Home for a Holiday

We're about to wrap up a whirlwind two week trip home, visiting family and friends that we haven't seen since October. I really can't believe it's been six months already… feels like we just left. Damn, time flies.

And while we've been gone, nothing – absolutely nothing – has really changed. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. Everyone just kept on doing their thing, and now we're back and it feels like we don't quite fit in anymore. It's an odd thing, feeling like you're no longer connected to your old life. Like we could almost picture exactly where we'd be if we hadn't left at all. I sure am glad we did.

One thing, however, that was just as predicted was the weather. As in, April is not the most pleasant time to visit the Mid-Atlantic area. We had maybe two days in the 70's when we first arrived (which we totally took credit for, hello!), but it's been grey, rainy and c-o-l-d for the past week straight. The sun finally made a brief appearance this afternoon, and by everyone's reaction to it, you would've thought there was an alien invasion happening or something. Way different than what we're used to. Matt has refused to wear anything but his flip-flops, despite the weather. Gotta admire him for holding out though… I caved and switched back to my Uggs halfway through the first week.

So, I'm sitting here with a tea to my right, a box of tissues to my left, and a wad of phlegm going on that has yet to decide whether it prefers to gunk up my sinuses or rattle my lungs. Yummy, right? It seems that our family and friends were passing on a little something more than just their love and excitement with all of those hugs and kisses we've been getting. Just my luck that I pick up a super bug that has most likely been going around and gaining strength since sometime after Christmas. Our immune systems have gotten pretty soft with nothing but sun, sand and salt to contend with lately, and this cold has managed to kick my ass even harder than those Bahamian rum punch drinks that we made during Jeremy's visit. And the worst part? Since it's a virus and not a bacteria infection, antibiotics won't do a darn thing to help. However, I did get cough syrup with Vicodin to help me sleep, so that should be fun. And now Matt is coughing and has a sore throat too. Man, we're such great company these days, I'm telling you.

But I digress. Before we became zombies, we managed to see quite a few people in a relatively short time. We knew our visit would be pretty crazy, and being the planners that we are, we tried to have it all sorted out (who to see / where to stay) by the time we touched down in Baltimore. It actually worked out pretty well! We had a wonderful time, despite the weather and the colds. There's just something about being surrounded by those closest to you that makes you feel like you're on top of the world. We had a great time sharing our story with everyone and are beyond fortunate to have such an abundance of good people in our lives. Thank you to everyone who let us crash at their homes, especially The Nieberline's, The Brierley's, and Beall who let us stay with them while we were at the height of our disgusting, coughing, phlegmy mess.

While we enjoyed our stay at home, we're excited to get back to Foxfire, and back to the warm Florida sunshine. I think that this is the longest time we've been away from the boat and I get a little sad sometimes thinking about her sitting all by herself in the marina. We'll be back soon Foxy. Stay strong.