It's back to the daily grind...

My vacation has come to a screeching halt.

I am sitting here at work and I'm up to my eyeballs in paperwork. I have a feeling that I'll be working this weekend. Ah, well...such is life...it's a small price to pay when you've just been able to spend a week in paradise, right?

I am happy to note, however, that in just 94 more days I'll be back in Mexico.

In a couple more hours...

I will be far away from my day-to-day life in Virginia and on vacation in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. We NEED this vacation.

Random thoughts for Friday, September 4th...

• I need to seek help for my addiction to j.crew and stop shopping on their website -- what I really need to do is just AVOID any and all communication with them. I get weak in the knees when they send out emails stating their final sale items are 20% off.
• But, while I love online shopping, I love it even more thanks to www.ebates.com. I get cash back from participating retailers when I do my shopping online through their website. I can't thank Emily enough for introducing the site to me. I currently have just over $60 sitting in my account there -- they'll send me my "big, fat check" in November. If you sign up (it's free), be sure to say that I recommended you...my email is chissler@cox.net.
• We've got two tropical disturbances headed our way -- the first being Hanna who seems relatively harmless. I figure with all the rain this weekend I'll be able to get a lot done inside the house (maybe). Ike is the other system and I have a feeling Ike will slap the Eastern seaboard around like we're Tina Turner. I know, I know...bad joke.
• I'm headed to Mexico in 11 days...we're almost in the single digits...and last night I had a nightmare, yes, a nightmare, about the trip. It was so bad that I actually woke up in a sweat. Pretty sad, huh?
• I said to Adam last night (as he was watching the Redskins-Giants football game) that I'm glad we didn't purchase tickets for the NASCAR race in Richmond this weekend...usually it rains when we are at a race, but this time it's just going to! =]
• From my office I can see out the front of our building and surely those cannot be clouds from Hanna already moving in....but if I remember enough from my Weather & Climate class in college, then yes they are.
• Remember my j.crew addiction? Yeah, well, I bought a new bathing suit online today and I can't wait to receive it. LOL
• LOL...I use LOL too much.
• I have a lot on my plate between now and when we leave for Mexico -- there's just so much to do here at work as well as at home.
• I need to get back to work...

Our family cannot get enough of Cape Hatteras National Seashore. It is one of our favorite places to be. We try to spend as much time there as possible. Over the Labor Day weekend, we made our first trip to the seashore in just over a year...usually by the time Labor Day rolls around we've already been there five or six times...but this year with the new driving restrictions, beach closures, etc. our chances for visiting have been quite limited.

Even with the approaching storm (Hanna), we couldn't have asked for a better weekend. The weather was perfect -- not too hot and there was a cool breeze blowing at night. The kids had a wonderful time and Adam and I are now planning a weekend getaway to Ocracoke Island.

It is my hope that we can make it down to Cape Hatteras a few more times before the really cool weather gets here. There is just so much to see and do at the seashore and the ambiance is just so much more family-friendly then Virginia Beach. Perhaps it's the quiet, laid back lifestyle or just the remoteness of the area that intrigues me...whatever it is, all I know is that my family has a love affair with Cape Hatteras that grows deeper and deeper each year.

Malia walking along the beach on Ocracoke Island