Posted by missjunebug on May 29, 2011
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missjunebug and her Mr.JB are heading out for a cruise adventure soon on the Regent Seven Seas Mariner. Destination: Mediterranean! She’s been busy as a bee (mixed simile since she’s a junebug!) selecting her wardrobe and thinking about the different philosophies out there regarding packing for trips.
One of her acquaintances explained how she packed for a recent trip two-week trip to Paris: twenty-two inches of carry-on only. What was her secret? Only two pairs of shoes-walking and dress, a few neutral pants and tops, one dress, and lots and lots of scarves to make each outfit look fresh and new.
Hmmm. In Paris with only two pairs of shoes? That is strictly against missjunebug’s fashionista principles. Part of the fun of the trip is the planning, anticipation, and pairing of shoes and accessories with outfits missjunebug feels good in! What’s the point of strolling down the Champs Elysees if you feel like a schlumpadink in infinitely recycled pants and tops and a few sad scarves! missjunebug appreciates the lightness of being a 22″ case affords the traveler, but give her the almost infinite capacity of her rolling duffle and Tumi wardrobe bag any day!
Another of her acquaintances created a brilliant system using Ziploc bags. One outfit per day including the underwear, bagged, zipped, ready to go. On her way to her morning shower, she grabs a Ziploc and voila! She is set! Fortunately for her, she’s svelte and her size 0-1 clothing is tiny to begin with so it easily fits into a Ziploc bag. missjunebug would need a trash size bag for her size 8/10′s! While she admires this packing system, her acquaintance occasionally finds she has underpacked since she only allows herself one Ziploc bag per day per trip. If something unusual comes up, she’s short clothes! This is tragic to missjunebug because her packing system relies on one very important one-word principle:
CHOICE!
Yes, missjunebug takes plenty of shoes, scarves, jewelry, shirts, pants, dresses, swimsuits, wraps, work-out togs, jackets, and p.j.s to pick and choose from! Why? Two reasons: She’s got a generous weight limit (50 lbs. per two bag limit)–why not use it? and she’s a bug of many moods–what she might feel like wearing one day will simply not necessarily work for another day. That’s a fact of human psychology and believe her when she says fashion and dress are filled with psychological pay-offs and pitfalls. Just watch one episode of Gossip Girl if you don’t believe her!
Soooo, missjunebug will be filling her bags to the brim and enjoying the infinite combinations her packing plan affords!
Bon Voyage!
Posted by missjunebug on May 22, 2011
Peloton Coming and Going! Photo by mjb2011
So missjunebug was minding her business, heading home after church when she saw the left turn lane that leads into her little valley blocked off by orange cones and lots of hubbub at the intersection she did not expect.
Then she read the sign: Amgen Tour of California. Â Great for the cyclists. Not so great for missjunebug. She had a sinking feeling, then a bright idea! She’d get on the freeway and head into her valley via the backdoor, an exit past the one she normally takes. With any luck she’d be able to get back to her little hacienda no problema.
Alas. More cones. More hubbub at the backdoor into her valley intersection. When the light turned green, she drove slowly through the intersection and shared her plight with the officer moving traffic through. How was she supposed to get to her home, please? The officer smiled and said, “Just drive through and park at the next shopping center for a few minutes. The cyclists are on their way.”
As luck would have it, missjunebug never even had to park! The sirens of approaching police vehicles blared the approach of the elite group of leaders of the Amgen California Tour. Shortly after, the pulsing peloton pushed through! missjunebug got to see it all without missing a beat! She was even able to snap a few shots out her car window with her little camera. Â And just as the police officer promised, it was all over before she even made it to the shopping center. She just had to wend her way through the coned off detour and loop back around to the street leading into her valley.
That’s the thing about watching cyclists in a race. They go by so fast there’s barely time to allow the brain to register what it’s seen before it’s gone! missjunebug learned this two years ago when the Amgen Tour of California cyclists raced their way through the full length of her beloved valley.
She’d planned ahead, driven to a location near the race road, parked her little car, walked with chair and water bottle in tow to await the arrival of the tour’s cyclists making their way up the historic grade that provided a grueling challenge to even the best cyclists. And shewffuuee! The leaders zipped by and then the peloton flashed through and missjunebug realized that. was. it. They were gone.
It was fun. missjunebug got some neat pictures and she had a good time but, boy, was that over fast! Today was fun, too, even though she backdoored into it and hadn’t planned to be a part of it! And, yes, it was over fast!
Within this experience missjunebug is pretty sure that there’s a deep and wise metaphor lurking about life and serendipity and time…or something, but she’ll leave that to you to ponder. The peloton waits for no man or bug! But truth be told, missjunebug mostly wrote this post so that she could use the words “wend” and “peloton.” 
Posted by missjunebug on May 18, 2011
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missjunebug has the good fortune to be cruising soon on a fine ship in a finer place: The Regent Seven Seas Mariner in the azure blue waters of the Mediterranean.
Thanks, Mr.JB!
missjunebug and her Mr.JB have a hat trick of things to celebrate: 30th anniversary a few months back, turning 60 a few months from now, and a year out from cancer treatment with fingers tightly crossed! Woo double hoo!
In a preemptive strike against the inevitable onboard calorie-o-rama with fab food and bev available 24-hours a day, missjunebug and her Mr.JB have adopted and adapted a new eating plan based on the now famous Dr. Pat’s V-8 Juice diet outlined in Slow Love: How I Lost My Job, Put on My Pajamas & Found Happiness by Dominique Browning. Chapter 16 alone entitled “The Diet” is worth the price of the book because this simple and super restrictive eating plan works! In a nutshell: a hard-boiled egg for breakfast, a little V-8 juice for snack, a couple of hours later, a little container of fat-free cottage cheese, a little apple, a little cinnamon; a few hours after that, a little tuna or a little chicken, some greens and lots of water! By now it’s about 3:30 or so, so pull the tab on another little can of V-8! In a couple of hours, repeat the cottage cheese course, then it’s dinnertime with 4 oz. of protein, a cup of green veggies (broccoli, zuchs, summer squash, greenie beanies, or cucs.) Before bedtime, pop a little turkey and drink a little water! If you find yourself semi-famished between the two-hour intervals, have some–wait for it, wait for it–V-8 juice!!! (Please note the operative words in this diet description are “little” and “V-8″).
Ms. Browning had the good fortune to lose 15 pounds of her muffin weight (you’ve got to read the book) in a mere month. missjunebug will settle for five! So far, so good. She’s 3 pounds down and still has a couple of weeks to go before she cruises the high seas and the vast buffets!
Posted by missjunebug on May 14, 2011
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missjunebug has been kickin’ it in the P.D. (That’s Palm Desert to the uninitiated) so she is way behind on catching up with her little blog-o-sphere contributions. Charles Dickens had a charming way of saying the same thing: “A little behind his time” (plaintively spoken by Mrs. Crachit in A Christmas Carol when referring to the future Tiny Tim-less devoted father and husband Mr. Crachit) (Fortunately, the distinctly tragic event of Tiny Tim’s demise did not come to pass thanks to Scrooge’s 180!)–not meaning out of step, just late a few.
missjunebug always seems to be late a few and she blames it on no bell schedule. As a former teacher she adhered to a strict code of on-timeness which she has long since abandoned in retirement. She’s not a flagrant violator; she just runs a little behind her time ALL the time. So shoot her. She just doesn’t care. No. Wait a minute. She does care and she will try to do better at a future time. Especially in keeping up with her little blog-o-sphere contributions. Who wants to open up missjunebug.com and find the Mother’s Day homage still hanging around when it’s practically Father’s Day.
missjunebug thanks you for your patience and hopes her five fans do not give up on her. She will write more unless she gets a little behind her time.
Posted by missjunebug on May 8, 2011
A Virtual Bouquet for All the Moms! Photo by mjb2011
missjunebug is enjoying this special day with breakfast out with her Mr.JB (Thanks, Ric’s Restaurant and Mr.JB!), a little shopping-new cruise-ready walking shoes-Privos! for missjunebug and J&M’s for Mr.JB, new purse-spring green Baggalini!, new pens-Sarasa Gel Retractables in a rainbow of colors! (missjunebug ♥ school supplies!), and a little post-shopping viewing of her fav show House Hunters International! She even got a couple of Hallmark e-cards from Mr.JB, Spoonbug, and LeftyCat that were high on hilarity with rockin’ musical accompaniment for chair-dancing, one of missjunebug’s favorite semi-active activities.
Almost a perfect day!
She’s heard from TinyJB via his sometime maligned but ever-so-useful-for-quick-connections Facebook posting that was simplicity itself–happy mother’s day (sic). Thanks, TinyJB! missjunebug ♥ you big time. (But work on capitalizing those proper nouns!) She’s hoping  ElderJB checks in, too! Time zone issues always plague such connections, but missjunebug thinks he might come through before Mother’s Day officially concludes! If she does hear from ElderJB, it will be a perfect Mother’s Day!
missjunebug hopes all the mothers out there have a fab day that honors them for all they do and all the love they give! Mothers rock!
Posted by missjunebug on May 2, 2011
Land of the Free and Home of the Brave! Photo by mjb2011
That wraps it up for missjunebug on breaking news.
