Actual Vacation, Day 1

Excited to be at my sister's house, even though it's like walking into a heat wave in comparison to be at home, I was all ready to . . .

. . . do nothing.

Well, nothing in terms of worrying about day-to-day stuff I think about at home, although part of the intention of this trip was to help her out with packing for her upcoming move in addition to helping out with adding three people to her household (meals, cleaning, laundry, etc.).

My sister was all excited to get me on the paddleboard again. Having done it once, I didn't have any objections to the actual activity.

I had severe objections to the water temperature. Considering my (lack of) success before, I was in no hurry to go dump myself in that cold of water.

My husband went out instead and I spent a good hour or more listening to my sister tell me you should go out, you did it before, why won't you go out, look, the kids are playing in the water, you should go out.

I know she means well. However, it has taken her probably 20 years to understand that I am not interested in surfing. She has finally quit bugging me on that one. Her idea of great fun involves a beach and some form of individual water sport--preferably one with waves. My idea of great fun is more likely to involve snow, although since my back injury, I haven't been on a snowboard. Since my injury, I've actually become a bit more interested in more sedentary things, like quilting, which don't tend to aggravate my back so much.

Ironically, reading a book (which I was thoroughly enjoying) while sitting on the beach in a pike position wasn't doing much for my back and I ended up pretty stiff for the rest of the day. I also got sunburned, which was more annoying than painful--I take really great care in coating myself with sunscreen and reapplying due to the skin cancer history in my family. I had my husband coat me with Biafine, an over-the-counter topical ointment we get in Morocco, but that requires a prescription here. The stuff is fantastic.

I just wish I didn't need it.