Father Time Waves His Wand...

'Tis the season to spend time with family. I was able to once again make it to Ohio for the Christmas season where the bulk of my family is located. In all senses of the word, I have family spread all over the United States, but my bloodline falls in Ohio and Arizona. It was great to see them again and to hear the stories of what happened throughout the year. Or since I last saw them in March.

It's also a way to check into reality and see how the years are passing. I notice subtle changes in my elders as the years go on, but they will always be older than me. No offense moms, dads, grandmas, aunts, and uncles. Where the reality really hits home is in the other siblings. Children I once knew as babies who are now driving cars, going to college, moving out on their own, and some even married with kids. Who knew I would finally be able to say to someone: "I knew you when you were in diapers" and your staring at them at the ripe ole age of 20!!! I don't have kids of my own and maybe someday I will, but with my great cousins, my step nieces and nephews, a girl my grandma sat for, and other kids younger than myself I grew up with, I feel like I've had kids of my own already. Boy how the years pass. Which is why I travel. I was watching Peter Pan the other day and I think I have Neverland syndrome (as I think some of us do) and that is to never grow up. Yes, I've matured in many ways, but the kid inside me still wants to live life to its fullest and have fun. There'll be a time when I settle and that may be coming soon, but right now I have to go on my adventures. The next generation is moving in and I want to be a role model in a way I can say to them you can achieve anything you put your mind to.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Holidays. May the new year bring you prosper.

The Rat Race..

Yesterday I got my call to go to work. Finally. I was getting a little nervous. Although, the work may be out of my league a little. I was set to go in today to work for the Bloomberg Group. The Mayor's company!! Well, I take the subway. It's crowded as usual. The rat race begins. Everyone shuffles off at Lexington Ave and it's snowing like mad. I'm in my best suit. I feel like I'm off to formal night on the cruise ship. I get to the building and go upstairs. I was overwhelmed at the sight of things. A man greeted me (whom I thought was my contact) and he was just leading me in to show me the coat area. A welcome person. Then he lead me to the enormous pantry where you can just freely take whatever you wanted. It was like a small drugstore. I kid you not. There were TVs everywhere showing the various news stations. A film shoot was happening which looked like some sort of talk show. The floor I was directed to was all glass. LOTS of light. There were scrolling headlines going across the various shaped and size bulletins. Stock information and the like. I was overdressed for the day seeing that it was a snow day and casual Friday. People were in jeans, some in nice pants, but sweaters and casual shirts. Oh well. At every desk there were 3, yes 3, flat screen monitors hooked up to a computer terminal. Whoa!! All the offices were surrounded by glass. Not walls. Glass. I finally sat down with the manager and we discussed a little bit about what I'd be doing. I filled out some paperwork. Done. I could go home. I begin the trial period on Monday. I'll see. If this works out, this will be a great experience and diversion to keep me busy and pocket some money until March before I go to Europe. I'll need that supplement to survive here anyway. Plus I'll need to take class and go to the gym once and a while. Don't want to lose my figure. LOL. Also there's a lot of Broadway to catch up on. The NYC bustle has already captivated me. I'll be ready for the relaxation again come March.

Vacation Ends Now...

I'm now sitting in the Ft. Lauderdale International Airport taking advantage of the free wireless and awaiting my re-entry into reality. The forces of fantasy almost kept me in paradise a little longer. When I arrived at the airport my ticket was supposedly mistakingly marked for December 1. Apparently I missed my flight by a whole weekend. The company made a small mistake in my travel arrangements. Oops. The ticket lady was able to fix it and there was space for me on the flight. Drat! Freezing temperatures here I come. I'm still looking forward to seeing my friends I haven't seen in over 6 months which is nice. Too bad it's the wrong season.

The final part of the cruise was exciting. Bags in the halls, costumes hanging all over the place with a mixture of funk and Downey freshness, and still last adventures. In Costa Rica a bunch of us went on a water rafting adventure. It was exciting indeed. We were warned at first that we would be going into level 5 territory and that we could die!! Sheesh!! Now that's a way to scare your panties off. We headed down the white water and hit our first whopper of a wave. It was thrilling and we made it!!! The rest of the trip was so much fun. I can't wait to do something like that again.


We all said our goodbyes on Thursday. It was a long and grueling day for me since everyone was leaving and I was staying in town for a bit. I had a nice drive up to Orlando where I stayed with an old college friend and went to the wonderful world of Disney the next day. I shuffled over to Tampa to see my San Diegan friends who were very pregnant now. She's expecting in Februrary. It was such a pleasure to see them again. They're father gave them a lovely home to stay in until she delivered that was the epitamy of a southern ranch. Right down to the moss hanging from the trees and the river going through the backyard. We spent a delightful day together strolling the beach and devouring food. It was lovely catching up and sharing pictures of the past 6 months. I made it back to Orlando where I got to spend more quality time with my college friend and his partner. I'm glad everyone's doing well and I hope to see them again.

Now I'm off to the wonderful world of snow. NOT!! I've become such a snow bird. I'd get away from it if I could, but the money and friendships that I need to catch up on are in NYC right now. Off I go into the wild blue yonder out of the warm clear skies of Florida and into the gloomy and busy ones of NYC.

Signing Off..

Another change of course has come along. Today we all say goodbye and sign off this contract. Some going to L.A. Some off to the midwest, and others to the east coast. Some of us will be working together again, and some not for a while. I hope we all keep in touch. It's been a WONDERFUL contract despite all the occurrences. Oy!! I'm sad to go. It hasn't hit me yet. I've been through all sorts of emotions all week. It won't really hit me until I'm driving to meet my friends in Florida. I'm taking a small break to visit some folks here. So, another course is charted. I head back to NYC to catch up before heading off on another adventure. Keep watching for more thoughts and stories. Love to my new friends and old.