A Great Weekend, An Even Greater Monday

Hope your holiday weekend was good! Ours was active and a lot of fun.

Thursday night we went to Jerry's Bar, not too far from here. Not the most exciting place to go, but at least it's close. We got there a little late, around 10pm, which apparently is the redneck witching hour as a live band started up shortly after we arrived, playing classic rock hits for a bunch of slack-jawed yokels who were stumbling around on the dance floor. Guess since people were blowing off a little bit of steam with the start of the weekend, that night was a little more "red" than usual. I've always been a Led Zeppelin fan, but it's always been a little perplexing to me that an English band from the 70s/80s that sported Aqua-Net perms and tight pants and sang about "The Lord of the Rings" has always been a huge musical staple in the South.

Friday, I got a 6 mile run in, then Akemi and I had a few rounds at Caribee Key at the beach, but left just before sundown to avoid all of the traffic for the fireworks. It was not a big deal that we didn't stick around for them, as there were plenty of fireworks being shot off in various neighborhoods around here that were almost semi-professional. Besides, people-watching from the patio bar at Caribee was loads more entertainment than fireworks. See the pics below (featuring Jacksonville Beach's Royal Mounted Police).

Saturday was the 'trifecta' of activity for me as I ran 6 miles in the morning, then took a Bikram class with Akemi, then went surfing for a few hours. We ended with dinner at a Thai restaurant with my brother and sister-in-law.

Sunday we attempted to surf again (but no waves yesterday), then I took Akemi's Bikram class at 4pm. We grabbed some sushi at "Tama's" at the beach afterward.

Then, today was the day - I put in my official 30-day written notice to terminate my position at my current dental office. What a huge relief!! I'll die if I stay there a minute longer than I have to. It's been both the most miserable experience in my life, but also one of the most eye-opening. It really, really made me second guess, and even regret, my decision to leave active duty. I am moving on to, I think, another practice (limited only to endodontics) which will be a drastically higher quality place to work. I start August 18, leaving me a ten day break between jobs. Looking forward to it. Waiting to restart my professional life in a much more positive environment.