let's get to the recapping already

my lack of blogging as of late comes down to two major factors. the first was a temporarily defunct wireless card (past tense). the second is fourteen hour work days (present and future tense).

but i need a break from work for a moment, so i thought i would take a stab at getting everyone caught up.

as mentioned on a couple of other blogs, the impending 30th birthday was wreaking a certain amount of havoc on my psyche. since i was 15 i have been dreading turning 30. it was the age i thought was 'old', and here it was. in an effort to outsmart myself, i decided that if i kicked off year 30 with the bestest birthday ever then it couldn't possibly as bad as i suspected. so, as i often do, i planned. i dreamed and planned. months ago deb and i talked about escaping to greece. then the reality of finances came crashing down hard. then we talked about a weekend in montreal. then the demands of work came crashing down hard. then it was a trip to busch gardens. then my frequent summer king's dominion trips had me amusement parked out. then there was atlantic city. then the prospect of old drunk people seemed too risky. then there was virginia beach. ah, finally. we had a winner. it's the beach afterall, and that would be perfect.

so my one grand wish for my birthday was to spend a couple of days at the beach with some of the people i care most about. but as the day drew closer, the numbers began to dwindle, as did my hope for the perfect birthday. but a funny thing happened. once my expectations of perfection had been completely trashed, i was free to have a pretty good birthday afterall:)

it began entirely too early with a pancake house birthday kidnapping to celebrate anne's special day. there are very few people for whom i would get out of bed early for, especially when i had one day off of work after coming off a 75 hour work week, but anne is one them. aside from the fact that i love her, any oppotunity to see her bedhead is absolutely not to be missed!

breakfast was delish. i indulged in chocolate crepes, while others enjoyed omelettes, nutella crepes, etc. none of us was disappointed.

after breakfast, i headed home for my manicure/pedicure. but that was all the pampering the day would afford, as i ended up having to work. that is when the wireless card mysteriously stopped working. but i still had work to do, and jill was leaving baltimore later then expected, so i headed into the office. so much for my day off.

just in time for corey and jill to pick me up from my office i finished what i needed to get done, and we were off.

thanks to my portable dvd player, i was quickly immersed again in my buffy marathon, and working my way through season four. we stopped in fredericksburg to pick up erin, and stopped at wawa to pick up goodies, and were off again. traffic was kind to us, and it wasn't long before we were in richmond dropping off some things at corey's sister's. and it wasn't long after that before we found ourselves pulling into the parking lot of our hotel.

finally, we were at the beach. i could smell the salt and hear the waves, and i was happy. we checked in and the first order of business was to throw wide the balcony door so that we could fall asleep to to the rhythmic sound. we did some unpacking, and unable to resist the lure of the sand any longer, i headed down to the beach for a quick stroll.

upon returning it was time to call it a night. saturday morning we were up early enough to see the sun as it rose over the water. we all got ready and headed down to breakfast, which for no inexplicable reason took forever. eventually we were done. we packed up, corey moved the car, and we camped out for the day.

the weather was beautiful, the water was warm, and the company was fabulous. we enjoyed several hours relaxing on the sand and in the water, and eventually made our way back to the car to change out of our swimsuits.

we cooled off for a bit and enjoyed some ice cream. as i was reviewing the menu options, i couldn't decide between a couple of things, and almost to myself i said 'can i have both?', and almost simultaneously jill and erin responded 'of course, it's your birthday!' oh yeah! it's my birthday! so i got both.

after the yumminess, we wandered the streets, popping into all the kitschy beach stores. i bought sunglasses and jewelry, and jill bought me a tattoo! well, a henna tattoo, but a tattoo nonetheless. each of us got one and spent the rest of the day checking out our new acoutrements.

corey, jill, and erin all went out of their way to make sure that my birthday weekend was all that it could be, and that meant they all smiled and nodded when i said i wanted to play mini golf! i love birthdays!

the course options were fruitful, but we settled on the jungle course. jill and erin were most impressive with their multiple holes-in-one, and yet with my consistency, i managed to take second place.

after playing with the animals, we all agreed that the day had been a success and it was time to get back on the road.

the trip home was relatively uneventful, and was highlighted by the fabulous detour erin sent us on. i am a lover of good bbq, and pierce's near williamsburg was gooood bbq. it was the perfect way to cap off the trip.

then sunday came. (insert scary music here). i was 30. no longer a 20-something, or even 'in my late 20s', i was 30. birthday greetings kept my phone occupied, but work kept my mind occupied. after church i headed back to the office to prepare the last minute details for monday's event.

anne and corey both called to make arrangements to stop by, and i would later learn that my being at work was creating some major panic. see, they had a surprise party planned for me, and me being in the office was creating quite the challenge.

in the end though, i was able to wrap up my tasks and make it home in time to meet anne, corey and jill, who were later followed by a slew of other well-wishers.

it was a perfect way to close out the big birthday weekend, with chocolate and people i love.

thanks to all who went out of their way to make this scary birthday a fabulous success!

when monday came, play time was over, and it was time for the annual dgylf (darrell green youth life foundation) redskins cruise. registration went smoothly, and eventually it was time to leave dock. aside from a couple minor glitches it was smooth sailing (no pun intended). charles mann was, again, a fabulous mc, and all of our guests had an enjoyable time. i was actually able to relax a bit, which is a nice change for an event i'm working.

we docked at 10 or so, and i headed back into the office for a couple more hours at work, before finally calling it a night.

i've got another event tomorrow, so i make no promises about when the next blog entry will be, or when i will actually have a chance to change the playlist (sorry!), but i'll do my best.

for the rest of the photos, click here.