This life of yours: sum up in ten words!

There's a lot in just a few words... :)

Soul Pancake posted a good question: what is your ten word biography?

My little draft for today:

Decided lover, ocean-goer, sister, aunt, writer, reader, good-chocolate-lover.

Okay, I couldn't get it under ten words this time! Maybe if I combined writer and reader into "intellectual" ? ;)

It's hard... what's yours for today?

My Dentist's *LOVE* advice

In Coconut Grove, Florida, a very special dentist runs a very special practice.

Dr. Gaines has been known to break into song, for example, while he is finishing up your tooth, you might hear, "We are living, in a Material, a Material, World..."

He has pictures of his tigers that he used to keep as pets and that he used to bring in to the office when it was allowable. Now he just has cats... I think.

While waiting in one of the treatment rooms Friday, I overheard him say to another patient, "Well, that is his fucking loss!!!" and, "What do you know about this ho?" and "Well, let's get your resume over to..." "You know what, he did you a favor. He freed you up for a better life!" "I know it hurts to hear this right now, but he did you a favor." (he tells me later the schmuck left his wife after 11 years on her birthday...my favorite part is that he told her, "you are freed up for a better life." He said, "she can do anything she wants to now... she could go to school, be a pilot...anything she wants....)

Once when I went in, after doing a good bout of yoga, he said, "You look great, what have you been doing?" "Yoga, and paying attention to myself," I said. "Well, good, you have to do that before they put you in the ground," he said.

This is a dentist with some major personality, as you can see, and even more heart.

Oh, and he does great dental work, and often doesn't charge me for little fixes.

Sometimes a whole waiting room is sitting there, and we are thinking he is back there working on someone, and the door will open dramatically, and in he comes, with his sunglasses, a bemused look, as if surprised he is a dentist, and surprised this is where he works, and his gym backpack, and don't forget his cowboy (?) boots. We just smile. We love him. He makes us all happy. That is all there is to it.

Lovely Mosaics, Part TWO

"Pinwheel Flowers"


Dragon Table Top
All of these lovely mosaics are by artist Janina, who graciously agreed for their use here. She woke up one morning, while living in Costa Rica, and felt like mosaic-ing! She had no training... what an inspiration!

My sister and I have talked about mosaic-ing for a while now, and clearly I am getting the mosaic fever! I like the idea of sea shells in them, too.

Isn't the mosaic with the Toucan "too cute"? I do think the hummingbird and butterflies are my favorites in this group, and the dragon--too cool!

If the rains hold off, Mr. Bliss and I will hit the ocean after dinner: we have salmon marinating in lime, soy sauce, ginger, cracked black pepper and sea salt.

And orange blossom honey, lest I forget. ;)

Any favorite summer dishes out there? Any creative projects brewing?
Enjoy!!!

Mr. Bliss is finished with school.

Today I turned in my last paper for my first class. So maybe this week I can blog about things I love instead of doing assignments. Back to school at 37 is interesting. If you are thinking about going back to school do it!

I am currently cold brewing some "Jamaican Me Crazy" coffee, I'm sure by tomorrow evening I'll be writing columns again and zipping along on a pleasant caffeinated buzz! I'n the meantime I will be chilling on South Beach doing my thing.

This blog has been almost totally my wife's blog as of late but maybe she would want to post my last homework assignment about how the male body is now to be enjoyed by women in today's visual consumer culture. Or not. LOL Ok, I'm off to make us some dinner.

Where is the Kleenex? Get it and read this post.

From Anna at The Reality of Happily Ever After:
just, READ THIS.

Don't forget the Kleenex. I had a very good cry...
a good cry, I told my hubby, it was good crying. :)

Mosaic Love! Part 1...

What a cute place to rest your coffee...

(or wine!)

I am going crazy for mosaics today...even more so than usual!
Loving the beach scenes, of course!
Here's a nice tropical garden bench...

I'd like to plant some herbs in this little pot...

Just to keep the ocean motif going, and for the Deadliest Catch fans...

...and finally, a Van Gogh-esque butterfly (or maybe Klimt)

I love how mosaics remind me of all the colorful pieces of a life assembled together into something so beautiful!
Have a colorful, joy-infused life!

Click on the photos for links to sources. :)

The "REAL" Sea World!!!

Hello from the beach...this is my niece with us today at the beach; I'm teaching her beach sun savvy... she wouldn't keep a hat on for long, though. We swam with schools of shiny silvery fish today... really big ones, too!!!

The water was super clear and suddenly fish were everywhere... we were all so happy... my sister said she felt like she was at Sea World, and I said, yeah, the REAL Sea World!!! Did you enjoy your weekends???

Shhh!!! My secret swimming oasis...

This is where I swim from time to time, I'll show you more...

One of the many reasons I live in Miami!
Isn't the purple fabulous?
Orchids creep along this pool...
You can climb the waterfalls...
Nap in the shade....

This pool even has a beach...
One of my favorite spots in town!

Have a little lunch...
Mediterranean architecture waits for you...
Ready to get down here?
Just pack your suit; see you there... can you believe I moved to this town not knowing the first thing about it? Just came for school and wanted to be near the beach... little did I know, one delight after another was waiting! This pool is fresh spring water in a coral/ limestone quarry--lots of tourists stop to photograph, but you *really* need to spend the day.

Best Beach Day Ever

See the meandering heron, the newborn touching the sea for the first time, the happy feet, the tidal pools that just sucked us all right into that sparkling blue green water??

This is the most beautiful day I've ever seen in my years of visiting this beach... people were in an even better beach mood than ever... we were all positively frolicsome... stop by and see us, we'll be at the beach right past the stone wall on Ocean Drive... Don't worry, I'll post a list of our favorite hotels soon... ;)

Try explaining that to a six year old!

A friend's little girl is visiting us and when we walked back from the beach yesterday, she read all the signs. She is just starting to read and the world is a book now!

She read a hair salon window: "Hair. Color. Wax. Nails." What are wax nails? she asked, and I began to explain further, and she wanted to know what waxing was. She is six, and tried to understand this process as I explained, wax, like the stuff in the candles, and it's heated, and they put it on your skin and pull the hair off, etc. I explained how it's faster than shaving, knowing she was familiar with women's razors for hair removal.

She contemplated the wax idea, and said, "But wouldn't that hurt?" oh yeah, I said, and then she said, "But why would you do that?" We do a lot of things that don't make sense, I agreed with her...