Vacation

I am now starting my second full day of vacation at Hatteras Island. The reason I'm up before 6am is because Morena, who slept with me tonight, decided she had to go outside. I don't mind, though. It's nice to know that without the hassles of school, and with enough sleep, I can be wide awake this early in the morning.

Anyway, the first day of vacation was looong. It took a very uncomfortable 12 hours to get here, with so much stuff crammed into our van that there was barely room for my sisters and me, let alone the dog. She had enough room to lay down on the floor, but she opted to standing on the middle thing between the driver and passenger seat, or else sleeping ON somebody. Her elbows are so bony!

After a few stops, we finally make it to the beach house, and this beach house is amazing! It is right on the water, with only a few dunes separating us from the beach. We have an amazing view from all of our windows of the ocean, and the sound of the waves against the shore is a constant background noise to whatever we're doing in the house. Needless to say, when we were done unpacking the van, we all walked across the boardwalk over the dunes and walked along the beach. And then we learned one very important lesson:

Morena + a million sand pipers + enough wind going the opposite direction of where she's running = a dog who hears nothing as she is wildly chasing birds all along the shore.

And any questions about how she would react to the ocean were answered pretty quickly as she dives INTO the waves after the birds. Meanwhile, Meaghan and I are chasing after her with all of our might because she is running as fast as she could, and pummeling into the waves (one time even going under), which freaked all of us out because if something happened, we were definitely too far away to help her.

Anyway, very long story short, we caught up with her finally, and dad used his belt as a leash. So lesson learned. Morena never goes on the beach now without a leash.

After that wonderful experience, I helped mom make gumbo for dinner (mmmm!), and let me just say it was the best tasting dinner I've had in a very long time. The moon was huge that night, and after reading a pleasure book, I went to bed with the window open and to the sounds of the ocean. It was awesome.

Yesterday was simply do-whatever-we-want day. Caitlin, after waking up pretty early, slept in until late afternoon, while Meaghan and I went with mom to the beach to get some sun and try out the water. I may have walked a total of five feet into the water. It is so cold! Mom, being very adventurous and much braver, went all the way under the water. No matter how hot it is outside, she said, as soon as you touch the water you forget you were ever warm. After lunch we went back with dad and Morena, and she went right in the water with mom and even went so far out that she had to swim around...she loves the water! When waves come, she turns around so they crash against her back, and then she kind of swims over them, so her head doesn't go under. It's like she's been doing this all her life! It's a cool thing.

Anyway, when Caitlin woke up, showered, and was finally read to go to the beach, the family was already heading back to the house. Well, I felt bad, so I went out with her after she ate, and right now I blame her for getting completely burned on my legs and shoulders. And I even put sunscreen on! ah well. It was still a really nice day. Dad grilled some dogs for dinner, and then as a family we watched the season finale of Bones and House, both of which were totally downers. What's with that?

Anyway, the moon was so full and bright, Caitlin and I had to go out last night to walk the beach, so we took the dog and ran along in the sand. I tell you, if the whole week is like this, I am going to be one happy camper. Well, mom just woke up and she wants to go to the beach and find some cool shells, so, i'm going to go.

YAY FOR SUMMER!

Today was the first day back at Wendy's, so the 6 hours seemed kind of long. despite the changes that have happened since last September, it wasn't all that bad, and at least my sisters were there too so we could get the triforce going and for the most part it was a blast.

up to today my summer has been all about relaxation. last week the whole fam drove down to Lake Jocassee in South Carolina to stay at my dad's boss' house right at the edge of the lake: g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s!! well, my sisters and i spent the 11 hour car ride trying to sing ourselves away from carsickness, entertaining little Morena (who has become a pro at long car rides), and almost dying during the half hour of what we have named the Road from HELL. Whoever designed the roads in S. Carolina obviously didn't learn anything from the wonderfully straight roads of places like Indiana, because the turns were freaken ridiculous! The whole van just ended up screaming at every single turn, because the torture was never-ending and we just couldn't handle it. I curse that road. Anyway, with ears popped and my stomach churning, you have no idea how happy i was when we finally made it to the house, where, that's right, i'm able to get my own room, even if it's just for one week out of the year. woohoo!!!

The week stayed in the lower 90s, so needless to say we spent most of our time in the water; swimming, kayaking, waterskiing, and pontooning, if that's even a verb. I've never been on a pontoon or a waterski, so those were really fun. but I've probably never laughed so much as when Morena was learning how to swim. Call me crazy, but i figured that was something dog's just knew how to do...well, not our puppy. haha she looked so funny! when she couldn't touch the bottom of the ramp, she started splashing her front legs up and down like a zombie, and then got so excited about the splashing that she paid more attention at trying to eat the spraying water than actually staying above the water. so, then she'd get tired and cling to whoever was nearest and was perfectly content to just be held in the water the rest of the time...haha what a baby. After a few days she got the hang of it though, and was actually swimming like a normal dog (i would know, because the doggy paddle is as fancy as i get in the water ). I must confess, the very last day we swam i dunked Morena in the water...three times. well not so much dunked as that i threw her into the air and watched as she hit the water and sunk to the bottom for a few seconds before scurrying to the surface. that may sound cruel, but i couldn't help it! she got in this whole biting rage, and when she started pushing her head under water to get my hands (because I was holding her most of the time), i kind of just said fine, be like that, and threw her in the water. i felt really bad afterward, especially when she ran up the ramp and refused to go back in the water. i swear i'm not a terrible person. but it's not like she drowned or anything. just got her head wet is all, in not a very gentle way. whatev. she still likes me, so it's all good.

Oh, and probably the best part of the whole trip was turning 19 with my sisters. well, i really wasn't stoked about it because i think 20 is more of a big deal, but it was still nice being able to celebrate our birthday on vacation, and we didn't have to deal with presents or anything, which i don't exactly enjoy. Oh, and if you want to watch Brad Pitt talk with the worse accent in the history of acting, watch 'Seven Years in Tibet (1997) - it's hilarious. I always think you're entitled to watch the stupidest movies during summer break, which is why i am able to say that i have officially watched ALL of the mary kate and ashley olsen movies. hehe

anyway, that's that. i'm glad crunchyroll was created, because now i'm hooked on some really good shows. yay anime! ah but i lost my cell phone, big surprise there. i had it yesterday in my pocket, but when i went to call somebody today, no sign of it anywhere. ah well, it'll show up. it always does. *cross fingers*

Well, i done. i'm really glad it's summer. although i guess i'll wait to say that until after next week, when i start working the two jobs. hooray