long time, no see...

I know...but i've been traveling and busy, and frankly; have forgotten about this site. ha! Besides...i have no viewers or followers, so what's the big deal? ;o) It's only me...writing for me! And i guess that's okay...

Tom and i took our trip to Pensacola a couple of weeks ago. This is how it went...

Two days before we were driving to Pensacola, the news declared that the oil-leak in the gulf (a disaster that happened over 2 months before) had brought oil sludge to Pensacola beaches. This happened on Wed...we were leaving for the beach on Fri. Nice.

On our drive down (over, across...whatever) -- Tom was extremely tired and didn't look well. Turns out, he had a fever. We ended up stopping in Louisiana for the night so he could sleep...

We got there the next day, MUCH later than i intended and it totally screwed with my time-table, but...

We got to the condo only to discover ~ it was on the 3rd floor, and the elevator was out of commission. Not only was the condo up 3 flights, but INSIDE the condo there were stairs to everywhere you needed/wanted to go; my room, the kitchen, etc. By the end of us getting our gear into the condo, and hauling groceries up the stairs...my knee was aching and swollen.
Double nice.

My friend Carol arrived a few hours later. Tom took a nap and i went to dinner with them, then came home to go to bed. We were all tired. By the next morning. I (!) had a fever, and felt like shit. I downed a dose of Dayquill i'd bought for Tom and prepared for the day. We were having our MHS Mini-Reunion that aftn, so i had to get my shit in gear and make a ton of lumpia (as i'd promised everyone), and get all the drinks, etc out to the pavilions across the street. We didn't have as many people show as they SAID would, but we had a nice turn out over-all...about 30 or so people! It was fun, and i drank way too much before the day was through. We went to bed late, and i have no memory of it...

The next morning -- more fever, more Dayquil to get thru my day, and to add insult to injury; it started raining...and wouldn't stop until the day we left the beach. Triple nice! :o) We ended up going to the movies and to dinner, and that did it for that day. I was tired and felt sickly anyway, so it was okay.

Because of the oil; the Gulf side of the beach was off-limits...NO swimming allowed. We felt we'd be safe on the sound-side, which is my preference anyway, but because of the rain and stormy weather...even THAT didn't look inviting. Eventually; by the end of the day - we ventured into the sound for an hour or two, and that was nice, but not exactly "beach weather". I made chili for dinner that night, i think -- and we met some friends at an out-door concert (that was nice!), then over to The Sandshaker for karaoke night. Again; i drank too much, and some drama with a girlfriend ensued between her beau and her, via her cell phone...AFTER he had the bar-waitress track her down, coz he couldn't reach her. (Talk about control issues!) I don't remember the end fo that night either. i wasn't really eating enough, combined with feeling sick and too much booze. Oh well...what i remember was fun! :o) I sang Blue and rocked the house...long, exuberant applause, which was nice!

We went canoing the next day...in the rain...at a place i used to frequent as a kid. It just wasn't as i'd remembered it, but i guess -- what is, at this stage? Nothing about it felt or looked the same...i was kinda bummed by that. The constant over-cast skies and rain didn't help tho. Felt like a whole other world. Went to dinner with my friend Pam and her husband and daughter. It was a lovely meal, but my GOD! That girl talked and talked and talked and talked...she never quit! By the time the evening was up; i was exhausted from straining to listen. What does it mean when you see a person you USED to be quite close to, and haven't seen them in a long time, and when you DO; all they do is talk about themselves...NEVER asking about YOUR life, or what's going on with YOU? Is it narcissism or insecurity...i can't decide. But it was trying enough to make me question whether i'd try to see her again when next in town. Tom and i were both worn out by the end of the night...plum tuckered out. :o/


We tried to get in more beach time on Thur, but...it was raining. I went to the sound anyway, and eventually Tom found his way in too. We floated around It was nice...only when we got out, Tom had what looked like a big glop of sand attached to his knee. When he wiped it away, it smudged...because it WASN'T mud...it was oil. Damned stuff had made it's way around the Pass and was now in The Sound. Shit. That night, we met up with my friends Joy Wanda at a bar (that played lousy music), and got home kinda early -- before midnight.

The next morning -- we drove for hours (it seemed) to find a place to have b'fast (and when we did, it wasn't so good). I ended up meeting my friend Wanda at her condo (they own one, down the way, further away from The Pass) and our friend Janet from hi-school came over and we floated and talked for several hours. This was one of the nicest things i'd done on vacation...really enjoyed that! That aftn; we decided to cook hamburgers on the beach (at the pavilions we'd had out mini-reunion at) and my mom came out (finally; had been trying to get her out all week!), and Wanda and Janet came by. We took some pics, did more visiting, and had a nice meal. The evening was filled with packing and trying to prepare for a long, long drive home...which we started at around 8 AM the following day.

The whole week went by without much fan-fare and not much 'beach' time -- which was a huge bummer. i didn't get in any of the walking i wanted to do; couldn't walk on the beach, and it took DAYS for my knee to feel better, not to mention my cold/fever.

I didn't maintain my 'diet' per say, but didn't do too badly, considering the alcohol consumed. I gained 3 lbs, but took it off pretty quickly after getting home... am at 171 right now, and had finally broken through that 170 ceiling before leaving town. Haven't gotten back down to 169 yet, but think i can by the end of the week.

I started Zumba classes this week (a Latin dancy-aerobic class) and am trying to get in my 9-10 miles for my virtual walk. We leave for our road trip next Fri, so i wanna gain some ground before leaving...

Anyway; my client's here.
Will check in later in the week...when i've hopefully broken back thru 170 and am firmly at 169, or heck! 168 wouldn't be so bad either! :o)