Thanksgiving Cruise

How great is it to spend a whole week with your family? Many would say that it sounds awful, but I am lucky to be rolling with a fun crowd.  My grandmother, who passed away in the spring, wanted us all to take a trip together for the holidays.  This year for Thanksgiving, my mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, Cole, his mom, and I went on a Carnival Cruise, sponsored by my grandmother, Miss Dorothy!


If you know my dad, you know that he has a tiki obsession.  Early in their marriage, he and my mom visited family in Florida and they went to the Mai-Kai Polynesian Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale.  My whole life I have heard my dad speak of this restaurant and how cool it is and that if I ever go there, make sure to do it at night--the place looks like a carnival in the daytime.  So we all flew down a day early so we could have drinks and appetizers at the Mai Kai.

We're Going on a Ship, WHAT!?

I keep thinking of this scene from Hardball, except my version is "We're going on a ship! What!?"

We did not go on a cruise for New Year's this year, and I thought that we weren't going to go on a vacation this year since we are saving for a house.  But I was so excited when Cole asked about going on a cruise for spring break.  A few of Cole's friends caught wind of the trip and are going cruising as well! So it's me and the guys going on a ship. I'm so excited for multiple reasons, the top ones being number 1: This is a great crew! And number 2: We are flying to the port!

In the Knick of Time

What a wonderful vacation! We docked on Saturday morning after visiting the Bahamas, St. Maarten, and St. Thomas. The weather was beautiful and the ship was amazing-- truly a Dream. I had a goal for myself to not buy a huge amount of souvenirs on this trip, and I stuck to it. I bought a spoon (I'm a collector) and a t-shirt from when we went snorkeling, totaling to $25 spent beyond the expense of the trip itself. Go, me!

We made it back in great time--14.5 hours, including rest stops. During the drive, we fired up the satellite radio to listen to the Colts vs. Chiefs game. WOW! What a finish! Second biggest comeback in playoff history.

As we headed north, everyone was calling about the terrible snow storm on its way. Lucky for us, we managed to get home before any snow fell. I slept in today until 10 AM (which is pretty late for me) and I have been thinking about all the things I want to get done after getting home from vacation--laundry, cleaning, organizing. I looked at the clock a bit later and realized how much of the day was already gone and that I wouldn't be able to finish it before going to work tomorrow. As I was sitting in my disappointment, an "unknown" call rang in on my phone. When I answered, it was a message from the superintendent informing me that we have a SNOW DAY tomorrow! This is good and bad; you can see some of my thoughts on snow days in a previous post here. 

The mature thing to do, knowing that there is a snow day tomorrow, would be to get even more things checked off my list. However, I am contemplating going sledding. Every time it snows, I ask my students if they went sledding. Maybe this time it will be me saying yes to that question.

I may have to flip a coin to make this decision. In the meantime, I'll prepare for a possible power outage during a storm likely to produce -40°F

It's Such a Pretty Boat...

Technically, it's a ship.  I have been so impressed with the cruise ship this year! Last year, we were aboard the Carnival Legend. I found nothing wrong with the boat during our stay (well, travel), but now that we are on the Carnival Dream, I can see and feel a huge difference. This is definitely a party boat (yes, I know it's a ship)--there is a ton of energy from the crew and fellow travelers! We watched the Eagles beat the Cowboys on the jumbo-tron.

We always (as in this trip and the last, since I'm such a seasoned traveler of Carnival cruises...) buy the Cheers! package which includes adult beverages and sodas. Only one member of the group so far (who shall remain nameless) has had a maxed-out day of drinks, but it was 1 AM by then, so no big deal. 

I am down on my money when it comes to the casino, but I have greatly enjoyed my time in there. We have made friends with other roulette players. I watched a man lose $1,000 and turn around to win $5,000 betting on black. Rest assured that I do not bet that sort of money. I'm down $70 at the moment, but we have spent more than 10 hours in there, so really I've paid to be entertained, which I'm okay with that. Maybe tonight Lady Luck will be with me.

I have held up my intentions of working out while on vacation, which is something that I don't usually take on. Yesterday, we were at sea, so I woke up early and rode a recumbent bike for 30 minutes and then rowed 2200 meters. Worked up a sweat and felt great! I plan to do something similar two other days while on board. 

We are looking forward to celebrating for New Year's Eve tonight! Until then, we will be sipping on strawberry daiquiris and piña coladas! See you next year! 

Jump Start on New Year's Resolution

So for Black Friday, I went to Dick's Sporting Goods and bought a medicine ball, a jump rope, and a new gym bag. My New Year's resolution (well, one of them) is to get back in shape. In high school, I took part in advanced physical conditioning (APC), which is basically a weight lifting class. For 70 minutes/5 days a week, we did strength training and cardio. On top of that, I taught gymnastics 4-5 days a week for 4+ hours at a time, which was even more cardio. Plus I was a cheerleader, so jumping, tumbling, and stunting 2-3 nights a week (more during basketball season when there are multiple games each week). It was all built in to my schedule back then and I never thought about how much I was doing all the time. When college started, I kept up with running: I ran a half marathon every other year, countless 5k and 10k races (an accidental 10 mile race thinking it was a 10k), and maintained a decent weight until that lovely 21st birthday--umm, becoming an "adult"...