July in Bethesda

Its been a lOOOng week, and this is only Wednesday. (Gosh, only Wednesday, feels like this week has been three weeks long.)

I managed to get the cat to the vet on Saturday for his groomer to cut his hair. He was a mess, his fur/hair is so long and curly. It was matted and I couldn't get a comb through it. He looks very nice now and seems quite happy about his new haircut. At $45 I think I should let the cat groomer cut my hair, it would be cheaper than "kirk" my hairstylist.
It was quite a hoot watching me wrestle Zeus into the little cat carrier. Then I have the 25lb. animal wiggling around in the carrier and I can hardly lift that much anyway. I lifted him onto my granny cart (grocery cart) and got him down 6 floors to the parking garage. I managed to drag him into the vet's office. Same on the way home, thank goodness for the granny cart.
I'm getting quite the biceps workout. That same day I managed to lift a case of bottled water, a 28lb tub of cat liter, a 25lb bag of cat food and a huge bottle of liquid Tide. You would think my newly thinner arms would firm up a bit, but NO, Oh No, they are just dumb flabby old arms.

The bag of trash I had to carry down the hall to the trash chute was the topper of my day though. It was a "tall kitchen bag" and had quite a bit in it. I cleaned the cat litter too and added that, then the bag was really heavy. I started down the long hallway - we live in the expensive end of the hallway -- if you buy a condo, you pay more $$ to live far away from the trash chute room, so you won't ever have to hear any noise/smell any odor. So, I have to personally transport my trash down the long hallway. I'm thinking it must be 75 feet or so...anyway, long hallway like a hospital corridor.
So the bag seems pretty heavy, I drop it to the floor and let it drag along the pretty carpet. No problem. I get it into the trash room and lift it to the chute, which is 3 feet off the floor. And requires one hand to open the chute door and hold it open, while the other hand must lift the heavy bag into the chute. It was at that point that I realized the bag had a hole in the bottom or side.

::heavy sigh::

I jammed the trash bag down the chute and prayed it didn't get stuck.

It was only when I opened the trash room door and started back down the hall to our condo that I realized what a mess I had just made. You could clearly trail the cat litter all the way back to my door. Of course, some nice lady was standing in the hallway, saying "Oh my God, what is this stuff?" and touching the pile of litter with the toe of her shoe.

::shoot::

So, I dragged out my vacuum cleaner, found an outlet in the hallway, and started cleaning up my mess. I worked for about 30 minutes. I finished the entire hallway, looked pretty good too. I had to find more outlets as I went, I think I have a 30 foot cord on the vacuum. I moved outlets at least 3 times to get the whole hallway done.

That's how my week has been going. I look forward to putting July behind me and tackling August!

Ship Island

It is our last day of vacation, and it was a very great day. The weather cooperated and we took the ferry from Gulfport to Ship Island. This little island is 11 miles out to sea, one side you can swim in the Mississippi Bay and the other side was the Gulf of Mexico. It was great fun. There were lots of things to see in the clear waters, like fish, sharks, jellies, and crabs.

Exhausted but happy, we found the coolest place for dinner. Aunt Jenny's Catfish in Ocean Springs. All they serve is fried catfish, fried shrimp, hush puppies and fried dill pickles. It was great!


Wild flowers in the swampy part of Ship Island.



Gulf side of the Island, about a half mile boardwalk from the ferry.












Fort Massachusetts on Ship Island, It is part of a National Park, reminds us of Dry Tortugas in Key West, Florida.

Beauvior

Jefferson Davis' last home in Biloxi, MS
Davis was the President and leader of the Confederacy, so this place is analogous with Mt. Vernon.

Beautiful Antebellum home. Survived Katrina, but lots of damage. In recovery now.

It's Friday in Biloxi, Mississippi

Things I love about Mississippi:

* The sultry feel (yes, I know its hot, but somehow it feels good too.)
* Emeril's fancy fun restaurant
* The beautiful beach to walk along
* The clerks say, "Thank you Miss Barbara."
* Random strangers open doors and actually smile.
* Random people make eye contact and say How you doin' Mamm? (Not the scary eye contact, just smiling eye contact.)
* I love hearing the locals speech patterns.
* Its good these folks do not charge me for this wireless connection.

Ed is with me today, his work is finished for now. So we have today and tomorrow to be a family (a couple) again. It has decided to rain today, but that's OK. We probably won't be able to take the ferry to Ship Island, but we'll think of something else.
We have reservations in New Orleans tonight at Emeril's flagship restaurant. We've been there before, but each visit is fun to see what cool dishes they are cooking and how attentive the wait staff is. (Its a little better than Waffle House, where we also ate.) LOL.
They couldn't find the "light batter" at Waffle House for me. Shoulda known better. Never heard of sugar free syrup.

It is a good use of all those "credit hours" I've built up at work by working such long days. I took 2 vacation days and 3 credit hour days to spend this time with Ed. I used some of my frequent flyer miles for the airline ticket. Most of my days are spent alone here, exploring with my rental car. I eat alone for breakfast and lunch, but meet Ed and his co-workers for dinner. There were four of us at Mary Mahoney's. It was nice, they are very nice folks, this time all guys.
Today and tomorrow Ed will get to spend time with me. We just got word that the trip he was planning to Wash DC for next week is off now. So, it will be a while before we get to see each other again.






This quilt is in the Hard Rock Casino. It is dedicated to Frank Zappa and is constructed entirely of panties and bras thrown onto his stage. Actually pretty cool quilt.






George was the "Mad Potter" of Biloxi, he was a clay artist. Made "vagina pots" interesting...hm.m.m.


Almost had the camera confiscated taking this shot...it is in a casino and they do not allow cameras. Old Italian security guy in dark suit stepped up to "speak" to Ed about me... he didn't address me...just Ed....it was pretty funny.


Here we are after dinner at Emeril's Gulf Coast Fish House. Ed had Andouille Sausage crusted Redfish, I had grilled Mahi Mahi and collard greens and sweet potato baked with brown sugar an marshmallows....
We had seasonal berry cobbler for dessert.

Ed at work in Biloxi

Barbara and Ed having dinner with his co-workers. It was very good, I had grilled snapper.


This was the VA in Gulfport. Its been since 2005 and Katrina still has a huge impact on this community.


Ed's work this time is over at the VA in Biloxi. They are doing good work there. In a few years they will have things fixed up really well. It has been a big impact of Katrina, even now.

Weight Watchers Monday

Today is my weigh in day, but since I'm on vacation, I didn't want to go to the NIH campus. So, I skipped weigh in today. This is my weight watchers OK lunch. Lean turkey sandwich with reduced fat hot pepper cheese on artisan Italian bread, served with a teaspoon of Dijon Mustard on the side. Fresh mango, Tri-color Coleslaw (with homemade weight watchers OK dressing), tomato salad made WV style with locally grown tomatoes and peppers, and Vidallia onions.
The drink is zero calories, Perrier Pamplemousse Rose (which is basically sparking water with a touch of pink grapefruit juice) quite yummy.

This is my lunch view from my balcony. Metro comes out of the tunnel right in front of my toe, and that is Rockville Pike traffic you can see, and the Marriott across the street. Its beautiful here today, about 87 and low humidity. Great day.

Think I'd better go for a hike.

Tomorrow unfortunately, it will be airports and confined spaces. I'm thankful I can buckle the airplane seat belts now.

Yay! It's the Weekend!

It has been a beautiful week here in Bethesda. The temperatures are unseasonably mild and the humidity is very low. Its GREAT!

I'm hoping to get to walk/hike outside tomorrow, maybe at the park in Germantown. Although the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History has a neat exhibit I would enjoy seeing also....guess I'll have to see what tomorrow brings.

I started the weekend with dinner at an outside patio in Bethesda. I had the special, grouper, and it was really good. After 10 years of working in it, I finally really like eating fish. Took me a while to warm up to it, but now fish is fine with me. A couple weeks ago I even ordered a Rockfish which is served whole here. (head, tail intact) Even that was fine, got the bones out OK and everything. Part of my plan to embrace new and different (aka healthier) foods. So far, so good.

July in Vallejo, Part 2

V. Sattui Winery in Napa Valley, CA. July 3, 2009

Barbara and Ed Nicholson at Cakebread Cellars in Napa.

View from the condo in Vallejo, CA - Carquinez Bridge

Shot of the vines at Cakebread Cellars in Napa. 7/3/2009

July in Vallejo

View from Ed's balcony in Vallejo.



It is beautiful here this weekend, very mild and quite comfortable. It is just about perfect weather.
I had a good flight on Jet Blue. It was direct from Dulles. I think I made a mistake and overpaid the driver, but Oh Well. It wasn't my usual driver, he is on vacation and had someone else driving for him. The guy was very nice, but it was my mistake.

We already stopped at one of our old haunts, a favorite Mexican restaurant. Food was great, but not too great for my WW. I had gained a pound at Monday's weigh in. I'm obviously having a struggle and all this travel won't help me. But, I'm trying. Ed did purchase some fat free Greek yogurt for me, so I have a safe snack on hand. Trying to control my weight really requires planning and commitment. I know from my past failures that when my world is upset, I tend to gain. I guess I am trying to build new healthier habits that will get me through.

Much like children and animals, I do best with a routine or schedule.