Tuesday Musings

Sorry no blog yesterday. I was on a good jag writing my novel yesterday (over 10 pages) and when the muse is with you, you gotta stick with it.


In the news today, a young woman from Texas won the state TEAM track title...by herself. (See story for all of the details) Talk about an impressive athlete. She is going to be a force to be reckoned with. I'm sure we will see her on a box of Wheaties someday. You go girl!

Everyone is calling for Hillary Clinton to quit the race for president, even though she is set to win in West Virginia. They say it's because of party unity. Okay people, this is America, it's called DEMOCRACY, where everyone who wants to be president can be (providing of course they are constitutionally eligible). Let her run if she wants to. There is really only one solution I see as far as 'party unity' and 'electability' in November. It must be an Obama/Clinton ticket. (Yes, I put Obama as president, I'm just calling it like I see it, not like I necessarily would like it to be. I was an Edwards supporter). There just isn't another ticket that will work. When people are split so decisively you will alienate the half that don't win. So by putting them both on the ticket, everyone sort of wins. And I think it would beat the McClain/Whoever ticket. What a historic ticket that would be. (Of course, with a black man as president and a woman as vice president I think an asteroid would hurtle towards Earth, but that's the chance you take.)

"Dancing with the Stars" is winding down for the season and I'm still hoping Marissa Jaret Winokur is in for the finals. I don't think she will win but you have to root for the five foot tall chubby girl. C'mon, if Marie Osmond could make it to the finals last year, let's give Marissa a shot. I'm pretty sure Kristi Yamaguchi will win but I don't think that's fair since she has been basically dancing on ice skates her whole life. The should have to handicap these things. But nobody asked my opinion so all I can do is vote.

It's windy today, but nice and cool The high should only be around eighty degrees which is fabulous for mid-May. I dread the triple digit heat but I know it's coming. But the longer we delay it, the better, in my opinion.


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Dream Vacation

I'd like to see the world. Lots of it. And if I had the money, in style would be nice too.

I haven't been that many places and most of the time it's definitely on a budget. We went on a cruise once, that was nice because it was all expenses paid. But most of the time I've had to worry about not spending too much money. The vacations were still nice and I would still travel on the cheap anytime I could.

A friend is on vacation in Hawaii and it looks like a dream trip. Exclusive hotel, fine food, incredible excursions. It looks fabulous and I am very happy for them, it looks like the trip of a lifetime. My boss went on an Alaskan cruise last year that looked so wonderful, the year before that to Boston and this year on a cruise to see the fall foliage in New England. How wonderful. These are trips that I can only dream about at this point, but I plan them in my head all the time. When my book is published I'm going to take a trip to England and Ireland. Hey, it's a Regency novel, I should visit where I'm writing about, right? (Okay, without a time machine it's not exactly possible to visit where I'm writing about but it's close.) I'd love to attend the writer's conference in Austin, Texas this fall but a financial windfall probably needs to come my way for that to be truly possible. (I really need to increase my lottery budget.)

Mostly my travel plans this year were to take my mother somewhere for her birthday in September. It's a big birthday (she would kill me for telling you which one) plus it will be the fifth anniversary of her remission from cancer so I really want to celebrate these important milestones. I was thinking (based on my budget) that if I could get a grandma-sitter that I would like to take her on a cruise, even if it just had to be one of those short ones to Mexico. Then, the other night, I was telling her about my friends Hawaiian vacation and how wonderful it sounded. She didn't seem impressed. In fact, she was downright negative. She said that didn't appeal to her at all. I tried different scenarios and she rejected all of them. Finally, in exasperation, I asked her what she DID like. She told me, "I like things like tonight, like the dinner you made."

Now I know my mom is a practical person. I love her. I understand her quirks and oddities and I accept them (I make fun of them, but I accept them.) And she is a saint, letting her thirty-something daughter move back home to save money and then being supportive when instead of continuing to save money I wanted to use my savings to write for a year. She is awesome and I wanted to reward that awesome with an awesome experience. But if the thing she wants is a dinner like the one I made on money, I'm not sure 'awesome' is the adjective I would use. Now I'm a good cook. And dinner that night was good. But it was burritos and salad. Good burritos, with a homemade enchilada sauce on top and a salad of pea sprouts. oranges and avocados (for Cinco De Mayo) and it was very tasty and about as gourmet as a burrito can get. But it was a burrito. C'mon. I'm trying to think up a memorable experience and she wants me to make dinner? I do that every night!

Everyone has their dreams but my mom does not dream big. She dreams practically, which is the opposite of me. My dream vacation involves a Greek Island, a Greek God and Greek Food. Hers is a burrito and salad at home. I love her and I would do anything to make her happy. But a burrito doesn't seem to say "I love you and I'm so happy that you are in my life and let's celebrate these important moments in your life." So it's back to the drawing board. I'll have to put my thinking cap on again.

What is your dream vacation? Where would you go, what wold you see, what would you eat? Whatever it is, loyal readers, I wish it for you. And if it's as simple as a great burrito, call me!