Ready

You know you've been slacking off in the housecleaning department when you wake up after a major bout of it to find that your hands and arms are sore. Gee, I guess it had been a while since I gripped some cleaning utensils and actually, um, cleaned. The cleaning's not completely done, but most of it is. The boyfriend's vacation time has already started, so he'll finish up today while I'm at work.

His son arrives tonight at 9:15 (Atlantic Standard Time, same as EDT this time of year). Poor kid, he's got a 12-hour travel day--he leaves at 6 am Pacific. But it will all be worth it, because he's looking at three weeks in 'paradise' where Dad is going to try to squeeze in:

• golf
• tennis
• swimming
• snorkeling
• fishing
• beach hopping
• island hopping
• a weekend on St. Croix (where Dad will be performing two jazz shows)
• hiking on St. John (Three-quarters of the island is Virgin Islands National Park.)
• an aquarium
• a submarine
• a walking tour of historical sights downtown
• shopping
• movies
• BBQ'ing
• drum lessons (He plays with his jazz band at school. He also plays cello.)

We bought him a set of golf clubs last year, but they don't come with a putter. He's been using one of his Dad's old ones. He's bringing his clubs and as a surprise, he's got a hip-looking Ping putter waiting for him. We also picked up another tennis racket. (We brought ours from Portland and haven't played once here.) In addition to having a good golf game (for his age), he's gotten quite good at tennis lately and attended a tennis camp this summer. So it'll be fun to finally hit the courts. (Not that I'm very good, but I like to play.)

There's also a boogie board waiting for him and an extra set of snorkel gear. We've been looking for a badminton set, but haven't found one yet. That was always a favorite backyard pastime in Portland. We'd like to find one to use at the beach.

So if you're picking up a vibe of two 40-somethings standing at a tropical airport at 9:15 tonight with insane smiles on their faces...that'll be us. :)