There may be sand yet undiscovered . . .
. . . now that I think about it . . .
. . . the beach memories could be endless!
Hank the Dirty Dog
The mystery mark.
The remainder of my day passed in a colorful blur of varied activity bound together by food and family. And, yes, Hank was right there in the mix. My whole wheat quesadilla with three of the seven exquisite gourmet cheeses I selected for our beach trip, which managed to become that one item I forget every time I travel, along with my blendiferous splendiferous (Green Goodness drink, blueberries, strawberries and nonfat Greek yogurt) made my tummy pretty darned happy . . . if a bit gassy. (Sorry. It's the truth. I occasionally suffer from flatulence after imbibing on too much dairy. Or broccoli. Or a compendium of other edibles I can't take the time or space to list.) My daughter and mother-in-law (who vacuumed the front rooms and cleaned my kitchen) lured me to the patio not once, but twice. There, beneath a slowly setting sun and under cover of the gaily-hued orange umbrella, we chatted about Sarah's good news regarding her imminent move to Germany within fourteen to twenty-one days (can you say overjoyed husband?!) and her quick trip to Colorado next week to bid her farewells to relatives up and down the I-25 corridor. I schooled my mother-in-law, who I call Ollie (short for Olivia), on the finer points of Instagram and Pinterest. And she oohed and aahed over my assortment of pictures stored on my iPhone for over half an hour. I can sense the force is strong within her: she covets her very own iPhone for sure! Who can blame her?
Ollie lovin' on her little grandpup.
Ollie's fun side . . .
This is one of my most rePinned Instragram photos on Pinterest.
It's a dogwood in bloom in the beginning of our early spring this year.
It may be edited but I had the eye and the inspiration.
My bro-in-law and his family dropped in around seven. He had the brilliant idea that it was the perfect time to break out my espresso maker and try our collective hand at concocting a couple of cappuccinos. Through a comedy of errors resulting from our combined lack of experience with the machine, the final product resembled a thin dark syrup more than it did stout concentrated coffee. Our drinks mutated into lattes to counter the potency as neither of us was keen to grow a mat of chest hair to rival that of the glorious Mr. Tom Selleck. (Very few can sport that look with such appealing success.) Still, my energetic pounding at the laptop keyboard five minutes past midnight is testimony to the chemistry of the java bean under pressure.
My espresso-loving bro-in-law hamming it up with his niece.
Oh, and before I close out for the day -- day referring to yesterday, Wednesday, which ended about fifteen minutes ago -- I learned a fun fact which pertains to me. A new study has revealed a link between the regular ingestion of NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) like aspirin and Advil and a reduction in the occurrence of skin cancers, including malignant melanoma. Seeing how I pop ibuprofen to my womb's content every month for about a week, I believe I may have earned that evident protection. A possible moment of justice in the face of those nefarious hormones? Perhaps.
With that, I wish you sound sleep and better days. Start taking a low-dose aspirin if you worry about your exposure to the sun. Might save your life. Or at least your skin.