Almost Paradise

Yep, it almost was--paradise, that is. Gorgeous weather, beautiful sunsets, fabulous food, ocean, sand, palm trees and an awesome friend. Perfect!





Except for: arriving at my condo where the a/c was not on and the place was covered in mildew, getting caught in a torrential down pour while leaving the grocery store after purchasing cleaning supplies, dropping our dinner (pizza) on the dirty oven door while removing it from the oven, spending the better part of the next 7 days cleaning or making trips to Home Depot, having a seagull nab your friend's sandwich right out of her hand as she's eating it and feeling bad because most of what I could have shared with her was already eaten, the rental car not starting after a hot day at the beach, having to wait for the jumpstart in 90+ degree weather, having to drive from the beach to the Tampa airport to pick up a replacement car and then being told I was paying for an upgrade I didn't have and then putting me in a compact car without remote entry keys (that's a real bummer, trust me), having to drive back to Tarpon Springs from the airport (a 35 min. drive), suggesting one of my favorite dishes at a restaurant only to have it served without the delicious sauce and then having to wait 15 min. to have it corrected, having the a/c go out on a Saturday and the repairman can't come until Sunday, being told my a/c unit is 31 years old and should be replaced, paying for a new a/c unit and having it installed on Monday morning and it's not working Monday evening, being told my cushion covers won't be ready at the dry cleaners for 5 days and then when I go to pick them up, they weren't even done and can't be done before I leave on Wednesday, arriving at the library in plenty of time to get online to get a boarding pass and then discovering that I don't have my flight information with me, finding out the sheets that we put in the washer prior to leaving the condo did not go through a spin cycle and we have to wring them out by hand before they could be put in the dryer, being disappointed by the last piece of Key Lime pie we'd eat at Bahama Breeze that is usually to die for, getting charged a $15 late fee for returning the rental car 4 min. late (which was removed) by Thrifty who never even gave me any consideration for the inconvenience they put me through a week earlier, Maggy leaving her purse at the Thrifty counter after we had left with all the attitude two ladies could muster, and sitting on a hot tarmack for 30-40 min. while they removed a truck that had broken down from behind our plane.





Other than those little inconveniences, we had a wonderful time. We've even laughed ourselves to tears within the past few days. Funny how that works--tears of frustration one day and tears of laughter once it's all over.





Although I've never seen an episode of Golden Girls quite like our story, we kind of thought of ourselves as Blanche and Dorothy. And the theme song, "Thank You For Being A Friend" ran through my mind many times during this vacation--Blanche, (Maggy) you're the best!


I only hope that I can repay you for all that you did to help me get through our trip to Paradise. ; )