Happy 4th of July!!

HAPPY 4th of JULY!!!!!! I hope everyone has a relaxing, fun day and finds their own way to celebrate our freedom!!!

We didn't do much today other than unpack and unwind after the trip. We normally celebrate the 4th with Walter's family in Waveland, but decided to stay home and enjoy a quiet weekend.

I have been having such a hard time figuring out how to answer comments that people leave on my page. Do people really go back and look for a response after leaving a comment? Sometimes I email the response to a question, but then I wonder if other people wonder what the answer was. I have decided to answer questions on the following post if anyone comments about something that I think other people might want to hear. There were 2 yesterday, so here is my response:

Mere suggested getting a wrist watch for Sean after the incident on the cruise. I would like to mention that not only did he not have his watch with him, he also did not have his cell phone, passport, or much money, so it would have been a disaster had he missed the ship. I will look into the watch, but am not sure he would wear it!

Kimi (Keykin) asked if I was scared to hold the monkey in the picture and the answer is YES!! The monkey didn't really want me to hold it and kept jumping back to the man. It was free to hold the monkey but $10 if someone wanted to take your picture with it!!! I made sure I held it long enough for a picture! And yes, I did freak about the incident with Sean. I had to go talk to the security people about where we last saw him and they made it very clear that we were sailing with or without him. We learned later that when someone doesn't make it back, they clear out their cabin and leave all their stuff with the Mexican security people so they will have it when they show up. You can imagine how our trip would have been ruined having to sail off without him.

As I expected, I gained my 6 lbs. back while on the cruise (or maybe it followed me there??), so I am back on my Atkins diet today. I intend to lose 15 lbs. (which I haven't managed to do in 5 or more years) and then try to maintain that weight. I am not really overweight except for my stomach and hips and just want to fit into my clothes without anything bulging out over the sides!!! I started off the day right with scrambled eggs and bacon.

Here are some more pictures from the cruise. It was incredible how beautiful and blue the water was, especially in Cozumel.

Claire celebrated her 4th birthday on our last night at sea! The waitstaff on the ship was incredible with the children in our group and really spoiled them rotten!!!
This is my sister-in-law, Mady & I sitting on the deck chillin.
This is the dessert section of the midnight buffet. I have to say that most of the food looked much better than it actually was, which is probably why I only gained 6 lbs. instead of 16!!
Ice sculpture.
Some cool looking squash bird thingies.
Me & Elvis in Progreso.
This is where we spent much of our time just hanging out!
Part of our group in the theater watching a show.
A conga line at dinner - notice Cameron is at the end of the line having a great time!
Cameron, Sean, & Walter.
Shannon & Addie got chosen to play "Sea Feud" which is like Family Feud. The crowd thought it was hilarious that they went up in their bathing suits!!
The staff singing to us on our last night at sea. Notice Shannon & Addie are up there with them!
A hammock that Walter bought for me!
Miniature golf course on the ship.
Blue, blue, blue water!
We docked in Progreso next to the Ecstasy (sailed out of Galveston).
And we docked in Cozumel next to the Triumph (sailed out of Miami). There were 4 cruise ships on the day we were there. They said in the winter, they get up to 11 per day!
Cameron & the monkey.

Home Sweet Home!!

We are back!!! We had a great time, but is sure is nice to be home again!!! The cruise was very relaxing and was extremely entertaining due to having so many family members all there together. Above is our family photo taken on the ship with all but 3 of us in the picture. We went to a lot of shows, activities, ate like crazy, and just sat on the deck relaxing and visiting!

Our room was pretty much just like the pictures I had found on the cruise website and was just perfect for us!! The bed was so comfortable and I slept really well! Our room steward took great care of us and even created some really cute towel animals for us!




Our first shore excursion was in Progreso, Yucatan and was pretty uneventful except for my step-son, Sean, being nearly left there. He went into Progreso with us, but we went back to the ship early and he wanted to stay in the town longer, but didn't manage his time very well. We were supposed to be back on the ship at 3:30pm to sail for 4:00pm, and at 3:58 the ship was preparing to sail without him and he was spotted making his way to the ship and he was allowed to come on board through the employee entrance, since the passenger ramps had been taken in already! It was quite traumatic and we let him know how we felt about it, but thank God he made it back in time. Here are a couple of pictures from Progreso. Notice the picture with the long pier - the cruise ships have to dock about 5 miles off the shore and then have the passengers taken by taxi to the town. The regular stop is in Costa Maya, but it was wiped out by a hurricane last year and wont be available for the cruise ships again until October.



The second shore excursion was in Cozumel and it was wonderful! We went to Paradise Beach for the day (never letting Sean out of our sight!!!) and had a great time there and were able to go shopping on our way back to the ship. Walter & I want to plan a trip back there to be able to spend some time exploring Cozumel.



We are so spoiled now that we are sitting around waiting for someone to prepare a buffet or nice dinner for us, but so far, that hasn't happened!!! I will post some more pictures as I get them downloaded.

I found out this afternoon that my friend, Courtney, got one of the jobs working with me!!! I haven't heard about the 2nd job and I'm guessing someone I don't know must have gotten it. I am SO excited that Courtney will be working with me!!!

See you July 3rd!!

Well blogger friends (and real life friends who read my blog)...this is going to be my last post until after the cruise! I am going to have withdrawals from the internet and text messaging, but it's a vacation and international rates are ridiculous, so i'm cutting myself off from the world until we get back!! Leave me lots of comments while i'm gone!!!

First, some bad news....my diet and I parted ways this morning at a Burger King drive through while Walter & I were running errands. However, my diet and I plan to reunite after the cruise, so this isn't the end of "us!" Around 8:30 this morning we went to Walmart to finish picking up last minute things for the trip, including a bottle of rum that Walter wants to try to sneak on board, so we'll see how that goes! He bought several large bottles of water and will empty them and fill them with rum. Our Walmart has now separated liquor from the rest of the store, so you have to go and pay for it separately. Walter went to get the rum while I went to the check out register and the cashier asked me what was "smart water?" At first I wasn't sure what she was talking about, but after glancing at the water bottles Walter bought to pour his rum in, I realized the brand he bought was "Smart Water." I gave the cashier an embarrassed look and said "I guess he thinks it will make him smarter??" When Walter came back to the register with another employee carrying the bottle of rum because the liquor store wasn't opened yet, I told him about the Smart Water, so while the cashier is ringing up the rum, he mentioned that the liquor store isn't opened yet because "most people don't drink this early in the morning like my wife does." Touche'

Congratulations to my friend, Jan, and her husband, Chris!! They are proud parents of twin girls born on June 24th and weighing in at 4 lbs. each!! Charleigh and Ainsley are both very lucky little girls and I am very excited for this new little family!! I can't wait to see the babies!!! I was able to see some pictures online, but i'm not sure Jan wants me plastering her new babies all over the internet!!!

And something for when I get back...Walter and Cathy BOTH say that they couldn't fall asleep after eating the grilled fish at Kevin's Restaurant last Sunday night! Cathy said it's happened to her several times and I just find that a little wacky!! What could possibly be in the fish to cause insomnia??? I'm ordering that fish next time I go there and testing their theory!!!

We will be back on July 3rd with LOTS of pictures to share!! Everyone have a great weekend!!!

Thursday - 2 more days!!

It's unbelievable that the cruise is almost here! When we first planned it, there were like 300 days until it was time to go!! 2 more days!!! I didn't actually get anything packed last night, but I have a lot of things stacked near the suitcases to pack today. It's hard to decide what I need to bring. Most of the time on a trip, we just plan to buy whatever we might have forgotten, but it wont be as easy to do that this time. Walter took off of work tomorrow so we are going to go shopping and get him some clothes, go by the bank for some cash to bring along, pick up some wine (each person over the age of 21 can bring 1 bottle), and just generally try to figure out what we might be forgetting! We are all so excited! I have to mention to that my 35+ in-laws that are going are awesome people and are so much fun! Walter is the 7th of 8 kids and they are a huge and very close family. Some people complain about their in-laws, but I wouldn't trade mine for the world! I am sad that his brother, Tommy and his wife aren't able to come, but at least his medical news is looking better. The doctors have been trying to rule out a diagnosis of Superior Canal Dehiscene Syndrome (SCDS) as the cause of his extreme dizziness and now think he may have Vestibular Neuritis, which is viral and can be treated with medicine rather than surgery in his ear or brain. So, we will miss them, but i'm glad the news is better for him. My sister-in-law, Babet, and I decided today that Tommy & his wife can go with us NEXT year, because we are going back!!

I never showed off my cute pedicure that I got in Houston with my sister. Everyone laughs at me because I always want a decoration on my big toenails. When I asked for a flower, the lady asked my sister if she wanted one too and Donna said "no." I said, "no, she's not 5 years old!" What can I say? It makes me happy!! And my feet sure are tan! LOL

I am so aggravated at myself because at dinner with my friends last night, without thinking, I drank regular Dr. Pepper, which is my usual drink of choice. On Atkins, you can't have sugar at all or it pretty much messes up everything! I have been drinking unsweetened tea, but didn't even think about it last night!! I am still at 154, which is fine, but wanted to have a couple more days to maybe lose another pound. My friends all noticed that i've lost weight and I can tell too since my clothes aren't bulging at the sides. I really don't have a lot of weight to lose and only want to look fit and healthy. I am still going to stick to the diet until Saturday morning, and i'm sure i'll get back on it when we get home next week because i'm sure to have gained back all 6 lbs. plus some on the cruise!

Anyway, the dinner with my friends last night was great! We went to the Cheesecake Bistro in Baton Rouge. I ate a Cobb Salad and wasn't even tempted when they all split a strawberry cheesecake. My friend, Jessica is expecting a baby boy who is due at the end of July and she found out after having some pain the other day that the baby broke one of her ribs!!! Poor thing! She was able to make it last night, as well as Judith, Courtney, & Kelly. It was really good to see everyone and catch up!

Walter & Cameron went to get haircuts this afternoon and then YES, tonight is steak night!!!! Walter, Cathy, Brent & I went to eat at Hilltop and it was so good! I was the only one who got a steak, but who's complaining?? It's truly my FAVORITE and I look forward to it all week!!

Here are some questions I was sent. Feel free to blog them yourself!

These are some things you might not know about me:

FOUR jobs I've had:
1. Burger King Cashier
2. Winn Dixie Cashier
3. Office Manager
4. Administrative Assistant

FOUR movies I could watch over and over:
1. An Officer and a Gentleman
2. Dirty Dancing
3. Honeysuckle Rose
4. Sex and the City

FOUR placed that I have lived:
1. East Point, Georgia
2. Birmingham, Alabama
3. Baton Rouge, Louisiana
4. Murfreesboro, Tennessee

FOUR TV Shows I love to watch:
1. Curb Your Enthusiam
2. Seinfeld
3. Everybody Loves Raymond
4. King of Queens

FOUR places I've been on vacation:
1. Gatlinburg, Tennessee
2. Pensacola, Florida
3. Waveland, Mississippi
4. Houston, Texas

FOUR websites I visit daily:
1. Perez Hilton
2. Myspace
3. Facebook
4. Gmail

FOUR of my favorite foods:
1. Steak
2. Chocolate
3. Macaroni & Cheese
4. Fried Okra

FOUR places I'd rather be:
1. On a cruise
2. At the beach
3. On the river
4. At a restaurant

FOUR of my favorite things:
1. Mail
2. My laptop
3. My pets
4. My pool

Wednesday

One thing that I notice about me and blogging - if something I talk about doesn't happen, I just don't mention it again!! And i'm sure at some point someone must wonder...whatever happened with that?? I weighed this morning and I still weigh 154, so I wasn't going to mention it, but thought twice!! On the Atkins diet in the past, I usually lost weight every day or every other day in that first phase, of course, I'm not complaining about losing 6 lbs. already, and I think no matter what diet you're on you have to do some activity during the day to lose any weight. I spent the last 2 days at dentists or in bed, so i'm sure why nothing's happening, but I didn't gain anything back either! This morning I went swimming in the pool a little and will be doing housework all day, so i'm sure that will kick my body in gear! I'm already past my goal of losing 5 lbs. before the cruise, so i'm happy no matter what!!

As for the root canal, what a relief that was!!! I have had absolutely no pain since the Endodontist numbed my mouth! No pain during the procedure or since. I feel a little soreness if I bite something on that side of my mouth, but that is no big deal. I was prepared to take a pain pill last night and decided to wait and see if it started to hurt, but didn't even end up taking my Ibuprophen. And yeah, i'm relieved because if Lesley's 9 year old son didn't have any pain after his root canal, how am I going to look if I say i'm in pain??? I couldn't let him out-do me!

I am spending this morning doing laundry and packing for the cruise!!! Only 3 more days!! I couldn't be any more excited it!!! At the same time, being an anxious person like I am, there are a million things to do and that stresses me out!!! There are about 40 of us going from Walter's family and they are all booking their shore excursions, so we need to get busy with that, I have lined up someone to feed my cats/get the mail, emailed an emergency contact number to whoever might need it (especially my next door neighbor who is overly involved in my life!!), asked the next door neighbor not to harrass or shoot the person coming to feed my cats/get the mail, shopped for motion sickness medicine, gathered our passports and boarding documents, got the letter from my ex-husband authorizing me to travel to Mexico with Cameron, called our cell phone company about international rates and packages, and still need to do a million more things! My 22 year old step-son, Sean, is coming with us also and plans to meet us here Saturday morning before 11. Sean is habitually late and i'm a little stressed about that, but Walter and I have agreed and have told Sean that we will NOT wait if he isn't here. He can drive to New Orleans and pay his own parking ($15/day) if he isn't here on time. We've offered that he can spend the night Friday night and be assured to be on time, so we'll see. I am not missing the boat!!!

My 24 year old son, JP, is in the Harris County jail in Texas, where I visited him this past weekend. I recently found out and spread the news that his trial that was scheduled for July 14 has been reset until December 1st. I've had a couple of comments here and several emails from people who are surprised at how long away the new date is. The sad thing is that this is the reality of having so many people in the prison system there. Someone "had priority" over his case and got his court date and other trials are already scheduled for the next 6 months. I would imagine some high profile case got JP's spot, but if i've learned anything over the last 16 months, patience is a requirement to get through a situation like this. His attorney told me from the beginning that this process takes years, and I believe her! I am trusting God in this whole process and have long since turned this over to Him. Several months after the last trial was supposed to start and was reset, our investigator found a lot of information and witnesses that backed up some of JP's story. Had the trial happened then, none of the new information would have been available and there would have been nothing to back up his version of the story. It is overwhelming to me how many people are in the county jails there. I was looking around on the internet today at different stories about Harris County and came across this 2006 statistic. I know a lot of these people deserve to be in jail, but many of them probably don't. This may be a morbid topic to some people, but it is currently my reality. JP did participate in a crime after being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but I feel (and hope a jury agrees) that he has served his time when the trial finally happens. Anyway, here are the numbers:

Walter has started working on his latest project - building a catwalk and pier in the backyard. We live on a river and currently have to borrow the neighbor's pier to fish. We built the house ourselves (it took 15 months!!) and moved in May 2007. There are still a million projects to do, but we take them as we can! Walter's brother did come out Sunday with his tractor to grade the front yard, which now I know really means turn it into mud!! Here is a view of the beginnings of the catwalk that will lead to the pier. It is right along the side of the boatslip if you can't see it.

Tonight I am going to meet some of my graduate school friends for dinner! We try to get together every month and It's always so great to see them! The bond we all have is incredible, and we are all so very different! We range in ages from 25 - 46, some married, some single, some with kids, some not, but we formed relationships during our 2 years in grad school that will last the rest of our lives, I believe. In the picture below - top row: Kelly, Courtney, Becky, Christine B., & me. Bottom row: Jessica, Judith, & Christine W. Even more exciting, FIVE of them are considering interviewing for 2 job openings in my office!! Yay!! I expect to hear who got hired shortly after the cruise and I hope it's one or two of them!!!

I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!!

9 more days!!!!!

Only 9 more days until the cruise!! I am SOOOOOOOOO excited that I don't know if I can make it until then!! This is our first cruise and hopefully not our last!!! Walter & I are bringing Sean & Cameron this time and then might look for a special and go on another one alone sometime next year. I found out that I have to bring a notarized letter from Cameron's dad in order for him to disembark in Mexico (where both of our shore excursions are). Apparently, if a minor is not traveling with both natural parents, the absent parent has to write a letter giving their "ok," so Neil is getting a letter notarized for me to take with us. Here are some pictures of the different staterooms, as promised for my friend, Jan. She has sailed on the same cruise ship before and didn't remember the Balcony and Penthouse suites. When I come back, I will verify if they really exist or not!!

Above is the type of room that we got for Cameron & Sean to share - an interior stateroom.
This is the oceanview stateroom.
This is supposed to be what we reserved for Walter & me - oceanview balcony suite.
This is what most of Walter's family rented - penthouse suites.

Now, along with my excitement is also a bit of anxiety/panic! BESIDES the anxiety/panic that I already have from being scared to get off the boat in Mexico (because I might get left behind!!), is the problem that i've gained back the 5 lbs. I lost recently PLUS a couple. 9 days left and I'm going to look like a beached whale in my bathing suit. My friend, Kelly, asked me the other day how much weight i've lost and I said "oh no, it's ok, I FOUND it!!" I pondered what to do this morning and thought back to several years ago when my friend, Lesley, and I lost a lot of weight on the Atkins diet. I know that I didn't eat great on the diet (lots of bacon, pork rinds, etc.), but I lost 20 lbs. rather quickly. I looked into the South Beach diet several months ago and it says you can eat steaks but NOT ribeyes - HELLO?? Steak night is a 10 oz. ribeye and I live for steak night!!! So anyway, some of my best thoughts come to me in the bathtub and this morning I was pondering the diet while relaxing in the tub. I started thinking about how healthy it would be to eat a lot of salad instead of the fatty foods and for 9 days until the cruise, it wouldn't be hard to do at all. The hardest part about the diet to me was that Walter didn't want to do it, so cooking at home becomes an issue, but i'm going to be gone to Houston all this weekend and am meeting friends twice next week for dinner, so i'm not going to be cooking much for him until after the cruise. So there. It's done! I printed out the acceptable food list this morning and instead of my Kashi Honey Almond Flax cereal (that my friend, Kelly, says takes jaws of steel to eat), I had 2 scrambled eggs! And i'll let you know how it goes!

I am going downtown to have lunch this afternoon with my friend, Terri. Our housekeeper is coming today, so I usually try to plan some things to do out of the house so I don't get in her way and then it is awesome to come home and find it much cleaner than the way I left it!

And of course, tonight is steak night!!! Walter & Cathy don't have to go to the meeting about the fire station tonight, thank goodness!! The meeting went ok last night and nobody is really sure about what is going on with the new fire station yet. If they do build one on our street, they said that most of the calls are medical in our area and the big fire truck rarely goes out. It would be nice to have help so close by if we needed it. We will see what happens!

This has really been a busy week! I am heading to Houston tomorrow to visit JP and spend some time with my sister, and I feel like i've been running around all week long! JP likes me to visit on weekend mornings when it is quieter there, so that is what I am planning to do. The visits only last 20 minutes, so it is a lot of driving for a tiny bit of time, but seeing him is worth it. He thinks if I tell them I am from out of state that I could visit for 30 minutes, so I will ask. My hotel is about 5 minutes from my sister's house, so it works out that I have plenty of time to hang out with her too when i'm in town. Walter's brother is coming over with his tractor to help Walter do some work in the yard, so I will be going solo to Houston, which is fine! I have gotten to be a big girl and with my GPS, I can go anywhere and do anything!!!

Have a great Thursday!!

Steak night!!!

It's steak night!! The night of the week that gets me through all the others anticipating steak night at Hilltop! It is truly the best restaurant i've ever been to and I could eat there every night! Walter and I went by ourselves tonight due to Cathy's car trouble, but went by Cathy & Brent's later for a drink.

I had a dentist appointment this morning to get a crown and let me tell you...that was fun!! I had 2 appointments scheduled this month and I thought I was just going for a cleaning today! Surprise!! Afterwards, me & my friend, Kelley had lunch at Calender's and then visited our friend, Jan, who is now hospital bound until her twins are born. Kelley and I were both social work interns at the same hospital, so we managed to visit with several of our former supervisors while we were there. We both enjoyed interning at "Better Beginnings" which was a Medicaid clinic for pregnant women and found out recently that the clinic was shut down. It is a real shame and the effects of that decision are already affecting the hospital. Women are showing up to deliver babies and have had no prenatal care and rather than Medicaid paying for visits to the clinic and doctor, they will pay rates for the Assessment Center, which is an emergency room!

Miracles do happen! I saw this story in People magazine about Elizabeth Smart. I was so fascinated with her case and just knew she would never be found alive. I am glad she is sharing her story to help other people. She really is a miracle. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20205956,00.html?xid=rss-topheadlines

My friend, Michelle, asked about our cruise T-shirts, so here they are:

So anyway, I went to PetSmart today to pick up some kitten food and while I was there, asked the veterinarian about medicine to use for kittens with diarrhea. When kittens go from nursing to eating food, it is common, but could also be caused by parasites, so I wanted to ask about it. After talking to the vet for a few minutes, she said that she was so happy that I was helping the kittens that she would see them all 5 for free and would only charge me to do some testing on 1 of them to see if they need medicine!! Yay! Now, if I could just find a solution for the 4 cats outside. They are starving and need to be taken somewhere, but the animal shelter that would take them is a "kill shelter" and if they aren't adopted soon, they will be put to sleep. I'm determined to avoid that if possible. I did get 1 call today about the kittens, but the lady wanted a female Siamese to breed with her male Siamese. Thankfully, I don't have one of those and don't want any extra kittens being produced on purpose!!! I am hoping for more calls this weekend!