Welp, its been a long, long time since I typed some of my thoughts down here. Don't know why today is the day or why last month or last week was not the time, but here I am.
So much has changed yet there is somewhat of a pattern to my days. There are days that drift slowly and others which roll toward evening at warp speed. Weeks pass quickly because there is always something to get done and someplace to make plans to get to.
In January, the Mr. 'n I went to Florida to spend four days before embarking on a nine day eastern Caribbean cruise. We spent one day in St Pete then it was on to Orlando to go to Epcot and another full day in Disney Hollywood Studios. I gotta say I had a blast with hubby. He is much more like a kid with this stuff than Gary was. His enthusiasm is catchy, whether its for rides or zoos or movies. Its like a living a second teenagerhood; one very unlike my real teen dating years. This one is tons 'o fun. And the idea of making love sans guilt or regret with someone you deeply love is the piece de resistance-- ooh la la! ;)
I've always been kind of a stick in the mud about spending money on what I deem frivolous. These are things like expensive restaurants, clothes, jewelry, and entertainment such as movies and amusement parks. Just like with groceries, if ya don't have a coupon or its not on sale or on clearance, then you just don't buy it. Its been that way so long that this is a hard thing to break from. But I am working on this. Experiences ARE worth spending money on. Especially new experiences or experiences you may never get the chance to do again. Because hubster is nine years older than me, and especially since I have seen death come to someone dear who died too young, I want to grab at every gold ring that comes my way. I hear the clock ticking...
So yeah, four days in a great resort condo where Mr. won a nice thick white cotton robe sporting the Diamond Resorts International logo, and where we enjoyed a dinner, free drinks and played casino games, we departed Orlando back to Tampa where we began our cruise. First stop, Key West. I was so looking forward to getting back to one of my favorite spots that Gary and I have ever gone. This time, the weather was about as bad as it could be and we had our visit cut short by hours due to pouring rain and wind. We schlepped about two miles on foot in the rain to the southernmost point marker, snapped a picture of our drowned rat selves and raced back up to a bar so we could drink authentic Mojitos. We took two pieces of key lime pie to go back onto the ship to eat in comfort.
Our next stop was supposed to be a privately owned beach on Haiti, but our stop was cancelled due to political unrest and protests which spilled out into the water when the previous ship stopped there the day before. Booo Hisss(for us). So, another day at sea. One of the reasons we chose this particular cruise was for the number of days at sea. I love cruising and so does my Mr. We ended up with some super nice dinner partners and spent many hours with one couple our ages, playing cards, trivia and of course eating.
The next stop was San Juan, Puerto Rico, which was really nice; much nicer and cleaner than I was expecting. We did our own walking tour, bought an umbrella for the light morning rain and ate lunch at a restaurant near a large art school. I'd go back there in a sec given the chance. As I sit here typing, I look at the watercolor print I bought there. This is what I do now when I visit places, I buy art prints of the city or town so I can decorate the house with visual memories of where we've been.
Our last port was the island of St. Maartin for one day. We WILL be revisiting there at length some day. Our day was spent aboard a Windjammer sailboat snorkeling a short while in rather cloudy water due to recent storms. Then it was out on the water with the sail up. Our two deckhand guides were very entertaining and showed us around the bay while name dropping all the international sports and movie stars who have homes and boats on the island. We even got an up close view of the America's Cup racing ship, Stars and Stripes which was out racing a Canadian sailboat that day. Beautiful.
The day we got on our flight to return home, Mr's throat hurt. We had just gotten over colds before our trip. Not another one!! Anything is possible when one is exposed to that many people and places. After a week, I succumbed to The Cold myself. We had to cancel dinner dates with friends. My cold which is now entering its fourth week, is still winding down. The most remarkable thing about this horrid cold is the headaches I get. Never have I had such awful headaches for days on end.
On February 12th, despite the cold, this couple went to a Trace Adkins concert. This was a gift to my country music fan man. I didn't know a single song, since I am NOT a country fan, but it was very enjoyable and I'm glad I went. The next day, still sick, still coughing and trying to stay ahead of the throbbing headache and sore throat, we went to the Renaissance Festival near Gold Canyon, AZ, about hour's drive away. The Pleasure Feast and the entire day at the faire was much better than I expected, again, because my sweetie makes this stuff more fun with his 'lets do it' attitude. I would never have sat through any of the entertainment with Gary, he thought it was all absurdly ridiculous and a waste of money, so therefore I did too. Not anymore. There is so much out there to enjoy if you just give it a chance.
Our days now are spent at home with projects to be completed before the ugly heat of summer sends us back on the road to escape to cooler places. My handyman is currently rebuilding a bench for our front porch. We are also going to be getting some new cabinets in the kitchen to increase storage space. New flooring may happen this spring too, but we'll have to see when the cabinets get installed. Mr. is willing to build a new bedroom set for our master bedroom but I want him first to wire in some new ceiling fans and make a bench for our dining room table. He recently made us a 2-person L shaped desk using pipes and IKEA desk tops, one of which we scored from the As Is room at a good price(via me, hubster 2 is learning from hubster 1 about the As Is room). New pipe shelving is in the offing for over our new desk in the office. I love the industrial look and my woodworking man will do anything I ask as long as he understands what I want it to look like.
Amongst the plans and projects we manage to spend some time visiting with friends, watching TV, playing cards, hiking, walking, lying in bed(we ARE still newlyweds) and going out to eat. Last night we went to Maggiano's Little Italy and brought home an insane amount of leftovers and dishes of our Dinner For Two. We sat on the outside patio on the warm Friday evening weather, sipping our drinks and enjoying our appetizers, dinner and desserts. As I looked in my sweet husband's face I could see in his eyes the thought,
"Life is Good."
And my own thoughts?
✓Great Food
✓Great Weather
✓Great Company with the best man on earth
✓Great Life
