We took Bob's parents to the airport Thursday morning, then drove over to Sarasota. They had an earlier flight than usual, owing to the schedule change, so we got into Sarasota a few hours earlier than we normally do. Early enough to go play on the beach for awhile, have drinks at the beach bar, then relax by the pool. I took a book and read, then fell asleep in a pool chair, while Bob chatted up a woman at the bar . . .

When I woke up, I went and got him and we went out to dinner. We ate shrimp cocktail and clams and stone crab claws at Philippi Creek, then came back to the hotel and collapsed. We didn't make it out to the beach for our usual walk--Bob asked me if I wanted to go, and I said I'd rather just sleep, which I did. It was a lovely, relaxing afternoon, no pressure to be anywhere or do anything.

Today I took him out to the golf course, then did a little shopping--Elysian Fields, where I bought an astrological calendar, a bracelet made of cedar beads, a silver ear cuff and some meditation oils, the bookstore on St. Armand's Circle for a newspaper and a new paperback, and then I did something all women dread--I tried on swimsuits.

The one I have is okay, but I know when we go to Mexico in February I'm going to want to have more than one, and I just happened to walk by a discount swimwear place, so I tried on about a hundred suits, and bought one. It's not really "me," i.e., it's covered with big flowers, but it's pretty and it fits, and it was only $19.99, so I figure it'll do. Bob said that tomorrow afternoon after he gets back from golf, we may drive out to Holmes Beach, where there's another swimwear outlet sort of place.

After I bought the swimsuit, I went down the street to Ben & Jerry's and had an ice cream cone.

I'm letting him take the car tomorrow, and I'm just going to hang around at the beach. Hopefully it will be another relaxing, lazy day.

After I picked Bob up this afternoon, we came back to the hotel to hang out at the beach bar again, and we decided just to have dinner there, too. Just hamburgers (for him) and a fish sandwich (for me), but it was definitely more relaxed than changing and driving back into town, and we wanted to have an early dinner anyway, because we were going to see Harry Potter.

I have to say that I was a little disappointed. I loved the book, and the movie was faithful to it, but possibly a little too faithful--the pacing was so slow that I found myself about to go to sleep a couple of times. It seemed more like a collection of vignettes than a cohesive story, which I suppose is the problem with trying to cover all the events in a book. I thought the quidditch match was the best part of the movie.

Oh--there was a solar eclipse this afternoon. It happened right as the sun was going down, and I caught a picture of the sun with a bite out of it right before it slipped below the horizon.

We went out for a walk on the beach when we got back from the movie, and there were a few clouds in the sky, but between the clouds, the sky was so clear. I could see loads of stars. I love this beach, and one of the reasons is that there aren't many lights. I can look out over the Gulf and see absolutely nothing to the west, and I think that's wonderful.