Just Us for For Now

"Is there a word for adults when they aren't parents?"

Steppa laughs.  "Folks with other things to do?"

"Like what things?"

"Jobs, I guess.  Friends. Trips.  Hobbies."

--from "Room"

Today, I confessed an embarrassing concern I'd had to a friend.  

After my miscarriage, I'd worried that Ben and I would grow bored with each other if, down the line, it ended up being just the two of us...forever. I told her I know that's ridiculous but almost a year ago (can you believe it) I had a thought one day-- that if Ben and I didn't have children, we'd have nothing to talk about from that point on.  I think I was concerned about this because having kids was just the next step in our plan, and we'd spent so long talking about it that it seemed unlikely that we'd ever find anything worthwhile to do, or talk about, again.

Many people, mostly parents actually, have assured me that this is an INSANE worry to have.  



The Power of Vacation

I ended 2015 with the attitude of, "F&*k it, I do what I want." After a year, of doing things to set myself up for a healthy pregnancy and future child, and then having that not happen, I commissioned 2016 as "Jewel's Year of Fun."  This is exactly what I told my transplant nephrologist when I told him I was taking my second vacation of the 2016 in March.  Yes, my second.

Vacation Planning--Ready for Big Trip 2015

Hi Everyone! Guess what! We're almost through with one of the most depressing months of the year! I've never been a fan of January.  It's so cold, you know?! At least up here in D.C. it is.  And it's still really dark around here, even though the days are technically getting longer now that we've passed the winter solstice.  I won't be pleased until the sun is setting AFTER I leave work.  

And then there are all those goals and resolutions we want to set at the beginning of the year in the most depressing month. I'm just over all the "fresh start" and "new year, new you" headlines.  I read this recently:  "There's nothing special about January."  Ain't that the truth.  

I guess the one thing I like about January is that it's usually the time that Ben and I plan our annual vacations!  Last year I posted about how I'm pretty spoiled when it comes to vacations.  Some people never take a vacation, either because they don't have the means to or because they don't desire to take one.  And other people, always take a vacation.  I'm the latter.  Traveling is the one thing that Ben and I like to invest in.  We'll go months without buying new shoes or underwear if it means we get to travel somewhere nice for at least a week.  

At the beginning of each year, and sometimes a little earlier, Ben and I get together and talk about what place we want to "invest" our money in.  Our annual trips started in 2010, with Puerto Rico.  Then Hawaii, Miami and the Florida Keys, Sedona and the Grand Canyon after our wedding, and then for our honeymoon, Greece. 

Because we went to Europe last year and hope to go again in two years, we agreed that this year's vacation should be a bit scaled back. We figured we could cut our European travel budget in half by going somewhere in the U.S., Caribbean or Latin America. 

Big Trip Naxos: Naxos

Because I had a kidney transplant, Ben and I had to postpone our honeymoon.  Instead of jet-setting immediately after our wedding, we ended up going to Greece for ten days in May.

I'm sharing a few pictures and our daily observations from this amazing trip!

Our last day in Athens, which was really half a day, was spent walking through the national park. The national park is basically the "central park of Athens." Athens is quite green for a city, but the park has its highest concentration of trees, walkways, and benches. The park is also home to turtles, ducks, peacocks, and goats.

Around noon we caught our ride to the airport and boarded the tiniest plane ever for our trip to destination number two: Naxos. There were maybe 30 people boarding the plane, and it had propellers. Ben and I made several jokes about dying in a fiery crash that would most definitely have broken the vessel in two solid pieces if it had met the Aegean Sea. We also prayed a lot.

As the plane started to take off, I started to get this feeling that I was doing something bad, a feeling I've had since I became an adult. I felt that if our parents had seen the plane we were about to board the would have made us turn right back around and go home. They never showed up obviously. We had to go through with the flight or lose hundreds of dollars of our own money. 

Even after all the panic and prayer, we did successfully arrive in Naxos on the tiniest plane ever at the tiniest airport ever. Baggage claim was one room, with one conveyor belt, and Ben had to help pull all the luggage off because it wasn't much of a conveyor belt.  Just 10 metal bars that were supposed to roll the luggage forward. They didn't.  Each piece of luggage instead stalled at the entryway from the baggage area to the claim section.

We met our driver and went to our hotel, Lagos Mare. The landscape of Naxos is somewhat hilly but the beaches are beautiful. Bright blue water with coarse sands. We were the firsts guests of the season, we were told. The hotel had opened for spring/summer travel the day we arrived. And we could tell. There were just four other tourists (from Canada) with us when we ate breakfast and dinner at the hotel.  The hotel was all white, with blue accents, that traditional Cycladic look. We had two sets of double doors that led to our balcony, and provided tons of natural light during the day. During breakfast we loaded up on cappuccinos and croissants, yogurt and chocolate and eggs. 

Our only full day in Naxos, we decided to rent bicycles in the town of Chora and ride them to the "best beach in Naxos" according to our concierge. And Agia Prokopios did not disappoint. Because it wasn't busy season, there were very few people on the beach so we could see the stretch of sand and bright blue waters of the Aegean. In the distance we could see the mounds of other Greek islands waiting for exploration.  

For dinner we decided to check out Faro's taverna, near Agia Anna. And since it was only a mile and a half away from our hotel, we decided to walk back to our hotel, hugging the coastline, looking at luminous blue waters and listening to waves brush up onto the shore.

We know we didn't get much of a chance to explore the entire island, with just one full day in Naxos. The island is the biggest in the Cyclades and requires a car to navigate most of it.  

Fascinating Discoveries:  

• Kitron, a strong liquor made only in Naxos, comes in green, orange and white; 
• Not many stray dogs on the island, but we did encounter a stray cat sitting on the beach staring at the sea. Why stay in the Athens plaka when in Naxos you have ocean views. 
• Naxos is very much a beach town. Because busy season hasn't start yet, several of the hotels were not yet open and the restaurants were pleasantly I uncrowded. 
• I had to walk my bike up every hill and almost wiped out on a gravelly part of the road. Meanwhile, Ben didn't even break a sweat. Really...no sweat..

The Honeymooners

Gone Travelin'
 On a Greek Excursion

not my picture

New Posts Starting May 26

March Madness

I'm in Vegas.

Starting March 10 11

join me here on the blog to celebrate

National Kidney Month

UPDATE: I've been sidelined for the past couple of days due to a fever and stomach issues.  I hope hope HOPE to have a finished post up tomorrow. 

Stay well, peeps.

Living for...

"As you wait for better days, 

don't forget to enjoy today,

 in case they've already started." 

Robert Brault

Gone Travelin'

Back Aug. 14