Michael and I had a short escape along the Gulf of Mexico this weekend. My dear and longtime friend Karen and her husband Octavio generously let us stay at one of their condos. He and I did little more than drink margaritas, swim, eat fish sandwiches, lounge in the hammock and get sun. It was exactly what I needed and I think it suited him as well. If any of the pics are worthwhile, I’ll post them.
We made it a whirlwind trip and I even was able to see my Aunt Betty briefly on Friday morning. It’s been a year since I’ve seen her and she looks about 20 years younger than a lady of 80. After we left Pensacola, we made the short trip to the beach and proceeded to exhale for 2 days. There was a brief, but exciting alligator sighting. To me it’s a normal Florida event, but I think Michael enjoyed seeing one swim on past the condo we were at — it was certainly not excited to see us.
By Sunday we fought off the urge to try and stay another day and made it back to Atlanta in time to watch a very intense match of the World Cup with US almost defeating Portugal. It ended in a tie — but only barely. And today was back to business as usual. Sigh…
Around Here 
Hi Julia,
Sounds like your life and summer are moving along in a wonderful way for you. You have a baby now? Congratulations! I take it that Michael is a new boyfriend. Have a beautiful summer!
No, I don’t have a baby Kimbre —unless you are speaking of my 3 cats! They are my children (along with the hundreds of students I have). And yes, Michael is my boyfriend and a dear man. How are you doing?
It’s when you referred to your trip to Barcelona, which it looks like I misread. I thought you went with your baby! Yes, cats definitely become babies. 🙂 I know what you mean about the children too, though the ones I serve are 0 – 12, much younger than your students. Life is good. I celebrated my birthday with my family this week, and am waiting for spring to turn to summer. In my part of Oregon that doesn’t happen till July. It’s often pretty cool at this time of year. Still, it’s stunningly beautiful here, which makes up for the lack of warmth.