Just because

Story

So, tell me your story.

Allergies

This spring the pollen seems to be WAY higher than usual for this time of year, and I am really feeling it.

Typically I do not suffer from spring pollen allergies.  The pollen is usually more of a nusance in the way it coats everything with that yellow/green film.  In fact, we always delay cleaning up our screened porch and putting out the cushions and such until after the big pollen wave.

But this year I've been having a rather significant allergic reaction, resulting in headaches, lethargy, and profuse amounts of mucus which cause me to have a sore throat and nausea.  

I started taking an over-the-counter (OTC) allergy medicine with Cetirizine Hydrochloride as the active ingredient.  It seemed to have some effect but not enough, so Spouse picked me up another allergy medicine with Loratadine as the active ingredient.  It did nothing at all for me.  I spent my entire day off yesterday in my robe in the TV room with the dogs.

So I called my doctor's office and described my symptoms.  The nurse confirmed that this year was absolutely worse for pollen than previous years, and that they'd had numerous inquiries like mine.  The nurse said that another OTC medicine with Levocetirizine as the active ingredient seemed to be helping people more than the 2 I'd tried so far.  So I got some today and will take it tonight.

I'm crossing my fingers it works!  Anyone else having allergy issues who normally doesn't, or more issue than typical allergies?

Beardy boy

Easter weekend

We were on the road by 8am Sat and arrived at Spouse's brother's house at 10:30.  We visited with him and his wife for about an hour, then went to meet friends for lunch.

Our original plans were to meet Jeff & Shaun whom we met on a cruise a few years back, and their friends Brandon & David.  However a family emergency called Jeff & Shaun out of town, so we just met up with Brandon & David whom we'd not met before.  We had a wonderful lunch at Taco House (its actual name is Cantina Mexicana) and easily understood why Jeff & Shaun thought we should meet.  

It was a lot of fun and the 2 hours passed quickly.

We returned to check on the dogs and get settled in, then went to Spouse's sister's house to visit.  We normally stay there but she was expecting a full house.  We had fun catching up on the family happenings, then returned to our home base to wash up before dinner.

We met up with our friend Carl who took us to Bar Louie, one of his favorite haunts, for cocktails and dinner.  Carl and I both had delicious cosmos.  Spouse had a Corona.

Its a lively place so there was plenty to see while we chatted and laughed with Carl.

And speaking of things to see, we noticed several men wearing onesies, so when one of the guys walked past our table in a cow print onesie I said "Nice udders!"  He laughed and thanked me, which opened the door to my question about why he and his friends were wearing the onesies.  He explained that they were members of the local rugby team and once a month they have a themed pub crawl.  This month's theme was onesies. 

This led to a broader conversation after he left about why we weren't hip enough to participate in themed pub crawls, and what possible themes we'd suggest.  After dinner we strolled the promenade and had some frozen yogurt.

Sun morning we helped Spouse's brother get ready to host the family for Easter, then made a quick run to Trader Joe's to stock up on pantry staples.  

Back at the house I put on my Easter shirt (worn only on Easter day) and took the dogs out to play in the back yard where I took this selfie.  Then Spouse & I went to pick up Aunt Mary.  The rest of the family started arriving around noon and we had a great time visiting with everyone.  The weather was sunny and in the mid 60s so it was fantastic.  

I got to hold our niece's son Alonzo who was born 2 days after Christmas.  He's such a good baby, never fussing or squirming, and he stayed awake for more than 5 hours.

We took Aunt Mary home and then headed back to DE.  It was a whirlwind weekend but an enjoyable one.

Just because

Uber

Easter plans

Spouse & I typically drive to VA on Easter Sunday to spend the day with our family, and then go back home that night.  That's about 5 1/2 hours of driving round trip.  But we usually do that because I typically work on Saturdays.  

This year I was able to request off on Saturday so we're going Saturday morning, meeting up with friends for lunch, and staying overnight.  This will give us more time with the family and spread out the driving over 2 days instead of one.

What are your Easter plans?

Sleep over

Just because

Meaning

 

When I saw this I literally laughed out loud!

If you don't get it, then click HERE or HERE or both.

Friday plans?

Whatever you have planned for this weekend, have fun and be safe!

Beardy boy

Throw back

On Sun I opened up my photo storage boxes and looked through a bunch of old photos, looking for something specific.  During my search I found a couple of OLD photos of me that I thought would be fun to share.

This photo was taken 27 years ago, in the spring of 1992.  I was 28 years old.  I was on vacation visiting family, friends, and destinations in CA and one of my stops was Hollywood where my uncle and his wife lived.  I believe she took this photo of me standing next to the door at Gucci on Rodeo Dr in Beverly Hills.  The sunglasses in my hair had tortoise shell frames and I loved them.

Yes, I was significantly thinner.  And blonder.  I used to spray Sun In on my hair and then use a blow dryer to achieve this natural, sun-kissed blonde look.  Between the Jams shorts, mock neck shirt and beachy blonde hair, I was serving up Surfer Dude Realness, Huntee.  Believe it or not, this was BEFORE I came 'out'.

Fast forward 3 years and there's this:

This photo was taken 24 years ago in the spring of 1995.  I was 31 years old. I was on vacation in Key West FL with my boyfriend at the time and another couple.  I think we stayed at the Island House resort.  We were out to dinner (I don't remember where) when my boyfriend took this photo.  Again I have blonde, dramatic hair but at least I was 'out' by this time.

I think I'm going to find a few more old photos to share.  They're funny to look at, but they also conjur up good ol' memories.

Just because

Social weekend

I convinced Spouse and Steven & Thad to go to FURst Friday, a monthly happy hour sponsored by our local (gay male) bear social group. 

We had a fun time!  I chatted with several current friends whom I see more on Facebook than in person, and also met several new people.  Its a very casual, relaxed environment and I'm sure we'll go to future FURst Fridays.

Afterward the 4 of us went to dinner at Summer House.  The food was fine but not terrific.  At least the portion size was good.  I had enough to take home and eat for lunch the next day.

On Sat I worked (as usual) and then Spouse & I went to dinner at Mama Maria's, which was new to us.  The food was very good so I'm sure we'll go back.  Later that evening I didn't feel like staying in so I went to see the Legends show.  Yes, the same Legends show that I perform in.  I'm typically not there when I don't perform so I never actually see the show as a spectator, so it was fun to do that.  My friend Rick was there so we hung out a bit before and after the show.  

Then I walked over to the Pond for their Studio 54 disco party.  

I love disco music, and I'd seen online that they were encouraging disco-era costumes (I didn't dress up) so I thought it would be fun, and it was.  The music was great - I knew all the words to all the songs - and some people really went all out on their disco attire.  It was fun!

On Sun Spouse & I did a few things around the house, ran some errands, and then met up with Steven & Thad for dinner at Ruby Tuesday.  I was craving a good salad bar.  While there I ran into some clients to whom I'd sold a home several years ago, so I chatted with them a bit to see how they were doing.

It was a fun, social weekend.

Change the world

Beardy boy

Appreciation

Last evening I went to a realtor appreciation party sponsored by one of our local home builders.  Every year they invite realtors to a nice party with free food, booze, and prize drawings. Builders count on realtors to bring their buyers to their new communities, and to show their appreciation this builder has an appreciation party every year.

This year's party was held in a penthouse party room in an oceanfront hotel.  As you can imagine, the views of the beach and ocean were incredible from that height.  I tried to take a selfie in front of the view but there was too much light so the view was washed out.

Several of my realtor friends were there so I took some selfies with them.

The builder's sales reps were also there so it was fun to chat with them as well as my realtor friends.  The food was really good and who doesn't like free food and booze?

Just because

Yumminess

Over the weekend Steven & Thad and Spouse & I had dinner at Iron Hill Brewery, which has become one of my favorite places.  The crowd is our age or younger, the staff is a mix of hipsters and regular folks, and the food is really good.  They have a 'scratch kitchen' which means they make all the food, rather than getting food from huge suppliers that is microwaved or dressed with a sauce or something.

Iron Hill brews their own beers so I decided to have a couple (free) samples that sounded good, then selected one to have with dinner.

I started with their soup of the day which was roasted poblano soup.  It was creamy and delicious!

For my entree I ordered what is actually an appetizer, but was the perfect accompaniment to the soup, the Thai chicken lettuce wraps.  The chicken was nicely seasoned with hints of lemongrass, and the spicy peanut sauce had a really nice after burn.  It was really good!

I'm eager to go back and do it again!