I had a dentist appointment this morning, but they called at 7 and told me that my hygienist had called in with a sick child, so they had to cancel and I could call back at my earliest convenience to reschedule. So instead of having two appointments this morning and running around like a crazy person, I just have one that more or less overlaps lunch, so I get to have a fairly normal day.

We had a really good weekend. We went out to eat Friday, and though Penny still refused to eat her dinner, she at least mostly let Matt and I eat in peace.

Saturday was Penny's birthday. She is now officially 3. She was thrilled with her presents from Grandma Jill -- more with the clothes than with the alphabet learning-game, but you know. Whatever.

It was perhaps predictable that she decided she didn't much like the walking bike Matt and I got her (after Matt spent two hours Friday night assembling it, and then had to actually take it out to a gas station to fill the stupid tires). But I eventually coaxed her onto it for a short ride, and she did another little ride yesterday, so hopefully she'll warm up to it.

The party was a great success. Or at least, all the kids seemed to have fun, and no one got hurt, so I'm calling it a great success.

Pictures? Well, a few, since you ask so nicely...

 

 

Sunday was slower, thank heaven. We did laundry and went to the grocery store and such in the morning, and in the afternoon, at Penny's request, we filled up the pool and splashed around for a while.

Penny was inexplicably whiny this morning, but she seemed to have cheered up by the time I waved to her at the stoplight. I hope so, for Matt's sake. I want to have some hope that she'll be mostly good and in good spirits while I'm gone.

Speaking of gone...

This time tomorrow, I will be at Norfolk Airport waiting for my flight. I'm getting jittery and excited. Vacation! Whee!

I'm going to be a nervous wreck tomorrow morning, though. My layover in Charlotte is only 45 minutes, and that's if the flight there is perfectly on time. I won't really be able to relax until I get on the plane that will land in Cancun. Once that happens, then everything will be fine. I'm not too worried about my luggage getting lost -- I'm almost certain it will happen (45-minute layover, for petesake), but there's a Wal-Mart in downtown Cancun, for petesake; I'm pretty certain I can pick up whatever I need for a day or two until it reappears.

I'm already missing Matt and Penny, but I am determined to enjoy myself and make the most of my vacation.

Karen has demanded that I take scads of pictures -- which she hardly needed to tell me. I bought a 1G memory card for my camera, after all. That's... a lot of pictures. And movies. And I'm taking along my notebook, so I can write things down while they're still fresh in my memory.

We're planning at least one archaeological tour. And I want to go snorkeling. We'll eat good food and drink fine tequila, and wander the tourist markets for souveniers and gifts. We'll spend an afternoon in the ceramics-painting shop, because that's my parents' tradition. And I've told them that I intend to spend at least two days sitting around the resort doing nothing but swimming and reading and relaxing. Two days. Maybe three.

I'll see you next week, Wednesday or Thursday.

--Liz