just voted !!

Election Day

Aruba's ready to rock the vote!

have a fang-tastic Halloween!

inspired by Vermont....

Hi everyone... hope you had a great weekend?

Ready for the Presidential debate tonight? Or sick of it all? Either way, there's excitement in the air here because it's being held in our neck-of-the-woods, in Boca Raton, just down the road from us. Hoping for some SNL-worthy moments tonight, LOL !!

I was so inspired by all the wonderful fall colors and decor that I recently saw in Vermont! So over the weekend, while at the grocery store, I saw these beautiful mums {impulse purchase} and couldn't resist bringing a little bit of autumn to our Florida foyer.

Over the weekend I was also getting my new iPhone set up (thanks for all your help with that, Sal!). We (finally) upgraded to the iPhone 5... we still had iPhone 3's so we were way behind, it was definitely time to upgrade! I am loving the new HD camera (which is what I took this photo with) and I am dictating this blog post using Siri (the iPhone voice assistant) into my iPhone, directly into my Blogger app... how cool is that?!

Feminist-In-Chief

that's the ticket!

So Sal and I are back home from New England, back to reality, and trying to catch-up at home/work. Been sorting thru a stack of mail and found that these lovelies had arrived... tickets I ordered while we were away. Can't wait for these shows!

heading home...

Waiting for our flight at the airport in Bangor, Maine.... had a wonderful time... autumn in New England is special !! Will post details and pics here soon.

Time to return home to my beloved (warm) Florida and to my precious Buddy & Aruba --- I missed them SO much!

heading east ....

Tired tonight from a full day of leaf-peeping along Vermont's fab & foliage-famous Route 100... but I'm staying up to plan tomorrow's route (using GPS, but I still love old-fashioned paper maps + a highlighter!).
We're heading east thru New Hampshire to the coast of Maine to Acadia National Park. A long drive, but I'm so excited to visit another of our amazing national parks!

enjoying Vermont... to the core!

Sal and I are enjoying all things autumn here in Vermont. Yesterday, we picked apples at a rural orchard, surrounded by splendid autumn foliage and crisp, fresh air. We're taking 13 pounds of these beauties home!
I'm loving all the seasonal fall decor too!

living life to the FALLEST

Our first full day in Vermont today... some rain and fog, with a chill in the air, but lots of autumn splendor too!
The view from our room in a cozy B&B... and woke up to apricot-ginger scones this morning... delish!

tracking the autumn splendor

As of October 2, here's the status of the fall foliage colors in Vermont... can't wait to get my first glimpses there on Friday! Until then, we're finishing some business in Boston (including a visit to a huge foreign language bookstore in Harvard Square --- Heaven for Sal !!).

the perfect leaf-peeping snack !

feeling inspired...

I still can't believe that I won !!!

Hi everyone ~ whew, trying to catch-up on everything (including sleep!) after a whirlwind 5 day get-away to attend Inspiration Unlimited (IU).  Had a blast, loved it!  And I have amazing news to share.... during the Closing Ceremony, a ticket was drawn from a basket containing thousands of tickets.  The lucky winner received free tuition for next year's event --- it's a MEGA prize!  Guess who won it?  ME !!! yes, I WON a free seat to the 2013 IU !!!!!!  OMG, can you believe it ?!?!?  I still can't !!!  Everyone said that my face was frozen when my name was called, that I looked totally stunned.  I was -- and thrilled too!  Thanks to all my IU pals who shared the excitement with me --- your hugs and high-fives and Facebook comments made it all the more fun.  See you all next year, yay!

As soon as I get caught up at home and at the lab, I'll post all about IU.... for now tho, I did post some glimpses from the event back on September 22.  

I'll barely get unpacked before packing again for my next adventure--- Sal and I are heading to New England for some world-class "leaf peeping".  I've wanted and waited to go there for many years to see the incredible fall foliage colors, particularly in Vermont; I'm ecstatic that this year we're finally making it happen.  Along the way, Sal will also be presenting his amazing research at a few prestigious universities.  First stop -- Yale University in Connecticut!

Adding to the chaos that is my schedule this week, I had an appt to see my surgeon as soon as I flew home yesterday.  You might recall that back in May I had gallbladder surgery.  I've unfortunately been experiencing some pain related to that (not sure why 4 months later??).  I'm not in agony, but it's uncomfortable and has me worried.  So, I'm scheduled for bloodwork and an MRCP (a specialized MRI for the digestive organs) later this week.  Hopefully, we can get to the bottom of it.  Hoping I don't need any more surgery!  {fingers crossed}

Be back soon... I've gotta sit still (and stay home!) long enough to share about my journeys.... I owe you posts about the National Parks, IU, and the soon-to-happen leaf-peeping in New England.  Back soon, promise!  (Again, a special thanks to so many gals at IU who said that they enjoy following my blog and asked me to post more often --- you're the best!)

Thanks for stopping by,

Susan

almost home!

So tired !!

Florida-bound

Heading home overnight from Nevada on a red-eye flight ... can't wait to see Sal, Buddy & Aruba tomorrow!

sharing some glimpses of IU ....

Inspiration Unlimited 2012 is only 1/2 over ... more fun to come!
Having a blast, but missing Sal, Buddy & Aruba....

bring on the bling!

I'm ready for the Inspiration Unlimited fun to begin today... I'm blinged-out from my head down to my glittery pink toes and sparkly shoes! (the IU colors are pink, black, silver) this event is all about sparkle and I love that!
Sending a special thanks to my IU friends who told me how they love following my blog!

heading to Nevada....

Ready for fun at Inspiration Unlimited!

Thank you Sal for the early AM airport run!

a new 'do for IU

Well shame on me... I'm getting ready for my next adventure before even blogging about my last.  Seriously, I *meant* to post about our Grand Teton National Park visit before now.... I will soon, promise.  Time just seems to evaporate before my eyes lately (I mean, honestly, how did it get to be mid-September ?!?).  Thanks to so many of you for asking to see our park pics!

Next week I'm heading to Nevada to attend Inspiration Unlimited (IU), a scrapbooking retreat by fab celebrity sb'ing designer Teresa Collins.  {a girl's getaway}  It'll be my first time attending, and I'm so thankful that I made it off the waiting list (yes, it's that popular!) because I'm really missing the no-longer-held annual Creative Escape event.  And as I always do, I've added a special "bonus" destination onto the trip... it's at the Nevada/Arizona border... any guesses?  I'm even taking a red-eye flight back to Florida just so that I have time to go there!

But before the fun can begin, I've been working my way through a mile-long to-do list, both at home and the lab.  Deadlines galore this month, so I'm gonna welcome the break.  I did manage to squeeze in a hair appointment tho!

remembering....

On the FAU campus today:

Labor Day weekend

Hi everyone!

I hope you enjoyed the long holiday weekend? (for my readers outside the U.S., it was Labor Day here)

The weather was really nice here in SoFla, so Sal and I enjoyed some beach time

and a nature walk at the wetlands (we even saw one of the kittens from the [elusive] bobcat family that lives there!).

 

There's also excitement among crafters here in Delray Beach because Michaels opened a store here over the weekend! :-). There are other M's stores 5-10 miles away, but it's nice to have a 'hometown' one now. I was so busy enjoying the outdoors that I haven't been to their Grand Opening yet... but the festivities are happening all week long. Will check it out!

I'll be back soon with a post about our visit to Grand Teton National Park....

Have a great week ahead,

Susan

Isaac was wet, but not too wild

We seem to have weathered Tropical Storm Isaac pretty well here in SoFla... lots of wind, pounding rain at times, but amazingly we didn't lose power and the there's not too much debris to clean up in the yard.
{very thankful}
Sending our best to those still in Isaac's path.....

The worst of it here was best summed-up by the note on the front page of today's Sun-Sentinel:

preparing for Isaac

We've gathered our hurricane supplies... water, food, medicines (Buddy's too!), etc. etc. Hope we don't lose power, water, and all that.
{remembering Hurricane Wilma}
We're (barely) in the "red zone"... still gotta monitor this one!
Stay safe everyone..... I guess these storms are part of living in paradise. ;-)

my Uncle Phil

Hello everyone ... been offline for a while because Sal and I were traveling in remote areas of national parks with spotty and often no Internet access (more about our journey in a future post). 

I'm sad to share that while we were traveling, my Uncle Phil in Canada passed away. :-( Sal and I are terribly sad. He was a special person! He and my Aunt Lois were married for 50 years, he was a dedicated teacher and academician, he generously volunteered his time/talents/treasure to his church and community, and was a fun and kind person. He and I shared a love of travel... recently, he and my aunt enjoyed a trip to the Holy Land and we pored over their pictures together. 

Sal and Uncle Phil shared a love of learning languages, both are fluent in several ...Uncle Phil spoke Latin, French, German, Spanish, some Italian, and probably others that he was too modest to mention.  A special memory for us is that Uncle Phil took Sal to breakfast the morning of our wedding day, 22 years ago.  He and my aunt and grandma traveled from Canada to Florida (in the August heat!) to attend our wedding; we were so honored.

Last fall, we were all together in Canada to celebrate my Grandma's 90th birthday.  Uncle Phil arranged a special surprise for her party... he and his singing group performed songs from her era, and she was so obviously delighted! A video clip is posted HERE in my October 25, 2011 post...(Uncle Phil is the 3rd gentleman from the right, with the beard and glasses.)  Sorry, but the video may not be supported by all browsers, particularly mobile devices and older versions of Internet Explorer.

We will miss Uncle Phil.... sending sincere condolences to my aunt and my cousins, their 5 children.

Susan

politically correct

Had a blast in DC ... time to JetBlue home!

More soon,
Susan

capital city fun !!

Traveling to the fab city of Washington, DC today for a business trip ... but you know me, I'll be turning it into a travel "experience"! It's my 3rd visit to this internationally-diverse and historic city... love its vibe! Looking forward to exploring it even more....

I'll be back soon with details!

Susan

go Fourth and celebrate!

Happy 4th of July!

Hoping to enjoy some time in the pool today, but right now it's thundering --- WAAAHHH !!

Looking forward to fireworks tonight tho, Florida style ... on the beach!

Have a fun holiday!  :-)

Susan

wet & wild weather

Florida's getting DRENCHED this weekend! Lots of wind too, all from Tropical Storm Debby. And hurricane season is just getting started...... {sigh}

summer? yes, please!

Happy summer!

Today's officially the 1st day of summer, my favorite season in Florida ... yes it's hot, but I love the longer days, brighter sunshine, the more laid-back pace. Oh, and the lack of "snowbird" traffic, LOL ! (no offense to my northern readers, but wow our population swells about 20% here in the winter, and with it road congestion)

To me, summer's all about simple pleasures, like enjoying a ginormous grape slush in the pool !!

summer lovin'. lovin' summer.

catching-up ....

Hello everyone!

Whoa, it has been over a month since I posted anything ... that might just be a record for me!  But, I have a bit of an excuse... unfortunately, I was in the hospital for 4 days, and then had some recovery time afterwards.

In mid-May, Sal and I were minutes away from leaving home to drive to Tampa to attend a chemistry conference ... his entire research group was presenting their work, pretty exciting!  Unfortunately, Sal didn't get to attend any of it.  We had just finished packing the car and I was gathering Buddy's medicines to pack, when I got the most excruciating pain in my upper abdomen.  This was no ordinary "tummy ache"!  I was trying to lay down, let it subside, but it wasn't getting any better ... and then I got pale ... and shaky.  Something was definitely WRONG!  Thankfully, this didn't happen while we were on the road.

Sal took me to the ER ... after 2 strong doses of morphine (thank Heaven for it!), I finally was calmed and out of pain.  I was in such pain that I was thrashing and ripped out the IV catheter that had been inserted in the back of my hand; the nurse had to put another one into my arm as Sal tried to keep me still.  And I was so frightened ... I had never been to the hospital before (lucky, I know!) and was worried about the cause of this.  A CT scan quickly revealed that I had gallstones and some of those rascals, especially a large one, had escaped out of my gallbladder and into a bile duct --- OUCH !!  The good news was that this was curable, not life-threatening ... we don't "need" our gallbladders to live.

So, long story short, I had to have 2 surgeries ... one to remove the stones from the duct, and then another to remove that pesky gallbladder.  Surgery also made me nervous, I was trying to wrap my mind around all of this!

Sal sweetly brought me newspapers, which I love to read, but I didn't have the energy

But with Sal's love and help during and after, I am back to normal, back to the lab ... back to LIFE!

 

I'm not exactly sure why I didn't blog about this sooner?  I think I just really wasn't in the mood to "re-visit" the whole ordeal.  It kind of stunned me ...  not to mention the afterthought of the disappointment of missing the conference (and the spa appointment I had booked in the beautiful resort that was the conference venue) {sigh}

But thanks for listening ... and thank you so much to everyone for your thoughts, prayers, cards, calls, e-mails, and text messages to check on me.  They were SO appreciated !!

Enjoy today,
Susan

congratulations to Sal !!!

I have EXCITING news to share!

 

Sal was recently named the 2012 Researcher Of The Year at the Full Professor rank in FAU's College of Science!  I couldn't be more proud of him!  He is a dedicated and distinguished researcher and is so deserving of this honor!

The Dean of Science presented him with a beautiful engraved plaque (and even more fun --- a check, LOL) at an awards ceremony:

I joke with Sal that he has won the "entire collection" of the Researcher Of The Year awards now, since they're awarded at each level of professorship ... Assistant, Associate, and Full.  And he has won all 3 !!

Congratulations, Sal !!!  I love you sweetheart !!!