Beachie Memories

I've heard it said that the best way to savor a vacation is to return to your pictures and relive the memories all over again. It seems like a very good theory to me. The skies were blue thru-and-thru. It got warmer with each passing day. There were great walks along the ocean's edge and on our final afternoon I did indeed go barefoot along the shore!!

Here are a couple of final pictures to share from our lovely little get-away.

Home Improvements: Lanai

Do you remember the Golden Girls? They were always talking about going out on the lanai..... having a party on the lanai..... entertaining on the lanai..... reading on the lanai. You get the idea. Well, folks. We have a Florida home and guess what? We have a LANAI!! But with yesterday's heroic efforts we now have a fully functioning lanai. Our neighbor Jack has the exact same floor plan/design for their home. He had done all of the research to find window inserts for the massive screened in portions. I'd guess that the 3 screened window portions were each about 10 to 11 feet wide. Well he shared the contractor who'd made his inserts and then went even further by helping supervise Allen installing them yesterday. A couple of spilled cups of coffee and one flesh wound that required Jack retrieving a band-aid from his home and we're good to go.

Now I may start gushing about going out on the lanai, having a party on the lanai, entertaining on the lanai.... and you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll be out there reading on the lanai. This unseasonably cool winter will now have to release it's grip on us -- because we have an 'insulated' lanai.

VWs Up Close & Personal

Welcome aboard to the details of the confab, from the shiniest-of-the-shiny, to the rustiest-of-the-rusty and absolutely everything in between. Loved the details and the personalization. We did our best to document everything for Brian's interest.

Volkswagon Vans on Parade

Have I ever told you about being the owner of a Volkswagon Van? It was big and brown and not particularly shiny. It was when the girls were in preschool. I know this quite specifically because I once closed that enormously heavy, sliding side door on Sarah's finger. I was picking them up from a preschool morning. I had to put my entire weight into slamming that door shut. Right at the very last minute she stuck her hand out thru the remaining gap to wave good-bye to her preschool heart-throb, Eric. There was no going back at that point. It closed and caught her finger. Somehow, must have been with the grace of angels, she didn't lose that finger. Didn't even break it. Probably because of that singular moment suspended in time, I was more than happy to wave goodby to that vehicle.

Now Brian & Megan out in Denver have a VW camper van that has won awards for their tender loving care. Imagine our delighted surprise to see that this VW convention was taking place at the auditorium just down the beach from our resort. I'm taking these pictures from our pool deck -- as they paraded right past. Seriously organized. Seriously!!

Playin' It at The Beach

The most glorious part of a vacation is in all of the 'new' sights and sounds. I think that a brand new location exudes enormous waves of energy as you explore and drink in the new vistas and experiences. It doesn't hurt to have the continuous lapping-of-the-waves and unending acres of sunshine washing down over every vista.

Walking the shore line, listening to the gulls, watching for the pelican, and soaking up the sunshine is a seriously great prescription for healing. I walked a little further with each outting. Each excusion needed fewer and fewer layers of protective garb. By the time our reservation had expired the temperatures had finally crossed into the 70's and we spend one final afternoon actually walking barefoot thru the sand along the ocean's edge. YEAH!!!!

FIVE WEEKS LATER!!!!

Today is Friday. That means it's five weeks since my surgery. From yesterday morning's sunrise -- where I was wearing my winter coat and gloves, with a temperature hovering just above freezing.......... to today when there was about 45 minutes where we could put on our bathing suits and go down by the pool, what a turn around.

I wanted a trumpet fanfare. Me in a bathing suit, five weeks post, in public!!! I didn't even require happy pills to make my 'debut.' No one went running from the pool in horror. It was a very "non" event. The fact that my suit is covered in polka dots gave me the needed strength. Laugh-out-loud, indeed. (The wind block from the resort made us almost feel like we were in Florida and then in the blink of an eye, the predicted cloud cover sent us scurrying for our wind breakers.)

It's great to have crossed the 'bathing suit barrier'. The huge mental hurdle..... or is it the emotional hurdle?? In any case -- the hurdle has been crossed with success. Whoop! Whoop!!

Starlight Dance Cruise

We found the perfect way to spend a crisp, but sunny afternoon: a luncheon dance cruise up and down the Halifax River..... which I think of as the inter-coastal waterway. We had a brilliant meal and topped it off with intermitant dancing. Our very talented duo of entertainers took requests and we asked for a couple of swing numbers. We were also able to 'perform' fox-trots for our crowd of enthusiastic observers. It was absolutely fun on the go. The historic paddleboat was in tip-top shape. Three stars for sure!!

Here Comes the Sun

Despite the unseasonable & record-setting cold that continues to have the beach locked in it's clutches, the sun did indeed rise to glorious fanfare from the gulls gathered for their picture postcard poses. Is there any certain way to distinguish a sunrise from a sunset picture?? Let me be clear. This is the sun rise over the Atlantic. It requires arising before the sun. The gulls were already up and had reported for duty.