another day . . .

as if by magic, by the time we deplaned in athens, it was the next day.  dorothy ain't got nothing on us.  we had grand plans of catching the transfer to the ship in Piraeus, dumping our bags in our cabin and heading back to the acropolis but when we boarded, they confiscated our passports. and it was pouring.  not to be totally thwarted, we bought two bottles of wine at the duty free shop.  discretion being the better part of valor, we hit the closest bar on the ship and imbibed. by this time, our tummies were rumbling and we hit the buffet on the 14th floor.  they had stations, english breakfast, indian food, mexican food, salads, grilled food, you name it.  we tried it all burp.  after wandering around, we opted for another drink.  the others were not due to arrive until much later.  drinking as you will note, became a pattern on this trip.  hic. finally we opted for a nap and then participated in the fire drill.  off to the buffet again for dinner and more noshing.  soft chicken is very good as is the curry.  burp.  and there, we finally ran into vicki and paulie.  and caught up with the rest of the crew at the gastropod bar and played trivia with assistant director justin until it was time to collapse.

insert:  while standing around the airport in athens waiting to collect everyone on our bus, this scruffy guy parks his brand new suitcase, a carry all and his friendly pup and takes off.  bob and i stare at the set up.  this is how bombs go boom.  we start to back away as mr. scruffy fails to reappear.  we back even further until bob corners two police and they take over.  the funniest thing was bob tapping the officer on the shoulder and the officer ready to pounce on bob.  all was well, mr. scruffy didn't like the cops around his goodies and took off.  eek.

we're off . . .

bob's son, rob picked  me up and delivered us to the airport to board our flight for atlanta.  we were late taking off so by the time we navigated atlanta airport, we walked right on to our plane, minus a very quick stop at the boar's head kiosk for cheese and salami . . .  airplane food lacks umm, taste.  arriving in jkf, again we had very little time after taking the jitney across the tarmac to catch our flight to athens. we had upgraded our seats and had bulk head.  talk about legroom:

yes, you will find me on a plane shaming blog somewhere in the world.

i guess it would help if i explained bob and the cast of characters.  originally booked on the trip were sharon and carene who often travel together, robin and david, husband and wife, vicki and paul, again, husband and wife.  sharon i have know for over 30 years as well as carene, robin and david.  as we celebrated robin's birthday back in june, they were all excited about planning the trip.  bob, who is a widower and long time crew member looked at me and said, would you like to be my roomie and i replied yes.  done deal.  did it matter that i knew him the least amount of time?  nope.  if everyone said he was cool, he was cool.  there might have been a little angst about hanging freshly washed undies . . .  turns out we both went independently shopping to avoid that hiccup.

anyway, he was a fabulous and considerate roomie not to mention my kind of nutso.  and it is, after all, my year to live larger.  not that we didn't take a certain amount of flak.  snort.

last minute crazies . . .

packing.  unpacking. packing. weighing the suitcase. giddy with anticipation.

under the category of general stuff . . .

the only thing on my to-do list today is to clean upstairs.  that will be slap dash at best.  there is enough fur under the bed to create 17 cats and a caterpillar . . . and maybe a small aardvark.

the gutters didn't get done.  does that surprise anyone.

i don't want the beard's phone bill when he gets home.  just saying.

follow up . . .

lee is home.

the beard is headed to Hong Kong.

joanie still has her sense of humor.

i still irritate my daughter.

life may have hit a bump or two but it is back on track.

go for it.

and so . . .

errands.

chores.

and final goodbyes. 

amen . . .

this popped up in my facebook feed day before yesterday and i fell in love with it.  in my living larger life, i am losing weight.  i am growing my hair obscenely long for a 67 year old . . . and loving it.  i am putting myself out there more.  i am opening up and remembering how to live.  i am breathing deeper than i have in 4.5 years.  i am nurturing a brand new relationship . . . i don't know where it will go or if it will fall on its face but i'm giving it a try. and that in itself is big.  and lastly, i object to being told what i can and cannot do at a certain age. please give it a look.

24 Things Woman over 30 should wear.

June 4, 2016

"This morning, as I was perusing my Facebook timeline, I happened upon an article that a lovely friend shared. It was entitled “24 Things Women Should Stop Wearing After Age 30”, and it triggered Maximum Eye-Rolling from everyone who took the time out to read it.

Written by Kallie Provencher for RantChic.com, this “article” (I use the term loosely) highlighted things such as “leopard print”, “graphic tees”, and “short dresses” (because “By this age, women should know it’s always better to leave something to the imagination”). Kallie, it seems, has a number of opinions on what women over 30 should and shouldn’t be doing, having also penned “30 Things Women Over 30 Shouldn’t Own” and “20 Pictures Women Over 30 Need To Stop Posting Online”. (What is this magical post-30 land where women are suddenly not allowed to do or own so many things?!)

Motivated by Kallie’s “article”, I decided to churn up one of my own! I bring you now:

24 Things Women Over 30 Should Wear

24. Whatever the fuck they want.

Advanced Style/Gretchen-Schields

 23. Whatever the fuck they want.

Advanced Style

22. Whatever the fuck they want.

Carolina Herrera

21. Whatever the fuck they want.

Beatrix Ost 

20. Whatever the fuck they want.

Gabourey Sidibe

19. Whatever the fuck they want.

Ellen Degeneres

18. Whatever the fuck they want.

Mama In Heels

17. Whatever the fuck they want.

Already Pretty

16. Whatever the fuck they want.

Oprah

 15. Whatever the fuck they want.

Anna Sui

14. Whatever the fuck they want.

Jenna Lyons 

13. Whatever the fuck they want.

Not Dead Yet Style 

12. Whatever the fuck they want.

Helen Mirren 

11.Whatever the fuck they want.

Bag & A Beret/ Forest City Fashionista 

10. Whatever the fuck they want.

Margaret Cho 

9. Whatever the fuck they want.

Accidental Icon 

8. Whatever the fuck they want.

Carmen Dell’Orefice 

7. Whatever the fuck they want.

Fran Lebowitz 

6. Whatever the fuck they want.

Rebel Wilson 

5. Whatever the fuck they want.

Beth Ditto 

4. Whatever the fuck they want.

Serena Williams 

3. Whatever the fuck they want.

Alexis Hornbuckle 

2. Whatever the fuck they want.

Stuff She Likes 

1. WHATEVER. THE FUCK. THEY WANT.

Iris Apfel 

Women in today’s world are hit from all sides. Do this. Wear that. Don’t do this. Don’t do that. Speak softly. Smile. Agree, agree, agree. Assimilate. Shut up. Stay down. 

The last thing we need is other women telling us what we should and shouldn’t do. Stand up, ladies, and stand together. Don’t be like Kallie Provencher. (Especially don’t be like her.) Wear what you want, do what you want, and support one another! And like all of these fabulous ladies, don’t give a fuck."

Thank you "Warning, Curves Ahead."  you made my day.