WHIRLWIND WEEK!!!

Wow, talk about a whirlwind week! I am in serious SERIOUS need of some DOWN time for a bit - that seems scarce these days though!

My mom's birthday was yesterday, Aug. 9 - in the past week, we took TWO little trips for her birthday. On 8/3 and 8/4, we went to Jacksonville and Savannah, just the two of us - left early Wed. morning, 8/3 and got to Jacksonville in early afternoon, went to the Anheuser-Busch Brewery and did a tour and tasting, then checked into our hotel, and headed out that evening for the Orange Park Dog Track - enjoyed a prime rib buffet and several dog races - we used to do that when we visited relatives in the Tampa Bay area and have not been to the dog track for several years.

We spent the night in Jacksonville, then after breakfast on Thursday, we headed to Savannah, boarded the Diamond Cruise casino boat for a five-hour casino cruise, then got back at 5:00 p.m. and headed home. Got back LATE on Thurs night, extremely tired! But had a great time. Mom and I travel together and do trips together a lot, and we always have a great time. Fortunately, I took Friday off because by the time I returned home late Thursday night I was sick - not sure if I picked up a bug or what, but I took it easy all day on Friday, even having to beg off attending a cooking class with some friends of ours that night so I could take it easy.

After being under the weather ALL weekend, all FOUR of us (Dennis and my stepdad joined us for this one) left early Monday morning and went up to Cherokee, NC. We got to Harrah's Casino and Hotel in time for lunch at Paula Deen's Kitchen, and then spent some time playing in the casino for awhile. All of us did the slots except Dennis who spent a little time at the blackjack table. Monday night we went to see the outdoor Native American passion play, Unto These Hills - unfortunately the last bit of it got rained out but we saw MOST of it and it was a pretty good show. We have vowed to try to return and see it again in its entirety, perhaps next year.

We headed back to the casino late that night and played until almost midnight, spent the night at the hotel, then after a couple hours in the casino on Tuesday morning and an early lunch again at Paula Deen's Kitchen, we checked out and went to Asheville, stopping at the Farmer's Market, then on home.

So Mom's birthday was celebrated in good style this year with TWO little getaways and a fun time was had by all. Fortunately, by today (Wednesday) I am feeling much better and over whatever I had, I think... I had to travel to Manning, SC today for work and then back to Lexington for an afternoon hearing, and now a busy day on Thursday with a Facebook seminar for my GNO group, AFTER an early morning breakfast meeting with one of my networking groups. I have gotten so busy lately I've had to cancel some plans I've made with friends because my schedule has just gone haywire and I'm having WAY too much on my plate - but I guess it's good to keep busy sometimes.

I'm seriously in need of some major down time though - I'm looking ahead to 2 weeks off starting 8/29 and going through 9/9. Part of that two weeks will be spent doing some things I need to do at home and part of that time will be spent at the beach. The waves are calling.... I can hardly wait to answer!

I am sticking to my promise to WRITE more and spend more time on this blog.. so I'm off to a great start!