I'm Back

It was absolutely WONDERFUL!!!! I had such a fabulous time at the spa and I encourage everyone to try a destination spa, especially Lake Austin Spa. The place was everything I thought it would be and more. The food was DELICIOUS and the place is gorgeous. I had a rosemary scrub and massage, a pumpkin wrap and massage, and a glycolic glo facial. I got to sit around the pool, when it wasn't raining or threatening to flood and I read 4 books while there. I could have taken hikes or worked out in classes or the really nice workout room but since I do that 5 days a week my motive was to rest and relax and just veg out. I'm going to save my pennies to go back.

Spa trip almost over

Yesterday was spent watching the water rise and rise in the lake. It didn't rain yesterday until about 9:30 last night and it was (as my mother would say) a gully washer. This morning the watch of the rising water is on again as they are opening more gates and there is more rain predicted. I haven't really minded too much as I have spent time in massages and under a canopied area reading numerous books. I finished Calamaity and Other Stories, Janet Evanovich's most recent Lean Mean Thirteen, and now am halfway through Water for Elephants which I enjoying immensly. Today I have a pumpkin scrub, wrap and massage. Tomorrow is the facial stuff and then sadly Saturday I will flying back home, so sad. This place is absolutely wonderful and it has lived up to my expectations.

Lake Austin Spa Update-anybody got an umbrella

Well, it is Wednesday and it is very soggy here. I went to bed with it raining and today the weather report said it was 100% rain. The bad thing is that the upper part of the lake system here has had 18 inches of rain overnight (8 in 1 hour). They have opened 2 gates in the dam and are going to open two more. There are a system of dams so they are opening them slowly up the river/lake system. I have watched one of the little floating docks go under water and they are bringing in a huge truck with pallets of sand bags to shore up the main building. My cabin is very high so I'm not worried but if the power goes out they will close down so not sure what will happen then. I will keep you posted. glub, glub, glub...

Massage

Well, today was my first full day at the spa and I spent the morning around the pool dodging the rain off and on. Finally I was able to go into the Lake House Spa for my Gifts of the Garden massage....yummy....I got to choose the herb they used in my scrub, shower gel and lotion, I chose rosemary. The day was awesome. Tomorrow I hope there is more sun so I can sunbathe in the morning before my aloe vera pedicure and manicure wraps. Update tomorrow.

I'm HERE!

I'm finally here and having the best quiet time. The place is absolutely beautiful and so far lives up to my expectations. I'm walking the beautiful grounds and taking a lot of pictures to share of my adventure. It's funny to eat dinner and sit next to mother and daughters (there have been two sets) and eavesdrop on their conversation of calories and working out and just diet crap. I would worry about those kinds of discussions. Oh well, I don't do the "D" word but I do watch what I eat and that is quite easy here as there is healthy food in abundance. Lots of fish dishes, fruit, egg white omelets and ton's of water. Not a carbonated drink in sight and that will be my hardest thing as I do love a Diet Pepsi at least a couple of times a week. Toodles all and I will share later....oh.....quick funny story...

I decided after dinner last night that I needed to brush the chicken pesto out of the fronts of my teeth so I went back to my beautiful cabin/room and grabbed my toothbrush out of the ziploc bag. I reached in the stuffed bag and grabbed a small white tube and squirted it on my brush. Putting in my mouth and scrubbing my first reaction was there was no fizzing or bubbling. My first thought was Preparation H and I was right. I quickly spit and sputtered and ran lots of fresh water through my mouth and found the real toothpaste and brushed all the junk out of my mouth. The only reaction was a little numbness on my lips.....lol, lol, lol...

Oops

My mind wanders today as my head is in the clothes dryer or bent over the ironing board about my friend that I think I've offended. I have never, never, ever been the kind of person that offended anybody (except my kiddo's) but this past month I have successfully offended two people I dearly love and I just don't know what is the matter with me. I seem to open my mouth and out spills crap. Yesterday I offended my Mother-in-law and it was totally unintential as I had no clue that the idea she had and I was saying was horrible and yuck about was her idea, I thought it was The Hubby's. I made tears come up in her nearly 80 year old eyes. Granted she was stressed to the max with having 75 people in her house for the family reunion and she is a perfectionist and I was rocking her little boat. I felt bad but you know lately I just spill stuff out of mouth and will just have to deal with the fallout.

Nervous

I'm up this morning, 6 am, which is an hour extra of sleep. My eyes popped open and my first thoughts were of the airport and finding where I get my ticket, my gate, walking through the security, ALONE. I'm so very nervous that I didn't think I could drink my coffee. My whole body is tingling with anticipation of my big day. I keep telling myself it is all good, I just wish my stomach was listening to my head. Today will be so full of stuff I won't really have time to think about. We have a huge family reunion at the Mother-in-Law's house for a few hours and then we rush home to doll up for a wedding reception of friends who were married in Antiqua (sp) last week. What a whirlwind day. Oh no it has started to rain AGAIN. My poor MIL is probably paniced because she has invited over 75 people to the reunion and it's going to be a fish fry OUTDOORS!

Time is running short

I'm nervous. Yes I'm nervous and time is running short for my trek to my spa trip. I'm going on this little adventure by myself which is a big deal in itself. I've NEVER flown by myself before. I'm not afraid of flying (used to be) but I'm nervous about the security and finding my gate and getting my ticket printed...arghhhhh all of the stuff. This is because of 9-11 but is an old fear of authority I've always had. It was so intense when I was a child that I was terrified of getting into and kind of trouble to the point that I didn't. I never did anything wrong (except when I was a toddler). I'm a rule follower to the nth degree. My sister used to call me "Little Miss Goodie Two-Shoes" because I was always good. I can't help it. So I'm afraid to even go to the airport just in case I look at someone cross-eyed and make someone mad or do something wrong or ... oh my stomach. I don't know if I can make it through the weekend. My blood pressure is up because I'm on pins and needles but I'm also very excited for this trip. This is something I've wanted to do for over 10 years and I'm going to do it. By myself. A big step for me at 51 years old.

Thinking

I've been doing a lot of thinking the past couple of weeks. A lot of things have happened and are going to happen. First the big news is (as you can see from my counter) a mere few days away and I will be on my way to my spa trip. I've been wanting to go to the Lake Austin Spa for about 10 years and really wanted to go last year for my 50th birthday but with the state of my mother that was an impossibility. I'm a little nervous because I'm flying by myself for the first time and that is making my stomach really on edge but I'm willing to go through it.


This week we went to a memorial service for a young man that left this world by his own way. It was a very sad situation. He was raised with his siblings in Egypt by his missionary parents. He came back to the US (along with his siblings) to finish out their high school years and to let them get used to living in the US and the American people. When he finished high school he decided to join the Marines. He spoke fluent Arabic and the military wanted him to be an interpreter but he wanted to be on the front lines and he was and still ended up being both. He was 24 years old and married for a year. I met this young man one time and it struck me that he was extremely quiet and sullen and looked sad. When The Hubby told me he had passed away my first question was, "Did he commit suicide?" The Hubby didn't know for a few days but I just knew it. What a huge conflict in his head to be raised missionary and then go into the war conflict and be a major part of it. How very, very sad. (The memorial service was 1-1/2 hours long.)

British You've Got Talent..Great

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k08yxu57NA

Taking a Break

Taking a Break

Live from Dallas (actually Richardson, TX)

Here I am at the Hampton Inn, Richardson, Texas at The Hubby's family reunion. We made the drive with the MIL and it was quite pleasant. We had a little scare driving down when a semi loaded with flat sandstone (HUGE) pavers began to lose its load. The Hubby started to slow and pointed to the semi ahead and we watched as two smaller cars were along side and were amazed that they did not see the sliding paver. Suddenly the stone fell off and the two cars veered to the shoulder of the road while the stone shattered into dust and chunks. Fortunately the cars avoided any hits. The Hubby got on his cell phone and called the highway patrol and reported the semi who was getting ready to lose another rock. The driver was totally unaware of the situation. We got close enough to see the license plate and were able to report the truck to the police. Whew, pretty scary stuff and quickly got the adrenaline up for the remainder of the trip. Oh, and The Hubby's new Avalanche truck window was hit by a small rock from another semi truck before the other incident that was hauling rock. He was pissed off let me tell you.

Back to the reunion. Last night we met in a small meeting room and one by one hugged, laughed and reminisced about what has happened to each other in the two years since we all had last met. We have this reunion ever other year. It was really great fun. Today The Hubby went golfing with his uncle and cousins...funny since he has NEVER gone golfing before. I can't wait for the report of his day. Another of his girl cousins, Kim has an antique store so several of the rest of the family will go shopping and visit her store. So, I have a lot of time to kill since we are not getting together till around 1 or 1:30. I am blogging, then I think I will sit around the pool and read a little, but this is Texas so it should get pretty hot pretty quick. I may just sit in the lobby since there is not much else to do.

The MIL is trying to find her niece's (other side of the family) phone number to call and possibly visit while down here. The numbers she had were not any good any more. My BIL came by and said they couldn't seem to find her. I asked if they called the MIL's SIL (brother died) because I knew she would have her daughters phone number. The BIL looked at me and said, "We didn't think of that." HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Funny. I couldn't believe it. I also suggested they call the nephew since he would probably be easier to find than the niece since she was married. Excuse me but really not thinking outside of the wrapping on the box....hahahahahaha. I wonder sometimes.

Good News

As in the previous post of "A Phone Call You Don't Want to Get," the #1 daughter had a biopsy of her cervix on Tuesday and has been very nervous for the results. She just called and it is GOOD NEWS sort of. They said it was very mild and on the outside and that the body should resolve the abnormal cells but that she needed to have it checked again in 6 months. She is so very relieved, me too.

Belevedere

Check out the unearthing of time capsule 1957 Belevedere. One of the events to celebrate Oklahoma's Centennial (June 15). http://www.buriedcar.com/

The Long Ride

Tomorrow The Hubby and I will be traveling to Dallas for a family reunion (his family). It's about a 4 hour drive from here which isn't too bad. The one thing that will make this a long ride is that his Mother will be traveling with us. Now don't get me wrong I love my Mother-in-Law. She is a fabulous person. I couldn't have picked out my MIL and had a better one... My MIL is a most wonderful woman. She is elegant, classy, beautiful and gracious. She is still a fine figure of a woman to be getting ready to turn 80 in September. Our #2 daughter has inherited her statuesque beauty and all of the above. I am really looking forward to the reunion because I really like his family. The ride will unfortunately be fraught with chatter, chatter, chatter. The MIL has gotten to the point of age where she will start to tell you a story and somehow get off on another storyline that somewhere fits into the previous story and then finally 30 minutes later will come the conclusion to the beginning story. It's pretty funny really to try to guess where she will go with her line of thinking. So four hours of ring-around-a-story will be played on the highway between here and Dallas tomorrow. Yippee...!!!

51

Yesterday I turned 51 years old. How in heavens did time pass so fast that I am over 50 now. I remember when my parents turned 36. My 51st birthday was a very low key birthday which for some reason all my birthdays tend to be low key. I guess I'm just not a "wild and crazy gal." Anyway, it was nice. I had nice cards, a few gifts from the Jazzercise girls, lots of phone calls and dinner out to my favorite sushi restaurant plus a couple of Cosmo's. I so do not want to be old....NOT, NOT, NOT, NOT, NOT, NOT...that is why I slather my face with creams, color my hair to be the eternal blonde. I'm going into this second half of my life kicking and screaming.

This morning, not unlike every other morning of my boring life, as I was blow drying my hair I was again thinking about my dear friend Gail who passed away last year. Gail was a month younger than I am and never got to turn 50 or 51 and deal with this stuff. I ofter wonder about her sudden death and about how she lived her life. I mean, one minute she was laughing and in conversation and then the next she was dead. Did she think about whether she was happy with her life and how it was going. Was she prepared. Prepared, I'm not even sure I understand that word in this blog but prepared in lots of different ways. Gail was the one who, not unlike my situation, paid all the bills, handled all the money, knew where every important paper was. Was she prepared in saying I love you one more time to her children or even her husband. Was she prepared in leaving her life. She and her husband were at the point that he was going to take early retirement and they were going to travel. When sudden death comes I think no can be prepared in the literal since and definetly not emotionally. Since Gail's death last year I look into the mirror every morning and wonder if I'm prepared. 51, WOW, I just cannot wrap my head around my age. I feel like I'm in high school sometimes but the mirror tells me another story. There is just no stopping this slow moving train of age on a body. As they say we are actually born dying. I don't want to go. I love life, I love my life. Did Gail think of these things. We never really talked about them. I know she was not ready to leave this world. Life can be so unfinished and hers was.

I'm sorry for the sadness but I am sad and blue about all of it. I'm at the stage of re-evaluating my life right now as I have done at different stages in my life and 2006 has caused a lot of this inner reflection.