2012 - #1 was not my title. I've had my actual title since mid-day yesterday. My title for this blog was going to be "My Friends Are Trying To Kill Me." Seriously. . .that was the title. I even told Susan yesterday that I had my title and then told her what it was. But then last night was New Year's Eve and all, and I just did not write my blog. We toasted the new year at midnight and then I retired, whereupon I spent another hour on my computer researching my possible next place to stay. So "My Friends Are Trying To Kill Me" never got written.
And then I just couldn't title the first blog of the new year My Friends Are Trying To Kill Me. It was bad karma or something. It's not my style to be negative. So hence the generic, boring title you see at the top, and frankly I'm surprised if anyone has read this far with that totally lackluster beginning.
But for the record. . . . my friends ARE trying to kill me. That has not changed just because I changed the title. Sometime in early October I decided that enough was enough. I had been working out like a crazy person for 2 1/2 years, and eating nothing but "super foods" morning, noon and night. And I whined and whined about how I should be able to lose some of the extra tonnage I was carrying around. And "woe is me", and "it's not fair", and "I'm doing all the right things but I just CAN'T lose weight." Oh my but I was pitiful. Honestly, I just got tired of myself. And I stopped believing my own story. I did an intervention on myself before someone else beat me to it. And I joined Weight Watchers. And I started capital W watching my weight. And what do you know. . . . the pounds started to come off. It was a miracle. And it was hard. And it was slow. But here I am (or was) three months later down 13 pounds as of a week and a half ago. My history has been that once I start to lose, NOTHING can deter me from my charted course. I've lost weight each and every week so far. Goody for me. But Sandy, AKA Thelma, is trying to kill me. She bakes. And when I go to her house, this "fellow weight watcher" (oh man, what a crock that is!!) greets me with appetizers and wine and multiple desserts after the meat and potatoes meal. Don't get me wrong. . . it's DELICIOUS!!!! And I don't want to be rude. . . right? But clearly, she is trying to kill me. So traveling with her is no picnic in the realm of trying to count points. Her lovely sister greeted us at the door the other night with a chicken cordon bleu dinner and Key Lime Pie for desert. She had already made a quiche for breakfast the next morning. She is trying to kill me too! Then I get to lovely Susan's house. And darned if she isn't trying to kill me as well. She had gone to the store and bought two containers of gelato which she insisted I had to help her eat so that she could get it out of the house. I was reluctant to share with her that bringing it in the house in the first place is the mistake. Sure enough, last night after having a wonderful lunch out and then stone crabs and potato/avacado salad for dinner (YUMMMMM), she brought out the remains of the container of caramel/sea salt gelato, conveniently divided into two parts. . . a bowl for her, a bowl for me. That and the bottle of champagne that we had to finish because who throws away champagne on New Year's Eve???? She's trying to kill me too. It's a frickin' conspiracy!
As I waddled out of her gorgeous condo this morning, she presented me with the bag of apples she had promised. This is fine. On Weight Watchers apples are no points. But on closer inspection of the bag, she had included a not-small bag of chex mix and a bag of almonds. I luckily saw this lame attempt at assassination and removed the offending, non-fruit items before leaving. And of course everyone has the same rationale: Susan: "You're on vacation!" Seriously? I'm permanently on vacation now that I'm retired! Sandy: "It will be fine. We'll just go back to Weight Watchers and start over!" Seriously? And throw the last 12 weeks away in one week? Lovely women. Wonderful friends. But for some reason they want me dead. . . . or at least fat!
So now I'm back on the road and in control of my eating destiny once more. So in deference to the whole Happy New Year thing, I'm going to leave thoughts of my sinister friends behind. I headed south from Clearwater, not at all sure where I would end up tonight. In Bradenton, I used my IPhone to find my brother, Chip's house, just so I could see it. They are in Phoenix as I have already related. Lovely home, lovely neighborhood. I had passed very close to the house on my way across the state on Thursday! Making my way south to Sarasota, I once again parked my car in the historical downtown section and had lunch at Whole Foods, across the street from the restaurant I had eaten at on Thursday. Delicious and inexpensive! Then a quick peek down the aisles of Sur La Table which lay between Whole Foods and my car. Oh my but I was tempted by cutting boards and dishes and placemats. But time and again I stepped away from the pretty things that cost money. Why else have I spent all this time downsizing and getting rid of things? I was pretty proud to walk out of there with no extra bags! Called Joan before pulling out. What's more fun than talking to Joan?
So I headed down Rt. 41 out of Sarasota. Turned off at Siesta Key to just see what the country's most beautiful beach (according to someone important) really looked like. It was nice and it was crowded. Kept on going south.
I intended to stop and see Venice, Florida because my brother, Chip, attended Kentucky Military Institute for high school, and they had their winter campus there. I had never been there. Once I crossed the bridge I was greeted by the most beautiful divided road lined with palm trees and little shops. It was about a mile down to the gulf shore, and there was Inn at the Beach. Completely charming, right across from the beach, and a nice walk back to town. I was sold.
This place is wonderful. I imagine I will be here for two nights. There is a heated pool and hot tub outside, the beach, the town, and the most wonderful big tree for me to read under. Because I have to put some significant time in to reading the book club selection that I need to be able to discuss one week from tomorrow night back home. Willa Cather: Death Comes For the Archbishop. Sandy loaned me her Kindle so I could read it. Maybe she wasn't trying to kill me after all.
I called Chip out in Phoenix and he was able to describe the buildings that the now defunct military school used. I found the building where they had their classes and dorms, and the big community park/parking lot in front of it used to be the parade grounds.
I love seeing where he actually was. And I love Venice. Don't plan to use my car at all tomorrow!
I had dinner outside at an Irish pub in the downtown. Then walked back to the Inn where sunset over the Gulf of Mexico radiated on the grey sands that, according to Chip, hide many sharks' teeth. And the guy at the restaurant at the next table told me of manatee sightings. Oh yea. . . I'm staying the extra night! Happy New Year everyone!
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