3/2/09 Vacation, How I Already Miss You

Well I'm back. My fabulous vacation to the sun kissed beaches of Jamaica is officially over, and I have returned to the harsh winter of reality, with only my memories, a bunch of postcard worthy pictures, and my awesome tan to keep me warm.

I won't lie to you; it's been a little bit rough adjusting back to normal. Not that normal is bad or anything...it's just that compared to the breathtaking allure of Jamaica, normal doesn't stand a chance. Jamaica is an international runway model and Normal is her awkward, slightly chubby friend with an unfortunate overbite.

Case in point: It's spitting snow here. The sky is overcast and the wind keeps rattling the side of the house. It's a far cry from lounging by the pool while listening to the waves lapping against the shore and soaking in the warming rays of the sun. The urge to run screaming back to the hotel and beg them to take me on as a bartender or dish washer or pool boy is overwhelming. Anything to keep living the dream, my friend.

I'm even finding excuses to put off doing the laundry because when I opened the suitcase, all the clothes smelled like suntan lotion and salty sea air, and I can't bear to wash all that loveliness away just yet. (Have you ever seen a dog find something dead and roll around on it gleefully? Let's just say that all our dirty clothes are joyfully scattered all over the living room floor and I'm currently wearing one of my bathing suit tops wrapped around my neck like a scarf).

Just in case you were curious, we stayed at the Grand Paladium Resort in Lucea. According to something that I read somewhere (how's that for citing sources?), our hotel had roughly 1000 rooms and was completed in 2008. The grounds, pools, beaches, and lobby areas were stunning. It has something like 13 bars, 10 restaurants, and 5 swimming pools. They offer all kinds of activities from archery to paddle boats to water aerobics. And with all those choices available, I worked hard to keep myself on my very demanding daily schedule:

Wake up

Slather on sunscreen

Eat breakfast in one of the open air restaurants

Sprawl in the sunshine on a lounge chair and read

Move to the pool to read

Eat lunch in one of the open air restaurants

Slather on more sunscreen

Go sit on the beach and read

Head back to the room to soak in the jacuzzi and read

Eat dinner in a nice restaurant

Digest on the balcony overlooking the ocean

Go for a walk around the hotel

Go back to room and read before falling asleep

As you can see, it was pure, pure Heaven. Books and sunshine...what more can a girl want? My carry-on bag consisted of nothing but books. The total number of literary co-travelers was 16 (although to be fair, three of those were Tony's). I think we did them fair justice, although we did take a small break from reading to paddle around on the peddle boats (or is that peddle around on the paddle boats? I'm not sure...they had both peddles and paddles). The rest of the time involved being nose deep in a book.

I'd tell you more about the trip, but the eating and reading parts pretty much sum things up, and we both know that you only came to see the picture slide show anyway. Feel free to tell me how horribly jealous you are. It'll ease the pain of finding myself back here in reality.