STAY-Cation

"Ask friends or church members if any own a vacation or weekend home. Arrange to rent or borrow it for the weekend." 

 - Dates on a Dime (This makes date 8 of 20 for Goal #44.)

Devin and I altered this date work for us and our non-vacation-home-owning friends by enjoying a stay-cation while house and dog sitting for my best friend. She and her husband got to go to San Diego on their vacation... But I won’t dwell on that.

Besides, they have a gorgeous house...

photo © Devin Hanson Photography 2010

...that we got all to ourselves... minus the dog who howled and whined every time we kissed for more than a split second.

Seriously though, it was a great weekend with my husband and I was very grateful we were able to have this time away. Sure, we were just fourteen minutes down the road from our own place... But what that really means is that we were completely and utterly separated from piles of paper work, laundry and to do list (yes, I have are piles of to do lists). The thing about being cut off from all the stuff you should’a/could’a been doing is that you are forced to relax. It was fantastic and we milked it.

We watched all three extended editions of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I cried at the end of the third one... a lot... Just like I did when I first saw it in the theaters seven (SEVEN?!?!) years ago. Yes. I am a nerd.

We played way too many (but not nearly enough) games of Nintendo 64 James Bond 007. It. Was. Epic.

I haven’t played James Bond in years, but was obsessed in high school and college. I was pretty impressive at it too. And not just for a girl. Not surprisingly, none of my female friends cared to play James Bond, so I learned to play against my brothers and guy friends. One time in college, I played an impromptu tournament against my guy friends and some of the male students from other dorm rooms heard that some girl was kickin' butt and came over to check it out and play against me. Yup. As established with my Tolkien-induced cry-fest: I am a nerd. Fortunately, I married someone as nerdy as I am who also delights in hobbit and Nintendo-filled weekends.

There were some frugal perks to this little stay-cation of ours as well – not paying for water, air conditioning (which is a big deal when its 110 degrees) or food for four days and getting a little - unexpected, but appreciated - cash thrown in the bargain!

Oh yes. And this is Lola.

photo © Devin Hanson Photography 2010

Lola is the adorable, affectionate but-oh-so-energetic puppy that we were watching. She devoured the wiring for one of the surround-sound speakers (fortunately my handy hubby was able to fix it.) She stole and half-ate my unmentionables while I was in the tub (there were words, but she was forgiven.) She deliberately (and loudly) tried to keep me from being affectionate to my husband. Amazingly enough, this was the best I've ever seen her behave in all the time Megan and Brian have had her.

We also found this not-so-little guy:

His visit was short lived.