Picking a Hotel

I wonder how places make themselves seem so AWESOME online or, at the very least, acceptable. I've decided that selecting a hotel online is a lot like online dating. More often than not, you're in for a rather unpleasant surprise when you have that first face-to-face meeting. My skill at selecting hotel accommodations in Fort Walton is sorely lacking. Friends, if I survive the night, I'll see you tomorrow.

Meanderings

Much has changed since I last posted to the blog. Doogle went to nursing school, graduated, and became an ER nurse. Doogle started dating again which was an exercise in pure frustration. Are all men cowards? Doogle quit dating. Some people get a happily ever after. Some people don’t. Doogle falls into the don’t category. So, why continue torturing yourself? People have told me you’ll find someone when you aren’t looking. I call bullshit on that because I wasn’t looking for seven years and no perfect man magically appeared. I don’t expect one to show up now. I also began travel nursing. My plan when I initially went to nursing school. My first assignment took me to the gulf coast – beach living. Let me tell you it is everything I ever dreamed it would be – beach living not travel nursing. Travel nursing is simply the vehicle that takes me where I’d like to go. I’ve been at Fort Walton Beach Medical Center for the past nine months. The past six months I’ve been living in a travel trailer at Navarre Beach Campground. The puppies and I will be leaving this beautiful place tomorrow. My heart/soul, whatever you might call it, is already aching at the reality that we are leaving. The last couple of weeks I’ve driven to work thinking, “This is the last time I will see this beautiful water. This is the last time I will smell the ocean. This is the last time I will breathe it in and know such contentment. This is the last time I will feel that I am truly home.” This is complete nonsense because I’ll be back again and again and again. However, I do hope to live here again one day. This place . . . it speaks to my soul. I find myself thinking I squandered my time here. I spent too much time going back to Enterprise when I could have simply stayed here and drank in this experience in its entirety. I won’t be making that mistake again. The puppies and I will be headed to Seneca, SC for our next adventure. We already have a reservation at an RV park. It isn’t as fine as this one but it seems nice enough. I’ve got doggy daycare set up. Daycare here in Navarre was so very special and, the puppies and I will miss Debbie and her family. And, their dog Sunny. They had become an extension of our family. We’re leaving this beautiful place. We’ll be leaving a part of ourselves behind. But, we’re off to our next adventure in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains – Seneca, SC. I suspect we’ll freeze to death.

Today's Harvest

I harvested three bell peppers, three banana peppers, five green beans and 10 cherry tomatoes today. I am feeling very proud of my little garden and so relieved to finally have some tomato success.

Handful of Beans

This morning I picked twenty-two beans fresh from the garden, washed them and ate them. I don't really care for green beans but I felt I should give them another try since I grew them and all. However, I still don't think I like them but I'll keep trying. Jordan loved them and Logan is confident that she does not care for green beans. It's hard to get a proper tasting accomplished when you have to divide your twenty-two beans by three. :-)

I have lots of peppers on my pepper plants. There are three big banana peppers and two medium green peppers on the plants. The plants are loaded with more peppers but they are just getting started and are quite small. Still, only three tomatoes and they are still green. But, I've only had the garden seven weeks and it might be possible that I'm a little impatient.

Coal and Nola

Nola stayed with us for about nine days last month. She was such a delight and absolutely no trouble at all. Coal loved her and they had a very good time. It was his first sleep-over.

Birthday Socks!

Today is my Mom's birthday and,to celebrate, I made her a pair of ankle socks because she loves ankle socks. She loves socks in general and will be super happy to receive a pair of hand-knit socks. One of the qualities, and there are many, that I love about my mom is her appreciation of hand-knit socks. And, she thinks I'm a knitting genius. She gets it! They were knit using Socks That Rock lightweight sock yarn in the pebble beach colorway. I hope she likes them.


These little socks are for Anne of Green Gables, one of my Mom's porcelain dolls. In my opinion, Anne of Green Gables is one of the best book series ever written. I love Anne and wish to be her bosom friend. Now, Anne and Mom can be all matchy, matchy.

Growing

Beans on July 6, 2009


Beans on July 8, 2009


Beans on July 9, 2009

I read somewhere that beans shouldn't be planted this way because they have fairly fragile root systems. So, I won't do it this way again. Although, they don't seem to object. I moved them into bigger pots today. Growing beans is an exercise in almost instant gratification. I really like that about beans.