St. Augustine in pictures - day 1

Shooter and I took an Eco-Tour of St. Augustine while we were there and I got some amazing pictures due to our being out in the water. Here are a few....







Just thought this was kinda neat.

St. Augustine is currently a free port - but the local government is looking to try to change that. Basically anyone can come in and anchor their boat in the "bay" at no charge. I didn't get any pictures of them, but the south side of the "bay" is full of discarded boats. We even saw one sailboat that had been run ashore and left there. On the north side of the "bay" are the permanent "residents" of St. Augustine's boat village.

This is one of the many dolphins we encountered while in St. Augustine and Crescent Beach. Our Eco-Tour guide is working on getting grant money to track the migration of the dolphins in that area - to see where they go during the winter season. I told him I'd definitely volunteer to go with him to the Bahamas and take photographs for him. ;-)

We came up on this sand bar and found these four adolescent brown pelicans and a host of other sea birds. Zach, our tour guide, said that you know they're adolescents because their heads are still brown and fuzzy.

There is this huge bronze cross erected in St. Augustine. We passed by these fishermen and I thought it was a poignant picture.

This is a picture of the Castillo de San Marcos. Being in the "bay", which isn't really a bay, offered a great perspective on taking pictures of downtown.

Here's a better shot of downtown and the shops.

Quickly checking in.....

Hey all!!!

I'm posting from a Starbucks this morning...it's sunny and gorgeous. Shooter and I just finished an hour on jet skis and it was a blast. Just as we were bringing the skis back, we were joined by two dolphins...it was amazing!

I have tons of pictures to share, I just haven't managed to make myself work too much on the computer, I'm sure you all understand! :0)

Oh...the story about Morey....

Well, Friday night I was on the phone with tech support from my work trying to figure out how to get my stupid computer connected to my home wireless network. The dogs were irritating me cause they were barking at who knows what in the backyard...so I let them out. Not 5 min later the tone of the barking changed considerably...you guys with dogs (or kids) know what I'm talking about. I went out to see what was the matter and Morey was in a standoff with an itty bitty kitten in our backyard. I basically hung up on tech support and ran out to save the kitten. Leah was circling from behind, but that little kitten was holding his own against my 18 pound schnauzer. I bent down and grabbed his scruff between my thumb and pointer finger and just looked at the little furball who'd so bravely stood up to not one, but two dogs. He hissed at me like he was a 50 pound panther. I cuddled the little man and finally got him to calm down. I didn't know where he'd come from but I had a good idea. We have stray cats behind out house and I was afraid that one of them had gotten up in the remnants of our dog house and birthed some kittens. I couldn't move anything so I wanted until Shooter got home. In the meantime, I took the kitten (who Di and I later named Braveheart) inside with me and the pups. We all laid down on the sofa and watched a little tv. The dogs finally ignored him and he slowly emerged from his towel and curled up on my shoulder. Shooter came home and was so surprised to see how small he was...much younger than I'd originally thought. We went out and turns out there were three more kittens back there. We gathered them up and went to see our neighbor who cares and feeds the strays. She guessed they were somewhere around 4-5 weeks old and not weaned. If we were going to take them to the humane society or a cat rescue....we'd need the Mom. Well, we tried trapping her and that didn't work. After talking to several people we decided that it would be best to put them back outside and let the Mom come get them once she was comfortable. We checked in the morning and they were gone.

I swear, little Braveheart made such an impression on me. He was small but he was the protector of his litter. Of course....Braveheart could be a girl....don't know why I assumed he was a boy...oh well. :0)

I hope to post more pictures but in the event that this relaxation overakes me....I promise to post over the weekend.

L.

To the beach and beyond.....

Allrighty guys....after one hectic ending to the week....I'm finishing up my packing and getting ready to head off to the beach. I am sure that I'll find a way to update the blog while I'm gone. But in the event that I don't....I promise to share my abundance of pictures and stories when I return later in the week.

Oh...and Calico...those poppies were at Callaway Gardens....I'm growing some pretty things but no massive fields of poppies!

Oh...and do I have a story to tell about a kitty named Braveheart and a schnauzer who's bark is bigger than his bite. ha!


Ya'll be good!!!!!

L.

Ahhh....only 3.5 more work days to go....

Update: I spoke with my Mom last night and she told me that she didn't start packing and laying out our clothes two weeks before vacation. It was more like a week. She said she had to because with two small kids we'd go through tons of clothes and she'd be doing tons of last minute laundry. I promised her that I'd post her rebuttal to my childhood memories of the incidents in question. Oh - and I also have to make sure to post the fact that I did have plenty of clothes to choose from, not just one pair of undies and one change of clothes...apparently I have the knack for exaggeration...who knew!!?!?! ;-)



Well, first I have to give a round of applause to Shooter...way to go baby!...and his first guest post on the blog. I'll get him to work on some lighter pieces in the future....he and I have been in this majorly deep and dramatic funk...but I have decided that it's enough of that.... ;-)

Lots of dramz in lots of places these days...in an effort to keep from getting "Dooced" I'm going to keep my little, wittle mouth shut. The economy's bad after all and we need my health benefits.

I am on the countdown to vacation though. I have been washing clothes and ironing and folding and sorting and laying things out. I feel like my mother all of a sudden....although, if I were really turning into her I would have started laying out clothes two weeks ago. I remember when I was a kid and Mom would start setting clothes aside about two weeks before we were to leave. We'd go on vacation for two weeks so by the time we'd gotten to the day before we left I was usually down to 1 clear pair of panties and one clean outfit. Everything else had been strategically squirreled away into the luggage and master locked. But I digress, I have basically finished washing and ironing everything and put my outfits together and planned what shoes I'm taking. I have to pack for a short overnight thing for work and then repack on Saturday evening. We leave bright and early on Sunday morning! Woot!!

I am just focusing on my mental image of me on the beach with a good book, my SPF 15/30 suntan lotion/sunblock, feet in the water, and lots of delicious seafood meals! No agenda, no specific time to be anywhere...lots of nothing!

Until then....I have 3.5 more days of work to get through...Lord help me!

The party is over....

*ugh*

I sit at home, with my pups, wallowing in a mountain of self pity and laundry. Today is my last day of vacation. I go back t owork tomorrow. I have been on vacation since December 20th. That's two whole weeks. It makes it VERY difficult to think of going back to the office. However, should anyone come and try to take me away earlier than scheduled, I have my watchdogs in place.

They'll eagerly jump on you and lick you to death if you try to come and take me away. I promise it...so don't come if you're allergic to doggie slobber. Really, they're mean, very mean, they'll bite your toes off. Well, okay, maybe not...but they'll tear your socks off and run away with them.

They're really excellent watchdogs. Really, REALLY good....

Well, okay, I'm off to finish my laundry and somehow mentally prepare myself to be an adult and go back to work and earn an honest living. Who am I kidding....an adult...pshaw!