Journey & Adventure

As part of the 5 year plan , you may recall me mentioning that we needed to renovate our spare room. When we finished our addition and renovations, the spare room was the last room needing to be finished. Having ran out of steam from the other construction, we simply closed the door to the spare room and walked away…for 7 years and for the past 7 years, it has merely served as a storage room for misfit belongings. Well, we began to remedy that situation this past weekend and the demolition has been completed.   That had needed to be done for a long time and as much as I was dreading it, it feels good to know we are beyond the point of no return. Obviously, the necessity of getting the house in tip-top selling shape (so we can retire comfortably) has been just the motivation we needed to move things along. Let’s hope that by the end of May, all of the current mess will be a distant memory and we'll be moving onto the next project. Stay tuned…

Sorry, but things have been too busy with my "back-up" plan to write about anything else, so I'm going to bore you with some of my latest Flamingo Tongue Design creations. Ripples - Agate Necklace Sunrise Surprise - Sediment Sea Jasper  Rebecca (this one was made for my niece - to wear with her wedding gown) And a couple of purchases from the Philippines, which I plan on reselling on my website.  Don't worry, I will disclose that they aren't my creations. Primary Colors - Bracelet Ahh, Nuts - Bracelet (natural color of the nuts) Spiral Shell Bracelet

Only way to find out is to give him a kiss.  After all, he looks like he's waiting for someone. (Sorry, but you'll have to wait for the advert to finish)

It’s Thursday and I’m beside myself with excitement. Why? Well, The Boy is finishing up with his last exam for the school year, which means: The Top 10 Things that excite me about The Boy being done school for the summer… 10. No more early mornings. 9. No more late nights. 8. No more having to hear how “STUPID” his professors are. 7. No more cranky people in my car, except me. 6. No more trash in my car that is not mine. 5. Once again, I’ll be able to listen to whatever music I choose. 4. Once again, I’ll be able to sing off key to said music. 3. No more having to hear his ringtone for text notifications. 2. No more stops alongside the road because The Boy downed a whole bottle of Gatorade and cannot possibly wait until we get home. And the #1 thing that excites me about The Boy being done school for the summer… 1.My car will no longer smell like “boy” (aka stinky sneakers and stale farts). PLEASE NOTE: I love him to death, I j

First let me say, I do not poke fun at minorities, people with disabilities, those less fortunate, BUT I do have a sense of humor and I found this photo to be extremely chuckle provoking.  Hell, I laugh at myself more times than I laugh at others. The Boy actually sent it to me a few months ago and I completely forgot it was in my e-mail until today, so here it is...

Life is slowly getting back to normal and my regular sleep habits are returning after this latest adventure. I’m also less grumpy, although my family would likely dispute that statement. J has started to weed through some of his hundreds of photos – both above and below the water’s surface, so hopefully he’ll have something to share with you in the next week or so. I also hope to share some more of my photos with you. The difference between J’s photos and mine? J’s photos are good, artistic and well-thought out, whereas mine reflect mindless, juvenile enjoyment of the moment at hand. I take photos for the sake of taking photos…no thought, no process and looking back, most of the time I couldn’t tell you what I was trying to capture. My photos are like my life…random. I do have some news about Flamingo Tongue Designs (aka the backup plan). My sales last week where phenomenal and I received my first wholesale order from a Canadian artist for her gallery/shop. Let’s hope the f

I don’t know a better way to explain it, but I’m feeling slightly overwhelmed by life at the moment. Perhaps it’s the fact that reality is setting in again and I’m coming to the conclusion that I’m not actually an international jet-setter, living the high life of luxury in exotic places around the globe. Since getting back, I’m having a hard time adjusting. My sleep patterns are off, my eating patterns are off, my thought processes are off, work makes me want to jam a fork in my eye on a daily basis. In order to avoid the overwhelming urge of throwing office products, spewing profanities and screaming “you want a piece of me” at my co-workers, I have to sit in my office with the door close and try not to make eye contact when anyone walks by. It’s bad. I have plenty to be thankful for, but I’m not feeling any love at the moment. Instead I’m feeling bitter and resentful. To what? I have no idea – I just am. I think I need some time to regroup and get my act together,

Well, we've been back over a week now and all I can say is that it feels like we were never away.  So before I completely forget about the trip, let's get started... Let’s start by telling you a little bit about where we stayed in the Philippines. Our first stop was the island of Negros, Philippines and on this island, we stayed at a beautiful resort called Atlantis Dive Resort . From the moment we were greeted at the airport by our hosts, we knew we were in for a treat. Every detail of our stay was beyond our expectations. The resort was clean and comfortable. The staff were over-the-top attentive and they knew our names by the second day. This is not a tiny resort, so memorizing all the guest’s names should be commended. A personalized greeting goes a long way to making you feel welcome and at home.  Gloria - She Was The Best !!! The food was 5+ star to say the least. It’s a miracle I did not gain any weight while we were here, but I guess having the abilit

People say – “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” I say – “Absence makes you wonder why you didn’t stay away longer.” Yes, I’m back. It’s good to be home, but it’s not so good to be back at work and back to reality. Reality is overrated. I know, I know...enough of my bemoaning the fact that my vacation is over. We arrived home late in the evening on my birthday, March 31st. We left the Philippines on my birthday.  I had two whole days of birthdays thanks to the International Date Line. It was the longest birthday of my life, but thank goodness, I didn’t age twice.  That would NOT have been cool. This time around, jet lag caught up to me with a vengeance. It’s now Wednesday, April 04, 2012 and I’m just starting to function again. Thank goodness it’s a short work week – Good Friday is a Godsend (pardon that horrible pun). I hope to finally get some pictures downloaded from my camera tonight and put together some thoughts from our trip, which I hope to share with you s