The Cayuco Club out did it self last night… The celebration of Geoffrey’s 60th birthday. Gerry had been cooking up a special night for some time and was able with the help of the staff and owners of Mario’s Marina to pull it off!
The table was set with fresh cut flowers, chilled wine in buckets, fresh smoked salmon, candles and party favors all around. In my opinion the confetti pistolas were the best. I still am picking confetti out of my bed.
The appetizers of shrimp were followed by a steak that was fork tender with baked potato, & steamed vegetables. The main course was followed by fresh baked Key Lime pie. Not full yet… a plate of various cheeses and fruit was placed in front of each of us. Still not enough the birthday cake (tres leches) followed. Oh, and did I mention the champagne?
It certainly was a special night full of laughter and good friends and food. Hope you had a great birthday Geoffrey. We certainly enjoyed the celebration!
All the kids in our family were wanted by our parents. We have all felt that way our entire lives. You though Paul were and are special. Paul you weren’t just wanted by Mom and Dad. No, all of us wanted you. By the time you were coming along we were at least old enough to know what was happening. Your older brother, Joe, especially wanted you. I guess that he was feeling a little out numbered by us two girls.
When you came home Joe put Oreo cookies and his favorite Tonka truck in your crib. When Santa brought him the blue Air Force Jeep, you were the one that road in it all the time.
You were some handsome boy. That blonde hair and blue eyes fringed with great black eyelashes that were and are the envy of most girls. The door bell rang all the time with girls and boys who wanted you to come out and play. You have a wicked sense of humor. You always have. How much did you charge the other boys to look into the neighbor’s yard and look at the topless sunbathing teen-age girls?
I brought you on my dates, because we all loved you so much and hey I did date guys with great cars and you have always been a sucker for a great car. How many hours did you spend sitting in the driver’s seat in my car pretending to drive?
Now I don’t want you to think that you never did anything wrong. You did. I won’t go into detail though because that is not the point.
Here is the point Paul. You are loved. You are special and we all love you. You are in a hard time. Some really bad things have happened in the last couple of years to you. Two accidents that you were not responsible for, yet you feel responsible. You are doing all the right things to get over it. We are all proud of you for that. Even though you are doing all the right things it still feels like crap and you still aren’t you.
All we can do is support you in your healing. So keep putting one foot in front of the other. And even though you don’t feel real loveable right now we all think that you are and we all love you!
Love Nanny Goat
P.S. I took the liberty of speaking for the family. What else would you expect from your big sister?
Last night at the Cayuco Club was close to when we first got here. The place was packed. We had over 50 people and it was SRO (Standing Room Only)! The band was hot and not just because of the heat and humidity...they were HOT! Sometimes it just all comes together and last night was one of those nights.
Lots of dancing, conga lines, shaken tail feathers, up close slow snuggles and just good old fashioned "dirty dancing".
The coffee group was a little slim this morning. Because most were sleeping in a little late I was able to grab the laundry room at 0600 hours. Yep clean clothes before 0800.
So thanks for a great night to the Club and the Band.
There is a line in the movie, “The Big Chill” where one of the characters asks about rationalizations. “You try and get through the day without a rationalization.”
So my question to you is…”Can you get through the day without an assumption?”
Interesting things are always happening at the marina. Some people follow the “rules” or “guidelines” use what ever floats your boat. The reality is that there are RULES. Some rules are unspoken, some are written. Without rules we are like the ‘Lord of the Flies”. We like to believe that we are living some idyllic life or that we are on permanent vacation being cruisers. To my way of thinking we are not on vacation. We live on our boat 24-7-365. We do not have a condo, a home, an RV or any other abode to which we live part of the year. This boat is our home. During hurricane season we live in a marina. During the cruising season we are chomping at the bit to get out to the salt water.
So, you may be asking yourself what is the assumption? Last year I was the Activities Director for the marina. I was an employee. At the end of the hurricane season I told the owner that I no longer wanted that much responsibility. I was retired. Besides the fact that he really could not afford me. Here is the ASSUMPTION…I have so much influence that the owner does what I want. I wish. Now I am not naïve enough to think that I do not have some influence, but I can assure you that the owner of this marina has enough backbone to do what is right. I can also assure you that the two of us do NOT always agree. When we do not agree I am not afraid to tell him and visa versa.
So when a boat is asked to leave because they are not following the provisions of their lease I find it interesting that the owner of the boat came to me and my husband and asked us if because of our/my influence on the owner were the reason that he was asked to leave. My answer to him were that we/I was not the reason, though; we supported the individuals that did complain about the constant work on the boat and that it was against the “rules” or “provision” of the lease.
His assumption was that my influence was the reason that he was asked to leave. My assumption…he told others in the marina about his assumption and that is the reason that I/we are getting the cold shoulder. Either way it doesn’t matter. They have their assumptions and we have ours.
But, remember this…”When you assume things you make an ass of u and me.
We became converts to flying Spirit Airlines last year. We joined the $9 Club and have flown from Guatemala to the States and back several times. Yes, the flights are cheap, but you pay for everything else i.e. seats, luggage, food, drinks, etc.
On Oct 1st we were returning from our trip to Orlando. We had our return tickets in hand ready to get home to the boat and Mario’s Marina. To our shock we were told that we would have to purchase a round trip ticket back to the States! We attempted to plead our case about having a boat etc. No, this is the one time that we forgot to carry our boat papers or a copy of our lease. Though the Supervisor did state that even if we had them because we are not residents of Guatemala it would not have made any difference.
What is so very frustrating about this is that I had just flown back from that very airport not more than 3 weeks ago and was not made to purchase a ticket back to the States. The same can be said of the 10 other boaters that we have since talked to about this issue.
Not only did we have to purchase new round trip tickets, they cancelled the remaining half of our return ticket. The supervisor stated that because we had purchased them on a special deal that we could not be reimbursed for those tickets. The supervisor was unable to tell us when or what had changed about the requirements. Her only statement was that they change monthly. My response was that it was lucky for her that it was the 1st of October.
We are disputing the charge and we are writing a letter to the president of the company. We will let you know if we get any satisfaction.
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