It is a holiday weekend here in the UK, and the weather forecast for much of the country is not good!!! But we can still dream and so with that in mind I bring you this Friday Five.

1. Getting ready for summer, do you use the gradual tanning moisturisers (yes, gentlemen, you too can answer this!!!) or are you happy to show your winter skin to the world?
I don’t know if they are any better than they used to be… but I tried them once and looked like a cremesicle (you know – pasty white with orange on the outside) and it was just not a great look. So I stick with my atomic whiteness. Besides. Even with a tan, my varicose veins show anyway.

2.Beach, mountains or chilling by the pool, what/ where is your favourite getaway?
The beach. Oh yes. The beach. But if it’s buggy, from a screened-in porch with an overhead fan… But you know, a nice tranquil day or two in West Virginia near Dolly Sods would also be nice. One of my favorite places is the South Branch of the Potomac River… There’s just a lot of God Space there!

3.Are you a summer lover or does the long break become wearing?
What is this long break you speak of? And have you experienced summer in Washington, DC? Yuck. H cubed: Hot, Humid and Hazy. No thanks. I am not really a summer person.

4.Active holidays (hiking, swimming, sailing), or lazy days?
I can do some activity as long as I have time to READ! And SLEEP IN! And not be the catering and laundry service!

5.Now to the important subject of food, if you are abroad do you try the local cuisine, or do you prefer to play it safe?
I’ll try just about anything except the water. But usually I ask my host for a recommendation before I go off on a grand explore. Even here in the States, you have to ask around to find a really good “local” place. (puh-leese – I can find Olive Garden on my own!) That’s how we found this amazing hole-in-the-wall Turkish restaurant in Virginia Beach called (unintuitively) The Mayflower Cafe! Man. I’d go back there in a heartbeat!

Being real… I have three papers, two projects and a bunch of busywork to do before mid-August. Oh. And another modular class in June. I might actually get a “vacation” — before September… sigh…

Deb

P.S. the BONUS was optional but here’s mine… “a blast from the past!”

“Seasons in the Sun” by Terry Jacks
(snort… the fro. the depressing lyrics. the 70s!)