BREEZING IN PARADISE

How many shopping days before Christmas? It's almost time to put up the pink Christmas tree with all the flamingos!!

The winter season has arrived in the Keys. The windows are open, the house is breeze-swept, and the AC won't be on again until at least April or May. The seas are a little choppier because of the windy conditions, but they make for excellent walking weather. This morning we took Bubbles out for her walk on the Seven Mile Bridge and it was cool and mild, while the current underneath it was deadly. Few boats were out on the water, but the day was picture perfect.

It's time to start thinking of shopping trips to the mainland for Christmas gifts. I had pretty much decided to do most of my Christmas shopping over the internet, modern technological MojoGirl that I am, but......old habits die hard. I like to TOUCH things, discover things, comparison shop. It's hard to do on the computer. At least for the gifts that count...Papi and TeenQueen.

Work is still on the quiet side. I've signed up for several ER shifts this month, but that's not that much more exciting because...our ER has as much traffic as a drive-through liquor store in a dry county. Seriously, this is a throwback to an ER of days past-people come in because they're actually SICK, not because we need entertainment. What a difference 50 miles make. The ER in Key West is exactly the opposite-a combination of homeless shelter, drugstore, community center, police substation and an occasional sick person. I'm even training to do GI procedures, just to do something different. Not my favorite, but if it makes me more marketable, let's do it. It beats getting floated to the floor.

On the plus side, I got a substantial raise last week-totally out of the blue. Can't complain about that. It won't make up for the sorry losses of my 401K, but then, who was planning to retire anyway?

I'm looking forward to our Thanksgiving bash. Practically the whole surgical department will be eating at the Mojo's. We're in full-throttle planning mode. Lotsa lotsa food!

It's stone crab and lobster season!! And boy, they're everywhere!! You just can't get sick of them, especially since the prices have gone down significantly.

The TeenQueen is learning how to drive. She needs a LOT of practice. But I'm rewarding her and letting her take the wheel every so often. I need a Xanax......and she's really not too bad, except at turns. Practice makes perfect. It also makes for Mom's nervous breakdown. The TeenQueen progress in life is like a tango----one step forward and two steps backwards. I'm learning to dance all over again.

XOXOXO from Paradise!