A Week in Words – Day Three & Four

Tuesday – We had watched the weekly weather forecast ahead of time and knew that Tuesday and Wednesday would be the coldest days of the week – definitely not beach weather. So, after our morning routine, Brian and I went our separate ways – he decided to hang around the villa and listen to his talk radio show then go for a long bike ride and my mom and I went to the movies. We saw “The Secret Life of Bees” and it was absolutely wonderful! You know – one of those movies that you just love watching but you are crying practically through the whole thing? After, we headed to the mall to wander around for a while and then home to get ready for our big night out.

My parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary on October 25th so we wanted to take them out for a nice dinner during our visit to celebrate. Being huge French cuisine fans, we managed to sell them on a little French bistro on the beach called the Island Creperie. My parents are very simple people – their idea of a great night out is Subway so I was shocked they were actually willing to try this place.

My brother came with us and out of the 5 of us, we got 4 different dishes and all were fabulous! Tilapia with lobster sauce, chicken curry and on and on – YUM! For desserts, we tried two different desserts crepes and shared and finished with a strong cup of coffee. We had a great time, the chef and the staff are wonderful – authentic French, thick accents that can be difficult to understand (my parents eventually gave up and just looked at me to explain when they were asked any question) but so warm, friendly and attentive.

I hung out with my folks alone that night after we got home while Brian packed up and went to his brother’s, for the 1st time on our visit, to watch the World Series game.

Wednesday – We picked one day of our vacation week to take off and spend the day together, just the two of us and Wednesday was our day. We headed up to Tampa right after lunch and hit International Plaza to do some shopping. We LOVE this mall – Aveda for me to get some hair products, Swatch for him to browse the watches, Tiffany’s, and on and on and on. We didn’t stay long – didn’t want to spend a lot of money and had specific things we were looking for so we quickly moved on and headed out to Ybor City. Ybor is known for their bar district and their Cuban population that hand roll and hand make wonderful cigars. Brian wanted to load up and get some different cigars you couldn’t get anywhere else.

The afternoon warmed up and after a little searching, we found one of our favorite brewing companies, Tampa Bay Brewing Company. We panicked a little – we walked to their old location, only to find it long since closed down but fortunately, they moved to a wonderful new location only 2 blocks away in Centro Ybor. We decided to order a snack of hummus and pita bread and sip their wonderful porter in the sunshine. After our refreshments, our energy renewed, we headed to 3 or 4 cigar shops where Brian picked up 3 or 4 different cigars- we found one place in particular very helpful and very inviting but damn if I can remember the name.

We left Ybor and headed to his brother’s apartment to spend the evening. Neither of us had any idea what to expect – I am not allowed to plan anything ahead of time with his brother or he just makes fun of me, saying I am too organized and not spontaneous enough. So, I promised both of them I wouldn’t suggest a thing – that our time together would be totally up to them. Boy – I knew that was going to be a problem! We spent the whole evening on his couch, watching reruns of Ghost Hunters, Ghost Adventures – whatever the hell those shows are called and just ran out for greasy cheeseburgers and fries at Five Guys I do have to admit that their cheeseburger is probably one of the best I have ever had.

Where is everyone, BTW – out voting? I haven’t heard from many of you since I have returned from vacation. It looks like people are posting entries but must not have a lot of time to note.

In non-vacation related news, things are picking up on the job front. I actually got an interview for the internal position posted in my firm for this Thursday at 9am so keep your fingers crossed for me. My boss has been acting so much nicer ever since our showdown before I left on vacation but I honestly don’t know if it is just an act or if she is being genuine.

Then, today, my old, old boss from a credit union I worked for from 1998-2001 called me at work out of the clear blue sky. We have kept in touch over the years- he was my first work mentor, one of the first people who believed in me, encouraged me and honestly, thought my shit didn’t stink. I learned a lot from him and was given a lot of opportunities but quit that job when I moved to Florida in 2001. When we decided to move back from Florida, he was the first person I called to ask if he had any openings – I would have loved to work for him again but unfortunately, the woman who took my job was staying put . . .and is actually still in that same position to this day. Then, he quit his position at that credit union as CFO (the CEO was a crazy, controlling bastand) and moved on to a St. Joseph, Michigan based credit union.

Well, turns out they have a new position coming up, hasn’t even been posted yet and he wondered if I would be interested so he could submit my resume for consideration before anyone else did. I was so flattered – but unfortunately, I don’t think it would be a good fit for me unless it was some SERIOUS money. Everything about it sounds fine though I didn’t get too many details – the biggest obstacle would be the drive. From our current home, 1 hour, 1 way. NO WAY would I do that! IF they offered me enough money and IF I liked the job after working there a couple of months, we would have to move closer to St. Joe, if not to St. Joe all the way. Not a very good fit for two people who like having a lot of things around them to do – halfway between here and there is a whole lotta nothing.

I am willing to keep an open mind – a job is a job and knowing that someone thought of you and is looking out for you, after all these years, was flattering in itself, no matter what happens.

I will finish my vacation entries tomorrow – I gotta go watch the election coverage. Don’t forget about me, people – I would love to hear from all of you! Hope you enjoy checking out the links to the neat places we got to visit.