"Heads Carolina, Tails California...

...Someplace greener, someplace warmer..."

To satisfy a fairly inexplicable desire I had to listen to country music, my brother-in-law downloaded I-Tunes and put together a country music mix for me last Christmas. "Heads Carolina, Tails California" really resonated with me, and has been playing through my head fairly constantly for the last couple weeks of cold & brown here. [Side note: the Papaya loves that song, too, because Lightning McQueen went to California in the Cars movie, and therefore the song must be about the Cars movie.]

And by brown, I mean brown - there is virtually no (natural) green in sight at all - no evergreens, bushes - nothing! Only the few hardy mint leaves that survive the cold, as well as the beautiful little shoots of lettuce, arugula, and chard in the small cold frame my husband built in our back yard - but you can't see those without opening the top. And that, my friends, is it as far as green goes in the great outdoors in our neck of the semi-desert.

And by cold, I mean cold inside as well as outside - our propane tank got down to 5%, and with our next fill-up not scheduled until Thursday, we turned the thermostat down low to conserve fuel. With all tile floors, this means cold! And it snowed 6 inches last night! Brrrr!

But there's an even better reason the song has been playing in my head - we are going to California! Leaving tomorrow for Phoenix! Flying to Los Angeles on Friday! And even better - we're not going to stay in Southern California very long. Taking advantage of our military benefits to procure great low-cost fares, we plan to spend next week sitting out on a balcony (obstructed, but still a balcony) of the Carnival Pride, basking in warm breezes (and humidity, I hope - I really miss humidity!) and watching whales breach in the waters of the Mexican Riviera.

I am very excited. We will be cruising with Husband's brother & mom (who get cheap fares using airline benefits, since Husband's brother is a pilot) and plan to have a wonderful, relaxing time. Husband has been working really hard lately (including two full nights in a row last weekend), and it will be nice to unwind with him. And since the cruise ship has two formal nights, I'll finally get a chance to wear the sexy velvet black dress my mom bought me for fun from Goodwill a couple of years ago! Husband's even going to dust off his suit to wear with me!

Since I'll be dressing formally in my elegant Goodwill gown, I decided I should hunt up some make-up to really look the part. I went searching, and found: lipstick, bought on my wedding day almost 7 years ago; blush, given to me 9 years ago by my aunt who used to sell Mary Kay; mascara, which I bought 7 years ago from a strawberry farm employee who was trying to raise money to go on a missions trip; and foundation of indeterminate age & origin (but at least 7 years old). I actually did buy new mascara & foundation (the cheapest I could find - WOW! make-up is expensive, even from Walmart!) but figure the old blush & lipstick won't kill me.

I'm going to fit right in with all those southern California girls on the cruise!

Next post after the cruise! Goodbye!

P.S. The propane guy just came - a day early! I just turned up the thermostat to 66 degrees! I can take a long, hot shower! Vacation is beginning already!