Lunch

We arrived in Strongsville about 10am. Of course I laid on the horn as we pulled into the driveway. Sean came out and Stacey said we were rock stars for getting there so quickly. We had pretty good motivation. We hung out for awhile, and took showers and went to lunch. We went to this place called Treehuggers Cafe. They said nearly everything on the menu could be made gluten free and they even make gluten free bread in house. I ordered this crazy grilled cheese thing. It had onions, avocado, buffalo mozzarella and a few other veggies.

I really wanted these Sweet Potato fries, but they are fried in the same oil as something else, so instead I treated myself to a gluten free cranberry, chocolate chip cookie. :)

Atlanta

On Thursday, July 28, 2011, I left on my next greatest adventure. Jen and I stopped for random touristy things like, pecans in Georgia, and Florida randomness. We got stuck in a traffic jam outside Macon, GA due to an accident, however, we were greatly amused by this lovely car...

Best part is that I am pretty sure that is a stolen music stand from USF. This woman was stuffed into her car among her stuff which was piled to the ceiling. She did have a trampoline in there because that it what everyone needs. :P

We finally made it to Atlanta where we met Allison at Buckhead Pizza at the Galleria. Food wasn't bad, but wasn't the best gluten free pizza I have had. All I cared about was seeing Allison. It had only been 16 years. She looks exactly as she did in high school. I think she is going to visit Florida soon.

After dinner we hit the road again. We drove through Tennessee, Kentucky and then finally Ohio making it to Strongsville by about 10:00 AM.

To be continued...

On The Road Again...

The moment you have all been waiting for has officially arrived. I am just wrapping up the last few bits of packing and getting ready, and then I am off to pick up the rental car. I am technically not supposed to pick it up until noon, but I am trying to get there early. :) Then I can get Jen early and then we can get to our first stop early, or on time. I am not sure what kind of traffic we will encounter.

So to recap from earlier posts, our first stop is Atlanta, but just for dinner. I can't wait to see Allison. We haven't seen each other in 16 years. Seriously? WTF is that nonsense?

Anyway, no more distractions... off to get ready.

Gluten Free at Progressive Field!

WooHoo! It totally exists!!! I can't wait for Saturday! I have never been able to have anything but peanuts at baseball games. I know, I am such a dork, but this is a whole new world for me. I found this on nowheatnoworries.com. Yay!

I thought I was going to escape the heat!

It turns out that the north is having a heat wave. Goodie. It's as hot there as it is here. Oh well, at least I am going on vacation.

I am putting together the final details of the trip. We are stopping in Atlanta to have dinner with a friend. We will be visiting Buckhead Pizza to taste their gluten free pizza. We shall see how it stands up to the others I have tried. Once in Cleveland I am sure I will get some Tommy's Pizza, as I usually do when I visit up there. I think it was one of the very first gluten free pizzas I tried. It's literally right down the road from my friends house. I've also just learned that there are some gluten free options at Progressive Field where the Cleveland Indians play. I will surely be checking this out, as we are going to a game Saturday night after spending the day at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Apparently it's near section 164. Oh I will find it.

That's about all I have for now, my real concern is how I am going to manage to stick to Weight Watchers while on this trip.

aaaaaaaahhhhhhh... lol I made this.

Today I was called an inspiration.

I am really not sure how I feel about this. It was not because I am a middle school teacher, it was not because I am adopting a rescue dog, it was not because I have overcome diseases, a failed marriage, and weighing up to 400 lbs for awhile, and it was not because I am a good person.

Here I was minding my own business, rocking out to some California Love, doing my thing on the treadmill at the gym when this older lady came up and scared the living crap out of me. I paused my music and she got very close and said, "I wanted to let you know that you are an inspiration." I thanked her and she walked away. I've never seen her before. I have no idea who she is. She doesn't know my story. All she saw was A FAT GIRL RUNNING ON A TREADMILL. Seriously? This is why I am an inspiration? I don't understand it. Is it because I manage to get my earbuds in despite having 16 earrings in my ears? Is it because I have butterflies tattooed on my legs? Is it because I have the oldest Ipod known to man and my shoes and clothes are old and crappy? I have no idea. I should have asked her why she thought I was an inspiration. Was it like, hey... a fat girl can do this, so an old lady had to be able to do it also? I really don't think I am any type of inspiration, especially since it was based upon my appearance.

I actually think I am kind of pissed off about this.

Driving Miss Daisy.

Drum roll please... Yup, I picked a name for the pup! Zooey. I love that name and I found out it means "life". It is very suiting since she was rescued from a kill shelter two days after she was scheduled to go down.

She is a little bit crazy, but I am going to take her for training.

Today I took The Nana to the dermatologist and a few other places. While there I scheduled the next zapping of Gorby. August 9th. I should be good to go by the time the kids come back to school. I'll just wear the bandanna during pre planning. So Gorby will be gone, and my eyebrows have been tattooed on, now if I could just lose this weight, I would be so much happier. I am trying with weight watchers and the gym, but I am not seeing great results. I have to order this bridesmaid dress soon. ugh. I just wish my clothes would fit. I have to buy a new pair of jeans and some stuff to go out of town with. I don't have enough clothes that fit. Super.

OK, so tomorrow Zooey and I are going to go to Jo's to play with Ozzy, and then on Saturday we will go to the Dog Days of Summer at Fletcher's and get her picture taken. Then Saturday night some of the girls and I will be doing a 1980's Scavenger hunt/pub crawl. I think it will be fun. I just hope my eyebrows aren't in the sun too much. LoL.

Stripper names.

I am having the hardest time picking out a name for the puppy. All of the names I have come up with are stripper names. Here are some ideas so far.

1. Lucy

2. Lulu

3. Ginger

4. Cinnamon

5. Twilah

5. Tallulah

6. Sweetpea

7. Sandy

8. Honey

9. Sunshine

10. Sasha

11. Maggie

12. Molly

13. Stella

14. Amber

15. Kelly (to keep with the theme... Jo's got Ozzy, and Jay has Jack)

16. Roxy

Anyone have any ideas?

I hope you had the time of your life.

It seems fitting that I heard the song, "I hope you had the time of your life," on my drive home from the theater today.

I did have the time of my life. I followed these characters, and watched them grow up. This last movie ended the series of books and films. The finality of it all is very sad. I am sorry to see it end, but the movie totally did it justice. I feel like the whole Harry Potter thing was one big chapter of my life. I remember being hesitant at first. I thought a children's book couldn't live up to my expectations. I was so wrong. This really became part of my life. Yes I cried during the movie, but I also cried while reading the book. I am sorry to see you go Harry Potter. Hopefully I will find new characters to become attached to for the next 15 years.

Fun Stuff

This weekend I have had a visitor... the four legged kind. Jack. He belongs to my brother. He is such a love. He has been all snuggly and sweet. We have gone on walks and I have brushed him... a lot. He really likes it. It's really funny to listen to him walk around on my laminate floor. He sounds like he is tap dancing. He does slobber much more than I am used to. He's a good boy. He has definitely kept me company. Jay comes back to get him tomorrow at some time, and then I get to have my rescue dog from Dunedin Doggie Rescue, for 5 days. I am still trying to think of a name.

What do you think? So far I have Sasha, Lucy, LuLu, Sweetpea, Talula, and Sandy. Anyone have any ideas? I still don't know if I get her furrever or not.

On Friday I went to do some paint your own pottery at Art from the Heart Cafe in Dunedin. I have never done this before, but it was super fun. I made the coolest thing ever, but I can't show you what it is until Friday, so stay tuned. It's super cool, you won't want to miss it.

Tomorrow I am going (very early in the morning) to see Harry Potter. It's the last one. :( So sad, I have totally loved this series. I will give my review soon.

THE TRIP... I know that's what you're waiting for. We are going to do a sunset river cruise in Chicago, and a ghost tour, and in Memphis we are going to tour Sun Studios. Those are the only updates as of right now. Still waiting on suggestions. :)

You know you want to know all about my adventures! Here is the itinerary so far...

July 28th - pick up rental car, get Jen in Spring Hill, drive to Atlanta. In Atlanta, we will be meeting my super awesome friend from high school, Allison. I probably haven't seen her since 1995. From Atlanta we will drive straight through to Strongsville (Cleveland), OH to see our friends Stacey and Sean.

July 29th - arrive in Strongsville. Sleep. Party the night away with Stacey, Sean, and all the Ohio peeps! We will be bringing a special surprise ;)

July 30th - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!!! Such a cool place. Maybe and Indians game.

July 31st - Jen and Sean leave for the race in Indianapolis. Stacey and I leave for Chicago. Jen and Sean, meet us in Chicago after the race.

August 1st - Spend the day in Chicago. Possibly Natural History Museum, Michigan Ave, shopping, food, taking tons of pictures. We are looking for suggestions, and Jen and I have never been there.

August 2nd - All day in Chicago again.

August 3rd - Leave Chicago for Memphis. Find dinner. Hit Beale Street to do some damage!!!

August 4th - Maybe Graceland, tour the city, get into trouble. Head home.

August 5th - Return rental car by noon. :( Vacation is now over.

If you have suggestions of what we should do, or places to stop while on the trip, let me know. I am so excited to do this. I totally need a vacation, and what better than an adventure?

Slobbering Issue

The doctors office called. I have to go back in 6 month to repeat some test because I got some weird results. Not next week, or next month or in three months, but six. Half a year! Not the normal weird results I usually get, something completely different. First of all, something I have been battling for three years has finally come back negative! WooHoo!!! I think that I am finally rid off all this shit. Well, fingers crossed anyway. The battle I have fought over the past few years might finally be coming to and end... for now. Damn this human experience and bodies that do not cooperate. Whatever, I am totally happy about the news I

Jack, my brothers dog, is here visiting until Sunday. He is a good boy, he loves me. He does have a slobbering issue. He flings slobber everywhere. It's ok, it's super funny when he does it, and I don't mind cleaning up after him. Once he leaves the rescue dog will be coming back for her next visit. I have left out her name on purpose because I am going to change it.

I signed up for a stupid class yesterday. It's only one day, so it's all good. At least I'll get a little $$ out of it. I think Friday I am going to go paint some pottery. I haven't done it before, so we shall see. Anyway, that is all for now. Off to make something for breakfast and then head to the gym.

Starting Anew

Yes, I have decided to Blog again. This time, it will be about anything and everything. Total randomness. You know you love it!

Today I discovered StumbleUpon... OK, so much fun. Such a time killer. I have also recently discovered Pinterest. Now that is a really fun site. I strongly suggest you go check them out and see what they are. I can't forget to mention Google+, the new face of social networking. Now, the dilemma is getting all of this shit to link together. :p

In other news, I have spent the last month mourning the death of my best friend (four-legged) partner in crime, Cosmo.

It has really broken me. He really was my best friend. I don't really have a best friend per se anymore, so this was really difficult.

I have so much love to give, and being all alone, just sucks. I think I have decided to adopt a rescue dog from Dunedin Doggie Rescue. She was saved from a kill shelter. She is the total opposite of Cosmo. I didn't think I was going to get another dog, but I am not doing so well by myself. I can't sleep, I feel lost, and everyday I cry. I am so torn because I feel awful about Cosmo and nothing can ever replace him. He was always there for me through the craziest six years of my life. Yea, he was six, it was complications from Pancreatitis. I really don't want some other dog, I just want my dog back. I have to be logical and know that will NOT happen, so I am doing what I think is OK, saving a beautiful animal from being killed.

OK enough of this for tonight. No more crying.