Full Circle Back to Weird

After sitting parked in my parent’s driveway for two weeks, I was getting a bad case of “driveway fever.”    There are only so many trips down to the local Walmart, or through the many fast food drive-thrus lining the main street of our 5,000 resident town that I will allow myself to make.    And my dear parents mean well, but Continue reading

New Shoes, Black, Size 16…

Aren’t they beeee-utiful?  Exciting stuff here in North Texas!!

I almost quit my job last week.   The amount of work and projects seem to be inversely proportional to the number of people that remain on my “team”…..from 4 teammates a year ago, now down to a team of “me.”  I even went so far as to call HR in attempt to order the “Intent to Retire Workbook” only to have them tell me they wouldn’t send it to me until after I had given them the date of my “intent to retire.”

But then I went to the Dodge Service Center and laid out $900 in a matter of a few hours. Continue reading

Urban Honey

When I was in Jersey City last September visiting with so many good friends, I got a little behind on the blog because there were so many people to see and old haunts to revisit.    Yet one of my favorite days while there never made the blog.   Now, my dear beautiful friend Paige is in the hospital, weighing heavily on my mind.  So I am inspired to go back and finish one of my best memories…

It was over dinner of burgers and brews at the White Star Tavern with two of my sailing buddies, Dan and Paige, when Paige announced, “We are beekeepers now!”  They bought a bee hive. 500 bees.  In Jersey City.  On their third floor rooftop.  Who knew there were “penthouse bees? “ Continue reading

Welcome to Texas, Snowbirds!….or “How to Survive a Texas Ice Storm!”

I have been parked in the driveway of my parents’ home in Central Texas.  Having grown up here, I know the old joke about “Don’t like the weather?  Just wait 15 minutes!” had to be coined about Texas, as it is common for the temperature to drop from the 80’s to the 40’s in an hour.    The weather was pleasant when I arrived, but the forecast predicted the always dreaded “wintery mix” on the way. Continue reading

One Bath is Worth a Thousand Words

I went through a few real cold spells while traveling through Pennsylvania and Virginia….those cold, damp nights that make you chilled to the bone.   I even experienced some snow with temperatures down to 28 degrees, (a number which I would scoff at later.)   What kept me going through those achy cold spells was the promise of a weekend stop in Hot Springs, Arkansas for a long hot soak on my way back to Texas. Continue reading

Urban Renewal in Little Rock

I came to Little Rock a couple of years ago to cross a few things off the “bucket list.”  One, after living in the bordering state of Texas most of my life, I had never once been across the state line to Arkansas.   We as a family always went west on road trips.   Second, I wanted to see the Clinton Presidential Library.   And lastly, I was working off my list of National Parks, and Hot Springs would be an easy target – a triple play over one long weekend. Continue reading

When in Memphis…

First of all, may I just say that the 18-wheelers on I-40 between Nashville and Little Rock are the meanest junk yard dogs in the yard!   It doesn’t matter how fast you keep up, or how slow they are entering the entrance ramps, they are going to run you over without so much as a sideways glance.

To make matters worse, I was kicked out of the Walmart parking lot in my pajamas Continue reading

Life in Cave City

Since I took my virtual office on the road, my life sometimes feels like a game of “Frogger,” that old 1980’s video game, back in the day when video games were the size of an entire phone booth rather than a smart phone.   Life seems like a series of lily pads, highways, and RV Parks where I must wait for them all to align with my work schedule before I can “leap” to the next safe stop. Continue reading