Vacation is over. It’s now back to my reality:

1. Trapping feral cats to halt their baby-making capabilities reminiscent of Octomom and her 14 kids.
2. Playing tennis in my ongoing attempt to serve an ace before I die. Accomplishing that feat is so far fetched, it likely would result in my opponent having a heart attack from the sheer absurdity of it. So let’s skip this one, shall we?
3. Continuing to manage 7 animals…like stopping Jack from pouncing on Savannah, cleaning up after Oliver’s hairballs, keeping Nellie from eating poop in the backyard and trying to get Tippy to sit anywhere but in front of my monitor.
4. Enjoying time spent with friends. Oh wait! That’s what I was doing on vacation. Hmm…appears I have a pretty nice life. Gotta love retirement…

Now don’t get me wrong; I’m no couch potato. I volunteer with Marin Friends of Ferals yet gladly put in more hours than I did at my job. I enjoy myself. It’s a passion with a bonus: After work I’m not tempted to put a straw into a very large bottle of vodka.

Anyway, back to reality (I really have to work on my habit of digressing, don’t I?)…

For the last few years during March, six of us go to Palm Desert to bask in the almost unbearably hot sun, watch the pro tennis tournament at Indian Wells, and lastly, eat, drink and be merry for a full week of indulgences. And as it turns out, we’re not half bad at indulging.

We planned this trip months in advance in order to rent a home in the area closest to the action — being near the tennis facility and where other friends were staying, shopping, great dining, etc. But things don’t always go as planned.

On the way to our house, we were called and told the place was uninhabitable due to water damage. I imagined us canoeing through the living room. Not a good scenario, especially since I prefer kayaking.

So we were sent to Indio, in the opposite direction and not exactly the prettiest location. But to our good fortune, the home was larger and nicer than the one we rented in Palm Desert with its 5 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, pool, hot tub, game room, sunken Jacuzzi, yada yada…

All this lessened the blow of being isolated, as if quarantined with a contagious disease. We went swimming, soaked in the hot tub and played tennis. When not at the event, we watched the matches on one of our 5 big-screen TVs.

When all was said and done, a good time was had by all. Kinda hard not to have fun with 5 good friends, away from continual rains back home. Oh, and eating great appetizers and meals Shelley and Hilary made when we weren’t overindulging at our favorite restaurant, Tommy Bahamas.

I wisely brought an expanding suitcase (should have done the same with my pants) for the inevitable items I knew I’d buy: a pair of shoes, a pair of sandals, 2 tennis skirts, a tennis top, a purse and 4 long sleeve shirts. None of which I needed. Talk about over-indulging…

I drank more martinis this past week than I consumed during the previous year. (And loved every sip.) I believe I also ate a month’s worth of food. All this could account for why I continually exclaimed, “This is the life!.” Just like a skipped record playing the same song over and over.

But now it’s back to my reality, which as it turns out, is also a pretty nice place to be.

 

SHELLEY’S FABULOUS CURRY APPLE SALAD

Dressing – 1/2 cup light olive oil – 1/2 cup white wine vinegar – 1 clove chopped garlic – 2 TBS brown sugar – 1 TBS soy sauce – 1 TBS curry powder – 1 red apple cored and chopped.

Put the apple and other ingredients in a blender and mix thoroughly.

Salad – bag of mixed greens including spinach – 1 large red apple, chopped – 1/2 cup Cranraisins – 1 small red onion finely chopped – 1/2 cup slivered almonds caramelized with 2 TBS sugar on the stove until golden brown. Stir often. Cool on foil.

Put all salad items in a bowl, add the dressing and enjoy!