I'm Back!

We have (regretfully) returned from our extended stay in Navarre Beach, Florida. We have never gone anywhere for more than two weeks before, and that was 30 years ago. Most of our trips in later years have been less than a week in length. It seemed we were coming home way too soon to suit me, but Terry was always ready to be home. He is more of a homebody than I am. I was born to travel. For this reason, I was curious to see how Terry would take this extended stay. Much to my amazement, he loved it! Neither of us was really ready to return to reality, even though we knew we had to, for a variety of reasons. He liked it so much that we have already booked the same lovely condo for a month in October. We think it may make a nice tradition-a month in the spring and one in the fall each year. Although I am not traveling all over the place as I might like, I am content to do this.

During our stay, we explored much of the surrounding area. I got to swim (even though the pool was cold) and go to the beach as I liked. I painted several pieces and read 10 novels. We were relaxed and happy and rarely had even a disagreement. It was lovely. Our two sons and families spent long weekends with us, too, which was fun. Most of the time, the weather was beautifully sunny, although windy. There were only 5 days of rain.

Unfortunately, life's realities intruded on our idyll, and it became time to leave. My dad, who I thought was recovering nicely from his many ailments when we left, had a serious setback and was hospitalized yet again. I did worry about him and called him daily to monitor his progress, but I knew my sister was bearing a heavy burden by herself. Projects that Terry had lined up with the two boys were going to need getting done, especially since a new grandchild is on the way this fall (yay!). We haven't seen Drew and Nick since Christmas, which is too long. So we came home to pick up the threads of everyday life. But that's okay. It's less than five months until we can go back! Life is indeed good...