Week 60

So, I barely made it in under the gun for posting at least every month. I have been traveling and working, so extra time has been a luxury.

Anywho, let's get this going.

#1 Finished my traveling. California, Portland, Virginia and West Virginia. I have lots of space taken up in my travel journal. I am trying to write down as many details as possible, but let's face it, writing every detail gets tedious. I keep telling myself in 50 years, I will be thankful that I did the extra mile.

#8 Read The Girls Who Went Away. The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe V. Wade. It was a long read, but it was very good. The title says it all. It chronicles the stories of women who were forced to give up their babies because they were unwed and young. They would get sent to a "home" where they stayed until term. The babies were taken after a week and sometimes immediately. Young moms were told all kinds of lies about their children--where they ended up, the contact they could have, the repercussions of a forced adoption for both the mom and their child. Roe v. Wade not only gave a woman a choice to mature the pregnancy, it also made these kind of "adoptions" illegal. Again, excellent read.

#29 Had lunch with J. McGrath at Pom's. Yum. Also celebrated Bill's birthday at Dexter's. Since I have now joined the Book, I reconnected with my NY&Co girls. We had a great happy hour at Dexter's . Honestly, we probably had enough for 3 happy hours. I met up with the Disc Golf Widows Club for happy hour. Happy hour is my favorite two-word phrase where both words begin with H. It's fun.

#35 Gave Mark two love notes this month. The first came about when we were looking at wedding photos for the album, yes I know this is way late! Anywho, I printed two pics on the laser printer for mom to check the size. On one of them, I wrote Love Ya and sent it across the desk. It is now taped to the back of my computer monitor and Mark looks at it every day. AWWW! Ok, stop. The second happened when Mark was doing a work marathon for his new client and he said he need quiet, which is almost impossible. So I wrote him a note that said "I am trying to be quiet. Just wanted to say I love you. The only noise that I will make is when I crinkle up this paper and throw it at you" He laughed and all was right with the world.

#36 Gave Mark a foot rub as we watched M*A*S*H

#40 Watched M*A*S*H. It was funny, but in a dry satirical way. It ended fast. I mean the climax of the movie was a football game. Now, I am not a shoot-em-up kind of girl, but this was a war movie dealing with the surgical side of the war. I guess I was expecting a Saving Private Ryan moment that never came. I will say that Donald Sutherland and Elliot Gould were perfect in their roles of BJ and Hawkeye. Loved them. I never watched the show, so I was a virgin to the whole experience.

Also watched Easy Rider. Slow burn, but the last 15 minutes of the movie makes it awesome. The whole trippy scene in New Orleans and the asses in the truck. I was not expecting the ending at all. It threw me for a loop, but that is what made this movie great. Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson were yummy to watch. As for my friend, Dennis Hopper, rest in peace.

Week 55

Got some big things off the list this week.



#52 Mark and I went to the top of the Washington Monument. If you have never done this and will be visiting the DC area, you need to plan ahead and do this. It was amazing. The view of our nation's capital is stunning. Trust when I tell you to plan ahead. I overheard the security guard tell a tourist that the tickets were out until the end of September. They are free, with the exception of shipping.



#15 Ran a 5K while in Berkeley Springs. We were there for a family vacation. We stayed just outside of the state park that sponsored a 5K charity run/walk for Alzheimer's Research. Karl sponsored my entry fee and Brian, my brother-in-law, ran with me. He finished in just over 30 minutes and I finished in 40. Not a stellar performance, but I finished. Since it was a spur of the moment decision on vacation, I did not have my uber-expensive running shoes. Let me tell you, I paid for that severely for the next three days. Ouch!



#87, 19, 65--Still commited to these things every day. It has actually gotten easier as the months have gone on.



#36 Gave Mark an impromptu foot rub in our room in Reedville while Brian worked on the laptop and we discussed chemical procurement, vacations and conference call attendance. Good times.



#35 Gave Mark two more love notes. One was a renote that made its way back to me and then found its way back to Mark. I love travelling love notes. The second was a sloppy note quickly scrawled on Mark's work list for his logos. It was messy, but that is what made it beautiful.

Week 53

Getting ready to hit the road, so this will be short and sweet.

#8: Read Service Included. I got this one as a throw back to my restaurant days. I was expecting all these sordid tales about the inner goings on between the staff and the crazy things that tables ask for that I remembered from my years of waiting tables. It was not like that at all. It was more like a love story. The love between a 5-star place just opening and a waitress who landed a job. It was an interesting read. I will be passing it on to my friend, Michele because I know she will appreciate it as I did.

#35 Two loves to Mark this week. The first one was sent to him on the bottom of the weekly "honey-do" list. Of course, that one got marked off as done. The second got sent in an email. He had a full plate doing some free-lance things and he looked a little frazzled. Let's just say the note got send in the nick of time.

#36 Mark got lots of lovin' this week. Along with his love notes, he also got a foot rub. His dogs were tired after taking first place in his disc golf tourney. He asked, no begged, for a little rub down. Knowing he has sweaty feet, ICK, I hesitated for a minute. Then he gave me the kitten eyes. I sucked it up. He is not making the transition from hating feet to liking feet an easy one.

#40 Watched The Searchers. John Wayne. This is my favorite western so far. It was the only one that I got through in one sitting. John is a crotchety veteran of the Civil War. He doesn't like anybody. He doesn't like his family. He doesn't like the North. He doesn't like the Indians. He doesn't like the town Preacher and Sheriff. He doesn't like the adopted nephew. He doesn't like anybody. Then he gets roped into a search party that tries to locate his niece from the local Comanche Tribe. In the end, he gets his man, Scar. He gets the girl back safe. He gets his adopted nephew back to his love. He gets to tell the sheriff off. He doesn't get his own girl, but he is John Wayne. He is so bad-ass, he doesn't need one.

#75 Booked two non-soccer tournaments this week. We got a baseball tournament, which was a nice surprise because baseball usually doesn't follow a round robin schedule. He saw our boards a Midland and thought they would work. Also booked a lacrosse tournament. This is a sport we want to break into because they do use the same format as soccer. This tournament is put on by a league that does two other tournaments with us. Before we could contact him to offer, he placed the order. We are going in the right direction, which is up!

Up to Week 52

So, I have been traveling over the last couple of weeks. I am back, but not too much is going on.

Let's see here--

Watched Rocky last week. I have nothing to say about this flick. If you have not seen it, then you should come out from under the rock as I did. It was awesome, even for a Sly Stallone movie. Interesting tidbit, it was written by Rocky himself. Who knew??

I wrote Mark two love notes. One was on the back of a vintage valentine I printed from online. I was working on the outfit for Halloween and came across this great image of two chubby, naked cherubs holding hearts and ribbons. I printed it and cut it out and called it my own. Mark loved it. It was the naked cherubs.

The other note I gave him was written on a postie note that I stapled to a rubber band. I shot the rubber band over to his part of the office. I almost took his eye out, but he got my message none the less. Later, he shot the rubber band back at me, but he hit the blinds instead. The love note is still there.

Read two books--

Beyond the Body Farm is about the first leaps in forensic science. It centers around a pathologist who bought land behind the University of Tennessee. He would place donated cadavers on the land and document all phases of decomp for science. The book doesn't center on the body farm, but more about some of the pivotal cases that he was a part of over the years. In some cases, he determined time of death and cause solely from findings at the body farm. He was also involved in some of the first cases that used teeth and DNA to determine identity. It was a great, but grusome, read.

Love is a Mix Tape. You know you had them. Any respectable kid growing up in the 80's had a full collection of mixed tapes for all kinds of situations--making out, driving, studying, hanging out with friends. Love is a Mix Tape tells the true tale of a young man and his obsession with the almighty mix tape. He tells his story of discovering lust, young love, serious love, lost love, and rediscovering love too the background of seemingly unrelated songs on a grainy TDK. If you grew up in the 80's and 90's and you honor the mixtape, you have to read this book.

Man, I suck. I am out and about over the next couple of weeks, but I am bound and determined to get this blog thing regular.

Week 47

So, yeah, I know. It has been long overdue. I will just get to the updates--

3. I wrote many thank you notes. One went to Nana for treating us to Bingo when we visited. One went to dad because he stayed at the bingo all night. One went to mom for just about everything else related to our trip back home. She is a fantastic hostess with the mostess. One went to my friend Tracie. She treated me to drinks and dinner. One went to Michelle for treating dinner during her wedding planning.

8. I finished reading one of the books I have started. I have started, like, at least 5. I just can't seem to finish them quickly. I read "The Murder List". It was ok. It started out with promise as a crime novel, but quickly went down the soft core porn route. The original story was overshadowed by passion and sexy time. It got very boring very quickly. Heck, even the sexy time parts were not very original. "He strode to her in three steps and took her in his arms. Her eyes met his and the spark ignited a passion that could not be quenched. They kissed passionately and fell to bed, blah, blah, blah. We all know how this part ends. Too bad the book didn't end sooner.

32. Went to Jazz Fest in New Orleans. The greatest thing we could have done that weekend. It was awesome to be back home with good people, good music and good food. We saw so many amazing bands. Pearl Jam was packed. Jeff Beck ruled the weekend. The Dead Weather played in crappy weather. B.B. King is still bringing it. We met some friends there and hung out. Mark had never been and it was fun to share this with him.

62. I took a cake decorating class at JoAnn's. It was very entertaining. I learned how to make a smooth finish on the cake, flowers, trims, outlines and the famous Wilton Rose. Since we are trying to eat better, my family and friends got the fruit of my labor.

40. Watched To Kill a Mockingbird. I watched this in high school, but did not care enough to pay attention. This was a great flick. If I was ever on trial for anything, I would totally ask Gregory Peck to be my representation. The movie was moving and poignant.

Watched Unforgiven. Wasn't my favorite. It was about 40 minutes too long and the ending was not what I had built up in my mind. I mean, we are talking about Clint Eastwood and a western movie. Where was the showdown? Where was the high noon standoff? The only thing that came close was the one-sided gun fight in the bar. Not entertaining and kind of a let-down.

Watched The Best Years of Our Lives. Man, this movie was long. 3 hours. I was not sure that I would make it in one sitting, but I did! This was an awesome movie. The story followed three veterans returning home from WWII. They met on the flight home and stayed friends after returning. Each man had his own story and conditions when they came home. One dealt with the fact that his family had survived very well without him and now had to readjust to him being home. One had to deal with a wife of 20 days who became accustomed to earning her own money and spending it. One had to deal with a war injury that replaced his hands with hooks. His family seemed to take it harder than he did because he worked very well with the hooks. In the end, one man's family welcomes their father and husband back, one man's wife runs off with another man, and one man's family accepts him for him and watches him marry his high school sweetheart. Interesting note, the man who played Homer is actually a war vet that did lose his hands in the war. He was approached by the director who saw him in an Air Force instructional video and thought he would be just the thing to put the flick over the top. I would agree.

35. Wrote Mark a love note in the hotel bathroom in New Orleans. It was steamy and he saw it exiting the shower. I also sent him an email while he was working that said Hi Honey in the subject line and had a picture of a dinosaur in the body. He knew exactly what that meant and giggled.



I think that is it. If I forgot something, I will add it next week.

Up to week 42

Man, I am a total loser. But to be fair, there have been many things happening and they are time-consuming.

I got a lot stuff done!

#20 I got the sewing machine fixed. It was the machine that I used growing up. It have been sitting in storage for I don't know how long. The bobbing case was bad and the tension was not correct. In the end, I was set back about $130, but it was worth it. The machine is a good machine. Even the guy who repaired it was in awe at the sight of it.

#21 I took crochet classes at Joann's. The class was ok. I learned all the things that I was doing incorrectly. No wonder my pattern looked funky and lopsided. Now that I know the correct way to crochet, I will be whipping out scarves, pot-holders, hats and towels.

#24/#25 So the garden is still alive and producing viable produce. Who knew!? I guess my black thumb of death is slowly turning gray. So I am crossing this off while everything is still alive.

#29 Had 4 outings with friends. Went to lunch with Bill, Jen and Sharon to Pom's. Yummy! Had cocktails and apps with Tracie at Lake Eola Wine Company. The bruschette is divine. I had cocktails and apps with Melissa at, wait for it, Lake Eola Wine Company. I can't help it, LEWC is awesome. If someone gives me the choice, that is where I go. I went to the Taste of Winter Park Festival. Tickets were fairly priced and we got them before the "incident" happened. I went with my foodie friend, Cathy. She is always good for trying new foods.

#40 Watched Philadelphia Story. Katherine Hepburn was awesome. Let me tell you, she had her hands everywhere. No man was safe from her charm. She had a fiance, an ex-husband with a sailboat, and a rag-mag reporter at her beck and call. She bounced between all of them and about 5 bottles of champagne. She was a hussy, but a classy hussy. In the end, she sailed back to her ex because she was too wild for the new one.

#66 I completed the Almaniac which is an Old Maltese Challenge. The Old Maltese Challenges are trivia and puzzle contests. This particular one is an 80+ list of questions that can all be answered using only the 2010 Almanac. Most of the questions were pretty straight forward, but some of them were very hard to find. So after weeks and weeks of hunting through the enormous almanac, all the questions were answered. Correctly, I do no know. Only the Old Maltese knows and he's not telling right away.....

#72 I gave a gentleman $9.00 in the parking lot of Joann's. He said he just got out of the hospital and needed money to catch the bus to go home. I gave him some dough and gave him a lift to the nearest bus stop just in time to catch it. He got on the bus and headed home.

#74 Cd's I listened to:

Fleetwood Mac-Greatest Hits: Well, it is Fleetwood Mac, so you know they aren't really rockin', but they are still a classic band. Seeing as this was a greatest hits album, I knew every song.

Flyin' Blind-Flyin' Blind: Mark doesn't even know where this CD came from, which is indicative of the caliber of music that I heard. It was not good. The singer drowned out the rest of the band. They have to be local which means that they are probably not together anymore.

Fuel-Sunburn: Thank goodness I listened to this CD after Flyin' Blind. I need Fuel. They were my rock salvation.

Still flossing, turning off water in the shower, and drinking plenty of water everyday.

So, I will try not to be so lame in the future with posting. Sorry.

Week 39

My oh my--got some stuff done this week.

#35 I planted a love note to my guy. I used Easter as an inspiration. I used one of those plastic eggs, you know the ones that never close correctly, and I wrote Mark a simple note. I told him that he made me "hoppy" Corny? Why yes is was. I put it on his desk on Saturday and he saw it by the end of the night. So the nice thing was the next day I planned a very elaborate Easter dinner. While in the throws of battle in the kitchen, he wrote me a note and put it in the egg. I found it after my glorious victory in the kitchen. He said thank you for all you do! Corny? Why, yes it was.

#3 Wrote Thank you notes to Bill for some hot sauce he brought back from his trip. I watched SocaMan while he was gone. I also wrote one to Daryl for letting me carpool to a wedding over an hour away. Very cool, my friends.

#24/#25 Round two. I started a vege and herb garden AGAIN. Apparently, my black thumb of death was too much for the unsuspecting first garden and they were lost. Well, it was that and the scorching Florida sun and torrential downpours. This time I moved the garden to a semi-shaded zone. Mark dug up the ground for me and also built a barrier to build up the soil. This time I have 2 cherry tomato plants, 2 prince tomato plants, 1 rosemary bush, 2 thyme plants, 1 oregano plant, 1 purple basil plant, 1 pepper plant (I think is is jalapeno) and one green pepper plant that survived the first planting last year. I did not start any of these plants from seeds. I bought them at the local farmers market already started. I need all the help I can get!! I did lay down some mulch in the garden. Someone told me that this will help retain moisture in the soil and deter weeds and some pests. We will see if I can keep this one going.

I have a green thumb.
I have a green thumb.
I have a green thumb.
I have a green thumb.


#29 Went to a great little Mexican place with Cathy. The sandwich place we wanted to go to was packed, so we walked over to this place. When I say small--it was about the size of my living room. There are only 4 tables, 4 seats at the counter and 4 items on the menu. We had fresh tacos and Aye Ca-rumba were they stunning. Definitely going back!

#46 Mark and I went to date night at our local botanical gardens. We watched Star Trek outside on a blanket with a picnic dinner. It was really fun to watch a movie under the stars with the night breeze and fragrance of the gardens. If anybody has an opportunity to do this--do it. It is a completely different experience from going to a theater. The place we went to does date night once a month and it is very cheap to get in. Way cheaper than a theater and the payoff is very unique. Side note--usually they show girlie movies, so we were very glad to see a "boy" movie pop up on the schedule.

#2 I developed a data base of friends and family birthdays and special events. I just used a calendar program and I put in dates as they come to my attention. Now I can send cards, flowers, gifts, etc., when the time is right.

#40 Got three movies in this week:

E.T. The Extra Terrestrial. So this movie came out when I was 8 and I desperately wanted to see it. Due to an unfortunate combination of a toilet and a lotion jar, it did not happen. Twenty-seven years later, I got to see it. It would have been better at 8. Seeing it as an adult, the movie had a lot of inconsistencies in the plot and a lot of unanswered questions. If I saw this when it came out, however, it would have been my favorite movie and I would have made my parents sick with demands to see it again and again. I will say that the special effects were very slick in this movie for the time it came out. And yes, it is very sad at the end when you think ET is dead. I almost cried, ALMOST.

The Maltese Falcon. Humphrey Bogart plays Sam Spade in this crime drama. He is charged with following cheating spouses until a dame saunters into his office. She wants him to find her sister who has gone missing. Bogart sends his partner out. When his partner turns up dead, Bogart realizes that there is more to this story. He finds out the missing sister is really a statuette in the shape of a falcon that is worth a ton of dough. Pretty soon, he has his hands full with the dame, the cops, the goon, the creepy guy(Peter Lorre was awesome), and the Fat Man.

In the end, he got the bird and everyone else became jailbirds. Great flick. Question, Why is it that Bogart always gets the girl he just met to fall for him 10 minutes into the movie? I guess he is just suave.

Duck Soup. OMG!! What a great movie. I laughed through the whole thing. It was slapstick and zingers for an hour fifteen minutes. It was hilarious. The Marx brothers definitely delivered in this flick. Groucho Marx takes over a country that is in bad financial shape and proceeds to drive it into the ground even more. His assistant only writes letters to other people, Zeppo. A neighboring ruler wants Freedonia for himself and sends spies to gather information, Harpo and Chico. One great scene in the movie is at the end when Freedonia is being attacked. All the guys are in a country house trying to win the war. Every cut shot shows them suited up in a different war uniform from various areas and times. The big fluffy french hat is the best! But who am I kidding? The whole movie was hilarious--the mirror scene, His Excellency is Due, the infamous Lemonade vs. Peanuts--the list goes on! Fun fact: Duck Soup and A Night at the Opera are considered national treasures by the Library of Congress. Not bad for a movie that was an economic bust at the box office and the cause of the Marx brothers getting fired from Paramount.