The day before Easter and it is cold and miserable outside. Nevertheless, I am delighted to be home and don't miss the islands at all! Rotten weather or not, we went for our usual lunch at Steak and Shake. I didn't snitch any of Steve's fries, which I normally would. But, we ate so darn many of them in Tobago it will be a long time before I crave French fries again. The Tobago Hilton had a very limited lunch menu and most every item came with fries, bunches of them. Too bad they were really good! We both put on weight during our vacation. Though quite expensive, the food on Tobago was good, especially the locally made banana bread, which was more like a moist fruit cake. On Barbados we stayed at the Almond Village Resort - an all inclusive place. The food was good and there are a number of resort restaurants to choose from. It is a very large resort and there were kids everywhere. There wasn't a meal time that a little one wasn't having a melt down. Very much a family resort. I'd go back again, but I'd take the grandkids with us. They'd love it. There is a huge pool with a couple of slides, etc. for the kids as well as other pools that adults without kids hung out at, including us. The best part was the friendly cat with ocelot type markings who decided my lap was a good place for a nap. She even had chicken with me for lunch.

Almond Village is on a quiet part of Barbados - quite a taxi ride to get there, through miles and miles of cane fields. It reminded me of Hawaii in that regard. We played tourist one day and visited one of the a caves. The taxi was a Mercedes! The elderly gentleman driving it told us about the sugar mills and how most of the sugar goes to Europe. The molasses goes into Mount Gay rum, of course. The cave was interesting as we went in on a trolley and they used spot lights to show us particular features. I shuddered as I thought of the early explorers who crawled in through the narrow tunnels to find the large openings. Only one other couple on the trolley with us into the cave even though it was high season in the islands. A majority of the other tourists we met on both islands were British.

I'll post some pictures as soon as my computer is working again. I am on Steve's as mine is acting up - it has been named Delilah! I hope Steve figures out what is wrong with it as I haven't backed up my documents - not smart at all!!

Just finished reading A. E. Canon's The Loser's Guide to Life and Love, a new HarperCollins title coming out in June. It is a contemporary version of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. It is quite quirky and young teenage girls who like humorous chick lit will like this novel narrated by four teens whose lives intertwine. Predominantly set in a video shop where both Ed (a self proclaimed vertically challenged nerd) and Scout (a closet romance reader who has changed her name from one that is quite feminine) work for Ali who may just make you think of a genie from another famous story. They are both working the day Ellie, a beautiful naive blonde, enters the shop and Ed falls hard for her and decides to become Sergie from Brazil. After all, that is what the badge on Ed's uniform states. The problem is, Scout has a thing for Ed, though he thinks they are "just" best friends. Add Ed's friend Quark to the mix - a tall skinny science genius who decides he loves Scout. Star crossed teenage lovers, of a sort, spend 10 days of a hot dry Salt Lake City June trying to sort out their feelings about themselves and each other. Chapters include first person narratives from Ed's and Scout's points of view, emails Ellie would like to send to the college guy who betrayed her as well as letters to her grandmother, and an occasional entry from Quark's lab book. Teen angst drips from the pages along with humor welling up and spilling out - causing the reader to both grimace and and snort laugh. A light fun read for tweens and teens.

On the adult front I am listening to yet another Elizabeth Peter's historical mystery set in Egypt and loving every minute of it. Also part way through reading a Christine Feehan paranormal romance. I would have read more on vacation but I became addicted to easy crossword puzzles - over 100 of them. And I will admit I had to cheat - a lot!! In other words - I am really BAD at them, but they are such fun.

Happy Easter to all and I wish you lots of dark chocolate bunny ears. :-)