This was just a plain pile of rocks 2 years ago. A pile randomly created as we cleared rocks from the yard and discarded them haphazardly.

Then we threw handfuls of wildflower seeds on it.

Then it rained.

Then flowers started sprouting.

Now it’s the most beautiful, colorful spot in our yard.

I feel like there’s a message about life in here, somewhere.

Bit I’ll let you figure it out yourself.

Ptown post still pending.

This morning, we hauled our cookies out of bed early for a big adventure, but not before coffee!

After fully dosed on caffeine, we drove to Newburgh, NY to check out a couple antique shops a friend told us about. We met the BFJ there, and spent the morning browsing and buying and boy watching.

I found some cool items for my collections:

But the most fun was happening upon a collection of hats, which always requires a spontaneous “say something hat” photo shoot:

Of course, besides us, there were a few other oddities I couldn’t resist recording:

And speaking of eye candy:

On the way home, we shopped for an inflatable pool for the patio. After attempting to put up our old pool yesterday, it shit the bed and leaked like mad, so we had to replace it before our cookout Sunday with friends. The BFJ took responsibility for filling it:

After the pool set up, we headed to dinner at a newly discovered Mexican restaurant, Toros:

After dinner, we headed home and enjoyed cocktails (of course) on the patio. Jeffrey had his usual: Tanqueray martini. The BFJ and I had Ruby Red Grapefruit Cosmos, our favorite summer libation.

It was a fun day, indeed!

Even the word “love” seems like an underrated term for what I feel for this guy.

Also, we’re watching “Schitt’s Creek” through from the beginning, again, which inspired this meme:

…make one.

I have pictures and stories galore from Ptown, but my first two days back to work have kicked my ass, so I’m a bit lusterless. I will do a proper post at a later time.

But I will tell you this….I much prefer relaxation on the Cape to work in a cubicle farm.

We totally need to have a blogger get together on the Cape!

We left the cape at 9:15am yesterday and arrived home at 2:30pm. This morning, it was right back to the daily grind.

I know vacations can’t last forever, but this one was really top notch and I’m having a hard time adjusting to being back to civilian life.

Sigh…

We arrived in Provincetown early Saturday morning, Joe and Mark arrived late Saturday afternoon. We’ve had a wonderful time catching up and enjoying the town!

No more posts until I’m home. I just want to focus on enjoying the trip.

Stay safe, all.

How do you get ready for a trip?

This is how we got ready for our trip to Provincetown:

1. We rented the condo,

2. We picked out all the restaurants at which we want to eat while we’re there, including favorites and a couple we’ve never tried, and made dinner reservations for every night we’ll be there (8 nights.)

3. I created two lists in our reminder app, “Ptown” and “Ptown Groceries” which I shared with Jeffrey. We made a list of all the things we needed to bring, and a list of staple items we will want to pick up at the grocery store once we’re there (e.g. coffee creamer, fruit, eggs, and dog food.)

4. Starting Monday, we began putting things on the dining room table that we wanted to bring with us.

5. Yesterday, we packed all of our bags, checking off items on our list as we packed them, and a couple of bins with items we want to bring, then loaded the car.

6. Last night and today, I cleaned the house so we’d have a nice space to come home to after the drive home. We also placed Post-its around the house to remind us to bring things we had to keep out, like meds, that we couldn’t actually pack until last minute when we were ready to go. We also left one tote bag on the dining room table for all these last-minute items.

7. After breakfast this morning, I washed up all the dishes and put them away. I also did the few items of clothing in our laundry basket so we’d have no dirty laundry to come home to. Then I gathered up all the garbage and put it out.

8. Finally, I ran out at lunch (because I’m working from home) and gassed up Mogo (my Subaru Forrester) for the trip.

After all of this, I just had to finish up my workday, and now we’re waiting for Jeffrey to get home from work so we can leave. The only thing we need to do before walking out is grab some refrigerated items we’re bringing from the fridge and put it in the car.

Despite all this prep work we usually do, it usually is more hectic and chaotic than it was this time around. Everything went so smoothly that we were convinced we forgot something. we triple checked our list and walked through everything in our head and could not think of a single thing. Perhaps, after all these years and all these trips we’ve prepped and packed for, we finally have it down to a science.

Here’s hoping the rest of the trip goes so smoothly.

Are you a planner and prepare for away trips or do you just wing it?

Sorry for the gap in posting. Between the funeral, work, and getting ready for our vacation in Ptown, it’s been a hectic week.

In the middle of all this, we celebrated an early Mother’s Day with my Mom by bringing sushi (one of her favorites) and a gift she asked for (a counter top mixer.) She surprised me with an early birthday cake:

One of my staff also surprised me with an early birthday gift: a new (and quite unique) giraffe for me collection.

But, best of all, we leave tomorrow after work for an 8 day vacation. We’ll be staying over in Franklin, MA tomorrow night so we can get on the Cape early Saturday morning before the weekend traffic hits.

There are no words to express how excited I am. We are long overdue for a vacation, we are going to my favorite place on earth, Harvey is coming with us, we will be hanging out with good friends, I’m 20+ lbs lighter (yay Noom!) and it will be the first time in four years that I am going to Ptown without any ailments, attachments, or adverse conditions. Also, I turn 52 while I’m there which means, when we get back, I’ll have less than 3 years to retirement. WOOHOO!

In preparation for the trip, I bought some new sneakers that are quite apropos (with apologies to anti-rainbow paraphernalia Lurky!)

I will try to stay on target with my eating and exercise goals while I’m there but, honestly, I need to let go of as much responsibility and restraint as possible and have a great time! It’s time to let loose and have fun. And by that I mean nap a lot, ogle pretty men, shop my ass off, and hold Jeffrey’s hand while walking down the street every minute we’re there.

And maybe eat a cookie!