Vacation

Carrie and I made it safely to Florida and we've begun our vacation. I didn't really want to leave Shane, but Carrie made some good points. We haven't been on vacay since an earthquake hit Busch Gardens, and her parents wanted some Shane time.

Plus, Carrie's dad retired this year and had a bunch of airline points that would expire. We got our airfare for free! Thank you, Grandpa!

Day one was spent at IHOP and the Hobbit. There was beggar outside of IHOP who was asking for cash. I offered to take him inside for pancakes, but he declined. He told me he was looking to provide food for his whole family. I countered that I'd buy him a stack of twenty pancakes for take-out if he wanted. Once again, he declined. I told him if he changed his mind he could say 'Hi' when we headed out, but he never took me up on the offer. It was a sobering Christmas note. I saw someone under a bridge and another man sitting out behind a Burger King while we were driving.

The Hobbit was a great movie for a duology. I'm not so sure how it will do as a trilogy. Carrie started humming to the music and could tell what races/references were about to be made based on the scores alone. I enjoyed myself even if I did check my cell phone for the time every now and then.

My biggest (spoiler free) complaints were: A) The goblin king voice, B) Gollum's slaying of the goblin was a bit more grotesque than I liked (but damn, does the actor who plays Gollum do a great job), and C) three movies? Really?

I guess I'll have to wait and see. I enjoyed this one, so maybe Peter Jackson will silence all the skeptics.

Aside from those adventures, life has been much more mundane. Carrie dropped off to sleep around 9 last night. I played some of the new XCOM (Patrick's Christmas present) and goofed off until I crawled in to bed at an amazing 12:00 (the last time I stayed up that late, I was waiting for Dan to come back from NY and fix the A/C). We're totally living the crazy life, aren't we?

We slept in until 8 glorious AM the next morning. Egads! Carrie must really need her rest, because she's already taking a nap! This is more of a rest and recharge trip than an adventure so far. I'll make my wife get out and about more tonight. In the meantime, I think I'll break out my Bible and do some reading. Reading in general is another activity I never seem to have time for anymore, but this is vacation! It's time to do the unexpected and READ!

PS - Shane sounds like he's doing great and eating lots of different things at Grandma and Grandpa's. Everyone has different child talents (like Nana's endless enthusiasm and excitability). It appears Grandma's special talent is to get Shane to eat a wide variety of steamed and grilled vegetables, meats, and cheeses that he rejects from us. Grandpa has access to tons of trains, so he's a Shane favorite as well!