My Hubs is the best. On Saturday, he gave
me a wonderful gift – a whole day at the beach all to myself. Ever since my introvert post, I’ve been
craving a little solitude (I’ll tell you more about that in an upcoming post).
Now, I know this is supposed to be Quinn’s Weekend
Adventure, but my beach day was so awesome, I just have to tell you about it.
(Besides, Q woke up with a nasty cold on Saturday, which I didn’t find out
about until I called Hubs as I was leaving the beach. So a true QWA would just
be all about snot anyway, and you’re probably tired of reading about Q’s snot.)
I used to go to the beach by myself all the time. I’m not
sure why I stopped after Hubs and I got together. Maybe because it was so nice
to finally have a beach buddy, and I loved spending days on the sand with him.
Then we had Quinn, and days all to myself became non-existent. Until this
weekend.
I asked Hubs if he minded if I went to the beach alone for a
day, so we looked at our busy summer calendar and decided this weekend would probably
be my only opportunity. So I packed a beach tote and a cooler and headed for
the California coast, leaving Quinn and Daddy to their own devices.
I couldn’t wait to have a whole day of reading and writing.
I packed sunscreen, my laptop and a silly book into a bright pink beach tote. I
made a sandwich and threw a water bottle and a Diet Pepsi into a small cooler.
I packed much lighter than my failed beach endeavor with Q last summer! I set out early in the morning to
beat the heavy beach traffic and thick crowds that clog the freeway and the
sand on most weekends.
I even went with the wavy, beachy hair thing. (Actually, my hair always looks like this since I gave up straightening it after Q was born. At the beach, it looks appropriate. Every other day it just looks messy and ends up in a ponytail.)
My primary goal for the day: to write, write, write. And I
did. I wrote seven blog posts. Just me and my laptop on a towel. The beach was
pretty quiet in the morning, even though the sun already shone brightly instead
of the usual haze that blankets the coast most summer mornings. Perfect writing
weather.
My second goal for the day: to get sexier tan lines than just
the ones on my feet. Flip-flop tan lines? So. Not. Hot.
So after a few hours of writing, I reapplied the sunscreen
and just… laid there. I slipped in my
headphones and tuned out the conversations around me. In my world, there were
no more kids shouting, no more couples bickering about which bare spot in the
sand was most optimal, no more teenagers living life loudly for the whole beach
to hear. It was just me and my girly music. I decided it was a Joss Stone kind of day.
After I felt I had a sufficient amount of sun, I opened my
eyes, turned off my iPod and rejoined the world. Wow, the beach had gotten much
busier while I was lost in my blissful state. I had new neighbors who planted
their towels, tents and sand toys just a couple feet away from me. Their kids
were cute, but they enjoyed throwing sand in my general direction. I checked
the time. Hmmm… yep, definitely wine-o’-clock.
I packed up and meandered over to a little restaurant right
on the beach. It looked like there was a long wait, but I only needed a table
for one. “We can seat you right away,” the young hostess said. Lovely.
Soon, my good friend, Kendall Jackson, joined me. I opened up
my laptop again and sipped my favorite chardonnay while I wrote a little more.
There was a time, in my younger and more self-conscious
years, when I would never have sat at a restaurant alone. Especially not at a
crowded restaurant where the tables around me were filled with friends and
families and laughter. But now I don’t mind at all. I know I have all that
waiting for me at home.
I admit that watching all the little toddlers on the beach
made me miss my baby boy and Hubs. I allowed myself to wonder what they were up
to, how much fun they were having. I imagined that Quinn and Daddy’s Day of Fun
included playing at Grandma and Poppa’s house, whizzing down Q’s new little
slide in our backyard, and watching Toy
Story 3 together. I smiled as I pictured them sitting on the couch in the
same position with the same expression on their faces.
I decided I had had enough alone time for the day. I finished
my wine, closed my laptop and went home to these two happy guys.
