Truth is, I just spent a week in a place called Cape San Blas, close to Port St Joe, which in turn is pretty close to Apalachicola, all of which are in the panhandle of Florida. This was a family vacation (me + teh boy, my mom+stepdad, the mother of stepdad, my stepbrother+wife and their crotchfruit, and my stepbrother's wife's parents) in a rented house on the beach. For the first time ever in these family vacations, teh boy and I got to sleep in an actual bedroom, the nicest one other than the master even, with an ocean view, which was great.

It was a pretty standard Florida vacation, I guess; no need for a blow-by-blow. We didn't even have any family blowups, although there was some mild consternation at the inconsolability of the aforementioned crotchfruit, who is an adorable but spoiled and temperamental little 18-month-old. Could just be my bias, but I remember my boy being far more congenial at that age.

I drove teh Jeep, which amazingly averaged 20.1 MPG for the trip, but my chutzpah in taking an SUV on a seven-hour trip was outdone by the parents of stepbrother's wife, who drove an enormous, white, gold-trimmed, Cadillac Escalade. I was awe-struck by its... largeness and Cadillac-ness.

Highlight: Thursday afternoon/evening, we went on a bay fishing trip, and I caught a big-ass redfish, like 34" long. Pictures will be posted as soon as I get them (someone else took pics of us holding our fish).

Lowlight: I didn't get to eat any of it, because Friday afternoon through yesterday, I was horribly ill, and am still recovering, in fact as I type I eagerly await my body's verdict on the watermelon I just ate: will it stay down? Will it come right out the other end? Which would also explain how I managed to drop four pounds during a week's vacation, which has netted me that flat stomach I always wanted, but not in an enjoyable fashion :P

At the moment, the boy is watching cartoons and petting Max the cat, who dreadfully missed us. All the animals survived our absence thanks to a nice neighbor who stopped in every few days to feed the critters. He also happens to be a nosy neighbor, so I expect every other neighbor by now knows all about the contents of my house... ah well. The creatures all lived, the house didn't burn down, and all my computers and the TiVo is still here, and that's what's important. I'm thinking about taking a shower and getting up and around a bit. I'm also contemplating whether to go ahead and call in sick for tomorrow. As usual, I'm not looking forward to the return to work, especially with the Big Blue buyout hanging over everyone's heads, but at least noone left frantic messages on my cellphone this time.