Category: Uncategorized

I think housework is the reason most women go to the office.
— Heloise Cruse

Ok, here you go – proof that OxyClean really does work:

If you know where to look when you’re in the bedroom, you can just ever so slightly see that the carpet has a kind of greenish tint where the stain was, but I don’t even notice it anymore. Isn’t that amazing? The stuff I used is called Woolite OxyDeep, and it comes in a blue spray bottle (I just checked and realized it’s not an official OxyClean product, I guess, but who cares?).

I wasted hours and $25 renting a steam cleaner from the grocery store that only marginally made the stain better, even after treating it directly with undiluted carpet cleaner first (which just made it turn green). I don’t know what made me think of OxyClean, but I figured it was worth a shot. Let me tell you, I could have saved $20 and nearly all the hours, because you just spray that stuff on, let it sit for a few minutes and blot it up. It will still be damp and it will still keep working. I left it for a while after I first applied it and blotted it, thinking I’d come back to it and do another round, but when I went back in the bedroom, the stain had practically disappeared! Yay!

Also, two things I forgot about the beach:

1. I spend so much time in the pool, that I always forget that ocean water is salty. It’s kind of a unique surprise.

2. All around Virginia Beach there are dolphin sculptures all decorated differently. See:

I’m sorry, what was that? Oh – of course I had to take pictures of all of them!

Sorry things have been slow around here. The thing that was maybe going to resolve itself last Tuesday is still officially unresolved, which is actually much better for me in the long run, but still kind of hard to deal with at the moment, so I haven’t felt much like writing. Or, I have, but I’m not sure what’s really ok to write about right now, so I’ve been kind of taking a break. Hopefully more regular posting will resume shortly!

“It happens every time – they all become blueberries!”
— Willy Wonka, in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Thursday, I had to be at work by 8, which is 45 minutes earlier than I usually get there. In order to do that, I had to take the 7 o’clock shuttle, which meant I had to get up at 6. That is one hour before my usual waking time, and it is not good.

Anyway, I got up at 6:10 and got out of the shower at 6:30. I needed to eat something, so I whipped up a blueberry smoothie in the kitchen and brought it into my bedroom so I could drink it while I was getting dressed. You see where this is going already, don’t you?

I was standing near my dresser putting lotion on my legs. In between, I was taking sips of the smoothie (from a straw, without picking the cup up off the dresser). I do not know how it happened, but I pumped more lotion out of the bottle and moved my hand towards my body, and the next thing I know, disaster struck:

Yeah, that’s blueberry smoothie all over my beige carpet (in my apartment, which I rent). Awesome. And of course, now it’s 6:45, and I need to be out of the house in about 12 minutes, and my legs are covered in smoothie. I had to hop back in the shower to rinse off, slap lotion back on, do the quickest hair and make-up ever, and get the hell out of house, which meant I had no time to even clean it up, not that I had any idea where to even begin.

And if you know me personally, you know that this causes me, like, actual physical pain to look at. My bedroom is so pretty, and now it’s covered in blueberry smoothie. And it’s not even centered in front of the dresser, so that I could just move the area rug from in front of the closet to cover it up! And this is why I should never have children. Because I am a control freak and they are going to hate me.

I’m exaggerating (a little), of course, and tomorrow I’m going to rent a steam cleaner from the grocery store, but I’m worried that this is not going to come out and then I’ll have to live here for another year (I just renewed my lease) seeing this every single day.  Boo.

Every time we walk along a beach, some ancient urge disturbs us, so that we find ourselves shedding shoes and garments or scavenging among seaweed and whitened timbers like the homesick refugees of a long war.
— Loren Eiseley

So, I’m back. I had such a great time that I nearly stayed another day, but one thing was pulling me home, and I know I made the right choice. But here is a photo essay of my trip, with a little commentary along the way:

This was the house Aimee’s family is renting for the week – it’s 9 bedrooms and 5 (I think) bathrooms, with a hot tub, a cabana, a big deck on the top, and this beautiful pool:

Saturday we moved our stuff in and immediately headed for the pool, playing with Ben and the other kids. We later dried off and showered, and we were getting ready to go out, when our plans were thwarted because there was no one to watch Ben. So we hung out at the house instead, and I had my first drink of the weekend, which is my new favorite thing:

Here we are on the patio:

Aimee went to bed around 10:30, and I walked across the street to the beach in the dark. I sat down on the sand and stared at the stars and listened to the waves crashing and felt, suddenly, very small. Which was good, because this thing that’s going on that I’m not really talking about feels very big to me and it’s hard sometimes to remember that this is not all there is. I crawled in to bed a little after midnight, tired but happy to be where I was.

Sunday morning, Aimee was up with Ben by 6:15, and she woke me because she knew I wanted to see the sunrise, and I was glad she did.

I went for a little barefoot run on the beach, which was awesome, and then took a nap til about 9. We spent the day at the beach and the pool, and then went down to Beach Street that night to walk around like tourists.

We went to a mirror maze, where they made us wear plastic gloves on our hands so we wouldn’t leave fingerprints on the glass and give away which ones were mirrors. We had a blast – we went through three times, and laughed our asses off the whole time. Here we are in the maze, and we both think we’re looking at the camera:

We walked down to the Boardwalk for a little bit and watched the lightning flash over the ocean, which was very cool. Then we headed to a bar where Aimee ordered a margarita as big as her head and I had something called a Moon Doggie, which was spiced rum, blue curacao, and strawberries in a frozen concoction, and it was yummy.

We headed home exhausted, and I was up again for the sunrise on Monday, although a little later. I saw pelicans dive bombing for their breakfasts, a dead horseshoe crab, some jellyfish, leftover sand castles, and much more.

Then Ben and I hung out for a little bit:

Then I headed to the beach to lay out. I was lying on my stomach, and I lifted my head up for some reason, and all of a sudden, it was like Night of the Living Dead – all the little sand crabs peeked their heads up out of their holes and started skittering around. It was so weird, like the sand was moving. As soon as I reached for my camera, they all darted back underground. Eventually, I was able to capture this little guy on video:

Then, I saw about a million dolphins about 150 yards off shore.

I stood hip-deep in the ocean with tears streaming down my face watching them surface and jump. I probably could have swam out to them, that’s how close they were. And I would have, if I thought they would have let me get close. I like to think that the dolphins would know it was me if I went to them.

After that, I went to the pool for a bit and then showered and got ready to go. We took a few final pictures:

And then I was off. It took me less time to get from the beach back to Northern Virginia than it did to get from Richmond to the beach, which it shouldn’t have, but that’s beach traffic for you. When I got home, I unpacked, and I think Pico wants to make sure I don’t leave without him next time:

Vacation is what you take when you can’t take what you’ve been taking any longer.
— Unknown

Sorry I didn’t post yesterday – I was hoping to keep my daily streak up, at least until today – but I just couldn’t manage it. But here’s what’s happening in my neck of the woods:

My tomato plants are not well. They were so tall, so I cut them back a couple weeks ago, which I know the guy who sold them to me said I could do, but I think I broke them. And my Alyssum never flowered. I still have just a bunch of seedlings, which are nice enough, but I was promised purple flowers, damn it, and I want them.

Yesterday I was off work for an all-day CLE thing on professionalism that Virginia requires all newly-licensed attorneys to attend within one year of being admitted to the bar. I was bored to tears, but at least I got to get home by 4, which was nice. Then I went for my first real training run outside, which, as the running page details, was both better and worse than running at the gym.

Today was back to work. My boss left at 2:30, and since I was the only one in the office today, he told me (with a knowing smile) that I could use my “discretion” as to when I left. Don’t think I didn’t seriously consider 2:31. But in the end, I held out until 4:15, and was home by 5. I could get used to this. I just went for a swim, and now I’m relaxing, waiting for pizza to arrive, and trying to pack for the beach.

Tomorrow morning, I’m headed down to Richmond to meet Aimee and Ben and the rest of her Richmond family, and then we’ll all head east to Sandbridge where they get a house for a week every summer. I’m staying til Monday, and I cannot tell you how much I need this right now. There are things going on around these parts that are really wearing on me, and I just need to be away from it right now, and hopefully gain some clarity and insight and peace. Tuesday might be the day that provides the resolution, one way or the other, but I can’t be positive.

Depending on what time I get home Monday, you might get an update, but you might not, either. Do try not to miss me too much!

There are two means of refuge from the misery of life – music and cats.
— Albert Schweitzer