Family Vacations and Weight Watchers

Weight Watchers is killing me. Perhaps this is how people lose weight...they slowly die from the inside out. I am not sure, but I can tell you, if I have to consume one more cucumber, carrot, grape or apple, I believe I will spontaneously combust (or just die from embarrassment when the gigantic fart that's been building inside of me for days finally hhits). I am making progress, however. I have been going for 2 weeks and I am down a solid 3 pounds. For this Cheeto-loving, chocolate chip-eating, extra sweet coffee drinker, that's pretty good. My friend, Sandy, has been a real inspiration with the WW thing - she's almost 100 pounds down! HOW FREAKING AWESOME IS THAT!? 

I will admit, I was a bad girl at the beach as evidenced here:

Me and party-sized bag of "yum"

Party sized Cheetos? Seriously? Yes. Party of one: me. So sad. But so delicious. I believe this what English buffs refer to as a "catch 22". Side note: polka dots are your BFF when it comes to hiding a kangaroo pouch like the one I have hidden behind the Cheetos.

But I digress. My goal: to lose 25 pounds by Christmas. It will happen. I am sure I will be a miserable wretch but I am going to do it. OK. Enough of that. I just needed to whine.

In case you're wondering where I have been, the answer is simple: my sweet family came down to SC to visit me! What a great time we had! We hung around Greenville, ate barbeque, went to Charleston, saw a baseball game, played mini-golf, went on a Charleston harbor cruise, did some boogie boarding at the beach and managed to survive the 100+ degree weather! It was extra fun - we usually don't get visitors, so it's always nice when your favorite people come out of hiding to play. Here's a pic of my brothers and another of the three of us. Cuties, are we not?

Super, awesome little brothers

the three amigos

 I managed to get stung by a jellyfish. That sucker got me on both legs, my neck and my wrist. Jeez, did that hurt. I didn't think I was capable of running out of the water as fast as I did (seriously, I had to quit water aerobics because it was "too hard").  But out I ran. As I made it to land, I was swearing to myself (shit, shit, shit, shit!!), located my wallet, and scraped those skin-tearing barbs out of my legs with a credit card (they may have no available space for purchases, but they were good for something!). Off to the lifeguard station for a spray of vinegar and viola! Back in the water I went. 

While the sting was still, eh, stinging, Peter and I did manage to pass the time appropriately:

We rounded out our trip to Charleston with a harbor cruise - very neat! We cruised around Fort Sumter, looked at old naval vessels, saw dolphins and a bunch of other neat sights. Here is a view from under the Ravenel Bridge:

When we were back in Greenville, Andrew made wishes in a downtown fountain. I hope they come true!

I think everyone had a great time. I know I did. And you may be asking yourself about my sweet, adorable husband. Where was he on this vacation? Well, when you are a teacher (as several of my friends know), there is no rest for you. He was at home prepping lectures, writing notes, preparing the almighty syllabi and enjoying some quiet. He was definitely missed!