Living It With Lisa

I received this from my neighbor Michel and just had to share.  It gives us room for thought and a real reason to “enjoy an ice cream with my kids, a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver, and a piece of chocolate with my friends.”

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Recently, in a large city in  Australia, a poster featuring a young, thin and tan woman appeared in the window of a gym. It said, “This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?”

A middle-aged woman, whose physical characteristics did not match those of the woman on the poster, responded publicly to the question posed by the gym.

To Whom It May Concern,
Whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, sea lions, curious humans.)
They have an active sex life, get pregnant and have adorable baby whales.
They have a wonderful time with dolphins stuffing themselves with shrimp.
They play and swim in the seas, seeing wonderful places like  Patagonia  ,
the  Bering Sea and the coral reefs of  Polynesia  .
Whales are wonderful singers and have even recorded CDs.
They are incredible creatures and virtually have no predators other than humans.
They are loved, protected and admired by almost everyone in the world.

Mermaids don’t exist.
If they did exist, they would be lining up outside the offices
of psychoanalysts due to identity crisis. Fish or human?
They don’t have a sex life because they kill men who get close to them, not to mention how could they have sex?
Just look at them … where is IT?
Therefore, they don’t have kids either.
Not to mention, who wants to get close to a girl who smells like a fish store?

The choice is perfectly clear to me: I want to be a whale.

P..S. We are in an age when media puts into our heads the idea that only skinny people are beautiful, but I prefer to enjoy an ice cream with my kids, a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver, and a piece of chocolate with my friends.

With time, we gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room, it distributes out to the rest of our bodies.   So we aren’t heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy.

Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think, ¨Good grief, look how smart I am!

Ok … I have been on blog vacation!  Not planned, just happened.  Almost a computer/internet reprieve.  And it felt good!  Now back at it!

The last 24 days have been crazy … even for me.  It started  with driving to Biloxi (MS) to welcome 4 day

Littlest Longhorn

old grandchild #6 to our family:  Nathan Tyler Johnson 8#11oz and 20 inches long.  Proud parents are Tyler and Savannah with big brother Dylan.  And yes, he had to have his own Longhorn shirt, just in time to wear while he watched (?) the game a few days later!  We spent Christmas with them then drove home to repack for New Years in New York City.

Chris Botti

We arrived in NYC and our first night there we headed off to see Chris Botti perform at the Blue Note.  We have seen him three of the last four years there, as he is in residence at the Blue Note over Christmas and now New Years.  We make sure to see him on our way thru to other destinations even if we aren’t there for the entire holiday.  FYI – I took this picture with my iPhone and yes I was THAT close.  It is an amazingly intimate venue.  A must do if you are ever in New York.  After the show, I had him autograph his latest CD for me and one for my girlfriend Dianne, since the first time we both saw him live was at an event in Dallas seven years ago.

White Christmas

Then of course we crammed as much as we could into those few days.  We saw White Christmas on Broadway.  That was a treat as I remember watching it on TV or the video every New Years Eve.  Just wouldn’t be Christmas without it.  We discovered a few new restaurants and savored some of our favorites.

Times Square

Several years ago we decided that there were too many hotels in NYC to stay at the same one.  So we now try a new hotel every time we go.  This trip we stayed at the Soffitel, very nice.  The bonus was the discovering the secret to seeing the ball drop in Times Square without being with 750,000 people freezing for hours in the street.

2nd Anniversary

One of our restaurant discoveries this time would have to be Joel Robuchon.  Simply a divine dining experience for our 2nd Anniversary.  http://www.joel-robuchon.com/ When ever there is a tasting menu, Vic and I will select it.  You get the best of the best and a great idea of what the chef can really create.  Joel Robuchon did not disappoint.  We placed this dining experience in our TOP FOUR in the world.

Vic, Lisa, Patti, Christopher

We were blessed to meet Patti and Christopher Guerierro for Brunch on Sunday at the Park Avenue Cafe Winter   It too was amazing.  Each season they change their decor to the appropriate season.  Literally close the restaurant down for 2 days, paint and redecorate and then the menu changes for the season too.  Check out their website. http://www.parkavenyc.com/ The food was delectable and we will definitely be back.

Jatana and Lisa

When we left NYC, Vic headed back to Florida and I headed to Austin.  My girlfriend Jatana was getting married in a small family gathering and I was not going to miss it.  She is also in the middle of Chemo for Breast Cancer.  Being an amazing woman once again, was not a stranger to her.  After the wedding reception I changed and headed over to girlfriend Stacy’s house to watch The Bachelor season premiere … which I must say it is getting a little contrived … hummmm

And of course, I got to see my son Joseph, his girlfriend Saia and  grandpup Luca!  And lest I forget to mention … yes I watched the National Championship game (UT vs Alabama) in Longhorn country!  It was an amazing game even though we didn’t win.  It was fun texting

Luca, Lisa, Joseph

James, Laura, Emma

Jessica, Andrew

sister Melea and her children (James, Laura, Emma) in California during the game and sending all these pictures via text.  Isn’t technology amazing.  James is my die hard Longhorn and has now brought mom and sisters into the fold.  Well unbeknownced to me, my niece Jessica has  defected to the ‘other side’.   I got a text from her and her boyfriend  Andrew  that said “Roll Tide” just as the game kicked off!  … HELLO … some animated texting did occur since  it wasn’t a game we expected to play without McCoy!  They texted a photo too.  All in all it was fun ‘texting’ a game around the USA!

Carrie, Lisa, Donna

After a whirlwind trip in Austin I jumped on yet another plane to meet Vic and headed to Bethesda for our Mastermind Meeting.  Where the first night in, I left Vic on his own and grabbed girlfriend Carrie Wilkerson http://www.barefoot-executive.com/ and went to the movies!  We ducked into Ruth’s Chris and ran into Barry Dunlop http://www.barrydunlop.com/who treated us to appetizers and we were off to see Sherlock.  Carrie insists I sucked the air out of the theatre with my gasping.  Hey, I got into the movie!

Then it was two intense days of Yanik Silver’s Mastermind.  I think we could all say our brains hurt with the ideas that we all came away with.  Including me!  I am off and running into 2010!

So in the last few days of 2009 and the  first 14 days of this year,  I have been in Biloxi (MS),  Florida, New York City, Austin (TX), Bethesda (MD) and back to Florida.  I am already worn out!   But in those travels I experienced memorable moments, reconnected with family and friends, determined to focus on the things that make a difference, to stop and take time out to recharge and always count my blessings.