SC: Myrtle Beach,: Marriott Grand Dunes

My second trip to Myrtle Beach in 2009 was a brief, luxurious visit to the Marriott Grand Dunes Resort up the beach a little, almost in North Myrtle.

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Like most of my trips, this was an offer I couldn't refuse. Two days of this? Perfect. The resort is right on the beach, offers a deck with plenty of great adirondack seating, restaurant with the same, a full service spa, gameroom. . .

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. . . whirlpools, waterslide, swimming pools with full waitstaff . . .
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. . . and hammocks, plenty of hammocks.

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The first thing we did upon check-in was lay on the hammocks and walk on the beach. The girls collected sharks teeth as if they were only 5 years old. We sat by the pool after our walk as twilight settled in. A wedding was taking place on the deck just behind us and we got all kind of mushy feeling.
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Both evenings found us at Broadway at the Beach while Tom was schmoozing and working the conference parties. Two "must do's" at Broadway: Tiki Jims (seen here) and Tripp's for dessert. Gotta get the NY cheesecake at Tripps, so thick and creamy and, surprisingly, warm.

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Broadway's crowded. Our visits were limited by our capacity to endure the crowds. You have to get in the "tourist trap" mindset and just go with the flow.-

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Something fairly new that we didn't actually try: The Bubble. You can ride a (tethered) bubble on the lake. (IF you are under 150 lbs) We skipped it - I had nightmarish visions of flooded bubbles and Brielle had a limiting back brace and Marj.. well... not sure why Marj skipped it. It's something like $10 for 3 minutes and it seemed very clear that 3 minutes is sufficient.

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Next time I might just stay at the resort the entire trip. R.E.L.A.X.I.N.G.

Fill or Bust

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Today, class, I'd like to introduce you to an oldie, but goodie. Fill or Bust. Fill or Bust is kind of fast paced so you don't fall asleep between plays. I like that. It is pretty much a game of luck with the roll of the dice. You can do some hokie pokie stuff over the dice, like Patti here, or you can yell "Cougars!!" over the dice like Lisa, but basically, you're at the mercy of the dice.

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The object of Fill or Bust is to be the highest scorer. Simple. You can play to any number of points (for example 5,000 or 10,000 pts.). Or, you can play within any time limit.

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The winner would be the highest scorer at the end of the time period. (NOT the one who can do the funkiest in-your-face-so-booya shake, contrary to what you might think.

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Can you tell Lisa's losing here?

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You score with a combination of rolling the dice along with playing the DRAW CARDS. There are three basic rules that govern each turn.
RULE #1: You MUST turn over a DRAW CARD before each turn and after each "FILL."

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The DRAW CARDS are used to add strategy and excitement to the game. (right) Depending on which card is drawn, DRAW CARDS make scoring easier or more difficult. Some cards give you bonus points for scoring a "FILL," and some cards take away your turn. The MUST BUST card makes scoring easier… unless you BUST on your first toss! DOUBLE TROUBLE DOUBLE doubles the trouble… but double the thrills. Like here. Steve could use a Double the thrills card, couldn't he? He looks like he needs a thrill.

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VENGEANCE 2500Vengeance is sweet but watch out… You might be next!

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And me? Well, I lose any game I play. I'm a big loser.

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So I just kind of have fun on my own making things with the dice.

Myrtle Beach, SC: Ocean Lakes

I went to Ocean Lakes campground as guests of my sister and brother in law this summer and never got to blog about it.
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But I've selected the best of the best photos so you can take a photo tour.----

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Renting a golf cart is a must at Ocean Lakes. Whether for cruising, a trip to the ice cream shop, transportation to the beach, or a quick ride to go visit someone, you need a golf cart. You'll want a golf cart. It's just so much stinkin' fun.

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Fairly new: wifi zone down at the snack bar. Take your laptop, you can sneak over there and check your email before anyone else is even awake.

Live Every Day . . .

. . . like it's a FRIDAY!

Squeeze the life out of every single minute you have.

Answers To Marco. . .

All These Things That I've Done - The Killers

I just like this.

Girl Talk III

After using the US postal service as an example of how government-run agencies are more screwed up than private ones, President Obama tried to assuage the American public that private health care will continue to be available even after his abstruse health care reform hits the fan, I mean, passes through the HizHouse.
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Obama stressed health care reform needs to happen now , N.O.W. Reminds me of the car dealer ads from the ‘90’s where the ugly, desperate, sneaky guy keeps yelling “Call me now, call me now, call me NOW!”
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I don't have a lot of confidence in government efficiency.
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Obama said it has never been easy, moving this nation forward.

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Not true! Look how quickly we got old people on facebook.

Julie & Julia: Movie Review

Meryl Streep has redeemed herself. I wasn't sure if she'd bounce back from that appalling musical Mama Mia, but she has proven once again that she is the consummate actor. Streep magnificently portrays Julia Child on the brink of becoming the Julia Child. Streep has never seemed so..... big. Flamboyant, colorful, thunderous, hilarious. Writer/Producer Nora Ephron says of Streep's Julia Child: "The performance is not an imitation, it's more of a habitation." It was a bunch of tricks of Ann Roth, costumes, that made Streep's 5'6" appear over 6' tall, but it was Streep's amazing acting that sealed and delivered it, combined with that of Stanley Tucci as Child's husband, doing an over-the-top job himself.
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So what's it about? Julie & Julia is based on the lives of two true women - Julia Child and Julia Powell, lovingly played by Amy Adams. The movie flips back and forth between Julia's life circa 1949 and Julie's life in 2002, chronicling the similarities. Julia Child is a wife trying to find her niche in the world as is Julie, over 50 years later. Julie has a first-edition Julia Child cookbook that she nearly worships. Julie decides to cook her way through Julia's cookbook for a year and write about it in a blog.
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This movie offers the best of the best in ChickFlickdom. Endearing, intuitive husbands. Beautiful, artsy, funky backdrops and locations. Quirky, funny leading ladies who are not sex objects running around in underwear or skimpy clothes. Girlfriends. Lucy Ricardo snort producing moments.
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This movie has secured the Number One Favorite ChickFlick of All Time label in my movie collection (formerly held by Elizabethtown). And now, my friend, I must go fix a bowl of popcorn, get in my favorite PJ's and watch Elizabethtown again. Chick Flicks, like everything else that feels good, just makes me want more.

Happy Birthday Madge Mislar

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So I crossed the Catawba again and headed home for mom's birthday. We had quite a festive weekend. More about that later.

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We had late nights of laughter and carrying on.

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And moments of surprising tenderness.

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Mom chose a Japanese Hibachi grill for her birthday dinner. She wanted to see the little ones enjoy watching the chef.

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We didn't bring a birthday cake, so the chef made one out of the rice and tried to teach us the Happy Birthday song in Japanese.

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Happy Birthday, Mommy, we love you. (don't we just look fab?)

Click here for mom's biography.

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Guess who got in on the action...
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... Cousin David.

And he came begging food off Gram's plate.

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Philadelphia Cheesesteaks

-We were near Philadelphia recently and decided we had to have cheesesteak for lunch of course. My last cheesesteak was in 1989, in Philadelphia, when the kids were just wee little ones. The sandwich must not have been too great because I didn't find myself craving another until 20 years later.
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So we grabbed Kath and Kel and headed into the city.
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Look at the photo. Right above Kath's head is the blue "Pat's" sign and behind/above Kel's head is the Geno's building two blocks away. These are by far the Kings of Philadelphia cheesesteak, although the locals stay away, calling them tourist traps. The locals eat at Tony Luke's, Delasanndro's, Pagano's or Jim's. -


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We opted for Geno's and determinedly walked towards it. I was at that time quite sure I would have a sandwich from both Pat's and Geno's.
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Pat's is the quiet, shy, mousy sister while Geno's is the brassy, saucy, flashy come-hither sister. Both had tourists lined up 20-30 people deep. Pat's is older, opened in the '30's and Geno's didn't open til the '60's.
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There's nothing shy about the flashy sister, she had her secret ingredient right out there for the world to see.

Cheez Whiz.

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You heard me.

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I hesitated. Did I really want cheez whiz? Like when I was in Hawaii and the delicacy there is Spam. Screech. No Mahalo. Or Peru - the delicacy there is guinea pig. No gracias.

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But the chef lured me closer. He looks like he knows cheesesteaks, doesn't he? And he was concentrating so hard, making each one the best ever, I just knew it!

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And thus Genos stole my heart.

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There is no inside seating and very limited outdoors seating, right on the street, in the gutter and car fumes. Another drawback: the line is rough. It moves fast. You have to know what you want and be bold about it. I sent Tom; I knew I couldn't handle that soup-nazi line. I'd have been sniveling "whatever! whatever you want to give me!" You need a TypeA, outspoken yankee to handle the line for you. -

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I secured our fine seating and left them to handle the fierce line.

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As you can tell, Geno's was awesome. Incredible. Way better than my last cheesesteak 20 years ago up by Independence Hall. It's well worth the drive (10 minutes?) to south Philly to get one of these babies. -

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Patti, what do you think??

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I never made it to Pat's. From what I've heard, it's just like Geno's. Go for the samich, but the fries are nothing to write home about. I'm still afraid of the ordering line though. Sometimes I have nightmares about it.
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The Joye of Working From Home

So I was working from my office at home the other day and Connie called.

"Can I come over today? Construction guys are here, making all kinds of noises and I can't stand it, I have to get out."

I said, "OK, but I have to work all day."

She said, "You won't even know I'm there, I'll just sit in the corner and work on my laptop."

And she did. . .

. . .Until a lizard came between her workzone and mine.
So I jumped, fled my workzone (grabbed my camera) and screamed for Tommy.
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Tommy was occupied and did not respond to my cries for help. In a heroic act of bravery, I went after the lizard myself...
... Causing the lizard to head towards the shoe bin by the door.
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The same door in which Eden entered at the same moment.
"I heard you screaming!" She said.
And within minutes, she, too, was screaming.

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And of course Tommy came running for her scream.
He fished around the shoe bin for awhile, claimed the lizard crawled into his shoe and we took the shoe outside to dump the lizard out.

Only to find this waiting right outside the door.
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"Feed the kitty!" I yelled, but Tommy dumped the lizard in safety over the side of the porch.
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... only to find this waiting just over the porch's edge:
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It's the second black widow I've found on my property this month. And we pay good money for the Terminix man to spray quarterly. I am probably going to discontinue my Terminix contract since it doesn't seem to be helping me out any.

I didn't get a lot of work done, but Connie wants me to point out it's not because she was distracting me. In fact, she said I was distracting her from not distracting me. Then she went home because construction guys in the house are way better than varmints.
PS. The lizard is still in the house. I've surprised him twice now.
What do I do??

BOO!!

Cleaning Your Thought Closet

"Ever wonder what you should say when you talk to yourself?"
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This is a question Jennifer Rothschild poses in her new study "Me, Myself and Lies" as she explores the power of self-talk and teaches us to practice godly and biblical soul-talk.
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I found a section I want to share with you today. Just copy the references below and paste them in a word document, then print them out and look them up. Every single verse will confirm how much you mean to God. It is a very uplifting experience that will result in praise and worship. -- Have a great day!

• Isaiah 43:1
• Isaiah 43:4
• Jeremiah 31:3
• Romans 15:7
• 1 Corinthians 6:20
• Ephesians 1:4
• Ephesians 2:10
• 1 Peter 2:9
  

Match and Win $10,000 Giveaway

Back 2 School

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Yesterday was the first day of school for our public schools. It was B's first day in high school. I caught her studying up, brushing up on her skills, as we drove to the beach last week. I could tell she was nervous. High school's always a little nerve wracking for 'em.

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While it's B's freshman year at high school, it's Marj's freshman year at college, so I think Marj was equally nervous. We had to do some school shopping, so she grabbed her mega list, jumped in my Mazda 6 (zoom, zoom) and we took off.
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School shopping for a dorm is way different than school shopping for high school. This shopping was just plain fun. We didn't have to smack anyone out of our way to grab the last pack of pencils or steal anything out of anyone's cart or reach over a bunch of screaming kids in strollers.

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Our cart was stolen, however. There was an over motivated Walmart employee (imagine!!) who followed us around, right on our heels, I cropped her out of the photo, who straightened every little thing we touched.

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Then, oh the nerve, I parked my buggy at the end of an aisle because it was too crowded. We went down the aisle to shop and the little Walmart lady took our cart and began putting all our stuff back on the shelves!! All the stuff we took hours picking out! We didn't know it, we thought some grungy, lazy, style-challenged college kid took it to buy for her own personal use, so we began chasing people down, any people, anyone who had a pillow balancing on a cartful of junk. Another sweet Walmart employee slowed us down, distracted us, spoke soothing words and helped us find the OCD Walmart employee who was restocking the shelves with our merchandise.

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It's all good.

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Isn't Marj cute in glasses? She's out of contacts. Maybe I'll pick them up and give them to her one set at a time so she has to keep coming back home each week.
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But anyway, what I was thinking about all this back to school stuff is this:

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It's time for school.

These kids need to find something to do.