29 November 2007

The Cruise

Jason and I were the instigators of this particular cruise for Thanksgiving and our families said "sure!" Little did they know what they were in for...

We all got on board safely the Sunday before Thanksgiving. All our luggage was delivered to our cabins, we familiarized ourselves with the layout of the ship, participated in the lifeboat drill, and met in Grandma's cabin for before dinner drinks and to say "Bon Voyage" to Tampa. (So far, so good.) Dinner was okay, but our waiters were hysterical and made going to dinner a blast (definitely a good thing).
(Markus, our head waiter)

During the night, one of the propeller shafts broke. Aunt Helen (Grandma's sister) heard the racket about 3am. This was just the beginning of the troubles. Now, we were on a sick ship. It couldn't go the normal speed otherwise the other propeller shaft would break as well. We had to skip stopping in Key West. That didn't bother me, since I've been there already, but Jason has never been before and we were looking forward to going to the Pirate/Ship Wreck Museum. (Other people were not so forgiving-a couple was supposed to get married in Key West and another family was meeting up with the ship there to surprise their grandparents for their 50th anniversary.) So, we had an extra day at sea-two in a row. We relaxed in the library-great views of the water, awesome selection of books, puzzles, games, and the daily quiz (we attempted it each day, but they were EXTREMELY difficult). There was also a coffee bar and we had a few lattes (yum!). We also played trivia every day (the questions were tough, but we did win once! Our prize was a "Dam" mug-all the Holland America ships have "dam" at the end-ours was the Veendam.) and even started a Sequence tournament with Jason and my mom being partners and Rod (Jason's dad) and me being partners. (Rod and I kicked butt!!!)

After the two days at sea, we stopped at Belize. Jason and I had already visited there on our last cruise, so we stayed on the ship. Everyone else got on a tender (a smaller boat that hauls people from the cruise ship to the shore) and did various activities-Grandma and Aunt Helen took a taxi tour, Jason's parents went to see some Mayan Ruins and my parents and Aunt Felicia went shopping.

Our next stop was in Guatemala. The port was Santo Tomas and we were taking a tour to Quirigua, a site of some Mayan ruins. I had been there before (I didn't remember until I saw the ruins) when I was in college. We saw some stellas from various Mayan leaders of the area as well as the market area. Our guide, Carolina, was quite infomative and energetic. When we returned to the ship, we had lunch and everyone went back on shore to go shopping-Jason and I stayed on ship and read.

You're probably wondering what else happened...well, those two days at sea proved to be more exciting than Jason and I wanted them to be. Monday's dinner was mango gazpacho and king crab legs with drawn butter. Very good but very rich food. Apparently, my gallbladder didn't like that I had eaten such rich food. It revolted! At 2am, Jason and I went to the infirmary because we didn't know what was wrong with me at the time. The nurse, Caroline, took my history and was surprised that when I had the lap band surgery that the surgeon didn't remove my gallbladder as well. The nurse narrowed the problem to two things-a kidney infection or a gallbladder attack. The doctor concurred (I even had an EKG!) and told me to watch what I ate and see my doctor when I returned home.

To be continued...

While I was away...

...this came in the mail.

This is the November installment of the Yarn Pirate's Booty Club, Solstice. I can't wait until I have time to spend making something for myself with this yarn. Any suggestions???

25 November 2007

We're Back!

We've arrived home safely from our Thanksgiving cruise and family visit. There's a lot to finish this week (my courses) and getting back into work...I'll post soon about all the fun and excitement!

A Preview...
  • Ports of Call-Key West, Belize City, Santo Tomas, and Cozumel
  • A visit to the infirmary
  • Dining entertainment
  • A sick ship????
Just a little to wet the whistle!

13 November 2007

Something new

I wasn't really expecting to get new glasses this year, but Jason informed me that we had lots of extra $$$$ in the flexible spending account, so off to get the vision checked. Of course, it changed a wee bit (I already knew this...getting harder and harder to see things that are far away), so I had the chore of picking out new frames. I truly liked the old ones-blue-my favorite/comfort color, but none of the frames at Doctor's VisionWorks were blue. What were they thinking? So I looked and looked some more. I narrowed the choice down to two and went to the counter for a second and third opinion. We were all in agreement. This is what they look like:



09 November 2007

Caffeine does not work!

I am working like a mad woman to get all my assignments completed before leaving on our family cruise vacation for the Thanksgiving holiday. I have had little sleep, caffeine has not helped and am stressing terribly! Does anyone have some toothpicks to prop my eyelids open???? (Preferably non-pointy ones...I don't want to poke my eyes out!) I even stayed at work late this week...one night until 8pm (who knew what went on at my school that late...some students had not left YET!) to get one project semi-complete with my group members, but when you can't find the information that you need, it just plain old sucks. UGH!

02 November 2007

I'm a Klutz!

Yes! I admit it! I am the person that trips UP the stairs, trips in tennis shoes, and can even trip in her own bare feet. Needless to say, I am usually careful about where I walk, ESPECIALLY on uneven or grassy surfaces. HA! I wasn't so careful last Saturday at McDaniel, walking back to the car. I've had to park in other places this semester due to football games and homecoming, so I'm not as familiar with the walking paths (grassy areas) and sidewalks. Not 5 yards to the car, I rolled my left ankle and took a tumble also scraping my right knee a bit. After assessing the situation and catching my breath, now seated on a sidewalk, all I could think about was that I hadn't put any holes in my (new) favorite pair of jeans! {That's another story for another day...}

I was able to get myself back to the car and drive home-it helped that it was the left ankle and not the right. I got home and elevated said ankle and iced it with a bad of frozen spinach (Jason couldn't find a bag of corn nor peas). I also took Monday off since I could not walk up and down the steps-coming down was fun-on my bum! (The stairs in the house are a tad bit slippery-thought I was gonna slide down the entire flight!)

The ankle is better although the swelling has not gone down as much as I'd like (I do teach and need to be on my feet) but the bruises have come out-matching ones-lovely purples and greens!