Me & Anonymous Friends.......Do you blame them?

Of course, this is the edited version....You can see why. I did actually have a dress on, a loosely woven number, beaded at the neck and hemline. I wore a bodystocking underneath it that somewhat covered my legs and body, but stopped short of my -- ahem -- bustline, which I decided to bare to the world. Strangely enough, it was a very comfortable costume, my days at the nudist resort have destroyed all vestiges of modestly in me.

The Exotic Erotic Ball.....YIKES!!!!!

WARNING: Not for those with weak stomaches, or easily shocked...unfortunately, you have probably already seen the pictures before reading the text, so suck it up and deal with it... I'm going to start by trying to post a few pictures without editing, and move on to those that I have to blur. I apologize in advance for my poor skills where that is concerned.......

Exotic Erotic Ball, San Francisco, CA......

Part of the "entertainment"....live S&M show on one of the stages....Okay, it's not for everyone....but who am I to say????

A booth at the Exotic Erotic Ball Vendor Show

There was an interesting mix of vendors at the show. Lots of adult novelties, porn (wannabe) stars, a winery, mardi gras beads, etc.

Exotic Erotic Ball--Okay, I don't know these people, but I did ask permission to take their pictures....

In the VIP section of the Exotic Erotic Ball 

I know it's blurry...but you get the idea.... 

Yes, he is Naked......

This guy wasn't even attempting a pretense of a costume. He had his overcoat slung over his arm (needed to wear it in the cab ride over, I assume), a ball cap on his head, and shoes and socks. He also had one free hand which provided him with all the entertainment he needed--if you catch my drift.....hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm 

Bon Voyage Sweetie!

I love this little guy...and his mommy too...xoxoxoxo

Mommy and Ayman at the Airport

 

Ayman with his Crazy American Grandmother at SFO

This was Aymans first experience with moving sidewalks. He was hanging onto grandma pretty tightly during the first one, after that he discovered he could go faster if he walked at the same time....I told you he is smart.....

This "Grandmother" thing....

A lot of stuff has been going on in my life lately; and I have been way too busy doing nothing to write about it. I think it is time for me to go back to work. But that is another blog entry for yet another day.
My grandson, Ayman, went to Egypt with his daddy last Thursday, and Mommy and Grandma took them to the airport. He was pretty blase' about the whole trip, unlike his grandma. Of course, he's made the journey before at the tender age of about six weeks old. This time around, however, he is walking, climbing, and as opinionated as any child can be that can't yet talk. I cringe to think of what the trip was like for daddy...San Francisco to Frankfurt, Germany; a four hour layover, then on to Egypt. They left here at 1:30 p.m. our time, and arrived in Egypt approximately ll:00 a.m. the next day (also our time, it's way too confusing for me to figure out how long that actually is....sorry). Ignorance truly is bliss. His daddy said that he knew it would be a difficult trip, but I don't think he truly appreciated just how difficult....until now. In his first short email to my daughter, he said that the baby had only slept two hours during their trip, and now that they are there won't let him out of his sight. I surely don't blame him...poor baby.

Mommy is deliriously enjoying her time alone for now; sleeping for hours upon hours, that sleep uninterrupted for the first time in almost two years by a baby or a husband--eating whatever and whenever she pleases--drunk with freedom. Ahhhh...."Mommy time", what could be more exhilarating! I can't blame her, I remember those days. I have to say that I miss him terribly. I never thought that I was going to be one of "those" grandmothers. People would show me pictures of their wrinkly, red-faced grandbabies, and go on interminably about how cute they were (are they kidding? Yikes! Put on your glasses, granny!) how smart, and I would paste a smile on my face and say things like, "Oh yes, he/she is just adorable!" "How sweet!" etc, all the while thinking, dear god, I hope I never do that.....that kid is a mutt! But I guess I'm okay; after all, my grandson IS the cutest, smartest little guy I've ever seen, and I can't believe what a huge place he has in my heart. This grandma thing is the coolest--when he and his mom come to visit me, he rings my doorbell and waits for me to open the door to his huge toothy smile and I melt. And now he kisses me if I beg him enough, how cool is that? If mommy wants to go run some errands, he is more than happy to visit with me. There are so many cool things to do at Grandmas house. There are buttons to push on my stereo, a liquor cabinet that is a blast to open and close, a little cedar box on my bookshelves that he loves to sit on the floor with, open the lid and try to put his little baby leg inside....then of course, the refrigerator to open and close, the wooden salad tongs he loves to play with for two seconds, and a patio door to open and close hundreds of times.....soo much fun for a baby!
Good Lord, I HAVE TURNED INTO ONE OF THOSE GRANDMAS!!! I am so lucky.

Good Bye Summer-Good Bye Nudist Resort....

If someone had told me five years ago that I would take off my clothes in front of total strangers and sit around and yuk it up with same said strangers -- buck naked -- I would have told them that they were out of their ever-lovin' minds. Just the idea of walking around outside the confines of my home with my rolls of fat, stretchmarks, numerous scars, not to mention private parts, out there for anyone to see would have sent me into fits of hysterical laughter. Not me, NO WAY!!! That was before my first experience with a mineral hot springs about four years ago. My ex-husband and I went to one with another couple, and it was an eye-opener (no pun intended, but now that I think of it, hey, it's pretty funny). The place was started in the early 20's or 30's, I think, very bohemian. Artists would go there as well as musicians, writers and poets, and trade their work for rooms at the hot springs. It was kind of neat, and after the initial embarrassment, also enjoyable. It did stink, however; they were sulphur springs after all. About a year later, we went to another place, recommended by the same friends. It was much nicer, at least these didn't smell bad. It had the aura of all things Karmic...is that a word? The pools of hot, hotter and hottest water were nestled under beautiful trees and rolling hills...the atmosphere was meditative and hushed...and everyone was naked there too. By that time I was feeling pretty good about walking around naked in front of other people. It wasn't about being naked, after all, it was about being ONE with the environment and besides, there were a heck of a lot of other people that were fatter and more messed up than me.....lol....
....which brings me to the present day. Some other friends told us about a resort a mere half hour from where I live that is not only clothing optional, but they have a swimming pool, hot tub and a conversation pool where you can sit with all your new friends and chat. That sounded fun. Fortunately, I have a boyfriend who likes to be naked outdoors too, and that appealed to him as well. Our friends took us as their guests the first time, and we were hooked. The next weekend, we became members, and as a result we have really nice all-over tans this year. It's really fun. When you get there, you just park your car, take off your clothes, and leave them in your car. All you have to take with you is a towel to sit on (the restaurant is naked too) and sunscreen is a very good idea. The grounds are beautiful. Lots of big trees, a lake, volleyball and tennis courts, a small mobile home community on the grounds, as well as day use camping and hook ups for RVs. The pool is fenced and quite large with lots of lounges and umbrellas for sunbathing. There is a snackbar there also, and during the season they have a cocktail waitress poolside. You can also bring your own liquor, as long as it is in cans or unbreakable containers, so that's a plus. The conversation pool is the neatest part. It's about 40 feet long, maybe 6 feet across, and semi-circular in shape. It is lined with seating so that you can sit across from someone and converse with them--get it??? It is also salt water, and fairly warm, but not as hot as the spa, and jetted. It's usually the busiest pool of the three, but on 100-degree-plus days, people stand in the big pool almost shoulder to shoulder and chat it up with each other. We've met a lot of really interesting people there. And if it sounds like a big free for all, well, it really isn't. They have Morality Police there. There are no PDA (Public Displays of Affection to you!) allowed. Not there, and certainly not at the Friday and Saturday night dances held in the huge bar! You can be naked, but you cannot touch!!! So to all of you with filthy minds such as my own, shame on you! People come here from all over; evidently it's one of the premier naturist resorts in the Western United States. Wow. I love California.
But the writing is on the wall. Saturday promised to be in the eighties, so we decided to go revive our tans. We hadn't gone since before our cruise, and we were fading fast. Upon our arrival, we noticed that the crowd was definitely thinning. Almost eleven a.m., and we pretty much had our pick of any of the primo lounges near the pool. No matter. We spread our towels on our lounges, and laid out in all our glory to catch some rays. It was warm, and when the first trickle of sweat made its way down my side I was ready to hit the conversation pool. We sat there until we pruned up, talked to anyone who would listen to us, and eavesdropped on many private conversations. Did I mention that it is also useful to have good sunglasses? Not only do they protect you from harmful UV rays, but people can't see that you are checking them out. I have never seen so many tattoos and piercings in my life. This is a voyeurs paradise, believe me. And people are more than happy to tell you all about them, in sometimes excruciating detail. TMI, in many cases. About six o clock, the wind was beginning to get gusty, and the sky was filling with threatening clouds. People were going to the restaurant for dinner, and some were getting ready to go to the dance. We had decided not to stay overnight at the little hotel there, so we said good by to our pool -mates and reluctantly got ready to leave. No naked dancing for us tonite, as tempting as that sounds; we put on our clothes and headed home, hoping for at least one or two more indian summer days before the winter sets in. But, failing that, there is more fun ahead. In a couple of weeks we will be going to the Exotic Erotic Ball in San Francisco. I've never been to it before, and I'm sure it will give me lots more to write about......

I am not amused.....

The cutest grandson EVER...

I promise not to do this too often, but I just had to post this picture. You may have seen one or two pics of him before on my daughters blog. Ayman is almost 22 months old now, and what a sweetie. This picture was taken last week at lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. His mom, Uncle Alex and I were almost done with our meal when his uncle decided to start messing with him by putting rice noodles in the straw of his sippy cup. He was definitely not amused by any of it. You do not mess with that baby's food or beverages -- he takes them quite seriously. What is unusual about this picture is that he did not smile for the camera! It is so hard to get a candid shot of him, because the moment I aim the camera, he generally poses. He must have really been pissed off...I love you baby!

Okay...here's the no underwear part........

This is the part that gets fun. I belong to a sort of social club that meets monthly in this area, composed of many people who really know how to enjoy their lives. We get together to attend a dance held in a local hotel, where many of us also spend the night so that we don't have to worry about how much alcohol we consume before the evening is over. We get there early, hang out by the pool and visit, go to dinner together in our little cliques, and then to to the dance about seven o' clock. There is always a fun theme for these events, and you can choose to dress up for it, or not. It's always more fun if you do, and everyone seems to really get into the spirit of things and get a little crazy.
When I was in high school, I was extremely shy. But it's true, I was always the fat girl with glasses and frizzy short hair, wearing my insecurity like a big fat sign on my considerable chest. I also felt uncoordinated, and would only dance slow dances, if I was lucky enough to get asked. I skulked in corners, back to the walls, trying not to make a spectacle of myself. When this comes up in conversation with my new friends, they look at me incredulously and say, "Oh yeah, riiiiiiiiiiiight!!!!!, ha ha ha, tell us another one!" They probably say this because when I was almost 50, I went through one of those mid-life things. I know, I know, it's pretty predictable--I never thought it would happen to me. I always did what was expected of me, did the right thing...but instead of rushing out to buy a sports car, I got my right nipple pierced. I should interject here that I had a breast reduction a few years prior to that, so this was not as brave a deed as it may seem. My sensitivity was greatly reduced due to the fact that they had to remove, reduce and reposition said nipple (and I became "Frankennipple" to my dear daughter) so the piercing wasn't that traumatic. But I finally felt good about my new, improved breasts, and thought why not enjoy them a little more? When my son got wind of what I'd done, he was more than a little disgusted with me. Oh well. All my life I had been soooo conservative. I wouldn't even wear a sleeveless blouse in the most miserable heat because I have fat arms. What a mess! But thanks to the mid-life thing, I thought "What the heck am I waiting for?" Like the beer commercial used to say, you only go around once in life. So, pierce the boob, ditch the bra and panties, grow my hair a little longer, go to clothing optional hot spring resorts, and stop worrying about what everyone thought of me. Yes, Middle Age Crazy.
You're probably wondering what all this has to do with the dances? I do tend to digress, but it's my blog and I can do whatever I want to do with it, right?
The theme of this particular dance happened to be "High Heels, Short Skirts, and NO Panties". Yikes. My good friend confided in me that she did, in fact, wear panties to the dance because she had a bit of a cold, and peed everytime she had a coughing spell. That sounded valid to me--not to mention the fact that the extra draft probably wouldn't have done her cold any good either. The no panty part didn't really bother me, since I rarely wear them anyway. I did, however, wear my skirt a bit longer than usual to compensate for the higher heels. I'm also quite good at crossing my legs demurely due to my early Catholic school upbringing. So I've got that going for me.
This is a people-watchers paradise. It's so fun to sit with a bunch of your best friends, get out the Meow Mix, and talk about everybody else. I'm sure there are other groups such as ours at the dance, talking about US, so it's all good. There were probably close to 150 people there of all ages, heavy on the aging Baby Boom class, of which I am a proud member, and some even older than that. Everyone dances their butts off with abandon. What a kick. It gets a little crazy, and let me tell you, some of these people really deserve credit for not giving a crap about what they do or how they look doing it...come to think of it, I deserve a fair amount of credit for that very thing myself, I guess! There are some women that really should wear panties, tho. I refer to one of the much older participants, probably around her late, verrry late, sixties, who wore not much more than a ruffle around her waist in lieu of a skirt. It was so wrong. Oh my god...and what is she doing now???? No, No, NO!!!!! NOT THE POLE! PLEASE!! In the name of all that is holy....NOT THE POLE!!!! But pole dance she did, while we all stared, dumbfounded, until one of us said, "God Bless her, look at her go!" and we all laughed, realizing that she probably had her own midlife crisis twenty or so years ago too. It was kind of gross though. Makes you think. LOL. The guys didn't care , they all cheered for her as though she was twenty. Thats why I love the age I am now. You can let it all hang out (literally) and there is always someone who appreciates you. It's still like high school, but everyone is much kinder, much friendlier, because we realize we are all in the same boat, so we may as well enjoy it before it sinks. Life is good.

A little about Me...

Where should I start? Hmmmm.....oldest child (and only girl )in a family of five, raised in a rural farming community by two wonderful parents. I attended Catholic school for five years, which is a plus when I meet men. For some reason, they tend to get a gleam in their eyes when I tell them that. After graduating from high school, I went to work in a small real estate office as a secretary for a year, then got a job in a local bank. I got married when I was almost 20, and moved to Southern California where my husband grew up.
When I reached the tender age of 21 1/2, our daughter Cassandra was born. We moved back to Northern California at that point, and three years later, our son, Alexander, was born. During the child-bearing period, I stayed at home until Alex was three. At that point, I went back to work for Bank of America, and after about 7 years, opened a party store with my sister-in-law, Cindy. We had a great time with that--lots of hard work, lots of fun, but not much money. We sold the business, and I went to work in the office at our new Wal-Mart. I loved that job for six of the thirteen years I worked there, but I can't say that I would ever want to go back. Retail is hell, especially for a 24 hour operation. Office jobs are 7-4, weekends off, except for holidays and inventory time, but if you have a ladder-climbing store manager, they can give you grief. It's impossible to enjoy the holidays, they are so hectic. I was a good associate--never a write up or counseling, nothing but commendations in my file. But with the advent of our new SuperCenter came new management. I was one of the more highly-paid personnel, and I truly believe that is why I was terminated for my horrible crime of going to lunch ten minutes late. Not coming back ten minutes late--No, leaving! Oh well, I guess they did me a favor. This happened one week after my divorce was finalized after 34 years of marriage. So, as I said before, I decided to enjoy my six months of company-paid unemployment -- (take that in the shorts, Wal-Mart!) --and it has been great. I met a very sweet man who has taken me a lot of very nice places, and introduced me to some very fine wines. We've had a lot of fun together and just yesterday returned from a cruise to Catalina Island & Ensenada, Mexico. So that brings us up to date...now I have to think about rejoining the real world, and rejoining the ranks of the gainfully employed. That is my story, and I'm sticking to it......

La Cetto Winery, Ensenada

La Cetto first of two wineries on our winery tour in Ensenada. Beautiful scenery, the road leading into the vineyard lined with olive trees, loaded with fruit. I never imagined that it would be so picturesque. First we stopped at a bullring on the grounds, surrounded by flowers and of course, the vineyard. Gene got a picture of me on the way to the bathroom...no photo journal would be complete without that. After the brief tour, we were led into a rustic wine tasting room where we sampled five wines, along with olives, bread and cheese. Mmmmmmmm...it was very nice...followed up by a taste of brandy & also tequila! Unexpected, but fun...we had a bit of a buzz as we reboarded our bus.

"Box Seats" overlooking bullring--this is their VIP area, and it was being set up for lunch when we visited 

Bullring on vineyard grounds 

View of bathroom at vineyard 

Darla, Ernie, Cindy and Gene in Catalina

Marlin Bar, Catalina Island..After parasailing, we stopped in this little bar for a drink. It was a beautiful day, and we were all a little wind-blown. All except for Darla, who decided to do some quality shopping instead of the parasailing adventure. Anyone who knows me, knows how I am about my coffee. While everyone else was ordering drinks, I went down the street and found myself a nice espresso bar, where I found a steaming cup of some kind of exotic coffee. I was a happy camper when I came back to rejoin them.