Updates from The Edge

• Suzy Q: Our schedules and the weather (sort of) finally cooperated and we were able to take our boat out together for the very first time after 3 months of ownership. (My month in Iowa didn't help.) We went out on the ocean and it was great! I didn't get sick or anything. We caught a few blue fish and worked out some how-to's with the electronics. It was fun.
  
• Employment: I returned from Iowa and happily joined the ranks of the underemployed. I am working a part-time job as an office assistant in downtown Manteo.
• Another Big Dig: Not quite on the scale of the last archaeological dig at Fort Jefferson, Robin used a back hoe to help out with another archaeological dig at Fort Raleigh. Unfortunately and fortunately, I'm working at a part-time job and was not able to document this dig.
• Wedding day (not ours): Robin's son Josh is getting married at the end of August. We reworked our Alaska travel plans in order to attend.
• House guests: My sister and brother-in-law spent a quick 52 hours enjoying the sights of The Outer Banks. We all went to the Lost Colony show. Although they market fireworks as part of the show, they didn't do them when we went because of a rain delay. We checked them out another night but the "fireworks" were really just big sparklers. We're looking forward to some "real" fireworks in Manteo over the 4th.
  

Heat wave

Wow, the solstice just happened and summer is here! The heat index today is projected to be 105-110 degrees. Yikes. That's almost as hot as it was at Dry Tortugas. Hopefully, this will be short-lived.

Water temps are going up, the crowds are here and tourism season is in full-swing. A trip to the grocery store yesterday took 2 full hours: lots of traffic, lots of groups of tourists shopping and of course, one checker. Certainly not like Alaska!

We're looking forward to getting our boat out on the water soon and getting some fresh mahi mahi, mackerel and whatever else we can catch.

Quote of the day

"He'd break a rubber crowbar if I gave it to him."

Someone's reference to a breakage- and accident-prone co worker.

Good news and not-so-good news

The good news is my brother Lee is back from Iraq!

He returned just in time for the Memorial Day parade last week. I do mean "just in time" ... with 10 minutes to spare! Robin and I watched said parade and spoke at the same time: "That looks like Lee ... that IS Lee!" He returned about a week early and we are all very happy to have him back. This should be his last deployment but ya never know.

The not-so-good-news is that my mom's brain tumor and dementia continue to worsen. She's confined to a wheelchair now and can hardly move. On good days, she can speak coherently some of the time. I was fortunate enough to be able to spend the past month with her. We had some good times, some laughs, some nice car rides in the countryside and continued our ongoing research project: Conducting ice cream taste tests and reviews.