A message from the North Pole. . .

If you were wondering how my life has changed since moving from Miami to Charlotte, the attached photos of my shoes speak louder than words.  The high today, here in Charlotte, was a not exactly  steamy 32 degrees, and believe me, my closetful of very fashionable open toed sandals haven't seen the light of day for quite a few months.

I loved the cold weather in my skiing days when I wore thermal underwear under my ski suit and at night topped it with my long-since-sold, politically incorrect, full length mink coat.  My new purchases, in addition to the wonderfully comfortable and warm fur topped boots in the photo, include a black wool scarf and a knee length, hooded coat lined in deliciously snuggly fake fur.  And believe me, I'm loving having all of them.  So much for my five decades of life in tropical Florida.

The weather is actually gorgeous, with the sun shining brightly and not cloud in the sky.  Until you step outside and put your hands on the freezing cold steering wheel of your car.  I swear my little classic 1999 Lexus coupe is in a state of shock and making sounds I never heard before.

Keep warm, everybody, and belated Happy and Healthy New Year to you all!
#    #    # 

Meet the new feline biographer. .

I don't think I have to mention that I love animals, but I have a new "animal job" that is turning out to be a winner.  In my rush to start my new life as a North Carolinnean, I volunteered at the local Humane Society.  Since I really wasn't interested in cleaning dog and cat poop from cages, I ended up in the Humane Society office, entering data in the computer.  Not exactly what I had in mind.

On a whim I mentioned to one of the staff that I am a professional writer, and asked if they needed help with the "descriptions" that show up on the website for dogs and cats looking for adoption.  Turns out that they have someone who does the dogs, but don't have anyone for the cats!

Guess who is the official cat describer these days!  I told my rescue cats, Wasabi and Ginger, about it and they fully approve.  Now I work every Monday afternoon at the local center with a volunteer photographer, to take notes on each kitty's personality, looks, and hopefully, adoptability.  By the way, I don't get to name the cats, that's done before I start work, but I do get to pet them, talk to them, and most of all, make them sound irresistible if you are looking to adopt.

Here's a few samples. . .sorry I can't seem to copy the photos of the kitties, but take my word for it, they are adorable.

Evelynn

Humane Society of Charlotte

Little Evelyn is technically described as a "dilute calico". In person, she is a delicious little pale gray and white kitty with almond shaped topaz-colored eyes and a winning way. At 11 weeks of age, Evelyn shows all the signs of becoming someone's very loving cat. Be prepared to want to give her a hug the minute you meet her.

• Sex: Female
• Size: S
• Age: 0 years 2 months
• Color: Grey/Buff
• Breed: Domestic Shorthair

Shimmer

Humane Society of Charlotte

Two year old Shimmer is an elegant young lady with shimmering green eyes and a truly handsome striped tabby coat. She's a bit shy when she first meets you, waiting for you to make the first show of affection, but warms up very quickly once she gets to know you. There's a quiet, calmness about Shimmer that you will find enchanting and a wonderful addition to your home. If you are interested in meeting Shimmer, please visit her at Huntersville HSC Petco Adoption Center today!

• Sex: Female
• Size: S
• Age: 2 years 1 months
• Color: Brown/
• Breed: Domestic Shorthair

---

Could you have just met your match?

Come meet this fabulous feline today!

Great birthday.. . don't ask the number!

Forget about the number, it was a terrific 3-day birthday celebration, thanks to advance planning by daughter Andrea.  Although it was meant to be all about "Leaf Peeping" in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Mother Nature intervened and the usual October blaze of color in those parts was mostly still very green.  But the views were still gorgeous.

We headed for Ashville early Wednesday morning with a full schedule of events and dinner reservations, the best of which was at the elegant Grove Park Inn where I celebrated with a great martini and my beloved raw oysters.  The last time I was in Ashville was also for my birthday about 30 years ago when the ex and I went every year to see the leaves change with our friends, Mimi and Ed Gadinsky.  Lunch on Thursday at Pisgah View Ranch, the place where we always stayed, was a nostalgic memory of days gone by, including visits there when Andrea was a youngster and a teen-ager, spending the summers at Camp Pinewood and Camp Blue Star in the area.

Thanks to Facebook, the Internet, and my iPhone, I was touched by the many "Happy birthday" messages from friends as far away as Alice in Colorado, Faith in Philadelphia, and Dolores in New Jersey, not to mention my much missed friends in Miami.  Looking forward to seeing them next month when I journey back that way around Thanksgiving.

We arrived back in Charlotte on Friday afternoon to find the best gift of all. . .a hand made birthday card from my delicious six year old great-grandson, Grayson.  I think he had a little help from his Mommy, Amy, but I'm having it framed as one more memory of a wonderful birthday.
#   #   #

No caption needed.

The best daughter in the world.

My birthday martini. . .yum!

My beautiful flowers from Paul

My birthday card from Grayson

Back to the 70's. . . tennis, anyone???

I was watching the Today Show this morning when Steve Carell came on to talk about his new film,   "Battle of the Sexes", the story of tennis great Billie Jean King's match with tennis crazy Bobby Riggs.  Forty years ago, on September 20th, 1973, 30,000 people gathered in the Houston Astrodome, another 90 million watched on black and white TV, as Billie Jean answered Rigg's sexist rants about the superiority of men over women on the tennis court, by running him ragged for three sets.

Don't know if any of you remember that Women's Professional Tennis is those days came under the heading of The Virginia Slims.  Women were not yet considered "good enough" to be part of the national tennis organization.  I knew that well because my public relations firm was hired to do publicity for the Slims when they held court on Key Biscayne.  That's when I got to meet and talk with Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, and most importantly, Billie Jean King.  (And yes, I actually played tennis in those days, although certainly not in the class of those remarkable ladies.)

I remember watching the much ballyhooed "Battle of The Sexes" on my television and feeling triumphant at Billie Jean's big win.  It was a win for all women in our minds at that time and she was a true hero.

Daughter Andrea was my partner in those days and we both remember working for Virginia Slims and the many remarkable women that graced the courts.  You can be sure we will be seeing the movie as soon as it comes to Charlotte.
#   #   #

Billie Jean & Bobby cross racquets before the match!

On the road again. . .

Hello, North Carolina.  Goodbye Florida.

I guess I can consider myself a true Carolinean.  Got my new drivers license last week and on Monday, got my new license plates.  Wow!

Have been so concerned about my friends and family still in my ex-state due to Irma, that I haven't really had a chance to concentrate on my new lifestyle.  Plan to get started on that asap.  For those who knew that the closing on my condo was scheduled for today, the 15th, the buyer's been granted an extension to next Friday, the 22nd.  More of Irma's doing, but keeping my fingers crossed that the sale still goes through.  Grove Isle's landscaping and the Club itself, suffered lots of damage, but the condo buildings emerged unscathed, thank goodness, and we even all have power and air-conditioning back.  No TV, apparently, since the cable across the bridge was destroyed, but Comcast is promising to fix things shortly.

Checked in on damage to all my old stamping grounds. .  Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens, The Kampong, Vizcaya. . all suffered damage to the trees and plants, but the buildings came through well.  My friend Dianne, who's a docent at Zoo Miami, says they will stay closed until the major damage to their foliage and some of the animal areas has been cleaned up.  The animals all came through without incident.

Grandson Adam, his wife Amy, and great-grandson Grayson, are back in their Jacksonville home, safe and sound.  Grayson just lost his first tooth!  Major event in a 6 year old's life!

Hopefully, the northeast can say No way, Jose, to the hurricane of that name still out there, and we can get back to a more normal lifestyle.

  Bye for now. . .
#   #   #

I'm back! Let's talk about stress. . .

Moving, they say, is the second most stressful thing you can experience. Thirty years of stuff accounts for a helluva lot of stress, I'm here to tell you. But here's the good news.  The OCD side of my brain made it imperative that every box be unpacked and every picture and painting hung.

The fact that my cats, Wasabi and Ginger, kept looking at me like "When are we going back home,Mom?", didn't help the situation, but now, exactly three weeks to the day after arriving in my new Charlotte, NC apartment, I am actually starting to feel at home.

Wasabi, trying out my new desk.

There is no Publix in the area, but I can find my way to Harris Teeter Market without getting lost. (I keep calling it Harris Tweeter, to my daughter Andrea's great amusement.)  I bought myself a Garmin GPS for my car and promptly returned it to Best Buy because I couldn't even attach it to my dashboard, much less figure out how to program it.  Thanks to Google Maps on my iPhone, I'm not doing too badly, thank you, although without the ocean to let me know where East is, I have absolutely no idea what direction I am heading.

Yes, I miss Miami, and all my friends, but as those who know me well will understand, I'm a great one for moving on. . this time to a whole new life in a whole new place.  I'm already looking into volunteering at the Mint Museum and am planning to help out at the Charlotte Center For Abandoned Animals where there need help bottle feeding some 50 rescued kittens. That's right up my alley!

I'll continue to write the monthly blog for the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and probably be doing writing for Andrea's marketing firm.  And I'll continue Musing, so don't count me out, cause I'm still very much here!
#   #   #

Ginger, surveying the new surroundings. 

Moving on. . .

Tomorrow's "moving day", guys. . .it's goodbye to Grove Isle and thirty wonderful years in this remarkable place, and hello to my new digs in Charlotte, North Carolina, close to my daughter, Andrea.

Sunday night my dear friends Virginia Jacko and Gill Freeman hosted a fabulous farewell party for me that was very touching and gave me a chance to say goodby to a whole host of friends and neigbors.  I've made a mental list of the things I will truly miss about my life since arriving in Miami from Mt. Vernon, NY, with a five year old daughter, in 1957.

. . .the view of the sun rising over Biscayne Bay when I wake up in the morning
. . .volunteering as a tram guide at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden every Friday morning
. . ."Wine Down Fridays" at the Dog Park every week. . I represent the cat owners of Grove Isle
. . . the great friends I have made here at Grove Isle and throughout my pr career in Miami
..... my dear new love, Paul. . .not so new, it's more than three years now.

To you, my blog friends, I'll most definitely keep on blogging.  Give me a little time, (probably at least a month) to get unpacked.

So, bye for now. . .like what's his name always says. ..I'll be back!
#   #   #