Party

I went to an all ladies cocktail party tonight. We had been invited to dress up, and some ladies went all out with that. There were gorgeous flowy dresses as well as short saucy ones. It was a rockin' party, with plenty of delicious punch and other drinks. The music was loud, and everyone was dancing. In short, it wasn't a tea party.

And yet, in the midst of this raucous fun, I looked around and had an incredible, quiet revelation. These women - most of whom were tipsy and at least one who was flat out drunk, all of whom were dancing like crazy - are my friends. These are the women who will celebrate together in good times and support each other in hard times. These women will hold me up when I need holding, help me when I need helping, and just be there when I need a listening ear - and I will do the same for them. It was an odd time to have a weepy moment, in the middle of a wild party, but I enjoyed it.

100!

Yesterday was the 100th day of school, and the first graders celebrated in style! They wore "100 days" hats (and made a special one for principal George Ortman), decorated the classroom, and each of them brought 100 of something. I enjoyed celebrating with them and seeing their collections of 100 things, which I thought you might find interesting too.

Several students brought toys...

Parker and Russell both had 100 pieces of Lego



Christian had 100 snap together blocks



and Yalena had 100 small toys.



That's Becky with Yalena...she was one of several kids who brought seashells...

Dylan had his in a bucket



Hannah had hers in a tin. That's Whisper with her beads, and Alexander with his stuffed animals (yes, he brought 100 stuffed animals!)



I was seriously jealous of Mason's collection of 100 whole scotch bonnets!



Cole brought in 100 white beans, which I wanted to cook and eat!



It was a fun event to celebrate the 100th day milestone. Maybe we adults should take a lesson from these kids and celebrate little things along the way in our lives, too.

That's amore...

Zillie's is planning a special wine tasting for Valentine's weekend. Here are the details.

Amore, Amore, Amore...

Food and Wine For Love...

A Special Wine Tasting For Valentine's Weekend

Since before the days when Marc Antony first fed grapes to Cleopatra, certain foods developed a reputation of being associated with the art of romance...

And not surprisingly wine tops the list as the "lovers' choice" of beverages.

Wine pairs beautifully with so many classic "love foods" offering all sorts of inspiration for a romantic Valentines celebration.

We Invite You to Join Us on
Friday, February 12th
at 6 p.m.

For A Special Valentine's Wine Tasting

Slow down, relax, and fully appreciate your senses.

Five romantic wines paired with mystical food guaranteed to Fan the Flames for $15. Call
Now to Reserve Your Spot!

252-928-9036

No provider

Getting specialized medical care can sometimes be a challenge when you live on a small island. Certainly, visits to specialists or any sort of surgical prodedure or equipment-centric testing (xray, MRI, etc.) involve a long drive, since none of those things is an option right here at home. Standard, more typical care, however, usually is not a problem. Until this week.

The Health Center was - until recently - staffed by two people who can diagnose conditions, order lab/bloodwork type testing, and prescribe medication: Dr. Moore, and Gail Covington (I think she's a PA, or LNP...something along those lines). They worked on a rotating schedule - Dr. Moore for a week, then Gail for the next, etc. Unfortunately, Dr. Moore recently decided to move on to a practice in the Triad area. He will be greatly missed here!

What that meant, this week, was that there was no provider on the island. (For emergencies, our wonderful paramedics and EMTs were - and are - of course still available and able to take excellent care of any urgent situation.)

What that meant for me today was about half of the day spent going to Hatteras and back for a Dr. visit for the entire family, since we all now have the awful upper respiratory issue that I started with last weekend (and we discovered Connor has an ear infection as well, which explained the high fever he had on Wednesday which led me to call one of our aforementioned wonderful paramedics for advice in the middle of the night). So I'm just plain tired this week...from being sick myself, from not sleeping well because of needing to check Connor's temperature occasionally during the night, and from spending a chunk of Thursday going to another island for medical care.

Would all of this make me even consider going to live somewhere else? Not for a minute. Like many of the challenges associated with living here, it's all worth it in the long run. It's not like we're sick every day, so the good days more than make up for the inconveniences!

Hope you have access to all the care (medical and otherwise) you need, wherever you are...

So sick...

You may have noticed that the last few blogs were not very personal, and there certainly weren't any photos involved. Okay, I'll admit it. They were 90% copied and pasted from emails I received, and probably made the blog look like Ocracoke Chamber of Commerce rather than a journal about my life.

There is a reason, though. I have been really sick for the last several days. I slept through almost the entire weekend, and have hardly been out of the house at all this week. Connor and John are now coming down with what I've had, so the whole family is under the weather at this point. (I'm getting better, but still not anywhere near my usual self, and going to bed early is a must, leaving less time for blogging and other more fun pursuits.)

I'll try to get back to more interesting posts as soon as I can. In the meantime, hope you are well, wherever you are...

Dajio for Valentine's Day

I got an email today about the special brunch and dinner planned for Valentine's Day at Dajio. Here's more info:

Brunch Buffet from 11-2
$15/ Adults

Dinner: 5-9
Specials include while they last:
Appetizers: Local Shellfish Ceviche
Eggplant and Roasted Red Pepper Tostada with lime chile pesto
Broiled Ocracoke Oysters with Saffron Hollandaise

Entrees:
“Surf and Turf” Grilled pepper crusted filet mignon with a pan fried shrimp and scallop butter, grilled asparagus and roasted rosemary potatoes
Nori wrapped tempura Tuna with lemon jasmine rice and sesame tomato relish
Fresh linguine with local shrimp, scallops, and oysters, caramelized prosciutto and a house made shrimp broth

A great selection of house made desserts as well as our complete winter menu!


I'm hungry already!

February happenings

There are several events planned for February on the island.

Dinner Fundraiser for Tina
Saturday February 6 - 4:00 to 6:00 PM - Methodist Church Rec Hall

Superbowl Lunch
Sunday February 7 - Creekside Cafe

Valentine's Jazz Concert and Pary
Saturday February 13 - 7:00 PM - Community Center

Lunch
Sunday February 14 - 12:30 PM - Methodist Church Rec Hall

Mandolin Orange concert
Saturday February 27 - 7:00 PM - DeepWater Theater

Come visit! (Or just enjoy, if you're already here...)