Work In Progress

lumping stuff together

i had zero time last week, so today you get a smorgasbord.

first off all, happy belated labor day. what did we do? well, marc had meetings on friday in milwaukee, so the kids and i tagged along for a cheap 36 hour mini-only break we've had since april vacation.

while marc was working, i took the kids to the little hotel pool.

they had fun ...

they practiced synchronized forward somersaults ...

and then played a little marco polo, which led to this:

sad little lip.

she got over whatever it was within moments, though, and they were soon having a water fight. which was all sorts of fun ...

until it wasn't ...

kills you, doesn't it?

so while she pouted, henry decided to try out the hot tub ...

all of his screaming and weirdness got a smile out of harper, so she then forgave henry for whatever it was he'd done and decided to experience the sensation of boiling alive, too ...

once they were both hot and melty, they decided to jump back in the pool to freeze themselves ...

which, within minutes, became this ...

(are you kidding me with this face, harper? seriously, is it that bad?!)

apparently, no, not that bad. within moments, they were trying water ballet ...

and all was well.

ding dongs.

after cleaning up, we waited for marc to come get us, then we headed to the mitchell park conservatory dome gardens.

i took many lovely pictures. all of plants. you get this one:

after that, we drove to the shore of lake michigan and took a walk. lake michigan, wherever i happen to find it, always brings me peace (see: this and this), and this was no exception. the breeze ... the water ... it was a great walk.

until the kids got into it over something, harper threw a fit, she had to sit in time-out under a tree, and i watched the boats in the marina and tried to "ohm" my way back to peace.

after that, we ate dinner, went back to the hotel, swam again, and called it a day.

saturday morning, we detoured to blue mounds, wis., on the way home so we could take the kids to the cave of the mounds park. a real, live, millions-of-years-old cave near madison.

the kids thought we were the bomb for taking them there ... score one for us.

the tour took about an hour, and both of the kids were fascinated and interested the whole time. (that never happens.)

once back in daylight, we stopped in the gift shop, where henry declared he didn't need anything (my boy is growing up!) and harper picked out a geode to crack open.

when we took it outside to clean off ...

henry spent time creating a dam system out of the quarry sluice and the sifting pans.

given that he's been doing this at every water feature he's ever found since the age of two, i told henry it seemed like his natural dream job would be a hydrologist, a dam engineer. which then became us going the whole "national lampoon's vegas vacation/hoover dam" sequence route ...

"henry, you should be a dam engineer."

"i'd have a dam job! i'd get a dam paycheck! i could use the dam bathroom!"

which caused him a great amount of pleasure, to be saying that in front of his mom. and it was not only totally okay, it was totally hilarious.

(three days later, on the first day of school, he had to write up a survey in science about how he's a scientist, and how his future would include science. and he wrote about wanting to become a hydrologist ... he even squeaked in phrases like "dam engineer" and "dam job." oh, my.)

speaking of first day of school ...

middle school. first grade.

fingers crossed.

actually, so far, so good. they both had a great first week and have started making new friends. it helps that i'm driving them out to the new neighborhood to ride the bus ... a dozen kids get on and off for middle school, and there are nearly 30 kids at our bus stop for elementary school. they basically take up the whole bus ... it's crazy. crazy good.

speaking of the house ...

we now have electrical:

and water ...

and appliances ...

(appliances that i really, really can't wait to play with ...)

yeah, baby.

oh, and remember that ikea maskros light i was going to hack?

and soon it looked kinda like this?

well, now it looks like this:

(broader spectrum of updated photos here)

so now we are TWO weeks from closing. we went out this morning and found that all the barn doors are now up, the hardware will be on soon, driveway is done, and this week should see the return of the painters, exterior paint, carpet installation, finalization of electrical and plumbing ... we're in the home stretch. to the untrained eye, it looks like an impossible list. but hey ... not my problem. we close on the 23rd ... it's up to them to meet their deadline. right?

interlude

things *may* progress this week, but then again they may not.

so let's talk about something else.

i finally got the photos from snorkeling in the dominican last month. marc didn't pack the cameras after all.

and there you have it.

 

this was an awesome post, wasn't it?

so, the dominican.

i'm getting this out of the way, even though i can't post the pix from snorkeling (marc packed the camera with the card from that) and don't know how to post a video. (more about that in a bit.) regardless, i'm taking a painting/cleaning/packing break to get these pix up and de-gloomify this gray, rainy day.

remember last year ... we went to puerto rico because marc was invited to red hat's president's club? it's an honor for the top 1% of sales/engineering/support/etc within the company. last year there were about 120 people; this year the number was around 160 who made the trip to the dominican republic. the company is growing and doing very well, and it was a huge honor to marc that of that number, he was only one of just a handful who were invited for a second year.

the full album is here, so this is just a brief recap of our quickie getaway ... that came in the midst of so much going on at home to get ready for our house to go on the market and start the build that marc and i, on day one, sat in the pool lamenting that it was hard to really relax and enjoy where we were because of so much on our plates and in our brains. it was a running theme all weekend ... we were too preoccupied and distracted to really relax and have fun.

but we tried.

we flew through atlanta to punta cana and had an easy-peasy trip. unlike many of the other travelers who connected through atlanta earlier in the day; they got delayed by two hours and actually arrived later than we did.

on the trip down, we seemed to follow a line that went through the bahamas and turks & caicos, because there were amazing little islands below us for the last hour or more.

once we landed, we knew we were in a laid-back part of the world. we deplaned onto the tarmac, stood in line with the rest of the passengers, wandered into an open air terminal under a grass roof, no one seemed to be in any hurry ... we waited in one line to pay our fee to enter the country, then waited in the next line to give our fee receipt to another person who promptly threw the receipt away and waved us through to the next person, who stamped our passports and sent us on to baggage claim. there, we saw that getting all the bags off the plane and into the terminal was the work of one guy in a luggagemobile, who made three trips back and forth to finally get all the bags into the claim area.

a paragon of efficiency, this airport was not.

but, it was breezy and warm and tropical and different. so it was okay.

then we hopped in a van that drove us 20 minutes to bavaro to the paradisus palma real resort. walking in reminded us so much of puerto rico ... lovely hotel at first, then BAM ... view from the lobby:

we immediately dumped our bags in the room and headed for the pool.

and i proceeded to not touch my camera for the next two days.

however, i took a couple with my phone on night one, of the entertainment putting on a fire-dancing show.

as soon as i can figure out how to put a video on here, i'll share snippets of the show. the dancers were incredible.

day two ... more pool time and a snorkeling trip to the marinarium. it was okay, as far as snorkeling goes. not as good as puerto rico, and we had to stay with a guide the whole time, but the boat ride was a blast ... we were with marc's sales partner and his wife, his boss and his wife, another sales guy and his wife, among others ... and lots of coco loco to be drunk ... which made for a totally a fun group.

and when we unpack those cameras, i'll share those pix, too.

sadly, on the return trip that afternoon, all the red hatters on the boat who are from the home office in raleigh started getting texts from home about the tornadoes that had just gone through the city. the mood became a bit tense, but luckily it appeared all were safe and spared.

that night was a "white" dinner on the beach ... everyone was to wear white clothes, tables and a band stage and dance floor were set up on the beach, a pre-dinner reception area and buffets and banners were arranged ... and literally ON THE WALK to dinner, marc got a migraine. so we turned around and headed back to the room, where marc tried to fight the migraine for 45 minutes. we emerged to run to the beach for a quick bite to eat, and literally 30 minutes later we were back in the room. he was out for the night, and i sat up and read.

exciting stuff.

the next day was just a quiet, lay around, do nothing day.

marc and i had trouble with that. we both kinda felt like we were ready to just go home and get on with everything we needed to get on with. hopefully, when we do this trip again next year (thinking positively can't hurt, right?), we'll have nothing weighing on us and can just sit back and enjoy every moment. we both earned this trip - marc, for how hard he works, and me, for how much i deal with in his absences - and it's a shame to not fully soak it in.

(and yes, the kids have earned a trip, too, for as much as they put up with daddy being gone and missing things, mommy being stressed and unable to be in two places at the same time, and all the strain of a single-parent home half the year. we're hoping to reward them with an actual spring break somewhere that isn't a) a grandparent's house or b) in front of the wii next year. they've put up with a lot, too, poor buggers.)

(gratuitous easter pix ...)

after a day in the pool, i was burned enough to know my time in the sun was over. we stayed in the room until it was time to walk to the final dinner. a speech from the president, a slide show of the trip, and great conversation with friends, then marc and i headed to the dark, deserted beach to enjoy a final night of toes in the sand, listening to the surf.

(which, honestly, is our favorite way to experience the beach. without the people or the sun. we're weird like that.)

the next day we wandered the resort a bit more ...

before we began our long trek home, and the next day our adventure with the house resumed with a lot walk with the building supervisor. more on that later ... ;o)

i'm not giving you the silent treatment.

promise.

it's just been crazy around here.

last thursday we flew to the dominican republic for five days of schmoozing/celebrating/sunning/drinking/laughing/sleeping/eating/swimming/sunburning with the other '11 president's club members from red hat. marc was one of only a few that were in the club a second year in a row ... he'd like to go for the hat trick next year, so i guess i need to be okay with his travel schedule.

which, given what the calendar looks like over the next month, is hard to swallow right now.

but i have to keep this in mind:

and this, too:

because, let's be honest: marc's buying this house, not me.

i will tell you all about our trip, share pix (from the real camera, not my phone), tell you about doing the lot walk with the building supervisor, etc., but i have to dig my camera out first. and get through the next two days of painting/cleaning/mending/hanging/hole filling/scrubbing/etc. to get this house ready to go on the market in, hopefully, a week or so. because i lose my helper on monday, and getting as much done as possible this weekend is imperative.

so, i'm not ignoring you. i just need a few days. then i'll be back.

please forgive me.

peace.

loose ends.

tyin' 'em up.

i can't quite get going on the new things coming down the pike without getting december/xmas out of my system.

and don't get me started on 365/52. i abandoned it back in, i think, september. maybe i'll finish that someday.

i was smart enough to know better than to try it again this year.

but going back to the pre-holiday and holidays ...

i seem to remember mentioning that harper and i were going to be crafty in december and that i would share. well ... you know how that went. i didn't share a dang thing.

but we were crafty.

we made ornaments, we painted a little wooden church and put little bottle brush trees and tiny nativity ornaments on a chipboard "yard" in front of the church. we painted clear glass ornaments. we did these martha stewart glittery things. etc.

we took the kids downtown for sushi and the holidazzle parade.

both kids had a holiday party at school. i helped at henry's.

(i need to buy that child shirts that fit his arms.)

the kids voted to open xmas gifts from grandpa and grandma lawrence before heading to indiana. everyone loved their goodies, but marc's buckyballs were the big hit with everyone. those magnets are hella strong and we had a blast trying to figure out just what we could get them to stick to ... painfully.

then we made the trip to indiana.

harper and grandma made cookies ... and wyatt felt very left out.

so they let him join the fun.

we took the littlest kids to fort wayne to see santa ... on christmas eve. nothing like waiting until the last minute.

we had a fantastic dinner at my cousin's beautiful home and hung out for a few hours, then headed back to my parents' to get to all the eve traditions. the santa jammies ... the stockings ... the thank you notes and cookies for santa ... reading "'twas the night before christmas" ... etc.

then christmas morning:

being with great-grandma ...

harper, using her new camera to take funny pix of her brother ...

(i need to upload her work ... it's hiLARious. especially her videos. omg. she kills me.)

harper discovered when she played a whistle, bruiser would sing. that was a big hit ...

then we all got the flu. for two days. oy.

then we headed to indy to be with marc's family. but first, a birthday present for wyatt, who amazingly turned one on new year's eve ...

then we went to skinners' and got to spend time with marc's sister and her family, who live in costa rica and we haven't seen them in three years. it was great.

the cousins were adorable together and played so, so well ...

we spent went to a crazed pizza place, and the kids had so much fun ...

and they threw blankets on the floor to slumber party each night ...

our last day there, it was 70 degrees. above zero. so they all ran around in the backyard, playing frisbee, climbing trees, finding acorn hats (that would have been *my* daughter's activity) ...

(all moms are the same ...)

too soon, it was time to head home. but first, the annual measurements on the growth wall, which then led to height comparisons ...

nearly-six-years-old harper and her nearly-eight-years-old cousin, berea:

and nearly-11-years-old henry and his ever-so-slightly-older-than-11-years-old aunt andi:

that was pretty funny.

then we drove home. where it was -15 with wind chill. we lost 90 degrees in 12 hours.

but we were well again, happy, and ready to sleep in our own beds and get back to normal.

it was a great holiday. even with the flu.

and now i can embrace 2011. officially.

blog vs october. october wins.

ye olde blog has been neglected. 365/52 has been abandoned. even my camera, which i love as much as my right arm, has gathered dust.

october is here.

and for once ... marc hasn't traveled every week. it hasn't been too cold or too hot. we haven't been living and dying by the calendar.

we've ... enjoyed.

the first week was crazy, what with the house painting and me getting sick. but after that, things improved drastically. granted, we haven't had a free weekend yet, but that's okay.

emma krumbee's

harper's new kindergarten friend, ella, and her family invited us to join them on a trip to emma krumbee's, a highly commercial fun-filled popular orchard near our town. we've never been there before (we were scared off by the highly commercial, fun-filled promises), but it sounded like a fun outing. it actually was. the kids had a good time, and it was nice to get to know harper's new friend and her family better.

 

duluth

marc sold some old computers to a guy who lives in northern minnesota, so one saturday we packed up the kids and headed to duluth to meet up, deliver the computers, then spend a family day by lake superior.

the drive up was gorgeous - the trees were brilliantly colored, and as soon as we came over the hill just south of duluth, there was the lake: deep navy blue and sparkling.

we got waylaid by road construction and detours, though, and ended up taking a side trip into wisconsin ...

whereupon we immediately u-turned and headed back to minnesota, duluth, and the mcdonald's where we were meeting this guy ...

after a quick lunch on the harbor, we set out to walk across the famous lift bridge and spend some time wandering around the park.

(henry, using his dsi to take a picture of a seagull. harper, mocking henry.)

(family picture)

(eternally grateful i missed the huge-ass spider.)

then the kids chased seagulls, threw some rocks in the lake, and he left for the 2.5 hour jaunt home, made even more fun by a 40 min traffic jam heading out of duluth.

minnetonka orchard

this past weekend, my parents came up to visit for a couple of days. the weather was gorgeous, so we decided to head to one of our favorite orchards to get some pumpkins.

oh, and ...

another reason my parents were up? to give marc and i a date night. because we've been hitched for 14 years.

happy anniversary, mchotness!

 

and now, it's time to think halloween and marc's birthday and a super fun maternity shoot coming up. hope i'm not too rusty, and hope my photo mojo returns. but regardless, it's been a nice october so far.

sometimes being present in life and not rushing through it is a good thing.

 

 

okay: michigan.

remember two weeks ago i posted a photo of the day of a painting i bought of lake michigan, and i said i needed it for sentimental reasons? well, here's the sentimental reason: i adore lake michigan.

growing up, my family had zero money. but every summer we managed to make it to grand haven, michigan, for a long weekend of camping and swimming at the beach. now, as a kid, i assumed we went every year because we liked it so much. as an adult, i now understand that it was as close as we could get to a vacation without spending a ton of money. the campsite at the state park was $20 or less a night, we cooked our own food over a fire, the beach was free, etc.

and if you've never been to lake michigan, let me just say this: you are missing one of the most gorgeous beaches. the sand is soft and white and clean. the water is vast and beautiful and clean. the atmosphere is quiet and lovely and clean. i will take it over any tropical, salty beach any day of the week.

since moving to minnesota nearly 14 years ago, my lake michigan time has disappeared. we discovered lake superior which, in its own right, is amazing ... so maine-like, which we love. but not beachy. then, three years ago, i was on the docket to teach in grand rapids, mich., at the great american scrapbook convention. i grabbed my friend catherine and we drove to michigan, stopping in saugatuck for a few days on the way. and i was reminded anew just how much i love, love, love michigan.

last year, while marc was away on business, the kids and i headed to indiana then to warren dunes with my parents for the day. and my kids got their own taste of just how fantastic lake michigan is. and now THEY love it.

so this year my family decided to do a family camping adventure, just like the old days, but this time with husbands (becca's and mine) and kids (henry, harper and wyatt).

it all started in march, when i went down to indiana to throw a baby shower for becca. i was talking to one of my aunts and she mentioned i hadn't been to the family reunion in ohio in way too long. i agreed ... it had been 16 years since the last time i attended ... and she said, "tell me what dates work for your family." um ... august looked clear at that point. so august it was. the plan was set, and i was on the hook to bring the family. while talking to my mom and sister later about the reunion, the plan was hatched to be old school all the way: let's go camping at hoffmaster just like the old days! and i couldn't wait.

so last week, we loaded up the car and headed to indiana on friday. saturday we spent in ohio at the family reunion, and i can't believe i didn't take a single photo. i'm glad marc got the one of harper with the fish ... i totally missed that because i was swimming with becca and we were pushing people off the raft just like we did when were kids. my own kids had so much fun that i think we need to make getting to the reunion a higher priority. it was such a memorable part of my summers growing up, and i would love for it to be a happy memory for them, as well.

then, monday morning, we headed to michigan (plus a pit stop at the fulton county museum in rochester to visit my grandma. can't believe i didn't take any pix there, either.). we got to the campground, set up tents, the kids wandered and swung in hammocks, the weather was perfect ... it was just like i remembered, except with the addition of a new generation of people to deal with.

harper, contemplating the cosmos and a green bb that she found on the ground.

wyatt, getting into the concept of "great outdoors + excersaucer."

henry, too engrossed in "the hobbit" to notice nature.

hey there, mchotness. you're lookin' a little scruffy. i enjoy that.

uno.

naptime.

and so it went ... good times by the fire, good times hanging out, good times finding things to burn, good times eating stuff cooked on a stick. including pancakes.

really, pancakes. matt swore it would work.

it worked only sort of.

and for the kids, the best part of the trip? the beach. of course.

the water was ... cold. really cold. like, i didn't go in it at all the first day. henry did briefly, then we pulled him out when he started to turn blue.

so we went exploring down the beach instead.

true to form, harper found a bug. then built it a house. then set out to find more cool stuff.

oh, and hey: there i am. at the beach.

that night we went into grand haven to watch the magic fountain show. henry thought it was "pretty cool." harper was in a mood and "didn't enjoy it at all." whatever, harper.

wednesday was our last day ... it came too fast. so we hit the beach once more, and while the water was still chilly, the air was warmer. so we all got in for a little while. except harper, who was in only minutes with me. then she wanted to play on the beach and feed seagulls.

after the beach we broke camp, cleaned up, and headed into grand haven for dinner and a farewell. and some souvenir shopping.

there was a portable band shell on the boardwalk, with a band playing and cute older couples dancing. it was adorable, and looked like such fun. sadly, i'll have to hold out hope that my second husband will dance with me, because lord knows the current one will not.

then we got ice cream ...

but poor wyatt was de.nied. maybe next year, buddy.

then we drove to ludington, mich., where we would catch the s.s. badger the next morning. it ferries cars and people across lake michigan to manitowoc, wis., and we've been meaning to try it for years. so glad we did ... the kids thought it was a great adventure, and it was much better than sitting in chicago traffic yet again.

and that was it.

oh, except marc, mr. "i've never had a sunburn in my life and don't need sunscreen," got burned. big time.

can you guess where the sunscreen ended that he DID put on?

silly boy. maybe next year he'll let me put something on him.

boston.

let me start by saying that of all the places i've ever been in my life, boston is in the top three. it's right up there with saugatuck, michigan, and rockland, maine.

lucky for me, red hat currently holds its annual summit in boston, which means once a year there's a possibility i can go and hang out. and that's just what i did two (three? has it been that long??) weeks ago. (if you want the cliff's notes version in photos, go here.)

marc and i flew out on a friday so we would have all of saturday through monday to hang out before his week of schmoozing and sitting in presentations started, and we had three days of awesome, fabulous, relaxing, fun quality time.

we didn't arrive until 3:30 p.m. on friday, thanks to a 90-minute delay in indianapolis, during which time marc worked (duh) and i read scout, atticus and boo: a celebration of 50 years of to kill a mockingbird. awesome book. once we landed and got to the renaissance hotel, we were starving, so we walked half a block to legal test kitchen and had what is probably the most amazing and delicious lobster roll either of us has ever had. we then returned to the room and promptly took a nap. when we woke up, we snuggled up to watch pirate radio (which was SO good. then again, how do you go wrong with philip seymour hoffman, bill nighy, and kenneth branagh, i ask you?), then at 10 p.m. decided to wander to the hotel restaurant, 606 congress, for what turned out to be a delicious meal: a perfect shrimp-and-avocado citrus salad, miso soup, seared char with morels, ramps, and fava beans for me, halibut with artichokes and asparagus for marc, followed by cranberry sorbet (mine) and pavlova with raspberries (marc's). delish. we rolled ourselves to the elevator and called it a night.

on saturday we decided to actually leave the hotel, which didn't, in fact, happen until about 11:30 (the bliss of being sans children!!). we walked to the wharf and had lunch at anthony's pier 4, which appears to be a national institution, given the amount of star power on the walls, photographed with anthony himself. politicians (think kennedys), celebrities, etc. we figured it must be good, and were convinced when we saw it was lando calrissian-approved.

a fish-chowder-and-mixed-baby-greens-salad (me) and clam-chowder-and-lobster-roll-(yes-a-second-one) (marc) later, we were happy, full, and ready to go.

the remainder of the morning and early afternoon were spent poking through the boston fire museum and boston common. marc has never been through the park and it's one of my favorite spots in the city, so i wanted to make sure he got a chance to go.

at this point we were exhausted and hot and miserable (it was about 90 degrees ... not fun for two northerners), so we found ourselves a nice quiet, air conditioned spot for some iced tea and cooling down before we set out for the highlight of the trip: taking in a blue man group show.

quick note: if you have never seen blue man group and the opportunity arises, GO! it is the most indescribable, awe-inspiring, funny, blow-you-away experience. and it IS an experience, not just something you sit back and watch. there is participation, and participating brings you into the entire realm of blue man. before the show began, there was a message board at the front of the theater with interactive, audience-response messages scrolling. first it asked a man named jerry to stand up, and we were to thank jerry for mapping the human genome. jerry was sitting right behind us and was laughing at the thought. good sport. then kevin was supposed to stand up. kevin was three rows in front of us, and kevin was being pointed out because he was just a regular guy and we were to make him feel special. then the message board wanted us to recognize that marc skinner hadn't updated his facebook status in more than three minutes. wait ... what?? oh, how i wish i'd gotten a picture of that!

after the show we were pushed into the lobby with the flow of people, and there the blue men stood for quick photos. marc got by one and wanted his picture taken, so i had to instantaneously oblige (no time for preparations. one of those instances that a nice little point-and-shoot with a flash probably would have been good.).

my camera must have piqued the interest of the blue man, because he proceeded to take my camera and go to town with it:

he then handed it back and we were on our way.

totally worth the price of admission.

after that we felt the need for even more crustaceans-on-a-plate, so we went to legal seafood. i don't remember what we ate - i think it involved salmon - but i do remember the lovely wine flight ...

sunday morning came, and we met up with marc's cousin, danny, and his fiance, jen, and had a great lunch of oysters, ruebens, and salad at anthem near faneuil hall. we had a great visit, and a good laugh over me throwing a lemon in order to save a wayward oyster. slippery little devils.

after lunch, danny and jen dropped us off at the uss constitution/uss cassin young for some historical enlightenment.

then it was back to the hotel - in pouring rain and booming thunder - for yet another shower (it was so HOT while we were there! and yes, i'm a whiner. it was probably only 80 degrees or so.) before marc's father's day dinner at morton's. i've never experienced morton's before, and marc promised me yumminess. he was right. but we should have split a meal; there was no way possible to finish even a quarter of the amount they gave us.

monday morning arrived way too quickly, and before i caught my flight home there was one more meal to enjoy (a roasted eggplant and portabella with goat cheese sandwich and smoked paprika chips for me, sdlt burger with rosemary pommes frites for marc at sel de la terre in long wharf) and then a trip through the new england aquarium. the 70-foot-deep tank that climbs up the center of the aquarium was amazing, but my favorite part was the jellyfish exhibit. i love jellyfish.

then it was time to fly home. it was so hard to leave boston marc, but it was time to get home to the kiddos. and ... there's always next year! we'd love to take the kids next time; i know henry would adore all the historical stuff, and harper would go crazy in boston common. and we'd love to spend some time wandering around harvard/mit ... that's something we didn't get to this time around.

if you need more, head to the photo album. and later this week: a photo shoot with wyatt!! he has quite the following here, so i know you'll want to stick around for that!

sigh ... puerto rico!

(above image was created for andie smith designs blog, using andie smith backgrounds and template, for my most recent article. plug over.)

so ... we're back. obviously.

it was amazing. beyond expectations. amazing. red hat did a perfect job, and the ladies coordinating this thing were so detail-oriented; not a single thing was missed or less than stellar.

basically - and i didn't share this last week because there hadn't yet been an official announcement within the company - this trip was an award for the top 1% of red hat producers and sellers. this was a huge pat on the back to less than 60 people, and we were there with some real bigwigs. it was ... impressive. and so, so humbling. i've always been proud of how genius marc is and how good he is at what he does, but this was proof that others see it, too, and that was pretty darn cool.

okay. gushing over.

thursday we took off at 7 a.m. and flew to atlanta, then san juan. it was a long day on a plane, but we were so excited that the time went quickly. and soon enough, below us was turquoise water and our first glimpse of puerto rico. (full album of pix is here.)

we landed and boarded a bus to el conquistador. the rum started flowing immediately. which was fine by me.

after an hour on the road, we pulled into a hilly, manicured landscape of a rolling golf course, palm trees, mountains, and bougainvillea everywhere. the resort looked huge ... until we walked into the main area and looked out the back and saw the *rest* of the resort and the ocean. this place was massive. and stunning.

(the garden just outside our hotel room door.)

we discovered that to go from the main area of the resort to the marina 250' below, we had to ride a funicular. i shared that news with henry that evening over the phone and he was totally jealous. we've been watching "amazing race" together, and on the first stop the contestants got to ride a funicular and henry thought it looked pretty awesome. so i had to tell him that yes, it was.

that evening there was a welcome party with appetizers, a buffet, an opening address from the ceo, and more rum. we met many nice people, marc got to talk with a few people he's met before, and we got even more excited about the rest of our stay.

friday morning marc had a short meeting, then we headed out on a catamaran snorkeling trip to a small reef about 30 minutes away. for two hours we swam around, looking at fish and feeding them small pieces of bread. we would lay on the surface and schools of fish of all sizes and colors swam just below us. they got so close that marc got nipped on the finger by one. in the last five minutes of our stay at the reef, another snorkeler saw a stingray, so marc and i quickly swam over by him to see. at that point we were the only three people left in the water; i think marc and i could have stayed there all day. we had a buffet lunch on the catamaran, more rum, then the crew put up the sail and we made our way back to the resort.

it was amazing.

and i didn't take my camera.

that night was another buffet dinner, which is misleading for just how elegant it really was. the tables were set up on a terrace, and all the cushions were covered in red (*red* hat ... get it?), the food was fantastic, and the breeze was perfect. it was such a good time.

(i didn't take my camera to that either. this is courtesy of marc's iphone.)

saturday morning was yet another short meeting, then we got on a bus to go to el viejo san juan for the day. we wandered around el morro, the nearly 500 year old fort protecting the island. incredible.

on the grounds of el morro is a large open area where people flock to fly kites. the wind coming off the water was so strong, and the kites were soaring. it was a breathtaking sight.

the fort itself was astonishing ... how something that massive was built so long ago without engineers, technology, etc., is just mind-boggling.

after wandering around el morro, we headed into the town. the architecture was so cool, and the whole vibe was very welcoming.

we ate lunch at barrichina, the birthplace of the pina colada (yes, more rum), and had a yummy seafood paella. marc and i sat with Tour Guide (he didn't give us his real name, and always referred to himself as "tour guide.") and listened to all his stories about his life and puerto rico. he was an amazing man ... degrees in engineering, marine biology, getting his master's in environmental science, and yet he's been a tour guide for 20 years. he takes care of his elderly mother and can't move on with his life. sad, but yet he is so full of enthusiasm for knowledge and sharing that information with everyone who crosses his path. his catchphrase, "check it out!", was heard after every new piece of info he shared with the group. speaking of attention to detail that red hat put into this event? look at Tour Guide's hat:

like i said, nothing was missed.

that night was our night to have dinner on our own. we ate at an amazing seafood place at the resort, then wandered around after dinner to look at the million dollar-plus yachts in the marina.

then we went back to the room, exhausted, and watched "it's complicated." (can i just interject how amazing the kitchen is in meryl streep's house???)

sunday was our day to do whatever we wanted, so we took a seven-minute boat ride to the resort's island, where the beach was. because the resort is on a cliff, the island is where people go when they want sun and sand. we ate lunch as soon as we got off the boat, and realized that there were some locals wandering around ...

after lunch we trekked away from the populated beach and found a quiet, deserted reef. we spent the next two hours bobbing in the water and looking for shells for the kids.

marc found the best conch shell that harper would have adored, but the darn thing still had a crab in it. had to leave it behind, which was such a bummer.

it wasn't the only shell with a crab still inhabiting it ...

we boated back to el con, swam in the pool for awhile, took a photo of ourselves in the elevator ... me on tiptoes and using marc's shoulder as a tripod, which sort of worked ...

then we cleaned up and went to the final night formal banquet, then dancing at a nightclub in the resort. (yes, if you know marc at all you know that we *watched* people dancing at the nightclub for about 20 minutes. then we left.)

and monday morning we were back on a plane home.

what a wonderful, amazing, perfect weekend. thank you, red hat, and from now on i won't whine when marc is gone every week if it means he might get invited back next year.

now i have some context.

time has run away from me ...

but i mentioned something about palm trees, didn't i?

(hee hee)

as of this time tomorrow, marc and i will be on the beach in puerto rico, baby!!

it's a work thing for him (of course ... when is he NOT working?!), but i get to go. and where, exactly, will i get to walk on the beach and sip rummy drinks?

this piece of heaven on earth ...

oh yes. views ... sand ... photo ops ... time alone with marc ...

while the poor guy is stuck in meetings,

i can wander off to places like this ...

or this ...

and they will set him free in the afternoon, so we can take a tour of san juan and, hopefully, the forts. and on saturday we are going on a catamaran snorkeling outing ...

and i think i mentioned the rum.

sorry ... i'm getting a little punchy at the thought of being on an actual vacation!! one that requires an airplane and sun lotion!! marc and i realized that in our 17 years together, we've been on a beach a grand total of three times: a week at the beach in ecuador when we were dating (and were with his entire family, so not exactly romantic), an hour on the beach in the outer banks on our honeymoon, and a day at the beach in michigan with henry when he was three.

and that's it.

so the next four days are HUGE for us. (and the kids. they are getting some solid grandma and aunt and cousin time here at the house. thrilled kiddos.)

regardless of marc's meetings.

so, hasta luego, mis amigos! see you next week!