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What is Padel? Padel is the fastest-growing sport in the world. It combines the pizzazz of tennis with the thrill of squash, marrying the best elements of both. Who Plays? “Currently, 25 million people play worldwide in 90 countries over five continents. Spain alone has 20,000 courts and 6 million players. There are 71 nationally federated regions within the International Padel Federation…

Is it just my feed, or is every single social media site filled with reels of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce? It’s full on Traylor Mania. Full disclosure: I had no clue who Travis Kelce was until TS showed up at his football game in Kansas City about two months ago. And I only knew that much because social media seemed really hell-bent on wanting me to know that. Further disclosure: I thought TS…

As promised, the second excerpt from the Spanish ex-pat files- Living Outside Your Comfort Zone.  Click here for the first installment. Backstory We always planned to do a “gap” year in Spain but we wanted the kids to be big enough to remember some of the experience. But not too big. They still needed to be in primary school so they would transition well and we also had to wait for our dog, Kob,…

  The Trans-Atlantic Crossing In September 2014, we boarded a massive cruise ship – the largest of its kind (at the time) where we spent 12 nights on a trans-Atlantic voyage from Fort Lauderdale to Barcelona on a floating city called: The Oasis of the Seas. The 13 day-crossing was serene and calm. Barely a ripple on the sea for the entire cruise. And the ship was insane. It’s now a blur of ice…

The Current Irrelevance of Hollywood

In our current world of cancel culture – should Hollywood be canceled? Cancel culture was born from societies’ need to take away their support of behavior, methods, character traits, lifestyle, and speech that they deem unacceptable. Yet, we still accept the insidious poison that continues to bubble and brew out of Hollywood. We embroil ourselves in the bullying, the misogyny, the racism, the…

I finally caught it, or I should say, it finally caught me. Pretty much two years to the day from The WHO announcing the COVID pandemic – I tested positive for the ‘VID. Covid’s been a long schlepp for all of us. However, it finally seems to be scaling down to endemic status. As my friend pointed out to me: Your having Covid is so 2021. Many countries have dropped the masks, and the UK has forged…

I ran today. I actually f’cking ran. And man, it was not pretty. On any level. But I did it.  I finally put on my big girl pants and laced up my long-retired running shoes. If you read my last post:  Joyless January, you might remember that I was flirting with the idea of getting back to running. Maybe, putting it out there, in print, pushed me to do it. Dunno. But I’ve been a long time avoiding…

Joyless January – Survival Hacks

It’s the last day of January! Many of you made it through Joyless January. Congratulations! Many of you fell off the wagon – don’t sweat it. All-out cold turkey is not necessarily a recipe for success. Poco a poco is much more civilized. Is it me? Or is January a bit of a lackluster shit month? Sorry if this is your birth month – especially since I know lots of cool people born in January. But…

Tennis – Winners, Losers and Legends

Okay, so I really love tennis. I love to watch it, and I love to play it. I love the endurance aspect of it and the mental toughness it demands. My love affair with tennis started in The Bahamas nearly 18 years ago. I fully credit my initial love of the game to my legend of a coach, Danny Rigby.  If not for him, I likely would never have stuck with it. It’s a hard game to learn and the learning…

For those that know me, or regularly follow my blog – you know, I love living in Spain, or Vida en España. In a few days, it will be seven years ago since we boarded a cruise ship in Fort Lauderdale and set sail across the Atlantic. Crazy, right? Wouldn’t do that today! So here I am – seven years later. In love with my current adopted country. But like most great love affairs – there is often a…

The Royals – When Harry Met Meghan.

Royal Watching Initially, I had zero interest in watching the interview with Meghan, Harry, and Oprah. But inevitably, like 20 million other people, I got sucked in. The public reactions were just too fascinating and polarizing not to see what all the fuss was about. Why my initial disinterest? Well, because who really cares?  I mean seriously – people who want to live out of the limelight –…

The Royals – When Harry Met Meghan.

Royal Watching Initially, I had zero interest in watching the interview with Meghan, Harry, and Oprah. But inevitably, like 20 million other people, I got sucked in. The public reactions were just too fascinating and polarizing not to see what all the fuss was about. Why my initial disinterest? Well, because who really cares?  I mean seriously – people who want to live out of the limelight –…

A Mom of Boys (MOB) on Raising Boys

I’m a #Boymom (3 biological sons, and a co-parent to my foster son). I’m immersed in a chaotic boy-world, even our dog is a boy. This world of mine contains a lot of toilet humour. It’s messy and noisy. But it’s mine and in my testosterone fuelled circus – I am the Queen. I’ve often joked that my legacy is never going to be:  I raised “assholes”. So I’m not easy on my guys. Don’t get me wrong – I…

Adios 2020 – You won’t be missed.

We made it! The final hours of 2020 are ticking down. Very soon we all get to break up with 2020. I remember being so excited this time last year. A fresh decade was ahead, the prospects seemed endless.  However, my optimism for 2020 could not have been more misplaced. Even from the start – it was a trainwreck:  Australia was on fire; the Royals broke apart; Brexit became a reality, and Iraq and…

The Private Life (Vida Privada) – Josep Maria de Sagarra

Book Review

In 1932, Sagarra tasked himself with writing the great “Barcelonan” novel.

The Private Life came under heavy censorship during its time (1932), and was printed only in a “scrubbed” version under the Franco regime in the 1960’s. Even today it pushes the envelope of “acceptable” practices and societal norms.

The story is a gritty tale about the demise of the Barcelonan aristocracy with…