Stick Horse Cowgirls

OH, THE PLACES YOU'LL GO! "Today is your day. You're off to Great Places! You're off and away! Oh! The Places You'll Go! ...You'll be on your way up! You'll be seeing great sights! You'll join the high fliers who soar to high heights." I couldn't help but think of this wonderful book by the incomparable Dr. Seuss when I began writing this post. I spent many years working with preschool children in the classroom, so Dr. Seuss is a favorite! Being by nature a tentative (to put it mildly) person, I love the "safety" of home with my feet on solid ground! Of course I know that familiarity and routine implies a false notion of "safety". No one ever knows what lies ahead (and that is a blessing), but it's only my deep desire to see new places that compels me to climb aboard an airplane (clammy palms gripping the armrest), or to spend an entire week aboard a ship, feeling the immense power of the sea bel...

Okay, now for pix.  Of course, I must say that I am reminding myself of the folks years ago who would drag people into their living room and show slides of their vacation!  ( zzzzzzzz ).  Remember “slide projectors?”  The difference is that you guys can leave—any time! V and flew to Ft. Lauderdale on Thursday and spent all day Friday driving around Miami.  We had a blast…sightseeing the beaches, the mansions, and the amazing throng of people!  We had a great dinner at a sidewalk cafe in Coconut Grove.  The weather was glorious !  V and I decided we fully understand why people retire down in Florida. Our hotel room looked out over a marina—some of yachts were amazing.  On Saturday we boarded Holland America’s Ms. Eurodam.  Our stateroom was spacious with a private balcony where we would have coffee and toast in the morning or tea in the evening.  Our steward tried to keep the room tidy, and he did a magnificent job against ...

Well, Saturday I left this: and I awoke Monday morning to these views from my front porch: We have had lots of snow (for our area, anyway) and I have missed my first two days back to the office.  My son and I drove up to get MIL on Monday afternoon—we don’t have to leave the driveway, mind you—and slid off the driveway into our ditch!  Our drive is as flat as anything I can imagine, but we were just to the left of center because we could not actually see where the drive was placed, and the slope of the edge was just enough to allow gravity to pull us into the ditch!  Needless to say, we got MIL and snuggled in at home. It’s Wednesday morning, and I’m waiting for daylight before striking out, but I am determined to be at my desk this morning.  I have spent some of my time off organizing pictures, and will be posting in the morning (I hope!) with some pictures of the trip.  Hopefully, V is doing the same! C

We’re baaaaack!   Came in late last night after TWELVE HOURS in airports and planes.  V was actually the better picture-taker, I’m afraid, so some of the pictures will have to wait on those downloads, but let me just say: the trip was awesome.  As you know, V and I have a lifetime of experience in dealing with one another, so she was just the perfect travel friend for me.  Isn’t it amazing how you can never run out of things to talk about even though you already know so much about each other?  We just had ten whole days of hedonism, and will be sharing more specifics about the trip over the coming days. But, I have some good lessons from this trip.  Let me tell you a couple: First:  If you have gorgeous food continuously available, you will basically eat continuously.  V and I consumed amazing quantities of food— great food that we won’t be duplicating at home.  V likes to say that she concentrated on fresh fruit and “did not do too ba...

Well, we're in the last days of the countdown to our trip. I have decided not to call it "vacation," but rather "suspension of reality," for that is what we hope for. V and I both need a dose of fantasy for a while, and we intend on self-indulgence to the max. We are taking the laptop and cameras and hope to be posting often from our trip (we'll see...). We are excited about the dimension that our blogging offers us. It gives us a great opportunity to share our adventure--and adventures are always best shared. I think we are both having some angst about leaving--does anyone go away for a trip without worrying that she has not covered all the bases or that something dreadful will happen while she is away? My worry is the former: Have I written all the letters that need sending; made all the phone calls that need making; drafted all the pleadings that have to go out? My desk is a nightmare right now; something like this picture. V worries about her aili...

If I had a boat I'd go out on the ocean And if I had a pony I'd ride him on my boat And we could all together Go out on the ocean Me upon my pony on my boat -- Lyle Lovett song, "If I Had a Boat" There will be no mother-in-law jokes in my home! I am blessed with two wonderful mothers: mine, who lives in my hometown, and my husband’s mother, whose home is now distant. My mother-in-law and I talk often because we love each other and because we want to stay connected, thanking God that we live in the age of telephones and e mails. This New Years my mother-in-law treated her two daughters and me to a seven-day cruise in the Eastern Caribbean and, I mean to tell you, she treated us to first-class all the way. We lost my father-in-law in August 2007, and it was from his insurance proceeds (and my mother-in-law's generosity therefrom) that we were able to do this. He was a self-described "Old Salt," a veteran of the US Navy and a lifelong lover of all things ha...