The Cruise 1

Okay - we got to the Port of Tampa and boarded the ship. As soon as we boarded the ship, we knew we weren't on a Disney cruise. The atrium was all done in black marble and decorated with neon tube lights in red, green and blue - very gaudy, very Las Vegas-ish (is there such a word?). Besides the black marble and neon, the first thing we saw was a bar in the middle of the atrium. You can't avoid seeing it. Apparently that is the way they wanted it because there was a line waiting to be served. We made our way down to our stateroom which was very nice. The ship had just come out of dry dock and all of the staterooms had been refurbished. After we unpacked some, we headed up to the restaurant deck (Lido) to see if we could find something to eat. When we got there, it was another reminder we weren't on a Disney cruise. Most of the tables had dirty dishes sitting on them and the floors looked like people had taken plates and dumped them upside down on the floor - not an auspicious beginning at all. We managed to find a clean table and sat down and ate. The food was okay - definitely nothing to write home about. After the requisite muster drill, it was time to cast off so we went topside to watch. We thoroughly enjoyed sailing out through Tampa Bay. We never realized what a busy port Tampa was. We thought we might reach the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in about an hour, but it actually took us 2-1/2 hours to sail under the bridge and get out into the Gulf. By now, we were hungry again so we went and found something to eat. During the cruise, we ate mostly at The Brasserie which offers buffet service for all three meals.

After eating, we had a check-in meeting with the scrapbooking group we were traveling with. We found out that there were about 60 in our group. Julie (our leader) divided us into 4 groups for classes. Most of the women traveling were traveling with girlfriends. Only a few had their husbands along. After the meeting, we went topside to watch the water go by (one of our favorite parts of cruising!) and then headed to bed as I had class at 8:00 AM the next morning.

Catching Up

It seems like forever since I've blogged and it has been - 16 days to be precise! Monday, the 5th, we took Aunti Vi to the doctor. He was thrilled with her condition. He said he wasn't going to do anything - she was doing just fine! Just keep doing whatever she's doing. The only medication she's on is a heart medication that costs $5 a month. Her prior doctor (up in Chiefland) was prescribing one medication on top of another - Aunti Vi would complain about a side effect from the medication she was on and her doctor would prescribe something else to counter the side effect. When we moved down here her medications were costing over $600 a month!

Monday evening, I had a nominating team meeting at church. It was a long meeting and I got home about 10:15.

Tuesday, the 6th, we finished up the Gulf Coast Holiday Shop Hop. We had already done 7 of the scrapbook stores that were within a 75 mile radius of Bradenton last week. We still had the 6 stores down in Fort Myers and Cape Coral to finish, which we did getting home about 6:00.

Wednesday, the 7th, was our normal - shopping with Aunti Vi in the afternoon and choir in the evening. Thursday, again was normal - Bible study morning and evening.

Friday was quiet during the day, just normal stuff. Friday night we went to hear The Raleigh Ringers - a handbell group from Raleigh, NC. The concert was phenomenal! Eric and Sarah went with us. After the concert, we went to Sam Seltzer's Steakhouse one of our favorite restaurants.

Saturday morning we got up and headed to the Port of Tampa. We got there about 12:45and checked in and boarded the ship.

I'll close this post for now and get to the cruise in the next post.

Weekly Update

I can tell our schedule has been quiet. I've had nothing to write about for a week!! Last Saturday we drove over to Sanford to visit Rick and Csilla and watch Taylor ride in her first equestrian competition Sunday morning. In her dressage outfit, she looked so grown-up. She was entered in 2 events - walking around the ring and then a "trail ride." In the first event, she went around the show ring and showed proper riding posture and control of her horse "Little Bit." In the second event, she had to lean down, unhook the corral gate, walk her horse over logs, get mail out of a mailbox, put it back in the mailbox and then walk over a wooden "bridge" to finish. Taylor was entered in the special needs class as she still has "side walkers" and also someone holding a lead rope in case "Little Bit" decides to do something unexpected. Taylor placed 4th in the first event and received an honorable mention in the second event. It was definitely fun and watching Taylor interact with "Little Bit" was wonderful! It also gave Taylor a taste of equestrian competition. I also wanted to include a picture of Ashley since she is growing up much too fast!

Monday and Tuesday were quiet days. Just normal stuff - laundry, errands, etc. Wednesday was also our normal schedule (shopping, choir) as was Thursday (Bible study morning and evening). Friday, we drove about 150 miles participating in the first annual Gulfcoast Holiday Shop Hop(gulfcoastholidayshophop.com). 13 scrapbook stores from Bradenton south to Naples are participating. It's fun seeing how different independent scrapbook stores can be.

Saturday Rick and Csilla and the girls came over. Rick wanted to go to a seashell shop near us to pick out some seashells. He is planning on combining them with his woodturning and making Christmas ornaments and nightlights. He does beautiful work and I can't wait to see what creations he comes up with. This weekend was also probably the last time they would be in the pool until spring as the air temps are getting too cool to swim. The pool is still 88 degrees but the air chills you as soon as you get out (the air is about 75 degrees). They left today about 1:30.

Tomorrow we're taking Aunti Vi to the doctor for her 6 month check-up. Tuesday we're going to visit the last 6 scrapbook stores in the Shop Hop as it is the only day we have free this week. Wednesday again is our normal, Thursday is normal and then Friday we'll be packing for the cruise and going to the Raleigh Ringers concert (www.rr.org) in Sarasota. Saturday we sail away for a week.

Well, that brings everything up to date. I'm sure I'll have a lot to write about when we get back from the cruise. I will be keeping a journal while we're gone.

Blissfully Normal

This week has been blissfully normal. Monday we went and got new cell phones. Same numbers, just new phones. I'm not sure I like the new ones as well as our old ones, but the batteries (on our old ones) were developing memories and we could get new phones for less than replacement batteries cost. Monday is also laundry day.

Tuesday, we ran a couple errands and I studied for Bible study Thursday. Wednesday, we went shopping for Aunti Vi. She was just too tired to go out. Of course Wednesday night was choir. Thursday was Bible study morning and evening. Like I said this week has been blissfully normal.

Today we worked out in the yard. I managed to get the palms trimmed and the north garden partly weeded. Dan got the front and back yards mown. Normally he does one one day and the other the next day. But it was cool enough today to do both. We also trimmed the fountain grass in the north garden. After I finished, I sat down on the edge of the pool and put my feet in. However, I was so warm I did something I've done only once before since we moved to Florida - I went swimming with my clothes on! I was just too warm to go into the house and change into a swimsuit! The pool is still 85 degrees so it was refreshing.

Tomorrow we're going to a Bon Voyage party at the scrapbook shop that's sponsoring the cruise we're going on. After that, we're heading over to Sanford for the weekend. Taylor is riding in a horse show Sunday and so we're going over to watch. This is the closing event for this session of horseback riding. We'll be back home Sunday evening.

I'll close for now. I just made a cream cheese pecan pie and I need to get it out of the oven.

This week

Nothing much has happened this week. Tuesday morning I woke up and felt "stingy." When I looked in the mirror, I found I had gotten sunburned working outside on Monday! Nothing major, just annoying. We were going to do some more work outside, but overnight the heat and humidity returned so all of our yard projects are on hold until another break in the weather occurs. The air conditioner serviceman came out in the afternoon to do the semi-annual inspection of the air handlers (main unit and the auxiliary on the lanai). Both were in good shape. We had a new unit installed for the lanai in June, but we know in the next 2 years the big unit (which handles the whole house) will probably need to be replaced.

Wednesday we took Aunti Vi shopping in the afternoon and choir in the evening. Thursday was Bible study morning and evening and a dentist appointment in the afternoon. Both Dan and I got good reports from the dentist.

Friday, we went over to Disney's Magic Kingdom. We hadn't been to the Magic Kingdom for quite a while. We've been to the MGM park (now Disney Studio park), the Animal Kingdom and EPCOT multiple times but we hadn't been to the Magic Kingdom. We got there about 5:00 and rode the Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion which has recently undergone a refurbishment. We also had some orange and vanilla ice cream at the Sunshine Terrace which is near the Enchanted Tiki Birds. We left about 7:30. The park was very crowded and the heat and humidity oppressive. We were happy to get home where there is always a breeze and generally 5-10 degrees cooler. The park was open until midnight but we had done what we went over to do. On the way home we stopped at Giordano's to eat. We found out there is a Giordano's about 40 miles from us. Prior to this we thought the closest one was over by Disney. So we stopped at this new one on the way home and had delicious Italian beef sandwiches. We got home about 10:30.

Today we went up to Scrapbooking in Paradise, a scrapbook shop about 25 miles from here. They were having a stamp fest and I wanted to learn more about stamping. We were there about 2 hours and I got all of my questions answered. I also made a cute Halloween page as a make 'n' take.

Well, I must go and study for Bible study.

Enjoying the slower pace

Since last weekend, life has returned to a normal, manageable pace. Last Friday, we went to several scrapbook stores and saved enough to make the 100 mile round trip worthwhile. I found some neat soccer paper and a Quickutz die to make soccer uniforms to embellish the page and also a die for a soccer ball. Now I just have to decide which pics to scrap!!!!

Friday night, we went out to dinner at Lone Star Steakhouse and saw the movie "The Game Plan" starring Dwayne Johnson. The movie is adorable and we'll definitely be adding it to our video library when it comes out on DVD.

Saturday, Eric and Sarah and Connie and Jesse came over for dinner and fellowship. We had a major mishap with dinner. I was taking the ziti bake out of the oven and it slipped and went on the floor. Thank heavens, it landed right side up and the lasagna baking dish that I was baking it in didn't break. About a cup of the pasta spilled out on the floor, but there was definitely more than enough left! Sarah brought a Caesar salad and Connie brought lemon layer cake for dessert. All in all a very satisfying meal. After dinner, Sarah, Connie and I sat at the kitchen table scrapped and watched the NASCAR race along with Dan, Eric and Jesse. Everyone left about 10:30.

Sunday was a quiet day at home. We didn't go to church and in fact, didn't even leave the house until 6:00 PM when we headed to the beach for a walk and sunset.

Today, we worked outside the better part of the day. The weather has finally broken so it's not as warm nor as humid. Dan mowed the front lawn, trimmed the plumbagos and corner bushes as well as trimmed the laurel oak tree out front. I painted the trim around the patio french doors and washed all of the patio furniture. I still need to weed and remulch the north garden bed and weed and remulch the east flower bed. We also took breaks from working and spent time in the pool. It has been a very productive day.

Well, I best close and start thinking about dinner.

Not as busy

This has been a lovely week. After the last 2 weeks, a relatively quiet schedule is welcome! Yesterday, we took Aunti Vi out to lunch to celebrate her birthday since we wouldn't have time today due to Bible study morning and evening. We went a restaurant that's right on the gulf. Nothing fancy, but the food is good. We could sit and watch people walking along the beach, pelicans diving for their food and the ever present variety of sea gulls. There were also a number of boats that went by while we were eating. Aunti Vi really enjoyed herself. She didn't need too many groceries so we stopped and picked them up on the way back to her apartment. We stayed and visited with her a short time and then headed home. We had a couple of hours and then it was time to head for choir. We had a good rehearsal. As we were leaving Eric asked if we were up for ice cream at Coldstone Creamery. We said sure, so we stopped for ice cream on the way home.

This morning's Bible study was wonderful. The ladies had lots of discussion about the homework. Bible study started at 9:30 and finished at 12:30!!! The morning group is much more talkative than the evening group. I think it's because the evening group is mostly made up of ladies who come to Bible study directly from work. They're tired and some of them even bring dinner with them and eat there. I made the "executive" decision to not have any discussion tonight and show last week's DVD session and this week's DVD session. It was 2 hours of DVD teaching with a short break in between. However, the ladies really appreciated seeing the session they missed due to the tape jamming last week.

Tomorrow, several of the scrapbook shops are having sales (25-30% off everything in the stores). I am working on getting all of our trips north since we moved down here scrapped. I also have pictures from the soccer games that J&D played in the day before their dad died. I don't have any soccer paper or embellishments so that's one of the things I'm going to look for tomorrow. The sales are running until Monday, but tomorrow is the only block of time I have to take advantage of the sales. I found a really neat album at Michael's for the trips and other grandson pictures. It's blue denim and very boyish. I had a coupon from Simple Scrapbooking for 20% off the total of any regular priced merchandise. Everything I bought was regular price so I saved over $10!! With 2 trips every year except for this year, I have quite a few pics to scrap. I did finish the first trip in November 2003 last Friday at the crop night at church.

Saturday, Connie and Jesse and Sarah and Eric are coming over for dinner. We'll probably spend some time in the pool before dinner, then eat and watch the NASCAR race. We may get some scrapbooking done too!

Sunday is our normal schedule. We may go to an organ concert at the First Methodist church in the afternoon (if we're awake from our Sunday afternoon naps!).

I'll close for now - this post is long enough!