A Sunday Not the Same

We woke up riduculously early this morning, as usual. On schedule, Hogan appeared bedside, waiting for the first signs of movement...his signal that it's time to start the day.

Per habit and on cue, I rose, let out the dog, and started the coffee. Like every other Sunday, Todd and I sat up in bed, catching up on the news and sports scores from the night before while enjoying our regular cup of coffee. We do this every Sunday...check that...every day.

After coffee, it's our routine to get things moving, get dressed, and head out on our customary weekend morning walk with the hound...a ritual he NEVER lets us miss.

Today was a day like all the others with a glorious walk along the beach followed by a drive that took us through gorgeous neighborhoods we can only dream about being a part of (and probably wouldn't fit into, anyway).

It's fairly standard to stop at BJ's on our way home, and today was another one of those days. It was just a few minutes inside--and Todd alone, as I waited in the running car with the mutt. Then we headed home.

I poured my typical bowl of Cheerios, sat at the breakfast bar, and turned on the TV--perhaps not my proudest habit, but something Todd and I do quite a lot of. For one hour, as is often the case, Todd and I sat glued to "Meet the Press," though today, the glue was a stronger one than usual. And then ... my Sunday changed.

For the first time, I wept and wept openly as the credits rolled.

Next week, we'll go on with our routine: coffee, news and sports, the dog walk, and more. But our Sundays will never, ever be the same.

Godspeed, TJR! As the Irish say: May the wind be always at your back and the sun shining on your face!

Desperate Housewives (?) Meet Top Chef

Let's just stick with the theme of seizing the day for a few more minutes.

Check out this picture!

It's the real deal...Martha and I in the kitchen at Perilla in the West Village with Harold Dieterle, the winner of Top Chef Season One. It was taken last night, June 12. How cool is that???

The back story: Martha (who lives in the D.C. area) is putting on the Consumer Electronics Show all week at the World Financial Center downtown. On a whim, she called me Thursday and asked if I wanted to meet her in the city for dinner.

I hemmed and hawed. I was feeling too busy and didn't want to mentally rearrange my day, but she was persistent.

By 6 p.m. I was on the Number 2 train, headed downtown.

Martha and I met at the Wintergarden Atrium. It didn't take but a second to get Martha to agree to go to Perilla...so we headed back to the subway.

We didn't have a reservation, but being a party of two, we figured we would take a chance. Sure enough, we walked in and were promptly seated.

Dinner was fabulous! We tried a little of everything: Shaved artichoke and fava bean salad, risotto with artichoke confit, sauteed trigger fish, and fiddlehead and sheep's milk ricotta ravioli. Y U M M Y! Everything was amazing.

Our excellent waiter, Hunter, offered to show us the kitchen and introduce us to chef Harold. Awesome. We were both amazed at how tiny the kitchen was. Just proof that great things come in small packages. Speaking of, I expected Harold to be taller. Granted, I'm wearing heels in the picture...but, not what I expected.

Here's another picture with our awesome waiter,

Hunter from San Diego:

I thanked Martha PROFUSELY for pushing me to make the trip into the city. I gave up my "structured" day and decided to go with the flow ... seize the day ... and we had an AMAZING evening.

Now go do something spontaneous today!

Universal Studios -- King Kong and more

Last week, I was fortunate to teach a GE class at NBC Universal in Los Angeles.

There I was, at the Sheraton Universal with 46 participants from all over GE. No one else but me in charge -- I don't deserve this level of responsibility.

I was VERY fortunate to visit the Binnie family again (fourth time since December). We all had dinner together at Tony Roma's on the CityWalk, late afternoon Memorial Day. Caillie picked the restaurant...a perfect choice for the occasion.

The class and the week were flawless.

On Wednesday, I had some free time as there were other instructors in for the afternoon. The general manager of the Sheraton gave me COMP tickets to Universal (note: the tickets came from the Sheraton, not from GE). I've been there four times before, but I thought it would be great way to let loose for the afternoon: take in the new "Simpson's" ride, eat some cotton candy, do the studio tour, etc.

I was pretty non-chalant about the whole thing. BTW, I found it weird to do a theme park solo. Decided to do the studio tour, just to kill time. If you've never been to Universal, it's worth seeing. You get to see the set from "Psycho" and "War of the Worlds" plus lots of contrived stuff: "King Kong", "Earthquake," "Jaws," and "Fast and Furious II." But don't do it more than once. Go to Warner Bros. instead. The studio tour is much more interesting. Smaller. More personal. Ride on a golf cart. Get off and take pictures on the ER set. Much better than the tram.

I came home on Saturday.

Sunday morning, I'm doing laundry and unpacking my bags. CNN is showing pictures of the raging inferno in the Universal back lot. New York Street, Courthouse Square and the King Kong exhibit are now more like a scene from "Backdraft."

Then I think to myself..."Carpe diem. There you were -- smug on the Universal tram. And now, a lot of it is dust. Good thing you took it in. It was your last chance."

If you've been reading all along, you'll see this theme repeated.

Live for the day. Find joy in the little things. Live in "the Present." It's truly a gift,and it may not be there tomorrow.

Now go find something to appreciate...today!

Finding My Voice

Yesterday, my college friend (Adam) logged on and reminded me that I haven't posted since March. I tried to explain that I wasn't sure about the purpose of my blog. At first, I thought it was all about the surgery.

Then I read backwards.

I realized about 51% (a precise calculation) of posts were surgery/voice-related. The rest were "me-being-me."

So I've decided to jump back on.

Stay tuned for future posts and musings. There's no particular topic here. Just my voice.