3/13/22
This morning at 6:30am Zak and I woke up to a very loud “BOO!” from Georgia and Justin’s sweet, energetic, 5-year-old, Evie. Exhausted and mildly hungover, I asked her if she wanted to cuddle with us, which she did for a few minutes, but then she got up to cuddle with Auggie, and then after that, she got up to play with her toys. I guess that when a little kid is up, they are up for good!
Around 10am today, we all went out to Central Ave for brunch at a restaurant called The Lure. The food was delicious, and even though I was feeling a bit sick, I ended up day drinking with our pals. (The drinks were so good! There was one called “Get Out of My Swamp”, delicious and a funny Shrek reference!) Afterwards, we went to an awesome popsicle place called the Hyppo and got great pops! Mine was chocolate cheesecake flavored, which was basically a big fudgesicle!
When we got back to Georgia and Justin’s, Zak and I were exhausted, and sweet Evie asked us if we wanted to take a nap with her, so all three of us and Auggie got into her little twin-sized house-bed that Georgia built for her. Although Evie promptly got bored and left, so Zak and I napped in Evie’s house bed under the watchful eye of the baby cam. LOL.
Part of coming back to the place you lived in for so long is that you have a million people you want to see and only a little bit of time to do it. So, when we woke up from our nap, we headed out to go see our friend Jerry from our old apartment complex, who was one of the first people to help us work on the van! Unfortunately, our visit was a little quick though, because then we went to go meet Zak’s old colleague, Scott, at our favorite EVER brewery, Arkane Aleworks. Out of pure, happy coincidence, it was one of the last days of Tampa Bay Beer Week, and at Arkane, it was “Pie Hard Day” which meant they had 21 (TWENTY ONE!!) different sour beer flavors. We absolutely love sour beer, and beer from Arkane Aleworks is the first beer that actually got me to like beer in the first place!
Anyhow, our time with Scott was wonderful. He and Zak got incredibly close while they worked together. Scott was more-or-less a mentor to Zak in his first ‘Real job’. Not only were the food and drinks amazing, but Scott always has great advice to give. He talked to us and told us to make sure that we didn’t let life happen to us, but rather make sure that we create our own destinies. He also told us a bit about the “Rocking Chair Test”, which in essence helps you put into perspective what is truly important in life. Often we get so caught up in the next promotion, the next job, the money, but we forget to ask ourselves if that is what will truly make us happy if we are sitting on a rocking chair on the porch one day when we are 85. What is the opportunity cost here? A real wise guy, that Scott. Well, a wise guy, and also a bit of a Wise Guy! haha.
We got back to Georgia and Justin’s around midnight, we did karaoke all together for a bit over an hour. Having drank so much the past few days, I had a big tall glass of water during Karaoke, but the company was just so wonderful, water was really all that was necessary. Really grateful for that whole family. In addition, Lee and Joanna said we were more than welcome to come visit them at their place in Columbia or in England. Pretty amazing, huh? You hear that guys? After we’re done with Vanlife, we’re taking you up on your offer and coming to visit!
By the way, a little waitlist update, I am now number 77/100!