Random is an understatement

In this wacky crazy world I met an amazing man on a random game of Words With Friends (WWF). For those of you that are not familiar with WWF it is a scrabble type game played on your phone. You can challenge friends or create random games. So a year ago I created several random games....I needed to feed my new addiction! I wasn't very good in the beginning and lost many games, but I was in it for the fun and didn't care.

So, after losing a game I re-matched my opponent and we played again...I lost...again...then re-matched...etc. On WWF there is a chat board that you and your opponent can comment back and forth during your game. After several games with this random person I sent a message inquiring about his (didn't know it was a man at first) location. When you play random games you could end up playing your neighbor or someone in another country..hence the randomness. David lived in Houston.

We continued to play over the next few weeks with comments back and forth. He and I realized that we have a lot in common! We both love to cook, drink wine and one day want to live by the ocean.

Well...to make a long story short, after several weeks we decided to meet face to face. Last October I flew to Texas and had a great weekend.....and now we are planning a future together!

I am so glad I re-matched him that day, so glad I took a leap of faith!

More Traveling Tales

So...back to my tales of traveling. I was not home from my trip to Miami long when it was time to saddle up again and head back out of town. This time was a girls trip. Kailie, Emily and I along with Kailie's BFF Meggan, and her sister Rachel and their mom Robyn packed up and headed to Hilton Head. My sister-in-law (at the time-technically now just my best friend) Dani was already there waiting on our arrival!
After a long, funny, scary at times, in the back roads of South Carolina because the GPS obviously wanted us to have an adventure type drive...we arrived!!! The beer was cold and waiting for us!! The young girls headed to their rooms and the 3 of us adults (I use that term loosely) talked and laughed until the wee hours of the morning. Robyn and I told Dani of our interesting drive and how we ran over a dead deer. Oh the laughs we got from that over the next few days! It was a wonderfully relaxing time. Dani, Robyn and I did have a mom's night out one evening. I must admit when I woke up the next morning I felt like I had done hundreds of sit ups because my stomach and sides hurt so bad from laughing.
I am very excited because we already have the next annual girls trip to Hilton Head on the calendar for this year!!

Next stop...RI! I think I actually spent 2 weeks at home before my next trip. The annual pilgrimage back home...always wonderful, full of friends, family and fun! The 3 F's! (not the other one) I was very fortunate this year..my friend Katie got us tickets to go see a Red Sox game at Fenway! We arrived in Boston a few hours before the game started. We walked and talked and had a great time. It had been decades since I had been to a Red Sox game, ironically they were playing the same team they played the first and only other time I had been there. The Sox did not win...but it was a blast!

The first few days there were a little cool, but then the weather changed and turned into the fabulous New England weather for that time of year.
I got a great deal on a hotel in Providence. The location was great, the staff was friendly and the bed was so very comfortable!!! I went to the hotel bar a few times and met some nice people from various places...bought a bottle of wine and took it back to my room. I even ordered room service one night. It was the first time I had ever done that....I felt like such a grown up.

I had brunch with my cousins Peggy and Cathy....that is becoming an annual thing too! It was great to catch up with them again.

Of course there was the annual Cumberland Company reunion. It is always wonderful to see those friends. Unfortunately this year the fire department didn't show up.

And just like the previous visit to RI, I was able to have lunch with some friends that I have known for years....about 26 (wow where does time go?)
The last few nights were spent at the Scarborough Beach Motel in Narragansett. The time I spend at the beach recharges my batteries! Walking on the shore with the sand in my toes...listening to the waves crash and watching the sunset over Galilee....these are some of the things I look forward to every year!

On my drive to the beach I went to Wickford. It is an adorable harbor town with cute shops and restaurants. I spent some time wandering through the shops and struck up a conversation with the owner of an art gallery. She and I had many things in common and it was just one of those karma kind of meetings.

Of course I ate at Chen's and went to George's. There are just some things that are a necessity when visiting RI.

My last morning in RI is always bittersweet. I had extra time to get to the airport because my flight left a little later in the day. I made one last trip to Dunkin Donuts and headed to the Sea Wall to watch the waves. There was little time left to soak up the sea air. I will be heading to RI again this year...it will be different though.... I may have company.
Next stop...Texas...but there's a story about that first! Stay Tuned!

I'm back...at least for today.

So, I was at work the other day and my friend Melissa told me she was bored the other evening so she read my blog....funny I thought...I have a blog? Oh right...that blog I started in 2009 and haven't written a word since February of 2010. She told me she enjoyed it...so I decided...hey, maybe I should read it, so I did. I enjoyed it too...brought back some memories and inspired me to start back up. But I'm sure after a few entries life will take over and I will be silent yet again...that is until someone reminds me again that I have a blog. Well, 2 actually.

WOW! It really has been a year since I've written anything, and oh what a year it's been. First the fact is I am now divorced. There, said, done, amicable, relatively quick and all my choice.

I did do a lot of traveling over the past 10 months. After I got separated the girls and I needed a weekend away. We headed to Myrtle Beach, relatively close and I got a good deal on priceline. The beach was lined with hotels which takes away the beauty and mystique of the ocean. At least the view from the balcony was beautiful.

We spent 2 nights and when we left Myrtle Beach we decided to take a slight detour and went to Charleston for lunch.

The next trip was to Florida to see my family for the 4th of July. It is always wonderful to spend time with my sisters and my dad. The girls enjoy their time with the cousins. Kailie brought her BFF Meggan so she had someone to hang out with.


In August I headed back down to Florida..this time without the girls. Way back in a previous post I mentioned going to an open cast call for The Next Food Network Star. While at the audition I met some really nice people and of course we all became friends on facebook. Well...Aria one of the folks I spent hours with while waiting our turn to be interviewed, ended up being cast on the show and made it to #4! It was so exciting watching every week, cheering her on....but anyway. She lives in Miami and had invited me and Christopher, another FN wanna be to spend a weekend. Of course we jumped at the chance and headed to South Florida. We had a blast!! Heard all about Aria's experience as a contestant on the Food Network...we ate great food...and I got to go to South Beach.
Aria was a gracious hostess! What a great weekend it was.
Well, I will continue my travel tales soon. I must say it feels good to blog again. But like working out it may be short lived...I hope not.

Super Bowl Sunday

I am sitting in my living room watching the Super Bowl, sipping on a Corona....I can honestly say I do not care who wins, I am just watching it for the commercials. We are only in the first quarter and I have chuckled at a few of these expensive advertisements. When I go to work tomorrow I will not be discussing yardage or touch down passes, but which commercial made me laugh the hardest.

What?!?! It's 2010..When the hell did that happen?

I honestly thought I would be a better blogger...but I am not. Is it that I have nothing to say? My friends would argue with that. There really is not a good excuse for my blogging silence...just laziness I guess. The holidays have come and gone and the the first month of the new year is quickly coming to an end. Perhaps it is the cold weather that has me in a writing hibernation. This winter seems to be colder than some of the others in the recent past, or maybe it's not and I have just blocked out all the others. Well whatever the reason is it really doesn't matter. 2010 proves to be an interesting year....We will just have to wait and see what the next 11 months brings.

The Trip Continues...finally

The second morning in RI was even nicer than the first. The sun was shining and the wind was not blowing quite as hard. A quick trip to Double D, then back to sit on the beach before I had to check out. I sat and sipped on my coffee and soaked in the warmth of the sun, the sounds of the ocean and watched the seagulls. After an hour or so I really needed to check out and head into the city. I was meeting some friends in Providence for lunch. My best friend Katie and 2 great friends, Tracy and Wendy I knew from Cumberland Company. Several years ago downtown Providence got a face lift and it really looks nice. We met at a restaurant in the mall. The food was fine, but the company was great.


The reunions kept going all week long! That evening it was time to catch up with another friend from high school at a pizza place we worked at when we were seniors. Angelo's Pizza Palace was a great place to work, I ate lots of pizza and not only worked with Tracy, but Katie as well. Several years ago they renovated Angelo's to a full service restaurant. It is still owned by the same wonderful woman...Christine! I was fortunate to be able to see her on this trip too....like I said, the reunions kept going. After dinner Katie, Tracy and I went to a bar to watch the Red Sox (of course) and catch up. By the end of the night my stomach hurt from laughing!

Saturday morning was another beautiful day. I was going to meet my friend Beth...she and I were very close in junior high. She was in eight grade and I was in seventh and I believe we met while walking home from school. We both attended Goff in Pawtucket and we lived on the same street. We were pretty much inseparable for the remainder of the school year. Of course we reunited thanks to facebook....she has been through a rough divorce and her ex husband is being a jerk...I would use another word, but you never know who is reading this. I decided to take a tour of homes that afternoon. I thought it would be fun to take pictures of a few of the houses I had lived in. There was Home Ave. in Cumberland, Archer Street in Pawtucket, and Houtman Street in Cumberland. There are other houses I lived in, some I do not remember. I had reserved a room in Providence for the next 3 nights....that would take me to the end of my trip. So after my tour of past domiciles I headed to downtown Providence...I got a great deal on Priceline! I had about an hour before I could check in so I walked across the street (actually under a bridge) to India Point Park. I put on some good tunes on my iPod and enjoyed. The next reunion was just a couple hours...and I couldn't wait. The kind of annual, semi annual, bi annual...whatever you want to call it..Cumberland Company for the Performing Arts reunion! Folks came from various parts of RI, NH and of course I was in from Georgia. Someone asked if I came all the way to RI because of the reunion...No, I explained, we were having the reunion because I was in RI. It was so great to see so many friends and meet new ones. We danced and sang, laughed and joked....even the fire department came! Never a dull moment! The party was a huge success and we all vowed to do it again next year! I am already looking forward to it!

My next reunion was with family. Because I live in Georgia and most of my cousins live up north we are not able to spend much time together. So it was important that I try to see some family while I was there. My cousins Peggy and Cathy and I met for brunch at a cute place called Brickway on Wickenden. It was small but the food was good and the conversation was great. I really enjoyed chatting with my cousins and hope to do it again next time I am there. After brunch I headed to Katie's mom's to watch the New England Patriots game. We had a great dinner...turkey and mashed potatoes and dressing. It was great to see Kate's mom...I have known her since I was 4...called her mom most of my life. She was such a huge part of my childhood.

The game was over and the dishes were done it was time to say good night. I was so close to the beach I had to stop by one more time. I made my way back to Scarborough beach, I wanted to hear the ocean one more time...my trip was quickly coming to an end, I only had one day left.

Monday morning was a very chill day. I had been going non stop since I landed and it was catching up to me. I spent part of the day reading..and watching the weather channel. I was enjoying the wonderful New England weather while my family back in Georgia was dealing with an unbelievable amount of rain. It had been raining for days, they canceled school and parts of Atlanta were underwater.

One last reunion for the trip. I planned on meeting up with the Durkins, a family I used to live across the street from and babysit for, but Mrs. Durkin was dealing with a toothache and had to get it taken care of. So I met with their daughter Jessica instead. Jessica and I are not that far apart in age, but I used to watch her. We were able to eat dinner outside because the temperature was still so mild. It was great to talk to her....I think we both got a lot out of our meeting...it is amazing when you talk to people you realize how much you have in common. I have talked to her several times since....we have started a friendship that was a long time coming.

Back to the hotel and a quick stop at the bar to have a beer and watch the rest of the Red Sox game. Wow, I was heading home tomorrow...bitter sweet. I missed my family, but I would miss everyone here too....Until next year!

And one last thought...if you ever head to RI sometime between Memorial Day and the beginning of October, be sure to find a Del's....you won't be disappointed.

Lame!

I just wanted to say I am such a lame blogger...in fact I downright suck at it. I cannot believe it has been a month since I have returned from Rhode Island and I still only have part one posted. Like I said..LAME!

I have a goal...finish blogging my trip on Sunday...so I can move on...and be lame about other parts of my life.