God Bless everyone who works in the medical field....

Our Saturday evening turned out much differently than expected. We went over to Kevin's brother's house to get to see some cousins who had come in town from Kansas City, and finally meet their little boy - he is such a cutie! We had a good time visiting with them and watching all the kids play. When the evening was winding down (pretty soon after we got there since the kids were wiped out from swimming), K's brother (Keith) and cousin decided to throw the football around one more time, and Keith went to catch a pass and landed HARD on his shoulder. He had dislocated it, so we rushed off to the Urgent Care center nearby. They were open but had already locked the doors. I knocked on the doors til someone finally came and they said that we needed to go to the ER, so off we go (why were they closing early??? arg - reminds me of when I was trying to help my little sis and the first urgent care place we went to WAS closed) . We got to the ER and he was triaged and taken back immediately. Things slowed down from there since he was one of 30 beds. We tried to keep his mind off it by making him laugh and talking to him but I know he was in a lot of pain, even with pain meds. Once he got an x-ray and they knew exactly what they were dealing with (had to verify there were no fractures and what angle it had dislocated), they were able to put it back in place and then just had to keep him for observation. When he woke up from those meds he didn't believe us that they had already fixed his shoulder. Kevin and I were able to see the x-rays (and the big bump on his shoulder) and it was obvious that something was not quite right. All told we were there about 3 hours, and then he got to go home and sleep in his own bed. He'll take it easy the rest of the weekend.

His wife had stayed home with the nephew and we kept her updated, we even had a phone in the room that she could call - handy since our reception was not very good in the hospital. I have to laugh that we were taking camera-phone pictures and they were loaded to facebook today. A whole different way to share news and stories.

He half-jokingly told us he wanted us to fix his arm, just to make the pain go away. I don't think I could do it even if I had to and am so glad we have people who are trained and can help when we have something wrong with our bodies.

We were very glad we were able to help, after all that is what family is for!

Here is hoping the rest of our weekend is LESS exciting!

Memorial Day Weekend

When I got home from work on Friday, there was a small flag placed at the end of each driveway in our neighborhood. It was a small, but significant, reminder of why we have a holiday each year at the end of May. All the flags really were a beautiful sight. While we tend to think of BBQ, graduations, pools and the beginning of Summer this weekend, I'm reminded to think of all the men and women who have served and died for us to have these freedoms.

Camping

We had a great time camping this past weekend! We went with Kevin's brother and family, including our almost-5-year-old nephew. They had found a great place to camp, Wolf Creek Park on Lake Livingston and found the best spot in the park. Its a larger spot so you have more space between you and the other campers and at the back is a little trail through the woods to an open field, making a great place to run and play - especially nice since it was the one place we could let our dog off-leash. Poor thing, he did not have as much fun, being tied up the whole time. He managed to eat through one leash, but then found himself tied up with a rope. You can't feel too badly for him though, he was with us the entire weekend and had lots to sniff and explore.

This was the first time I've been camping in over a decade, and it was quite a bit different from when I went with Girl Scouts. There was still a hike to the bathrooms, and I remember why I had to wear socks and shoes, flip-flops may be comfortable but they are not easy to walk up and down hills in, and I kept finding all the ant piles. I did not miss dunk-bags or sharing a tent with a bunch of other people. I do wish I had brought a lantern, we had a flashlight but even the kiddie lantern was brighter. I want one - its safe since its made for kids, so i won't have to worry about burning myself and puts out a lot of light!

It was hotter than we'd like, but not too bad and even pleasant enough we got cold during the night (I was thinking Kevin was crazy for wanting to bring a blanket, but was glad we did).

Each evening, we took showers and the showers were not really clean - they're basically outside so there are dead bugs in them and you had to push a button about every 20 seconds to get water to come out, but it was hot water (scalding in the boys' case) and it felt so good you did not care what the shower looked like. It was the best shower I've taken in a long time just because it felt so good to wash off and cool off. We also had a fire each night, I love campfires...

It was nice to be out and away from everything and just get to spend time with family. Except for Hurricane Ike, this weekend was the longest stretch of time we've spent with our nephew, and much better circumstances. He has quite an imagination, always making up stories and loves following his Uncle Kevin. We had a great time with everyone, and were able to have some camping staples - s'mores, all cooked by our nephew. He liked to roast the marshmallows but wouldn't eat them, and had a sno-cone at the store in the park....I cannot remember the last time i had a sno-cone, and it was a good one!

We'll definitely go back, when its cooler....

Houston Roller Derby

This month is flying by!

Last night I was finally able to check out Houston Roller Derby with my hubby and my sister. Lucky for us, my sister had heard a player being interviewed on the radio and they mentioned something about bringing chairs, so we did. I'd also put a question on my facebook to get some feedback, and heard from a ocuple of people who had been. facebook may be a timewaster but can also be a quick way to get a question answered when you don't really know who to ask.

The chairs were just what we needed! It is held at Kick's (indoor soccer field) so there are some bleachers, but to get up close you either sit in a chair you brought, sit on the floor, or stand. None of us wanted to sit on the floor or stand for several hours, so those chairs were worth their weight in, well not gold, but something more than what canvas is worth!

We got there early enough to get seats up front, and had a great time watching the bouts. Its a full contact sport, and from someone who could barely ever skate, seeing what they can do on skates is really fun to see (all were wearing old school skates, no roller blades). It was a fun atmosphere, I said later that it is sort of a sport for people who usually don't like sports. Its very unique and the people-watching is fun too. I won't claim to understand all the rules, but was glad I read a short overview of the rules so I understood the basic idea.

Kevin also had a lot of opportunity to play with his camera, trying to get some action shots of the girls. Can't wait to see how they turned out.

If you get a chance, check it out! with these recommendations:

• figure out where the free parking is so you don't have to valet
• get there early
• bring chairs and cash (if you want something to drink)
• dress comfortably and for warm weather, it gets hot in that place with all the people in there

Giveaway Winner

and the winner is....#2 Shooting Stars Mag. I'll contact you directly about your prize.

Thanks for all the entries, I am certain that is the most comments I've ever gotten on a posting.

Carol

Cruise Activities

ahh...to be back on the cruise, we've been a week and while it is good to be home, the relaxation I felt that week is quickly becoming only a memory.

As promised, here are our photos. There was so much for us to do on the ship, we had an easy time entertaining ourselves during our ‘sea days’. Some highlights of what we did:

• mini-golf – I am so bad at it, but we just had to play. I stopped tracking my score when I was EIGHT over par.


• Trivia – we even won a trophy at sports trivia, if you know me well you know that it is odd that I could win a trophy for my knowledge of sports, I love trivia but am not known for my sports trivia knowledge. We played as a team, and there were some off the wall sports included (orienteering is a sport, who knew?)


• Casino – we tried out the roulette wheel and definitely had a case of beginner’s luck. We came out ahead the first night and didn’t win the rest of the time. Overall we came out ahead, which is a big WIN in my book. We also played black jack briefly, but that game goes so fast, and I like splitting up my bets as I can in roulette. the dangerous part, I can see where the addiction factor comes in - its fun to win, and easy to go ' just one more try', but we had a set $20 to start with and played only with that. To show how lucky I was, the last day we played we found a $10 bill on the ground and used that money to play with, I usually never find money, that has always been my brother's luck.

• several times we escaped to the adults only deck, called the “Serenity deck”, very appropriate, where it was quiet and we’d read or just nap in the deck chairs. There were also 2 hot tubs that we used after one of our excursion days· We were escaping not so much from little kids - we barely saw them as part of their "Camp Carnival" but from those too old to be in those groups, the 18-20 crowd and just all the people. really except for waiting to go to dinner and on/off the boat, there weren't big crowds to wait in at all.

• we saw a great juggling show! If you get a chance to see him, GO!

• The ship even had a library, though as Kevin said it was more of a meeting place for people to talk… we were able to play a game of chess there and checked out a jig-saw puzzle and worked on it for a couple of hours (seriously, there is something for everyone to do).

Our port cities were a lot of fun. We booked an excursion in Progreso and were able to tour a site of Mayan Ruins, called Dzibilchaltun. I was surprised that we were able to climb on the ruins; I’m used to US national parks where there is a rope or glass wall between you and the ruins. It was amazing to see what people built nearly 2,000 years ago. Also, how exact they could make things, the Temple of the Seven Dolls was built so that the door and windows exactly aligned with the sun at specific times of the year - equinox, etc. We also did a little shopping, but were there mostly to see the sights and just enjoy ourselves.

In Cozumel we decided to go on our own to the beach. We got in a taxi and went to a place called Paradise Beach, and it lived up to its name. The water again – so blue! And I could see all the way down to the bottom. It was a little offputting to see fish in the water with me, but my guess is that there always are, I just usually can’t see them. We had to laugh when it started to rain and so many people ran for cover – you are in SWIMSUITS people! We just stayed in the water and let it rain. After we had enough fun in the sun, we came back and had a nice authentic Mexican meal.

You can overdo it. Getting back on the boat at Progreso, a guy and girl stumbled up and the guy was so far gone he was passing out and regaining consciousness. The guy behind us grabbed him (part of their group I guess) and everyone made a big opening around him because no one wanted to get in his path if he got sick. He was taken around the line to a separate entrance to the ship and I HOPE brought to the infirmary to be kept an eye on. We caught his name as Roger, so would say ‘don’t pull a Roger’ to each other the rest of the trip. We know our limits and won’t do that. I wouldn't want to be that far gone and lose out on the trip. We did have some good cocktails, each day they had a drink of the day, and they have standard bar drinks all around.

The staff on the ship is very diverse, from all different parts of the world. We were able to talk to a few of them and found it really interesting what sort of a life that must be, living and working on a ship, but it could be a unique way to see part of the world.

It was great to not have cellphone or internet for 5 days, and really just enjoy each other’s company. I am the internet addict of the two of us, and so just turning it off when we left port and not thinking about it for 5 days was wonderful. It was off for so long that when we got back to port on Saturday it was odd to hear a cellphone ringer…

The food should really be a post in itself. There is food literally ALL THE TIME. We stuck to our regular meals – breakfast, lunch, dinner – but would occasionally get a snack. I got some sushi from the sushi bar(!) a couple of times and ate more desserts than I should admit to. I liked the formal dinners, though wish we had the earlier dining time. Our dining time was 8:15, which was late for us but we easily adapted. It was a great chance to get to dress up a little bit and have a fancier meal. The rest of the time you’d see people in swim suits, etc. but this room was more formal. It was nice to have a sit-down dinner, and we had the best waiter, Win. He was very attentive and danced like crazy during their shows. He also learned what you liked and would serve it to you the other days. I guess that is what its like if you have $$$ and become a regular at a nice place. On the formal night we had lobster, mmm lobster. Since the food is all inclusive we also used it as an opportunity to try some food we’ve never had before.

Lessons learned:

• Eat before going to get on the ship, we had breakfast but were starving after the 3 hours it took to get through all of the lines.


• Pre-pay the parking, the web may say they accept credit cards but it looked like all they were accepting was cash, luckily we had gotten cash for the port cities...but hadn't planned to spend $50 of it before boarding the ship.


• Try to get the earlier dinner time, that way you can explore the boat again after you eat. We were always so tired and then full (making us more tired), that we did very ltitle after dinner.

First Giveaway

I am so pleased to be able to host my very first giveaway! One of my blog readers will win a $40 gift certificate from CSN stores.


CSN Stores has a wide variety of items, including furniture, track lighting, cookware (I'm eyeing some of that for my own kitchen), shoes and much much more. With over 200 stores, I am sure that anyone could find something they like.


First entry – Leave a comment on this posting, be sure that it links back to your email address so I can contact you if you are the lucky winner.


Second entry – Blog about this giveaway. Leave me an additional comment letting me know that you did.


Entries are due by Saturday, May 15.


The fine print: This giveaway is only open to US and Canadian residents. There may be shipping charges or international fees for certain products when ordering your item.


Good luck!

Cruisin

Our dog may not have liked us being on vacation, but we had a great time! It was the first cruise for both of us and will definitely not be the last. It was by far the most relaxing vacation I've ever taken.

Neither of us are good at taking vacations where you just sit and relax, we always have many places we want to go and things we want to see, which are great to do, but tend to end up with us go-go-going and we are worn out by the end of it. This trip we were able to see great sights at the two stops (Progreso and Cozumel) and also had a lot of relaxation time during our days at sea. All of the logistics were taken care of for us once we got on the boat, much of the travel was done while we slept and we could just relax the entire time. Most of the time our biggest decision was when and what we wanted to eat. There was so much food available it was overwhelming!

We did a 5-night cruise out of Galveston, which was an easy trip for us, and no planes needed (a big plus since plane travel is such a pain with the liquid restrictions and costs for checking luggage).


Getting on the ship was an ordeal, there were 4 different lines to wait in, each one longer than the last (ID check, security, verify credit card and get room key, get photo taken for the ship's system), but that headache was quickly forgotten once we get on board.


Once we got out of Galveston I could not get over how blue the water is! Most of the water I’ve seen is on the Texas coast and it is NOT blue. As kids my parents took us to Destin to try to see blue water, but there was a storm in the gulf and so even then no dice.


Thinking good thoughts for the passenger who had to be taken off the ship by coast guard because of a medical emergency within the first few hours of setting sail, felt so badly for that person and their family, but they were quickly taken to the help they needed.

To be continued..the next post should have pictures :)

pathetic dog

poor Smokey.....we need to give him anti-depressants when we go on vacation....he is the only one who has no fun when we go on a trip. We dropped him at my in-laws on Monday and he stayed there until Friday. My sister took care of him Friday night since we weren't getting back until Saturday.

He barely ate until THURSDAY and would go and lay in his bed at 4pm! When we are home its not uncommon for him to go to his bed at 9, and he sleeps all over the house during the day, but geez....puppy prozac may be needed.....

He is our spoiled little kid and he was so happy to see us, we were very happy to see him too. We do realize that in his mind he may think he's been abandoned, he is a rescue so its entirely possible that he was abandoned sometime earlier and is nervous that may happen again... Its a good thing we don't travel very much.

WE had a great time on our vacation and are working on pictures and a trip re-cap now.. I am not ready to go back to work and dread opening my email inbox, but it was worth it. I think this was the most relaxing vacation we've ever had.