On Big Bellies and Beautiful Beaches

As in, in the case of this Prego Pregger, they don't match. The combo in the title did not work well for me or me self-esteem this past weekend-especially when the beautiful beach in question is also full of non-prego beautiful spring breakers.

First, Florida was great, protruding uterus aside. Well worth the effort and overpayment for plane tickets.

But if you want to feel great about yourself during your 7th, almost 8th month of pregnancy, don't head to the beach smack-dab in the middle of spring break. Siiiiigh.

A little over a decade ago, on my first *woohoo* college spring break, a few friends and I headed to Florida. We ended up in St. Pete's beach on the Gulf coast, which, if you have ever been there, you know that this is NOT the hub for parties, good times, and *woohoo* spring break fun. We ended up venturing to Siesta Key, (also rated the #1 beach in the USA by none other than "Dr.Beach") where one of the girls had been before and it promised to be a bit more lively. While a step up from St. Pete, it wasn't wild, and it suited us just perfectly. Good times.

So just this past weekend, we headed back to the scene of freshmen fun, and found the scene to be a bit....different. Still beautiful, but packed with people. Mostly spring breakers in teeny-tiny-eeny-meeny-itsby-bitsy pieces of what appeared to be  colorful Kleenex that apparently doubled as swimsuits. Holding their beverage of choice as they strutted their bronzed Kleenex-clad bodies down the beach.

Now mind you, there is no way in heaven or on earth that I was going to endure the trauma of finding a maternity bathing suit. In my humble, not so experienced opinion, nobody wants to see that. (I don't even really want to see it). But this decision was made as much for my sanity as it was for my wallet. I am due in May, I won't be frequenting any swimming pools, hotel swim-up bars, or water theme parks  until then, so therefore, no need to shell out the cash for something I would wear once. Throw in the fact that I am pale and pasty from a West Virginia winter, and you have a recipe for No Way Jose. But I won't let that stop me from actually going to the beach. Because I love the beach, and there is already plenty of stuff I'm not doing right now, and I wasn't going to let this be one of them. So I strolled down the beach with the rest of them, looking decidedly more clothed, more pale, less festive, and slightly less confident in my waddle strut. (Side story: two unfortunate individuals have dared to suggest that I waddle. One was a male student who knew as soon as he said it that he should just go ahead and end his life right then and there. He turned 17 shades of red and tried to hide behind a garbage can. The other was a female co-worker, who I in turn asked, "Do you WANT me to punch you in the face?" I do not condone violence, and especially not at work. But she was very close to getting handled in the hallway).

I am not an insecure person by most standards, but I can't lie, my self-esteem took a bit of a hit that day.

But I survived the strut. I had a good time. We accomplished what we wanted-friends, Orioles spring training game, good food, beach time, and just laying around doing nothing.

One big belly, one giant Oriole, and one Very Happy Husband

Florida On My Mind

New camera-check. (Sony Cyber-shot).
Rental car reserved-check.
Condo key picked up-check.
Pedicure-check.
Summer maternity clothes dredged up from the depths of mountains of clothes friends have graciously given/loaned to me-check.
Snacks that I plan on consuming as soon as possible-check.
Realization that Daylight Savings Time doesn't start until tomorrow night-Check.

I might be just a *tad* bit excited about this trip. I have scaled back my grand plans for adventure though. The fact that I am 7 and a half months pregnant has apparently finally sunk in (just this past week) and with this newfound revelation, I have opted to find it perfectly acceptable to rest, relax, and do nothing.  So there will be no reports of excruciating hauls up a volcano or safariing into the wilds. Sorry folks.

Just us, some sun, a pool, a beach, some friends, some baseball, and hopefully, a beautiful sunset or two.

It's Camera Time

No not Hammer Time, Camera Time. As in, I need a new one. Thanks to The Thief, I have been without a camera for months now, seeing no urgent need to purchase one. But now there is a need, and I need some advice. We are headed off on our little mini-adventure to Florida this coming weekend, and for about 5 minutes, I contemplated going sans camera. After all, I have gone sans Blue before, and it worked out just fine (sort of, there was some cheating going on).  So I figured, why not try a trip without a camera? But then I remembered I was having a baby in the next two months, and therefore it might be a nice idea to get one anyway. Perfect excuse.

It would be nice to have some input though, from the rest of you travelers. I typically have used a simple point and shoot, usually a Canon. Nothing fancy, so that mean people like thieves who like to steal stuff won't get too much reward for their efforts. (Still harboring a shred of bitterness about this).

Let's face it. I am not going to be the next National Geographic photographer, so high-tech lenses and equipment are out of the question. I also have a mortgage to pay, and I don't want to exchange my soul for it either. But neither do I enjoy taking crappy photos of which will be my mementos. So a Vivitar is out of the question. Sorry, Vivitar lovers.

Any and all suggestions on a camera are welcome, as long as they meet the criteria above.

And if you could only take one with you, which would you take-camera or guidebook?