Labadee!

Let me tell you, it’s hard to imagine such a beautiful place in such a poor desolate country. But there it is. Can’t believe that it’s Haiti, but it is. Sad to think that just outside the borders of this place there are people who have nothing more than dirt to survive on.

This is Dragon’s Point, what a great look out spot. So nice.

We had the ship’s barbeque lunch (burgers, dogs, chicken, ribs). Then swam in the warm water for a while. Ahhh...

The locals also have a market set up for you to shop in. One interesting thing, all the things you leave behind, sunglasses, towels, etc, the locals re-sell at the shop. I can't tell you how many used pair of Crocs I saw for sale there. Interesting.

But this place was so nice, we would go again and again.

The next place was Ocho Rios. We went there last year, so we stayed on the ship and enjoyed some time just laying by the pool. I did get up early and went to the Helio Deck to watch Capt. Johnny dock the ship. That was pretty neat.

Well, back to reality for now.

Cruise Talk Part 1

Where do I start? It was such a packed week. Our first day was at sea, and we spent it relaxing, lounging, checking out the ship, etc.

For lunch, on a whim, DH and I decided to check out the dining room, not something we normally do. They had Fajitas as the lunch special and I had the open-faced steak sandwich, and they were both very tasty. But what made it even more interesting was our lunch companions. Some of you old, old, old-time Tampa Bay residents may remember Arch Deal. He was the channel 10 anchor back in the 70’s and did traffic reports in the 80’s and early 90’s I think. He was there with his brother, and man did he have some stories to tell. He and DH closed the place down, talking and chatting. That was really cool.

We had good table mates for dinner, too. A young couple from Tennessee who was very sweet. Another young couple from London, who were there for 2 weeks back to back cruises (lucky!) But they disappeared after the 2nd night, so we don’t know what happened to them. And the third couple was around our age, from Kissimmee. So, lots of good conversations there, too.

And of course, no cruise trip is complete without a trip to Johnny Rockets, which we did at around midnite the first night. Yummy burgers and shakes. Sigh. Check out the unlimited rings and fries. Oh, we ate so much. I’m in major diet mode this week. EEK!

I'll leave you with a few more pictures. The first is Capt. Johnnie, a real cool dude. He even brings his Harley on board and rides it around in port. The awesome dining room (three levels!), and a pic of our favorite bar, the Wig and Gavel. We always ended up there after dinner.

I'm back, did you miss me?

Yeah, I know, not really! LOL!

Just checking in real quick, while DH makes dinner. Enchilada, my favorite, yum!

Well, today is Memorial Day, and I spent it watching, what else? War pictures! They Were Expendable and Best Years of Our Lives for starters. Just a small way to keep in mind the sacrifices 100s of 1000s have made over the years to keep us free.

I also watched Capote. Interesting movie. I liked it, but not sure if I loved it, KWIM?

It's always hard to come back from Vacation and go back to work, but that is what I will have to do. Sigh. We had so much fun.

I do feel like the fashion police. Ever read Glamour Dont's? Boy, do I have some Don'ts!

1) If you are going to wear a white bathing suit, please make sure it's lined.
2) Honey, I know you're young and you want to look cute like the rest of your friends. But big girls like us do NOT wear bikinis. Just don't.
3) I hope you and "Ethan" are still together 40 years from now. Or else that Tramp Stamp is going to look pretty ridiculous around the nursing home, ain't it?
4) Make sure on the last nite, before you put your luggage out, that you keep some normal clothes. Clubbin' clothes at 9am does not look becoming, just slutty.
5) Platform Stillettos and 50 mph winds do NOT mix.
6) NO SPEEDOS!!! This isn't San Tropez or the South of France. I really don't want an outline of the family jewels, if you KWIM? Us Americans have rather, em, delicate sensibilities to things like that.
7) hmmm... not sure if a 4 year old really "knows" what that shirt from Carlos n Charlies really means... And if he does, oh boy!!!!
8) Um...didn't Rat Tails go out around 1989? (And this was on a female!)

Actually, it was a fun week. Got some cute stories to tell, which I will save for later in the week. Here's my favorite DH picture to leave with you...

By the way, if anyone has any cheap photo codes, like from York or Clark or one of those, send it over to me. I've got about 350 pics I need to upload!! TIA!

Good Morning, Bloglits

Don't ask me what that means, I stole it from Dave Barry's 24 Blog. haha!

Well, it's vacation time. And just a few hours we'll be on our way to the port. About 12 hours from now, We'll be sitting down to a nice dinner, being waited on hand and foot, and will watch the world just sail away!

Last night was our annual block party. A pretty decent turnout, but alot of new faces. The food was excellent. Tony made pulled pork, chicken, hot dogs, brats, hamburgers. Lots of good side dishes. Very Yummy. A little sad, though, because we know this will be our last party with Monica and Sue. Monica closes on her house in Atlanta on the 5th, and the house here on June 30th. They are both original Drunco people, so our group won't feel the same without them.

Last CSI comment for the season (and probably for good!): My Warrick!!! Not my Warrick!!!! How can they just kill my eye candy like that. UGGG!!!!

Well, I have to go finish Grey's (makes me wish I had a laptop), and get ready to leave. Have a great week!

How was your Mother's Day?

Hope everyone had a Happy Mother’s Day. Dh and I made the rounds, took his mom to Honey’s. They have this “Garbage Plate” loaded with fries and nachos and cheese and chili and chicken, so good. DH and I split it and were full by the time we finished it. Then we brought some wings to his grandmother’s house, and gave her, her gift, and his step-mom dropped by and we gave her, her gift. Gift Cards for everyone this year, just made it easy, with going on vacation next week, and everything being hectic. So, I hope all you moms out there got something special!

You know, I’m still watching CSI, but why I have no idea. You know a show has “jumped the shark”, when one of the characters starts talking about “jumping the shark”. I’m just holding out to see what they are going to do with my Warrick (Gary Dourdan), since he is leaving after this season, and then I am done with it. I haven’t watched Grey’s yet (or Lost), because I recorded them off the HD, and DH has been watching baseball all weekend. How about those Rays by the way? Still takes everything not to say “Devil Rays”, but oh, well!

Well, I am getting ready for my vacation. Did some power shopping at Macy’s on Saturday. Everything 50% off. Got a gorgeous purple sequined top, originally $89, marked down to $11!!! Then I found DH a nice dress shirt (a lavender/salmon cross, hard to describe) at Casual Male for $20. Bargains galore. Another good thing? The boss is leaving for Montana tomorrow and won’t be back until the 28th. YAY!

Hope everyone has a good week.

RATS!!!!!!

Real ones. In our building. HELP!!!!! Deb and I were coming back from lunch the other day, and there were some people hanging outside the restroom. We went to see what was going on and found a out about a 12” rat, with about a 2 inch tail was seen crawling out of the plumbing crawspace. Ohmigod, can I just faint right now? I don’t handle creatures well at all. Egads.

But here’s the funny part. About an hour later, I see a lady from our building management and a guy with a pest control shirt were standing outside the bathroom. And he refuses to go in!!! Kept saying, nope, I’m not going in there. DUDE! You’re a pest control guy, that’s your job. I mean, isn’t St. Pete known for having a lot of fruit rats, especially in this part of town? You’d think he’d know how to deal with it. Well, apparently SOMEONE went in and sealed up the plumbing door. Which means the rat (and his 100 closest friends and relatives) are still probably in the walls somewhere. One of my co-workers made a comment to watch out for the kitchen, there are sure to be some holes in there to climb through. Lovely!

If you haven’t tried the breakfast at Wendy’s...Well, don’t bother. I wanted to go to the Sangwich shop around the corner from us. They have breakfast sandwiches, and have fairly decent Cubans, so I thought I might get some Cuban toast. I’ve been craving it for weeks. But they weren’t open, boo-hoo. So, I drove up to Wendy’s, they just started serving breakfast a few months ago. Eh, nothing to write home about. My eggs especially were rubbery. Hate that! I’ll stick to my Egg McMuffins, thank you very much. AH, well. I guess I’ll wait for lunch time.

Derby Day

This is actually the first Kentucky Derby I've missed in the last several years. I was down in Ruskin with the Hilltop girls, cropping and having fun. To tell you the truth, I'm actually glad I missed it. How heartbreaking to lose a horse like that.

I'm an animal lover in general, but I do love horses. One of my "win the lotto" dreams is to own a horse or two (or three or more...). And my grandmother hails from Kentucky, and my grandfather owned several horses on his farm when I was little. And yes, I have the obligatory "on top of the horse" pic. that my mom took when I was about 3 months old. So Derby Day has always been kind of a special event in our house.

DH told me what happened when I got home Saturday nite. I wished he hadn't. I ended up with bad dreams. But I guess he figured I'd see it on the news eventually anyway, which I did. The experts are saying that all these injuries are a result of breeding. Too many muscles on top, and too skinny legs on the bottom to support all that extra muscle. It's so sad, really. I thought science was to improve on something, not make it worse? Well, I really don't know too much, just my (very) novice opinion. But it is something I think I will study more on.

I'm playing hooky today. Well, not really. I've felt under weather for the last few days. An earache, some post-nasal stuff, aches and pains, fatigue. DH made me go to the walk-in clinic today. He's worried I'll have some kind of disease and they won't let me on the boat. Diagnosis? Bad Allergies. I went with DH to Bananas on Friday, which is really just an old warehouse off 22nd Ave. I think I got overwhelmed by the all the dust and mildew and probably mold too. The smell hits you when you first walk in the door. So, at least I don't have any bugs, which I guess is good. I got a script for Flonase and picked up some Zyrtec and went on my way.

Had a real fun time at Hilltop. I worked on my Bo-Bunny album I bought in Sarasota, and it looks really cute. Got to see most of the gang, of course. I laughed so hard at Kip, who thought for sure that someone stole her magnets. How funny.

Well, I'm going to go lay in bed and watch movies the rest of the day.