happiness . . .

lunch with nancy and la's.  some day, i will get tired of that restaurant but not anytime soon. 

off to the imaging center to do my yearly good deed for my boobs.  they have a new 3d system and i was told my insurance would cover it.  that of course makes me happy but then listening to another woman be turned down because she couldn't afford her insurance co-pay.  no bueno.  our system is broken 1000 ways to sunday.

and then off for 1/2 price shrimp and a couple of brews with lee at lulu's.  re-met some old friends.  i'm talking 40 years ago type friends.  woot.  woot.

the days are good.

donkey work of varying degrees . . .

spent the morning moving furniture around in the living room, putting my vacuum back together after its rejection of the christmas ornament hooks it found under the bookcase and ingested, and giving the furniture a good wipe down.  

in the name of fair play, i thought it expedient to pay my bills since i had ignored them since before my vacation.  done.  i'll balance my checkbook tomorrow after a stop at the bank for a couple of new registers.

and then the fun part . . . investigating the best way to get eight peeps from the port of piraeus to downtown athens.  there were a bunch of options but i think we've settled on a private van.  easier than marching 25 minutes from the port to the train station in the blistering heat, and safer than a taxi.  i've done one wild ride through athens by cab and that was my quota for life.

got all of our seat assignments except from paris to istanbul.  it's not available yet.  tomorrow the required visas will be ordered.  whoopie!

life goes on and it's darn good!!!

an eventful day . . .

craig called yesterday to see if the family could come over and go swimming.  no problem, but little did he know there was a price to pay.  hee. hee. hee. 

there's a storm a brewing.  thankfully it looks to be headed north of us but there were some issues around the house that needed attention.  while i attacked the gutters, craig pulled away the mulch and dead leaves that had built up and settled against the house.  normally i wouldn't care but it had climbed above the slab level which could mean water in the house.  no bueno. 

and then he did the same in the back and removed some rotten garden wood. 

and while everyone else was in the pool, he and michael moved the television from the living room into the 9TS's cave, and moved the barrister bookcase.  my house is coming together.  and then he grilled.  what's a pool day without burgers and dogs and some fries. 

lots done.  lots more to go.  life is good.

it just takes a little time.

a foodie road trip . . .

both lee and i had other plans yesterday and since joanie is still in the alaskan wilderness hunting wineocewoses, we decided if the weather was nice, we would head back to corky bell's for lunch.  in my everlasting hunt for a quicker way up there, it took us only an hour and a half . . .  and 45 minutes  to get home!!!!  oops.

but really, how can you eat here and call it anything but a win:

some spiced shrimp.  some onion rings.  along with lee's fried oysters and fried shrimp, greens and gumbo rice.  slurp.

and i have more good news.  i'll be paddling again.  so excited you're going to have to pull me off the ceiling.  more details to follow.

happy birthday . . .

to robin.  we did our best to celebrate in style.  this would be the birthday girl and bob.

 the birthday girl and her husband david and paulie.

 and one of the entire crew. vicki, sharon, me, robin, bob, david and paulie.

and if things still look the same tomorrow with a little more sobriety, i have some exciting news.

life is good.

the end of an era . . .

kidlet is out except for a few goodies to be gone through tomorrow.  and the need of a pick-up for a bookcase and tv.

she is on her own and i know she will fly straight and far.  she's a good kid and a strong one.  i wish you luck little one.  the door is always open  . . .

moving right along . . .

kidlet is back to pack up more of her goodies and cart them over to her kottage . . .  which by the way, she managed to lock herself out of last night.  everybody does it.  some of us have even done it more than once.  it's a ritual of ownership.

the sofa bed disappeared at 8:37 this morning.  so happy it has a new home.  it will live on a sun porch and be occupied by drunk buddies who come down for the games.  you can't make this stuff up.

decided to do some poaching, slicing, dicing and stirring and happily made a big pot of that chipotle chicken corn chowder.  now that corn is back in season, it is good and sweet which helps offset the chipotle and poblano peppers.  slurp.  and yes, i am a year round souper slurper.

and for my oddity of the day,  i found this stenciled on a wall in corfu.  don't ask, i have not a clue.

gotta love the world as we see it.