I love long weekends. I really could spend 24-7 with the wee one and be quite happy.  Stay at home Mom's that complain are crazy.  Now to come up with a "win the lottery" strategy that works.

Yesterday we visited at Jay and Jenn's get together yesterday after heading to Bridgeville to try a place we had a groupon for.  The Railyard was decent, but I'll state that much of what I had was pretty bland.  Fried pickles were a very large serving, but the breading was basically panko and zilch for zest/seasoning.  The dipping sauce helped them out to be pleasant enough, but even that could have used a little bit of a kick of something.  The fish and chips followed suit - HUGE serving, but basic panko-style crust without much flavor.  The fries are fresh cut which is always nice, sliced thin, but not over cooked - pleasant surprise.  I'd love to report on the Guinness chocolate cake, but they were out.  We had the cookie instead which wasn't bad, I just had my heart set on that cake.

Last night we pressure washed the ceiling of the deck roof (and I cleaned a few other things that didn't get done last weekend w/ the deck itself) and sprayed the carpenter bee holes with appropriate bee spray.  This morning my Favorite Egg covered the holes and taped things off in preparation to put the urethane up.  I pray this works/keeps them away.

Since all of the furniture from the deck is below the deck, I sat down there long enough to notice that we have at least two baby robins in the nest down there!  I then noticed the robin siting on the fence, probably waiting for me to leave so he/she could feed the babies, so Avery and I packed up and came back inside.  This nest is from a previous year or two, which I left behind, and I'm glad I did.  Welcome birdies!

Effn bees.  Once again this year I'm fighting the bees who keep trying to set up shop out back (wasps and yellow jackets).  Today however I also spotted the first one - a carpenter bee on my deck roof *yes, the one I just put in last year*  Upon closer inspection there are several holes out there. *sigh*  The guy who did the roofing said it was rare that carpenter bees would go after this, it's why I went ahead and picked the wood ceiling.  So now I have to try and figure out how to deal with them.  I had issues with them at the eves on the Jtown house and couldn't get rid of them until I totally covered over the wood w/ soffit and fascia.  I'm so not happy.  I guess I'll be trying to get the wood sealed... or paying someone too and hoping that deters/stops it? :(

Friday night I ventured to another greenhouse in the area and we have a winner - a very nice place.  I picked up two of my sweet, actually SUPER sweet 100s tomato plants and a basil plant.  I wanted to get them into my pots on Saturday, but do you think I could find my large ceramic pots ANYWHERE?  I know they were moved, so where on earth did they go?  So yesterday I was out running a bit more.  I'm not spending on new ceramic ones because that's crazy expensive, so instead I cheaped out and bought two big black buckets from Home Depot.  I bought spray paint to make them look nicer too.

Last night I got one bucket partially painted and the spray paint stopped working. GAH!  So today I was out again to take that can back and get more.  Regardless, earlier today I put the plants into the partially painted pots.  Today my Favorite Egg is here helping out, pressure washing the deck and some of the dirty spots on the siding.

At church this morning I was surprised when the pastor asked me about joining the board of trustees.  So that may be happening too.  I've been wondering how to get involved at this church since we don't have the youth group or other activities that my old/larger church had going on.

It's nice to be recognized for something - to be told you're doing a good job.  Sometimes we hear these things, but not from the people we really wanted and expected to hear it from.  Sometimes the people you want to hear these things from are completely silent and it breaks your heart and ruins what otherwise a lovely day.

Life is very different now... my biggest thrill was finding a whole pile of baby food marked down in Iggle last night.  I guess I always loved a 'good deal' so it isn't that big of a leap, and then needing to organize and plot/plan the order of eating schedule to ensure that one new item is introduced at a time is in my wheelhouse of neurotic activities.

I'm very glad I put of making my grocery run as I suspect they had JUST done the inventory that resulted in these markdowns and had I rushed there after returning from vaca I would have not scored.

We once again visited with the Grandeur of the Seas.  Our drive to Baltimore on the 25th was long, but uneventful other than a few spots of rain.  The hotel I typically go with was showing as permanently closed, so I booked another hotel in that same area that offered transportation to and from the cruise ship.  The room was not as nice, but it functioned.  Being there I see that the hotel I use to use is now under a different name, but I don't recall seeing the park and cruise deal there.

Our room onboard was an interior (read:  incredibly small with a shower curtain that likes to get up close and personal).  The room was even smaller once we set up Avery's pack and play (provided by the line), but since we had to get a 3-4 person room we were able to drop one of the bunks down to use for storage (and bonking my head).  The staff onboard is still great, the food is still quite good.  Grandeur herself is showing lots of signs of disrepair on the outside (lots of rust that I'm surprised they're not more active tending to).  Rumors swirl that she may be leaving the fleet and being replaced in Baltimore by her sister, Enchantment.

After one full day at sea we stopped in Charleston, where we walked in the main area near the pier.  We wandered and found a good cup of coffee and then a bar for a couple of beers.  We walked through the market area and then down to Rainbow Row and over by the water to the ferry pier where we took Avery to sit on the swings we were on a few years ago right before we started dating.

The next two days were Port Canaveral and Miami, as I mentioned, we stayed onboard.  Next stop was to be Cococay, but that was scratched due to rough conditions that prevented safe tendering.  Instead we pressed on to Nassau, where we got a day and a half instead of the one day.

Our first day in Nassau we walked to Senor Frog's for a few drinks and then into a few shops before returning to the ship.  On day two, since we missed Cococay we booked an excursion by ferry to Blue Lagoon.  That morning was cool and rainy, and we almost cancelled - but we had come too far to not get to put Avery's toes into the sand and water.  Blue Lagoon was not overly impressive to me - I wouldn't recommend it.  As to the water and sand:  Avery cried.  I'm hoping she'll do better if we ca put those toes into WARM water.

Then we had two days at sea as we returned to Baltimore and then the looong drive home.  It feels so much further to Baltimore now that I've moved - it is an extra hour away, but it feels like even more.

I'm glad to be home, but tired, and not eager to get back to the grind.  In the mean time, the rest of my weekend was trying to get some basics (laundry) done.