A staycation is pretty much ideal when you have a dog. (No worries about how the pooch will adapt to the new locale.) And we had fun being dorks and pretending we'd rented our house from VRBO. ("Can you believe these people left us all these projects to do? Jerks!")
We basically pretended we were retired. We slept in every morning, enjoyed our coffees, and then went for long walks on the beach with Rita:
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| Had the beach to ourselves! |
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| Well, except for all these guys... (There were literally 100s one day. Never saw that before.) |
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| Rita had a great time! |
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| ...especially when we ran into a collie meet-up! |
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| She loved romping with them |
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| She enjoys a good romp. You? |
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| And then she needed to cool down. |
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| Rita enjoyed helping with the leftovers. See her there? (That's a 1/2 a burger w/ an egg on top.) |
We had a beer or a cocktail and watched the sunset each night:
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| Yes, that says "Voodoo Doughnut" beer. It was yummy. |
Or, tried to watch the sunset when it was foggy:
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We even got one project done! We put together our new BBQ, which Rita is very much a fan of!
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| "Can I have some of that, Daddy?" |
Have you ever done a staycation?
In Book News...
(I know I'm supposed to be wordless today - but I'm bad at that. You know that. And I wanted to share something...) On Tuesday I got to experience both the highs and lows of having your book out in the world - all within about 30 minutes of each other.
Shall we start with the high? I got a lovely message on my Facebook page from Kathy Porter, whom I'd just "met" through the Blog Paws community. She said she'd read my book, enjoyed it, and wrote this lovely blog post about it. Go check out her blog!
After that lovely little high, I was checking my Amazon book page (as I obsessively do), and saw that I had a new review. I thought maybe it was from Kathy, after writing her blog post, so happily and hopefully went to check it out. Nope! It was a 2-star review saying how disappointing my book is and that her $3 was "wasted."
This just goes to show you can't please everyone! Don't even try!
Sorry about being so Wordy on Wordless Wednesday!!
That sand dollar picture is awesome! I have been meaning to get your book and read it! I looked for it in paperbook at Barnes and Nobles but couldn't find it. Guess I need to download the Kindle version! It sounds like a good read! Happy WW!
ReplyDeleteThat's not a sand dollar, it's a big ol' jelly fish!
DeleteThe paperback is available online at B&N or amazon. Hope you'll enjoy it!
It's great - just finished reading it a short time ago!
DeleteJackie - the 2 star review....#$%&
Max and I reviewed it too on our blog so time to get back in the "high" groove :)
Sounds like you had a good weekend! All that food sounds so good.
ReplyDeleteThe food was awesome!
DeleteSounds great and lucky you having the beach to yourselves. Nice one. Have a wonderful Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes Molly
Luckily we live in a nice vacationy place, and the weather was good.
DeleteDoes your deck overlook the ocean or a bay? It was hard to tell in the sunset picture, but it sure looks pretty! I've never done a full week staycation, but sometimes we save the last 2-3 days of vacation for getting home early and easing back into the routine....
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's the ocean. That nigth was so weird. Usually the fog moves east and comes up our canyon, but that day the fog was moving south, and only covering the ocean. It was odd, but so pretty.
DeleteWhat a great time. I would love to take a staycation. It looks amazing!
ReplyDeleteMom met some celebrities on her vacation to Tennessee:http://www.dawsondogs.com/blog/2013/3/The-Hollywood-Wax-Museum
I've never been to a wax museum. I'll check out your post!
DeleteA staycation sounds perfect when you live somewhere with such perfect weather (except when wildfires are burning).
ReplyDeleteTrue.... I guess doing a staycation when it's snowy and cold someplace would not be the same.
DeleteUnless you like that sorta thing...
DeleteSometimes a staycation is just as good as the real thing! It certainly sounds like this time around was awesome.
ReplyDeleteIt was really nice and relaxing. We were sad to see it end!
DeleteWe love staycations!!! So glad you had fun during yours.
ReplyDeleteHappy Wednesday.
Oz
Thanks, Oz!
DeleteYou will never please everyone. You just have to please yourself, and hope at least half of the people out there agree with you. That's how I approach my art anyway.
ReplyDeleteAnd, when you live in an RV, everyday is a staycation. LOL
It's so true that you can't please everyone. The really funny thing is that this is my 2nd 2 star review and she said she didn't like it that I didn't write much about the divorce itself. The other 2 star review I got said she didn't like it cuz the book was about a divorce!
DeleteIs my review on Amazon? Can't remember if you had me put it there or not..if it isn't, let me know if you want it there and I will add it!
ReplyDeleteThat one dog looks like a Sheltie and not a Collie...the white one looks like a Collie, the other one looks smaller, like a Sheltie!
I just looked and I don't think it is on there. I'd love it if you could leave it in there!
DeleteMust just be the camera angle, cuz they were all the same size and big collies, well except for little ol Rita.
I've heard great things about your book...ignore the DebbieDowners...Staycations are the very best...at least I'm sure that Rita thinks so...sounds like a super week to me
ReplyDeleteThanks, Gizmo. As long as the reviews aren't mean, I don't mind a bad review. After all, we all don't like the same things. If we did, life would be pretty boring.
DeleteWoof! Woof! For RITA - The best STAYcation ever. You guys have a great weather. For sure many would like to go to SD. Someday mom says she'll take me on a road trip and maybe will go to SD. Your book is on my mom's list of books to in the Summer. Happy Wednesday. Lots of Golden Woofs, Sugar
ReplyDeleteSD is a wonderful spot to vacation! Just don't come for a beach vacation when we are having our May Grey or our June Gloom!
DeleteHope you'll like the book. It's a fun book for relaxing in the summertime. :)
Walks on the beach after sleeping in? Sounds perfect! With a few days off every week, due to 12 hour shifts, we will (in the summer months) pitch a tent in the yard and sleep outside, as close to camping as all of us can get at one time!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like fun. Reminds me of doing that as kids!
DeleteYour staycation sounds (and looks) fabulous. I bet it was one of Rita's favorite vacations! And, I say, figure that reviewer is a troll and ignore!
ReplyDeleteYes, I think Rita definitely loved this vacation! We have also taken her away with us before, but she seemed a bit nervous at the new locations and it took her a bit to settle in. (She's a nervous girl!)
DeleteHi Jackie,
ReplyDeleteYour stay cation sounds like awesome fun, especially the BBQ bit! :)
I know my Mum really enjoyed reading your book last summer, and like you say you can't please everyone :)
Big wags,
Your pal Snoopy :)
Hi Snoopy - thanks for stopping by. Yes, I think the BBQ'ing was Rita's favorite part of the vacation too!
DeleteYour staycation looks lovely. We take plenty of those. You had me laughing out loud about the renal and the projects.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry about your bad review. Every writer gets bad reviews, as no book is right for every reader. But your book is delightful, well written. It's a great beach read, I think. I've read plenty of good books, and probably more bad books. Yours is a keeper. Much better than Fulk the Reluctant. Go ahead. Look it up.
We were definitely amusing ourselves w/ the rental thing: "They could have dusted! Geez."
DeleteHmmm. Fulk the Reluctant. I will definitely look that up! And, yes, all authors get bad reviews. One of my all time fave books is Lonesome Dove, so I looked up his reviews. There were a few that went on and on about how horrible/boring, etc. the book is. Um, yeah, pretty sure the Pulitzer judges didn't agree!
Thanks for sharing your staycation photos! Nice! And as far as the negative book review, ignore it! Max and I loved your book and we are BIG readers so Pft on them! See our "Catching up on my reading" review from March 26th - we want a sequel to see what happens next!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the blog post about the book!
DeleteI'm getting better about ignoring the bad reviews. I just have to remember that I have way more good reviews than bad ones, and ignore the few bad ones. :)
I absolutely love San Diego! If I lived there, I'd probably want to do staycations all the time! Where is your favourite place in SD?
ReplyDeleteHmmm. That's a tough question! I don't know, really... Let's see... My fave place to go with the dog is easy - Fiesta Island. I think my fave place to go though where she can't come along is Torrey Pines State Reserve. Love to hike there and it's always so beautiful and sometimes we see dolphins in the water there. Just lovely.
Delete