Carpe Diem!

Yesterday it was more a case of seize the moment!!

Tuesday we had traveled from the Magic City to Hilton Head Island, a truly magical place. We had expected that Wednesday would be a day of R&R for Bill who hasn't had much down time for quite some time. He's an Army chaplain and is on call 24/7. You have to be prepared to expect the unexpected.

Wednesday started out well enough. We had breakfast at a little cafe called Skillets. It was a gloriously beautiful day and we had plans to check out the outlet shops back over the bridge. It was around 11:00 when we pulled into the parking lot and went into the first store to look at patio furniture. We were walking around sitting in different chairs, checking out their comfort and whether or not they were made for people with short legs when Bill's Blackberry rang. He calls it his Blueberry, mostly because I think it makes him blue to be so connected all the time. Whatever happened to the good ol' days when we were blissfully unconnected and ignorant of all the emergencies that sometimes took care of themselves?! Anyhow, from that point on for the rest of the day he was more connected to the cell phone than he was to me. I'm really not complaining. I know he has an important job and people need him. But I felt bad for him that his enjoyment of the day was interrupted.

I went in and out of stores shopping and he found a new bench to sit on outside each store where he continued dealing with the situations. I guess if you have to work, you couldn't ask for a better environment -- sunshine, comfortable temperatures, under palm trees. The only thing missing right then was the beach and a hammock to make it more perfect. In between phone calls and text messages, he would come in to the store where I was to see what I'd found. There was Carter's which was having a 50% off sale so I did some birthday shopping for grandchildren Abigail and Aaron who will be six years old in May. They're not twins, just kissin' cousins! And the Rack Room where I found some new sandals...and Liz Claiborne's where I tried on several outfits. I was having a good time :-)

We stopped for a late lunch -- Coke and cookies -- and then went into more stores on the other side of the road. He did find one treasure in between phone calls -- a statue of a fierce pirate to go on the shelf in his study.

We drove to Harbour Towne to have dinner at the Crazy Crab. His phone rang again in between the salad course and the entree. Another call he had to take -- this time to inform another chaplain that they'd been selected to go to Iraq. That's hard news to give someone and then think you're going to go back to enjoying your dinner.

The phone was blissfully silent during the time we walked on the beach and watched the sun set. And it stayed quiet during our walk over to the Frozen Moo for ice cream cones. But then came alive again after we got back to the room.

But we did have great moments to remember from the day -- breakfast together, the sunshine, the beach, the sunset, enjoying ice cream cones....

Seize the Moment!!