Celebrity Hunt

Whenever I travel, especially to the east or west coast, I am constantly scanning the people around me. I'm looking for celebrities. I don't want an autograph and I don't bother them. (A year or so ago, I almost knocked Abby down on a NY street because Chris Rock was standing next to us.)

In this silly but harmless quest, I've been rewarded. I have seen and/or met:

OJ Simpson in the Dallas airport (while he was an athlete and before he became a murderer.)
Teri Garr in a CA hotel.
Jane Seymour in an airport.
Henry Winkler in a NY restaurant.
Kelly Ripa walking down a NY street.
Brooke Shields and Chris Henchy with their daughter in NY.
JFK, Jr. riding his bike in NY.
One of the Wilson brothers (Luke or Owen) on the subway.
Vincent Price, Jane Pauley, Ted Koppel, G. Gordon Liddy in various places.

There are many more.

Last night, the husband and I went to one of our favorite haunts. He stopped in the men's room so I headed to grab a couple of seats at the bar. I ordered us each a glass of wine and took out my notebook to jot down some thoughts. When he joined me, he asked, "Did you see who you're sitting next to?"

Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts Quarterback and Superbowl MVP two years ago. Local celebrity of huge magnitude. Big brother of Eli Manning, Superbowl MVP in this year's game. I've met him before but never bellied up to a bar next to him.

As usual, my head was in the clouds and my nose was in a notebook until the husband reeled me back to the real world.

The oldies lived with us when our Colts won the Superbowl. She would've been so impressed that I was sitting next to Peyton.

Escaping

Memorial Day weekend ... time to relax and kick back.

In our city, today's focus is the Indianapolis 500 race. Lots of buzz. Lots of people. More eyes than ever are focused on our city since we were awarded the host of the Superbowl in 2012. I don't live close to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway but I live just close enough for the traffic to mess with me.

Sunday is usually my catch-up day: return emails, file papers, pay bills, etc. If I get really wacky, I deep condition my hair and paint my toenails. Middle-age maintenance is exhausting.

A running joke with the husband is that every day is a holiday for me. He finds it very funny. I'm slightly less entertained.

But, today he is correct. The pool is open. I'm headed over to cocktail corner. The water is calling and I'm escaping. The piles of paper and the bills will have to wait until tomorrow.

I can't wait to dive in.

Super Bowl

The husband and I attended a fabulous Super Bowl party. Great food and great friends. Plus, the team we were cheering for actually won. (It wasn't our local team but the next best thing.)

At one point I caught myself with a plate of incredible food, surrounded by people having a wonderful time and I felt guilty for my laughter.

Ah, the stages of grief.