There goes September.......

Whew.....I feel like I was on a speed train, looking out the window as the scenery whizzes by me!
That's how September feels now that I am on the tail end of it.
Looking back---I can say with confidence that it was a good month.
It started off with a wonderful trip and is wrapping up with making plans for a weekend with Toni coming home.
Funny thing--as I was reflecting on the month in preparation to do my blog post, I realized that in my past life, it used to be that I labeled a month a good one if I either lost weight or didn't gain any weight during that month.
And, if I started a diet that month--I was just as inclined to consider a good month.
No matter how deprived or miserable I felt.
Even if I craved nacho dip, I had hope that I would fit into a smaller size soon.
Typically, that just led to me labeling the following month a BAD MONTH.
Mostly because I didn't keep up with my new diet.

That was before my Lapband.
Now, the weight issues have all taken a back seat to all the other things.

But, for old times' sake....and because I do still have some of that fat girl behavior in me....I have to say.....September was good because I didn't gain any weight.

Hello October.
I know you'll be a good month too.....


Ahhh.....the beauty of my Lapband.
Have I told you lately how much I love it?

Sometimes the morning just gets away from me.....

That's my story and I am sticking to it.....

No matter how many pounds I lose or how many wonderful things my Lapband has done for me, I'm still a girl who has to face THE MORNING and all the fun things that go along with it!

We'll talk tomorrow.....

Let's talk TURKEY!

No, no, I'm not talking turkey....as in Thanksgiving Turkey....already.
The holidays are the furthest thing from my mind right now.
Give me a few weeks.....please.....

I want to talk turkey neck.
No, not the neck of a turkey that you put in your Thanksgiving gravy to make it extra tastey!
My turkey neck.
You know....that flabby skin in between your neck and your chin that sort of wobbles when you move or talk.....
Well, let's be fair-- I just don't want to talk about my turkey neck.
Let's just talk turkey neck in general.....
Then, I'll talk about my turkey neck.
Then, I want to know about your turkey neck.....or your best friend's turkey neck.....or if you know anyone who might have a sexy turkey neck (ya never know)....

Let me start by telling you that I've long suspected that I have been afflicted by turkey neck.
But, I just kept ignoring it.
Yet, it was never too far from my mind---no matter where I went.
I spent lots of time looking for everybody else's turkey neck.
My turkey neck brethren.
In the grocery store--I was seeking out other afflicted souls.
Out to dinner and drinks with friends--I was sneaking peaks to see if they had it.
Talking to coworkers....yes....you bet....I'm copping a look.....
Sitting in the audience listening to a presentation--you guessed it--I was on a turkey neck hunt.
Watching TV......who among the stars and the politicos and the newscasters and the celebs have turkey necks?

And, what did all of that detective work uncover?
There's lots of turkey necks out there.
Especially among the thinner crowd......

Ah-ha!
SO, there is a down side to this weight loss thing.
My father was right when he said...."Judi, thinner women look older faster. Having some fat on your face is a good thing...."
I didn't believe him.
After all....what do you say to an overweight daughter with a pudgy face and a double chin?

Like I said--I had an inkling that I had turkey neck.
I sort of caught a glimpse of that wobble a few times.
I quickly told myself---no, not me.

But, the other day I could not ignore it.
There I was doing my big September housecleaning when I noticed that the mirror was loose on my antique buffet in the dining room.
So, I got my trusty tools, unlatched it from it's perch and proceeded to carry it over to the dining room table so that I could work my magic on it.
As I carried it in front of me---I looked down--and there I saw--from the most disgusting angle possible.....my turkey neck.
It was even more awful because gravity was working against me.
I was looking DOWN at myself.....ugh.....and it was even more chilling....I had NO MAKE UP ON!
Forgive me Estee Lauder....I was doing my big September cleaning.....I sinned and didn't bother to put on lip gloss....
Anyway, it was so horrific that I almost dropped the mirror right there to run out the door to get botox....
But, I love that antique buffet....I didn't want to damage it.
And, I couldn't leave the house without make-up.....PLUS a bad case of turkey neck!
In addition.....it was Sunday. What botox doctor works on Sunday?

What's a girl to do?

Gobble, gobble.....

Taking off the apron, putting away the mop and the ditching the pot.....

The Real Housewives of Judiland is over......

It's back to real life....where I don't do floors....and I don't do windows.....and I don't have bad manicures.

Yes, it's Monday.......

Sunday Soup!

A first Sunday of Autumn Blessing......Pumpkin Shrimp Bisque.
That's what I'll be stirring-up here in The Judiland Church of the Blessed Kitchen




Once this starts cooking.....you'll be praying all day for dinner time!
Once you eat it.....you will feel closer to heaven.
Trust me, you will swear this soup was invented in God's kitchen.....

Pumpkin Shrimp Bisque

1 pound large shrimp (16 to 20)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 cup dry white wine
1 cup canned seafood stock
3 cups canned chicken stock
Pinch saffron threads (about 24)
2 ribs celery, coarsely chopped
1 medium onion (about 8 ounces), coarsely chopped
4 fresh bay leaves, torn, or 2 dried
3 3-inch springs fresh sage
2 cups canned pumpkin purée
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 teaspoon salt
Scant 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage

Preparation

1. Heat the olive oil in a medium (3-quart) heavy-bottomed saucepan over high heat until it begins to smoke. Add veggies and saute. Add the wine to the pan, first turning off gas flames to prevent the alcohol from igniting, then boil it over medium heat until all the liquid is evaporated. Add the chicken and seafood stock, saffron, bay leaves, and sage. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to the lowest setting. Partially cover the pan and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Strain the stock through a fine sieve, pushing down on the solids with the back of a spoon to extract all the liquid. Rinse out the saucepan and pour the stock back into it. Discard solids.

2. Soup: Whisk the pumpkin, cream and cayenne into the shrimp stock. Bring the soup to a simmer, then cook very gently uncovered over low heat for 10 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice, taste, and season with black pepper and more salt if needed.

3. Finishing the soup: Pour the olive oil into a large sauté pan placed over medium heat. When hot, add shrimp and sage and cook, tossing often, until the shrimp is just cooked through, pink, and no longer translucent, but not curled into a circle, 2 to 3 minutes. They should still have a tender snap when you bite into them. Arrange the shrimp in warmed serving bowls or a tureen. Bring the soup back to a simmer and then ladle it over the shrimp. Serve right away.

Oh, and don't forget the sacramental wine.
It wouldn't be Sunday without it.
I'd suggest a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.


Amen!

Hello Autumn!

Finally, a cool morning.
A cool Saturday morning.
The perfect opportunity to pull the covers up and linger just a tad bit longer in bed.
Except......
The guy next door decides that 7 am is the perfect time to begin removing the tree that fell during the storm from his back yard.
With a power saw. A big, noisy power saw.
On a cool Saturday morning.
At 7 am.
A rare perfect moment is stolen by someone who clearly has no suburbanite outdoor maintenance manners.
He's young. He doesn't know.
Perhaps his mother never taught him the rules.

Might as well get up and watch the cute, young neighbor.....in his tight jeans....as he bends down to cut up that tree....as I sip my first hot chai latte of the season.....
There are some things worth getting out of bed for.

Powerless......

it's no fun......no fun at all!

So.....what did you do when the lights went out? Click there to read all about what happened in my lovely suburban hamlet.....




Yep, Judiland went dark on Wednesday night.......

But, the power has finally returned!!!!!
Unfortunately, many of my neighbors can't say the same thing......



Celebrating my good fortune with a Margarita, cradling my new flashlight!

Working for a living......

there's just gotta be another way......

Any ideas?

Hold it right there mi amici......

Stay right where you are!
And, listen up!

Because I've got something to say.......

I am not too thin.
By all scientific and healthtific standards.
I am not too thin.
Nor do I want to be.
As a matter of fact, according to the BMI charts, I'm on the high end of the NORMAL WEIGHT (whatever that is).....
The experts have spoken.
The U.S. Government has declared......I am a high normal.....
So, please stop worrying about me......really.....
(but honestly, I thank you....from the bottom of my healthy heart for your emails and even those few phone calls!!)

Sure, I was a little bit high just at the thought that someone called me....ME?.....too thin.
And, sure I did a little dance on my chair and went home and ate loaded mashed potatoes and washed it down with a glass of MezzaCorona Pinot Grigio.......alright, alright...I had 2 glasses....sheesh....
But, let's get real here--I am not...no, no, no....aiming to be too thin.
I've got standards.
And, lots of new Size 8 pants......
So, trust me when I tell you......even though I did a little jig and some fist pumping over hearing that I was getting too thin......I am not spiraling into some anorexia/bulimia/skinnyholic lifestyle.
I was just....well.....askin'/sayin'........AM I REALLY GETTING TOO THIN?
Na-ah. REALLY?!?
Come on, am I REALLY? REALLY REALLY?

More fist pumping!
A few more hell-yeahs......oh...and one more cartwheel.....(as if I could do a cartwheel!)
Okay, okay.....I just can't help myself.
Give me my moment.
I promise.....I'll stop celebrating soon.
Really.

But, as any life long dieter and former obese person can tell you---those are words that we have never heard before. Well, at least I haven't....
So, of course, I'm going to act a little irrational upon hearing it.
And, of course, my life-long Dieting Girl behavior is going to kick in.
No matter how far I've come.....that Dieting Girl lives inside of me.
I can try as I might to fight her off but she rears her head every so often---especially when she hears the words---you are too thin....
All of a sudden, that Dieting Girl sees it as a reason to indulge, to overeat, to live it up....to do the unthinkable and consume food with reckless, getouttatown abandon!
Thankfully, my beloved Lapband is there to stop Dieting Girl from overdoing it too much.
Because, really--Dieting Girl can really let loose--as in WOOOOOHOOOOO let's swing from the chandeliers while catching donuts in-yer-mouth and swigging full-fat chocolate martinis-- when she thinks she is too thin.
Why?
Because, damn, I love food---the Dieting Girl inside of me and the Lapbanded Girl that I am right now are all ONE when it comes to loving food.
Another beauty of the Lapbanded life.....
I can be whoever I want to be and still maintain....
Now, that's something to really celebrate!
But, I'm still going to celebrate the too thin for a just a little while longer.....as long as you promise not to worry about me!!!
Deal?

All of a sudden.....

I'm too thin?

Is that a bad thing?

Please, dear world.....stop. right. here.
Let me savour this moment, these words, this feeling.
Let me taste the deliciousness.
Let me smell the aroma.
Let me soak in it's aura.
Let me hear the melody.
Let me embrace the life.
Let me sing the song.
Let me feel the passion.
Let me wrap my arms and my legs and my tonsils around it's sweetness.
Let me rejoice in the touch.....
Of. Being. Too. Thin.
Then, pass me a nacho....dripping in cheese and gooey goodness.
Oh and don't forget my margarita.

Wake up Judi.

Where am I?

Did someone say I was getting too thin?

Yes, Judi, someone said you are getting too thin.

Oh, how I love that someone.....
I want to smother that someone with kisses.

Then, I'll have that nacho.
And, that margarita.

25 years ago today.........

We became parents.......

to this little boy.....

So, we spent the weekend celebrating it all.......together.

Where is the road taking me now?

Yes.....I'm off on another road trip.

We're headed to PhDland to celebrate Vince's 25th birthday and our 25th Anniversary of being parents.
Hard to believe.
25 years.

Where did the time go?


Have a great weekend everyone!

Everything pales in comparison.......

to the miracle that happened that is giving this story a happy ending......
*a perfect match donor was found
*surgeries went well
*donor and recipient both home recuperating
*prayers have been answered
*and, now.....a new beginning


Miracles humble us all......

Go eat something!!!

This week is the kick off to some very busy moments at my grown up girl job.
The campus hosts a few hundred employers from all over the country to recruit our students during a three day period.
It's a very concentrated time frame of what I do all year long and kicks off an entire season that includes hundreds of smaller group visits (the best I can explain it).
Over the years, this particular week has been a source of both stress and hilarity for me.
One academic colleague in particular always manages to give me something to talk about when the week is all said and done.
She's yelled at me, she's banished me from events, she's called my bosses on me, she's hugged me, she's called me her best friend, she's thanked me, she's forced me to do manual labor (as in moving big pieces of equipment) and she's either blamed me or credited me for things that have went right or wrong.....all in the space of 30 years.
And, I'm okay with all of it......especially as the years go by.....I've mellowed.
She's many years older than me, quite feisty and very opinionated.....and she has a PhD....
On a university campus...the latter credential means something....it sort of negates all the other issues....

Soooo.....
There I was strolling through the event yesterday with one of my lovely colleagues (who is also a blog reader and can vouch for me on this!)...and here comes Dr. PhD....
Naturally, I was thinking.....what will she have to say now?
Bracing myself against my colleague, I put on my biggest smile....
And, what does she say?
"Judi! I am so used to seeing you heavy! You look so drawn! Go eat something!"

I was thankful she didn't force feed me on the spot......


Just another day at the office!!!

What is your most productive day of the week?

Mine is Tuesday.
Interestingly, I am a statistic.
From all of my intense research on the subject (I Googled "what is the most productive day of the week?"), it appears that Tuesday is--- across the boards---the most productive day of the week.
Given all of that.....I'm feeling quite a bit of pressure today.
MUST.BE. PRODUCTIVE!

Scenes from a weekend.......

in Judiland......

Hanging out.....

I could swear this little shop in the Strip District was built just for Carmen and I. It's all junky and funky--filled with curiousities and oddities and has a little area where you can sit and strum the guitar. There was old-school rock music rafting through the air--mixing with the sound of passerbyers greetings each other. There were interesting-looking people sitting at wildly painted tables, sipping coffees and wines, smoking cigarettes and talking about all kinds of out-there things. I mean...really....could it have been any more perfect?
Doesn't it just scream Carmen and Judi?

Eating.....
If you are ever in the Hiedleburg/Bridgeville area of Pittsburgh.....please try this wonderful, delightful and special little restaurant....Papa Gallo.

Don't believe me??? Read the reviews here....
It is only open for breakfast and lunch.
It is owned and ran by the very talented chef that I told you about here.....
He just opened this location a few months ago and he already has a devoted following.
It's one of those hidden gems in a nondescrip little strip mall that you will be so happy you found!

Today, the staff talked me into experiencing something amazing----Mulligatawny soup. It was my very first time ever tasting it! Fabulous!
I was so in love with the it, Len, the wonderful chef, sent me home with my very own container....

Visiting.....
As I told you--I took a little trip to see my college girl!
We had a great time driving through the hills and valleys on a cool and sunny Sunday, lunching with our girls--laughing and chatting the whole day through!

M& Ming......
If you haven't discovered coconut M&M's, I suggest you drop everything right now and run....don't walk..... to the closest store and get yourself a bag of these little gems.
Absolutely sinfully amazingly yummmy!
They put a sweet finishing touch on another Judiland weekend.....

Girls on the road!

It's the first Steeler game here in Judiland.
Vince came home this weekend to visit with some friends who are in from out of town.
We got to spend a few hours with him on Friday night--we went to dinner at one of our favorite little places.
And, yes, I got to have my all time favorite crab soup......yum!!!
We chatted and laughed and enjoyed being together--even if it was just for a little while.
Then, he scooted off to be with friends.
He's coming back home today.
But, today is all about football here in our little suburban hamlet....
It has nothing to do with visiting with mom!
Football Sundays have began!
So, Vince and Carmen will be talking football and watching football all day long.
Alllll day loooooong.
No need for me to hang around here.....
Nope! No need!
I'm going to throw food in the crock pot so they don't starve to death, blow a few kisses, bid Vince farewell (since he will be gone by the time I get home) and then I'm hitting the road with a few other college girl moms.
We are heading to Collegeland to have lunch with our girls....
Collegeland.....here we come!

So, what's in the Crock Pot?

Chicken Carnitas

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
  
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon crumbled dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 pound boneless chicken breasts
  
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 cups chicken broth
• zest of 3 limes
  

Directions

1. Mix together salt, garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, oregano, coriander, and cinnamon in a bowl. Coat chicken with the spice mixture. Place the bay leaves and lime zest in the bottom of a slow cooker and place the chicken on top. Pour the chicken broth around the sides of the chicken, being careful not to rinse off the spice mixture.
2. Cover and cook on medium until the chicken shreds easily with a fork, about 4 hours. When the chicken is tender, remove from slow cooker, and shred with two forks. Use cooking liquid as needed to moisten.

Serve with soft tortilla shells, limes for squeezing, sour cream and bagged slaw mix!

OLE!

Oh....and GO STEELERS!

Could it have been that long ago?

The memory lives on......

Friday. Friday. Friday.

Repeat after me.......
FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saving those who might not want to be saved!

I don't know if it's just me but when I know about something that really changed my life, I want to tell people about it---so they can change their lives.
I want to tell them how do it, where to go to get it and what it will mean to them!
Hell, I want to scream it from the roof tops and put up a bill board on Route 66 and shake people by their shoulders and get in their face and get them to listen to me.....
I want them to feel the same way I do, to reap the wonderful rewards that life has to offer and to buy smaller clothes.....
Yes, I want everyone to know the answers and I want to be the one to tell them!
Yes, I am talking about my Lapband.....
Irrational, I know.....saving the world with a Lapband!!! ????

I mean, how do I really know everyone who I think wants to change their lives really want their lives changed?
How pompous can I be?
Who am I to judge?
How do I know that they even want to lose weight or even feel they need to lose it?
Imagine....a complete stranger saying to you....."hey have you ever thought about weight loss surgery?"
Yeah.....get ready for a fist in your face Judi!
I would have lots black and blue rings around my blue eyes and more than my share of bumps on my bottle-brunette head!!!
But, still....
I just can't help myself.
It's a sickness.
I really want to save everyone from a life of obesity.....I really do.
Really. Really.
And, it comes directly from my heart and from the place in my soul that knows what life is like as an obese person. A person fighting every pound....every day.
No one should live that way. If they don't want to......I guess.
Sometimes Carmen has to hold me back.....
Just like this past week when we were away.
I can count on 2 hands the times Carmen caught that look in my eyes and had to actually stop me from leaping off my bar stool or out of my seat on the jet boat or from running to catch up with someone who was walking in front of me....
It's true.
I own it.
Sure, I had a bit more bravery.....courage fueled by vacation libations....
But, I also had a higher sense of realization.....a realization that if it weren't for my Lapband, I would not be feeling the same way on our little vacation and enjoying things in the same way or wanting to be so present in the same way....
Hell, I might not have even be doing that little vacation....
So, between the booze and my amazing new silk undies.....I was feeling like I alone could save the world and rock the planet.....just by telling them about my Lapband!

Now that I am on dry land wearing respectable undergarments and not knocking back margaritas at noon, I get it.
Not everyone wants to or needs to get a Lapband.
But, even with that being said....there's just one thing I wish.....I wish I would have met THIS ME a long time ago.....for so many reasons.

Return to the land of backed up drains and leaky pipes.....

but not without first devastating a bride-to-be and then saving her fiancee from certain death.....


Like I told you yesterday, it was a wonderful, wonderful trip.
One of the best I've had in a very long time. For many, many reasons.
I needed it. I got it. And boy I wish it never had to end.
It was the right balance of fun and relaxation and couple time and party time and walking and talking and eating and drinking......well you get the picture...
And, to think.....it is only a little over 3 hours from where I have lived all of my life.
It took me this long to be saved by something so close to home.....at just the right time.
I mean---I've spent hours on highways to reach destinations at the edges of the earth, I flew across oceans, crossed borders, cruised the seas....and yet what I needed was right in my own back yard....
Who knew?



As much as I didn't want it to end---it did.
The kitchen sink backed up within an hour of our arrival home--Carmen said it was hopeless.
The pipe under the sink started leaking....all over the kitchen floor.
It was a holiday.....plumbers double their prices.
My cute little red shoes got wet and I had to scrub the floor.
Welcome back to Judiland.

Somehow, at that very first moment of re- entry.....when goopy shit was spewing back at me from the garbage disposal and mucky water was pissing out of the cabinet and attacking my shoes--I was okay.
After about 2 hours, I was miserable.
But, at that moment......I was okay.
Must have been the dulled senses.
Or something like that....

Thankfully, a little left-over humor and a good deed helped me bumble through yesterday and will get me through today.
Well, that and the fact that the plumber is coming....

Let me tell you my little story.....

On Friday night, while hanging out at a little bar on the Island, I was overcome with great emotion when the singer started the first notes of Lido Shuffle by Boz Scaggs.
It was the album that played over and over again and over and over and over again in the hallway of my college freshman dorm...the 6th Floor of Clyde Hall, to be exact......where I met 5 women who still remain a special and wonderful part of my life....
Fueled by a day of wine tasting and a few margaritas, I sang along....off key, of course....as Carmen sat by and watched in amusement. As I was singing and crying and recalling those great memories, I suddenly felt the great need to share that moment with those special women! Having all of their cell phone numbers, I decided to text them.....sending this simple message to each of them....
Sitting in a little bar, listening to Boz Scaggs, thinking of you, xoxox JC
Four of the five got back to me and we had some very sweet...albeit a bit mushy on my part (but at least they know now just how much I love them....and I'm sure they wondered what the hell I was drinking!)....texts back and fourth. Never heard from Pattie--the fifth one. Oh well....
Fast forward to late, late Monday night......my cell phone rings....caller I.D. says it's Pattie.
I answer with a cheery "Hey".....
Suddenly, a women screams "WHO IS THIS?"....
"What?" I answer
"I want to know why you texted my fiancee on Friday night to tell him you were thinking about him...." she asked in a not-so-nice voice....
"Ummmmm...." I responded. "This is not Pattie's cell phone?"
"I just want you to tell me WHY YOU WERE TEXTING MY FIANCEE TO TELL HIM YOU WERE THINKING ABOUT HIM?" she seemed very upset.
"Is this Pattie's daughter?" I asked, a bit confused.
"YOU NEED TO TELL ME WHY YOU WERE TEXTING MY FIANCEE TO TELL HIM YOU WERE THINKING ABOUT HIM? And, who is Boz Scaggs?" at this point, she was hysterical.
Then, I remembered my boozy texting my love to my friends moment....
"WHOA! Hold on!" I said.....knowing exactly what she must be thinking.
"I just want you to tell me the truth, please. He is my fiancee." she said in a pleading, sad and defeated voice. "Are you with him?" she asked, with such heartbreak in her voice, I wanted to cry.
"Okay, sweetie. Please listen to me. I am a 50 some year old woman who was on vacation, texting my college room mates about a song I was listening to. Honestly. I was texting Pattie, my friend from college...." I tried to explain. "I guess this is not Pattie's cell phone number anymore?" I asked, trying to diffuse the situation. I could hear her sighing.
"Really? " she asked in a whisper.
"Yes, really. Really. Really." I told her, hoping she believed me.
"This is terrible...." she said crying.
"No, it's good. It was just one big mistake! " I told her.
"No. You don't get it. We've been fighting all weekend. ALL WEEKEND! He said there was no one else! I didn't know who JC could be!!! I was so scared and mad. We are getting married in 3 weeks....." she continued to sob....
"Oh, but honey, honestly, honestly, honestly....I was texting Pattie, my college friend. Not your fiancee. I am JC.....I am over 50 years old....I do not want your fiancee! Believe me!! Honestly, I don't!!! I wish you would have called as soon as you saw the text so you didn't have to suffer all weekend!" my heart just ached for this girl....
"I am sorry....I am so sorry. I was just so.....well.....you know. I have been crying and we have been fighting and I was this close to calling it all off. And now he is so upset that I don't trust him...." she said, her voice trailing off.
"Well, I can understand completely. And, I am sure your fiancee will too. Tell him to try to think what he would do if he saw you got that text. Give him some time. I would have felt the same way as you. Anyone would have. It will be fine. But, really, believe me....." I begged her to know the truth.
"I am so sorry to bother you. Thank you for being so nice to me instead of yelling at me. I feel so stupid. I know I shouldn't read his texts. But the phone was right next to me when he got it so I read it!! It's all one big mess now....." she cried softly.
"OOOH...this will be a funny story someday....I promise!" I told her as I bid her farewell.

Ten minutes later.....Pattie's cell phone called me again.

It was the fiancee.....the guy I was texting....
"I just wanted to thank you for helping and being so nice to my fiancee...." he told me.
I let him know I appreciated his call.
"I was in hell all weekend over this," he confided with a bit of a laugh. "I was thinking of calling you myself but then I didn't want her finding your number in my phone and it was just so crazy. I sort of figured it was a wrong number so I told her to call you right away but she was afraid or something. I think she just wanted me to admit to it...." he tried to explain.
We talked a little bit more and then before we hung up....he told me I saved his life.

Damn I'm good.....

Just the pictures.......

I'm a woman of few words today......more tomorrow.....I promise!

Our Trip.....
in pictures and what words I can eek out....
yes, it was an absolutely great trip.....
one of the best I've had in a very long time!
And, yes, I deserved it....

The first drink of our trip......a margarita by the dock....so wonderful!

Ordering lunch......a plate of clams....yummy! I loved the hat. Carmen did not.
So, I wore it all day long!
Lovely dinner at the winery.....an incredible night. From the very first moment to the very last second. I definitely want a re-do.....

An after-dinner stop a-top the barrel....my idea of a night cap!





Doing wine flights at a winery on the island. As you can see, I am a white wine gal and Carmen is a red wine boy. But, the important thing is that we both like wine......right?


Barrel love. And, maybe....just maybe....a wee too much wine. Seeing the sights! Bulgaria????
Swinging at the bar.....
Stopping off for a sweet treat....yum!!!
Land-ho!!!
More winery-ing......
Hanging out at the worlds longest bar.....where they say it's 5 o'clock somewhere.
Hmmm...it was only 9 am there!
Being a tourist....
Doing a little shopping.....
Yes, it was all good!

Heading to the PARTY ISLANDS......

Remember that dream bathing suit I just bought?
It's in the suitcase!




Jersey has it shores and Ohio has it's islands......
We're heading to our neighboring state of Ohio to recover from not doing our regular beach vacation, to rejuvinate from our back-to-college experience, to take in some end-of-summer fun and to soothe our empty nesting blues.....

Yes, we're packed up and heading to the Erie islands!
To be more precise....we will be staying in the resort town of Port Clinton ---a place where Carmen uncovered several quaint wineries, restaurants, shops and places to visit on his business travels. There's one winery-gourmet restaurant that I'm truly looking forward to---in fact, I'm getting butterflies just thinking about it....Carmen tells me I will love it! So, of course--I just can't wait to experience it for myself.
We'll also be visiting the little-known enclaves of Catawba Island, and Kelley's Island.
We're staying at a resort in Port Clinton for a few days and then at a little B&B Carmen has been promising we would visit together for a few years now. I can't tell you how thrilled I am. You would think I'm going on a million-dollar vacation. And, I'm only going to Ohio.....!
When we tire of the quaintness and romance of Port Clinton, we will take a jet boat to Put-In-Bay---home of the world's longest bar--an island where the party is always in high gear or we will meander to one of the tamer islands to take in the sites. And, when we need to leave the party or stop the merry-go-round of island life--we'll just hop on that jet boat and go back to the the quaintness and romance....

We've got lots of plans to do a lot of nothing or a lot of something....
We'll figure it out when we get there!

Now do you know why I am not crying the empty nester blues?


I'll see you next week.....