It's coming.....

Sorry I've fallen behind on the blogging.... I'm studying for financial planners exam to take place in a couple weeks.

I'll get back to this, I PROMISE!!

Day 2, will be Monaco!

and, I've started a new blog for financial planning stuff:
http://moneythingsyouneedtoknow.blogspot.com/

Day 1 in Nice

There are things to discuss that happened before the first day IN Nice, but I'll save those for another time. Needless to say, the little black cloud that follows me around was present and accounted for in the beginning....

BUT.

We arrived to a beautiful, sunny Mediterranean morning. Arrived early, in fact. So we waited a few minutes for our boys to meet us at the terminal.... After our reunion in the jasmine scented morning air at Terminal 2, we took the bus to our hotel, where, of course, it was too early to check in. But they held our luggage for us, and asked us to come back around noon. So, we headed to Omar's place, stopping for coffee (espresso) and pastries on the way.

After a brief rest there, we walked. And walked.... and walked.......

Impressions: Nice is bigger than I thought, and certainly more crowded than I thought.... People take their dogs with them everywhere.... The beaches are rock! No sand in sight!! Don't you think that would be uncomfortable to lay on?... Lots of good food choices, but not red currants, so much.... Loved the market- flowers, fruits, veges, purses, LOL.... The colors are amazing! Buildings are pink and yellow! Flowers are blooming everywhere!!.... It's more humid than Ohio; less humid than Texas....

Mid-afternoon, we started to crash. So we headed back to the hotel to nap. We staying at the Sheraton Elysee Palace. Nice hotel, beautiful location- very close to the bus stop, a block off the water, Med view from our window! But if I had to sum up the room in one word? Plastic. Really. The desk and chair were clear lucite, as were the lamps and bedside tables. The headboard was attached to the wall, not the bed and it was covered with silver plastic fabric.... and there was no clock in the room. Which wouldn't have been a problem, but neither hubby nor I had a watch on, either. (don't ask) So we were dependent on his blackberry for the time. OH, and the carpet was like plastic Berber. Seriously. So, it must be some chic new style that I'm unaware of. Plastic hotel rooms. Reminded us of a "W" hotel more than a Sheraton.

Okay, so we got up and headed out for dinner. Wanted something reliable, so we told Omar to take us somewhere he'd been and knew. We went to Le Pizza. For pizza, obviously! And it was good!!! Oh, yumminess!!! And huge! And expensive if you do the conversion, so better not to. More walking, and we finished up the night at Fenoccio for gelato. groan. How I love gelato.... I should compose a sonnet to the joys of gelato.... again, though, better not to convert the price from Euros to dollars- you just really don't want to know. You know?

And, we were "done." No more walking in us. We needed a bus to get back to the hotel. And that, my friends, was day one.

I'll be adding photos to my website.... when they're up, I'll let you know!

Oh, the bloggage coming....

So, I (we) returned yesterday from vacation....

We were in France and Italy. Yeah, I know, tough life.... well, SOMEONE'S gotta do it, ya know?

Over the next couple weeks, I'm planning to blog about it and post some photos.

Here's a preview:

Day 1: Nice, France
Day 2: Monoco
Day 3: Cannes
Day 4: Villefranche
Day 5: Nice
Day 6: Nice to Santa Margherita, Italy
Day 7: Portofino
Day 8: Santa Margherita to Genoa (Genova)
Day 9: Genoa to Nice
Day 10: Thoughts about random stuff from the trip

I only have about 4000 photos to edit. (yowza)

Weigh-In

Last night we had our 4 week weigh in. We've had our food plans for 4 weeks now....

I wasn't going to look; I thought I didn't want to know. I knew I had lost some inches, because t-shirts are getting looser, pants are getting looser, bras are getting looser... but I'm clearly a long way from where I need to be, so I figured "it doesn't matter what the number is."

Well, I had a baaaaad day yesterday. Not bad from the standpoint of my plan; bad as in frustrating, tiring, stressful, etc. for other reasons. And I needed some good news.

So, I looked.

I'm down 10 pounds!!! I'll take it!!!

Ten pounds is but a drop in the bucket, but as the proverb says:

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Title contest

currently running on facebook..... give it a title!

Win a print!

I'm having a caption contest!! See the goat up there ^ ?

go to my facebook page and give it a caption....

winner gets their choice of a 5x7 or 8x10 print from my portfolio!

not my "friend?" leave a comment here with your facebook contact and i'll find you and "friend" you, so you can leave your caption.

winner will be voted on, via facebook.

Wrong, Wrong, Wrong

I was wrong.

DWTS.... I was so wrong!

But it's all good. I think Gilles is the better dancer, but I think Shawn had legions of little gymnasts voting for her, and that's okay by me. Gilles was gracious in defeat, and altho I don't dislike Melissa, I just didn't want her to beat him. So, Shawn? It's all good.