Blog? What Blog?

A few of you have asked what happened to my blog. Not much has happened since my trip to Bristol, TN. While I don't have real exciting racing, camping or concert photos to share, life has been crazy and I finally got a minute to share.

Since I have your attention, let me say:

Happy Easter
Happy Memorial Day 

& Happy Fourth of July!

(Wow, it HAS been a while!)

Other than Easter Sunday, April was a pretty dull month. Business was just getting ramped up for the season and I was replacing some of the money that was spent in Tennessee.

By the end of April I was getting antsy and in desperate need of a getaway. This one was to be a bit different though. I started putting together a girls weekend. My friend Alice was more than willing to join me, but what kind of girls weekend would it be without my dear friend Genia from South Carolina? It would be unfair to ask Genia to drive to Florida so the 3 of us decided on Jacksonville, which would be about halfway for the both of us.

We had only 2 requirements:

1. Beachfront

2. Tiki Bar

We found a Hampton Inn in Jax Beach and paid a small fortune for 2 nights.

Friday, May 2nd, Alice and I hopped in the car and headed north.

Unfortunately, we didn't have the best drive

We arrived safely at the hotel and Genia arrived about 20 minutes later. Since it was too early to check in, I called my friend Donnie (who lives in Jax) and asked where the closest place was to find food and more importantly, beer.

The 3 of us made our way 1/4 mile up the street to a sports bar where we I had beer. (Sissys!)

We also had fried pickles and blue cheese fries.

Genia and Alice also ordered lunch of some sort and I ordered more beer.

By the time lunch was over, we checked into our hotel. It was a really nice place, very clean, newly updated and the staff was super friendly.

The only downside?

It was still raining!!!

From our balcony:

Our room (after we had messed up the beds)

We got settled in and made our way down to the beach despite the weather.

Genia and Alice posed for me

And we compared skin colors! We were like light (Genia) medium (me) and dark (Alice)

We also stopped to collect some sea shells

We strolled the beach until the rain got unbearable and we made our way back to our room. 

We had plenty of snacks and drinks to hold us until dinner

With a few shots under our belt, I called Donnie to see if he wanted to meet us somewhere for dinner. We agreed on Carraba's which was just up the road.

It was a good time with some of my closest friends.

After dinner we parted ways with Donnie and us girls were in bed by 10:00 pm. I guess that's what happens when you're "day drinking"

I did get one night shot from our balcony.

We woke up bright and early the next morning, grabbed some coffee and drove over to Publix to buy.....more beer.

We knew by watching the weather, we would only get a couple hours before the rains began again so we did some sightseeing and shopping around the beach.

This pic had me missing Mason!!

And this dude had us giggling. He was a typical beach/surfer guy who was dancing to his own beat all by himself!

We continued down the beach, stopped in all the kitschy shops and enjoyed the salty air.

There was some kind of kids surf competition going on so we watched that for a bit.

Once the rains started up again, we decided to go back to our hotel and enjoy the tiki bar. You can imagine how bummed we were when we were told that the bar had been moved inside because of the weather. Who wants to sit inside when you're at the beach?!?! 

Not this chick!!

We packed our own pile of drinks and sat at the tiki tables.....all alone! 

We drank, we laughed, we farted & we flirted with the security guy...and then Alice passed out in the chair.

We had seen Joe's Crab Shack was right up the road, so we tossed around the idea of going there for dinner. Donnie called and wanted to go with us but he had been fishing all day and didn't feel properly dressed for Joe's. He suggested a local wing bar and the 3 of us said that would be fine. Donnie acted as our GPS and although we took a few wrong turns, we finally found him and the sports bar.

The sky was FINALLY clearing up (Of course, since we were leaving in the morning)

The next morning we woke up to a beautiful day!! Alice stayed in the room to foo-foo, while Genia and I walked down to catch the sunrise.

Since it was Sunday (Raceday) I did some sand art

And Genia joined me

Genia calls herself my TFP...that's "token fat person"

And since Alice was missing this, I made art for her also  :)

I was quite proud of our work

 until Genia erased part of my "4" and made it look like an 18

(she's a Kyle Busch fan....ugh)

We took one last look at the sunrise 

then went to our room to pack up.

We said our goodbyes and arrived back home about 3 hours later. We had a great time despite the rain and we now have a good reason to return!

It's now May 5th and for the past 20 years we are normally getting ready for our annual Disney/Nate's Bday trip. Nate decided this year, he wanted to go to a local mud bog instead. This was planned for Memorial Day weekend, along with Jordan's return from the service. 

The month of May flew by....Nate got a promotion at work and we helped them move the entire business from one location to another.

The bad news: The mud bog got cancelled until July Fourth weekend

The best news: Jordan got home a couple days early!!

So, we swam, boated and hydro-slided

We went trail riding on the 4 wheelers

And Nate had his "brother from another mother" to act the fool with!

The Tuesday after Memorial Day, Trev and I were back at work when I got a stomach ache. By 9:00 pm that night I felt like I was going to die. I told Trev to get me to the ER!!

On a side note: I HATE doctors, I HATE hospitals and I am a terrible patient!!!

After numerous tests they told me I needed my appendix out. UGH!!!! They scheduled me for surgery the next day at noon. Trevor, Nate and Jordan stayed by my side while I questioned and bitched to all the doctors, nurses and aides that came near me. By 1:15, I had had enough!! I told the nurse and anesthesiologist that I was giving the Dr. 15 more minutes to get me in or I was outta there!! It chaps my ass that Docs think that their time is more important than yours! I had already told him that as soon as surgery was over, I was going home!!! I was not spending one more minute in there. Luckily, he showed up within minutes. They wheeled me into the OR at 1:30 and Nate wheeled me to my truck at 3:13. Thank God, it was uneventful, everything went fine and I left with 3 tiny cuts. 

The worst part of surgery: "relax and take 2 weeks off of work and the gym"

(that lasted 4 days)

I also received a nasty cold from that germy, sickly place.

The best part of surgery: You never realize how many people love you until something happens and they come running. It's a humbling feeling and I couldn't be more grateful for my family and friends.

Once I was back to normal (whatever that means) we started getting the mud trucks ready for the Fourth. Knowing I would be driving Mark's Jeep (Nate's boss) they sent me this pic one night while working and building...wise asses!

Then the week before the Fourth, the bog got cancelled AGAIN! The boys were bummed but sort of relieved that they would have more time to get all the toys ready for next time. Since it was too late to make other plans, we did what every other red-blooded rednecks would do:

We had food, beer and explosives!!

We had a big shrimp boil and fried up the last of our lobster tails.

Trevor was in charge of the fireworks

We had cornhole tournaments, a ton of beer and a lot of good friends.

It doesn't get much better than that!!

I love having my boys back together again. Jordan adds more to our family than I could ever dream of. Not only does he and Nate spend the majority of their time together, he will be working with Nate starting next week!!

Thick as thieves!!!!

Thanks for catching up with me, hoping to have some trip blogs as soon as work slows down.