Tomorrow is the big day! After tomorrow I won't have to hear any more of those annoying political commercials and my mailbox won't be stuffed full of endorsements for candidates. It all seems so wasteful to me. I just want to be informed by a neutral party and make the best choice I can. I don't look at a sign in someone's yard and say "wow they have a nice yard ... maybe I should vote like they are".

So I tried to look up in the local newspaper all the people and issues I have a chance to vote on tomorrow. Many of them still don't provide any information. All this money being spent on advertising and I still can't find any neutral information so I can make an informed decision.

Best of luck to everyone out there tomorrow. Hopefully the lines wont be too long and the Reds and Blues can live together hapily no matter who wins.

"I'm Rummy and I approved this message!"

Rummy "Exercising ....My Right To Vote" Runner

Ever have one of those days where you just feel like a big kid playing grown up? Well I’m having one today for some reason. Perhaps it’s partly because of the way I dressed today – big pink sweatshirt for the frigid cold us Floridians are not used to. I was talking on the phone with a consultant and I just felt like “wow this is a cool job and I feel so important and I’m just a silly little girl”. It was a fun feeling that doesn’t happen too often since I sometimes get caught up in the daily grind and get in a routine.

I had another moment a few weeks ago when I went jet skiing in just my bikini and vest. I usually wear a big wetsuit and helmet so I felt so much sexier with just a skimpy bikini. I was feeling like a playboy bunny for a while there. Yes it’s a bit delusional but it was still fun. Unfortunately I discovered the sexy bikini thing right before winter so I won’t be able to do just the bikini thing again for many months.

Anyway, I just wanted to share my weird days when I seem to view everything from a totally different perspective. Maybe it’s just because Halloween is almost here and that’s definitely a time when you get to experiment with who you are. Let me know if you ever experience these moments where you have a totally different reality or if you just think I’m crazy!

Rummy “Pretty in Pink” Runner

So I called up my parents and asked “is Fay there”. My dad thought I had dialed the wrong number until I explained it’s my little way of checking on them and making sure they were ok with Tropical Storm Fay approaching. The media must have been bored since they made a really big deal out of this tropical storm. Any given summer afternoon in Central Florida can produce as much rain and wind as the menacing TS Fay. But I did what a good prepared Floridian should do and I “hunkered down” for the storm. My boyfriend and I grilled out and watched movies. It was a nice chill evening and I didn’t feel like I was missing out since it was too rainy to do much else. Toward the end of the night when I got antsy I went out in the storm and did my best weather woman impersonation. You know how they stand out in the storm and show how windy and rainy it is for all to see. Well that is what I did and it was fun. It would have been even more fun if people were actually watching me from their hunkered down locations. I think I picked the wrong career!

The night did bring back fond memories of the hurricanes of 2004 when Central Florida was hit by 3 hurricanes in a matter of a few short months. The worst one was Charlie, which made driving a car like navigating a maze since almost all streets were blocked by downed trees. Even in that hurricane I was able to drive to a Publix in a new neighborhood that didn’t have any trees and had underground power lines. It was like nothing had happened there and I was living in a totally devastated war zone just one mile away.

I hope everyone was safe and had a good TS day even if we didn’t get the day off from work. Feel free to share your hurricane and tropical storm stories!

Rummy “All this wind is messing up my hair” Runner

I was a big runner in high school. I did cross country, track and even ran throughout the summer just to get ready for the next season. Thankfully I outgrew this crazy period in my life and found some more fun sports to do. But just to remind myself how far I’ve come and how slow I’ve gotten, I tend to do a few 5K runs each year.

As part of this self inflicted torture I signed up for the Corporate 5K run yet again this year. It’s a fun event where I get to run through the ghetto with 10,000 of my closest friends. I would never feel safe running there alone or even with 100 of my closest friends but somehow it becomes ok when the number of runners out numbers the number of drug dealers by a factor of two.

I didn’t set a personal best this year but I had a decent time of 28:53 thanks to pacing with a friend of mine. The real fun was after the race since I got to play football in the citrus bowl, have cartwheel and piggy back races with my friend’s kids and do silly dancing moves for all to see. I guess the endorphins had kicked in at this point since I didn’t feel a thing when I was piggy backing my 180 pound friend! At least there is something good that comes out of running.


Rummy “I do not choose to run” Runner

The Big 4-0 birthday bash has come and gone. A big thanks to all who attended and made this day special! Thanks to my boyfriend who has an awesome party pad and went all out with catering, fireworks and a huge sign in the front yard! Thanks to Tini and Cosmo who did an awesome job decorating! We had bubble makers, water balloons and other fun toys. It was perfect for me since I’m a kid at heart and I’m glad they realize that about me. Even the record setting rain storms couldn’t dampen my spirit…no pun intended there. It was my birthday and I was going to have fun. I drank Cosmo Coladas. (Ooops no rum runners tonight but Rummy sounds so much better than Colady don’t you think?). My gifts were totally appropriate for a tom girl or sporty spice - A trip to Jamaica, balloons, rock climbing shoes and food gift cards. Some of the highlights were the fireworks, midnight drunken jet skiing and standing in the rain by the Happy Birthday sign in the front yard at 2 am getting passing cars to beep! I’m not sure if they were beeping to congratulate me or to keep me out of the road but it was fun either way. So while I am growing older I am definitely not growing up and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Take a chance and be silly today. Life is a lot more fun that way!

Rummy "Over the Hill" Runner

I set a new personal record yesterday. Seeing as I’m into sports you may think I ran my fastest 5K or got a better batting average but this is a different PR. Yesterday I received the most roses in one day. My boyfriend sent me 40 roses for my upcoming 40th birthday. “Ahhh how sweet”, “girlfriend you better marry him” and “looks like someone’s in love” were just some the many comments I heard from my coworkers yesterday for the overwhelmingly big arrangement taking up half my desktop. The 40 roses blew away my previous record of 24 when I received a dozen roses each from two suitors on Valentine’s Day many years ago. Of course I wanted to thank my boyfriend in my normal manner….hot sex! Kidding…..well…. maybe not. Ooh la la! But since I was still at the office I just sent him an email in my normal silly fashion. We work for the same organization and I occasionally send him emails about problems at work. So I sent him one with the subject: Big Work Problem! Then I proceeded to say I can’t get any work done since my desk is covered in roses. First there is no room for my reports, second everyone who passes by has to say something, third there is this pleasantly distracting odor and finally all the women want my boyfriend now so I have to fight them off!
Today I’m still getting people stopping by to smell my roses and congratulating me. I’m not really sure congratulations are in order since all I did was have a birthday but it’s nice to socialize with everyone. Plus I guess it’s a bit of a surprise that I made it to the ripe old age of 40 with all my sports injuries including 2 concussions…one of which I have on video and the other which involved a $2,000 no expenses paid trip to the ER.
So romance is alive and well. I don’t think extravagant gifts like this are necessary to show you care for someone but they sure are nice! I hope you take the time to do something for that special person in your life. Muah.

Rummy "Roses are Red" Runner