It Was an Awesome Summer!

It's that time, again, the precise time of the year when all teacher's are saying to themselves, "what happened to summer?"  Yes, it is Labor Day evening, the very last night before the start of school for many a teacher, including me.  No more sleeping late, no more lounging around, no more fun.  Life as I've known it for the past two months has ceased.  Poor me!  Lol...

Um, wait a second...

Haha, well that was last night.  I started a post, but then got interrupted and never got back to it.  Such is the life of a part time writer.  I thought it was a good intro, so I'm leaving it in here.  The feel of the post I want is that of sadness at summer's end, and since I already went into school today to prep for my year, I don't quite have that same feeling I did last night.  So there, pretend it is still Labor Day evening.

The summer of 2014 was a short one by school summer vacation standards.  Nine weeks...that's about a week shorter than normal.  I guess it's just the way the calendar fell, but I'm not complaining.  I tell my students all the time that they will never in their lives get as much vacation as they do now as students, so they need to appreciate it.  I certainly do.

A Big Weekend Starts Off a Big Summer

I had an awesome summer, and I think it went by so quickly not only because of the calendar, but because I spent about 22 days of it away from home, and that's not counting day trips. There were some great memories to be had, right from the start, too, as I began the summer fun on the Eve of the last day of school spending some quality time at Corey Creek Vineyards with two very special ladies, Heather and Terry.

The fun continued at Cherry Grove as me and one of my best besties, Laura Kim, celebrated the start of summer with an overnight stay in Cherry Grove.  My pal Rich joined us for dinner and great food and plenty of laughs were had. 

      Happy much?  Ah, good times! 

A Very Special Reunion

On Saturday night, I hosted a reunion of three other very special ladies with whom I worked a long, long time ago at Citibank.  My friend Linda, who now lives in South Carolina, was coming to Long Island for a visit, which prompted a get together at my house, with Joann and Caroline.  The four of us hadn't seen each other in a few years, but you would never have known it.  We picked up right where we left off and had a blast.  My summer got off to a great, great start!  

  

You're a tiiiiger!

                               Mr. Bill 

Spank me good baby!

Roller Coaster Road Trip 2014

On Sunday, July 6th, my pals Rich, Eddie and I set off on a nine-day trip that took us over 3,000 miles through nine states, riding too many roller coasters to count, zip-lining in a cave, bourbon tasting, sight-seeing, cave exploring and a whole lot more!  This Roller Coaster Road Trip 2014 was one full of laughs, surprises, and a whole lot of awesomeness.  Stay tuned for more posts on that trip, but for now take a look at some of what we saw...

P-Town and a Sailing Adventure

In August, I took a very different kind of trip, one that allowed me to revisit a place I had had so much fun in last summer along with a whole new type of adventure.  I've written extensively about my Sailing Adventure to Acadia National Park in Maine, but I hadn't written too much about P-Town.  Yes, that trip was still fun, but disappointing, not quite living up to last year, and being deathly ill didn't help.  But thankfully I was given the gift of this sail to Maine and it not only was one of the most thrilling things I did all summer, it matches up to almost anything I've done in my life.   

The look on my face sums up how 

I felt about P-Town the Sequel 

Everything In Between

The rest of the summer was interspersed with other fun stuff, like evening trips to Fire Island, wine tasting, drag shows, lots of dinners with friends, and of course, more roller coasters.  Yes, the summer of 2014 was probably one of the busiest and most leisurely one I've ever had, and I am grateful to have had it.  I always say, enjoy every moment of life, and appreciate all of the good things to the fullest!  I leave now with a few more photos of some of my other fun moments of summer.  I hope yours was as good as mine because you deserve it! For now it's time to jump back in the teaching saddle and get back to work!

  

P-Town Song of the Day - Sailing - Rod Stewart

I couldn't think of a better song to post today...a classic from good old Rod Stewart that, for the first time in my life, fits my day.  Wish me luck!

 

P-Town: The Sequel - Wahhhhh!!!

I haven't spent nearly the same amount of time this trip to P-Town blogging, and that's for good reason.  First of all, since I've been here before, there's not so much that's new to talk about.  I already saw all of the sights around town last time...the Tower, the beach, the art galleries and shops, so this trip's been pretty much all about just hanging out and partying, at least the first part of the week.  No drama (well, maybe a lil, but what happens in P-Town...), no fuss, no muss!

Wahhhhh!!!!!  

I sit here all alone at the moment, on my last night here, on our patio, blogging, while everyone else that's left up here is out partying...and I'm a little cranky.  This week has only really been a half a week for me and thus the reason for my sitting here...and my mood.

It all started last Sunday, the morning of our venture up here to P-Town, when I took a nasty fall down the 13 stairs in my house.  It was my own fault.  I was wearing not very traction-y flip flops and I tried carrying down my heavy duffle bag.  As soon as I went to pick it up...boom!  My feet went out from under me and down I went.  My pal Blanchie was in my kitchen when it happened and all he could see from there was the banister moving back and forth as I tried to break my fall like Aunt Bunny (take a look below and beware, it's a lil explicit!).  Not pretty!  Needless to say, I've been in muscle pain ever since.

To top that off, sometime on Wednesday evening I came down with some sort of stomach bug, which still lingers.  I spent most of the night vomiting and in pain.  It was horrible!  And that was after a day of rain!  I slept almost all but about two hours throughout the day as my housemates went about their revelry.  UGH!

I feel like I lost so much of my precious time I've had here sleeping it off, and I was hoping to get at least some fun and revelry in today...I felt better at about 4 a.m., but alas my partying lasted only about as long as Tea. Tonight the queasiness came back and here I sit.  Grrrr!!!  But I'm not bitter!

Oh My God!!!

traveltoriga

Tomorrow We Sail

I guess part of the reason for my crankiness, and possibly the lingering queasiness, is the fact that tomorrow morning I will be joining some friends on a 24 hour sail to Acadia National Park in Maine.  Sounds exciting, right?  Well, that's why I originally said yes, in addition to the fact that an adult is needed for this very long ride through the Gulf of Maine, but I am also scared out of my wits!

I've never been on such a long sail before and from what I'm hearing we'll be between 50 and 80 miles offshore throughout the night.  Scare-freaking-ry!  In fact, as I laid in bed sick the other night, I couldn't get images of rolling up and down high waves out of my head.  I'm sure this will be an adventure, but I can't wait to get to the end of this trip!

So I may try and stick in a Song of the Day post tomorrow before I take off.  Otherwise I won't have my laptop with me for the remainder of the trip, but I'm sure I'll have a lot to say about it when I get back.  Stay tuned...

A P-Town, Flashback Friday Song of the Day - Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Diana Ross

If you need me, call me

No matter where you are

No matter how far

Just call my name

I'll be there in a hurry

On that you can depend and never worry

Happy Friday morning from P-Town!  Here's a tune that filled up the dance floor at Tea the other day, and of course had me and many others singing at the tops of our lungs.  Diana's very first smash as a solo artist was a masterful reworking of a tune, with sultry, spoken verses leading up to that crescendo of a chorus. Goose bump inducing!  Enjoy!

 

P-Town: The Sequel...So Far!

Today is Wednesday, we're midway through the second vacation in good ole P-Town and it's gonna be a stormy day! The rain clouds and the wind are already rolling in and it's a bit chilly, too.  I am up way too early for here, but that's because I think I got my early night over and done with last night.  That was when we had our turn at a house party and lemme tell ya, it was a good one!

So far, the trip's been as I expected it to be, different than last year, but good.  I still can't get over how such an ordinary game like bowling has brought all of these good people together in such a monumental way. Time here in P-Town is spent in any number of ways, and with any combination of the 25-plus people that are staycationing with us.  Always fun, always interesting.

The daily 4 o'clock tea dances at a The Boatslip are the one event where everyone gathers in the same place at the same time.  A little Planter's Punch, a little conversation, lots of laughs, a lil gawking at the crowds and then an all-out dance party are always on the agenda.  This is usually where the night begins before everyone goes off into wherever the night takes them, which can be anything from a Kristen Chenoweth show to dancing at Wave Bar, a drag show, or a house party, etc., etc., etc.

The first house party happened on Monday night.  Sean and Leo, J.C. and Ed, Daved and Tom, and Eric were the hosts for some laughs and Leo's now famous 'balls,' with a lil pasta and salad thrown in.  Last night was our turn and I think our party will definitely be one of the highlights of the week.  With nine of us in the house, ours was a big house party, with more than 30 people in and around the patio area drinking, eating and having a good time.  The vodka marinated watermelon, I think, did me in and I was fast asleep before midnight.

There's not too much more to say about P-Town itself that I didn't already say last time, so for now I'll just let the pictures taken by my fellow P-Town brothers speak for themselves.

         

    

P-Town Song of the Day - Hung Up - Madonna

Today's Tea Dance is one which a lot of folks up here are looking forward to, especially me.  You see, some of the teas are themed, and on Wednesdays the Boatslip hosts Madonna Madness Tea.  Three hours of nothing but the music of Her Highness.  I can't wait, so I'm gonna get this party started right now....

Time goes by, so slowly...

The Gay Real World P-Town: Getting Our Drink On

Here we go...the sequel to the Gay World P-Town has finally begun.  We got here on Sunday instead of Saturday, which kind of worked out well as all of the traffic was going the other way and we made good time getting here.  We heard horror stories from the 20 or so people who came on Saturday about their trips up on that day....6 hours...7 hours...8 hours...yikes!  Our luck was better.

famishedfoodies

We got here around 2 o'clock and the drinking commenced soon thereafter.  There's not much more to say about the first day, except it was filled with, um, spirits.  By the time tea rolled around at 4ish, the steady buzz that I'd feel all day had already settled in, and it lasted till the wee hours of the morning.  I know last year I called this place the frat house, which I won't do this time around, but yesterday I felt like a real frat and already I'm thinking of toning it down for as long as I can today.  Oh, that Planter's Punch is evil!!!  Stay tuned...