The Old Man and The Sea, oops, I Mean Mama and the Sea

That is certainly what I felt like, an old man.  Although I suppose I don't really know what that would feel  like but I did sound like one come Sunday morning.  Poor Husband Jared, after being awake for almost forty eight hours straight he was up half the night with a wife who couldn't breathe, had to blow her nose every two minutes and sounded as though she might have been hacking up a lung.  I didn't.  In case you were wondering. I tried to pull it together.  I mean, I thought the worst had passed when we spent twenty four hours in the car, went through almost two boxes of tissue between my nose and spitting into Kleenex like my Nana.  Really?  But no, I woke up on the beach needing some antibiotics or relief or a cure.  So after a sweet breakfast, a walk on the beach and some quiet time with the Things Husband Jared decided he was tired and wanted to sleep that night so into the city we drove.  Panama city that is.  An hour's drive.  He really is a sweet man.  Or maybe it was selfish, either way he was taking care of me.  The Things hung back at the beach house because go figure they didn't want to see the inside of Betsy for a while or a year or never.  And we drove away.  On the bright side it was kind of like having an unexpected day date.  Uninterrupted conversation, perhaps a lunch out and hopefully a diagnosis that would enable me to feel human again. 

 

We found the only walk in clinic open that was open on a Sunday within a two hour radius and upon walking in I already felt defeat.  My hope sank fast.  The waiting room was packed.  Packed like a can of sardines.  You could practically see the germs floating in the air waiting to attack.  I approached the counter and in my most cheerful voice asked the approximate wait time.  Now I know it was Sunday and the sun was shining and there were who knows how many other people that had asked the receptionist that very same question, but come on.  Her snarky reply was, "we're trying to get them in and out of here as fast as we can".  Okay then.  Thanks but no thanks.  I do believe that Husband Jared and I might have ended up with the plague had we chosen to hang around.  We got out of dodge.  And fast! And for the losers we have lunch at Red Robin.  Thanks for playing.  Or driving.  Or whatever it was that you did. 

 

Needless to say no antibiotics.  No relief.  Not yet anyway.  I was optimistic that some otc mucinex would do the trick.  So after lunch, which was rather enjoyable as there was great people watching to be done, we ran through Target, hit the pharmacy and made our way home with kites for the Things as our consolation prize.  Back to the quiet, no tourists allowed, no chain restaurants, house on the beach waiting for us.  We made a quick stop at the local fish market for some shrimps for dinner that night and were greeted by the Things.  Patiently waiting for us to enjoy some beach time.  The weather wasn't so cooperative on this first day.  Kites were an excellent option since there would be no wave jumping or sun bathing.  The wind was whipping across the sand and we had no problem lifting the kites high into the sky.  It was fun.  Thing 1 was busy photographing the event, Thing 2 ran into the sea oats and promptly disabled her kite and Things 3 and 4 had their kites flying high.  With a little help of course. 

 

Once the wind had it's way with us and my faucet of a nose couldn't take it any longer we ran inside with seashell treasures.  Task at hand, dinner.  Shrimp po'boys on the menu with fresher than fresh gulf shrimp.  The shrimps needed deveining so we put the Things to work.  I love listening to their commentary while preparations took place. 

 

Learning the ropes from Dad

 

Things 2, 3 & 4 deveining shrimps

 

Dinner was delicious and Thing 1 even snapped a photo of our sammies.

 

Yes, I know, lots of carbs and white bread and blah, blah, blah, it's vacay people!

 

So the day had not been a total bust.  We were after all at the beach, our toes were in the sand, shells were found and then we were given this stunning view.  We all sat, mouths wide open in awe of the beauty.  Then we pinched ourselves because we were actually here.  At the beach. 

Oh, and I was starting to feel better.