Finally REALLY settled in

It's been a crazy few days!

The 4th was interesting- very different from usual for me. First off, I overslept- too much late caffeine the day before meant being up really late!- and I MISSED the parade!!!!. And, it was raining!! That led to second off- we did not have our usual crowd. Only one of my DS's friends came and our friends all begged off.

Then, when my mother called my brother (a different brother from the one whose house we were staying at- this one has a shore house about 10 miles away) and said she didn't want to drive to his party, and I was going to drop her off, he said "well, she's invited also then". We will NOT go into the details about all this. Since I've known many of his neighbors all my life, I did stop in at the party for about an hour, which was much longer than I planned.

Then it was off to ACMoore- they had the 4 packs of paper for $5 (which is basically buy 1, get 3 free!!!!) so I had to go there. Obviously, bought more than just paper- can you EVER get out of ACMoore or Michaels with only the one thing you went for? I also stopped to buy new bed linens as the ones for the second bedroom in the little house were not in the linens crate when I washed everything earlier in the week. Shopping on the 4th was new to me!

Let's just say it was quite late in the afternoon before I got home. The "boys" were having a grand time with Xbox and had managed to avail themselves on their own of the homemade bruchetta I had slaved over the night before. That made the interest in dinner come very late in the evening- and just as I was about to put everything out, Mom called that my brother would not/could not leave his guests to drive her home, as originally planned.
So, off I go, again, to pick her up- just as the massive crowds were clogging the only main road to my brother's in preparation for the fireworks. Let's just say it was a LONG trip. The good news is that the trip home during the fireworks, went quickly- AND we could see them as we drove!- and we got home before they were over so we beat the "after" traffic.

Saturday was all packing in the AM- to move to the little house- and unpacking in the PM- at the little house. I achieved my goal of being completely moved in before DH arrived in the evening and we just had pizza for dinner then watched baseball on TV. LONG day.

Sunday was truly a day of rest. As in I napped most of the afternoon. I did make a real Sunday dinner after my nap- roast pork loin, mashed potatoes, veggies, dessert- the whole gig!

Notice there is NO stamping/crafting/whatever in there. I just have not yet felt like getting everything out- it looks so nice and neat all organized on the shelves in the 2nd bedroom. How's that for neurotic?

Today I hope to get to the beach if it doesn't rain. I already went over and double checked everything at my brother's house- he has a contract to sell it, but it has to pass the county inspection first and the inspectors are coming this afternoon. Did a little sprucing up- no biggie.

I also spent hours perusing SCS today, and I even set up a poll- first time for that. It is on the topic of using/getting coupons for Michaels and ACMoore and you can find it here.

So, DH and DS are in the city to work all week, Mom went home for a bunch of doctor's appointments, all my jobs at DB's house are taken care of (except for putting out the recycleables for the trashmen Wednesday morning, no big deal), and I am FINALLY on my REAL vacation.

I LOVE being alone at the shore. I LOVE reading whenever I feel like, all night if it's a good book and I want to finish it NOW. I love eating whenever and whatever I feel like. I LOVE that a few of my girlfriends will come down for a couple days and we will sit and talk and laugh and stay up late, and craft, and go to the beach and have REAL girlfriend time.

Don't misunderstand- I LOVE DH and DS and really enjoy when they come down on weekends. It's a great time!

But, that alone time, ME time, is really special. And, it's finally HERE!

Oh dear- it's starting to rain. Guess it's a sign- time to dig out the Silhouette and all the crafty stuff and play!