62&63-365 Catching up (sewing, public sex, and a quirky day off)

Catching up on my Proj365 photos this morning! On Tuesday, I put the fabric I purchased on Monday to good use. I made a new seat for a beach chair and the slings for our beach umbrella's to attach to our motorcycle, along with our attachable luggage bag, to see if we can take longer trips around Florida. We tested it out the next day.

 That was going to be my only Tuesday shot until public sex caught us by surprise. Okay, so it wasn't me and Vince. (The title had you hoping, didn't it? Yeah, me too.) We were sitting outside having afternoon coffee when I heard a ruckus in the bushes, then saw a black flash race under our deck. I knew it was one of our snakes. (BTW -- Neither of us are the types to freak out over snakes and we actually like having these guys around. They're SUPPOSED to keep the rodent population under control, though it appears they've been falling down on the job lately.) A few minutes later we realized it was TWO snakes having a throw down in the yard when they came writhing and wrapped together out from under the deck.

Look at 'em. Shameless.

 They hung out for about 5 minutes like that, en flagrante delecto, before racing off to find a more private spot for round two, or three or four; I really couldn't say but they seemed to have serious staying power.

On Thursday, we decided to take the day off. We worked a few hours in the morning then lit out for the West Coast. On the way, there is a fantastic little restaurant we like. This place is odd-ball but the food is fantastic. It's hard to tell in this photo but the seating is actually in the middle of a wacky shop that sells everything from shoes to the lighted stars you see hanging from the ceiling.

 The waitresses (there are no men) all dress in old-fashioned nurses uniforms and I think they range in age from 50 - 80. The photo below is the menu; they carry chalk boards from table to table and set them next to you. And don't dawdle, if they need it for a new table you're out of luck.

 As I said, the food is great! And there was also a bridge club playing at several of the tables around us. I guess the old ladies can dawdle as long as they like.

But we weren't at our destination so we took off again and kept heading west. One of the things you should know about Florida is that the West Coast isn't all beaches, in fact sometimes it can be pretty darn hard to find one. We'd picked a place off Google maps before we left -- Rees Park in Port Richey. We'd never heard of it and let me tell you something, NO ONE could find this place by accident.

But what a cool little surprise it was.

 We hung out for a few hours -- laying around, napping, reading -- generally enjoying life. Before we left, I got this shot of the sun starting to set.

It was a lovely day -- a two hour motorcycle ride back home and we stopped for supper as well, mostly because my tush needed a break. Ours is a great bike for short rides but we confirmed that for anything longer than one-hour hops we need to consider upgrading to a touring bike, like a Honda Goldwing or a Yamaha Venture.  Maybe another day.

41&42-365 Ego stroke

It's been a great couple of days. The kind where a series of unrelated events combine to pump up your ego in rich and meaningful ways.

On Wednesday I had to meet with a client. On the drive I had the opportunity to catch up with a friend who knows not only about Ivey Lane but more the real-life me and Vince as well. It was a great conversation overall and one of the topics turned to ego. The good kind. The kind that motivates and encourages. It's true that I'm interested in sexual adventure (as well as LIFE adventure) for experiences and sensations it produces all by itself, for the freedom of expression, for the individual connections.

But a big part of my motivation has to do with the fact that I want that for other people, primarily Vincent. I take immense pride in being the kind of wife that adds to his happiness, not the kind that harps, and bitches, and limits, and scolds, and generally becomes the proverbial "ball and chain" that so many men (and women) live with every day of their fucking lives.

My ego is driven by helping to make peoples lives fully, richer, and more rewarding than they thought possible, in every way I can.

Which brings me to the photos. This first was taken near my client's office. They are happy. They are very happy. They are incredibly happy with me because after several years of false starts and crappy results, they finally brought Vince and I into the project and are finally getting what they want, what they had a hard time articulating, and what their previous vendors couldn't or didn't deliver.
FYI -- the photo above is a ruin of slave quarters on an old plantation. Vince and I get to travel around a bit and we take photos all over the country. I might start a series and call it "Somewhere in America" and add a few of these to Proj365. This photo reminds me that throughout history and even today, there are people who don't have choices or opportunities; who were and are forced to live lives by the whims and dictates of others. And in the end, it all turns back into dust. If you have opportunities in your life and choose not to take them, that's just sad. But if you disallow others, especially those you profess to love, from experiencing all that life has to offer, especially because of your own fear and limits, because you want to keep what's "yours," then you may be more of an asshole than you realize.

The next day, Thursday, was tax prep day. We met with our accountant to go over last year and plan for this one. She rescues cats. Lots of them. This lovely, FAT, HEAVY baby is laying on my arm, which he did for about 45 minutes. My fingers were as asleep as this guy by the end of the meeting!

But it was a good year and this one is shaping up to be even better. Part of the additional ego stroking is that we are reaping some of the rewards of the years of effort we've put into our work and business. In fact, my biggest concern right now isn't whether or not we're going to have jobs this year, but rather how in the hell are we going to get it all done without killing ourselves! As you can see, the tax cat isn't concerned.

After our meeting we just spent the day running errands, hanging out together as we drove all over town. We ended up a cool little restaurant that had nice entertainment in addition to great food. And yes, Ivey's getting her sexy back! Yes!!

We spent the evening flirting with each other, thinking about other people we may (or may not) be meeting. We chatted about the strangeness of it all as well as the adventure. We talked a little about some of our new friends and how much we enjoy them. We laughed as we thought about the "if they only knew!" quality of some of our older, more established friendships. We talked about possibilities and all of life's adventures that are on their way. Not just sex (though it's a significant part!), but work, travel, life. And I felt damn good. So good in fact that we came home, I put on one of my new sexy ensembles that I bought at Christmas just for Vince. We went up to our little love nest and fucked and laughed and giggled and moaned and kissed and just had ourselves a fine old time.

And this morning, we woke up and did it again. If that won't stroke your ego, nuthin' will.

14-365 Weights (and a lotta work!)

A quick pic from my gym. I work out three times a week at a place a few blocks from my house. It's a small fitness center owned and operated by the sweetest personal trainer ever. Since I started working out there a few years ago she got divorced and now is the sole support for herself and her two teenage children. The other day, I saw on FB that she was selling her wedding ring set to help make ends meet. I work hard but I don't kid myself. Compared to most every single person on the planet, I've got it pretty easy.
Speaking of work though, Vince and my work schedule just got a whole lot busier and in a great way. We're currently working on a very large and cool project (I should actually be working on that at this moment but thought I'd just take a second to post) and knew we had three more lined up. We just found out we have two more as well. In our business, this will fill our calendar until at least the fall. Yes!! Gotta support our lifestyle. LOL

Alright, enough. Back to work!

11-365 Afterthought

Why do I have the feeling that you guys are going to get reeeaaaal acquainted with the stuff I have laying around my house or hanging from my walls? Last night, once again, I realized as I was getting ready for bed that I hadn't taken a photo so I snapped this pic. Grrrr.


As with all things, there's a story here too. This is a Venetian Carnival Mask from Venice Italy. It's a heavy sucker. I got in in 1987 during a trip to Europe and though I wasn't in Venice during Carnival, it was an incredible experience. I still remember sitting in the Piazza San Marco, sipping coffee, watching the people and the ever present birds.

I was 20 years old and traveling with my parents. In Switzerland we met a woman, early 30s, who was traveling by herself. Apparently her husband didn't like to leave home and she loved to go places so she traveled all over the world, all by herself. Her name was Holly. In that same city we met an older couple who also loved to travel but his health was failing and they were concerned the only had a few trips left. We all ended up going out for dinner in Lucerne and all going our separate directions the next day.

Sitting in the piazza, I looked up and there she was, pulling her suitcase across the massive open space. I thought she was pretty much the coolest woman on the planet. She was staying at a place close to our hotel so I walked over with her to check in and afterwords. (Now I know you're all hoping that this turns into "my first time with a girl" or a "and she was soooo hawt" type story but nah, it wasn't like that. Just meeting people.) I was supposed to go back and meet my folks at our hotel for dinner and she came with me. When we walked in, Mama and Daddy were sitting with the older couple we'd met. The couple had walked by the hotel cafe they were sitting at looking for a place to stay. Mama and Daddy brought them back to our hotel and they were able to get a room. We spent several days enjoying the city and this little group of people we just happened to find.

Holly was with me when I bought this mask.

I don't have a ton of "things", but the things I do have all pretty much have meaning and memory associated with them.