Unplugged?

Well - we Unplugged in one sense of the word - or at least, we tried. We came to Ogunquit to relax a little, but we spent a bit too much time online to be truly unplugged.

Just when you think it couldn't possibly get any crazier... all the Crazy Eggs hatch!!

This is Spring Vacation week. AND it's the week to choose which college you want to attend. AND it's the week to cram before the AP Exams next week. AND scholarship applications are due. AND - that's just a few of my son's Crazy Eggs hatching...

This morning, we drove down to the Post Office and handed over Alex's college decision* and a few of the scholarship envelopes and then walked out into the Ogunquit sunshine feeling a little stunned and a bit lighter. Our first day of vacation had been spent making frantic phone calls and having intense conversations on the merits of three, somewhat randomly chosen, colleges... what financial aid really means... what huge amounts of debt can do to one's future.. and the general meaning of Life, The Universe, and Everything. Ironically, the answers to the first few questions were remarkably close the the third answer ("42"). So, after that day of stress, we were a bit at a loss of what to do today!?

Lilah suggested we go to the little toy store and get some more Minecraft figures. OK. Then we went next door to get some fabulous pieces of chocolate. OK. Yum. Then we decided to burn it all off - calories and stress - by walking the entire length of the Marginal Way. (The cliff walkway along the ocean).

We spent a few hours in Perkin's Cove eating fried calamari and quizzing Alex on his AP Psych notecards. I know it is odd... but I get a huge kick listening to Lilah using words like "genetic" and "parasympathetic nervous system" and "amygdala"... (Lilah is 8, by the way). Even the waitress was smiling. We were all laughing pretty hard. And a few of her pronunciations had me picturing some great comic book scenes... Queen Amygdala and Darth Vader... Genie Tickling Mo Defied Organs.. (genetically modified organisms)...

And then - retracing our steps along the Marginal Way...

In the many past posts that I have written about my escapes to Ogunquit, I have often mentioned a dilapidated, gorgeous house that overlooks the ocean, that I fantasized about owning. And turning into an arts retreat center.

See the pile of rocks and rubble in the photo below? :-(
I guess there will be another McMansion coming soon.

We were also shocked to see a sign forbidding piles of rocks. Seriously. Piles of Rocks. Another one of the five things I loved about the Marginal Way. Two are now gone.
I hope they don't forbid climbing on the rocks too...

Tomorrow, it's back to NH and we are practicing being stressed again. But we aren't taking it seriously enough. Everything seems so much funnier. Laughing has always been the best recharge for all of us.

*Oh - and if you were curious which school Alex finally chose? He chose Vassar.