Black Belt Living

Dallas Observations

Okay, I've been here in Dallas for about 24 hours now. I've been here before, but it's been a while. Some observations....

1) the airport is bigger than I remember. It should have it's own zip code. It probably does.

2) I've always been good with directions, I've been here before, I've got a map, I've got a Garmin, and I've taken so many wrong turns already. Driving here is not for sissies. I also got pulled over last night, but the cop was great and let me go. He was great, and helpful too.

3) The food here rocks....no debate! Had dinner at Babe's Chicken House tonight and I think I've died and gone to chicken-fried heaven.

4) Churches are massive here. What's that all about?

5) JerryWorld....the new Cowboys stadium looks like it's own planet or alian spaceship. I can't wait to see the inside. The Bengals are so bad this year that I could be a Cowboys fan again, but they're sucking too. Go Texans!

6) I'd forgotten how much I like country music, line dancing, and cool cowboy boots. I've been away too long. And I miss Garth Brooks.

But no matter where you are and why you're there, it's great to be with your family and see friends who live far away. That's what it's all about, and we never have enough time.

More later. If this looks goofy, it's because this is my first blog post via iPad.

Big D

We lost my Uncle Big D today to the Big C.  Big D trumps Big C any day.  Big C sucks. Big D rocked my world. 

On a positive note, I'm off to the Big D (as in Dallas) for a few days. I even get to hook up with my partner in photography crime, Andie Smith.  Family and friends in a funtastic city. Throw in a funeral and that's a whole bunch of F-words that will end up equalling fun. Yeah, I know. It's a funeral, but we do them right in my family. A few tears, a few beers, and it's all good fun. Big D would not want us shedding a whole lot of tears unless his Ohio State Buckeyes really blow it this season (and as a big Michigan fan, I can only hope that THEY DO!). 

If I've learned anything at all in this miserable excuse of a year 2010, it's that with every tragedy, there is an equal and opposite blessing. I know that Big D's passing will be no different. 

So Dallas, here I come. I sure wish I had my Mike Modano Red Wings jersey to wear to the Stars/Ducks hockey game on Tuesday night. I'm supposed to be getting that for Christmas. Yeah baby. 

Billy Joel had it right....Only the Good Die Young.  That's the God damn truth. 

Love ya Big D! You may be gone physically, but you'll always be here with me. 

Race for the Cure - Northwest Ohio

I'm headed up to Toledo this morning for a reunion of sorts. This past spring, my friend and Delta Delta Delta sorority sister Gretchen Gotthart Skeldon lost her fifteen year battle with breast cancer. This weekend, some of our TriDelt sisters are getting together to run/walk for Gretchen in the Northwest Ohio Race for the Cure. 

Gretchen was probably the kindest, most generous, and positive person that I've ever met in my life. I know that she's touched a bazillion lives in such a positive way over the years and while she will be dearly missed, she'll never be forgotten.

So I'm on the road this morning and staying with my friend Mary Helen, who I haven't seen for probably 25 years and I can't wait! I'm also hoping to catch up with a childhood friend, Teresa, who lives in Toledo. Teresa and I have been friends since I was four years old and she was three. That's a LOT of history right there, people. 

I'm going to attempt the walk tomorrow with my big camera, so we'll see how that goes. I hope I can get some good pics this weekend.

Catch ya on Monday!

The Third Saddest Day of the Year

Okay, the saddest day of the year is probably the day after the Super Bowl, or the day after the Stanley Cup is won, but the "travel home" day on your summer vacation is right up there.  And alas, that's TODAY. 

I never feel as bummed when we have to go home after a ski trip.  Maybe it's the sore muscles or the separated shoulder (on the last ski trip) that I bring home with me as souvenirs. 

How can time fly by so fast when all you're doing is sunbathing, eating, reading, and sleeping? For some reason, this year's Florida trip has been even lazier than most.  I didn't blog much, not because I didn't want to, but my pics aren't too great, and frankly I don't have a mouse with me and that makes photo editing a real pain. But mainly, because I was a lazy slug.  I didn't even read much while I was down here this year.

Normally I kill about a book a day. Not this trip. I brought one of my all time favorite books with me, The Pillars of the Earth, and decided that medieval historical fiction doesn't exactly make for good beach reading. I'm only about 1/4 into it. I just couldn't deal with starving stone cutters this week. I also have The Help with me as well, and thanks to my disinterest in POTE, I just started it last night. Hopefully it will entertain me through a ghastly layover in the armpit of all airports, Atlanta, this afternoon. It's read or watch the USA in the world cup and I'll probably be doing both. 

Fortunately, there are good things to look forward to at home:

• Shannon is going to camp next week
• Olive the Wonder Dog
• A faster internet connection
• South Beach Diet as opposed to South Beach (...okay, well maybe that's NOT something to look forward to)
• Another Michael Buble' concert
• Booking next year's return trip to South Florida

Okay, that's about it.  So much for staying positive. Time to wrap this up and pack my bags. See ya back in the land of sweat. It might be Africa hot here, but at least there's a breeze and an ocean. 

South Beaching

Yesterday we took a road trip to Miami to check out the architecture (okay, and the fun that goes with it) in Miami Beach and the Art Deco district in South Beach. 

I haven't uploaded my pics from my camera yet, but let's just say that I'm VERY sorry that I didn't bring my good camera gear here this time. In all the trips we've made to South Florida, I've never brought it and never really regretted it, until YESTERDAY. So I did the best I could with what I had. 

 

There is so much to look at...so much color, so much great design, so many interesting people. And yes, it's true, the women of Miami are in general, just gorgeous. I felt like such a frump. 

We will be back there, you can bet on it. Hopefully next time, we'll stay there for a few days. 

PIcs are coming, I promise! The ones above aren't mine, but you can at least get an idea. 

Just Like Groundhog Day

In the movie Groundhog Day, Bill Murray kept reliving the same day over and over and over again.

It's not that much different here, really.  We do a lot of relaxing, playing in the surf, reading, enjoying the resort, and of course eating and drinking. Lather, rinse, repeat. I haven't even taken that many photos, because frankly, they look like all of my other photos from down here. Granted, we're at a new resort this year, just up the road from the old one (if you can call it old).  I will be putting up a few pics of that later this week.

But in the meantime, here are a few shots from our balcony and from around the resort. We're on the 19th floor, one from the top, and the panoramic views are fantastic! As you can see, we've also had some pretty impressive clouds and storms, usually late in the day but sometimes in the very early morning. 

 

  

Some impressing storms down here, that's for sure!

 In the photo below, that's Shannon waiving from our room balcony. Way. Up. There. I took this shot from the comfort of my pool chair.  Don't be a hater.

 

That's all for now...aren't the skies great!  I bet we'll see more like this tomorrow and the day after....

Going sightseeing in Miami and South Beach tomorrow! I've never been there, and I'm really looking forward to it! 

Return of the King (fish)

Depending on how long you've listened to me babble on this blog, you may or may not recall this photo, where Andy nabbed several meals on one hook....the Kingfish!  

Well that was two years ago, and since a family reunion took us to the Outer Banks of North Carolina last year, we haven't had a chance to return to our favorite home away from home, Singer Island Florida.  

Until today.  

So look out all you grouper, snapper, and kingfish. We're back, and we're HUNGRY! 

If you're interested in reading about our Big Fish Story, you can find it here:  Sucking the Big Donut  

If that title doesn't get you to click on the link, I don't know what will.  

NYC in HDR

I promised that I'd get these photos up here and finally...here they are!  I hope you like them.  I sure like taking them.  I realize that HDR is not everybody's cup of tea, but I think they're fun and different. 

Grand Central Station

NY Public Library

Bryant Park Station

Times Square

 ESPN Zone, Times Square  

 

Radio City Music Hall

     

30 Rock (Rockefeller Center) and Top of the Rock 

 

St. Patrick's Cathedral

 Fifth Avenue

    

Ground Zero

NY Harbor

   
 

 All in all, a glorious day!

Memorial Day

Wow, here we are on the edge of Memorial Day weekend, 2010.  I never get over how quickly time passes and this year is no exception. 

The odd thing for me this year, and I'm keeping it real here, is that 2010 hasn't been the greatest. In fact, there have been way too many days that have done nothing but suck. Loss, illness, hospitalizations, funerals, and just generally really crappy things. In 2010, bad things didn't just happen in threes, they seemed to happen in thirty-threes. 

But on the bright side, I am convinced that things are truly looking up.  We're still standing.  We're all healthy and happy. We have much to be grateful for.  And yesterday, as I stood on the Kentucky side of the Ohio river and took in the gorgeous Cincinnati skyline, it was so bright and beautiful that the sky looked like it was overexposed. 

When I came home, I decided to look back on 2010 and pick out good things, things that seemed to have gotten somewhat overshadowned by the gloom-and-doom. I found a LOT of good, and so I've decided to share some of it with you.  Not all the pics are the best, but that's okay. These are going to be my memories of 2010 on this Memorial Day weekend and we move on from here!

January

Festival of Lights - we nearly froze to death, but it was still great!

A few good snowstorms.....

Shannon riding the Zamboni at the Cyclones' game for her birthday

February

The Olympics - I LOVE the Olympics!

   Birthday party at The Mad Potter

  My inlaws celebrated 50 years of marriage!

March

A 7th grade science project turns into a pet with her own Facebook page.  Meet Shellbey.  

and then there was Michael Buble' and making some new friends...

April

Easter and beautiful spring blossoms...

  a big, beautiful party to celebrate my inlaws' anniversary!

The Cincinnati Cyclones kicking off their playoff fight, sometimes literally!  

Skating at US Bank Arena

 

Seeing Maggie and Marco and the family in New York after way too long...

 May

Witnessing a new baby coming into the world.

There is NOTHING better than that.

Waking up the yard and garden with some powerwashing and a bunch of new color....

Watching the Cyclones win it all and take the Kelly Cup Championship. We watched them win...

....and we celebrated with the team! 

And so....here we are ready to jump into summer.

I know ours is going to be great, and I hope yours is too.  Here's to a fantastic 2010 from here out!     

Vacation Home

We were so fortunate to stay in this really beautiful vacation home last week while on vacation in the Outer Banks. Homes there all have names, our house was Grace-by-the-Sea. Hello Grace!

The home had seven bedrooms, seven and a half baths, a huge pool, a game room with a pool table and bar, a great kitchen, and comfy furniture. It was decorated really nicely as well, with lovely quilts, artwork and pottery, beautiful floors, and hand painted furniture. Decks wrapped all around the house on both the second and the third floors, so there was always someplace to sit outside with a nice cool breeze, even on the super hot days.

Our bathroom had a double shower which was just the bomb! If I could have brought anything back with me, it would have been that double shower. It was so great. The photo above was our bedroom. It was lovely, peaceful, and comfortable.

There was also a home theatre system that I suppose was great, but it was so sophisticated that we all had trouble getting it to work. The sound system went through every room and the pool area, so we had XM radio throughout the house as well. There were high def flat screen televisions everywhere, and the lower level had a pool table and a cork floor, which was great for when you were coming in from the pool.

From the front of the house, you could see the ocean, and the back looked over a lovely pond/lake.

The pool was large, with a kiddie pool, a hot tub, and plenty of chairs. The barbecue was big and made the men happy too!

It was so neat, and you could tell that the owners must live there part of the year, because it was definitely a home that was well cared for an not just a rental stocked with junk.

You can see more about our house (heh...not really our house, but you know what I mean!) by clicking here. I've been fortunate to have stayed in some really great places in my travels, and this has got to be right up there as one of the nicest, for sure. 

We'll certainly back to reality here....work, chores, laundry, bills and taxes, dentist appointment, South Beach Diet/ carb detox, and schedule conflicts. I had kind of forgotten how much the first few days on SBD sucks. Hmmm......  Shannon leaves for camp this week, so we've got to get it together to get ready for that as well. I guess reality is what makes vacation so special, right?