Return to the Caribbean

As some people requested, I kept a journal of our recent cruise, and so here it is for your enjoyment. :)

AUGUST 25- Here we are on yet another adventure. We left home yesterday m0rning, dropped the dog off at K-Lane, and drove to Minot. We stayed at La Quinta. It was brand new and VERY nice. Sat in the hot tub while watching the kids in the pool. Had supper at Space Aliens. We ordered the Alien Feast for 4, but it was enough for at least 8!!!! Brisket, ribs, martian munchies (riblets), giant loaded baked potatoes, baked beans, and rolls with cinnamon on the top. Breakfast this morning was at the hotel. Free! Cereal, make your own waffles, bagels, drinks, fruits, etc. Yum!

Flew to Minneapolis and wandered there for a few hours. Took a picture of the kids by a Snoopy statue. The kids bought big fancy caramel apples. Back on the plane to Orlando. All told, we traveled or waited for about 9 hours today.

Elizabeth used the wheelchair all day. Wise choice.

Visited M&M World again. Spent money. Also bought Cherry Coke at the mall.

Had supper at Buca di Beppo. Nice supper, good price. For all 4 of us to eat, with appetizer, dinner, drinks, and dessert too, it cost us, with tip, about $75.

Quick stop at the Disney store, back to our hotel room (Florida Hotel and Conference Center), and we crash. :)



AUGUST 26- An eventful day. Up and packed, walked to McD's. Elizabeth in the wheelchair. Back to the hotel in time to surprise the kids with the fact we were taking a stretch limo to the port. Hurt my left shin when I rammed into the wheelchair when it rammed into a chunk of uneven pavement.

Got on the ship no problem, and roamed a bit with the kids. A nice lunch at the Windjammer.

The rooms are smaller than I thought, but adequate.

Kids went swimming in the rain. Very stormy and choppy out. The boat is rocking and swaying a lot this time.

The kids loved the meals and also discovered room service. Son lost his Sea Pass card. Got a hole punched in the new one.

Hubby and I did karaoke. Boot Scoot Boogie for me, Achey Breaky Song and Danny Boy for him.

Smoked fish roullade, horseradish crusted salmon, and BBB crème brulée (banana, bailey's, and brulée) for supper.

No CoCo Cay tomorrow because of Tropical Storm Isaac.



AUGUST 27- Up at 6:45. Kids had room service breakfast, Hubby and I brought food down from the Windjammer. Hubby tried black pudding.

Had a rough day, kind of. Boat doing a lot of up and down today. Made me very dizzy and queasy. Very, very windy. Son and I tried to use the jogging track, but nearly blew away. Daughter's Sea Pass card blew away when she was by the pool.

The kids liked Adventure Ocean. Both also got Sea Pets. A monkey for Son and a dragon for Daughter. Daughter made a monkey cupcake. I bought a chocolate mint cupcake and a maple bacon one.

Bought a Freedom of the Seas sweatshirt.

Lunch was at Johnny Rocket's (chili, burger, and chocolate Coke, yum!).

Daughter had a mani/pedi today.

Supper was scallop au gratin, artichoke crépe au gratin, and bittersweet chocolate soufflé.

The show was Marquee. Very good. Sleeping with the curtains open and the waves pounding the ship. At least I will be rocked to sleep. Silver lining. :)



AUGUST 28- We slept in until 8:30AM. Breakfast at the Windjammer.

Went to the mix and mingle and cabin crawl. Lunch at the Windjammer.

Played a bit at the arcade.

Supper at Chops. Filet mignon, broccolini, mashed potatoes, asparagus, and green beans with dijon and feta. Virgin piña colada and crème brulée. Kids did okay with the meal, but will be happy to return to the dining room tomorrow. The crème brulée was VERY alcoholic. Did not like it, so I did not finish it.

Show tonight was a singer/impressionist. Very good, but not a kid friendly show. Luckily, both kids were at Adventure Ocean instead. Daughter is at a late night youth dance party. Son finally managed to fall asleep despite the Adult 70's dance party in the Promenade just below his window.

Had a chocolate pear tart this afternoon. SO good!!!!!!



AUGUST 29- Today we got up early for our first excursion day, finally. St Thomas, USVI. It was very hot and humid. We all went on the sky ride, then Son and I went up the hill and Hubby and Daughter went down. We looked at their sad mini zoo where the animals were underfed and tortured by the geese, I think.

Went to Wendy's for ice cream, then more shopping (we shopped at the top of the sky ride, too), then on the Screaming Eagle. It was so much fun, and we got SO WET!!! The water was so, so salty! Bought 2 t-shirts, 2 pins, and the Christmas decoration. Son got 2 t-shirts, a colouring book, and a monkey.

Went back to the ship and went swimming.

Dinner was caprese salad, veal t-bone, and tiramisu.

Pirate parade tonight. Son was very cute.



AUGUST 30- Today we were at St Maarten. Again hot, humid, and sunny. Went on the Lord Sheffield tall ship together.

Swam in the ocean. Kind of freaky as it was 10-20 feet deep. Son and I had life vests and snorkel masks and pool noodles. Drifted with the tide and had to swim HARD to get us back to the ship ladder.

Yummy BBQ chicken and ribs, Coke, cookies, and bread with cheese and strawberry.

Both Daughter and I lost our hats to the wind on the ocean just before we returned. A bird flew away with mine when it hit the water. At least we don't need them since it was the last excursion.

Shopped after. Bought a t-shirt, Godiva chocolate, Belgian chocolate (7 pieces), a giant Reese's peanut butter bar, a mini jar of Nutella, a pin, turtle earrings, and a pineapple milk.

The kids came across a dying cat and Daughter was inconsolable for awhile.

Relaxed on the boat. Ate at the Windjammer. Saw Madagascar 3 in 3D, then an ice show, then the Love and Marriage Show.

Hubby has terrible sunburn, and I got some, not nearly as bad, on my back, shoulders, and front where the bikini wasn't.

Yesterday Daughter and Hubby went to swim with sharks. They also snorkeled, so Hubby got badly burned there, then got redder today. Not sure if it's new burn or just continuing cooking from yesterday.

Nice night at sea. Can see stars for the first time. Son heard a whale the other day.



AUGUST 31- Today was fairly relaxing, for most of it anyway. Got up and went to the character breakfast where the kids got pictures with Gloria, King Julien, and Alex. Kids went to Adventure Ocean and I bought t-shirts for Son and watched TV. Had lunch at Johnny Rockets where we found out the chocolate soda was NOT part of the free stuff.

Son had some bad luck with the arcade eating his tokens.

Kids went to Adventure Ocean and I went to my room. Watched TV, slept a tiny bit, and bought a big Ben & Jerry's sundae in a collectible glass. Hubby had been on an all-access tour of the ship.

His sunburn was so bad he was all blistered on his shoulders like I was last time and went half buggy from the itch, just like he did last year. This time he got Benadryl, so felt better soon, but was a total snoozer all evening and night.

The kids and I went to a show (Once Upon a Time), and shopping.

The kids had a huge blowout with each other like Hubby and I had on our last night in Florida last year.



SEPTEMBER 1- Last day on the cruise. Hard to believe it's September already. The day started well enough. Breakfast at the Windjammer, kids to Adventure Ocean, did some packing.

Kids had a talent show. Both sang and got medals.

Lunch in the Windjammer where the kids got to feed Hubby stuff that they thought he may not like. It was fun to watch him choke down a pickle. Took the kids back to Adventure Ocean and played 9 holes of mini golf. Headed out of there to come across Hubby and Daughter.

She broke her ankle. Just lost her footing and snapped it. Poor thing.

Supper was french onion soup, lamb, and chocolate pear crisp.

Bought 2 t-shirts. Packed. Watched the closing show. Kids got picked up from Adventure Ocean, then Daughter went to a pizza party with her friends.

Son got a scrape and bump on his head.

Kids both made a pillowcase.




SEPTEMBER 2- The trip home was long, but fairly uneventful. With Daughter in the wheelchair, and with the soft cast, we got on first and off last for both flights (Orlando to Minneapolis, Minneapolis to Minot), without it affecting our timing much.

We rode in the stretch limo to the airport.

They briefly lost her wheelchair on the second flight, but it was just stowed behind all the other checked luggage. Long drive home, getting back around midnight.

Cats were hiding, but once we found them, they could not stop meowing. :)

Good to be home. Will get the dog back tomorrow.

Next cruise will be at least 4 years away. And probably Alaska.

Short and Sweet

I love berries.
Strawberries, raspberries, saskatoons, blueberries....
Buying them at the grocery store can be expensive.
But I have one big advantage. I have my own strawberry plants in my garden and a small flower garden with half of it full of raspberry canes.
Next year, I think I will also invest in a few blueberry and saskatoon bushes.
This year, my strawberries simply decided not to produce, at least no more than a handful or two, berry-wise.
But the raspberry bushes...WELL!!!!
As my son says "It's like they just can't live without you!", which in child-speak means they are producing at an amazing rate this year. In a mere month, my teeny patch has given me more than 5 POUNDS of berries!
And let me tell you, if you have only tried store-bought raspberries, you have NO IDEA what you are missing! There is NOTHING that tastes quite as good and sweet as a dessert or even a handful made of your own, home-grown, no preservatives added raspberries, fresh from the garden.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

In The Group...Yet Not

Well, it is a few months later. I have been in the Mom's Morning Out group since...Christmas-ish, I guess?

In some ways, yes, I am finding it easier to talk to the other ladies, and when we do get together, it is still fun, but in some ways, I realize that my first thought when invited really was true...I don't exactly fit in.

You see, although the majority of them are somewhere around my age, I am finding that I am mostly the only one with older kids. Everyone else has kids in the 1-6 year old range, mostly in the lower end of that. Mine are in the basically 8-12 year range.

Which means they are in a certain stage of things, with certain activities and such that my kids just don't go for anymore. Also, because my kids are older, and everyone else is in the same stage as the others, they get together a lot more often, a lot more easily.
Their kids all get invited to each others' birthdays, playdates, they have lunches together, go to the park together, talk to each other more often because they have their kids in their specific ages in common.

I do try, really I do. But my kids have THEIR activities and THEIR friends and such, and, well, it is hard to get that adult friend time when they are still in the stage of kids needing diapers and naps and in most cases a trip to Timmy's would probably be the stuff of nightmares for them, having to bring little people who need playplaces instead.

I see them all posting about their parties and playdates and posting pictures and thanking each other for great lunches and afternoons and such together, and I must admit, I'm a bit jealous, a bit left out. It's too bad.

I really have to learn how to be the friend THEY need, especially since, in all likelihood, I will be back to work somewhere in the fall and will likely have to drop out of MMO.

I guess I still have too much personal baggage to make good friends yet. Hopefully , with time, I can get over that and be someone they want to spend time with.

Or else my friend in Bolton, my friend in Oshawa, my friend in the Ottawa area, and my friend in the Vancouver area will miraculously all move here. Sure. It could happen.

My Famous Father

I am not sure why this never posted. I believe I posted this quite a few years ago. But here it is. He has now written THREE books...Advertising Murder, Lost Youth, and Murder Express.


Once again, my Dad has been interviewed for a newspaper....I believe this is the second article, plus the radio interview, about his book.
I'm so proud of him. This is what the article says:

"John McKay/Times Colonist
[Pastor Bob Scott, the chaplain of the Langford Volunteer Fire Department, with his recently released novel, a book that’s noteworthy for an exciting plot written without profanity or gratuitous sex scenes.]


He believes in miracles
Mystery-writing chaplain encountered an answer to his prayers at a writers’ convention
BY LAUREL BERNARD
Bob Scott, a 60-year-old Langford resident, decided to write a mystery novel. He wrote it in a month, took it to a writers’ conference, got a 10-minute pitch interview with a New York publisher’s editorial director and, nine months later, had a three-book contract with royalties and a healthy advance cheque.

“It just amazes me that it happened the way it did,” Scott says. “I think I said, ‘Sure, thanks very much,’ and stood up, and the world just kind of started to spin.” How on earth, you ask, did he do it? It was easy, aspiring writers. All it took was a miracle.

Bob Scott, author of the just launched Advertising Murder from Avalon Books, is a former pastor of the Congregational Christian Churches in Canada and still preaches every Sunday at two seniors’ residences, West Shore Lodge and Alexander Mackie Lodge. He and his wife, Shirley, believe in the power of prayer.

They both prayed over the book project, especially when the manuscript was sent off to New York, although, as Bob Scott says, the prayer was more “your will be done, not a ‘give it to me.’ It always works for me.”

Initially, he says, “I wouldn’t say I was praying, ‘Dear Lord, make this a successful book.’ I was essentially going through the process to see what kind of suggestions I might get from an editor.” But Shirley certainly was praying “just for success” on the book, and Bob believes there’s a pattern in life.

I would say everything is part of the plan. I’ve been feeling it is part of the plan.”

Scott was born and raised in Montreal and, after getting a BA at what is now Concordia University, took his Master of Divinity at McGill. Three years after he became a minister, he went to a Billy Graham film.

“It made a change in my whole approach to my ministry and life and everything else. Over the course of the ministry from that period on — that would be 36 years this year — there were a number of things that took place in our lives that I would call miraculous.”

When he was living in Fernie, his son, then 18 months old, badly burned himself. He was hospitalized and doctors expected he’d have to endure many operations and skin grafts over the course of a long recovery. But five days later, after friends and his parents prayed and fasted, he was healing so quickly that the hospital was ready to send him home. He’s never had plastic surgery or skin grafts.

Then there was the operation Shirley was supposed to have. In the morning she was admitted into hospital and scheduled for surgery, but by day’s end, they’d sent her home. “The doctor said I was fine,” she says. Again, the Scotts and their friends had prayed for her to heal.

Bob, too, had a providential escape. One the reasons he started his book in 2003 was because he’d just received bad news: a bladder cancer diagnosis. It was discovered thanks to a mysterious and still undiagnosed infection, was treated and “within five months of the diagnosis, I was completely clean.” He’s been free of the disease for four years now.

Besides the power of prayer, you might argue the Scotts have also built up a lot of good karma. Shirley is a special-needs teacher’s aide at Pacific Christian School and, besides paid part-time work with Sands funeral services, Bob holds administrative positions with the Congregational Christian Churches in Canada and volunteers as secretary to the Colwood Rotary Club and chaplain to the Langford Volunteer Fire Department.

OK, but Advertising Murder’s success can’t have been that miraculous. Bob Scott probably spent years turning out manuscripts, sweating blood over each line.

Scott writes a monthly article in Ladder a fire department newsletter, and has written humour pieces and other short articles. AdvertisingMurder is his first full-length work. After writing it in a month, as a participant in National Novel Writing Month, he edited the manuscript during 2004’s National Novel Editing Month. He loves to write, loses himself in it:

“When I’m writing, I know I’ve got a manuscript that has to go out, but the excitement of seeing or feeling a story unfold … I go into another world.”

So he must have knocked on hundreds of publishers’ doors, right? And then he selected Avalon and honed his pitch to perfection.

In fact, Avalon was the first and only publisher he approached. He wrote his pitch to editorial director Erin Cartwright-Niumata on hotel notepaper the night before.

Then he probably has one of those careers designed for writing crime fiction. He can write about what he knows — just like John Grisham, who was once a lawyer, or Patricia Cornwell, who worked in forensic science.

Jack Elton, Advertising Murder’s hero, is an ex-cop. “My only police experience,” says Scott, “was in Expo 67. I was a security guard on the minirail at Montreal.”

What about Avalon? It sells to libraries and has editorial rules restricting drinking, profanity and sex in the 60 books per year they produce. The editing process was probably difficult.

“They’re a very easy company to work with,” Scott says. On his first book, the editing suggestions consisted of a single sheet read over the phone and then a few followup points. In any case, based on his own values, Scott is comfortable with Avalon’s approach — not that he chose Avalon because of it or wrote his mystery with a moral intent. It just happened to be a match made, well, in heaven.

At this point, the publication of Advertising Murder does begin to look like divine intervention. But don’t give up hope, because Scott’s story also exemplifies the axiom that God helps those who help themselves. Bob Scott worked hard at the project and made some very smart decisions.

For aspiring writers, here are some of his steps to success.

1. He joined the Crime Writers of Canada: “It was the best $100 I ever spent.” Besides all the resources on their website, the organization provided priceless publicity and contacts.

2. He signed up for the magazine Writer’s Digest, joined its book club and immersed himself in other writingrelated sites, listservs and research books. By the time he got to the pitch, he’d already read advice on how to do it.

3. He belongs to a writer’s group that meets weekly from September to June. Shirley read his manuscript, too, and, Scott says, “does a good job of pointing out basic errors” as well as helping with syntax and spelling.

4. He’s dedicated and has good work habits. Scott’s preferred writing time is midnight till 4 a.m. For example, on Wednesday he might write from midnight until 6 a.m. the next day, go to his Rotary meeting, come back, sleep a little, and then write in the evening. He feels comfortable if he’s written 2,000 words a day.

5. He goes to the annual Surrey International Writers’ Conference. Scott says it’s a standout among these types of events, and it’s where he pitched his manuscript.

6. He offered what an in-house editor wanted. He says of Cartwright-Niumata: “I’ve heard comments from her like, ‘Your stories are well written.’”

When she was asked about Scott, she sent back this message through her assistant Faith Black — and there’s hope in it for all aspiring writers:

“Erin met Bob at the Surrey writers’ conference in Vancouver, and they had a great meeting. Bob delivered a great pitch on his book, and Erin knew she wanted to work with him before even reading anything. It was a good, short pitch that reeled her in and got her interested in the project.

“If you write well and you submit properly (following the correct guidelines for submission), anyone can write for Avalon. We are always looking for new and first-time authors.”"

Those of you who have not yet read this book, and like a good murder mystery, I seriously urge you to find this first book and read it....it's funny, intriguing, just an all-round good read. I kept shaking my head every few chapters as I reminded myself that my FATHER had written this book. It was wonderful! I await his next two books with impatience, and hope he will have the opportunity to publish even more after that series is done.

The Agony and the Ecstacy

Things have been a little crazy lately.

It started about 8 weeks ago, when Daughter missed a step and fell on the stairs in our house. Her foot hurt, but she just walked it off. The next morning, while delivering papers, she tripped again, and this time was not able to walk it off.

This started a series of visits to the doctor. Very frustrating ones. She had wrapped her ankle in a tensor bandage, and hopped around with crutches for a few days with no results. The first visit to the doctor brought x-rays. Nothing showed up, so we were told nothing was broken, go home, rest for a week, all would be fine.

A week went by. No improvement could be seen. So we went back. We were referred to have an ultrasound done. They thought maybe it could be torn tendons. They searched all over her foot, causing great pain, then called the radiologist in to do his own scan. Another full foot search, more pain, Mommy is about ready to pick her daughter up like the Hulk and walk out. Nothing. No sign of tendon damage. They say maybe torn ligaments, but ultrasound won't pick that up. They write a report for the doctor, and send us home. We wait to hear back from the doctor for further referrals and testing.

One week. No calls. She is now not only in pain in the one foot, but the OTHER foot is beginning to have issues. We figure it is because of her being on the crutches, and compensating, overloading the second foot. We go back. We demand to be referred to a specialist. He tells us he already did. We tell him, no, we saw the ultrasound people, they found nothing, so we need something else. He says no, they found nothing, so there is nothing. I push, he supposedly writes a new referral, and waves us out the door with both of us practically in tears of pain, frustration, or both.

We wait almost a week. Nothing.

Then she collapses. The pain is so bad she cannot stand at all, let alone walk or use crutches. Hubby takes her to the ER where someone finally takes the time to try to get her some help. She is referred to an orthopedist, but it will be another week. So we get moving and find ourselves a used wheelchair....Daughter is 5'1"and just over 100 pounds. She is not a child I can carry around, and also she needs to be able to go to school, finish the school year, though her sports at that point became a dream of the past. Too bad...she had trained hard over the winter to be a pitcher in softball this spring.

A week goes by, we return to the hospital for our appointment with the orthopedist. He is very nice, and proceeds to move Daughter's feet every which way, making her squeal out in pain and nearly burst into tears. He announces there is nothing physically wrong with her feet, and refers us to a pediatrician who is on his rounds. So we are moved to a different room and wait an hour. The pediatrician comes in, checks her over, asks questions, checks areas that weren't even near her feet (he checked those, too, though), and asks if we had any history of rheumatoid arthritis in the family!

At that time, I couldn't think of anyone, so I said no, but when I got home, I discovered that yes, there was one relative I had overlooked...a cousin of my father who had it quite severely, in fact, and had begun having issues with it when she was 20, confining her permanently to a wheelchair, and cutting her life short from complications in her 40's. Not what I wanted to hear.

In any case, the pediatrician gave us a prescription to reduce the inflammation and called for a dozen or more blood tests to confirm, and likely to rule out a few things as well, so we wheeled her down to the lab where they drained her of all her blood (it sure felt like it...it was a very large sample they took, in any case). We have an appointment for follow-up next Monday. He was sounding pretty certain that his diagnosis is correct.

I am trying to remain positive for my daughter. I am not a patient person, however. I keep asking her how her feet are feeling (she has been on the meds for 6 days), and she says they still hurt A LOT. They hurt a LITTLE less than before. Not they feel great, not they feel a lot better, and she isn't getting back to normal like I want her to. She can stand for a few minutes now, and she can walk around the house for maybe 5-10 minutes, but then she sinks to the ground and crawls for the rest of the day (our house is not wheelchair accessible, so at home she crawls, in public she is in the chair, though that has not been so easy of an experience, either, as she explains in her blog, http://accessibilityadventures.blogspot.ca/

On Sunday, she showed her true grit. We had signed up, several months ago, for a 5km run, as we have done every year for the past 3 years. Obviously, she was not going to be able to run. But the brochure said wheelchair participants welcome. So she went. And she rolled. And she pushed herself in that chair as best she could. We did that 5k. When her arms couldn't do it anymore, she would put her hands in her lap, and I would take over and push, while jogging, for a few minutes, until she was ready to roll herself again. She worked HARD on that 5k, over cracked pavement, around potholes, up and down little inclines, over crooked streets that made her chair constantly drift towards the sidewalks. We made it to the finish line in 47 minutes and 33 seconds. And she was cheered in by every participant that had finished before we did. And she was the ONLY wheelchair participant that day. I was so proud of her. SHE was so proud of her!

I have to give her credit. She has been so strong through all of this. It has been so frustrating for her. She had to bow out of this year's softball season, halfway through. She is missing a 3-day camping trip with her class at school because it is not at all wheelchair accessible. She may have to miss her Girl Guide camp next week, if she doesn't see massive improvement. Her teacher made her stay at school while the rest got to go see a magician at the other school, instead of asking if I'd come and drive her (If I had known she was going to be left behind, BELIEVE ME, I would have been there to drive her!). It is harder to get around, go places, do things, and the worst part of all is that children are CRUEL. The number of kids at school who have accused her of faking this is unbelievable. She has had her wheelchair pushed into walls (with her in it) by boys, has been sneered at, has been told to "just get up and walk".

I hope with every fibre of my being that, not only will she have a fast recovery, but the other kids will realize that this is for real, and that if she could get up and walk, she WOULD.

The Joy of Friendship

I just came back from a wonderful evening out. You have no idea how much I needed this evening out.
It started out when my new friend from Quebec, in the Mom's group, invited me to go see The Vow with her, as she had a 2-for-1 coupon. So I of course said yes, and looked forward to the time out with her. Then another friend from Mom's Morning Out was coming, too. Awesome! :) Then SHE posted to the while Mom's group. We ended up a group of 5.
It was so much fun...the theatre was mostly empty...I think there were maybe 4 others in the theatre with us. We laughed, we commented, we groaned and moaned and sniffled and sobbed and passed kleenex to each other and even laughed at each other.
Just that part of it was wonderful...to be able to go out with a group that is around my age, no husbands, no kids, and just fool around, have fun, and relax together.
The movie ended around 8:10, so we decided we weren't ready to go home yet. So we fooled around in the lobby, posing with the 3 Stooges giant punching bag and taking pictures with it, then shivered in the parking lot for a few minutes, debating where to go. We first tried a Tim Horton's, but there was no seating. So after about 5 more minutes of debating and joking, we headed out to the nearest McDonalds instead...except that I took a wrong turn and so arrived about 5 minutes after the rest as I drove up and down streets that annoyingly had no break in the median that would allow me to turn in the right direction. Even that was fun, as I was driving someone else in my van, so we laughed at our winding little adventure, and eventually did get there.
Inside McDonalds, we all ordered a hot drink, and most also got a muffin or cinnamon bun. We crammed into a booth for 4 with a chair at the end and we talked...and laughed...and joked..and talked..and laughed some more. We got to know each other better and had a wonderful time.
And then when it was time to go home, we stood there another few minutes, discussing how to make this a regular thing. I think maybe we ALL needed a night like tonight.
There are no words to describe what a wonderful time I had tonight, or how good it feels to be building up such a wonderful group of friends. I'm so glad I have started stepping out of my shell...the risk certainly has been worth it so far! :)

Continuing to Grow

I wrote last month about joining a Mom's group at my church, about how hard it is for me to step out and set myself up to be rejected.

Things have continued to go well. Having taken the step to get out of my comfort zone, I have found that I LOVE going to the group. I love spending the time with the other ladies, I love chatting with everyone, I love the feeling of actually CONNECTING for once, with the ladies of my church and age group.

A couple of weeks ago, at the Mom's group, I met another lady, a few years younger than myself, but still close to my age (I believe we are about 7 years apart, though I could be wrong). She just recently moved from Quebec, and she doesn't feel she can speak too much English yet, though the English she speaks is very good, in my opinion. In any case, I was really excited to have met someone else who could speak French...she as her native language, myself as a second language. So I took the big step of approaching her and asking her a question about herself...in French. She was delighted! Since then, we have friended each other on Facebook, seen and talked to each other at church, and are set to have coffee tomorrow morning. And we always speak in French. Which I LOVE!!!!

I was also able to help her out in an unexpected way...she just got a job and so will need child care. Not having used child care myself, I didn't immediately know of any way to help her...and then it occurred to me...I knew someone who had been in my Chorus who had done child care, AND she had a French background, so was completely bilingual. So I once again stepped out of my comfort zone and phoned this person, which was REALLY hard for me to do. It's weird...I have this phobia of phoning people, even when I know that person. And it turned out that yes, she still does childcare, and yes, she DOES have spaces. My French friend was over the moon when I told her and gave her the name and number.

I have started accepting (AND receiving) more invitations to events, and so am getting to know people better, and meeting more people as well...and I guess having people know more about ME in the process....at church yesterday, when I stopped to talk to my friend, there were two other francophone ladies that I knew from the 5 years I have been at that church who were THRILLED (and surprised) to hear that I knew how to speak French. And who said we should speak in French together sometimes. (Yesssssssss!!!!) Last night, I went to a Pampered Chef party where it was a room full of people I had never met or really didn't know past sight...and I was there 3 hours and talked to at least 1/4 of the ladies there in fair depth.

It's still really hard to step out and allow myself to be seen, heard, and take the risk of being rejected or ignored, but I'm finding that when I do manage to take that step, that it is, for the most part, turning out fairly well. I still sit alone at church. I still don't feel comfortable with inviting people over for coffee out of the blue (and my house is not exactly in "come on in" condition...still have slob tendencies)....but I think, given time, I'm going to get there.

Stepping Out, Stepping Up?

In the past years, I have noticed a certain trend in my life. I used to move around a lot, and every place I ended up, I made new friends. I still have good friends from every place I have lived from Grade One through university. But then there was a very disturbing trend.

I got married. I am still married. and he is a great guy. But though we moved several times, I can't really say I made many new friends. I have no friends from the first place we lived, two friends from the second place we lived (and even then, our communication is spotty...one of those friends has had cancer for at least a year, and I had no idea, the other I "talk" to on Facebook, but I wouldn't say we are CLOSE friends (not that we have a poor friendship, but I'd say we border on friendly acquaintance at this point)), and we have lived in our present city since summer 2001 and I have to say I don't really think I could say I have any real FRIENDS here. I have a lot of people I am friendly with. In Chorus, we all get along, and they are SORT OF friends...we have a lot of fun together at rehearsals, performances, competitions, and parties....but outside of that, we don't really interact. We don't go for coffee one-on-one, we don't phone each other to chat, and in fact in the past little while, I've been the youngest, to the extent that I think they all are closer to my parents' or grandparents' ages. I have one person from my old church here in town that I get together with for coffee once in a blue moon, and interact with on Facebook...but again, she is more of a mentor-friend. She is my Mom's age, or close to it.

It seems that since I got married I kind of folded in on myself, didn't reach out to find someone to connect with. And since my husband is a bit of a loner himself, it's not like we go out with anyone our age together, and with him being so busy, he often doesn't have time to just HANG OUT with me. And lately that has really been getting to me. I have been feeling really alone, really isolated, and with the issues I have had at church, I have been feeling really frustrated, depressed, and especially lonely. I don't think people MEAN to do it, but people sort of avoid me, because they aren't really sure what to say or do to help us. I can clear a whole section of the church easily...I sit and by the time church starts, the majority of the people are sitting in a different section.

So anyway. Just before Christmas, someone I know on Facebook (and at church), invited me to a potluck for something called "Mom's Morning Out". Until then, I had been under the impression that it was for moms with little ones. Which makes sense, considering pretty much all of them DO have little ones. But I was assured that any mom could come. So I went. And I met a few people. And I got invited to a cookie exchange. And I joined the group and so went back today (the first meeting since the potluck). I knew most of the ladies there. I think most of them are a few years younger than I am, but they are a lot closer to my age than the people in Chorus, and even though my children are in school, and past the "little people"stage, I was able to blend in, converse, not look like a total dweeb. And it was wonderful.

I think that this is the first step in a good thing. In taking that big step to get out of my comfort zone, not hide, and GO to the group, I think I have opened the door to maybe making some good friends again. I hope so! Also, it will be nice to have a place to go, where everyone understands the challenges and frustrations of being a Mom, where we can talk and come up with good advice for each other.And I got to hold babies today. :) I don't want any more of my own, I'm done with that, but it's fun to hold and play with the little ones, to make them smile and laugh.

I'm glad I joined the group. And here's hoping I can get back into the swing of things and make some friends in my own age group, my own stage of life...maybe even make some REALLY good friends, in time. I hope, I hope, I hope.

A Tale of Two Kitties

This year has been a rough one in terms of the health of our cats. We have two. They are members of the family, as we have had them for 13 years now, or more specifically, my husband has had them for 13 years, and I have been a part of their family for roughly twelve and a half.

This summer, we noticed one of our cats had become very skinny. We had not noticed her slow decline, as she had been hiding out under beds a lot, I'm guessing because she was feeling so poorly. She also began to vomit yellow bile. So we rushed her off to the vet and shelled out a lot of money, and had the news given to us that she had pancreatitis, which had two possibilities...well, three...one was to send her off to some specialty vet place that would cost us thousands for some groundbreaking treatment (uh, no...mostly because we don't have that kind of handy cash), we could give her pills and she would get better, or we could give her pills, she would NOT get better, and we'd have to put her down.

So we got the pills and went through the exciting adventure of trying to force feed a cat food and pills. For anyone who has never done this, believe me, this is a challenge worthy of the olympics because
1) The cat does not want you to catch her
2) The cat does not want to be held once you catch her
3) The cat does not wish to eat because she feels bad
4) The cat definitely does not want to swallow pills and
5) The cat has 5 pointy ends (4 paws and a mouth full of teeth), knows how to use them, and has the wiggly snake move down pat.

But we managed. She took pills for probably about two months, and then got a clean bill of health...and since then has become somewhat chubby. Not enough to worry about, but at 13 years of age, I'd say she's allowed to roly-poly her way through the rest of her days if she so chooses, as long as she doesn't go to extremes.

Now this past week, the next adventure began. Our OTHER cat began to look skinnier than usual. His was not such a large drop in weight before we noticed, as he is a much more social animal, sleeping on the bed with us at night, instead of under.

So we took HIM to the vet and shelled out large amounts of money to have him tested, expecting the same result...but it was not to be. Our fluffy baby has diabetes.
What does this mean, I asked the vet? Let me just say that life over the next few years will be drastically different.

First of all, we had been giving the cats their daily allotment of food in the morning and letting them nibble on it throughout the day....now they get fed twice a day, at 12 hour intervals, they eat different food, what they don't eat is put away, instead of left out, after about 20 minutes. And the amount he gets is carefully measured, as is the amount he leaves behind. They are both having a rough time adjusting to this one, as they haven't quite come to grips with the fact that if they walk away from the food, it doesn't reappear until much, much later, instead of being there for their easy convenience.

Secondly, once we determine how much he ate, we have to carefully measure out his medicine. Twice a day. Every 12 hours. He has insulin shots. I must say that giving a cat an insulin shot is a lot easier than it sounded when the vet first told me about it. Because it just goes under the skin, and not into a vein or anything, you just grab a handful of scruff, stick the needle in, pull back the plunger a bit to make sure you didn't hit any vessels (make sure no blood in the needle), then push it in, pull the needle out, and the cat is good to go. Doesn't hurt him, so he just kind of sits there while I do it with an "Are we done yet?" bored look on his face.

Thirdly...the hard one...he needs blood glucose tests every few days to make sure his dose is right. How to get blood from a cat. Yeah. Poor guy gets to have pierced ears. There is apparently a teeny vein by the edge of a cat's ear, so you have to stick a lancet right through the ear at this spot, hope you hit the vein, and get the blood onto the test stick. First of all, this vein is tiny, so if you miss, you have to keep poking your cat in the ear. Secondly, this DOES bother the cat to have something sharp poked through his ear. Thirdly, the cat doe not want anyone touching his ears to begin with, so THIS is a two person job...one to hold the cat, one to poke the cat and get the blood. Then one of the two has to be able to swoop up the tester and get the blood on the strip before the cat decides to sprint off to parts unknown.

Saturday is going to be very interesting...we only had to do it once today, but Saturday will be the one-week marker of the start of his insulin, which means he needs to have a blood glucose curve plotted....meaning we have to test his blood glucose every three hours from the time we get up until the time we go to bed...about 7 times. Something tells me he is not going to be volunteering to come after the first two or three.

Fourthly...snacks and treats. We used to give them a small dribble of milk or the water from a can of tinned fish, kitty treats....that sort of thing, once in awhile. We are no longer allowed to do any of that because it will mess up his blood sugar.
Fifthly, all trips will have to be planned out in detail...daytrips will require us to leave home after 7AM, and back before 7PM. Longer trips will require a stay at a kennel that is able to give him his shots and such. So basically no big trips for a few years, probably, as that gets very pricey, as they charge by the shot, and he likely has a few years left in him.

The vet says that 1 in every 5 cats seems to miraculously get rid of the diabetes, but to not hold our breath on his being one of them. I still hope he will be that 1.

Caribbean Cruise 2011

I promised some people I would keep a journal of my first ever cruise. I'm glad I did, for my own memories, and here they are for you, too. :)

JULY 30- Well, here we are in Orlando! It has been a VERY long day, to say the least. It was hot at home, and we got up at 3AM to catch our plane, so sleep was evasive. The storm at midnight didn't help either. I found, just before we left, that the storm broke our back fence. So I tied it with rope to hold it while we are away.

There were trees, branches, and signs blown down all over the city. On top of that, the taxi driver had to make a big detour on the way to the airport because of a horrible accident that had the road blocked off by the police.

The trip itself went relatively smoothly, as is to be expected from WestJet. The only snags we had there were a late departure from Calgary because the engine needed a minor repair (Better we leave late with a fixed engine, I say!)and we had one lady have, I think, a diabetic seizure while flying over Tennessee, requiring the crew to ask if a doctor or nurse was on board (a nurse was indeed there) and for us to wait upon arrival for them to get her off and to the waiting ambulance crew in Orlando.

The heat and humidity here were a bit of a shock after 10 hours of air conditioning. It feels like a sauna. Not uncomfortable, just...strange. Like you can grab it in your hands.

There was a shuttle train from the arrival gates to the baggage claim, like a metro, but, well, I guess like a monorail.

The hotel is very nice, with a couch and coffee table, king size bed, 3 lamps, a desk, TV, fridge, coffee maker, safe...and lots of space in between to rearrange the luggage for tomorrow.

The hotel is connected to the mall, so we don't have to go outside to shop. The mall is really big and super easy to get lost in. BUT it has Cinnzeo, Cherry Coke, M&Ms World, and the most amazing Italian restaurant...Buca di Beppo. All the dishes are served family-style...small feeds 2-3, large feeds 5-6. We also had bread with oil and balsamic vinegar. Our meal was Quattro di forno: cheese canneloni, chicken and spinach manicotti, cheese ravioli, and stuffed shells. For dessert, we shared a slice of gigantic cake, which was lemon with marscapone cheese and cream filling with raspberry sauce. The whole meal was AMAZING, and came to about $20 each, drinks and dessert included.

M&M World was cool...giant statues and all the memorabilia you could ever want, plus an entire WALL of serve-yourself M&Ms of every colour and type imaginable, including colours I had never seen before, like aqua and lilac. I got pressed pennies for the kids and I and a pin with my name. :)

Now I shall collapse from exhaustion and sleep well tonight, and dream of the fun yet to come.



JULY 31- We had a GREAT sleep last night. I reset the air conditioner from 12.5C to 20C. The bed was nice and comfortable, and the room nice and large.

Upon discovering the mall did not open until noon today, breakfast at the hotel to be $13.95 each, and our bus leaving around 11:45AM, we headed out the door to find the McDonald's that was maybe 10 minutes away.

8:30AM and the heat was stunning. Our glasses actually fogged up on walking out of the hotel. The humidity was so high you could literally touch it in the air.

Portions at McD's here are truly bigger than back home. So my coffee was larger than expected. No complaints there. :)

On the way back, we saw what looked like perfectly smooth, oval stones. It turned out they were some sort of nut that grows on the local trees, and fall by the thousands.

The bus trip was interesting. So many trees!!! And in between them all, you could sometimes get a glimpse of a plantation, a shack, a bayou. I saw a number of birds, but have no idea what they were.

It was quite the view when we finally pulled in sight of the ship. It is HUGE!!!

We let them have our luggage, then joined the cattle drive of people checking in. Once on the ship, we found our room, which is very nice. #6296.

Our floor "helper" is Marvin, and he is a hoot. Almost every time we left the room, he was there doing something for someone and would ask what we were up to or joke "There you go again!". He is Jamaican.

Lunch at Windjammer (the buffet) was very good, the cheese plate from room service was delicious, and supper was AMAZING!!! I had hot and sour shrimp soup, onion rolls, prime rib with vegetables and baked potato, and chocolate pot a creme. Mmmmmmmmm.

We both got a souvenir cup with our Coke allowance. Bought a pin and inflatable ship. :)

The balcony is very nice. 2 chairs and a little table. Very hot during the day, but nice at night. I saw a shooting star and heard a whale blowing, something large leap out of the waves, and a few times of whalesong.

Watched the Dreamworks Experience Move It! Move It! parade. Cute, but I didn't get very good pictures.

Played minigolf on one of the top decks.

Going to bed around 00:30. It doesn't feel that late.



AUGUST 1- Today was a day of a few surprises and various changes. After a good night's sleep, we woke to the combo of Hubby's phone barking like a dog and the ship's wake-up call. We ordered room service for breakfast, so had an absolute feast of eggs, bacon, baked tomato, hash browns, pastries, fruit, juice, milk, and coffee.

We then headed off to CocoCay, Bahamas, for the day. It was so hot, I was literally dripping sweat. We went on the nature walk, which was very interesting and fun as we learned of trees that could heal warts, headaches, sexual issues, lady issues, and so on, as well as a tree that had poisonous bark. We heard of one couple that had carved their initials in one of the bad trees, and ended up sick and covered in horrible sores that leave a permanent scar. We saw a HUGE iguana and some teeny lizards the size of a finger joint, as well as chickens, frigatebirds, and the "hamburgull"...their gulls are ferocious scavengers. Their feeding frenzies if a tourist plate is left unprotected put sharks to shame.

Hubby went snorkeling while I hid in the shade and tried to cool off. They had a drink on the island, CocoLoco...but I declined it because the virgin one was $6. Bought a $15 t-shirt instead. :) It has the island name, a happy face in a rasta hat, and says "Smile, Mon!" Their sand is very fine and white, like flour.

They had a buffet lunch on the island, so I had chicken, ribs, a burger, feta, corn, and a few other little things before heading back to the ship for some a/c and a nap.

We discovered that, due to very bad weather involving the possibility of a cyclone or hurricane (Tropical Storm Emily), our Eastern Caribbean cruise will now be a Western Caribbean cruise. Goodbye tall ship, St Thomas, and St Maarten, helloooooo Cozumel, Mexico, and Grand Cayman Island.

Tomorrow is a cruising day, so Hubby and I will find fun things to do on the ship.

Dinner was formal tonight. I wore my long blue dress. We took pics of each other because we couldn't find our attendant (Marvin) and the professionals charge a fortune.

I had sushi as a snack today, and then dinner was lobster bisque, roasted duck with blackberry sauerkraut and croquettes, and a chocolate souffle with espresso sauce. And their American version of iced tea. Oh yes! The Windjammer Cafe also had oxtail soup and creme caramel. I snacked a lot today.

Marvin is so funny. He came in to straighten the room while we were at dinner and created a funny creature (a dolphin) on my pillow with a bath towel and my sunglasses. :-D

We sat in the hot tub for a few minutes, but then they turned out the lights, so we figured it was our cue to leave. It was about 11PM.

One thing with dinner is that we eat at 8:30PM and finish around 10:30PM, so have to stay up late to digest.

Stood out on the balcony again tonight. Too dark to see, but heard another splash, heard distant whalesong, and heard a humpback talk. :)

Hubby looks very burnt on his back from snorkeling. He has a spot on his incision, about 3 fingers wide, that is swollen, so I have forbidden him to swim without a shirt for awhile. Hopefully it heals fast and has no further complications.

Sleeping with the curtains open so I can see the stars and maybe sunrise. To bed at 00:45.



AUGUST 2- Today was a cruising day. We slept until 9:15, although I was awake long enough to see sunrise as Hubby's phone started barking.

We ate breakfast at the Windjammer today. So much to choose from! Today I had eggs, french toast with strawberries and cream, fruit, corned beef hash, pastry, coffee, and milk.

Bought 2 t-shirts on Deck 11 at a sale- 2 for $20. One for Mexico, one for Grand Cayman. Hubby bought 2 for himself and 2 for the kids- a glow in the dark pirate one for Son and a turtle one that changes colour in the sun for Daughter.

Attended a really good seminar about speeding up your metabolism, then went for lunch. LOL. Had lamb skewers on a curried veg and bean base. That was in Leonardo's.

Took salsa dancing lessons. It was a lot of fun. Almost 10 years of learning choreo sure helped in learning the steps. :)

Watched "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows(Part One)". Again.

Off to Windjammer for a snack...oh wait, that was before the movie. I had some cake and custards.

Got dressed for dinner (smart casual...black dress t-shirt, knee length black and white flowered skirt, sandals), then off to the show- the Scintas. They were hilarious and awesome. :) Comedy and singing and piano.

Off to dinner- I had a crab cake, sole filet with asparagus and artichoke hearts, and orange chocolate parfait.

Back to the room. Despite watching off and on all day, no visual signs of life on the ocean. But at night I always stand on the balcony and listen hard over the breeze. Tonight I heard a tiny bit of whalesong, plus two types of whale calls. One was a loud "ORRRRR!" and one was an "OOooooooo!". I also saw a few shooting stars tonight. Definitely worth going out there each night to stand in the dark and look and listen.

Marvin made me a towel lobster with my sunglasses tonight.

Bedtime snack....spinach and artichoke dip. Bedtime: 11:36PM



AUGUST 3- Up with the barking dog alarm for room service breakfast and to watch Grand Cayman get nearer in the distance. We took the tender over at around 8AM and wandered the streets for awhile. We kept stopping in shops to take advantage of the air conditioning. I also got a t-shirt and 3 pins.

When it was time, we lined up for our excursion. It was really hot and humid out, so I was soaked with sweat. Ew.

Got on our lovely air conditioned bus and took a ride to a rum factory. For obvious reasons, Hubby and I stayed outside to look at their mini zoo- tropical birds, peacocks, super fat pigeons, a rodent that looked like a tiny capybara, and huge iguanas.

There was a giant spider that got into the bus. Very freaky, like a tarantula, but no hair.

One funny thing about Grand Cayman is that chickens are EVERYWHERE, just wandering around, like pigeons and seagulls do at home.

The second stop was on a semi-submarine boat. We saw tons of fish and coral. We did get stranded out in the bay for about 10 minutes, but it all got sorted out.

We then went to Seven Mile Beach and ogled at the fancy places all along it. We also stopped for a few minutes to dip our toes in. The water was nice and warm, the sand white but coarse, and I found a really neat piece of brain coral, but wasn't allowed to keep it.

We then took the bus to a turtle farm. The oldest turtle there was 78 years old and weighed almost 600 pounds. We saw small ones, too, and I got to hold one.

Then we ate a turtle burger and turtle soup. Different, but pretty good.

Our last stop was the town of Hell. We, of course, had to buy and send the kids a postcard from Hell. :) It was named that because of the brimstone formations there.

Back to the port, we joined the line to get back to the ship. It was really long. It took about 20 minutes to get to the front of the line.

Once back on the ship, we went up to the Windjammer for something to eat and then watched Shrek, Shrek 2, and Shrek 3 before dinner.

Dinner for me tonight was cream of mushroom soup, pea pods, green beans, wasabi mashed potatoes, beef filet, shrimp, and coconut creme brulee.

We then went to the Love and Marriage show where Hubby won us a place on stage by yodeling like Tarzan, ripping his shirt pen (in the process losing ALL the buttons), and throwing me to the ground.

We were both asked 3 very embarrassing questions each (Like the Newlywed Game). We didn't win, but we got a gift basket for participating, which has lots of Royal Caribbean cool stuff, like travel mugs, carry bag, luggage tags, magnets, umbrella, mini backpack, and travel neck wallet.

No whale sounds tonight- it's too late to be out there and too humid anyway.

Marvin made me a bat with my sunglasses on today. He even hung it from the ceiling with a hanger. :-D

Bedtime 00:31.



AUGUST 4- Up around 7:30. Arrived in Cozumel, Mexico, around 9. It was a very busy port, thanks to Tropical Storm Emily. 2 Carnival ships, us, and the Oasis of the Seas. Double wide, same height, nice boat.

So hot and humid. Humidity around 80%. UV Index 10+ Extreme.

So many people, so many shops, so many pushy vendors. I went to a Dolphin Encounter excursion. I got to pet, kiss, be kissed by, dance with, and have my hand in the air touched by the nose of a dolphin. Very cool. Wicked, horrible sunburn because it was all done outside, in the ocean, which I didn't know. Not so cool.

They took really nice pictures of me and the dolphins (John and Eddy), but were charging $60, and wouldn't sell them separately. So no pics to show for it.

Ate a real Mexican burrito plate and got pesos for change. :)

Bought a keychain for Daughter, a pen for Son, and a bobbing head turtle for me.

Hubby did a helmet dive excursion. He enjoyed it very much and got a picture CD.

I came back, guzzled down a drink and watched "Journey to the Center of the Earth" 3D. Very good movie.

Saw a great magic show tonight by a guy who was on America's Got Talent- Drew Thomas. Very good stuff.

A lot of people recognized us from last night. How embarrassing.

Dinner was calabrese salad- tomato, mozzarella, onion, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar with pesto, garlic tiger shrimp, and mint chocolate cake.

Marvin made an alligator today.

So tired and burnt, not even going out on the balcony. Vegging with TV instead. Sleeping in tomorrow.



AUGUST 5- Today was very painful. I was up around 5:30AM because my sunburn hurt too much. I dozed a few times during the day, but had to do cold compresses, aloe burn relief spray, and Tylenol to keep the pain to a tolerable level. My shoulders are already starting to blister. That is what you get from UV 10+ Extreme. Hopefully I can get some sleep tonight and heal fast, too.

Had breakfast at the Windjammer and then Johnny Rockets for lunch. Had a double burger (which I could not finish), a root beer float, frings with ranch and a plate with a smiley face of ketchup, and a chocolate soda. The staff there dances every 20-30 minutes out of the blue. :) And every time someone comes in or out, the staff calls out "say hello!" or "say bye!" and all the customers call out hello or bye to the person coming or going.

Found the area where teens can go hang out. Very cool.

Watched "How to Train Your Dragon" 3D.

Dinner tonight was formal. I wore my short black dress, had my hair up, and had a pearl and diamond necklace (fake) and the new pearl earrings Lloyd bought in Mexico for me (real).

Had seafood salad (shrimp, scallops, smoked salmon and greens), fisherman's plate (veggies, potato, shrimp, and lobster tail), and the desert sampler (cheesecake, some spongy cake with fruit, and flourless chocolate cake). Very yummy.

While standing on the balcony this afternoon, we saw dozens of jellyfish and two green things under the surface (fish? plant?).

Went to a musical tonight. It was based on fairy tales and used popular songs like "Everybody Dance Now" (Cinderella ball scene) and "I Need a Hero" (Rapunzel).

Marvin made a monkey tonight.

To bed at 00:10. Wish me luck!



AUGUST 6- Not a good night. Shoulders very badly blistered.

Did the Walk for Wishes this morning- 4 laps around the jogging track in special t-shirts. $10 each, proceeds to make a Wish.

Didn't do much today. Took a swing dance class. That was fun. Danced to "In the Mood".

Went to Chops for dinner. Had oysters, mixed grill (lamb chop, apple chicken sausage, veal tournedos, bacon, bubble and squeak), and mushrooms and leeks, which had a wine sauce. I got tipsy from the sauce. So funny. Felt sick on the way back to the room. Not so funny. Oh yes. Had chocolate mud pie. Waaaaaay decadent, like the cupcakes we had this afternoon. Too much sugar!!!

Packed and ready to go. Cloudy out. Maybe it will rain. Sailing very slow as we are closer to Port Canaveral than our schedule says, due to the change in course plans.

Hope to hear whales tonight.



AUGUST 7- Up at 6AM. Not a good night again. I was actually up at 3:30.

Watched the ship dock in Port Canaveral. Pretty cool to watch the ship rotate so it was in stern (back) first.

No whales last night, as the water was too choppy.

Off the boat at 7:30 AM. Then we sat on the bus that would take us to our hotel for about an hour. Then the bus actually started to drive. That took another hour. We got to the hotel around 10AM, so I guess it took about half an hour to get through ship security and find our bags.

The room wasn't ready (no big surprise), so the hotel stored our bags and we headed out to Disney World, to Magic Kingdom.

It really was too hot and humid to have been there. Being an icy Canuck, I need to do that sort of thing in Florida's winter. But we rode the rides, reveled in the air conditioned ones, and drank lots. We still had fun. Had beef nachos and a bacon cheeseburger for my meals there.

Saw at least some of the Main Street Electrical Parade- it was delayed by about 30 minutes due to a thunderstorm, and we had a bus to catch, and it was a bit of a commute from the parade to the bus, so I think I missed about half of it. What I saw was nice, though. Waiting for the bus, we could see the fireworks, too. Those were pretty cool, including coloured-in star shapes when they exploded.

The bus ride back took about an hour, in which I was exhausted and headachey. Unfortunately, Hubby was overtired as well, and we had a huge argument in the hotel room over nothing.

Also, the front desk told us the wrong hotel room, so we walked in on some poor fellow in his room. We got Starbucks vouchers for our trouble. I hope he gets a free breakfast or something, especially since it was at around 11:30PM!!!

Repacked everything for tomorrow's flight. Off to bed very late...I think about 1AM.

Today I bought Bullseye (the horse), 2 pins, 3 antenna toppers, and a t-shirt. I THINK that was all.

At Disney World, we were approached and complimented once again on our performance on the ship. We are never getting away from our fame (notoriety?) from that Love and Marriage show!

One more memory from the ship...by our elevators, there were two window boxes. Inside were scenes. One was a mermaid brushing her hair, the other a crab playing a fiddle. You turned a crank, and they moved. Very cool.



AUGUST 8- Saw alligator roadkill. The flight home was long but pretty uneventful. I got body scanned and my hands swabbed, and both checked bags got hand inspected.

Bought a pound and a half of M&Ms at M&M World. Chocolate, peanut, dark, coconut, almond, peanut butter, and pretzel.

So nice to be home. So much laundry to do, though.

Next cruise we will take the kids AND do all the Disney World Parks.

Update on Angry

Time has passed, things have happened, and answers have been given.
Life is much less stressful now, and we can continue without things pressing down on us so much.
My husband went in for his surgery on April 26th. We went in at about 9:30AM, and he was wheeled into the operating room around 12:45. Lucky guy has no real memory of most of the pre-operative time, as they gave him a sedative an hour and a half before he was wheeled in, and he basically slept all the way to the surgery, without having any memory of being put under general anaesthetic either. (He was, of course)
I wandered for a few hours, trying to kill time, but not willing to leave the hospital, in case he was out early, or they needed to get in touch with me or, worst case scenario, things went horribly wrong. So I wandered and munched on things and drank bubble tea and read a good chunk of a novel and watched soaps and daytime talk shows in the waiting room...and finally at about 5:30 the surgeon phoned me (not sure why he didn't check the waiting room) to tell me my husband was out of surgery, in the recovery room, and would be in his hospital room in about an hour or two.
They had removed a mass the size of a mandarin orange, but the mass did not appear to be cancerous. They had to send it away for testing, to make sure and to find out exactly WHAT it was (they still didn't know).
The first night, they had him in the Cardiac Surgery Unit. I guess that would be their equivalent of one step below ICU...his surgery was pulmonary, not cardiac, but that was where he'd have the best care, I suppose.
The next afternoon, he was moved to the cardio-pulmonary unit down the hall. He was definitely a candidate for the Sesame Street song "One of these things does not belong here"...every other patient on that ward was at least 40 years older than he was. I guess lung surgery is usually not performed on younger people.
He had a few very uncomfortable days, as he was originally hooked up to an IV, a catheter, a lung tube, and oxygen. He very quickly managed to heal enough to have all but the chest tube removed...probably about 3 days, I think. He worked really hard at healing. Hospital beds are not very comfortable when you are 5'11".
Once he was off everything but the chest tube, he started walking around the ward. He was supposed to...kept the blood flowing and helped his lung to drain. He did overdo it a few times, though.
Once the chest tube was out, he was up and out, walking the ward as much as they would let him. All he had to wait for at that point was an xray and the surgeon to look at it and say he could go home. He had his chest tube out on Sunday (May 1) and his chest Xray that night. He was told that as soon as the surgeon looked at it and gave his okay, he could go home, and the surgeon was usually in early in the morning...so we expected him to be home by lunchtime on Monday at the latest.
Nope. The surgeon did not show up until 6:30PM. Interestingly enough shortly after I made it abundantly clear to the nurses that if the surgeon didn't come, I was taking my husband home anyway, permission or not. :-D
So about 7PM we were on our way home. I think he was very glad to be sleeping in his own bed, though it took a few nights for him to find a comfortable position, and he had a hard time remembering not to overdo things....the biggest issue was the stairs. It's easy to forget how taxing going up and down the stairs can be when you have spent a week in a hospital with no stairs.
He had 27 staples in his back from the incision and a few stitches in his side from the chest tube. These were all removed a week later, on May 9.
Since then, he has more or less returned to normal...he still hasn't got full lung capacity yet, but I think he's close, and he still overdoes things some days and ends up sore, but he is back at work, he can ride a bike without pain, and if you didn't know he'd had surgery, and met him on the street, you'd never know.
He's never going to be swimsuit model now, though. :-D
We got the results, finally, on the mass, last weekend...apparently there was some sort of irritant that got into his lymph node in his lung lining, and as far as we can understand doctor-speak (they didn't explain it in layman's terms), his body just started wrapping the irritant, like a cocoon, and kept going and going and going. Now that it has been removed, this SHOULD be the end of all of this.
But no signs of cancer, whatsoever. Big sigh of relief.
He returns to the surgeon to have a fresh xray done, and hopefully to be given a clean bill of health and permission to fly this summer, on June 8th.

Angry

I am angry. And sad. And scared. Life just isn't going the way I thought it would, thought it should. Why is it that it seems that the people who haven't done anything to deserve it get hit with the worst things?
A few months ago, we were going along as normal. Hubby had a cough that just didn't seem to go away. Not a huge deal, it had become somewhat of the norm...several times a year he would come down with bronchitis. Or so we were told. But this time, the cough stayed. He had antibiotics. It stayed. He had inhalers. It stayed. It got worse. Finally we realized this cough had been going for a good 6 months or so, with the doctors continually giving him something that did nothing. Finally a doctor took him seriously and took an xray. That is when the nightmare began.
I call it a nightmare because it just doesn't feel like it's true. This just doesn't seem like reality...and yet it is, and I just can't wake up from this nightmare. They found a mass. Approximately 3 cm by 3 cm by 4 cm. It doesn't seem that big, but in proportion to a lung, it's got some definite heft to it.
So he was referred to a specialist. The speed in which things have moved along since that xray should have clued us in. The xray took place in late February, I believe. The specialist called us a week later. A week after that, Hubby met him, had some tests done. A week after that, he was in for a CAT scan and needle biopsy.
He was told at that point that it was likely not cancerous, because of its shape. Two weeks later,this past Monday, we were told that the biopsy came back inconclusive. We were told they didn't know what it was. But that we would be referred to a surgeon who would remove it. He was referred on Monday. The surgeon called Thursday. For an appointment on Friday.
I went with him this time (I wasn't able to on the other occasions). The surgeon showed us the images from the CAT scan, which were a huge shock to me, as it showed just how big this thing really is. Then he explained to us what inconclusive really meant. I wish the specialist had read the biopsy report a bit better and explained it properly.
The biopsy showed necrotic tumour cells. The inconclusive part referred to the fact that they had not determined what KIND of tumour cells they were. He explained to us that the cells were very suspicious and that they honestly DO think that the possibility of it being cancerous is quite high.
He will go in for surgery in about a week and a half, exact date to be determined this week. They have to go in and remove a portion of his lung that the mass is attached to (a wedge resection). While he is still under, they will test it, and if it is cancer, they will remove the lower lobe of his left lung (a lobectomy). If it is not, they sew him up after the small piece is out, and he stays in the hospital about a week. If it it is, they remove the large chunk, sew him up, and we look at the possibility of a month in hospital and several months of recovery time...and hopefully that would be the end of it. Because if it isn't, we add to that the possibility of radiation or chemo or other such things.
My husband has never smoked. Ever. He does not live in a smoking house. Neither set of our parents smokes. We do not have friends who smoke. We do not hang around in smoky places. He is otherwise completely healthy. There is no good reason for this. It just isn't fair. And there are so many risks and possibilities and plans that may change. So I am angry. And sad. And definitely scared.

The Scream

My alarm went off this morning, and as I rolled over and turned it off, I knew my daughter was upstairs, turning off HER alarm. Next thing I know, there is a blood-curdling SCREAM. Sometimes she over-reacts to something, so I kept an ear open, but wasn't immediately concerned...until it didn't stop. She started screaming for me. We are talking that high pitched, half-crazed, someone-has-died, someone is unconscious on the floor, my-brother-is-hanging-from-his-foot-from-the-top-bunk, the-cat-is-dead-on-my-pillow screams. We are talking sheer terror. I don't think I have EVER left my bed and gotten upstairs that fast in my life.
I found her in the bathroom, still screaming. It took a minute to calm her down enough to understand the problem...she had turned off her alarm, and for some reason, the radio part of it had come on, full-blast, and would not turn off, no matter what she did.
To put it mildly, as soon as I got the roaring radio to turn off and got my heart to start beating again, I was feeling less than loving towards my darling daughter.
This was even way off the path of her normal behaviour, so I thought deeply about it over breakfast, and asked her a few things...I guess what happened was that she had a bad night full of nightmares, was only really half-awake when she turned off the alarm, and the best I can figure, it all tied itself into a reaction I would term as a night terror. It was just unbelievable...the reaction was WAAAAAAY out of proportion to the situation.
Poor kid.
But it's going to be days before I can get the sound of those screams out of my head. It was awful.
I hope that we never have to go through that again, either one of us!

California Dreaming

I recently took a trip with my family to California. While I was there, I wrote a journal, to help me remember the fun times we had. Here it is for your enjoyment. :)

Feb 14- Here we are in California. We planned this trip probably about 5 years ago, though the end result is somewhat different.
Originally, it was to be a big family event, grandparents included, but this was not meant to be. It is still a grand adventure, and will be chock full of fun.
We woke up yesterday at 4AM Saskatchewan time, and hopped on our first plane. The only glitch THERE was finding the airport Tim Hortons did not take Tim cards.
Calgary was a little more of an adventure, as that was where we went through customs. Long lines, new wings (hallways) to navigate, discovering we had left hubby's knee brace on the first plane, and the joys of the full body scan, to arrive at the gate just in time to board...and then sitting on the tarmac for 30 minutes because we had to be sprayed for ice.
The first plane ride was about 90 minutes, in which we were served one drink and one packet of pretzels. The second flight was 3 hours, and we were served one drink. Any food had to be purchased and paid for with a credit card. When we arrived at LAX, we had essentially not eaten since 5AM, and it was 12:30. We were STARVED!!! So we retrieved our luggage, found our way to the car rental shuttle, vowing that the very first fast food place we found, we would eat there. So we were giddy with happiness to spot a Burger King just outside of Budget. I tried their jalapeno and cheese burger. Not bad, but not great...a bit overdone. I was thrilled to see different snacks than at home...spicy Cheetos, chili corn chips...lots of spicy foods. I like spicy food, you see.
After soothing our hungry tummies, we headed off to find my friend's house. If it had not been for the GPS, someone would have died by my hands, out of sheer stress and frustration. California traffic is NUTS!! People drive so FAST, and in addition, I had never driven in miles before. Just to avoid being plowed down by EVERYONE, just to keep up with the traffic, I was having to drive 80mph in a 65 mph zone. Even police cars were passing me!
We had a lovely time at my friend's. It was wonderful to catch up with each other. And meet each other's kids. We had a lovely meal and the kids all got along splendidly. We lost a hat, but it was later found and will be returned soon.
Another, relatively short drive, this time in the dark, to our hotel. We arrived in one piece and tired out of our minds, and after a bedtime cup of coffee or hot chocolate or lemonade, we all sett;ed in...and woke up around 4:30AM....which would be 6:30AM at home.
We ate breakfast at Denny's, because it was to early for the motel breakfast, which ended up looking pretty pitiful anyway. So we were quite happy we had gone to Denny's instead.
We then headed out to FoodMart and bought food for lunches over the rest of the week. We found some things that are not available up North, like pineapple pop, 3L pop bottles, and mexican layered dip flavoured Pringles.
We spent the day at the San Diego Zoo. It was tons of fun, including a double decker bus and gondolas. We even, to the kids' delight, saw polar bears peeing and pooping. And some animals celebrating Valentine's Day.
Bought the t-shirt. :)
After the zoo, we returned to the hotel and brought in Mexican food. Burritos, nachos, tacos, quesadilla, refried beans, and rice. Yum. In the morning, at Denny's, I will have a biscuit with sausage gravy. Mmmmmmmmmmm.
Now we crash at about 9PM, to get ready for a new day of excitement.

Feb 16- Another day has passed and it is around 7AM. We are now in Anaheim, at our second motel.
Yesterday was Sea World. It was sunny, but fairly cool and windy, so the crowds were not heavy at all.
We saw a neat show with seats that moved, as if we were in a helicopter, flying through the Arctic. We laughed our heads off at the fact that they considered Moose Jaw and Winnipeg to be part of the Arctic.
My son went on his first roller coaster. It was also one of the rare times I did NOT do a roller coaster...it was part of a log flume, and I was just not up to to it...I hate log flumes. So hubby went on with him, and bought the photo to prove it. We saw lots of sea creatures, a 4D Sesame Street movie, and, of course, Shamu. We even bought the ponchos, though we didn't get very splashed at all...we should have been a few more rows up for that.
Bought the t-shirt. :)
Went to an IN-N-Out burger restaurant for supper. It was okay, but nothing spectacular...locals say these are supposed to be the best burgers around, which makes me wonder how bad the other places' burgers are...
Drove by my friend's house to get my daughter's hat back. Returned theirs, which was wet because my daughter had purposely gone into the spray pads and splash zones at Sea World. I even got footage of her getting drenched by one particularly hard landing of a log flume car she was standing near.
Arrived at the Ramada around 9PM, after passing two that weren't ours and one wrong direction that left me having to gun it, cut across two lanes, and take a corner on two wheels to get to the right spot. Driving on this trip has been a real adrenaline rush.
Did a load of laundry in the tub, then crashed for the night after losing both hubby's passport and all of my son's cash. Happily, everything turned up.
Today is California Adventure. In the rain. Should be good, because it will keep the crowds down and I have a poncho.

Feb 17- We had a great day at California Adventures yesterday. The crowds were small, and the rides were amazing. My daughter and I rode California Screamin' four times! And we plan to ride it again a few times tomorrow. Toy Story Mania was tons of fun, and so was Soarin' Over California. There were the usual rides- ferris wheel, swing ride, carousel. We got wet on Grizzly River Run, but with the rain, it really didn't matter. Our picnic supper for World of Colour was really quite good, and the show was amazing. My picnic had cold cuts, 3 kinds of cheese, including blue cheese, water crackers, sundried tomatoes, artichoke heart, pickled cherry tomato, a pepperoncini (like a mild, light green jalapeno), Coke, and tiramisu. We saw Muppets 3D and Turtle Talk with Crush. We also saw how they make figures from Toy Story come to life by spinning and lights. And a Monsters Inc ride where Roz talked specifically to my daughter. That was cool.
We returned to the hotel happy, slightly damp, and very tired.
Today we went to Disneyland. It is bigger, much louder, was much more crowded, and the rides were less thrilling. It was still a good day. We saw captain EO, rode Space Mountain twice, did the Matterhorn, Big Thunder Railroad, the Haunted House, Safari ride, Pirates of The Caribbean...and a lot of rides that just basically showed the storyline of various Disney movies.
Yesterday I bought a pin. Today I got one free. Tomorrow I will buy the t-shirts for both California Adventures and Disneyland.
Had a great supper at Captain Kidd's...a buffet place just across the street from the parks. The hotel breakfasts here are very good (hard boiled eggs, donuts, danishes, muffins, toast, cereal, oatmeal, coffee, tea, juice...). Lunches have been pretty good at the parks...sicilian sausage yesterday, bratwurst today.
Now off to bed to rest up for tomorrow...our crazed rush of a day to redo everything we want to do before we head home.

Feb 19- It's hard to believe we are at the end of our week. I am sitting in the airport at LAX. We board the plane in an hour. Yesterday was indeed a whirlwind day. We arrived at Disneyland at 8AM and rode Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Big Thunder Railroad, then grabbed some Fast Passes for later. We rode Astro Orbiters and Astro Blasters. We then went over to California Adventures to grab Fast Passes for Flyin' Over California and California Screamin'. We watched the Pixar parade and went to Talking with Crush. Saw the Aladdin show, which was really good, and ate at Captain Kidd's again.
It started to rain pretty hard, so the crowds thinned out a lot. We rode Soarin' Over California, California Screamin' three times, and hubby and son rode Grizzly River Run.
Did some shopping and returned to Disneyland. Saw Billy Hill and the Hillbillies, then went to the place we were to have our all-you-can-eat chicken and ribs. They were closed. After a bit more shopping, we rode the train and returned to the hotel to order pizza. It was too cold and wet to stay for the fireworks, and I suspect they were canceled due to the weather anyway.
We are so tired and run down from our whirlwind week that we are getting sick with colds. It has been a great week, a lot of fun...but it's time to go home. I'm ready. I'm just looking forward to coming back one year and riding California Screamin' over and over, and maybe checking out Magic Mountain, which has lots of coasters. So happy my daughter likes roller coasters. Now I have someone to ride with. :)

Sick and Tired...

I can officially agree with the saying "I am sick and tired of being sick and tired".
It's something that I suppose has been creeping up for awhile, likely about the past 6 months, but just kind of came to a head about a week and a half ago.

Last Tuesday, I found myself exhausted to the point that simple things like walking up 13 stairs or putting a few plates away left me panting and weak as anything. I also had a headache that had lasted about 2 days, with no relief in sight, despite efforts to stop it. So I grudgingly headed off to the doctor on Wednesday morning.

Anyone who knows me knows that going to the doctor ranks right up there with an enema. I hate going and would do pretty much anything to avoid going. Especially since it seems like every time I go, they find NOTHING wrong with me.

Not this time.

I sat on the little table and told my little tale of woe. He hooked me up to the blood pressure monitor and lo and behold, I had a pressure of 152/100. Not good. At all. I knew in the back of my mind that I should have been watching it better. The last time I went for a basic check up, the doctor said it was high. But I figured I'd do it by myself, just get it down, no problem. Guess not.

So he put me on a prescription and had me go for blood and urine tests. Took the tests Wednesday night. I got a call Saturday afternoon. I needed to come back in to see him about the results. He would be there Sunday afternoon. Great. I had been told the ONLY reason I'd get that call was if they found something. So I had roughly 24 hours to stew over what on earth was wrong with me, what had they found.

Meanwhile I was still not feeling any better, despite my blood pressure decreasing nicely each day. Energy levels were at 5% at best, dizzy as all anything...not nice.

Sunday night, there I sat, back on the little table. My cholesterol is high. This is not only a problem in itself, but of course, that will help cause high blood pressure and do I want to die of a heart attack. Of course not. I'm 34. Anyway.
Also, my iron is practically non-existent. Have I been having any issues with you-know-what? Well...yes...for about 6 months, I guess.

This little meeting lands me three more prescriptions and a referral to a specialist. Meaning I am now having to take a total of 4 prescriptions...5 pills a day, at various different times. Believe me, that was the night I created a checklist chart, to help remember what to take when and to keep track of whether or not I had in fact taken them yet.

Bounce forward to Wednesday morning. I get a call from the specialist's office. Can I come in on Friday morning? You betcha. So I pencil in the appointment.

Today I check out the address on Google maps to make sure I know where I am going, and also check into this specialist's name. Now I am unhappy.

I am finally starting to get some energy back (I'd say I'm at about 25%), so that's good. My issue is with what tomorrow will bring. You see, the doctor is an ob/gyn. And the doctor is a man.

I have a slight inkling of how invasive this appointment will be. We are talking pap, we are talking taking inner flesh samples, possibly ultrasounds and/or little cameras and/or who knows what else. As it is, I am ultra-uncomfortable with the whole concept and will run screaming at every opportunity from most of the above....but the fact that it will be a man performing such personal actions makes it that much worse.

My hubby says I am being silly, that if he were in my situation, he would be just fine because the specialist is qualified and such....but I don't think he has any right to say such a thing unless he is in a similar situation. I know the specialist is qualified. I know there is nothing "wrong" in it....but I really wish it could be a woman, you know, someone who could identify personally with the whole process and all the body parts involved.

I am definitely looking forward to the end of all this...the point when all issues have been identified, everything has been treated to satisfaction, and I have recovered all my energy and well-feeling-ness. But tomorrow will be a toughie.I don't know what is wrong with that part of me.

And I am scared.

Home Renos

We have been under siege the last month or so...thanks to a very kind grandmother, we have had a pile of renovations done to our house.
It has been, to put it mildly, a nuthouse.
But we are very, very pleased with the results. We started out with the driveway looking like this:

Then we had rubber paving done, which took about a week, maybe a day or two more. So our house and driveway looked like this:


Very nice, but the siding was wood, the paint was peeling, and we needed new gutters and soffits, as well as windows. That was another week and a half. They worked very, very hard and did an amazing job, as you can see in these progressive pictures:















I really like the colour I chose for the house. :)

Isn't it beautiful?
Once that was all done, we had our living room, hallway, and one bedroom floors redone. The carpet was a medium grey, short pile. Original one, I suspect, so it would have been my age...and was FULL of stains that would not come out. The bedroom was a nice green, but a cat was accidentally shut in there and not only soiled it all over but he dug a hole right through it, trying to get out while we were away. I don't have photos yet, but it is now a beautiful dark brown wood laminate.
The poor animals don't know what to think. It's like watching curling some days, they come roaring up the stairs, hit the floor, and sliiiiiiiiiiiide all the way across the room. :-D
When we can afford it, I think our next big project will be the back fence. It needs a makeover. Badly.