Valerie on her way to FLORIDA

As hard as this is to believe -- my friend Valerie is on her way to Florida to be with her beau...

Here she is, getting her luggage out of the car...

Even as I'm taking the pictures -- I can hardly believe she is LEAVING IOWA...to be with the man she has been talking to on the phone for 6 hours A DAY for the last two months...


For the last 20+ years -- she has been a decidedly single woman. And, on some level, we both think what she's doing is crazy...(okay, maybe that's more me than her...)

Here she is, excited about a free baggie from the TSA...

This picture is one minute before the TSA agent tells me to step away from the line...
Then -- POOF -- she's gone....

Valerie used to be a Karaoke regular at a local joint -- the "Chef's Hat". The crew at the "Hat" put together a betting pool to see how long Val would live in Florida.

I put money down on day 3...

It's been more than a week...Either Fairy Tales really do come true -- or she's just staying down there to spite me...