Appreciating What You Have

I've been in a little funk lately, which made me switch out the flatware ... shop at Costco and now opt to try some new recipes. I've had a little more stress than I'd like to admit, and frankly, I've not always been a joy to be around. When you realize that, you know it's bad.

So when Hubby told me Saturday morning to be "sportin' a bikini" within the next 30 minutes for a ride on the boat, I was less than pleased. I had laundry to do. I needed to finish up the menu plan for next week, clean the kitchen, mop the floor, wash the rugs, re-work the budget and so on. You know, a woman's work is NEVER done.

But as he went about happily getting everything ready for a little ride on the boat (seriously, no such thing as a 'little' ride on the boat, it's a production and generally 4 plus hours of time), I figured, the heck with it. Sunshine, salt water and just clean, fresh air would be nice.

So I got a bikini on (which totally motivates me to eat healthier AND work out, good Lord what happened to my body??) and grabbed a few muscle milk containers, the leftover sausage and cheese from last night, a few cheese sticks and a sleeve of Ritz (just in case, you never know).

Run down to the boat, which is running by now, and Hubby says "hey, look at that big fish!"

Ummm....that was NO fish. It was a Manatee. A LARGE MANATEE.  And down here, we have to show utmost respect for them as they are endangered.


Of course, it never fails that they come around on the weekends, we can't go fast in the boat because it's "Manatee Season".

Bless Hubby's heart, he turned on the hose and provided entertainment for us. Manatees love fresh water and roll over on their back and just float with the water splashing in their mouth. It's comical and a little frightening at the same time.

Ummm. He wouldn't leave. Kept swimming around the boat, would head a way just a bit and then turn around and come back. After about 40 minutes, Hubby just got off the boat, turned the hose on a trickle off corner of dock and sure enough, the manatee went over there and played ... Hubby jumped on the boat, fired it up and pulled away. Yahoo (and secret prayers that he would be gone by the time we got home, he was).

So we headed north to Lighthouse Point Inlet and then out to the ocean. BEAUTIFUL day. We tossed out a couple of lines and trolled for about 2 hours. Not a thing, but that was perfectly fine, because it was SO what I needed. A day of NOTHING.

I'm home now. Kitchen is cleaned. Got the butter rolled and in the freezer for Chicken Kiev. I think we are going to our local Italian joint for a quick dinner this evening ... may as well make it a great day all around.

My point is that I was not wanting to go on the boat. I had too many things to do. All those things were projects I created for MYSELF to do ... and really, I needed to just have a quiet day ... so, look around, what do you see that you haven't enjoyed lately? Take the time and enjoy NOW.

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