Wishin' I was there.....

We're Back!!!!

We had a fabulous time on our cruise. We got to see and do many exciting things. Our first port was Cozumel. We rode mini jeeps on the beach to a park called Punta Sur. We saw a salt water crocodile, an ancient temple, and a lighthouse. Then we did some snorkeling and saw some really neat fish. Our next stop was Roatan Island where we visited the beautiful Gumbalimba Park. We took clear kayaks out on the ocean and then did some snorkeling. The park also had parrots and monkeys that we got to hold. Then we went to Belize where we visited the Altun Ha Mayan ruins. They were so amazing! Then we took a boat down the Belize River where we saw howler monkeys, crocodiles, and iguanas. Our last stop was the Bahamas. There we went to an awesome dolphin sanctuary where we got to swim and interact with two very intelligent dolphins. We couldn't have asked for a better vacation. We enjoyed the activities on the boat as well and the time to relax in warm weather.
P.S. THEY DO EXIST!!!! (we saw lots of pirates--in case you were wondering)
More pictures to come as I get them!

Pirates of the Caribbean

As Neil and I are preparing for our cruise to the Caribbean beginning on Saturday, I had an interesting conversation with my brother. He mentioned that there is a theory out there that relates pirates to global warming. The theory goes that the number of pirates is directly related to global warming. When there is a decrease in pirates the effects of global warming increases and vice versa. If you don’t believe me, check out this very convincing chart (please note the website source).
So my question is: Because it has been a very harsh winter and we even had snow on May 1, does that mean that the number of pirates has increased thus lessening the effects of global warming? The reason I bring this up is well just for fun and who knows maybe pirates will take over our cruise ship. Bon voyage.

Grillin'

At last I have some pictures to share. The first one is self explanatory. But I do have to point out a few things. First, notice how many candles are on his cake! He sure it getting old. I told Neil that he couldn't have any more birthdays because I would have to buy another box of candles. Then his little brother piped in and said, "You'll just have to buy him the ones with the numbers." So Neil has hit the point where he will have to just have numbers on his cake instead of candles representing each year of his life. I guess I shouldn't give him too hard of a time, I'll be there soon enough. Second, notice his new hat. For those of you who knew him in High School, he always wore his Team Canada hockey hat. You were required to respect the hat. Well, you should see it now. It's not even black anymore. So I spent hours searching for an exact replica. Because previous hats I've bought for him just would not do. I found one very close and had to order it all the way from Canada. But it sure looks good.

Now for his best birthday present, he got a grill!!! We have been wanting one for a long time. So over the weekend we christened our new grill. We bought delicious steaks, set up our lawn chairs on our back porch and had our first barbecue of the season. I'm not usually a barbecuing type of girl. I don't even eat the traditional barbecue foods (I don't eat a lot of red meat) but in the spirit of our new grill, I sure enjoyed my steak.

Lights Out

It sure has been an interesting week. Neil celebrated his birthday this week. He sure is getting old, he now uses a whole box of candles. Then he took off to Laramie, Wyoming to install a heating/air conditioning system in a Chili’s. I’ve sure missed him but at least Laramie is getting a Chili’s. It seems like nature’s law when the man of the house who fixes everything is gone—things break. Or in my case the power goes out in the wee hours of the morning. I didn’t miss my alarm or anything due to my insomnia I was very awake hours before the alarm was suppose to go off. When I realized the power was off, I just waited in bed until it was time to get up and tried to figure out how I was going to get ready. I ended up carrying all my makeup into the kitchen and put on my makeup with light from the kitchen window. Then I got dressed in the dark. I literally had to go into my closet pull something out randomly bring it into the light to see if it was acceptable to wear. Why didn’t I use the flashlight that I keep in my nightstand drawer for such occasions? The batteries were dead and I would have had to have a flashlight to find new batteries. Good thing there was some light coming in through the windows, or I would have been in a lot of trouble. I was avoiding doing my hair because unfortunately blow-dryers don’t run off of batteries. I was hoping the power would come on before I had to do my hair. No such luck. So I had to put in some gel and scrunch it. Then came the most challenging part. How was I going to get my car out of the garage? I seriously was imagining the phone call I was going to have to make to my supervisor telling her that I couldn’t come into work because I was trapped in my own house. So I tried pushing the garage door button anyway, hoping it would just open. Nothing. So I ventured into the dark and scary garage to try to open the door myself. I’ve seen it done before. Well, it doesn’t budge. I call Neil to ask for his advice. Apparently, there is a bright red release cord hanging in the center near the garage door. He told me to pull it and the garage door opened up very easily. What a relief. The sad thing is that I know I knew that there was a release but in my panic I just forgot. I’m sure Neil’s co-workers got a great laugh out of my plight. Well, as I am about to head out the door, the power comes on. Seriously, could the timing have been any better? After all that, the power just comes back on, at least it could have waited until I left, so I wouldn’t have felt so dumb about the garage door “incident.” Anyway, I pulled out of the garage and decide that since the power is back on I could use my clicker to close it. Push the button several times and nothing happens. So I have to get out of my car and start closing it. Due to the rain last night it was muddy. So my hands get dirty and it stops halfway down and won’t budge. I panic again. I can’t leave it half open. I didn’t want to make anymore embarrassing phone calls, so I try the only thing I could think of, I tried pushing my clicker again and it worked! I don’t know why it didn’t work in the first place. Although, now that I think about it, I’m sure it was some sort of safety mechanism or something that stopped it. Needless to say, I still made it to work fairly on time.

The moral of the story is: check your batteries in your flashlights often and invent a blow-dryer that has a battery back-up.

Psychoanalysis

During the last few weeks, I have noticed that there are several areas in my life that I would like to do better. First, I want to be less shy. I am terribly shy to the point that it causes much anxiety and stress. I would love to be more out-going but I never know what to say or what to do in certain situations. I am definitely a people watcher. I typically sit back in groups to listen and observe everyone else. It is not until I know someone well enough, that I can begin to develop a relationship with that person. However, I think that has caused me to miss out on a lot of great potential friendships with people. So as nerve racking as this may be, I want to learn to be less shy and more out-going. Any suggestions?

Second, this ties in with my first self improvement goal. I want to be less self-conscious. I seriously am always worried what people think of me. Thus, I don’t like to open up to someone until I think they will like me. I usually wake up in the middle up night with a severe anxiety attacks worried that something I said to so and so may have been interpreted wrong or I did something that will make someone think I was strange. I always worry how I look, what I say, what I do and how it will be interpreted. Strangely, I still feel like I have great self-esteem. I know who I am, what I will become and where I am going. Which makes me feel great! So being self-conscious doesn’t make me feel bad about myself but I just have a strong desire to present my best self at all times. Who doesn’t? But does everyone worry to the extent that I do?

Finally, and most importantly at the moment. I really want to learn how to fold a fitted bottom bed sheet. Every Saturday morning I wash our bed sheets, and put on the new ones. But then I have to fold the sheets when they come out of the dryer. I have never been able to fold the fitted sheet. Usually, I would just haphazardly fold it and put it away. But I really want to be able to fold it nicely so when I have a linen closet all the sheets will fit in nicely. I am an expert at folding towels and clothes just not that fitted bed sheet. Neil usually helps me fold the laundry and I always try to fold everything else so he will end up with the fitted sheet but I think he does the same thing. I know this sounds silly but if you saw how I fold it you would laugh.

I'm Graduated

Today, I officially graduated from CERT (Community Emergency Response Team). I volunteered at work to become certified and I spent 3 hours a week for the last two months in training. I completed the "final scenario" today. There was an earthquake and we had to extinguish fires, triage, perform medical care, search and rescue and use cribbing to get a patient out underneath 3 slabs of concrete (or tables). I sure learned a lot and now I have a lot of "cool" green gear that I can use to rescue people in an emergency.

I'm sure it was pretty entertaining for anyone who was in the Spectrum today. Watching groups of people running around with green hard hats, green vests, goggles, gloves, and green backpacks. We sure got a few funny looks.