The Auldridges

Well, it’s been a busy week since we returned, but I’ll try to fill you in on the trip and the rest of the week.

As I mentioned in the last post, I couldn’t find any wireless signals from which to leech, so I couldn’t get any Internet while at the beach. That was fine considering I was at the beach and had lots to do. But I missed being able to post to the blog, and keeping the checkbook up to date with online banking.

The beach was great. Shari and I were in a beach house that my uncle Steve had rented along with his wife-to-be, Linda, my cousin Liz and her boyfriend Steve, my ‘aunt’ Kathy and her husband bill, and Linda’s son Michael. My parents were just down the street with my brother Ike, his wife Angie, my sister Hilary, her husband Sean, their kids Shannon and Ethan, my grandfather Tom and his friend Juanita, and my Uncle Jimmy and Jill. We had a very good time seeing everyone and just being right on the beach.

The wedding itself, our reason for being there, was on Sunday afternoon. It was awesome. They had it right on the beach, with the reception just over the dune in a two story pavillion that walked right out to where the wedding was. The ceremony was very nice, and very Christ centered. And we were all wearing normal beach wear, so the reception was fun and comfortable! Between all that and the two kegs of Yuengling on tap, I had a very nice time. Afterward, we went to my parent’s beach house and hung out for a while. A few folks had had plenty to drink, which made for an interesting and comical time. It was all very festive and enjoyable.

Shari and I left early the next morning, hoping to go up I26 to I77 then to I81. This was the reverse of how we had come down and it was a nice balance of pretty country and easy traffic. However, we missed 77 on the way up given some confusion on my part as to where Columbia, SC is located. By the time we realized it, it was better to just continue on I26 until we hit I81. This added many miles, and hours, to our trip, but allowed us to see the BEAUTIFUL mountains of NC/TN (see photo below this paragraph), as well as to make a 15 minute stop in Bristol to see Heidi and Jeph and kiss Grant–just as Heidi requested.

Given that we had gone out of our way, we got home 12 hours after we left the beach–at 9pm. And we had only spent about 45 minutes in rest stops. That was a long drive!

So now we are back, and I had to work Monday and Tuesday. I was installing servers in a location that provides backup service for the data center I work in, so it wasn’t the same old drudge. Thursday I called in sick because I did not feel well–headache and backache, sinus stuffiness, and drowsy. Yuck. I made up for missing the day by sitting in front of my own PC and doing some of my side work. Friday I felt better, but had the day off. I used it to start a large wiring job I am doing for John Kastelein in an investment house. I have 9 each of CATV, Telephone, and Network jacks to wire in. I also spent 4 hours today on that job, but stopped early because I was alone and it’s just too difficult to run wire from a basement into an attic alone.

So, from my point of view, that was the trip and this past week. I guess you’re caught up now. Shari should be adding her own entries to this thing soon. I just need to teach her how to use it.