Let's just pretend that there aren't 2 months worth of life to catch up on, okay? Let's just pretend that I'm really good at this blogging thing. And for entertainment's sake, we'll just say it's been uneventful around the Bruce household and THAT is why we have had nothing to share in the blog world ALL SUMMER. It's a lie, but we'll say it so that we can keep blogging so I don't get flogged by Becky who reminds me every time I see her of the last date I blogged. 7.8.08, almost as monumental as 8.8.08, which might be a big reason of why we didn't blog in August (we might have watched every broadcast hour of the Olympics)...

We did plan one last weekend at the beach to end the summer on a high note and enjoy a little R&R. My sweet hubby planned a trip for us that was going to serve multiple purposes - the boys were going to Myrtle Beach to have a guys' weekend so that gave Terry other people to watch the ASU/LSU game with and then he was going to go with them to a concert Sunday night while I stayed at the resort he had booked for us through Hotwire to order room service and snuggled into my cozy bed with a good book or Lifetime movie.

Enter speed bumps.

Friday, we found out that the football game got moved from Saturday night to Saturday morning. We weren't checking into our resort until Saturday afternoon - a definite kink in plans since we wanted to watch the game with everyone. So, we decided to caravan down a night early with the guys and crash their party for the first night to stay with them in their condo. Again, we weren't supposed to leave until the next morning, so I hadn't packed or cleaned the house (really, who likes coming home from vacation to an unswept home or dishes in the sink?) So I try to be cool and not type-A and not OCD - aka, someone I am not - and do all of these things in 35 minutes before the caravan left. Enter stress. Packing should be fun - like playing a good game of Tetris

...this packing was not so much that - but it got done, and we got in the car fine. Well, as long as 'fine' includes leaving my "scooby snacks" in the house and spilling my drink all over myself as I tried to lock the door on my way out. Nothing like a 4 hour drive covered in dried sticky Limeade. It was fine because we had a good new book to read as we drove.

Fast forward, we get to the beach, stay with the guys in their friend's family's super nice condo right on the beach, go watch the game the next morning with a bunch of other App fans. Let's just skip over any conversation about the game... So we head back to the condo to get our stuff and head to check into our resort. Caution: this story takes a turn for the worse here. In case you don't know how Hotwire works, you don't know the name of the place you are booking until after you have booked it - you only know the location, and the number of stars they have rated it. So it's a little bit of a gamble, but who knew it was like Russion Roulette?! SERIOUSLY, here were the "slight" downfalls of our "resort." (Not sure if I should list these in order of their offense, alphabetically, or chronologically)...

• cigarette burns through the top of the comforter (which I pulled off the bed only to reveal...)
• 'stains' all over the motel-style velour blanket underneath (which I also pulled off the bed only to reveal...)
• 50 thread count nasty sheets
• blood stains on the walls of the elevator
• nasty black mildew stains on the inside of the far-from luxurious or clean bathroom
• 5000 people crowded into every square foot of beach outside of the 'resort' (all drunk, all leathery, and all adults)
• we are talking spring break 2008 adult version on CRACK
• the public access bar/restaurant by the pool outside our window that was like my worst nightmare (people, at the one and ONLY frat-party I went to in college, I looked around and said "isn't this a fire hazard?")

It was so bad, we weren't sure whether we should laugh or cry. I did both. And then we called the guys and begged for mercy to see if we could come back to the condo and stay with them the rest of the weekend. They knew we wouldn't ask unless it really was that bad, and they love us, so they said yes (after I agreed to not reveal any of the things that happen on these guy trips!) :)

Thankfully, it all ends well - we left the joke of a resort, went and put our name on the list at Bonefish, and spent our 100 minute wait playing mini-golf at the place next door. My husband is ridiculous, he got 5 hole-in-ones. I got 11 over par. We made breakfast for the guys the next morning as a peace offering and we ended up all having a great time together. Not quite the romantic evening away we had planned...But it was a blast, Bonefish was delicious, the weather was great, and I still got my night at home to myself cozy in a bed while the guys were at the concert - but instead of room service, I had Krispy Kreme doughnuts!

And now back to normal life. The lawn is in desperate need of mowing, the laundry is in desperate need of washing, the house still stinks of mildew despite the dehumidifier (oh yeah, in our uneventful time over the past 2 blog-free months, our basement flooded), and I desperately did not want to return to work today. But I am excited for Labor Day to have come and gone - I am finished with the heat, finished with the mosquitoes, ready for Fall, for redeeming football games...and for lunchtime so I can eat my yummy leftovers from dinner last night.