GINGER IS ON YOUTUBE

The Yorkshire Terrorist of the century is now featured on youtube. If the link doesn't work, you can just search for ginger tuxedo or even yorkshire terrier. Enjoy.

A Visit From Gypsy

I get a call on Monday from Gypsy "I'm coming to visit - TONIGHT" Yikes. I had a class at the Red Cross until 9 and Steve had a meeting, so neither of us were going to be home until late. "No problem" says Gypsy - "I have a friend I can stay with tonight and you can meet me at Haulover in the morning". So, Tuesday morning, I pack a cooler and head to Haulover Beach. (The nude beach) There she was with this big fat ugly guy. I am thinking to myself "what's up with that?". As it turns out, he's a pretty nice guy and he teaches the concealed weapons class. So, I've s"et it up that Max, Jimbo and I can get our CWP's, maybe next week, for $50 each! We had been there a couple of hours when this blond god walks by and says to Gypsy "I like your hat." After he walks by, we say to each other (in girl look language) "this one is NOT getting away". So, she flirts with him when he walks back by, oblivious to poor old George. So, the god stops and talks to us. As he was leaving, he had to put a towel in front of him - it was very obvious that he liked her a lot. Later, after George left, he comes over and spends a couple of hours talking to Gypsy. The outcome is that he took her to The Trapeze that night AND again on Saturday night! He was at the beach on Saturday, as were we. I met so many people that day. Also, Harry & Sonia (two swingers I know from OA) were there and Harry cured my touch deprivation. What was funny was that there were about six couples who were going to Trapeze that night, so Lou knew other people at the club. We went shopping at thrift stores and consignment shops on Wednesday. I got a beautiful georgette dress and a pair of brand new Italian jeans whose original price wads $245! I only paid $11 for them. I bought them to wear to fires, too! They'll look great with my Disaster Action Team tshirt! (for the Red Cross, of course) Thursday, we had lunch with Mo, which was nice. I miss spending time with him. He just got back from Montana and was leaving for Texas the next day. I can't believe it has been a year and a half since we were on his boat. I had so many hopes of time with him. But - business and family come first. I'm nothing more to him than a diversion. On Friday, we went back to Haulover but got chairs and an umbrella this time. Friday night, we rented some movies and I made lamb chops, asparagus and a spinich salad for dinner. Saturday found us back at Haulover and I must say it was the best time I've had at the beach since I've been here. I was sorry to see her go on Sunday, but she had a really good time at Trapeze. I watched "Knowing" again, with Nicolas Cage. Tomorrow, I'm going diving with my cowboy bud, then up to Pompano Beach to have my tanks inspected and refilled. They only charge $14 for the inspection and nitrox fill, AND they will do it while I wait. The other shops wanted me to leave them for 3 to 5 days. How can I do that when I never know when I'm going diving again? Anyway, Cowboy would like to do the Venice megladon tooth dive, so it looks like that will happen soon. I need to make up Saturday night to Max - we were supposed to go to Artwalk in Hollywood, but I was too tired and didn't even call him. Not good. Maybe a nice home cooked dinner would work. Who knows what September will hold? A hurricane, I hope...the Red Cross is really hurting for contributions. (Plus I get to work in the Emergency Operations Center)

End of the Road

The road trip ended abruptly soon after we returned from SC. I visited my mom and dad again on the way back and spent a few days with Lou. Jim was supposed to bring the jet ski to Melbourne Beach, but the A/C went out in his car. I had a really nice visit with Lou and headed home. It's always nice to be back in your own bed! I am not going to be keeping up this blog anymore, as I am now on facebook and it is much easier to update on a regular basis. If I have any extended trips, I may post here but I will let you know. In July, I went with a group of divers off the coast of Venice FL. This is one of only two areas in the world where fossilized shark teeth are found. You can find all kinds of teeth right on the beach, but some of the larger ones, mostly from Megladons are found offshore. The megladon is a gigantic shark that lived about 16 million years ago. I was lucky enough to find a tooth. The picture is of the raw tooth with barnacles, some coral and miscellaneous growth. I will sand it down and it will be shiny black. JET SKI DAY My "man bud" and I took the jet ski up the intercoastal to the Port Everglades channel and spend about forty five minutes jumping waves offshore. Then we took the Haulover channel to a local sandbar where boats pull up and people enjoy the shallow water. After a respite and some liquid refreshment, we went up the intercoastal through Golden Beach, Sunny Isles, Aventura, Hollywood and ended up back at the launch area where we got out and exercised our legs. After a bit, we hopped back on and were headed to Ft. Lauderdale when we got pulled over bo the boat police. Would you believe that Jim got a ticket for speeding - and he was going 14 miles an hour! The cop also ticketed him because my flotation device wasn't zipped. Put a damper on the day. The next day we were both so SORE! I guess I was riding the jet ski like a horse so I wouldn't blow out a disk in my back. Oh well, i guess it was worth it. Neither one of us were really sunburned and we were out for over five hours. I used SPF 4 and Jim used 30. Everyone says you can still get tan with a high SPF but I guess my skin is different. SPF 4 is all I need for a full day in the sun. Enjoy the pics. GINGER'S NEW OUTFIT When we stopped at a Cracker Barrel on the way back from SC, they had a 75% off sale going on. I could absolutely not resist this outfit for Ginger. It was less than $2. Too Cute, yes?

Road Trip 2009 - Part Two

We (Ginger and I) arrived in Atlanta around 4 in the afternoon on Tuesday. We could have made better time, but I stopped about every hour and a half so I wouldn’t be so tired. Barb and Jim’s townhome is just gorgeous! Jim did all the work and you can tell it’s all first rate. Ginger appeared to get along pretty well with the Jack Russell’s – Lily, Sophie and Lucy. The one dog, the Westie named BooBoo, is the one I felt she would bond best with. Such is not the case - she has bonded with no one except Jim. After a delicious steak dinner, we sat up and talked for hours, of course. After going out for an ice cream cone, that is. Wednesday, Barb took me out to breakfast where we ordered a “Dutch Baby” and a sausage and cheese omelet. The Dutch Baby was basically crepes in the shape of a bowl. They serve butter, lemon and powdered sugar with it. It was truly to die for. Afterwards, we hit the consignment stores and Goodwill. I got a backpack purse and an adorable little orange purse with shells and decorations all over it. We also went to a pet store that sold pillows, purses and all kinds of items that feature different breeds of dogs. We threw a chicken Caesar salad together and had shrimp and salad. The next day, Thursday, we were lazy until about 4 in the afternoon. I needed to pick up a bottle of vodka and Barb wanted to check out the bathing suit sale at Macy’s. All was fine until Barb realized she left the pork chops on the stove. Needless to say, we hurried home. Thankfully, the chops weren’t burned but were as tender as could be. After dinner, we headed to Club Broadway to meet up with Barb's ex-husband, whom I had dated when I was a Junior in high school. We really had a blast! He hadn't changed much, except he can dance now. We did a few turns around the dance floor, made a couple of his girlfriends jealous and headed home at a reasonable hour. The trip to her daughter’s house went quickly. Nicole and Scott (and three year old Saylor) live in the most beautiful development just off the Intracoastal, called Cat Island. All the homes are custom and it’s like being in a movie. All the homes are two story “Georgia style” and the yards full of huge laurel oaks and magnolia trees. We took a walk on the golf course where we saw a deer bounding across the fairway. Then we chased the sand crabs that came up from the marsh. There were millions of them! Today is Saturday, June 27th and I’m sitting downstairs while everyone else is napping upstairs. We went to the pool, which was absolutely gorgeous, this morning. They have a kiddie pool, a main pool and a separate pool and Jacuzzi just for adults. Everyone but me has very fair skin, so we could only stay about an hour. It looks like we’re going out for dinner tonight. We’re going to get an early start back to Atlanta tomorrow, so I’m sure we won’t be out late!

Road Trip 2009 - Part One

Since I was taking so many classes with the Red Cross, I didn’t have as much time to pack for my road trip as I would have liked. That meant that I didn’t leave as early as I had wanted to but was able to get away by 4:00. Gypsy was out to dinner with a friend, so I stopped at Longdogger’s and picked up some wings while I waited for her. Of course, girlfriends MUST take up the first few hours of a visit catching up on one another’s lives. Thus, we didn’t venture out. It was so hot the next day that we spent the day IN the pool, versus laying out in the sun. When I got to Charlene’s that afternoon at 5:30, it was 92 degrees in the shade. I had picked up California Pizza Kitchen pizza and ice cream, so dinner was done. When Charlene got home from work, we played bowling on the Wii. I have just GOT to get myself one of those. For the fitness programs, of course. (Yea, right) Today is Saturday and I fixed breakfast for everyone. Charlene went to the office and when she came back we were going to the beach. When she got back, she told everyone how brutally hot it was outside with no breeze. We all agreed that we’d go to the beach later in the afternoon or tomorrow morning. So, here we all were sitting – Charles on a video game, Charlene on her laptop, me on my laptop and Mac watching golf. We’re happily together but doing our own thing. All of a sudden…dead quiet. The TV went off, the air went off and we realized that the power was out. Charlene called FLP & L and found out that the power was out in 1400 homes and wouldn’t be back on for a couple of hours. Honestly, you have never seen four people scramble so fast to get to the beach. Yes, it was hot – 98 degrees. But the water was cool and there was a breeze. On the way back, we drove downtown and found that all of the restaurants and businesses in the area were without power. We concluded that when we got back to the house, we’d sit in the shade and turn on the sprinklers. Thank goodness, the power was on. Tonight, we’re going to have Charlene’s lasagna and play games. We plan on getting up early and heading back to the beach tomorrow. We’ll see – it’s a “play it by ear” kind of thing. PS – guess what?!? Mel Fisher’s boat and crew are offshore, just a few miles south of here. This isn’t called the “Treasure Coast” for nothing. A fun night of GREAT food (her lasagna is to DIE for),family games, a good night’s sleep and then hit the beach again…but only for a couple of hours. Deadly hot again. The temp in the shade? 100 degrees. Leaving late this afternoon (after another helping of Charlene’s wonderful lasagna) to head up to mom & dad’s. Hopefully, I’ll have some pictures to share soon. Sunday, June 22, 2000 Got to the folks place around 8 last night. By the time we chatted for a few minutes, it was bedtime. (For them – not me) Today, the heat is once again brutal. They do nothing but sit on the screened-in porch and read the paper or watch TV – so they can chain smoke, of course. Oh well, no changing the stripes at this stage of the game. Today has been slow. I’m inside, watching the US Open. Ahhhhhh cool. Monday, June 23rd - had a wonderful day with my mom, just laughing and enjoying being together. I trimmed her toenails - they were starting to curl under!!! I fixed turkey, mashed potatoes and peas for dinner. I think that this is the first time my father got a turkey for Father's Day. A turkey for a turkey!!! Get it? On Tuesday morning, my mom got it in her head that I had criticized her housekeeping skills (which I did NOT - nor would I) and told me to go home. We left for Atlanta around 8:30. I believe that Ginger even got wind of the negativity in the air - she sat in the back almost the whole way to Atlanta. She normally sits in the passenger seat and insists on having my hand touching her somewhere. Oh well - another adventure coming up! Part Two next!