Ah, those disruptions to schedules. It was Christmas of course, but a couple of unexpected tasks popped up as I was trying to also prepare for the kids’ arrival and party we have New Year’s Eve. I was absolutely determined to get one more day of diving in before the end of the year and that pretty well takes most of a day. The conditions were decent with only a little bounce (waves) and visibility underwater of about 40 feet. For those of us who often get 70, that’s “marginal”. For those who dive in places that rarely get even 20 feet, it’s terrific. This is genuinely a relative measure. Hubby was finishing up a class with a guy who is the fiance of a young lady who dives, as does her father. They were along and it’s always nice to see two generations diving together. I did find them a stingray, and did see a nurse shark, although I couldn’t get to the rest of the group in time to show them. I love the spotted trunk fish like in the photo and I got all my angel fish – queen, gray, French, and rock beauty. Other divers saw an eel and turtle, so between the two groups, it was a nice array of the more “fun” stuff. The “biggie” for our group was a juvenile Goliath Grouper. It was no more than about forty pounds, but still impressive. Adults grow to 200-300+ pounds.

The kids’ flight on the 28th was slightly delayed and traffic was still pretty heavy at that hour. School not being in helps, although a lot of people who took off for Christmas are back at work. I had a couple of friends over for dinner that evening who can’t make the New Year’s Eve party so the timing got a little tricky. All went well, however, and Hubby had gotten the child’s seat correctly installed in the car. Those were not required when son was that age, therefore, neither of us have experience with the things. When you have a part “left over”, it tends to be a matter of concern. I had the part and the instructions with me and it turned out the piece in question was if you had a younger child. Ah, good.

Depending on how today unfolds, the kids will go off to see “The Last Jedi”. Hubby has to finish up a course for a couple and Gram and granddaughter will be baking cookies.