1. Charlie and Lola in the Bahamas. This cartoon, which Simon was smart enough to download, is our intermittent activity and the thing that saves us every time life gets hard. After each episode, Elsie yells, “More Lola!” Other things she yells: “My soother!” and “My blanket!” and “My chocolate!” and “My white bread!” and “My rum and coke!” Simple things.
2. Elsie dunking, jumping, back floating, and just generally being a super star in the water…in the Bahamas. This girl might just be the president of the United States one day. And I do mean the US, ’cause somehow that sounds cooler than doing the same job Stephen Harper pretends to do.
3. The interesting couples in the Bahamas who stop to chat because we have a cute baby. Nobody actually cares about us, I’ve come to realize. It took me a while before I stopped pulling out my head shots and saying, “Hi, I’m the mother and and an actor. You need to know me,” and then breaking into a spontaneous monologue. But eventually I picked up the signals. Here’s what the couples do care about: Elsie’s age.
4. But I am a star in one respect…in the Bahamas. I found the sweet internet spot in the lobby. Here is my daily interaction with random people:
“How’s the connection?” “Great!” I say. They look perplexed, not understanding why everything is working out for me. Then I say, “Do you have a Mac or something else?” to which they reply, “Something else.” At which point they look away a little more despondent. At which point I feign sympathy, wink and say, “Bummer!”
Then I get back to vacation surfing, posting SO many blogs, and building my twitter connections. I think it’s been a very productive use of my holiday. Simon is very supportive, because he likes to dabble in his own vacation geek time: reading about Chlamydomonas. And obviously I knew how to spell that.
5. The big, big waves in the Bahamas. I have a routine, ’cause I’m particular. I dive under and then do some synchronized swimming leg lifts, one leg for each wave. It’s very fun and kind of aerobic. Then I look around for drunk people that might need saving.
6. Movies in the Bahamas. Last night we watched bits of Swordfish with John Travolta, Halle Berry and that really hot guy named Hugh Jackman…who I kept saying was really hot. Simon finally shut me up with “Halle Berry is also really hot.”
7. And guess what, we celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary in the Bahamas. Simon remembered and delivered with a beautiful delicate 18 karat necklace. I forgot but still delivered in my own winsome ways.
