Desert Magnolia

This bitch is on her way to my girl Since Daughter moved to the East coast for college, she's been in the path of two hurricanes. Irene was the first, and she and her team were held over two days in North Carolina  as that storm blew itself out over the Northeast. This time, this time she's in RI, and Sandy is headed directly for them. They're not allowed to leave their dorm rooms after 1 p.m. Eastern, today, due to high winds. They've stocked up on non-perishables and water, and are expecting widespread power outages. The first of the worst is supposed to hit later this evening and continue into tomorrow. Duration is hard to predict given the Canadian cold front that is joining up with this tropical beast and feeding the frenzy. It's a hybrid storm, kind of a hurricane weds a n'oreaster. Nobody knows for sure just how bad it's going to be, but everyone is sure it's a doozie. I can certainly attest to that. Being here, so far away, an

For the Mexico trip? I decided to buy a new suit. Ahem. It's red. And it's a bikini. And it's stringy. I am...fairly fit, but made curvy. I am confident and most days it takes a lot to make me blush. The path to this suit is one I thought you might appreciate, since my very good friend, confidant and fashion adviser JL is part of it. A paraphrased conversation between JL and me, earlier this week: Me: What is your position on the whole women of a certain age wearing bikinis? JL: I wish we had a more European view of things and just did what's appropriate for an occasion instead of getting caught up in the whole age thing. Me: I agree. I'm thinking of getting a string bikini for this Mexico trip, and I think I just needed to hear that it's really ok..to do whatever I'm comfortable doing..but not do something because someone says when you reach a certain age you stop wearing bikinis, you know? JL: Yep. I think you should do what feels right, the

Flash forward to present moment. To a Monday night spent domestically focused..on Skyping with Daughter, who is improving in both emotional and physical aspects. To making flight plans to bring the girl home for the holidays...the day following her last final exam. To making flight plans that mirror hers for her bestie and roommate. Why mirroring flights? We're getting the hell out of Dodge for the holidays, and we're taking her bestie with us. To Mexico. Cancun. The ocean, warm breezes, where only SPF, hats, plenty of water and bikinis are required. "Mas tequila, por favor." That's really all I want to say during our stay in a time share condo that a friend of ours has been kind enough to offer up. We'll cook, we'll hang out, and mostly..we'll just 'be'... Picture if you will, Hubby, moi, Daughter, and her friend the lovely Ginger girl from the East Coast. Can you say Hell yes? I can.

So, hi. I'm really not sure where to begin so I'll start where I left off nearly a month ago and move forward... Timeline 9/20/12. I get on a plane and head East. Made it to Minneapolis before Delta, the least reliable airline in the entire world (that isn't currently in bankruptcy) with what must be an abyssmal on time record announced that our commuter jet from Minneapolis to Providence had 'a pretty big dent in the cargo door', and that they were going to have to address that before we could leave. Well, yeah. That would be good. Address the big dent in the skin of the airplane BEFORE we take off, please. Turns out the dent was bigger than they'd thought at first, so really, the next step was to 'wheel over another plane' and then we'd be all set to go. Up until this point I didn't realize that extra planes are just sort of stored...just for these occasions when a ball peen hammer and some swearing aren't going to do the trick wi