the other?
3. I woke up terribly sick at about 2am this morning, and I was up most of the night and most of this morning awfully, horribly, miserably sick sick sick. I haven't been that sick since, well, Kyle. I'm not pregnant, no need to let your mind wander there, but oooooh did it remind me of being pregnant and it reminded me how sweet time can be, to make you forget how awful being that sick really is. (It is just so awful.) Anyway, I'm already feeling better, although not quite 100%, but I'm going to spend the next few days crossing every appendage I've got that my boys miss the puking bullet.
4. There are many posts flying around and pins being pinned about Fun Summer Activities, and while nothing really changes for my house this time of year it's no secret that I really hate summer. I loathe it, in fact. It's just hard to describe how miserable it can be here, especially coming off of last year's brutal summer. So, I'd like to plan some fun activities that help me enjoy the next few months instead of complaining day and night about the heat while never leaving the couch because it's JUST. SO. HOT. OMG. ANYWAY, all that to say, I hope to come up with my own Fun Summer Activity List soon.
5. I still owe you (as if you've been DYING for it) one last Puerto Rico post + the logistics and cost of the trip. That's a'coming! Soon. Ish.
6. Over the weekend, I was hanging up some clothes and Kyle came into our bedroom and said, "I need a hooker." I couldn't possibly have heard him right, so I asked him to repeat it and he said the same thing over. After many back and forths of "what do you need?" "A hooker!" I finally figured out that's what he was calling clothes hangers. This is the kind of entertaining thing you have to look forward to, moms of crying newborns. Instead of correcting him (that wouldn't be fun at all) I asked him to go ask Mike for one. So, he took off down the hall yelling, "Daddy! I need a hooker!"
(I just typed hooker so many times, the searches to my blog over the next few weeks should be fun!)
He looks sweet but the mouth on this kid!
7. These shoes are impossibly expensive but I love them.
Kyle has called granola bars "hot bars" for as long as he could string two words together. I don't honestly know where it came from, I have a few guesses, but mainly I just found it adorable and loved it and never wanted him to call them by the right name.
Months and months ago, A'Dell and I were hanging out and she heard him say it and kind of looked at me sideways. "He still calls them hot bars?" I was as surprised as she was, that he was holding on to this so-wrong-but-so-cute pronunciation.
"I know! Don't correct him!"
Last night, at three years and almost four months, he reached into the pantry and said, "I want a ganola bar." Mike and I looked at each other over his head, a little sad about what we heard.
What I hate about so many of these parenting goodbyes is that you don't actually know you're saying them. I don't remember the last time he said "hot bar." I don't know if we have video of it. One day our own memories will fail us and what then? "Hot bar" may never exist at all. (I NEED TO PRINT THESE BLOG POSTS OUT, THAT'S WHAT.)
In all seriousness, that moment hit me harder than the no-more pacifier, no-more bottle, no-more crib, no-more diapers moments hit me. My baby is clearly no longer a baby, no confusion there, and I've been pretty okay with him getting older. (He just gets more awesome anyway.) Then he asked for a "ganola" bar and my heart sank.
I've been trying to figure out why and I guess it comes down to this: saying goodbye to phases and stages and milestones is expected and manageable. Saying goodbye to something that is so uniquely Kyle just sucks.
I'm giddy about who he's becoming and who we get to be together but saying goodbye to who he has been doesn't seem to get any easier.
We went to Oklahoma this past weekend and even though I've visited the state countless times before, I was surprised this trip by just how pretty parts of Oklahoma can be. (I know! I bet you're surprised too.) We drove out of Texas via 35N into Oklahoma City right at the magical sunset hour, and there were sloping hills (well, hills by Texas' standards), green, green grass, and a really pretty sky. I also had a charming road-trip companion (that would be my kid) and he was a delightful, chattering fool the entire five-hour drive. He even chose the "pee on the side of the road instead of making Mommy hunt down a gas station at 10:30 p.m." option when he needed to go to the bathroom. Buy that kid a pony!
Once in Oklahoma, I stopped to pick up Mike (he had to head north before us for motorcycle race set-up shenanigans) and we then went to my grandma's house in Tulsa through Sunday morning. It was great to see her as it always is and even nicer for Kyle to have some time with her. We hung out, caught up, took in a local street festival, ate delicious food, and relaxed, mostly. (Side note: I also watched the Descendents on Saturday night and absolutely loved it. Totally lived up to the hype for me, refreshingly.)
I have a small, very spread-out family, and I promise it's only the latter that I struggle with. I don't particularly care about the size, I just wish we all lived on the same block. (Well, I wish that most of the time.) So, it's always like exhaling to be around anyone who loves Kyle like family should love him: fiercely, naturally, without pause. It's such an honor to introduce him (or help him cultivate relationships with) people who love him simply because he exists.
On Sunday, we drove about an hour to the motorcycle track and enjoyed a nice day of watching Mike be a total rockstar. He's completely in his element at the track, and I know both Kyle and I fall in love with him a little more every time we watch him zoom around on his bike. The weather was nice and cool and Kyle even got to ride with Mike during the spectator lap. (Don't fret! It's a lap intended for kids and family, and he rode on the tiny little pit bike, wearing a very secure helmet, going about 10 MPH.)
We watched a couple of the races from the bleachers and, adorably, Kyle can spot Mike's bike without me having to point it out to him, smart little dude, and every time he saw his bike coming around the bend, he'd shout at the top of his lungs: GO DADDY GO. YOU ARE SUPER FAST! The entire crowd was charmed by him. So was I.
As it goes in these situations, five minutes after we got home, I began planning a family camping trip for sometime this summer. (I think we'll camp in a cabin with A/C, though, just in case that declaration made you think I've officially lost it.) I love stealing away for some uninterrupted time with my family, and while every person has beautifully different visions of what family happiness looks like, mine looks just like that: showing my kid the world, tiny piece by tiny piece, holding Mike's hand, making memories as a trio as we go. (Molly is so pissed at me right now. Okay, Molly! You can come too.)
Some pictures:
More pictures (and video of Kyle dancing!) over here.
The other day you and I were out and we ran into a friend of yours, someone I hadn't met before. You did what you do in these situations.
"Hey, so-and-so, this is my wife, Jennie."
It was nothing, really, has happened a hundred times before, really, but it's still that gut reaction, stomach-jumping, hard-to-describe feeling I get when I hear the word.
It's that smile I feel coming on without me having anything to do with it. It's that warmth I feel, and I wonder if who I'm being introduced to can feel it too. (I doubt it, but I hope it.)
I hear "my wife" and I think "say it again."
Day-to-day stuff can be tough. We yell, we stomp, we pout (fine, I pout), we cross our arms like motherfucking arm-crossing champs, and then we glare about broken promises across desperately-need-to-be-cleaned rooms yet -- still, but, always -- I fear if any of the real powers-at-be find out I snagged you, they'll snatch you from me. Because, my goodness, you're such a damn catch. (You look at me like I'm a catch too. Not always, let's be real, but enough to make me believe you.)
I still think our wedding day was the very best day of any day that could ever exist. (Well, that could ever exist without needles and vaginal tearing.) It wasn't perfect, it was definitely not sober start to finish, but it was just so damn happy. When I think of our wedding, I think beautiful, drunk happiness. When I think of our marriage, I think earned, worked-for, grateful-for (and, fine, maybe still a little drunk) happiness.
Then there's Kyle. Wow, did we luck out with this kid.
The boy you let me name, the boy who looks like me and calls for me in the dead of night, but the boy who grins like you. The boy who asks me, out of the blue on a random Tuesday, if he can have "an orange motorcycle like daddy when I'm big." The boy who has a floppy head of blond hair and a love of books but a soul that shines just like yours does. He is my beautiful boy, my buds, my brightest spot in all the sky, but he is your son, your stubborn, strong-willed, optimistic little dude.
I used to wish for a redheaded boy, and that would have been just lovely. I didn't realize back then, though, that a boy who looks like you isn't what I really wanted. What I wanted is what I got: a boy who reminds me of you. A boy who laughs often, loves without compare, who hugs tightly.
The other day I said to him, "Oh kid, you're so much like your father." He stomped a little and said, "No! I'm not like Daddy! I'm like Kyle Parker!" "Hate to break it to you, kid, but that's exactly what your daddy would say."
It's true. You stomp your feet just like he does.
What I really mean what I do that, when I compare you two, is that he is so damn decent, it stuns me anew every day. You are so damn decent, it suns me anew every day.
Thank you for him, Mike. Thank you for our life. Thank you for my own DVR and for changing my car's oil when it makes that funny noise and for picking up hummus or Diet Dr. Pepper or burritos on your way home from work, whatever I might be in the mood for, and for letting me shrilly yell at you when I just need to shrilly yell sometimes.
Happy five years (tomorrow) of blissfully, exhaustively, honestly, happily our marriage, Mike. In a lot of ways I'm still figuring this wife gig out, but oh thank goodness, you have faith I can do it.
I love you so much, it's ridiculous. I love you so much, it's not.
1. I had a really lovely Mother's Day weekend and I hope you did too. Not only did I sleep-in both days, but Kyle was a delight from sun up (or when I got up) to sun down. Thanks kiddo!
2. Part of the weekend included an impromptu carnival stop.
We drove past and decided to check it out. While Kyle had a blast and we got to record his first ever merry-go-round ride, it was a hilariously creepy carnival. Basically the kind of carnival you'd find in an episode of The Walking Dead.
3. Speaking of television (oh, weren't we?), I'm on the hunt for some shows to pick up during the summer months. I have Southland in the queue, but anything else I should be watching? (You should know I like my shows to at least hint at a love story.)
4. I've registered for two half-marathons this week. One is the BCS half-marathon in December, in my college town, and we're making a mini-reunion out of it. There are also going to be breakfast burritos at the finish line. BREAKFAST BURRITOS! That's so much more awesome than the green bananas the Vegas half-marathon offered me. The other is the 3M in Austin early next year. My lovely fellow runners and I have already begun talking about where to eat in Austin after the race. I have seriously found my people when we discuss a meal eight months in advance.
5. While I haven't been running nearly as much as I should these days, I have begun walking with Kristie a couple nights a week. It's been such a lovely stress relief: walk a few miles, talk to one of my favorite people. Win-win! Too bad you can't train for a race by walking.
6. We're going to Oklahoma this weekend. We're heading north because Mike has a motorcycle race and since it's also our wedding anniversary, we wanted to be together. My grandma lives near the track, so we're making a family visit out of it. I've been excited all week until I realized it's Kyle's first road trip post-potty training. This should be ... something.
7. I've signed Kyle up for swim lessons this summer and the timing worked out so that Mike will take him. I'm sure I'll go to the first lesson to snap a dozen photos but I'm still scarred from the last time we tried lessons with him (what was I thinking taking an 18-month-old to swim lessons?), so I'm happy to pass the parenting buck on this one. I've also enrolled him in a Little Gym class this summer, too. Mike is worried I'm going to make my son's social calendar mirror my own. Mike has a reason to be worried this time.
8. I meant to turn this one into its own post because I suppose it's kind of a big deal, but I think I'll wait a few weeks to really get into it. So, anyway, I've become a vegetarian. It might feel a little out-of-left-field-ish, but it's been a long time coming for me. Again, lots more thoughts to come, but we'll leave it at that for now. (Bye burgers!)
After a recent moment when I was reminded I really am at peace with our decision not to have any more biological children (I am still forcing a door be kept open for possibly fostering/adopting one day), I decided to make a list of all the things I want to devote energy to in the coming years.
See, when you stumble out the other side of your child-bearing years, you can feel a little disoriented, no matter your age or circumstance. Getting pregnant, and then having and raising a baby, is such an all-encompassing period of time that when you finally have a little kid who is not catapulting through milestones at warp speed, you sure can feel a little lost, a little like WHAT NOW? What to do with some of this extra time? I try to spend a lot of it snuggling the crap out of my son, but he looks at me with annoyance now more than ever. "NO THANK YOU, MOMMY." He practically rolls his eyes.
(Something tells me the eye roll isn't going anywhere.)
So, I wrote a list. A list of things I want to do and be and see and, FINE WHATEVER, it's a life list. (I know.) I'm not going to bore you with the list. It includes a lot of self-indulgant things and I suspect you don't really want to hear one more blogger going on about a cross-country road trip she wants to take or how she wants to see Europe. Vacationing is so revolutionary! As Mike recently said to me, "Babe, EVERYONE wants to travel, you are not inventing a new thing by wanting to go places."
(That made him sound rude, but he's awesome, swear it.)
I'll just say that one thing on this list is to write a book.
OH MY GOD WHY DID I SAY THAT? Writing a book is even less revolutionary than traveling. Except, I've had this idea for a book in my mind since I was 15 (half my life!). I started writing this book as a movie, and I actually first wrote anything down about it as a movie PREVIEW (basically the dialogue for the trailer) and I recently remembered this story (and dusted it off) and have begun writing it on my commute to work*. It's been...kind of magical.
I don't know what will come of this (oh, likely nothing) but my ultimate career goal has always been to write yet I have never once felt like being a writer wasn't just a silly pipe dream, even when I take side jobs AS a paid writer, even as I write every single day at my day job.
But, as I just talk aloud to myself on the way to work or scribble notes in a notebook or name (and re-name and re-name) characters, I feel something sort of awaken in me, a writer-ish side of me, and it feels really nice.
I guess I'm sharing all this because Kyle is now three, heading full speed ahead toward three-and-a-half and then he'll be four and maybe there's a baby in our future (I don't think there is but I've learned to never say never) or maybe there's a little boy or girl who already exists who needs our love in a very real way or, hey, maybe there are other cool things we can't anticipate. Maybe maybe maybe. Life is just so awesomely weird in that who KNOWS what's actually ahead, but I look at this list I wrote and remember that there's a lot to do in between life finding me. While I wait for unexpected awesome things to surprise me, I can surprise myself.
So much of our story isn't really up to us, but then again so much of it is.
*I record thoughts on my phone or just hope to remember things. I don't physically write anything down because that would be crazy. That would be even BEYOND ME crazy!
I left town this past weekend (I know, I know, I just got back from leaving town) for a quick girl's weekend in Wimberley, a town nestled about 45 minutes west of Austin.
Kristie and I made these plans months ago, after looking at two very full calendars and realizing it was, quite honestly, the only weekend we could have a girl's weekend in 2012.
So, I thought I'd share our entire itineary from Saturday, our one full day there, because it was such a perfect day. (This way, if you ever find yourself with a day to spend in Wimberley, you can just use this and you never have to Google a thing. I'm like your online concierge! I accept tips, FYI.)
9 a.m.
We woke up, slowly, and then sipped mimosas and coffee in the backyard, watching the Blanco River running behind our rental house.
Note to self: start more days like this.
11 a.m.
We headed to Market Days, a flea market-type event held the first Saturday of each month in Wimberley.
I bought this fabulous ring after offering the (very nice) woman $20 less than she was asking. I still feel a little badly about that, which is proof I am a horrible negotiator.
I don't know how we ever bought a house. Oh, hey! I know! We probably overpaid.
We also picked up this kick-ass mini-motorcycle for Kyle and managed to squeeze it into my friend's Honda Civic (the same one all our bags had to fit in on the drive home). I have new respect for Honda Civics.
1 p.m.
We lunched at the Leaning Pear, which was delicious with such a fantastic ambiance. Sit on the patio, even if it's a little warm. I got half a caprese panini and half a panzanella salad. Both were really tasty.
We went back to our rental house to relax because eating and shopping isn't relaxing at all. I read on the couch. (An Abundance of Katherines, if you want to get really copy-catty and read the same book I read. Good thing if you do because the book was so good. Recommend!)
4 p.m.
I took the relaxation one step further and napped.
6 p.m.
Headed out for a tasting at a local winery. We settled on Duchman because it was the only one still open, but it turned out to be a great pick. I enjoyed the moscato enough to buy two bottles.
Intensely studying the tasting menu!
Ladies!
Cheers!
8 p.m.
Dinner at Marco's Italian restaurant. The mushroom-and-artichoke dip was incredible. My margherita pizza was just so-so.
10 p.m. to late
We stayed up late talking about...so much. Motherhood, husbands, weddings, good books, bad tv, our next girl's weekend, etc. It was perfect, of course.
I know that getting away, even for a weekend, is impossible for some and I wish I could offer up my child-watching skills so you could steal away for a girl's weekend sometime. (If you're close, let's talk!) But if it's not impossible for you, and you've just been waiting for the right excuse, the right place, the right friends, etc., here's a little nudge to seek those things out sooner rather than later.
My best friend had a baby and he is perfect. Jack is going to know soon enough something I've known for a long, long time: his mother is one of life's best things.
1. A gardner. I like the idea of gardening, of preparing a summer salad with fresh ingredients I grew myself, TAKE THAT WHOLE FOODS, but then I remember that I don't particularly like being outside unless cocktails are involved. I also know that the first time I found a bug on something I brought into my house TO EAT, I'd quit that hobby immediately. Growing food sounds awesome until you remember you're growing it in the same place spiders live.
2. A carefree car passenger. I should gaze out the window or hum to the radio or daydream, I really should, because I'm not behind the wheel (where I spend so much of my time as a commuter). And I think all that stuff sounds swell, I'd be totally interested if you weren't such a shitty driver.
3. A Mad Men fan. I talk about tv a lot around here, enough that I bet a few of you close your browsers a wee bit concerned over my investment in characters who are not actual people, but here is why I cannot get invested in Mad Men: The entire cast is miserable. I need at least one character to consistently smile on a show for me to watch it, that's my new rule.
I also apparently like my tv crushes to either be a little unkempt (see Jax Teller, Tim Riggins, Lip from Shameless) or a vampire, and Mad Men offers me neither of these types.
4. A non-worrier. You don't have to convince me that worrying isn't an actual productive way to solve a problem, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that worrying is a real issue for me only when I let it stop me from 1) being happy or 2) doing the things over which I worry. I'm a pretty happy person, most of the time, and I also think I say yes a lot more than I say no, even if my mind is bursting with one giant all-capped CRAP while saying yes. So, I'm going to accept that worrying is just a part of who I am. I'll try to curb it, keep it reasonable, but I'm never going to be one of those people who stops using the all caps.
(I'm recapping our Puerto Rico vacation! You can read part one, about our three days on the mainland here and also about the books I read during our trip here.)
The morning after our day trip to Culebra, we checked out of the Gran Melia and headed to Fajarado, to drop off our rental car at the El Conquistador resort where there was an Enterprise location. (Side note: this was originally the hotel we wanted to stay at, but our miles wouldn't cover the whole three days. From what we saw, though, we liked our resort so much better.)
We then went to the ferry terminal, where we caught the ferry to Vieques.
If you want to travel to Vieques (an island east of Puerto Rico), you can either take a flight from Puerto Rico (about $200+/person RT) or ride the ferry ($2/person each way). That feels like a no-brainer financial decision right there, but I had read some awful things about the ferry's reliability.
I knew we wanted to stay on Vieques, but I also knew we couldn't afford the extra cost for flights, so we went on faith that we wouldn't get stranded or have to sleep in a ferry terminal. Turns out, our faith paid off. We bought our tickets, took an hour trip that left and arrived on time, and docked in paradise.
Us on the ferry!
(Side story: I tried hard to use as much Spanish as I could on our trip. I took eight years throughout high school and college and since I'm still paying off the last of my student loans, it feels downright depressing that my education would dry up before my debt does, so I reached back into the champagne- and parenthood-soaked corners of my brain and tried to remember as much as I possibly could. When we got to the ferry terminal, in a rather non-touristy part of town, I practiced in my head what I wanted to say, then walked up to the counter and said, "Dos boletos a Vieques, a la una, por favor." To which the ticket counter representative said, "So you want two tickets?" Mike couldn't stop laughing.)
So, Vieques! I can't recommend this little island enough. It's small, quaint, charming, and has the exact laid-back island vibe we were looking for when planning this vacation. There are two main towns, Isabel Segunda and Esperanza. We stayed at the Inn on the Blue Horizon, just a couple minutes from the main street of Esperanza.
This hotel. Guys. It was perfect. (I do want to offer to re-do their website even though I have no website-redoing skills because it doesn't do this place justice, at all.)
Shots taken around the hotel grounds.
The grounds are romantic, sleepy, and stunning. The restaurant delicious, the bar fun, and the rooms cozy. I seriously can't recommend this place enough and while the W Resort has just opened on the island (the only standard-type hotel/resort on Vieques), I'd say you get just as much luxury at The Inn on the Blue Horizon with a very unique, island feel. (The entire grounds are 24/7, too. While the bar/restaurant close at 10-11 p.m., you can bring your own wine/rum/insert vacation drink of choice, and stay by the pool or in the hotel's main lounge space as late as you want.)
After we checked in, we drove around and had dinner at Duffy's. Afterward we had a few cocktails at our inn's bar and then spent the rest of the night swimming and looking at the stars from the hotel pool. It was just as horrible as it sounds.
The next day, after breakfast at our inn, we drove around and explored the island before the exahustion of all that vacationing and relaxing and please don't forget all that drinking and eating hit me and I needed a nap. GET ME TO A BED, VACATION IS EXHAUSTING.
You've just closed your browser, haven't you? Yeah, I don't even blame you.
After I got up, we headed out to meet a tour group for our all-day bio-bay tour. Vieques is known for their bio-luminescent plankton-filled bays. These micro-organisms light up when touched and countless people recommended we do this activity if nothing else. It's the only thing I booked before arriving, in fact. We went with Abe's Tours, and while the main attraction was the night kayak trip through the bay, we decided to book the longer, all-day tour. We kayaked through the mangroves surrounding the bay and then out into the ocean, where we went ashore for beach lounging, a bonfire picnic, and some snorkeling.
Our tour guides were incredible. I wish every single business could model their customer service and employee enthusiasm after these guides. They were fun, helpful, knowledgable, and patient. They were clearly enjoying themselves but, most importantly, they wanted us to enjoy ourselves.
After our beach dinner, the sun set and we slipped into our kayaks to head back into the bay. Night kayaking on the ocean isn't something I ever thought I'd do -- or something I ever thought to consider doing -- but it was magical. As we got into the bay, the water began to glow as we sliced through it, each dip of an oar or splash of our hands disturbing (and therefore lighting up) the dinoflagellates. Mike calls the experience "life-changing" and while my husband can certainly be dramatic when he has a cold, he's not one to use dramatics any other time. It was life-changing, in the same way seeing the Grand Canyon or Arches National Park is life-changing. It's life-changing because it gives you an aching sense of perspective. It's life-changing because it reminds you that, man, this world of ours, it's really something else.
We finally kayaked back to the bank and headed back to the inn.
On our tour, we made friends with a Miami couple who was also staying at our inn. It was the woman's birthday, so she invited us to the hotel bar for drinks. She also brought a couple big paper lanterns to write wishes for the upcoming year on, and then light and release, something she does every year on her birthday (I love this tradition and may steal it), and she offered us one. We were touched, and wrote our wishes for the next five years of our marriage on the lantern before going up to the observation deck of our inn to release them.
(I WANT IT KNOWN THAT THE BARTENDER SUGGESTED THIS IS WHERE WE GO.)
There were some kinks in the release plan, which I have caught on video. It's a mostly dark video (the lantern is actually lit around 40 seconds in), but you get the point. The point being that we nearly set the hotel on fire.
How much do you love that my husband jumped on the roof, without pause, to grab the lantern while I....stood there and did nothing. You should just be glad I wasn't screaming, which is my usual response in a (semi)crisis.
We turned in soon after because we had a long day of reading and relaxing ahead of us.
The next morning, we had breakfast/lunch at Panaderia La Viequenes. I think we spent 11 bucks on two sandwiches and two sodas, and it was easily the best 11 bucks we spent on the island. DELICIOUS IN ALL CAPS. If you go to Vieques, try this out. In fact, just go ahead and make it your first stop off the ferry.
We did a lot of driving around and exploring after that. I think it's safe to say we drove on every road on the island (it's not that big of an island, but it's still a feat) and finally made our way to the black sand beach. You have to park on the road and hike to this beach (probably 15-20 minutes) and while it's not a hard hike, I realized as soon as I got stung by a bee ON MY TOE that it's kind of a bee-heavy one. (And all the damn bees were hanging out on the ground. What is up with that? After I realized this, Mike said, "At least they're not African bees that follow you in a swarm." Yes, babe. At least there's that.) Anyway, wear bug spray, close-toed shoes, etc. Worth it, though.
Showing my injury!
Mike said, "We should write something in the sand." And I said, "Oh! Write '07-'12, the years we've been married!" (Since this trip was to celebrate our five-year anniversary.) Now that I look at it, it kind of looks like we're predicting we end this year. UNINTENTIONAL.
After hiking back on the bee-infested path, we returned to the inn where I spent the next, oh, five hours, napping, reading in bed, then reading on the porch, and then getting really wild and reading by the pool.
I didn't hate this afternoon, you could say.
We had a nice final dinner at Bananas, another place in Esperanza, and left the next morning on a ferry back to Fajarado.
Horses roam wild on Vieques and while we were told that each horse actually belongs to someone ("unless the horse dies, then no one wants it"), they just walk around, as seen here. At one point, we turned a curve and a hose was half on, half off the road and Mike was like, "No other time in my life have I stopped driving because there was a horse's butt in the road." First time for everything!
Our time in Old San Juan is to come in the next post (and then my last post is about the finances/logistics of the trip, if you care about that?), but I have to wrap this up by saying, if you're looking for a place in the Carribean that feels like your own little island discovery, Vieques is it. You won't be disappointed. It didn't have Kyle, though, which was its only downfall.
(Taking a quick vacation-recap break to talk about books!)
I got a Kindle Fire for my birthday, not sure if I've mentioned that before, and it's been such a life-changer. Okay, wait, that sounds kind of dramatic, so maybe I should say it's been such a gadget changer? Book-reading changer? Anyway, it's awesome, let's go with that. It's especially perfect for traveling because I packed ten books onto it for my trip and my bag's weight DID NOT CHANGE. I was a little worried the glare would prevent me from reading on the sun-soaked beach, but I bought this pack and they worked great.
So, what books did I read on my Kindle while sitting on the beach? Glad you asked!
(I know, you didn't ask.)
1. In the Woods. This is not a book I'd recommend you read on the beach -- it's a mystery about the murder of a young girl -- but I was reading it when we left home, and I physically can't stop reading one book for another unless I'm done reading the first book for good. (And, this was a book club pick, so I couldn't abandon it.) I really didn't like the beginning, it was just slow slow slow and every other word was an adjective. Hey, I like an adjective as much as the next reader, but you don't have to describe every noun. You really don't.
But, around chapter five I couldn't stop reading. I skipped a beach trip to read in bed and then on the porch and then by the pool. (Okay, so these aren't bad consolation prizes.)
The ending was one of those beautifully haunting endings that I should have hated -- it's not how I wanted the book to end, and I kept willing for the book to turn sharply to the right or left toward those last few pages -- but it felt ... ok, somehow. Then, the more I thought about it, the more it felt like the only way the book could have ended, like the entire book was leading up to that ending.
I'm ridiculously excited about our next book club meeting, to talk about it.
2. Looking for Alaska. I think we all know how much I loved The Fault In Our Stars, so I was excited to read what many have said is John Green's best book. It was good -- a quick, enjoyable read -- but I wanted it to be better. John Green seems to enjoy writing female characters that are beautiful messes, and I can't decide if I love or hate that. I think I like it in theory, but then again what I enjoyed so much about The Fault In Our Stars is that the main character was dealing with a whole helluva lot, but she was also normal. She was smart and unassuming and young and idealistic, but she was refreshingly average.
There was also a twist of sorts that all the characters obliviously ignored while I was like ARE YOU KIDDING, THIS WAS COMING A MILE AWAY, and that annoyed me. (Okay, not that much. My default setting is kind of ALL-CAPSY, you should know.)
I did love the narrator's quirk. He loved finding out famous people's last words, and I kind of loved that.
3. I've Got Your Number. Sometimes, you just need to read something soapy and fluffy and full of cheesy dialogue that you both don't believe for a second but love love love all the same. While the main character could be cluelessly annoying many times throughout, this book was still totally adorable. Enjoyed!