Bleeding Heart

     No ... not my heart .... (thank God)

     It's the flowers outside my backdoor that are looking exceptionally great today, don't ya think? They are bleeding hearts, anyone else have these?

      It's great having a little time off ... time to my self to take notice of the sometimes overlooked grandeur that fills my life.

     It's easy to get so wrapped up in the 6 day a week grind, easy to get disconnected with the things around me that stir my soul and inspire creative expression in my life.

     Ahhh ... relax, reconnect and rejuvenate ...

                        *** Coy ***

Ahhh ...

     Great new haircut, nice fresh highlights, manicure, pedicure ... yea ... really good day today.

    My almost month long vacation continues. I spent a large part of the day at the Hair Salon where Mandy works ... looking good ... feeling good ... nothing like getting all freshened up:-)

     Another project I got accomplished today was getting a package ready to put in the mail for my niece Brittney. Her birthday is on Friday. This year she is away at college and has been home almost every weekend since she has been away but not the weekend of her birthday. Hmmm ... what's up with that?

     It's always been hard to get focused on holiday shopping until the birthday thing is under control and then Mandy's is on January 13th, still have time to worry about that one later.

     I'm still on the detox diet, ( I did cheat on the Jungle Queen night) so many of you have E-mailed and left comments regarding that. More details later I promise, for now you can get a basic idea HERE 

     The photo above is one I took at the beach yesterday. The light is so different this time of year and yes there were plenty of people swimming. I liked the photo as it was but I liked it even more after I ran it through a filter, looks like a painting:-)

                                night all

                              *** Coy ***

    

Tourist in our own town

Just sit right back and you'll here a tale,

a tale of a fateful trip,

that started from this tropic port,

aboard this great big ship.

(well ... riverboat)

The mate was a mighty back up man,

The rest were brave and sure.

   

Six passengers set sale that day,

Jo and Barb missed the boat,

for the four hour tour.

 

The weather it was beautiful,

the Christmas lights were great

  

If not for the courage of the fearless crew,

dinner would be late, dinner would be late.

The ship set ground on the shore of this

enchanting private isle, for a barbecue 

and a dinner show,

 

Here on Jungle Queen Isle.

 

OK, I'll stop now, sorry about the song thing ... kind of ...

     They say it's not where you're at, it's who you're with that counts and that could not have been more true on Saturday night. A group of us from work got together to be tourists in our own town ... it was great, we did have fun. Jo and Barb really did miss the boat by a matter of a minute or two at the most (sorry girls).

     The pictures came out really bad so I ran them through a filter so you and get a vague idea of what the night looked like. I take much better photos when I go places alone and I'm having less fun, well different fun. Hey Alb, there was a little juggling man there, you would have liked it (he was cute too ;-)

     If any of you are ever here in South Florida, I highly recommend a night out on the Jungle Queen. <--- check it out.

     And the almost month of vacation continues ...

                              *** Coy ***

Air Brushed Lives, Detox, Charles Dickens, Fidle Castro and Nuclear Chain Reactions

             

     Today is December second, day two of my almost month long vacation. I've spent a little extra time in J-Land over the past few day's catching up with old friends and meeting some new ones as well.

     I'm sitting here thinking how much more honest and real the entries you find here are, compared to the ones you find on the glossy pages of some magazine.

     Every life has it's share of hard times and I'm sure that if we were to read the real stories of the airbrushed and celebrated lives of some of the most glamorous people, we would find that their lives are not that much more charmed than our own. 

     Today is also the second day of my cleansing diet, foods to avoid on a detox diet ... processed and refined foods, alcohol, caffeine, dairy products, meat, poultry, fish, wheat, salt and sugar.

     137 years ago today, Charles dickens, gave his first public reading in the United States at the New York City Theater, It was not "A Christmas Carol."  <--- click

     43 years ago Cuban Leader Fidel Castro declared that he was a Marxist-Leninist and that Cuba was going to adopt Communism. Hmmm ... bad move for the Cuban people, heres and entry I wrote a while back on what things are like there now. Cuba <--- click

    62 years ago today, the very first nuclear chain reaction was initiated below the bleachers at the University of Chicago, during the Manhattan Project. The following coded message was then sent to President Roosevelt. "The Italian Navigator has just landed in the New World"

     Nuclear weapons have since been used twice for war, both times by the United States against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I guess we can at least be thankful that we are not going to this extreme in Iraq :.:. sigh :.:.

                  random thoughts as my vacation continues...

                           *** Coy ***

The month of the vacation, day one

     I spent my first day of vacation, hanging out in J-land much longer than usual this morning. I've done a little blog hopping in some new journals over the last day or two and it seems we've got a bit of new talent out there. (More people to love in J-Land)

     I did start a cleansing diet this morning, it's not often that I have the opportunity to lay low for a few days so I can start a proper detox. (more about that later)

     I took a nap from 12:00 to 1:00 and then got some things done around here. Laundry mostly. I had a nice salad for lunch, a little olive oil and lemon juice only and a cold glass of sparkling water.

     Mandy called around 2:00, we had a nice chat and discussed our shopping trip coming up on Friday. I love my little girl:-)

     At 4:00, I hit the pavement, wanted to at least get out there a bit, into the middle of the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. It  wasn't to crazy out there, I had no problem finding a parking spot at any of the places I went.

    I have not even started my shopping yet ... gasp! Historically speaking, I usually have things under control by now but not this year.

    If any of you can help with ideas to simplify my shopping, what to give and where to get it, please let me know. I'm not really talking charitable contributions or volunteering of time here, hopefully I've got that part under control starting with helping to create a little Christmas Magic for Cameron. <--- I mean the shopping.

     I ended up at Panara Bread for dinner, had another salad. This time it was a Caesar, yep complete with creamy dressing lot's of parmesan and sourdough croutons. Not exactly on the list for a detox diet but ... I did forgo the perfect piece of sourdough bread and extra Caesar dressing for dipping that usually comes with the salad.

     The healthiest part of that salad was the fact that I ate it outside, just a few feet from my gym. I saw a few people that I know from the gym and now I'll be meeting someone there tomorrow for a work out. I've only been about 10 times in the last 6 months. shhh ...

      I talked to my friend Mary Lou on the phone and we made plans to hang out together a little next week. She was busy putting up all of her Christmas Decorations, she lives on the Intercoastal so they have to get ready for the Boat Parade.

     After dinner I spent a couple of hours at Barnes and Nobel snuggled up in one of their overstuffed chairs, checking out some new books. I did skip my usual Jamba Juice, while they are quite healthy they have an enormous number of calories in them, (maybe next time).

     The picture above is of a car that looked like it was abandoned on the side of the road. I hope some kids didn't take it out and just dump it there. It looked so out of place but made for a nice picture.

              Tomorrow the vacation continues

                        Good Night All

                         *** Coy ***    

It's the first day of December

   Thanksgiving is now behind us and it's time to start decking my halls and doing my Christmas shopping.

          

     It's the first day of December and the first day of my almost month long vacation, I've got so many things to do.

     It's the first day of December and today is Rosa Parks Day.  <--- In 1955 she was arrested for not giving up her seat to a white bus rider, we all know the story.

     It's the first day of December and it's World Aids Day. <-- Aids has killed over 20 million people since the first cases were diagnosed in 1981. This years theme is "Women, Girls, HIV and AIDS.

     It's the first day of December and I'm sitting here thinking about civil rights in our country, a country that's foundation has been based on the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness since 1776.

     It's the first day of December and I'm sitting here wondering how it could have ever been a law, that because of the color of your skin you were not permitted to drink out of a public water fountain, use a public restroom or sit where you wanted to on a bus. 

     It's the first day of December and I'm sitting here thinking that for so long, people in this country have acted with violence, hostility, and semitism to other people in this country based on their religious beliefs. We're not talking Germany here folks, we're talking this country where our constitution clearly states that "all men are created equal."

   It's the first day of December and I really want to know how one group of people in this country can tell another group of people in this country that they do not have the same rights, benefits and protections of marriage, under the federal law as the rest of us. We're talking simple everyday rights to family medical leave, spousal social security benefits, rights to immigration petitions or employer based medical coverage for their spouse.

     It's the first day of December and I am thinking that as a middle class, white, heterosexual woman, some people might say these things are not really my problem. To that I would ask "then why am I sitting here with my thoughts as tangled as my mangrove photo above, feeling like they are?"

                                  *** Coy ***

Any ideas for the month of December?

     The bad news is ... I work 6 day's a week at my job and it is very hard to take vacation time throughout the year. It's been like that for 8 years now, well except for the one year that I did have weekends off :.:.:.:. sigh :.:.:. that will never happen again. Ya know having 2 day weekends is an extra 52 days off per year. Hmmm ...  I guess I shouldn't complain, I could always change jobs if I wanted to, right?

     The good news is ... I still have most of my vacation time left and I'm using it all in December. Yep, this is a dreadfully slow time of year for us in the home improvement industry so we usually save all of our time off for the end of the year. We work on a bonus structure so at least the top producers are smart enough to save their vacation days for this very sloooooow time.

     I usually have the week of Thanksgiving off too, that did not work out this year (for the first time ever) touchy subject so we won't go there, well ... at least not today.

   The point is, I've got all of this time off and with the exception of a few Holiday Parties and some Christmas Shopping (which I don't plan on spending the whole month doing), I have not made any real plans. I want to make good use of my time off, any ideas?