Relaxed, Refreshed

Well, we are back from our week-long vacation at Cape Cod. We stayed on a lake in the lovely town of Centerville which has a really nice beach (Craigville Beach) and excellent homemade ice cream. We had never been to the Cape before and enjoyed it very much. The good news is that we were mentally prepared that this vacation would not be about sleeping late, because otherwise we would have been sorely disappointed. Anyway, as a sign of a good, relaxing vacation, I don't have much exciting to report.

Except...

On our last night there, LP was wandering around the house. She was always in our sight and it had good, laminate floors so she was really walking from room to room. All of a sudden, the Hoos hears her playing with something in the front bedroom. A room we didn't use. He walks in to find her playing with a broken lamp. A lamp that we didn't hear fall and break and that wasn't broken before. Fortunately baby girl is unhurt.

We contemplate the broken lamp, trying to figure out how it got that way and finally determine that we must have pushed it back on the nightstand to keep it out of LP's way, thereby placing it closer to the blinds. A good, stiff wind must have kicked up while we were out (natch), knocking the blinds into the lamp and the lamp onto the floor.

What to do? What to do? We already spent an arm and a leg to rent this house, we certainly don't want the cost of this lamp to come out of our security deposit, especially if we weren't even responsible for the damage. So, like any true scaredy-cats, we hop in the car and drive to every home store in the greater-Hyannis area looking for a replacement. From K-Mart, to Linens and Things, to Home Goods, Pier 1, Marshalls, Macy's (bet you didn't know the Cape was so built up. It just so happens that Centerville is the ideal location for surf and shop). Apparently off white, cylindrical, 12-inch high lamps are out of style.

We find another lamp in a closet in the house and replace the broken lamp, which we wrap up and throw out. The next morning the Hoos calls the owner and relates the story (minus all of the nutty running around). She understands, especially since it is incredibly windy the morning we are preparing to leave, and tells us not to worry about it.

Anyway, as nice as it was to be on vacation and not think about work, there is something really nice about returning home. Too bad I have 150 emails to go through...