Shipwrecked & Comatose

This weekend blowhard du jour, Glenn Beck, and his air headed cheerleader, Sarah Palin, are rallying the country to "take it back." Some folks are cheering them on. Some folks are scared. Some are indifferent. Me? I'm just incredibly sad. What has this country come to? Here is a quote from Beck: " My role is, as I see it, to wake America up to the back-sliding of principles and values and, most importantly, of God. We are a country of God. As I look at the problems in our country, quite honestly I think the hot breath of destruction is breathing on our necks." From Palin: "What else do we have, at the end of the day," beyond faith in God ." Well, Sarah, that's a good question. I'm sure many of the people reading this are asking, "What's wrong with what they're saying? God is an important part of my life and how dare you tell me it can't be. You're Christian bashing." Let me assure you that I am not. I believe stro

I’m on my way. I have booked my trip to Paris. Kevin and I will be spending October 2-9 getting fat on French food and acting like crazy American tourists in celebration of our 9th anniversary. I’m staying at Hotel Les Rives Notre Dame (once the residence of John Steinbeck). I’m hoping this hotel is as great as it looks. It’s a 10-room boutique hotel in the Latin Quarter with a view of the Seine and Notre Dame. The guide books and TripAdvisor all seem to have positive things to say about it. I’m hoping it’s as pretty and convenient as it looks online. It goes to show you that perseverance does pay off. Just a few dollars here and there really can add up to the things you want. I will admit I did have some help from my family though, and I thank them for that because otherwise I think I might have to put this trip off for a year or two. Even if that happened, I still believe I could have made this happen even if it did mean waiting. I can’t stop putting money away though. I

I am not one of those virtuous people who says, "food is fuel and nothing more," then never eats more than necessary to maintin daily living. I don't eat to live. I live to eat. I'm sure I would be much thinner and healthier if I didn't take quite so much pleasure in eating. Unfortunately that's the truth. I love preparing and consuming food. My kitchen is the center of my world. It's not as if I don't have other pleasures in life. I love riding and performing and reading and blogging and the sweet sound of my husband's voice. Eating and cooking, however, for better or for worse, rank up there with all of those other pleasures. I think at times the "Food is Fuel" food police are a little too stringent. Food is a major part of so many cultures and sharing a meal with loved ones is a universal pleasure. What I'm trying to understand is why such a pleasure has become so toxic in our culture. Earlier this week I was at the gym

Well, you know I have to tell you all about it because that’s how I roll. Day 1 – We were off to a good start. We left home right before 7AM and had a quiet ride the whole way down to Virginia. We stopped at a turnoff on the causeway so we could get our first glimpse of the new bridge. It was strange coming onto the island right on Maddox St. When we arrived at our hotel, it was two hours till check in time so we thought we would walk around a bit and check in later. Then our room suddenly was ready. Once we unpacked, we headed to the beach. On our way there, we stopped at the pony pens. Only the southern herd was there at that point, but we could at least say hi to Surfer Dude. I saw my mother and Don there. They were on their way back from the beach. Mom warned me the water was quite cold. She was right. It didn’t stop me though. I just grabbed my boogie board and took the first good wave. When you have something to concentrate on, the water isn’t so bad. We had dinner