MerrinDonahue.com

Happy birthday, baby!!!!. Have a wonderful day!

It’s my birthday, and I’m not going to do anything at all today. Hooray!!!!!!

Pretty much everybody that knows me knows that I hate people. I don’t enjoy going to the movies with the masses, I don’t like to go out to eat if I have to wait for a table (again, with the masses). Don’t get me wrong: I don’t think I’m better than anyone, I just don’t like most people, as they tend to be rude and inconsiderate (hello cell phones and bad service?). So imagine my surprise when I encountered the little oasis that is Studio Movie Grill. Kevin really wanted to go see the new Pirates movie, and so I bought the tickets online, and off we went.
First of all, I can’t even tell you how great the service was. We were greeted and thanked about 100 times. The servers genuinely seemed to care that we had everything we needed. And the food? Tasty and quick to your table (yes, table). Pitchers of beer, dessert, the whole nine yards. And if you needed something in the middle of the movie, there was always somebody right there to help you—-WITHOUT being invasive and/or getting in the way of the screen.
Long story short? I’ll totally be back. That’s right: me. The me that doesn’t like people. The me that HATES going to the movies. I’m so in love with this place that Kevin is going to have a hard time keeping me away.

Today was the first time since March that I didn’t have anything to do around the house. Sure, I probably could have vacuumed, but seriously? Everything is caught up. So what did I do? Nothing. I watched TV. I talked on the phone. I surfed the internets. That’s it. Tomorrow it’s back to business as usual, but it sure was nice to be at home and not feel like I had a million things to do. Now if I could just figure out why iMovie keeps crashing, life would be just about perfect.

Beautiful Morning

Originally uploaded by merrindonahue.

It was awfully hard to leave this behind, but today we’re back to reality. When people look at our beach pictures, they almost always ask if it’s really like this, and the answer is a resounding “yes”. You can keep your all-inclusive resorts, you can keep your cruises. I’ll take our little deserted beach in the Out Islands any day. No people, no distractions, no crowds, and one really good beach bar just a golf cart ride away. And, oh yeah, no pants.

It’s our last night here on Great Guana Cay, and as usual, I am deeply resistant (to put it mildly) to the idea of going home. Sure, I miss my dogs, but other than that, I could pretty much stay here forever. I’ve already posted some pictures over at Flickr, and I’ll have more up by the first of the week. Meanwhile, the sun is setting, the water is calm, and my barracuda gave me a fond farewell this afternoon. We’re packed, the house is clean, and we’re catching the late ferry tomorrow. All there is to do now is finish off all this Kalik and rum. Goodnight from our one particular harbour, and we’ll catch all of y’all tomorrow.
Oh, and Camille? You know how you always have a life-altering revelation while you’re down here? I had one this week, too, and it’s a doozy: Pants are overrated, and I don’t think I’ll be wearing them anymore, except when absolutely necessary.

It’s three o’clock, and I have yet to put on pants (unless you count a swimsuit, then ok). We played with our barracuda and said “holla!” to the sharks on the reef (there were two down there today, and man, were they curious!). Kevin fished for a while, I bobbed, Kevin bobbed, we swam, and then we had the genius idea to put the beach chairs in the water, where we sat. And sat. And sat. We actually watched the tide come in from our perch at the edge of where the ocean meets the shore. We even had to move back a couple of times. That’s how long we were down there. Now? It’s just about nap time, because, you know, we brought the cooler bag down with us and Kev may have had a few Kaliks. And I still have no plan to put on pants.

1) Sleep
2) Wake up
3) Take a walk on the beach
4) Nap
5) Swim
6) Kalik
7) Repeat
Wow. I have a LOT to do. Better get started. Camille——I’ll upload pictures tomorrow. Miss you!

For the first time, I have left everything I need to do for the last possible minute. This is SO unlike me. I’m a planner. I’m fairly organized. Now? I have about eleventy billion things to do, and not a lot of time to get them done, especially since we have to go to bed VEEEERRRY early tomorrow night (we have to get up at 3:30 to make our flight). Enough blogging, more cleaning the house.

And counting. In just 72 short hours, I will be on the beach. I pulled a muscle in my back yesterday, and all I could think of was how the tension immediately dissolves as soon as I step foot on Bahamian soil. Soon………..

Pretty Bird

Originally uploaded by merrindonahue.

I have carefully selected which pictures are appropriate for public consumption. Check ’em out over at Flickr!

Who knew I would find myself going through 1o lbs. of bread flour in a matter of a couple of weeks. Apparently, I have become quite the bread maker. As we speak, I have dough rising for two more loaves, and they will be delicious. Since I have been a stay-at-home whatever, I have managed to conquer my fear of yeast, and I have been churning out yummy baked goods at least twice a week. I’m a little worried that Kevin will get too used to it and expect baked yummy goodness with the same frequency once we bring our baby home. Maybe I should cut back a little…..Then again, maybe not. Homemade bread is the best!