Boo Hoo! My BFF Jane leaves today.

We hit the floor running early this morning. Up at 5:45am in order to get Jane packed up and us ready to head into St. Louis to meet Su for breakfast at Cracker Barrel at 8am. As we were seated and getting ready to order, the Swalinas (Su’s sister Barbie and her hubby John) and another couple and their daughter happened in for breakfast as well. They sat at a table across the aisle and Barbie spent most of her time blowing the paper from straws at our table. I should mention she’s an elementary school teacher. Wonder where she got the straw blowing idea. Su treated us all to breakfast. And a delicious breakfast it was. I had my favorite of Grandma’s platter with pecans in my pancakes. Yep, calorie overload again. LOL.

Left Cracker Barrel and headed to Harrahs for Jane to get her ‘last chance’ gamble fix. We only had about an hour to play so every second counted. Didn’t break the bank but made some more good memories just being together. We even had an after breakfast beer.

Got Jane to the airport at 11:15am so she could make her 12:30pm flight. The flight was delayed until 2pm. Good thing she had her Kindle with the audio download of “The Help”. Something to keep her entertained.

I miss my BFF already. But it won’t be long until we get together again. We’re wanting to plan an all-inclusive trip to some island (not Mexico) in the near future. How fun it would be to have everything taking care of once you get there. All you have to do is enjoy.

Hiking, Eating, Playing, Eating, Playing, Watching & Eating

Jane and I got up early this day and headed out for Hawn State Park to hike the 2 mile loop at Pickle Springs. Lots of elevation and warm temps really got our heart rates up. It was a great workout to start the day. And believe me, we needed after all the things we would wind up ingesting.

We stopped by the Farmers Market but really didn’t see anything that tripped our triggers so we didn’t make a purchase.

Came home and freshened up a bit and got Mom and went to Bauhaus Kaffee in Farmington for breakfast. Jane had a Western Omelet and a Hazelnut Latte,  I had a Greek Omelet and a delicious Fat-Free Latte and Mom had Quiche Lorraine with regular coffee. As always it was good.

Then around 2:30pm Linda treated the four of us (me, Jane, Mom & Linda) to Colten’s where we had a Bloomin’ Onion (yum) for an appetizer. Jane had the 8oz Filet, me the Catfish nuggets, Mom the Chicken Fried Steak and Linda the Rib Eye. We waddled out of the restaurant. And of course, no meal outing is complete without a stop at Lix Frozen Custard. Jane got a Turtle Concrete (caramel, chocolate & roasted almonds). Boy was it sweet. Yes! I took a bite. Made my teeth hurt. LOL

Our BFF, Su Chambless came down from St. Louis to visit. We watched Rango on DVD. It is an animated movie with the voice of Johnny Depp as Rango. Great flick. Laughed and enjoyed the evening. We moved from the living room into the dining room for another round of Phase 10 where I was the big winner. Woo Hoo! I should mention in between the movie and card game there was Crown Royal (Jane), Bayless on the Rocks (Su & Linda), Margarita (Mom) and Wine (Me). So, what do you think? Did we O.D. on calories today? Hey, another good day.

Spa Day…Ahhh Day!

Jane and I left Harrah’s to arrive at Great Day Spa in Festus for our 60 minute massage, 60 minute facial and Pedicure which began at noon. We had our massages in the same room and shared our ‘Ohhhs and Ahhhs’ while our respective masseurs (Anna for me and Beth for Jane) worked on our muscles. Can you say feel good? OMG…we were noodles after the massage. Then they did a facial while still on the table. Jane got a Belavi facial where I got a cleansing facial. Her skin is in much better shape than mine so she got a wonderful massage facial. Then we moved downstairs to the pedi chair with Caroline. Our feet were soaked, rubbed and our toes were colored up.

After our massage we headed south to Farmington where we picked up Mom & Linda and headed for dinner at Pad Thai. Another most excellent meal was had by all. It was my treat tonight and was one of many yummy meals we had during Jane’s stay.

After dinner we pulled out the cards and played Phase 10. Mom whipped us all. We had a great time and great laughs.

It was a good day.

Jane Davis arrives in St. Louis! Yippee…Yahoo!!

My BFF arrived today at 11:05am at Lambert St. Louis Airport Terminal 2. I made a 3 night reservation at Harrah’s Riverport-Maryland Heights, MO beginning Wednesday night so I’d be in the city to pick her up Thursday morning. We headed straight to Ichiban’s Sushi where I got my sushi fix and Jane had Tempura Shrimp which she said was scrumptious. After Ichiban’s we headed back to Harrah’s so Jane could get her gamble on. We drank and gambled until 6:30pm when we took a break for dinner at Charlie Gittos. Our BFF, Su Chambless also joined us for a delicious Italian meal.

The night ended with a buzz and a full belly. No big winner in the casino but we sure had a good time.

What Are You Reading?

I’d like to open today’s blog to discuss what you are currently reading. As of this writing, I am reading a book by John Kralik entitled 365 Thank Yous: The Year a Simple Act of Daily Gratitude Changed My Life. This book really hits home with me because I am a very grateful person. I am grateful for my health, I am grateful for my fantastic circle of family and friends, and I am grateful that I can truly feel the effects of gratitude.  By reading this book I see that there are others that “Get It” as well. I guess while I am being grateful, and today’s subject is about reading, I should mention that I am grateful for my Kindle. Let me explain. I’ve always loved reading, but I am a very slow reader because I really get into the visualization of the written word. So, to really enjoy it, I must reflect deeply to bring about the sensations of sight & smell. Sometimes I have to reread paragraphs because it didn’t settle in with me at first. Anyway, since I purchased my Kindle, I can’t get enough of reading. It’s so easy to follow along and I don’t have the worry of wondering where I am, where my book is, and so on. It’s always there waiting for me at a moments notice. And like my cell phone, it’s ALWAYS with me. One of my most favorite times to read is when I am traveling in my motorcoach (1995 Itasca Suncruiser…an old girl named Sunny). It’s so relaxing when I’ve stopped at a spot, be it an RV park, rest area or an obscure location with a nice view, to pile up on the couch with a glass of Pinot Noir and my two Yorkies curled up beside me and reading until I’m required to something else. I should interject, if I’m on the road, I rarely have something else I have to do. Life is a journey of which I am enjoying immensely.Where most travelers find the destination to be when the fun starts, I find the journey is when mine starts.

Please share books you’ve read and would recommend. We’re all looking for that next “I can’t put it down” book. The next book in my Kindle library to read is by Suzanne Collins and it is the three book series of The Hunger Games Trilogy (The Hunger Games, Catching Fire & Mockingjay). This was recommended to me by my friend & pet-sitter extraordinaire, Boneta Hensley.

Happy Reading to you all!

CJ (currently in Belmond, Iowa)

Lovely Belmond, Iowa Morning!

What a beautiful morning for a run. And the most excellent trail through the neighborhood and out into the fields was very nice. Saw bunnies and deer on my run.

It’s 58ºF at this writing and I’ve only been back for about 20 minutes. So the beginning of my run was probably around 55ºF. Great for a run.

Met up with several bikers, walkers, joggers and runners. Everyone had the same idea.

Internet Issues (down since 3:30 pm yesterday)

I just hate it when my internet goes down. It always seems that it goes down when I need it most. But then again, since my business is so reliant on internet connectivity, when do I NOT need it. Called Wisper (my ISP) and they can’t give me a time when they expect it to be up and running. My last call to them was about 30  minutes ago and they say sometime this afternoon. Wouldn’t it be nice if it happened just after NOON. Nope! It’s 12:03 pm and I checked it. Still down. ***sigh***

OK then, I’ll have to find productive work I can do without the internet. Mom has a recipe for Banana Nut Bread she needs an electronic copy of. So I guess I’ll do that.

More later!

CJ