Last week I was in vacation mode. I was in sunny southern California. There was not one drop of rain the whole week. I got some sun, actually had to wear sunscreen; sat out by a pool one day; ate several meals out doors; wore summer clothes and sunglasses; and I shopped, ate, and slept in. Better still, I was in birthday mode, and we stretched Rob’s big 5-0 celebration out over several days with events and cake and ice cream on multiple occasions.

It was a good week, but now I’m back to reality. 5:00 AM was hard to face this morning, as was the cooler weather of southeast Alaska. It was a nice day here, but I stretched it a bit with my summer clothing. I wore a sweater, but couldn’t bring myself to wear a coat or…horrors…another turtleneck! All done with those options until fall is back on the calendar.

So the birthday week was good. However, there was a casualty of travel. My little netbook that has been my daily companion for the past couple of years had an encounter that effectively ended its life. I’m still not entirely sure what happened, but somehow in the course of travel, the screen was damaged beyond use or reasonable cost for repair. At the time this occurred, the computer was in its padded case, inside my backpack. But the backpack was with some other luggage and must have been jostled, to say the least, in transit. All I know is that everything was fine when I powered down the morning we headed to California, and when I booted up that evening, the damage had been done.

So, I am now the proud owner of an iPad. Since I primarily surf the internet, do email, and write my blog…no gaming or serious use of programs in general…I decided to try the iPad as a replacement. So far, although there are a few losses, there are also some fun gains.

I also came home with an allergy flare, or a cold…can’t quite decide which variety of drippy nose I have, but I’m leaning toward the allergy theory.

Last week was great. But I have to admit I woke up this morning thinking: I’m broke (well, for the month anyway…the iPad and other outings consumed my fun money for June); I’m on an air and water diet after a week of indulging; and I’m sick.

It’s hard to come down from 13,000 feet!