He hopes to be finished tomorrow night. I hope so, too. My house is trashed. So for now just a little sneak peek.
Are you really surprised at my color choice? Perhaps this is why I choose to remain single? Never having to compromise on what color to paint the living room.
And just for proof...you can see that it really is a
That about sums it up. One of the many projects this year was painting the living and dining rooms. They haven't been painted in 11 years and really need freshened up.
3. I had my tonsils out when I was 11. I woke up in the recovery room with dry, cracked lips that were caked with dried blood. It was gross. And painful. But I got to eat a lot of popsicles so that seemed to make things better. I recently thought of this after seing a pic of someone who shall remain nameless with her mouth wide open showing people her chewed up food. (It was so immature considering her age and all. LOL!) But in addition to the chewed up chocolate brownie, I also saw her tonsils. And had to think a second about what the heck those things were since they looked so unfamiliar to me. Which brings me back to the story of my memories about having my tonsils removed when I was 11.
*Click here for an explanation of the 3 Words Project.
That gave Tracy just enough time to pick me up at the curb and drive her boys to Grams and Gramps house and then high tail it back to the airport for the big surprise. It was awesome! Colleen had no idea I was coming. On the left, you can see the edge of the pole I was hiding behind as she walked up to greet Tracy. I came up behind her and the look on her face was soooo worth it! She was shocked and just as happy to see me as I was to see her. 
We headed back to T's house and immediately fired up the blender. Hey, I'm sure it was 5 0'clock somewhere!! I fell in love all over again with Colleen when she told me the margaritas weren't strong enough and added more tequila. A girl after my own heart!
The afternoon was spent lounging in the pool and enjoying lots of girl talk. Could not have been a more perfect afternoon! I love the Florida lifestyle. The people down there really know how to have a good time. And they certainly enjoy their cocktails. My kind of folk. :)
But I don't know how I'd ever get to work if I had a pool and my own bar right in the backyard! I might never leave the house!
Our host and hostess threw an impromptu little cookout that evening for some of the other neighbors also running for the BOD. Before everyone got there, the birthday girl received a box in the mail from Maryellen. She had tried so hard to work out a flight so she could be part of the birthday surprise, too. But in the end, there was just no way to do it.
So she sent Colleen some cool gifties instead. She loved all of it! The wine glass was in her hand most of the weekend. Except when we went boating. She took the koozie for that. LOL!
After a delish dinner and lots more cocktails, we played mucho cornhole. Now since I'm from Ohi-yer, I've had lots of practice with this game.
The funny thing is that I got better and better as the night wore on. The more tequila I drank, the more accurate my aim got. Strange, huh?
In fact, on the last shot of the last game I made all four of the bags in the hole to pull out a victory for my team. Because of that amazing feat, I was crowned the new "cornhole princess". (Boy do I have a lot of jokes for that line...) Here you can see the former princess passing on the crown. I accepted it proudly!
The next morning, we headed out for a little shoppy. Now this was an entirely different experience than what I'm used to. Last weekend when I visited Maryellen in North Carolina, we made a Wal*Mart run. Much more my speed. These high-falutin' stores down here were way outta my league. But I'm always up for an adventure so I happily went along. 
The birthday girl wanted to treat herself to a new LV handbag. I wasn't able to share her enthusiasm when I saw that one bag cost more than my house payment. However, we made the mistake of going in the C0ach store later. Somehow a bag that only cost more than my last car payment seemed more reasonable. WTF?
I've been corrupted! But I do love my new bag. And I rationalized that since my car has actually been paid off for more than a year it wasn't that big of a purchase. Plus more importantly, I deserve it! Looks good on me, no? 
Before heading back to party central, we stopped at the market. Tracy needed to pick up a few staples. No.... not bread and milk.
We're talking tequila and beer, baby! You see, Florida is very hot. People tend to get pretty thirsty.
Once back home, our host and hostess slipped off to their BOD election meeting while Colleen and I held down the fort. But we received constant updates via text messages. Finally, they arrived home victorious! And the celebration began.
We headed out to Colleen's favorite place for dinner. T0mmy*Bahamas. I'd never been to one. Let's just say that now I'm a believer, too. I had the best steak I've ever tasted in my life. Seriously...in my life!!
Since I was dining in a tropical paradise, I decided to have an appropriate tropical drink that came with it's very own little umbrella. I ordered a yummy pina colada in honor of another homegirl who was also part of the birthday surprise. But unfortunately, she had to cancel at the last minute. So cheers to you, Melissa! You were there in spirit.
Mr Sea Star snuck off during dinner under the guise of "going to the bathroom". But really, he arranged a special birthday treat. But there was no stupid singing by the waiters in this classy joint. Though she did get to blow out a candle.
She was so happy that she decided to make love to the palm. She's truly a tree hugger! LOL!
We walked down to the pier so I could see the gulf side of the ocean since I'd never been here before. It looked the same as the Atlantic side. But it was a nice walk anyway. LOL! Aren't these two just the cutest couple? They really are just as adorable in real life, too.
Deja vu? Didn't Tracy lose her keys during the last "Girlfriends on the Gulf" trip? And was photographed in the exact same position? With the exact same look on her face?
The humidity had taken a toll on our hair at this point. But we still look hot. No, I mean we were really hot. LOL!
The next morning, we were up early for a day on the water. Mr Sea Star loaded us up on the boat and took us out for some island time. It was a gorgeous day. 
These two sun worshipers worked on their fabulous tans with no worries. While I slathered on SPF 50 sunscreen and sat under the umbrella. With my lovely fishing hat and tee shirt on. Scared to death of a burn. 
This set up is how I garnered the name "Miss Daisy". I burnt anyway. Badly. I knew my fair complected skin couldn't deal with that sun. Happens every time. But it was still a great day... in spite of my pain. LOL!
I had the most fun!! And to think I almost didn't go. Only because I had traveled the weekend before. I thought it would be too excessive to fly two weekends in a row and get my party on again so soon. Thank goodness Tracy twisted my arm and convinced me to throw caution to the wind and live it up while I still can in my pre-baby time. Thanks for the encouragement, girl!
Our time in paradise. We lounged. We swam. We ate great food. We enjoyed many delicious cocktails. We talked and talked. We cornholed. We shopped. We celebrated. We boated. We saw naked ass on the beach. We partied like rock stars. And then some of us fell asleep. :P
The weekend was fabulous! Spent with two of my favorite people. (Well, actually three now cuz Mr Sea Star is pretty freakin cool himself.) I could not possibly have had a better time. Except maybe if we left out the sunburn. LOL! Thanks to Tracy and Jason for being such wonderful hosts and pampering us all weekend.
I love you girls and can't wait til next time! 
This pic explains exactly how I feel right now, too. Yes she really is asleep. Didn't even flinch when I snapped the pic. But in her defense, this was at the end of day three. She can still party like the smokin hot rock star that she is!.jpg)
I'm down in paradise with the birthday girl!!
I know you'll have a blast down in paradise this weekend partying like the rock star that you are!! Have a fabulous birthday.
Some other airlines were offering to help those stuck for only a $50 fee. But it was flying stand-by and they specified that as much as they were willing to help, the seating was very limited. So I passed on that one. And if the craziness at the airport and packed flights on the way home were any kind of indicator, I made the right choice. It may have cost a little more but the convenience and peace of mind were worth it.
I was happy to see Sophie and Maryellen again. And I finally got to meet the rest of the TBG Gang. Hannah is a great big sister. She's a small fry version of her momma. A witty and snarky chip off the ole' block. I loved her the second we met. 
However, she holds most of the blame for my 5 lb weight gain in one weekend. I think that's my all time record. Hey..... the chocolate fountain seemed like a good idea at the time!
As if that wasn't bad enough, we re-heated the leftovers the next night. Marshmallows, peanut butter and potato chips were our favorite dippers. Seriously.... it's not like the fruit is really gonna be all that good for you covered in chocolate. So why not go all the way with it, right?
This is the hubs who laughed out loud at the news of my airline going out of business. In hindsight, it is pretty funny. But at the time, Maryellen was not finding him amusing. LOL!
This is Ben. I only saw him for brief moments when he'd surface for nourishment. The rest of the time he was sleeping or playing video games. Typical teenage boy behavior. But he still wasn't too big to come snuggle with his momma...and in front of a complete stranger no less. I think that may be against some kind of teenage rules of conduct though.
We spent the weekend doing my all time favorite thing.... just hanging out. There were several hours of sweatpants time, some movie watching, quite a bit of junk food eating, and lots of goofing around.
And let me tell ya.... this whole family is good at goofing around. Even doing nothing they have the most fun.
Sophie fits right in. She's as crazy as the rest of them. An all around crack up.
I think I laughed more this weekend than I have in awhile. And I really really needed to. 
His entire eye is affected. The vet thinks that right now he's blind in it. But she's hopeful that with treatment it will heal and he will get his sight back. So I pray that everything goes well. It requires ointment 5 times a day, eye drops to dilate it once a day and pain pills twice a day. Which doesn't make him happy. She said an eye injury can be very painful. So it breaks my heart that he has to go through this. He has a follow up in a week to see how things have progressed.
