beach bum

it was 99 friggin' degrees yesterday. poo, yuck. i love the lazy days of summer, but don't so much love the heat. now that makes a ton of sense, doesn't it?

my mom and her hub live in fabulous manhattan beach, where the temperature usually hovers in the high 70s on any given july day. oh, so jealous. so after the kid's first day of summer school, we picked up a couple of her buddies and headed down to surf and sand.

after a quick stop at quizno's for some grub, we made a quick appearance at the folks' house to say hello, eat, and change (not to mention borrow some beach gear). we got lucky and managed to snag a sweet parking spot in one of the public lots, under a big tree that kept the car nice and cool. the only sucky part was having to go back every two hours to feed the meter, but i figured i'd only have to do it once anyway.



the weather was gorgeous. it was nice and sunny, with a wonderful ocean breeze that cooled me off as i lazed on a blanket in the pop-up we borrowed. the girls headed out to the water, while i kicked back, armed with magazines and sunblock. i even managed to rock the floppy hat i'd bought at the nords sale! i probably looked ridiculous, but i didn't care - i was comfy, cool, and relaxed. i even avoided embarrassing the kid by not baring the belly in my suit. and of course, i fell asleep in no time.

but i woke up and realized i'd lost ALL track of time - which my cell phone confirmed when i frantically grabbed for it in my bag. i had two minutes to feed the damn meter! i waddled my ass through the sand, up the hills, across the busy street, and prayed for mercy from the parking gods. i got to the car, huffing and puffing like i'd run a marathon, and thankfully found no marks on the tires and no ticket. yay for me. i fed the meter (only $1 for 2 hours - pretty damn cheap) and waddled back down to the tent.


we had such a great time at the beach that we vowed to return at least once during every week the kid's home. hopefully the folks won't mind us traipsing through their casa to shower and change. we promise to ensure that the shower curtain is INSIDE the tub, cross our hearts!

and i think i managed to rope myself into a trip to raging waters on thursday. they've got a great deal going right now for season passes - two for $99. considering regular admission is $35, that's a steal. although it should be interesting to see how i'll manage to amuse myself while the girls ride the rides. lazy river, here i come.


one more thing - i need a change. specifically, my hair (i'm just deep like that). i'm considering chopping off a few inches and layering the shit out of it, a la cheryl burke on "dancing with the stars" - maybe a tad longer than hers. i'd post a picture, but the one i saw was in this week's us weekly, and i can't find it online yet. i could copy laura wright, who plays "carly" on "general hospital" - she recently got a cute shoulder-length cut.


i don't really know why i threw that last bit in. i guess because i've been trying to keep busy and that's one of the things that i'm currently preoccupied with. i mean, if i asked you to give me ideas on a new cut... [shudder] i can only imagine what you'd come up with!


i shall shut up now.