A few more pictures of my new house here. The first one is of the front and the second shows the side yard (future pool!) I ran out of storage on my camera somehow before I could take the other side. Guess I have to break down and read the manual.

my bedroom

kitchen/dining

guest room/office - well, it will be when I get it unpacked

So, moving in is proving to be quite a challenge because I have to move the previous occupant OUT first. There has been a vast array of hairsprays and shampoos and body lotions and hangers (219 of them - I counted) and plastic bags and plastic containers and plastic soap dishes (all with bits of soap in them - I'm talking like a dozen) and plastic and plastic and plastic. There are plastic boxes with unknown contents wrapped in plastic and the box then wrapped in plastic and, well you get the idea. My friend, Maria, says: It's a generational thing . . . Hmmmmm not sure. 

Then there are the chatchkes. It's going to be one mutha of a yard sale next winter.

Sophie eyes a ceramic cat

Well, it's happened again. Another 50-uear-old man, not naming names, has decided he doesn't want to be married to my sister anymore, throws away his wife and child. Selfish pig. I wonder how many times a day this happens in our country. He said to her the same thing mine said, 50% of marriages end in divorce. Like that makes getting a knife in your gut easier to take. What a complete jerk. And, by the way? I never liked him.

Today is the third anniversary of my divorce. Times does heal but not quickly enough for me. I'm still grieving. However, I turned a corner at the start of the new year when I finally let the constant obsessive thoughts about my husband go. Now I only think about him, well ok every day but it's just in passing and not with focus.

Now, here's some happy news to share. After all this time, I have something to look forward to again! It involves working hard and spending a lot of money. Oh you say, that doesn't sound so great but hold the phone, people! It is because I now have my very own piece of the Fabulous Florida Keys! It is not much to look at now but it will be when I get done with it.  And now for my other happy news: I can show you a picture of my new home because I have a new camera!  Woohoo!! Things are looking up.

View of the side of my house from the yard. I'm trying to come up with a good name. It was called Maxwell's Hideaway. Lizzie's Lair? Not! But you get the picture. Any ideas? Gotta go - more unpacking to be done.

Happy Easter . . .

Well, I've been driving in the crazy lane for the last few days. My big news was going to be that I am in the process of buying a house but let's put that on hold for one minute. So, my plan was to have the home inspection Monday, move out of my rental Tuesday (time was up), move into another rental for a week, close on the house and move in there for a week, drive to Maine for a week, stay in Maine for a week and fly to Michigan for two weeks to be with my Dad. Talk about crazy. Then everything went to hell in a handbasket (great saying, that).

The inspection went great so it does look like a go on the house so far. Tuesday, I email the guy to see when to meet up at the next rental so he can hand over the keys. He writes me back and says SCAM. I stole your deposit ($750) and I don't own that house. I was in shock. Seriously freaked me out. I mean, who does something like that? Well, yeah a criminal but still . . .

So now I've got to find a rental quick and it's Easter week in the Keys. There is NOTHING. I quite literally spent the entire day, ten hours, on the phone and online looking. It was between a guy's upstairs for a thousand dollars or two nights only in a hotel and then who knows, when I stumbled on the place I'm in now. And I would happily show you a picture of it but I still don't have a FREAKING camera. (Can you tell?) Anyway, I came over and met the guy and wrote a check on the spot - way too much money - for a house with a fenced yard and an above ground pool. He had just had a cancellation for this week and the girls and I moved in yesterday. They are confused and I am oh so tired.

Here's the weird thing and it really took me back when I walked through the door. The living room furniture is identical to my old house, two pictures on the wall and a wrought iron fish rack are the same. The quilts in the guest room are the same. Isn't that weird? Gloria stopped by and said, this looks like your house. So, of course I had all kinds of horrid dreams last night about my husband and my old life and on and on blah blah blah. I will be having a nap later.

I'll tell you about the new house when it's for sure.

There is nothing like having a dog heaving her guts out mere inches from your sleeping head. Really, talk about poetry in motion. One can only thank the powers that be for the awakening rather than the getting up and stepping in it . . .

Big day for me today - I'll fill you in later. Too bad I'm exhausted, thank you very much, Sophie.

Well, the good news is that I finally ordered a new camera today. So, naturally my old camera should show itself momentarily. It is a beautiful warm and sunny day here in the Fabulous Florida Keys and I will leave shortly for Our Lady of Perpetual Mimosas.

My affirmation today?  I expect good experiences to come to me. All is truly well in my world!  So there you have it. What's going on in your world?

Carol Ann

My friend, Carol Ann, died yesterday. So many of us are heartbroken. To me, she was a shining example of an independent, self aware, adventurous woman. She was not afraid of anything or anyone and said exactly what she thought, You always knew where you were with her. No bullshit. She loved to travel and was just back from a cruise around South America and a trip to China. She was funny and smart and our little community here will be depleted without Carol Ann around.

Today I went to my monthly guild meeting with the fabulous Florida Keys Quilters and we had a little class on making beads . . . out of fabric! So cool. Then we fashioned them into bracelets and necklaces. I would love to show you what mine looks like but . . . still no freaking camera. Time to face facts and admit it's gone gone gone. Anyhoo, it was a lovely time with my peeps, chattering away about things near and dear and learning something new from one of our own.


My affirmation this morning, April 5, said I remember that life is meant to be simple and easy. I just came in from walking the dogs and looking at the night sky in the warm and sultry (great word that). I can see the big dipper and the little dipper now, a new moon on a starry starry night with the funereal scent of the something plum tree - can't remember the name. This has been a sweet place for me and the girls. nighty night.

Gotta do something about replacing my camera this week. I love google images and all but seriously . . . 

Ladies who lunch

I met up with my girlfriends in Coral Gables yesterday for lunch at The Biltmore - that's us sitting in the garden - and a trip to the Venetian Pool, where I've always wanted to go and which was utterly fabulous.

I am humbly grateful to have these ladies in my life, every one of them is special to me and a nicer bunch of sweet, supportive, positive and let's face it, FABULOUS women you will never meet.
The Venetian Pool was created in 1925 and is a beautiful grotto of a place with caves you can swim through. The water comes from an artesian well and is flushed out every other day and refilled. (Seems like kind of a waste in thirsty Florida though.) It feels so clean, no chemicals and was about 76 degrees. We had SUCH a fun day!