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!

It's Dive Season for Sunshine Diva

What a pleasant surprise – I met a really nice guy who just so happens to be a dive Instructor. I’m going to call him “Buddy”. He invited me on a beach dive off Dania Beach at 7:00 a.m. one morning. The water was gorgeous and still. The walk up the beach in full gear was exhausting, but once I was down, I forgot all about it. The dive site is called “EuroJacks”. There are concrete structures, built in WWII to keep out submarines, that resemble giant children’s jacks. Now, of course, it’s a coral reef. The first thing I saw was a sea urchin with spines at least a foot long. I have seen them in different colors, like purple and blue, but never one so big. There were all kinds of fish – angel fish, parrotfish, wrasses, puffers. There was a HUGE porcupine fish that followed us for a while. We encountered a pufferfish that we tried to play with but he was too quick. It was a really, really nice dive. Buddy has the strongest legs I’ve ever seen on a man. He walked around in all his gear like he had nothing on his back. Since diving is his passion like mine – he dives every chance he gets. Now that I know where I can go to do beach dives, I will too! Exiting the water was a bitch. He went up the beach to gather the water that I had so wisely brought and I was left alone to climb out by myself. It wouldn’t have been a problem if I hadn’t lost my balance and ended up on all fours! I couldn’t stand up from that position! The reason was that I had just done an exhaustive lower body workout the day before and my legs were fatigued to begin with. Rather than stay on all fours and wait for help, I took off my gear, which was a mistake. It’s much harder to carry it than to wear it. The next day, I took Jimbo there to snorkel. Of course, he can’t get his lazy butt up until 10:00 and by the time we hit the water, it was choppy and visibility was only about 10 – 12 feet. More legwork. (My quadriceps are going to be like trees soon.) It had been a month or more since we saw one another and it was nice to sit on the beach and talk again. Buddy invited me to dive with him and a couple of students again the next day, so I headed to Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. The parking lot was empty at 7:30 a.m. and it was a short walk across a slim beach to the water. This, too, was a really nice dive. It’s what I would call a “mini-reef” but full of sea life. Buddy spotted a turtle – a leatherback, I think, and we followed it for a while. We also encountered an eagle ray that we played with a bit. It was supposed to be a two tank dive, but one of the students had to leave and go to work and Buddy had to drive him back across the bridge. I could have waited and done a second dive, but my toe was still bleeding. (Long story of no interest)

Hopefully, I’ll be able to dive with Buddy more in the future. He wants to dive the Vandenburg as much as I do. I’m leaving on my “First Annual Roadtrip” next week, so I won’t be diving for a few weeks. I just hope I keep up my fitness routine while I’m gone so I don’t lose any of the muscle tone I’ve managed to build up since I started going to the gym. - I hope you enjoy the pictures and hearing about my first dives of the year.

In Like a Lion and Out Like a Lion

The bird of paradise (above) is/was just outside my front door. The are everywhere, as well as mango trees, parrots, and big and little iguanas. This April was one of the windiest I can remember. The weather has been beautiful – in the 80’s during the day and upper 60’s at night. Perfect beach weather. However, if you stay too late and the sun starts going down, it gets chilly quickly. I’ve kept a sweatshirt in my car all month. There have been days that it was entirely too windy to sit on the beach. Talk about micro-dermabrasion! Someone gave me an umbrella, but when it’s windy like that, you can’t use it. I’ve been doing lots of reading this month. I keep going back to James Patterson. Every book I read of his seems to be better than the one before. The most recent one I read was called “Quickie”. It was so good, I sat up until 3:00 a.m. to finish reading it. I’ve also discovered another writer, JD Konrath. I thought she was a woman until recently. All of his books are named after cocktails, like “Dirty Martini”, “Rusty Nail”, and the most recent “Fuzzy Navel”. The books all have the same heroine – a detective named Jacqueline Daniels. “Jack Daniels” – get it? If you decide to read them, try to read them in the order in which they were written. Some of the characters from previous stories show up. ESPECIALLY in “Fuzzy Navel”. My social life has been pretty dry this month. Lunches with MO and watching DVDs with Roomie have been the highlights of my social scene. That’s okay, I’ve been able to get a lot done. Everything I own is in boxes or bins and ready to go to storage. All that’s holding me up is Roomie. I keep trying to get him to help me get that huge TV out of storage so I can start piling up boxes. Of course, I’ve only been after him since February. Sheesh – I feel like a nagging old wife sometimes. So –I’ve decided that if he wants to live with boxes in the foyer, so be it. I took on a “project” in February. I met this man, “Techno” through Craigslist. He was looking for a walking partner, so I contacted him. As it turns out, he lives only a few blocks from me. We started walking on a daily basis and what started as a five minute “stroll” has turned into either a 20 minute power walk or an hour long walk at a slower pace. We walk in parks or around his apartment community. I spent Easter week-end with his family and was welcomed with open arms. We’ve kind of adopted each other as family. He has made significant progress, but still has quite a way to go yet. He’s a wonderful guy who has introduced me to the world of “techno” music, which has certainly been an education. He hosts a show over the internet on Friday evenings, and it’s turned into a semi-talk show. I kid him about the music being “noise” and he tells a story about that particular song. It’s kind of a “good cop, bad cop” scenario and lots of fun.

First Quarter 2009

WINNERS AND LOSERS

I have been advised to not use real names in the interest of potential liability. Therefore, all names have been changed to protect the innocent as well as the guilty, the winners as well as the losers. If you recognize yourself, don’t blame me. Let’s start with the losers:

Vampire

We had some great times together, especially during Mardi Gras on Hollywood Beach. Standing me up on my birthday wasn’t very nice and the only reason he is on the “losers” list. We dated a few times a year ago and reconnected in February. I was two hours late for a lunch date once last year but he was really sweet about it. I guess he could be either a “dumper” or a “dumpee”.

The Professer The most recent “dumper”. He had so much going for him – looks, personality, intelligence, class. He’s a college professor, professional underwater photographer with works in local galleries, and an “on air personality” with NPR radio. What he didn’t have was tolerance. He’s lived alone most of his life and is looking for perfection. He’s been a bachelor for 45 of his 50 years. We were highly incompatible. On a trip to Key Largo, he informs me that he needs some “personal time”. Fortunately, I had my car and was able to take off. Two problems – I was low on gas (he had offered to buy me a tank of gas), and I didn’t know how to get home. I just kept heading north and east but ended up taking the absolute worst route.

The Trucker

Lunch and only lunch – with our respective pooches, Ginger and Sophia. I find out he’s got a steady girlfriend after chatting and texting for two weeks. Then he forwards stupid jokes to my phone on a regular basis. I had to tell this “Dumpee” to delete my phone number.

The Musician Poor little guy. He couldn’t help it that he was so short and fat. A sweet person who didn’t want to be “just friends”. The day he took me out to lunch at an Israeli restaurant was the next to the last straw. He showed up in sweatpants and bedroom slippers. The last straw was the night he was playing in downtown Hollywood. He insisted in making out on a park bench in plain sight of the entire world. If anyone I knew had seen us, I would have died of mortification. I wish him the best always, though.

AND THE WINNERS FOR THIS QUARTER ARE:

JC Having loved him for almost 20 years, he has been a winner and always will be. Maybe this year will be the one we will see one another again after over 15 years apart. He’ll always have a piece of my heart.

MO Another winner, he has been in my life for over two years and knows me better than my own mother. Some of the best times have been with him and I am proud to call him my friend and…

Gypsy Best girlfriend in Florida. A nudist and a beautiful woman inside and out. We know that we can always count on one another. And boy have we had some adventures! One day we were at Haulover and she went walking with some guy and when she returned, another guy, Ken, was sitting with me. He was clothed and, upon being questioned by Gypsy, admitted that he didn’t want to take off his clothes because of a certain body part being too small. We battered and berated the poor guy to death. I doubt that we’ll ever run into him again but it was so funny. Everything we talked about ended up in him launching into a Frank Sinatra song. (You hadda be there)

Barbie Friends since jr. high school in Charlotte, our bond will never be broken. Although we were out of touch for almost 35 years or so, we have picked up our friendship right where it left off. I love her dearly. We returned to Charlotte for our 40th Myers Park High School reunion. It was held at Myers Park Country Club, which was my summer hangout when I visited my grandparents. We couldn’t believe how many fat, bald men were in attendance. We only knew one other person and she was a shallow snob. And we were best friends! Go figure.

Jimbo My special “man-friend”, we do things together when neither of us has plans with someone else. Unfortunately, he has been extremely lucky in love this quarter and I haven’t seen him since before Christmas. He’s off for a week in April and we plan to get together to make up for lost time. He’s polishing up the jet ski.

Roomie My roommate. Poor guy, he’s in the mortgage and real estate business which is not doing well these days. I talked him into taking social security early, like me. I think he’s glad he did. We get along with each other fairly well. Of course he is a man, that can’t be helped. Thus, the king of the remote control. He’s really good about watching a show when there’s something I want to see, like “House”. I can watch DVDs in my bedroom, so if he has a date, I can disappear. Vice versa.

The Firefighter My hot number from up north. He’s not really a firefighter by profession but he is a volunteer rescue diver. He makes me feel like a million bucks every time we’re together. Oh – and he’s built like a fireman! I forget how old/young he is but I know he’s just a few years older than Charlene.

Looking back, I must admit that the past three months haven’t been very pleasant. The year started with me sick in bed with some kind of bug that took almost three months to shake off! Charlene had her 40th birthday party and the girls all had a great time. She must have grown up when I wasn’t watching. I drowned my camera in a jet ski incident. My laptop crashed and I moved from Miami Beach to Hollywood. Then I lost my job and filed for unemployment and social security. Could things possibly get any worse? I’m happy to know that there’s always a silver lining. And the Laws of Attraction.

Most of January was spent moving and rearranging my priorities. After all, I was unemployed and officially retired. I contacted the Red Cross to get my chapter affiliation changed, I believe that I’ve completed all of my Red Cross Training that’s mandatory. They don’t have a Pet First Aid program here. Maybe I can start one! I also contacted the Pompano Beach Fire Department to see how to get on their CERT team. (Community Emergency Response Team) I’m “graduating” in June where I will receive my badge.

Valentine’s Day was a bit of a bust, although MO took me out for a nice dinner and a club the week-end before and I had Chilean sea bass for the first time. Yum! In March, I went to the Mardi Gras celebrations on Hollywood Beach with Vampire and ate crawfish and corn on the cob. It was so much fun that I went back on Fat Tuesday by myself for more crawfish and corn. The problem was that it was very cold. In March, I went to a club called “Lips” with Vampire. It was a riot – all of the waiters were men dressed up like women. The food was mediocre, at best, but the prices were reasonable and the entertainment was a hoot! Also in March, I helped coach tennis at the Special Olympics Broward County Games.

The weather hasn’t been particularly nice - all three months have been cool and cloudy. There were only a few beach days the whole quarter. Fortunately, Gypsy and I were able to go to Haulover a couple of times and pick up a little color. Of course, it faded quickly as more cool weather prevailed until the end of March. I hooked up with The Firefighter a few times, which is always special. Mmmm Champagne and Chinese! Burgers at Ocean Alley. What a guy! What a body! What a view from his condo!

That pretty brings things up to speed. As I’m writing this, it is the 1st day of April, 2009. I wonder what this next quarter will hold. Charles is coming down to visit me for a couple of weeks this summer, so I should have some exciting pictures to share. I’m getting him a good mask and snorkel for his birthday and will have him breathing from a regulator by the time he leaves. I’m hoping we can get a little place in the Keys for a week. Time will tell. I’ll keep ya posted!