I don't know why I can't let some things out of my head without blogging about them. Anyway, a bunch of stuff to get out that I've neglected.
First off, we saw Garbage a couple of weeks ago. That's the fifth time we've seen them, and as expected, they delivered. The stage presence of the band, and especially Shirley Manson, is staggering, and the crowd was so into them. They played some interesting arrangements of older songs, but only one song from Beautiful Garbage, and perhaps only a couple from Version 2.0. They only played for about an hour and 20, less than previous times. Good show though, and nice to see them again.
Stephanie and I went to Hilton Head a couple of weekends ago for a kind of break from the world vacation. I haven't been there since I was like 13, so I more or less have never been there. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza deep in the Shipyard Plantation. It's one of the few places that has direct beach access, and being the hotel snobs we are, I had to spend the money for a 4-diamond place. It was a fairly nice place, but unfortunately our room overlooked the air conditioners of the restaurants and ballrooms. Still, nice pool area, fairly good service. The wait staff in the bar is mostly British.
If you've never been there, the island is weird. Due to strict zoning, signs have to be small and wood, and every tree that can possibly be spared, is. Everything is lush, green and tropical. Then the "plantations" are like gated communities that are even more secluded. While the island is very busy with tourists, it's a little easier to bare inside the plantations. Still, maybe a little too people-thick for Steph's liking I think.
One of the highlights of the trip was dinner at a little Thai place that Steph happened to spot from the road. My eating habits blow, but I was damn determined to try something new. I did that with this really good spicy dish. My eyes watered like crazy but I loved it. Steph had something tofu based. Really worth every penny.
We went to see Star Wars last weekend. Yep, lived up to all of the hype. It was dark, answered the questions, great adventure. I have to admit that in the final scene with Luke's aunt and uncle standing in the sunset on Tatooine, the classic theme swelling, I shed a tear. Hell, I get emotional just thinking about it. It was awesome.
Last weekend, volleyball ended. Talk about another emotional thing. I got a lot closer to these kids than I expected, and they all got a lot better than I originally expected. Finished the season with a higher rank point average than ever before, and made it into gold in every last standard tournament. I can't complain about that. I'm going to miss these kids so much.
And finally, Steph and I changed our wireless phone service to Verizon. Steph really needed it... her phone was just getting so old and unreliable (four years?). Sprint service wasn't bad, per se, but the text messaging was awkward. My phone was only two years old, and I feel like it's kind of a waste, but I'm really interested in text messaging and moblogging. I'm trying to figure out now how to add that functionality here.
If you've read this far, you must be a good friend or someone with too much time on your hands. :)
LOL at the last line.
Gordon and I took a vacation to Hilton Head in 1986 and stayed in a condo. I wish I could remember the name of the plantation, but it was on the ocean side of the island and although our condo wasn't on the ocean, we were only two buildings away and the large deck that spanned both the living area and master bedroom overlooked a pond and the pool area.
Being a new mom at the time, I was so used to getting up at the crack of dawn that I did so every morning of the vacation. I'd leave Gordon sleeping and would take a sunrise walk along the beach, accompanied by dolphins. So cool!
I'd go back and fix breakfast, then spend the reset of the day either on the beach or in the pool (once the tide came in, there was no beach to speak of).
I think I spent the entire week eating shrimp, clams and other seafood.
Good memories.