Good evening and what can I tell ya...

Always makes me think of Dennis Miller and that sardonic voice/face turned toward the camera. A cynical raise of the eyebrow is happening as we speak, if you could see me you'd laugh.

Since I last wrote something here, I have managed to do a few things.

Packed up and headed off to the Oregon coast for our annual vacation.
When my dad told me many many years ago that he was going to purchase a timeshare that we could all use, I tried to talk him out of it.

I'm sure we've all heard the stories, and of course one can look at the local classifieds and see how many people are trying to unload their timeshares. I told him he should buy a big camper or trailer and then he could go wherever he wanted to go.

He went ahead and purchased the timeshare.

If he hadn't, we wouldn't have been able to zip off to the coast once a year and be very comfortable in a nice apartment for a week at a time.

We bring our groceries and/or shop while we are there and make most of our own meals.

Upside(s)... well, quite a few. We usually stay in Depoe Bay, supposedly the whale watching capital of the world. I did see a spout. Once. We go when it is NOT peak tourist season, although this time it is a little close to Spring Break. When I made the reservation a year ago, I figured that I would take off the week before the break and then run break camp from my current school. Hahahaha... yes, I thought we'd be having normal lives by now, so I planned accordingly.

So I had my 2nd dose of the vaccine on the 4th. I think. Let me go check, gotta remain factual here, okay yeah, the 4th.

I wrote about the way it hit me about 12 hours post-injection (very common). It wasn't fun the way feeling like crap usually ISN'T fun, but if it means I can go back to work and not have to be afraid I will die from Covid, I am willing to deal with a little bad stuff. I know most of the people reading here feel more or less the same way.

By the time we started packing on the 12th, I was feeling more or less okay, although still a little run down. There was also some swelling on my upper gums, left and right. I looked it up, apparently there are sometimes reactions from a person's lymph system
and I didn't give it a lot of thought.

On Saturday it was worse. A lot worse. Swallowing and talking and eating and drinking were all activities that weren't much fun. I'll spare you the finer details and not talk about the gigantic open blisters on the roof of my mouth and the two inch layer of fuzz on my tongue. Blech. I did not take photographs, either. You're welcome.

I called my dentist's office on Monday morning.
The person who's been answering the phone for the last 20 years up there answered this time, too.

"Julie! Help me!!"

It wasn't even an hour before she called me back to let me know the prescription had been sent to Walgreen's in Lincoln City.

That place was a clusterfuck (they're supposed to take a half hour lunch from 1:30 to 2:00 but it was 2:45 when they meandered back to work and got me my damn antibiotics) but I got my stuff.

Until it started getting better (less than six hours after I started the medication, thank goodness) I had no idea how bad it had gotten. I was just sort of numbly wandering around saying nothing much and not eating very much and not drinking enough.

Eric noticed that the palms of my hands were sort of wrinkly-looking and that the skin on the back of them wasn't looking great, either. Got a little dehydrated.

I spent yesterday drinking extra water. I think I caught up a little. I'm definitely feeling better.

But apparently Thrush is one of the possible side-effects from the vaccine.
Lots of info out there.  Still would rather have that than die all alone in a hospital.

So we packed up a bunch of stuff that we don't need in order to have a good time, but stuff that makes our little budget vacay a little more relaxing.  For example, the condo furnishes those little hotel bars of soap. You know the kind I mean, you can't rinse it off. For the rest of your life.

The shampoo and dish soap and laundry soaps are all annoying, too. They don't smell right and they offer substandard results. We bought our own trash bags, the ones that are furnished are very flimsy and who wants to pick up garbage from the floor of the elevator as they leave?

I do appreciate the washer/dryer in our unit but in the words of my Grandma Fern, they're no bigger than a fart bucket. So small loads.

We are officially old curmudgeons, stopping just short of bringing our own mattress when we travel. So, clear soap in the pump dispensers. Our own dish soap/laundry soap/shampoo. I have a big clear plastic box that we keep travel containers of soap and toothpaste in all year. Bust 'em out annually except of course we didn't get to last year, the world closed about two weeks before our trip had been scheduled. No one said anything to us, they just deposited my fee back into my checking account without comment.
::sigh::

We were really glad that Mason and Lyssa could join us for a couple days, too. He needed to go back to work, but they were able to hang out a bit.

We brought half the house with us. Ha.

Certain kitchen utensils and a couple pans. Eric has to have his egg pan. It's sort of funny, but it's not a big deal to me. I'm not much on eggs.

Eric brings his whole computer. I bring my laptop, this year I have added a tablet but it has a little keyboard, too. I got a Kindle Fire tablet from Amazon while they were cheap during the holidaze. I have really enjoyed having it, although I wasn't sure if I'd really use it.

I read all kinds of stuff... the library will let me check out ebooks for six weeks because I have an educator card. It's free to download and then read whenever.

This week I've read two titles from Carl Hiaasen, two from Stephen King and Where the Crawfish Sings. I'm partway through Dragonsdawn, I've always wanted to live on Pern, and although it's years between readings, those stories always draw me right back in.

So we are, right now, at the beach.
I don't usually say anything about us being gone while we are gone, but the house isn't sitting there empty... we have two other people living there now. Oh, and Pixel.

So we're here until Friday.

We have been sleeping in a little, going out every day to buy at least one thing we forgot or decided we need. Today it was some beef ribs for Eric, he loves to bbq. I ate leftovers 'cause I do that a lot.

We went and had some clam chowder at world-famous Mo's, but we were disappointed at the quality this time. Eric's fish platter was cold. He likes food to be hot enough to sear your mouth, but I tasted a clam strip and it was ice cold. My chowder wasn't the same as it has been and it wasn't hot, either.

I know they've had to change things due to the virus, fewer seats, smaller menu, the entrance and exit are switched... but it was a disappointing experience all the same. We go every year. I was waiting for my mouth to feel better so I could enjoy it and it wasn't worth the trip to Lincoln City, dammit.

Since  this is a time share, they're really pushy about wanting people to sit through a presentation. I understand that it's their job to try and sell me something, but once I have said no, it  aggravates me when they keep bothering me. I always unplug the phones in our unit as soon as we are in.

Things aren't as... polished here as they were last time we visited, either. I don't know if it's because of the plague or because the ownership has changed (again) or some combination of the two.

But our dishwasher is sitting on the floor in the little alcove that was made for it under the counter. The mounting screws or whatever weren't put in, so there's a large gap between the top of the machine and the bottom of the counter.

The oven doesn't close properly. There are skid marks on all the doors and door frames. (Luggage cart). Parking is a goddamn nightmare. The light above our table seems to flicker a little when people are walking by above us, so I think there may be a loose connection.

I haven't told them about any of it, I will do that when we leave because I don't want someone in here making repairs or for them to move us elsewhere.

I *am* glad we're down near the end of the units again, overlooking the small cove. We see seals and sea lions on the rocks, there are birds living on the giant rock out there and it's fun to watch the tide go in and out.

We go home in about 40 hours.
Dammit.

I'll have some photos for you, but not until I get home, I don't think.

The weather has been decent, although we've had a little rain it wasn't bad.

I forgot my pajama shirt (I sleep in gigantic t shirts) and had to go buy one. It's not long enough and I hate it, but I'll just donate it when I get home.

Meanwhile, there are some more pictures to draw. I've been doodling. Since I started the whole painting thing I haven't drawn much, but it's been nice to have the time to do that now.

::whew::

And what are you up to?

I am about to go read blogs here in a few....