A Day Off to Relax

I took a day off from work yesterday to spend some quality time with my spouse's family.  His dad and step-mom had spent Monday doing a touristy thing--the Key Biscayne lighthouse--so they were happy to spend much of yesterday relaxing at our house.

First, we went out to get ingredients for our planned feast:  chickens at Doris' Italian Market and ingredients for banana pudding and charcoal at the regular grocery store.  As always, we made too much food--my spouse wanted to smoke 4 chickens and grill 2.  We thought we'd have 8 adults over to eat, but my brother-in-law's grown children decided not to come.

So we have leftovers for days, which is fine.  We have freezer space, and it's good to have food for later.  We had a great time with our big meal poolside at noon.

By later afternoon, we needed a walk, and so we headed for the beach.  We got beer and pizza at the organic brewery.  It was almost too breezy--it's been windy for days.  But I was glad that the beach was not as crowded and chaotic feeling as it was on Sunday.  The high part of our tourist season has felt more hectic and road-clogged than any other one since we've lived down here.  My in-laws commented on the Monday traffic which left them exhausted.  I understand that feeling.

My favorite memory from yesterday will likely be the time in the organic brewery when we were waiting for our bill.  Suddenly, in a complete change of programming, Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" started blaring from the speakers--and we all started singing, all 6 of us--and not shyly.  I had a momentary vision of being kicked out of the organic brewery, and I decided it would be worth it.

It's good to have a day off where we focus on relaxing.  It's good to have visitors who like to take it easy.