the places I meet people for drinks! (e:kangarooboi) and I hve been trying to get together for drinks for a couple of months now. I didn't know he'd Be here, so it was a surprise to see him. we joked that it took flying all the way to florida to finally meet up.

I took a direct flight to orlando monday afternoon and rented a car. then checked into a really snazzy hostel. it really is quite nice. I have a large private room and bathroom, cable tv w/ movie stayions, access to a common room (more tv, music, games, video games, etc), internet access, full kitchen, cute asian guys, swimming pool and gorgeous private lake.
I met up with ladycroft at her place of stay, a giant marriot conveniently located just a few miles away. I went in and immensly enjoyed its multiple clear swimming pools, which had slides, waterfalls and palm trees, ofcourse! poolside drnks were crazy expensive but yummy. I spent a lot of time in the pool. I love to swim and can't get enough of it.
the days have been perfect with their sunshine and mid
80s temps. the nights are warm with clear starry skies. it feels sooooooo good to wear next to nothing, hair pinned up and waring flip flops. it is a nice retreat from those few weeks of deep freeze. I looooove winter and they only seem to get better (no snow till january!-and not much since) but our freaky deep freeze initiated my desire to head south for a week or so.
--its really great, but not enough to abandon buffalo. anytime I travel, move about, I'm reminded that although buffalo can get resally effin cold, its really the warmest place to be. theres nothin like our community- such a kindred feel. whether born and raised or just moved in, or moved and came back---or really wish to-we gravitate towards each other, this area..and that happens to be buffalo.

now its time to head back out and explore. spending the day in the atlantic wiped me out last night, so I slept in. I hate to wash the lingering salty ocean smell out of my hair...

sending warm sun salt and sand your way, peeps :)

feels sooooo good..

These pics go with the prior post, well, the post that has words thumbed out from my cellphone while at a dog show in Syracuse. Bare with me on the quality of pics- I didn't adjust for the variations in lighting and the excited doggies kept moving! There were so many.. I only snapped a few pics as I felt a bit intrusive getting the few that I did take.

today throgh sunday there is a dog show at the new york state fairgrounds, where I am at now. today is a nice day to be here as there aren't many people in attendance. I imagine it will get busy with the weekend. it is a delight to see so many breeds of dogs. not sure of the etiquette for dog shows, I contained my enthusiasm by stuffing my hands into my pockets. the ones I really wanted to pet, I asked permission first. I watched many pooches getting their fur coiffed. at somepoint I remembered to pull out my camera/phone. here are the few that I did take. some are from the walk/display-ring, others from the agility/obediance ring. I'm posting whatever I have...

not hard to imagine my exuberance at being arounds animals. so of course I wanted to bring more than a few home. off the top of my head, I want a newfoundland, a french bulldog, a furry chihjuaha (sp), yellow lab, and anything else that just wants lots of belly rubs and run through the woods.

dinner last night at a little dive calles euclid was yummy. no pics despite having 'southern fried chicken'. today was a stop at 'heids' an old hot dog stand with a great atmosphere. I went for a birch beer and coney hotdog. yum.

that's about it...enjoy the sun :)

omg it is soooooooooooooooooooo warm outside! the freaky thunder and rain storms have receded a bit, just a few grumbles and sprinkles now. I see the sun!!!!

open your windows! the air smells good! (where I am at) get outside!

play hookey! find a basketball court!

Its March and it really feels like spring. YAY!

After a few nights of insomnia, I finally crashed Thursday night and slept quite a bit. It felt good to catch up on sleep, until I found myself falling back asleep just a few short hours later. This would have been yesterday, the warm sun filled day. I dozed deeply until about 5 pm. My plans to explore an unknown destination were now derailed. I quickly jumped out of bed (again), threw on clothes and ran out the door to try to salvage the remaining daylight hours.

I hiked, I walked, I trudged through spring sludge, I breathed, I jogged, I climbed hills, chatted with strangers, laughed, observed nature, contemplated and soaked up the still brightly lit sky.

Met a dog named Guinness, haha. The little white ball of fluff tried to eat me.

A bench high up on a hill provided me with a few minutes of solitude to rest and look out at what appeared to be a screen of bright blue. The water and sky reflected the same color, making the view in front of me feel and look surreal. As always, I enjoyed the experience of it.

The sky had a few remaining streaks of light as I wrapped up my late afternoon romp.

and that would have been almost 8:00 pm! I love the longer days!!!!!

While I had originally planned on a day trek out somewhere else (close eyes, point to map, finger lands on destination of the day), this short 'journey' sufficed. Not bad for last minute damage control.

The desire to go out today was strong, although the persistent rain has been unappealing enough to keep me home. Sometimes I like walking in the rain, other times, such as today, it does not interest me at all. I'm pining for some more sunshine. I am however, figuring out my next few destinations and activities.

.. and figuring out a few other things out as well. All in time, all in time..

Right now though, I am making a cup of coffee and heading out into my attached garage, kitties in tow, to begin organizing, cleaning, purging the items contained within. Its been a super busy two years and this is pretty much the last of the purging process that I began several weeks ago. I wonder what kind of forgotten treasures I will find?

The weekend is half over... wonder what else there is to do. I hope to find something fun and interesting to do socially, yet I am not ambitious enough to make sure it happens. Default activity will be to finish reading my national geographic adventure magazine to further fill my head with ideas :)

lots of places to go, things to do..

wow, I should have begun using this well before today!

I received a juicer as a gift some time ago. I recall prior to ownership, pondering whether I would actually use one. Would I use it? The idea of having one intrigued me, but not enough to actually go buy one myself. I like veggie juice, but it is usually insanely loaded with salt, something I am not fond of. The low sodium variety is still too salty tasting to me (and usually more expensive). The cool new natural vegetable and fruit health juices, "Naked" (no salt!!) and other brands, are yummy, but at 4$ or more a bottle, I rarely purchase them.

I've also been cooking and baking a lot more- which always has veggies/fruits embedded within. It would be perfect to add the remaining pulp to just about anything. Mmmmm muffins, soups, chili, meatballs, etc. Soooooooo dusting off my unopened box containing a Hamilton Beach juicer, I bought some veggies today and began to beat them to a pulp.

The blade is scary.

It really does juice anything.

It is suggested to load the juicer completely to get the best juicingfriction and to slowly push the food down to get the most juice. I would love to be a technical writer for contraptions like these. I would push the limit on terminology. Suggestive innuendos, indeed. It scared me when I first turned it on. Loud and scary- but not any more so than a blender. Oh and it was quick.

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all the fresh veggies...

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its makes a lot of juice, quick.

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kinda freaky looking. Made me think of Fraggle Rocks, "Trash Heap"- where'd that come from???

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yummy!

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• pics aren't showing up. Perhaps too big? I'll check it later. Right now I am working on making a lentil soup with the remaining pulp. Should be yum yum yum!

In a mood for a movie, I turn to my friends for suggestions and reviews. I'm leaning more toward ridiculous comedy, but the only movie any of my friends have seen, seem to be, "300". I hadn't thought about it much until one of their reviews was so eloquently stated to me:

"300 six-packs running around in banana hammocks is reason enough. go, go now."

lol!

and msnbc chimes in with, "Zack Snyder's opulent eye-candy remake, "300," ... is one of 2007's most anticipated movies."



What I am waiting to see, is "Blades of Glory" a movie that indeed looks like ridiculous and brainless fun. or not. Previews have made me giggle and that is about all I need.




on another note.. is it normal to be able to walk into a hospital, go up to the patient floor, and walk into a room completely unnoticed? I mean, it just seems so.. accessible. I never visited anyone in the hospital before, and it seems that there would be a check in of some sort..

Recently, I heard Joey giving one of his toys a pretty fair beating. He is a busy cat and I swear he sleeps only at night. Well, ever curious as to what he found to amuse himself, I looked in on his playtime. And I grabbed the camera of course :)












I do believe he was making a bit of a political statement...




and I will spare you the other 500 pictures I took, haha