Get your own Free Home Page
Happy new year!
Today marks not only the start of the new year but the end of our adventure together. And what an adventure it was... 1000 miles of adventure to be exact.
Now I'm enjoying my own adventure and so far it is exactly what I wanted. A perfect ocean view room at the Mayport navy lodge. I can't think of a thing that would make it better. It's right on the beach, it has a balcony, a kitchen, and a recliner! The price was right too... $64 a night which on the outside for the same type room would be over $100 I'm sure.
I checked in at 3 but the room wasn't ready til 4 so I took the opportunity to get some food supplies to last me til Thursday. Tomorrow's weather forecast calls for rain so I plan to stay tucked into my cozy room doing what I love to do.... Relax!
And relax I have done so far, I brought along the wonderful gift basket that Steve and Martine sent me for Christmas that is filled with things to create a spa at home... Including an aromatherapy candle, a CD called "Music for Healing" by Adagio, and all sorts of mitts, back exfoliating scrubber, pumice stone, body brush, and a moisturizing foot balm. I thoroughly enjoyed the calming effect it all had on me and the feeling lasted all through the night. Just sitting on my balcony listening to the waves come in and feeling the wind on my face soothes me like nothing else can.
Before my relaxing bath, I did make it down to the beach where I had a nice long walk. I found some great shells too, one being a 4 inch, completely intact colorful shell. A true find among so many smaller ones.
2 JANUARY 2002
It's cold and rainy this morning, but it is very conducive to my plan for relaxation. I fixed my morning coffee and sat bundled up in my blanket on the balcony. The water is stormy looking and the waves are crashing ashore. I love it!
Later in the morning...
I just finished watching a movie on HBO. While watching, I kept finding myself looking out the big plate window at the ocean and smiling at such a lovely view. Even as I write this at the small desk in my room I can see the frothy waves rolling in. You can even see white caps as far as you can see because it is so windy out there. This is nearly the same kind of weather we had at Ft Walton beach in November. I wonder why it is that every time I plan a beach adventure, the weather turns stormy? Even my cruise last year was cold and rainy... Things that make you go hmmmmmmmmmm...
3 JANUARY 2002
My last day on the beach :-( it has been absolutely wonderful and I hate to see it end, but life does go on and I need to take care of some business when I get home.... Bills, my mom's 30-day notice, and of course cleaning the house.
The remainder of the day yesterday was spent doing as little as possible. I read my novel, watched a couple of movies, took a nap, and watched about a dozen surfers do their thing. Apparently, the waves were perfect for them and I watched them catch wave after wave. What I didn't do was leave my room. It was way too cold and windy for my likes and so I almost felt captive in my cozy cocoon, and I loved every minute of it :-)
5 JANUARY 2002
Today I turned 42 years old... so HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me :-) My kids came over and fixed me one of my favorite dinners and even cleaned the mess up. A Mom can't ask for more than that :-) I had a great time and they even surprised me with another fish (I accidently killed the last one) and a little weber grill that I've been wanting. There's just nothing that compares to a good old charcoal grill for barbecuing ribs and steaks :-)
Today also marks my next attempt at quitting smoking. At exactly 2:47 pm, I crushed out my last cigarette and said "I'M THROUGH AT 42!" Wish me luck!
12 JANUARY 2002
Day 8 of being smoke-free
Wow! I've made it through the first week without too much problem... I would say yesterday (Friday) was the hardest as I was irritable all day long and I didn't know what to do about it. Before I'd just smoke a few cigarettes and I'd be fine, but I can't do that anymore so I ended up staying irritable all day... Made for a very frustrating day to say the least... However, late in the day, someone told me that I should go walk or something... Duh!! That's exactly what I needed. The endorphins would have chased away the negativity and I would have been fine. So, from now on, I need to carry workout clothes with me for those days when I need the added endorphins... don't get me wrong, I'm exercising... I just need to do more.
13 JANUARY 2002
Day 9
It's literally a fight for my life... plain and simple... do I want to live or do I want to die? You'd of thought I would have asked that question during my adventure with cancer... well, I did... and several times since then. I guess the time wasn't right yet... but it is now and I have finally answered the question... I want to live.
19 JANUARY 2002
Day 15!! Still doing real well... fighting my evil twin every once in awhile, but basically I'm getting out of the habit of thinking about a cigarette all the time. That's a good thing!
My Dad arrived today to help me prepare the house for when Mom moves in on the 2nd. And I’m already worn out and we just begun… we had a nice breakfast at Target and then headed over to Home Depot to get the paint and a closet organizer for my room… we’ll get the mini-blinds and shades on our next trip. Got home and commenced to empty the room, but first I had to clean out the back porch which sparked cleaning out the garage… Dad put everything in its place in the garage, tore down those boxes, and then we blew out the majority of the dust… oh my was it thick. The garage is now ready to be parked in ;-) anyway, we had to move the recliner that was in the computer room out to the back porch (look’s great) and then the hard part… moving the treadmill from one room to the other. My back is going to regret that as I’m sure Dad’s will too. I kept telling him that I could call Jonathan, but you know Dad… we had to try ourselves… I had sweat dripping off my face and my hair was soaked, but we did it without having to call. I fixed lunch after that and then it was time to organize all the crap that came out of my new bedroom… I’ll have to live with clutter in the living room for awhile until I can get all moved into my bedroom and can start putting the boxes in the computer room for storage… but I can’t do that until Dad is done and painting and I get the rug cleaned… in fact, I realized that I’m going to have to have the carpet cleaners come twice… the first time to do my new bedroom and then again once your bedroom is cleared. Yes, I’m worn out, but it’s kinda fun ;-)
I’ll probably take Dad to Red Lobster for his birthday dinner… and KFC for tomorrow’s dinner. Tonight I’m making pork chops… shake and bake… with tator tots and Bush’s baked beans. I think I'm the only one in the family that knows exactly what Dad eats and doesn't eat and I'm always prepared ;-) I guess I should go start dinner now… there’s a movie on at 6:20 which will finish the day off… some kind of mystery movie on one of the cable channels.
Back.