snap: verb

To take ( a photograph )

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Depending on your time zone, I will most likely be in the process of driving the 9 hours back home as you read this. I had a fantastic relaxing foot and hand massage at the Serenity Spa, I will miss those!

I went down to my favorite pier bar on the resort called Limes and had a peach margarita to drink while reading the second book in the Hunger Game series.

A young boy was feeding the seagulls and I got to snap a feeding frenzy! I felt like I was in Alfred Hitchcock's movie "The Birds" with them diving and squawking.

Then they settled down on the pier pilings to do a little people watching....

I ordered some dinner, fried macaroni and cheese, that was a new one for me, it was pretty good too!

Then I had another peach margarita, and really enjoyed the night skies, and got a pretty good picture of this guy standing in the light cast off from the pier. I even had people behind me watching me and one lady saying she wished she had her camera with her as it looked like the sun set, but it was just the reflections from the pier and resort lights...

There was a little boy next to me, asking a million questions as to what the bird was doing, and why was I taking it's picture, he was jumping up and down and swinging on the rope, I knew it would mess up the picture, but what the heck, he was real cute. I even like the picture..lol

Then when my 10 seconds of fame had died down, I walked back to my room so I could do my laundry and pack, ( so nice to be able to return home with clean clothes!! ).

Farewell to Panama Beach....till next year :)

flamingo:

large, tropical birds with long legs, webbed feet, long necks, downward-curving beaks, and bright pink or red feathers

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pause Dream Enjoy Challenge: #52 Flamingo Pink

Do you know what makes a Flamingo pink?..ok, so I cheated and looked it up, I thought it was because they ate shrimp...their pink, right? lol
"Flamingos eat little things, bugs and tiny shrimp, but they especially are fond of blue-green algae. It's what gives them their pink color."
This is my postcard to send to Terrie, who I promised I would make her one while down here in Florida and mail it from here, my deadline approaches fast! I think I am OK showing it on my blog as she is on vacation too and I don't think she will be checking my blog anytime soon...hopefully!

the front of the postcard:
I wish I had brought more with me, but I used my H20's, glitter pens and marker to create Terrie's postcard. I hope it makes it through the mail OK, I wish I had a sealant of some sort for it.

"seas the day"

the back of the postcard:

I drew the flamingo on this side to separate the address part of the postcard from the body, which I'll be filling in, now that I've taken a picture of it :)

It's actually sparkly, so I took this picture to try and capture the essence of the shine, if you click on it to make it larger then you can see the glimmer a little bit better:

Well, not sure if you miss any vacation pictures, but yesterday was kinda boring. I just stayed by the pool, and then we had rain in the afternoon, which is common for Florida. I got a little sun, but not too much ;) I tried to hunt out an interesting view from the balcony to shoot a picture, but didn't find anything worthwhile. Today, I have a foot massage scheduled ( yay, clapping hands!! lol ) and then my last night at Limes for drinks and dinner. Tomorrow I will be packing up and heading home, which is OK with me.

 I miss the mountains, and they are calling me home.

pod: noun



A group of dolphins

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I had the best facial today, I could have one every single day if I could afford it :) Afterwards, I did decide to go walk downtown, although there isn't much to do there... which is the whole typical laid back lifestyle they have here in a beachfront community....

After walking around, I went and had lunch at Margaritaville, a Jimmy Buffett restaurant.

The restaurant has a lot of atmosphere..

I have discovered that eating in a restaurant alone is way better when I have something to look at, which is why I chose this one, knowing that it played videos of Jimmy Buffett's singing.

and music playing...of course the classics are my favorite, and one of them is Cheeseburger in Paradise, so I ordered one, and oh.my.Gosh. It was awesome! Enhanced by the Havana Banana drink, together, it was total YUM!

"Cheeseburger in paradise (paradise)
Heaven on earth with an onion slice (paradise)
Not too particular not too precise (paradise)
I'm just a cheeseburger in paradise"

Then I had a mystical experience..ok maybe the drinks helped out a little bit, lol but I walked over to the beach and saw a pod of dolphins in the water! I stood there for a couple of minutes just watching them before daring to try and get a photograph. At least I got a photo of one :)

Then I turned around and went back to my resort, figuring that had topped my day just perfectly :)

meander: verb used without object

to wander aimlessly; ramble

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lazy, lazy, and then really lazy! That sums up my day :)

 I started off with my facial this morning, which was uber nice, and then I walked down to Limes, my favorite little bar/restaurant on the pier within the resort.

Where I had a Orange Cream daiquiri, and read my book...

 I had a little shrimp...and another drink ;)

Then I wandered out to the beach and about fell asleep listening to the water lapping onto the shore...

for company I had this little guy who talked waaaaaaaaaaay too much.....

 and watched this young 'un who was doing some fishing...

then the sun was setting, and I meandered back to my room..

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Project Pinterest, we would love for you to link up your project that you created from a pin!

raining cats and dogs: idiom





rain very heavily

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi to all my WOYWW 167 friends, as you read this I am on vacation down in Panama City, Florida. I sure wish y'all could join me because I am here all alone :( Which is why I am on the internet talking to you, it makes me feel a little less lonely :)

So Tuesday it rained cats and dogs most of the day, so I set up a little work station out on the patio enjoying the thunder and and stormy weather. I can't help it, I love the rain! I have been trying to stay in touch with everyone and checking challenges like Inspiration Avenue where they are having a Fairy challenge. So I got out my "I'm on a vacation alone kit" aka watercolors, H20's and markers, grabbed the newletter from my timeshare and had a lovely day! Excuse the desk picture, my lens on my camera was a little fogged up!



my mermaid for the challenge

Then I went and a had a pedicure and got a totally wild color of blue. Don't laugh, for me this is WILD!

Blisters are doing better so I am going to try and walk down by the beach, have a drink at Limes and get a facial..yep, that's all the plans I have for today....and then come back and visit with everyone, of course!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Link up here!

dock: noun



A dock is a landing and moorage facility for watercraft

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last night was the Perseids Meteor Shower, and while the best viewing would be in an area with no lights, I wandered down to the marina to see, well, what I could see! Which ended up being one falling star, however I still felt lucky to see it.
This was a surreal experience, wandering around in the dark, completely alone. Although I didn't feel alone, my imagination kept nagging at me that boogie men were hiding behind every darkened corner...

or that some owner of their boat was going to pop out demanding to know what I was doing skulking around the docks at 1 in the morning...

or dropping my camera in the water because I was balancing it on top of the pilings. I had to have something to put the camera on since I was having to open the exposure to get good pictures. I love the lights reflecting off the water.

So this morning, I got woken up by my library from home calling to let me know my book was in...ok, 6 hours of sleep is good enough. ( I didn't go to sleep until 3am after my marina photo op ) I got myself up and went and scheduled a spa treatment, walked down to the local pier bar, only to find out it was closed :( Please note that it's a long walk and I was in new sandals..details on that will follow...

So I have my "I am alone survival kit" with me, aka a watercolors, pens, etc.So even though the bar was closed and I had walked all that way I made do by settling into a comfy chair to do some sketching...sounds like a plan, eh? except for the ants that attacked me...so I took a quick picture and I was walking back...new shoes...remember?

Three quarters of the way back to my room, my feet were KILLING me and I knew I was getting blisters, I took off my shoes and limped back to my room, determined to not let the bar closing, the ants and the blisters ruin my day, I got in the car and did some scenic driving, just enjoying looking at beach houses and well, the beaches. I got a cute shot of this manatee mailbox, love it!

I decided to do one of the scariest things on earth, for me, which is eating in a restaurant alone, but I wanted to go to Pineapple Willys which is a beach pier restaurant and thinking it was 3:30 in the afternoon maybe it wouldn't be crowded. It went pretty well, but when the waiter asked me if anyone was joining me, I lied! What's up with that??? I told him that since I had hurt my foot, the others had gone off and I was on my own! wow...I couldn't believe I felt that I owed this waiter an explanation of why I was alone...told you I had problems eating out by myself! Anyway, excluding the lie, the scenery was awesome...

So, bar closings, ants, blisters and lying totally exhausted me and I returned back to my room, took my book and spent the rest of the day in the pool, until Tracy's video which I watched outside, but the frogs were so darn loud I couldn't hear her...boy it's been a tough day....5 more days to go....whew...

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

...courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway...

- John Wayne -

snagged from Mel's blog, The Yorkshire Fox

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Link up to Project Pinterest here!

palpitations: noun

 unusually or abnormally rapid or violent beating of the heart

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I got up Sunday morning and drove 9 hours ( that included stopping for lunch and gas twice ) down to Panama Beach Florida. I had a hard time leaving my mountain home and have been having little talks with myself for a week now, convincing myself into appreciating going on a vacation alone. Originally I had 2 friends lined up to go with me, and one thing after another happened and neither one ended up going. I admit I had a major pity party, but I have put on my big girl panties and have embraced the experience. I'll let you know day by day how it goes.

The drive was decent, no major problems although I had a bit of a car scare after stopping to get gas at a BP station that boasted it's acceleration in the gas. My SUV was not a happy camper and I had heart palpitations wondering about being stranded, but thankfully once the tank had emptied out again and a fill up at Chevron this time, all has been well. Not sure what actually happened but will not be going to BP again! lol

 I also brought along some zinnia's from my balcony garden to make my trip a little more enjoyable, and it worked. I figure having flowers in your car is definitely high on the list of spoiling yourself!!

A little view into my room :) It's huge and full of luxuries like a fully equipped kitchen.

A large living room area, and of course free wifi...what place now a days doesn't offer wifi?

A large table that would be would be perfct for bringing some crafty friends along with me.
you know who you are.....

My bedroom, look at all those fluffy pillows, I am looking forward to sinking into them tonight.

The guest bedroom, seems larger than the master bed room but there is a trade off. It has a smaller bath room.

My bathroom is huge, and while it is nice, the big draw is the humongous bathtub that my 5'7" frame can fully stretch out in and be fully submerged. Also, since the time share is part of a spa, they supply the most luxurious soaps..yum! By the time you read this I will have already taken a bath with soap suds so high, you could not find me! hee hee

A view from the balcony :) Yes, it is located on a golf course, and a bay.

So, I'll let you know how it goes, I am finding my moments where I can. Now this one may seem funny, maybe even a little weird, but I brought all my dirty laundry with me because at my mountain home I have to go to a laundry room in our complex, which means lugging the laundry around, while here I can do it while watching TV! lol Not something I would have done if I had someone with me, but hey, it's a luxury I will enjoy this week.

:)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Don't forget to link up with Project Pinterest!