Tarpon Springs, a full stomach, and a lunch date.

Had lunch on Tuesday with the third man in my life. Get yer minds out of the gutter, I'm talking about my son. I know I don't talk about him a lot, but in all honesty, I'm very privacy-conscious when it comes to him. (Not to mention safety-conscious.) He's going to be 18 in a couple of months, and last Saturday, he completed his Eagle Scout project. (Yay!) Now he just has to do the paperwork and get it all approved.

So for a celebration, I took him to Tarpon Springs for lunch on Tuesday, to our favorite restaurant, Plaka. Yes, the same Plaka Restaurant I've mentioned in several of my books. LOL It's been there since I was a kid, and I can't begin to tell you how many meals I've enjoyed there over the years.

I know the interior might not look like much to you, but one of the things I love about it is that it's remained nearly unchanged in all these years. It's a comfort to someone Sheldonesque like me who is change-averse in some ways. My son's picture is even on the wall when you first go in, along with lots of pictures of other regulars. So yes, going there is a family tradition.

If you ever get a chance to eat there, GO. Start with an order of saganaki (OPA!) and then where you go from there is up to you. I nearly always get a gyro (pronounced YEE-row, NOT "jyro") because they make their own meat mixture there.

Let me repeat that--they MAKE THEIR OWN. It's not one of these food truck kind of gyros. It's GOOD.

Mmmmm saganaki!

Son got the gyro/souvlaki platter, which also came with a salad and fries. Needless to say, even though we both did a pretty good imitation of locusts, he needed a box to take some home. LOL

I got my usual gyro. As you can see, it's a freaking handful. LOL

And om nom nom, when we finally gave in, we had done a pretty decent job.

Then, it was time for part B of our usual family routine--dessert! We walk a couple of doors down to Hellas to their bakery and get dessert there.

This is only a fraction of their selections. A FRACTION, I say.

And yes, unfortunately, occupational hazard ahead. I ALWAYS giggle when I see the name of this dessert. I'm sorry, I can't help it. I...Just...Do.

You can see why. LOL

And, of course, despite a HUGE inventory from which to choose, we ended up, as usual, with our usuals. LOL

He gets a chocolate dessert (that's a mouse on the top) and I get rice pudding.

Tarpon Springs is a beautiful little town. I've used it as a setting in several of my books, including Safe Harbor. (I'm kicking myself in the butt I didn't get the picture of the fake shark at the Sponge Exchange that I mention in Pinch Me.)

Definitely take a day to come sightsee if you're ever in the area. Park at the gift shop across the street and a few doors down from Plaka ($3, pay inside) and enjoy the food, the shopping, the atmosphere. You won't regret it.

Starting to feel like fall.

If you've been following my blog you know I lost my grandfather in May and inherited my grandparents' house. Which is about five minutes from my parents. So hubby and I have been spending a lot of time up here, and in fact have pretty much moved up here for the duration of the holiday season. Hubby's already got plans to bring all our holiday decorations (inside and out) up here. When my mom said this was the first holiday season she wasn't dreading since Granny died in 2008, there was no way I wasn't going to stay up here.

Did I mention I have the World's Greatest Husband(TM)?

While I'm not looking forward to winter without central heat (there's a propane furnace that scares the stuffing out of me, but it's not in the budget to replace it right now) it has been nice keeping the windows open here during the day since it's been cooler. 

Here in Florida, in this part of the state, we get few days it's pleasant enough (and not raining) to open the windows.

It's comforting being here. I grew up here, my parents are close, other family and friends are close, and Sir is close. It's a win-win. And frankly, right now, I need all the emotional support I can get. Went to the doctor last week, and while I don't want to go into details, my doctor is now awaiting the result of two biopsies she did. We're hoping it's going to turn out to be nothing, but last year I did have two pre-cancerous places removed from a...rather tender area. And we're hoping this isn't a return. I also have to get my mammogram tomorrow, which oddly enough I'm not sweating, because my first one a couple of years ago was fine.

And facing my first holiday season now without either of my grandparents is rough, to say the least. They were an integral part of my life and I was blessed to have them as long as I did. But I'm determined to blend old traditions with new, and celebrate these holidays with my family and friends and make it a good one with as little stress as possible.

And, oh yeah, Grimalkin, aka Grim, aka Grimlin, aka Senor Nasty, aka Houdini Kitten is growing. Moved him up to a larger sized crate, and now he swings from the top of it like a frickin' monkey. He also figured out how to get out of it (hence the Houdini moniker) and it only took him escaping three times for us to figure out how he did it and remedy the situation.

Yes, we are somewhat slower in intelligence than an 8-week old kitten. *sigh*

I'm back to work on the Triple Trouble series bridge book, as well as some crochet projects. New fingerless gloves to keep me warm, and a really fun fox hat (has ear flaps and fox ears LOL) for Halloween.

And...one week until "Hernando Heat" officially releases! Woot! It's already on Siren's bestseller list, and it's not even out yet!! *Snoopy Dancing!!* My readers totally ROCK! :)