Tuesday on Today 8/21

Al Roker was doing the weather today from Chetumal, Mexico as the hurricane was bringing down rain and kicking up the wind. Maybe he'll get blown off his feet again like he did last year.

Separation Anxiety: Getting Over Divorce. Did you ever hear of a divorce financial analyst? I didn't until this segment with Stacy Francis who is one of the aforementioned analysts, and psychologist, Debra Mandel, author of "Dump That Chump!" Catchy title. They both shared advice for women going through a divorce. And the number one word of advice is also today's page from the book of the obvious: create a budget. Seems every segment gives that same piece of advice. The average divorced woman will see her standard of living decrease by 45%. Other advice was to take time to heal. If you're still carrying around resentment toward your ex, you're not ready to start dating again. Protect yourself financially and think about getting your own health insurance. You can stay on your ex-husband's insurance for about 36 months but it may be cheaper to get your own. I don't know how that works when kids are involved because they didn't mention it.

In Style Today was about being Sexy In The City For Fall. Key Fall Trends. In LA the key fall trend is skinny jeans. This model had on a belted cardigan over her skinny jeans and was probably the best dressed of all of them. The Dallas must have are dresses in bold colors. The model wore a mustard yellow dress that looked like something my mother might have worn when she was pregnant. Certainly not anything I would be wearing out in public. The Chicago model had on men's wear inspired trousers and the one from Miami wore a tiny micro skirt and bold patterned top with hideous shoes that looked like shoe string licorice tied around her feet and ankles. Obviously the hooker look is in for Miami. The New York look was much more civilized with silver bodice suit. Metallics are in for New York. The one key trend all the models had was a clutch--a must have for Fall.

With the next weather update, Al lost his video and had to report with audio only but they showed some earlier footage of some of the extensive storm damage.

Today's Travel had Philip Levine, Cruise Expert (is there anything you can't be an expert in these days?), showing us Excitement At Sea. Today's cruises are no longer about shuffle board. There's lots to do and they are very active. Royal Carribean's Freedom Of The Seas line has a rock-climbing wall and surfing among other attractions. Cunard Cruise Line is the owner of the Queen Elizabeth II where you can bring your dog--wow! That's something I would consider for that reason alone. Sea Dream Yacht Club has a more intimate atmosphere for a little more money than a regular cruise. Princess Cruises feature movies under the stars--like a drive-in except on a ship deck. Norweigan Cruises have bowling at sea. Crystal Cruises have wine lessons in a private vintage room--sounds like fun. A cruise has not really been on my list of things to do, but after seeing this I may just book one. Especially if I can bring my dogs. Hope they don't get seasick. But they made it on the Block Island ferry without a problem, so they should be all set. To see pictures of my Boston and Bulldog go to http://cafepress.com/karmicbulldog.

Good News For Parents: New Youth Happiness Poll by MTV finds the top answer to the question of what makes youths happy is spending time with their parents. The kids were probably lying. That certainly wouldn't have been my honest answer when I was a teenager. According to the poll, 64% of teens with parents still together wake up happy verses 47% who's parents are divorced. Most kids say their parents are their idols, with the highest percentage going to mom. This is good news if you can trust the source.

Today's Kitchen featured The Scottos visit to Italy. Apparently, this is part two and I didn't see part one. But this family went to Italy and brought back some good Italian recipes from Venice. Like potato gnocchi, calamari with some black stuff--not sure what that was--and some branzino (sea bass) with sauce topped with capers. Dessert was a delicious looking tiramisu. I love that stuff.

And that's a wrap. Till tomorrow.