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June 13, 2003

6/13/03 - G is 2 1/2 years old now and I am 23 weeks along.

Last Friday, DH and left for Key West for a little "US" time. My brother and his wife watched G for us. They have a girl the same age. Work has been stressful due to a possible additional layoff in two weeks and due to one 2 months ago. It's been miserable here. Dh and I work for the same company and we decided we needed some time away from work and family. And we had a great time. Although it was pretty hot and humid, we survived. We stayed at a Bed and Breakfast with a pool (necessity) and enjoyed all the local sites. We got a Passport online with coupons for different touristy things to do, at 20% of the usual fare for these visits. We went to the Flagler Museum, The Aquarium, The Little White House, The Wrecker Museum, the Trolley ride, the shuttle and also went to Las Tortugas. The best was the Las Tortugas trip. You take a huge catamaran-type boat (holds 100 people) to an island 70 miles west of Key West called Fort Jefferson. In 1846, America started to build a fort on this island to defend against foreign invaders. Of course, it makes no sense now, but whatever. This fort takes up 12 acres of a maybe 14 acre piece of land. There is a moat around the fort and about 3/4 of it has the ocean on the other side. The beaches are small but beautiful. There are tons of coral and marine life. They offered complementary snorkling gear. Dh got some but I didn't, I didn't need it. You could see clear through the water and if you walked around the moat wall, you could see that coral has grown along the wall. I saw beautiful purple coral and tons of super colorful fish. While we were on the beach, maybe 10 feet into the water, 5 4-foot fish (someone said Tarpon) swam right at us looking for small fish I suppose. And it kind of freaked me out and I jumped behind Dh and they went around us. It was pretty amazing. The water was only 3 feet deep there. They provided breakfast and lunch and it was a great trip. I didn't use enough sunscreen or the right spf value and I got fried. But, I like looking good with a tan.

Duval Street. Our B&B was located right on Duval Street and I'd say the street was about 1 mile long; we were 3/4 the way down from the "exciting" part of Duval. The street is lined with tons of bars, restaurants, and souvenir and t-shirt shops. We never ate or drank at the same place. We drank alot of fluids and ate tons of food, but I like to think I walked and sweat it all off - ha! I got tons of walking in but took lots of breaks.

Another thing we did was look at a timeshare unit down there. You know they always entice you with something. We ended up with a $75 gift certificate for dinner or souveneirs. That was nice and the place was nice too.

Key West is full of history and interest. I had no idea how interesting it is. I recommend it to anyone looking for a vacation getaway. Be sure to do all the historical tours. You'll learn so much about the area and appreciate it much more. And be sure to visit the popular local joints such as Margaritaville Cafe, Sloppy Joes, Hard Rock, Crabby Bills, Crabby Dicks, Malory Square and the list goes on.

I missed G alot and he happened to get sick while we were gone so it only made it worse for all of us. He wanted his mommy and daddy alot. Although they are family, you know your kids don't get the same loving and comfort as they do from you, mom and dad. He was put on antibiotics and was better almost immediately. He was so happy to see us when we picked him up on Wednesday. He was sleeping but Ron went up to get him and he jumped right up into daddy's arms and gave him a big hug. When he saw me, he immediately wanted me and all night he kiept giving me hugs and kisses out of the blue. The worst part was taking him to daycare the next morning. I think there was a part of him that was afraid we were leaving him there. He was happy to see me last night when I picked him up and even said he had a fun day at school.

When I returned home on Wednesday night, a former colleague of mine had called and left a message. She was hired away from our company along with several others to work across the street for another military contractor. She and the others have been trying hard to convince them to hire me. Mostly, I wasn't on the initial hire list because DH and I work for the same company. He's the program manager here and if they were to hire me there'd be a conflict of interest since we are competitive. I guess they decided it didn't matter since the war has dwindled the amount of money to contractors and there really isn't the competitiveness because there's almost no work. So I called her and the next morning her boss called me with a phone interview, knowing good and well, I am pregnant and due in October. They must want me really bad. He said he'd transfer the info to his boss and get back to me in a couple days. I expect an offer letter or maybe another interview with his boss to go over some benefits issues, then I'll take it back to my company and say, "What can you do for me?" We'll see what happens. I've been at this company for 5 years this month. Am I worth it?

My family is doing fine. My dad doesn't seem to be looming on his death bed as it seemed a month or two ago. He has his good days and bad days. But, his heart is still pumping. Mom is taking a week to go to PA to visit family this week. She needs a break.

My stepson graduated from HS, we think. We are waiting for the diploma in the mail. He's retaking a summer class (high school english) for some reason but refuses to get a job. He says since he's leaving for 2 months in August, that it's just a waste of time. Well, I told him he's 19 and I'm not supporting him financially anymore. He's old enough to get a job and I don't want him sitting around all day. So, he decided yesterday he's moving out - for the 100th time. Fine, go, see ya! I think he was mad because I told him I'm not buying him frozen pizzas and Fruity Pebbles anymore. It wouldn't be so bad if he actually did something around the house. He has no concept of "helping" or "contributing." He's not my son and I don't work 8 hour days to support his habits. Our best hope is that after his 2 months of army training this fall he either elects to go active duty for 2-3 years or he is summoned to go by the government. We know he's not ready for college. He has no motivation. He thinks he's ready for college and that it will be easier than HS. He's not real aware of reality.

My stepdaughters are fine. One is working her butt off and president of the sorority. She's Ms. Popular at school and super busy. We are having lunch with her today. The other is taking more time off this summer. Not sure how she's making her money. Not my problem.

My inlaws are coming for a visit next month. We postponed a graduation party for my stepson because we didn't know if he was graduating so we decided to wait until right before he leaves for the military and give him a party.

Everything else is fine. We are getting lots of rain to support my growing habit. My strawberries are red, the lettuce is green and the peppers are turning yellow. The tomatoes are still small, but I look forward to them getting big and red and making salsa. mmmmm. I'm feeling fine. The baby kicks all the time now. G felt him kick last night. He'll put his head on my belly and wait to be kicked. He's a sweetheart. He's going to be a great big brother. Our air conditioning is broken and it's not an easy fix. Apparently either the motor is broken or the electrical panel for the unit fried up. You'd think they'd know which it is. I just hope it's not too expensive. I don't recommend a Lennox or is it Lennon. We've had a lot of problems with this unit. In 4 years, its the second time the AC broke and one winter the furnace broke. The unit is less than 10 years old.

Dh has also applied for several jobs also but none have panned out. We thought briefly there was a chance to move to West Point, NY, but that fell through. That's OK, we looked online at houses and they were so expensive.

That's about it for now. Happy Summer Vacations everyone!
Anne