beach birthday breakfast

This...

...is how breakfast...

...is done!

doo, doo, doo, lookin' out my back door

Actually, I misspoke.
I wish this was the view from my back door!
This is looking off my tenth floor balcony,
to the right,
at the Atlantic Ocean.
Nice view,
isn't it?
Ah, just breathe in that salt air!

Here,
to my left,
is the city of Daytona.
Or is it actually called the city of Daytona Beach?
I'm not sure,
but that is okay.
I'm on holiday!
I don't have to fact check!
I can just make it up as I go along!
(smile!)

And here is the view directly in front of me. This is much the same as I enjoyed in Siena in May two years ago. Well, perhaps it helps if you squint your eyes and hold your mouth just right!
(smile!)
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have beaches to walk and ocean to view and pelicans to watch!
Happy pre-birthday to me!

psych! it's a musical!

I am exactly where I need to be.
That's the message I received from the universe and beyond.
How do I know?
I'm watching a two-hour special episode of Psych ... and it's a musical!!!
Right?!?!
One of my favorite tv shows, having a Friday night blitz, and the episodes that are airing, after I have settled in from my drive down from Savannah, are a musical, replete with dancing, both regular and tap.
Wow!
Of course I stayed up and watched the entire thing! When else will I ever see it???
And I realized that all had worked out as it should.

I had been a bit bummed out for the past few days.
You see, on Tuesday afternoon - just three days ago - I had been playing around on the Diamond Resorts website, to see about reserving a place in Virginia for the end of July or beginning of August. Then, just for smiles & giggles, I had looked to see what might be available for Daytona Beach for the next few weeks.
And there it was: a two-bedroom at my home away from home, for the entire Memorial Day weekend, from Friday the 23rd until the morning of Tuesday the 27th.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME????
Someone must have given it up at the last minute.
I immediately jumped on it and got it!!!
Woohoo!!!
I had not expected to go out of town this weekend, so this was a straight out blessing and incredible coincidence!!!
Okay, let's see about sharing this with someone else!!!

Yeah.
That didn't happen.

First up was my niece Christy and her family. She kept expressing a desire to return to Daytona, so I gave her the first shot at it.
No.
She had to work on Friday and Tuesday and wouldn't be able to come.
I assured her that she didn't have to go for the whole time, just whatever days she and her husband and my greatniece could be there.
Thanks, but no, she said.

O-kay.

Maybe my BFF and her darling daughter would join me!
No, they had plans already for Saturday, so they would only be able to come for Sunday and Monday.
Great! Come on down!
No. But thank you, she said.

Let's try this!
Surely my stepmom would welcome a break at the beach? My stepbrother would be off for the holiday weekend and could tend to his two sons and give his mom a much-needed respite, right?
Apparently not.
She felt she could not leave him, as his dental surgery was still bothering him.
But she loved me for asking.

Fine.

Let's see if some of my broke NK! girls wanted a free place in Daytona Beach for a holiday weekend!!!
Only the beachwalker even replied.
She had to work on Saturday and Tuesday, so, as much as she loved the beach, she had to decline.

Decline?
You're kidding me, right???

By now, it was Thursday.
So I contacted my first niece, the foster mom.
It was hers if she wanted it! I had tried to share the largesse with others, but they had all declined.
She had just been there with me in February, but if she wanted to go now...
And she did so very much... but she had to clear it for the foster child to go, too... and DFACS simply does not work that quickly.
It's debatable whether Tuesday afternoon would have allowed enough time.
It's for sure that the Thursday before a holiday weekend did not.
So, even though she wanted to run away and join me, she could not.
Drats, I told her.
But you better believe that you have first dibs the next time, I said.
Te amo, she said.

Now, here I am, watching one of my favorite television shows about friendship, watching the musical crafted for two episodes of that tv show, and not having to be concerned about keeping anyone else awake as I danced and sang along with the choruses of the fourteen songs, reveling in the sight of Barry Bostwick and Ally Sheedy sharing in the shenanigans - oh, what a glorious time I am having!

Exactly where I was meant to be.

poetry 2 me

This is for my favorite aunt, T,

I wanted you to know what you mean to me!

I love you so very much

That I am writing in rhyme and such.

When it comes to aunts, there is no contest!

You, Tina, are the best!

Now that you know that you are # one,

all my silly rhyming is done!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Wow.
My first niece, Christina Ann, wrote that for me and had inserted it into the Valentine's Day card she gave me today.
I haven't had anyone write a poem to me or for me since my Uncle Jimmy did when I was eighteen years old. My family was down in Waycross, visiting my maternal grandparents, and we were all out in the yard, enjoying a summer evening. The moon was full and the sky was clear, much as it will be tonight.
As I said, we were all outside, and my Uncle had asked me what I thought the moon looked like, in that dark and starry sky. I replied that it looked like a bright, shiny nickel, on a black velvet background. We went on talking about a variety of things, but my description and teenaged enthusiasm lit a fire in his mind and he wrote the poem that evening in the inside cover of one of his literature books from college. I know this, because he gave me the book the next day.
Sadly, I no longer have the book. In a fit of pique about twenty years ago, believing myself to be showing solidarity with my mother and her anger at her brother's actions, I destroyed the book. I tore it up and burned it.
I wish I still had the poem, destroyed so long ago.
I wish I still had my Uncle Jimmy, dead for the past five years.
I wish I still had Mama, gone from my life for thirteen years.
Sigh.
But I do still have my beautiful first niece! And we are here together in one of our favorite places in the world!
Smile!!!
She will soon be out of the shower and we will go to the Valentine's Day party thrown by Barbara and Andrew at the Daytona Beach Regency. Then we'll be off to MOAS for the intaglio and Napoleon exhibits before they vacate the spaces there. And we'll finish the evening at Cinematique, watching "Girl on A Bicycle" and the new Broadway rendition of "Romeo and Juliet", starring Orlando Bloom! Ooh la la!
Later, y'all!

909

Home.
This is the view that greeted me as I set down my travel bag.
The sun was on its way down on the other side of the building.
The ocean was lit only by the waning light of the eastern sky.

Home.
This is not my first stay in this room at hall's end.
I was here last year, too.
Thank you, dear John, for remembering how I like this suite.

Home.

fun 2 text!

As part of my birthday celebration, I was treated to three nights in Daytona Beach at one of my favorite places. Woohoo!!! I had invited the peace Guy and the bfe to join me, as it was a two-bedroom condo ON THE BEACH, but ended up going solo. Fine by me! That meant my schedule was my own!
Nice to know I was missed, though.

Tuesday, 4 June, about 10:30 PM:
peace Guy: U home yet? Or r u still having fun in daytona bch?
me: Still in FL!
peace Guy: Will u b back 2morrow b4 i go 2 work?
me: Magic 8 ball: Not likely.
peace Guy: Bummer. But u will b back 2morrow, won't u?
me: You betcha, sunshine! :)
peace Guy: No sunshine here, but looking 4ward 2 seeing u. Hope u r having fun. c u 2morrow when i get off work.
me: Indeed! Looking forward to it!

Wednesday, 5 June, noon:
me: Am on the road! will stop in JAX to kill zombies, then come home. Eat that chicken! :-)
peace Guy: Will bring sum chikin 2 work, thanks. Safe travels. Poor zombies.
me: Decided to spare the zombies, am visiting turtles @ Jekyll instead!
peace Guy: Neat!
me: More positive, too!

tuesday, tuesday in the afternoon

With a nod to Morphine, and thanks to management, I did not have to wait for Thursday for relief. By high noon, I was transferred to a new suite, a safe haven from the nightmares of the night before. I'm operating on just a few hours sleep, but I feel compelled to share what a fabulous day this has been since my transfer to the ninth floor of the DBR.

For starters, this is the new view I have. Not an ocean view room, but an oceanSIDE room. That means I'll hear the murmuring of the waves as I drift to sleep, and the singing of the sea as i wake in the morning. Heavenly music!
Also, the layout of this suite is completely different. The eleventh floor suite may have been larger, but THIS is a much more comfortable place to me. As well as not having a boogie man lurking on the balcony, the living area is a completely separate space from the bedroom. For whatever reason, that "feels" safer mentally to me. And, that is the important issue: feeling safer. Mental peace of mind.

So, after being rescued from the depths of my mind, I cruised up to Saint Augustine to visit a few of my favorite sites. The Black Knight Deli, home of freshly, and lovingly, made Polish foods, was open and manned by its owner, Vince. Yeah!!! I loaded up my huge cooler with pierogi stuffed with sauerkraut and black mushroom, pork and rice-filled golumbki (that's stuffed cabbage, to those not in the know!), and a huge coil of fresh kielbasa. YUM!!! I'm even planning to share some with my ex when he is in town next week. After all, if not for sixteen years with him, I wouldn't even be half-versed in these foods, and that would be a shame.

After getting my fill of future delights, I needed a fix from another favorite: the colorful and garlic-rich Gypsy Cab Company. Oh, yeah, baby! For lunch, I dined on grilled salmon, in some yummy, savorful sauce, getting maximum enjoyment for as long as I could. Oh, how I longed for more as the last bite entered my lips! Perhaps I'll wander that way again in a few days... but I doubt it. There are so many wonderful eateries HERE that I have not yet tried. You know?
And now that my hunger had been sated, it was time to slake my thirst... for Blanc Du Bois, that is. I don't usually go for white wines, as they tend toward sweet rather than dry, but THIS one... Ah, this one is THE BEST! The monks at San Sebastian Winery have created this divine liquid from the grapes of Florida, and I am so very hooked on it. It's been quite a few years since I quaffed this elixir and I so look forward to uncorking a bottle soon. Oh, yes. For now, the bottles of that dry, grapefruit-tinged delight will wait, as will the sassy-smooth Rosa and the aptly-named Castillo Red. I even relented to include the Vintner's Red, to create a flight of fancy for the taste buds.
Yes, Merry Christmas! I think I'm finally full of the spirit!

open letter to mr. stephen j. cloobeck

Today is my first day of my holiday in Florida and I chose to stay at Daytona Beach Regency. I've stayed here many times over the last decade and regard the site as one of my top favorites.
After this morning, my very first morning here, I think the bloom is off the rose, so to speak.
I had drawn the drapes last night when I finally went to bed, knowing that the sunlight would otherwise awaken me far too early. And so I slept well. Then, upon awaking, I slid open one of the drapes in the bedroom, allowing blue-sky brilliance to spill into the room. Nice!
Then I walked into the living room and adjusted the thermostat, then approached the drapes. I had drawn all of the drapes closed before retiring for the evening; all, that is, except the sheer across the glass door. That would allow some morning sunshine into the area, but not so much as to awaken me from my slumbers.
So, I approach the sheer, intending to open the light-blocking drapes to either side of it - and there is a man, rapelling from the roof, onto my balcony! Straight across from me, through the sheer! And I'm nude.
I didn't know if he saw me through the sheer or not. As soon as I saw him, I ducked behind the darkening drapes, but then I felt that I was trapped. I didn't know if the building was under attack, or if some nut had chosen the eleventh floor of the Daytona Beach Regency to break into, or if this was a stunt of some type.
I just knew there was a stranger on my balcony, I was nude, and I could not reach a phone without revealing myself to the stranger.
And all before coffee. Which I normally would be enjoying on the balcony. Especially on my very first morning at the beach.
I cautiously peeked around the drape and saw the man had moved to the window outside the bedroom. I still did not feel safe using the phone on the living room table, as that was by the sheer on the glass door. I scooted toward the bedroom door, making sure the man was not by the opened drapes, then grabbed my nightgown. But I could not use the phone in the bedroom, either, as the man would have seen me cross the room. Try to bear in mind that I did not know WHY the man was on my balcony; I only knew that he was there, as I could see him when I tried to approach the phone on the bedside table.
Finally, I saw him move back toward the living room windows and I darted to the phone and called the front desk.
When the front desk answered, in hushed tones I said, "There's a man on my balcony, a man who I saw rapell onto the balcony."
"He's just cleaning the windows, ma'am."
"No, he is not. I have been watching him. He rapelled onto my balcony, then stood there, looking at the beach. He did not clean the windows. And he just rapelled off my balcony."
The young woman responded, "Well, he's supposed to be up there cleaning the windows. I'll find out and call you back."
So, I drew the drape closed in the bedroom, then got back into bed. To wait.
Finally, a different young woman, Mandy, called me back.
"Yes, ma'am, the man was there to clean the windows. You should have been notified when you checked in last night."
"No, no one told me. I had no idea that I would be accosted by a strange man on my balcony my very first morning of my stay. I am very disappointed."
"Oh, I'm sorry, ma'am, but you should have been told when you checked in. Didn't Jonathan tell you? Also, we had called the rooms yesterday to let everyone know."
"No, Jonathan didn't tell me when I checked in late yesterday afternoon. And there was no notice in the elevator or in my room."
"Ma'am, I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do?"
"I don't know. I am very disappointed. I always like to have my coffee on the balcony and look at the ocean on my first morning here and now that is ruined. I am very disappointed. I just may cancel the rest of my stay and leave."
"I am so sorry, ma'am. If there is anything I can do, please let me know."
"I'm not sure there is anything you could do."
Then I hung up the phone.

I still don't know what I will do. But I don't think I'll be referring any of my friends and family to Diamond Resorts International. I've been a member since they took over Sunterra, which I had enjoyed. DRI seems more interested in my money than in me.