A Visit from Thaddeus, and a Big Decision Made

Some good things and some bad things...

We had a blast with Thaddeus this week.  He's hilarious and tells the cheesiest jokes (they can't all be winners, but some of them are pretty damn funny).  The weather didn't cooperate enough for us to go diving, until yesterday.  Unfortunately, his trip was cut short due to a death in the family.  So with the prettiest weather we've had in a while, we drove him up to Miami to fly to Birmingham for the funeral.  And when we dropped him at the airport, he left his phone in the car.  We didn't notice this until it was too late.  So with some scrambling to find addresses and multiple phone calls with his sister, we managed to get the thing shipped back to Chattanooga.  So a note: if you need to call Thaddeus for anything, you can't until Thursday.  (You didn't really want to listen to those cheeseball jokes anyway, did you?  Oh, you did.  Sorry.)

So, what's been going on?

Thursday morning, Dad and I played softball.  Poor Thad, he came all this way to watch a bunch of old guys (and me) play softball.  And there was almost a fight at the end of the game.  Some people take softball too seriously.  I thought people grew up eventually, but apparently that's not true for everyone.  Thursday was also wing night at the Hurricane.  We tackled 50 wings and a giant pile of curly fries.  Yum. :)

Friday, Trevor and I ran around dinghy shopping and finding scuba tank accessories (I bought a tank for $40, but I needed an o-ring kit and a dust cap).  We had lunch at the Hurricane (it's becoming my favorite place).  I had Thai Chicken Stir Fry (super yummy, but a little too much heat for a cupcake like me), and Trevor had ribs.  When we came back, we picked Thaddeus up and went for a dinghy ride through the mangroves and a little on the Atlantic side.  Pretty sweet.
We were making plans to go snorkeling (if not diving) on Saturday when Thaddeus got the call about his grandfather.  So then we went into overdrive figuring out how to get him home as soon and as affordably as possible.  He worked with Delta to fly out of Miami, and we made reservations for a rental car to drive him there.
Saturday morning, we got up earlier than usual (don't worry, no before-sunrise craziness).  Trevor rode a bike to the Marathon airport to get the car.  Then we all loaded up and headed to Miami.  Did I mention it was a beautiful day?  Seriously, it was perfect for going out diving.  Rotten luck.  But I think Thaddeus managed to take some of the nice weather with him; it's in the 60s in Birmingham for a few days.

It was super fun having Thad with us.  We even made up a new dance (the double-anchor; it's about to be huge) that only makes sense to us.  We hate that his trip ended the way it did.

Now we're back to our routine, such as it is.  Dad and I are playing softball in an hour.  I managed to get my new phone working (I dropped the old one in the harbor).  And now we're making plans for the Bahamas.

That's right.  The Bahamas.  Trevor and I have decided to give it a go.  This is a once in a lifetime opportunity we have before us, and we'll probably regret it if we don't at least try to get there.  So we'll be getting the boat ready and talking to everyone we can to get advice and knowledge.  Seems like half the harbor is planning to go over at some point.  So we're hoping to get in with a group that's done it before, and hopefully travels as slowly as we do.  We also have hope that my old friends Linda and Phil Waste might head over with us, as they're heading down here pretty soon.  How exciting!  But don't worry; we're not leaving soon.  The plan right now is to head down in March.  The weather will be improving (winter northers will be easing off as the weather warms up).  That also gives us lots of time to prep the boat (and ourselves).  And we'll be able to get back to the States in time for Trevor's cousin's wedding.  Lots of good things.

So now you're up to date.  I remembered to bring my camera, so I'll leave you with a couple of sunset pictures.