My Road To Happiness

Since my father’s illness and subsequent changes at work, I won’t be going back to Lindos for Easter this year as I’d hoped. So, to quench my desire, here is a terrific video that not only shows one of the best places to go in the village, it shows off the village well too.

Maybe next year.

One of the things that I promised myself when I moved home to Omaha was that I would find things to do that were connected to who I am now. Omaha has changed and has more than just the Howard Street and Dubliner to offer the refined, music loving, drinker.

Photo by Akoestner

To that end, when I saw the English Beat was coming to town with Fishbone, I had to go. I never saw them perform in the early 80’s so this was my chance. What’s cool about the length of time they have been performing is that now, some 30 years later, the show was sold out. Tickets on Craig’s List were going for $100 a piece. Read the rest of this entry »

I regret that posts ended for a while. At the end of the summer of 2009 my father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. After a few exploratory visits home, it became clear that someone had to be there to ensure that medication was administered and that my parents didn’t live in denial.

In September, I notified my employer of my intent, sold everything I could, packed a portion of it into my car and moved home.

It’s an interesting time in my life. When I started this journey and this blog, I was in a state of limbo. At the time I wondered why a life with a pretty straight line from where I started to where I wanted to be,  seemed stalled for a while by the side of the road.

Now, I think I understand. If I was knee deep in my career or raising a family, I couldn’t be there for my father in the way that he’s always been there for me.

I’m not stalled. I’m at a way station. I will spend some time there and when my time there is done, I believe I will be better prepared for the rest of journey.

I haven’t finished writing about my trip yet but the Greek sections are more or less complete. I read them over the other day and realized I don’t have too much more to relate in terms of events. Next project is describing my one day in Paris. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m home sick with a lovely summer cold. It puts me in a position to watch a little more TV than normal. It certainly is the only reason that I’m watching Oprah.

Ruby - Worth it Reality TV

She’s interviewing reality TV stars, in particular, “Ruby” from the Style network. It’s the diary of a 500 lb woman and her journey to loose 300 lbs and save her own life.

I watched all the episodes of Season 1 last year. I was capitvated by her spirit and by her attempts to peel away the layers of her own past to uncover hope for her future.

New episodes start tonight at 5 and 5:30 pm on Style.

I’ve had a nice amount of time to unwind the last few days. Again, I find it interesting that out of work I have no trouble with eating. I’m not that hungry and when I do eat, it’s easy to cook healthy choices for myself. I’m satisfied with what I’m eating and don’t have a craving for fat, salt or sugar. Well, ok. I still crave salt.

Anyway, I thought I’d post a little update and encourage anyone of you reading this, challenged by middle aged spread, to tune into season 2 of Ruby this weekend. She’s so gracious about her situation that it is a good reminder that we don’t have so far to go in our own lives.

Best of luck, Ruby

As mentioned in a previous post, Dusty and I plan to cook our way through her regional Spanish cookbook as a way to both prepare for and quench our desire to travel to Spain. The first attempt was really successful, if I do say so myself.

She prepared a nice fresh little Gazpacho (though we both agreed we may have to wait until late July or early August for the best tomatoes) and marinated the Amish raised chicken a day ahead of time. When she arrived late in the afternoon on Saturday it was just right and ready to go.

Spanish chicken stage 1

Read the rest of this entry »

Yeah. Not really sure what happened here. This appears to be the day I “lost” while in Lindos. Here’s what I do know:

1. I spent the previous night in the apartment on Mt. Everest.
2. I met Vanessa’s father (Spa Lindos) and committed to staying 2 nights in one of the Tsambika’s Studio Apartments he owns just below the Acropolis (and across the alley from the Melenos Lindos Hotel).
3. I twisted my ankle when I failed to see that the extensive private balcony in my new apartment has a step down right in the middle. Typical.
4. I tried to ignore that I twisted my ankle and walked around on it all day. Ouch.
5. I went back to Rhodes, packing everything I owned and checked out hastily, with my heart beating double time from excitement, like I was going on the lam. I think that’s because it was so spontaneous and I was going “off plan” with no idea how it would all turn out. Cool.
6. I nearly tipped over the Toyota Yaris (twice!) as I attempted to get down to and back from the parking lot at the the main beach in Lindos. Totally scary.
7. I hauled not only my belongings from the car (1 rolling duffle, one large duffle strapped on top) but the items still waiting in Mt. Everest (big satchel and many plastic bags) from one end of the village to the other where the new apartment was.
8. I had another unremarkable dinner at another large, empty restaurant called Symposio. At least the waiter was a cutie.
9. I collapsed in a heap at the end of the night in my new apartment. Read the rest of this entry »

vitamin-b

Oy!

Just returned from Giant Eagle where I followed my list exactly and still spent over $100.00. It’s all about the allergy meds (Zyrtec) and Vitamin B (happy pill) and Vitamin D (happy pill two) for the lack of sun in Cleveland.

Even with my discount and coupons that put another $50 on the bill.

Geeze staying upright and in the right frame of mind sure costs a lot these days.

Tuesday morning I get myself up early and back to Lindos in time to meet Becca at the beach. I pack a bag that contains what I need for the beach and for a possible overnight stay. Once I saw how easy it was to find a room just by walking into a shop with a “room to let” sign over the door, I began toying with the idea of abandoning my “craptastic” apartment in Rhodes for the rest of my stay on the island.

Craptastic Apt in Rhodes town

There are 2 beaches. The “main beach” that you see on your drive in and the one that is just over the hill, behind the Acropolis. The beach at St. Paul’s Bay is nearly deserted and Becca tells me that she and Nathan have had this spot all to themselves for weeks.

Today there are a few people coming down with their kids so we make our way to the other end of the beach nearer the small restaurant. It’s wonderfully warm (though the water’s still cold) and I lay down and let the sun do it’s work on my frame. You know how you feel the sun start on the outer layer of your skin? Slowly it seeps into your muscles and they start to lengthen and let go of any residual tension. You feel a sleepy and it’s hard to keep your eyes open. If you let yourself go, the last thing you’ll feel is the warmth make it’s way all the way to your interior, down into your bones and you feel “well”. Read the rest of this entry »

Just a quick note that I updated many of my previous posts on my trip to Greece with new photographs.

Check it out here: http://myroadtohappieness.com/blog/?tag=greece