My life the last few days:

I have an abscessed tooth. OUCH OUCH OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!

So I am on antibiotics and hoping for some relief soon. The Dentist said take advil or tylenol in large quantities. He wouldn't give me drugs. I WANT DRUGS. This really hurts like a mother. Having babies didn't hurt like this.
I called him today to see if he could call it in for me. Nope. Switch to advil.
Man I am so over this.

Has anyone else had one of these mothers? And I can't get the root canal done until my insurance kicks in next month. I am not looking forward to any of this. I just want the pain to take a hike.

Now I did go to a hockey game with my boys last night. They had a blast acting like teenagers. I just didn't feel good. We had great seats that were free for filling out a survery. You had to know someone to get these. My accountant friend who is too busy to take me out set it up for us.

And I went to the beach today. Pretty day. I figured if I didn't feel good the least I could do was be in my favorite environment. Naked with my feet in the sand. It was too pretty to stay inside in pain. The water was even gorgeous.

I hope everyone is having a better weekend than I am. Oh well. I am generally very blessed.

SOMETIMES LIFE IS REALLY GOOD!!!!!!

This was taken going down alligator alley by a friend of mine. I was going 80 mph.

Have an awesome day!!!!

I like the new pipes.
Much louder ( helps others hear me I hope)
Better insulated and the placement is much more practical for less heat.
More torque. Just what I needed.

I hope everyone is having an awesome day>

WHAT A DAY!!!!!!!

A few friends and I went for a seriously long ride yesterday on our bikes to have lunch with another friend.
We ended up putting over 300 miles on our bikes just for a sub sandwich and great company.

We ate our subs under a very large and old banyan tree. The guys are in the trunk.

The picture of me is with my friend Kenny and Romeo. These guys I have ridden with a lot. Kenny called and asked if I wanted to ride. These guys all know each other from Rhode Island. We had so much fun. What a gorgeous and windy day.

On our way back across alligator alley we saw this huge guy hanging out by a gas station.

Just another day in South Florida.

Today I dropped my bike off at the dealers so I can get my new pipes on finally. This will be really expensive but worth it if it gets rid of the heat issue I am having. I swear it's like sitting on a furnace.

Have an awesome week.

RAIN, RAIN, RAIN!!!!!!!

We really need the rain. Badly. But enough already.
It hasn't stopped in 4 days.

I got rained off the beach again yesterday. I went to a Brazilian festival today on the beach to see a foot-volley tournament. It's huge in Brazil. You play foot volleyball. No hands. gets interesting. These guys are in great shape for sure and love being in the sand. I know more got there and got deluged on. I just laughed and walked in the down poor back to my car. It's a really good thing I brought a bag for my camera and phone just in case it rained.

I am hoping to go riding tomorrow with Harry. Or not. He seems really busy or really not interested. Amazing. I really hate dating. I understand it 's tax season and he's an accountant. But come on. I guess I am not the most patient person.

I hope everyone is having a great day.

JUST ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE!!!!

OR NOT!

Actually today my "Wusband" got shipped out to Iraq for the next 4 months. He went on active duty last week. He was supposed to be in Ft. Bragg for 2 weeks followed by 3 months in Iraq then back for 2 weeks and off active duty and back to reserves. I am not so sure the Gov't or Army cares about what is supposed to be verses what they do.

So lets all say a prayer that he comes homes safely from this adventure of being a Doctor to our soldiers in Iraq. I personally hope he grows up a little and gets rid of his God complex. Yes he is one of those Dr's that think they are all knowing and God like. All in all I just want him home safely so he can someday enjoy life and watch our grandchildren grow up. (when we finally get them of course).

Tomorrow my daughter in law and I are going to auditions for "The Amazing Race". They are 15 minutes from my house and she wants to get there before 7 am. Go figure. I am having a tough time getting up before 7:30 after the time change.

Today is Friday the 13th with a full moon. Is that why it rained on me at the beach after I got a wonderful massage?

And last but not least for tomorrow my boyfriend Harry and I are going to the Panthers hockey game. I hope they win. They are in playoff contention and that makes Harry really happy. He's great and very busy. He's a forensic accountant. And it is tax season. So he is swamped with deadlines. A big one on Sunday then April 15th. He swears he's taking a few days off on April 16th. Time will tell.

I hope you all have an awesome weekend.

Happy 26th birthday to my youngest Andrew.

My daughter thought it would be fun to make him a red velvet cake dyed purple with lavender icing. Everyone got a kick out of it. My youngest has a great sense of humor. A few years ago he got a krispy cream doughnut cake with strawberries and sparklers.

So our menu was pizza, wings, BYOB on the beer, etc. and around 15 people. My neighbors were wondering what was going on during the week.

Tonight we are having a small doggie party for my little Shiloh. She is 2 today.

Have a fun day!!!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!!!

This week a friend gave me a Yorki that is almost a year old. What a sweet girl. Her name is Cocoa. A few months ago he asked if I could take the dog or find it a good home. I said yes. Well he called this week wanting to know if I was still willing to take her. I said tomorrow so the dog didn't have to go thru his ex wifes move. I think moves are really tough on animals.

So Cocoa is at my house until Monday when her new family will pick her up. They came over and met her and fell in love with her. Leo is a pharmacist and works with my daughter and they were talking about Yorkis and how they wanted one. I do believe Cocoa will be very spoiled rotten. I am really glad my daughter found her a good home. Not that mine is not a great home for pampered pets. But I really don't want or need 3 dogs. It's just too much work. Now my whole neighborhood has fallen in love with this little girl.

The second picture is of my Shiloh. She is not amused by the addition into the house. She has been down right nasty to her. She has gotten very nippy lately and bit the little 1 year old (neighbor) this afternoon. Not bad, just nipped her finger when Brianna stuck her hand in her face. As 1 year olds are prone to do. I feel bad for Shiloh. She's getting lots of smacks in her snout and lots of time out into the crate.

On the other part of my life that is not ruled by animals. I met a new guy who is really nice. We went out to lunch last week then he was out of town until yesterday. He landed an hour before he picked me up for a hockey game. We had fun. He's a forensic accountant and rides a Harley. He's working tomorrow day. It is tax time after all. Then we are going out to another hockey game (he's a huge fan and has season tickets for Florida Panthers and Denver Avalanche) He also has an office in Denver. Then we are going to a friend of his grand opening of a restaurant in Boca Raton. Ritzy. He said no jeans with holes in them for tomorrow. We are both big fans of casual clothes for the bikes we ride. I clean up nice and can behave myself. So I will show him that side of me tomorrow.

Sunday we are going riding all day. He never works Sundays if he is here. Then we have obligations to stop in and take care of. Like my neighbors 3 year olds birthday party. He also has clients coming in from Canada that we are taking out to dinner. But never fear. The weather tomorrow thru Wednesday is supposed to be low 80's and sunny. I do believe I will be on the beach tomorrow for sure.

On the other side of my compartmentalized life. My "wusband " flies out and goes on active duty for 4 months. He will be in Ft. Bragg for 2 weeks then off to Iraq for 3 months, back to Ft. Bragg for another 2 weeks then home. So I guess that makes me an Officers wife again. This time I don't have to play the game. Thank God.

I hope everyone has an awesome weekend.

Today was just one of those gorgeous south Florida perfect days. Wow. Sunny, nice breeze, water was refreshing ( man of wars jelly fish for awhile), just all out gorgeous.
I took a ride to say hello to a friend this morning early. He was waiting on his movers. He lives in Tampa now. He was supposed to stick around and we were going to go out tonight. He bailed. He's on his way back to Tampa. I knew he would. He was supposed to come over last night for dinner and he didn't. He has a bad habit of doing this. Oh well. He is consistent.
My kids are all up at their Dad's this weekends. So I am on pet patrol. Again. My wusband is going on active duty on March 6th and getting deployed to Iraq in 2 weeks. He will only be on active duty for 4 months due to the fact that he is a Dr. I guess they rotate them in and out so they are fresh and willing to serve in the reserves. I am not sure. He has kept me totally in the dark on this whole thing.
I hope everyone is having a great weekend. It looks like mine will stay quiet.

Meet my friends from the beach. Carmella, her son Aiden and her brother Mario.

A while ago I talked about one of my really good friends Walter. He owns this little Italian restaurant on the beach. He also has ACL> accute mylogenic leukemia. He had a bone marrow transplant just before Christmas. His sister Carmella was his donor. (pictured with her brother Mario and son Aiden) Lets just say Walter is having a really tough time and may have Graph Host disease. Not good. He was having a really rough day today. I drove Mario to the airport. I also pick him up when he comes in to town on Sundays.

This illness has affected the whole family so deeply. It's been going on since last June. Unbelievable. Mario lives and works in DC. He works as a maintenance supervisor in the Senate building. The 3 - 11:30 pm shift. He was late for work again today. He took yesterday off . He has no leave, vacation or anything else left. It has all gone to keeping his brothers restaurant open so Walter has some way to keep his house, etc. He has to be able to pay his bills. Mario has been down at least every 2 weeks since Walter got sick. He has been down the last 4 weeks in a row. 2 weeks over Christmas. The staff has been trying to keep it going , but they are young. And the old saying holds true. " While the cats away the mice will play" I feel really bad for the whole family. Walter's kids are great. They are 16 and 19. His oldest is a freshman at college. The younger one is kind of adrift. Mario is trying to do everything he can for everyone. But they miss their Dad. He raised them alone.
Carmella just had a baby 4 months ago. So she is busy with a 4 year old and a new born. Cute kids. Aiden is a dream. He and I went and explored the mardi gras vendors and had a blast. We banged the African drums, looked in all the vendors and he kept saying :don''t touch" I was really impressed. Then a street musician gave him a tambourine, I played the drums and the musician sang. We had such a nice adventure together. Then we listened to some music and danced. Fun kid. He makes me want grandkids.

So now you have met Mario. He and I really like each other. But alas he doesn't live here anymore. And has no plans to move back. I really wish I could do more to help him cope with all this. But he just keeps going and will do anything to help his younger brother. I will just continue to listen and let him vent. Thats all I can do.

THE AMAZING RACE

My daughter and I will be submitting our application and video to the Amazing Race today. We shot the video yesterday. They should have a great laugh. My daughter in law has wanted to do the show for the last 5 years. Originally she was going to do it with my daughter. Everyone decided our teaming up would be funnier and probably win us the race. And get us on the show. They have never had a mother in law / daughter in law team. And our relationship isn't the best on a good day. She frustrates the hell out of me. She' s a drama queen and very selfish. Time will tell. And she says I never listen.

I hope everyone is having a great week.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!!

I have been out of town at Disney for a few days. I was a friend of Mickey's for years. (character) So I still have friends that are friends also. My sister said it was embarrassing that I kept getting bear hugs and being totally engulfed by stray characters. I miss my friends and they miss me. It also makes it fun. Bear hugs are good.

My baby sister was in from New Jersey with my 13 year old niece and her friend Molly. My niece is 6' tall already. WE had a blast. Molly had never been before, so we showed her a really good time. She fell in love with the Animal Kingdom as much as we love it.

My take on Valentines day is not a good one. I believe it is a card company holiday and the retailers and florist jack up prices sky high. I also believe that your sweetheart should treat you special everyday. And a card company shouldn't instill guilt one day a year. I would rather go out to dinner any other time than on a holiday. But that's just my opinion.

This is also the first time in 11 years that I have had this weekend off. I have worked the Miami boat show every year and it is always over Valentines day. I find it kink of funny that I don't have a sweetie this year and I actually have it off. But I had a nice day anyway. I worked out with a new friend who used to be a trainer. We worked out at his gym. Then he detailed my car for me and we watched a comedian on tv. The comedian was really funny. It was a gorgeous day out. But I don't go to the beach 2 days in a row. And yesterday was just glorious. But never fear. I will be at the gym first thing then off to the beach. These sunny low 80's type of days are my kind of a winter.

Have an awesome day.

Happy Sunday

I have had a quiet week. My back has been bothering me. My friend Tom gave me a massage on Friday and fixed it. Thank God. I was in desperate need of an adjustment for sure. Now I am sick with a head cold. I will try and fix that up today.

Tomorrow I head to Disney for a few days. My sister and niece will be there and I am going to tag along and steal half my sisters bed. ;-} I will also see some friends from my Disney days. I am actually looking forward to a few Disney days. Just getting out of town will be nice for a change. And the weather is supposed to be really nice. Sunny and 80 during the day. Mid 50's at night. Nice. My sister lives in my home town in NJ and has been freezing.

I snuck in a ride yesterday for a few hours. It was still raw out and I was starting to feel crappy. So I came home and took a nap.

Last night I went to the movies with my daughter and a friend of hers. "He's just not into you " is funny. And all women should see it and men. Especially us single woman. You will have a few Oh My God moments.

I am off to the gym this morning for a short workout. I will ride today. My carpets are getting cleaned at noon. Then I am going to go ride and find some live music. A lot of the local biker bars cater to destination riders looking for someplace to listen to music on Sunday afternoons.

Have an awesome week.

It's cold again. Tonight they say it will go down in the 30's. I am not sure I like that idea.

My weekend was ok. Nothing big happening. My back has been really bothering me. Thats not good. But I still haven't given up the gym. I am just taking it easier.

I have a friend of mine that has been coming in an out from DC helping at his brothers restaurant. His brother is one of my best friends. We were really surprised to have a very mutual attraction to each other. But as all things go we have thought it out and decided logistics are just not good. I have no intention of moving out of sunny south Florida away from the sunshine, and my kids. He has no desire to move back to South Florida. Now he has a government job that he likes. I know and love DC. I lived there for 7 years. But I am NOT moving back. I really like my lifestyle. So before we acted on this mutual attraction we thought things thru. He's back in DC today and back to work. I will miss the connection. He's one of the nicest and real people I have gotten to know in a really long time. He's cautious and thinks things out before he acts. Wow.

My other sweetie is gone too. Oh well. That has always been the nature of the relationship. I do believe I am going to take a long break from guys. Maybe I will find another Mario locally. That would be really nice.

I hope everyone is staying warm.

Yesterday was the annual Chili Cook off. It's a huge country concert that has a massive chili cook off contest. But you can't eat the chili. You can't even buy chili at the cook off.

We had a blast like usual. Alan Jackson was the final performer and was just incredible. My daughter and I have seen him like 6 times now. He puts on a great show. Not as full blown as his big concerts, but boy can he sing.

The pictures are of me sitting on a crotch rocket motorcycle, the concert and my daughter Lauren and her best friend Andrea. I consider Andrea my adopted daughter. Andrea moved back from the west coast a few months ago and is settling back into having family around again. Not always easy some days. But my house is her haven like when she was growing up.

I hope everyone has as awesome a weekend as I did.

IT'S INAUGURATION DAY!!

As our country celebrates a new President. I stayed home, warm and watched it all on TV. As you can tell my pets were really enjoying all the festivities..

Now I had a really good friend of mine in that crowd with his niece. She's a freshman at University of Central Florida. She loved it, he said it was an experience that he is glad he has had. But he'll watch it on tv next time and stay warm. He's still trying to get home. She flew in last night from Orlando and is already on a plane home.

The only function I would have even attempted to go to would have been the concert on Sunday. I love to be warm, fed and have a clean bathroom at my disposal with no lines. Call me silly.

Tomorrow the President gets down to business. My question is this. Can he sleep in? The last ball they are visiting is slated for 3 am. Yikes. I need my sleep.

I hope everyone enjoyed this history making day. Whether you voted for him or not. It was history. And it was well done for sure with dignity and grace.

The last week in our family we celebrated another birthday. This one was Cade's 24th birthday. Cade is the younger brother of my adopted son Logan. His request for dinner was tacos and a german chocolate cake. We had a nice time.

This week was also a full moon. I hung out up on the beach lying on my back trying to get a good shot. My favorite full moon shots still come from Cabo last March.

On Monday evening I had my first audition for a poker dealing job. I bombed it so bad. I was so nervous my brain shut down. Now I have to find experience doing bar poker or charity events. Now the good news is , once I get experience they want me to come back and audition again. I knew I needed experience but I didn't expect to totally loose my train of thought. Unbelievable. I am so mad at myself.

This weekend I am on pet patrol again while everyone is gone in different directions. A family wedding on my wusband's side.
The kids are staying in NY city so they can enjoy the city instead of Northern NJ. My daughter is heading to Denver for her god daughters christening. Then I have company coming in all weekend. On top of being on airport duty. Fun times. The good news is the airport is 10 minutes away.

I hope everyone is staying warm. It even got cold down here this week.

Stop by and say hello and let me know what everyone is doing.

Last night the sunset was spectacular. Being on the east coast makes it kind of tough to get a good sunset shot sometimes. Last night nature cooperated for sure.

We have had a very action packed week on our beach. The city of Hollywood did really good in the planning department. They scheduled a hot air balloon festival start on January 2nd and going all weekend. Talk about keeping our visitors entertained on our beach straight thru the New Year. Our beach front business' have had a really good 2 weeks.

Now the wind was too much for the balloons to be up, so they just blew the torches last night. It was a really cool sight.

I hope everyone has an awesome 2009.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

May 2009 be a very healthy and happy year for you.

Carol

We had a very nice Christmas eve and day. A typical holiday at my house. No drama. Just loving being together.

My boyfriend joined us this year and had a very nice and mellow day. He usually doesn't do family gatherings. Now he has known my kids since they were teenagers and they actually like each other. I gave him some dressy shirts, a sherpa blanket that we all have and love. And last but not least a really nice swiss watch. He gave me a headset for my helmet and a gorgeous Harley leather jacket. He did good.

Today I am having a total beach day. Up on the beach early and staying until at least 3. I am bringing my wind screen for sure.

Have a very happy holiday weekend.