Best. Day. Ever.

Becky in Florida mode (she's a lot more cheerful than her expression would indicate).

We wake up around 9:30 or 10. The pool is bright blue in the sunshine. A little cereal, a little coffee... the girls are having a blast in the pool. Ben joins them. I jump in as well and we play Shark. Ben retires to the adjacent hot tub. I eventually get out and sit in the lounge chair and read for a bit ("Friday Nights" by Joanna Trollope). Then I sit on the screened porch and read the New York Times cover to cover. Now time for a little lunch -- I boil some hot dogs for me and the girls, Ben eats some cold chicken and pickles from the fridge. Then more lounge-chair time. This is one of the rare times I do nothing but stare at the sky, watching the clouds and trying to guess which layer will cover the sun and which will move away. I love when the cloud layer is just the right thickness so I can look directly at the sun and see a perfect, sharply edged circle of light.

I get a little warm, I jump in the pool, I lie in the sun, then in the shade. Then Ben goes to the club to get a massage. The kids are out of the pool, quietly watching TV or playing on the computer. When Ben gets back, I take the golf cart and go for my own hour-long Swedish massage, mind drifting as aimlessly as the soft New Age music in the darkened room. Afterwards, a steam room session and shower. Now I'm back at the house, sipping a gin and tonic, reading, chatting with Ben's stepmother, and waiting to hear which restaurant we'll be going to for dinner.

Life is good.