Thursday, March 17, 2011

Insane, but Pretty. Right?!

I am pretty sure I have gone insane.  Like, over the deep end, insane.

For example, I can't remember simple words.  Like SPOON.  Or, anything really.  I am constantly looking at the Super Cool Man Friend with this blank look on my face and desperately trying to describe the word that I am looking for ("you know, the thing, the metal thing, the thing you eat soup with!").  It is maddening.

Then I can reach the total opposite end of the spectrum in nano-seconds.  The Super Cool Man Friend will be talking about something obscure and I can totally finish the sentence with exactly what he was going to say!

See.  I am insane.  Totally bonkers.

And this whole trying to manage time thing is kicking my ass.  Last night, I picked up the boy from school, we got home, I started packing some boxes to take to the new house.  Then I walked into the closet for something and ended up completely going through every item of clothing in the closet.  I ended up with a HUGE pile of clothes all over my king sized bed that were destined for Charity.  Well, then the Super Cool Man Friend walks in and I am all, oh...we need to go to the new house and take the boxes I packed and register the internet.  So away we go.  Left the pile. 

At the new house, boxes are unpacked, internet is registered, it is now time to eat.  We are in the car.  We are discussing where to eat dinner.  The Super Cool Man Friend says..."You know we have 38 minutes until you have to be at Rehearsal, right?"

FFfffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuddddddgggggggggggeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had totally spaced it.  I space EVERYTHING!  GAHHHH!

Luckily, he keeps me in line.  Most of the time.

I am hungry.  Oh, look.  Something shiny!

P.S.  He cleaned up my pile of clothes from the bed.  They are now in a GINORMOUS pile in the closet.  hehe.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Cable Man Blues

The Super Cool Man Friend and I love the internet.  At the old house, we have satellite internet.  It is not that quick and sometimes it goes down if the wind blows too hard, but it was what I could afford before I met the Super Cool Man Friend.  It really irritates the Super Cool Man Friend, especially if he is internet gaming.  hehe.

Now that we are moving, we decided to get Cable Internet, the fastest package they offer.  So this is very very exciting for us.  We waited with breathless anticipation for March 15th.  The Cable Guy would be arriving between 1 and 5 pm.  Weeeee!

He calls a little after 2:30 pm.  He says he will be there in about 15 minutes.  Our giddiness grows.

He arrives about 20 minutes later.  He walks in with a confident swagger.  I should be done in about ten minutes he says.

TWO HOURS LATER...he is done.  We have been sitting in an empty house for two hours trying to entertain ourselves while he works on getting our internet up and running.

THEN!  He asks if we have a computer available.  We each hold up our Ipads.  He says, no, a laptop or something with an ethernet cord input to register the internet service and get it up and running.

WHAT???  We have been sitting here doing nothing!  And you wait until NOW to ask us for something we could have gone home and retrieved HOURS ago???

Grrrrr.

So.  We still don't know how great the internet is as of yet.  We have to run over there this evening,  I suppose, and check it out.

On a lighter note, my son's school held a Family Reading night last night.  Each of the grades got up on stage and read a book or a poem.  And between each grade we had special people from the community read as well.  The Mayor, a couple of Pediatricians, a Fireman, the NMMI Baseball team.  It was really really nice.  And we were served cookies.  Now who can go wrong with cookies?

I had the peanut butter one.

P.S.  I stumbled upon Becky over at Steam Me Up, Kid just now.  This post made me laugh so hard that I think I peed my pants.  Yup.  Yup I did. You need to read it.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Feelings of Inadequacy

First of all...OMG, I spelled that right.  How awesome!

I know that in this day and age of self-publishing, (Blogs) we can sit here and spew all sorts of drivel day in and day out.  Then we press "publish" and pray someone will read it. NO, not just read it, we live for the comments. You know we do.

I visit other blogs.  I see that they constantly get 100+ comments daily.  They have 500+ followers and new ones pop up every day. 

But for me, I get excited even if I get ONE comment.  I don't have much blog fodder in my life.  I don't have tons of wisdom to impart to the masses and I am just not as witty as I like to think I am.  But do you know what?  That is okay with me.  I don't write here to please you or the masses.  I write here for me.  Because sometimes, knowing that I have a place to vent or to share my silly little thoughts just makes everything a little easier for me.  I have to spew it out, I have no choice.  And this sure as hell beats flinging objects at walls and screaming obscenities in places where other people may hear them.

Anyways, I was thinking that most of us probably have days where we feel as if no one is reading.  That in some way, we may not be "Good Enough" to be read.  I know that my friend Carol over at Carol Creates just went through this.  She wrote a post on it.  But we need to remind ourselves that we are blogging because it feels good.  Not because we want to please the people who read what we write.  We blog for ourselves.

"If it feels good, do it!"

On to my drivel!

I had a wonderful weekend.  We are in the middle of moving from one house to another.  The new house could easily fit in the KITCHEN of my old house.  Yes.  We are downsizing.  We are going to save a shit ton of money and we are going to be a little cramped.  But I do believe it is the best decision we could have made.  And, I think it will be fun. Our little adventure.  Yay!

We started Saturday morning at our new house.  All empty and forlorn.  The landlord just had new windows installed and the place was covered in a fine layer of plaster dust.  We cleaned it top to bottom.  My boy was so helpful, he did the baseboards in all the rooms and picked up trash outside.  Everyone did their part. 

We were able to take over a couple of boxes yesterday and unpack them.  We are going through EVERYTHING.  If it has not been touched in six months...charity, if it is not needed at the moment...storage.  We have already donated a trunk full of clothes to the Humane Society and now there is another pile of random stuff waiting for transport.

We ended the weekend by walking around Target and Walmart.  Getting some ideas on space saving techniques and ways to maximize what space we do have.  It would probably help if we were willing to give up the king sized bed, but we are just not going to do that.  We found an amazing deal at Target on a folding table with four chairs.  This way, we can pull it out for dinner and put it away once dinner is over.  Therefore, leaving us more room for living space.  YAY!  It was on clearance and it was cheaper than just buying folding chairs and using the breakfast bar we already have.

I hope to be completely moved by the 26th.  We will be out of town during the last weekend of the month and I really don't want to carry over into April.  I am sure we can get it done.  Just watch us!





 

Friday, March 11, 2011

It has been a while...

...since I posted something sappy about my Super Cool Man Friend.

I was over at K's new place (Go HERE she is amazing!) and I was reading her sappy story about the love of her life.  And it got me thinking.  I know, right?  Just wave the smoke away.  The smell will dissipate soon.

The Super Cool Man Friend and I have officially been dating for five months now.  I gotta tell you, it really has been ALL rainbows and kittens and sparkly glitter.  

It has been so freaking amazing being with someone so easy to get along with. It is almost like he was created especially for me.  He is the Ying to my Yang, the Peanut Butter to my Jelly, the Mash Potatoes to my Ketchup.  ...What?

I count the minutes each day until we are together again.  I cherish every moment spent in his vicinity.  Even if he is on one side of the table on his laptop and I am on the other, on my laptop.  I still feel his foot brush mine.  I glance up and catch him staring at me with such love in his eyes.  I know that if I asked, he would drop everything and do my bidding, whatever it happened to be.  And I know, that I would do the same for him.

Sitting on the couch, streaming Netflix is heaven with this man.  Laying in bed, in the dark, and discussing life or Robot Chicken is just as enjoyable as going out.  I get giddy when the dog runs to the front door each evening because I know that, at any moment, he will be walking inside and coming straight over to me for a kiss and a big hug.

Now you might be wondering why I am telling you all this.

I have been in some pretty horrific relationships the past few, um, ten, years.  I had pretty much given up on finding my prince.  I was sure I was destined to be that lady who lived alone and ate cat food and hoarded things until one day I found myself trapped in a corner with no way out and two weeks later someone calls the cops because of the wretched stench.  Yeah.  That lady.

But YAY!  I am NOT gonna be that lady!  I have found my prince.  And guess what???  He thinks I am amazing too!  Isn't that something?  He is delusional, but don't tell him that okay?  But for him..I AM amazing.  I love the person I am with him.  I love my life.  I love OUR life.  And no matter what ever happens between us, I know I am a better person just for being with him.  He has taught me so much in the last five months about how to be a better partner.  And he is a wonderful friend.  I am the luckiest gal in the world.

This weekend we get to start moving into our new place.  I am really excited.  We will be saving tons of money and really paring down to bare essentials, the rest will go into storage.  It is about half the size of where we are living now.  I despise clutter and this will give me the much needed push to clean out some of my old stuff and get rid of it.  Onto our next adventure!

So there you have it folks, my sappy sappy mushy mushy post.  Awwwww.   Yeah, you can go throw up now.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Guess who is going to Vegas?

I will wait.  Go ahead.  Guess.

Well, yeah, it IS me.  I know I know.  It is so not fair...blah blah blah, I just came back from the Caribbean...blah blah blah.

Well.  You are right.  It is NOT fair.  And I am gonna do it anyways.  Nanner Nanner.

We are scheduled to check into our hotel on April 28th.  I am super excited.  I have not been to Vegas since 2002.  And that was not a very fun trip.

We are going to see the Blue Man Group, and Penn & Teller and we are gonna check out the Sharks at the Mandalay.  If all goes well, we may even catch one of the Cirque Du Soleil shows.  Don't have any idea which one, but I am sure they are all fantastic.

Oh, and we are gonna drink.  Just sayin'.

I promise I will post pictures.

What is your favorite thing to do in Vegas?  Is there something that I *JUST CAN NOT MISS*??

My New Home!

Yay!  I have a new home!  Here.  In ZombieLand.  Wooohooo!

I imported some of my other posts from the other blog.  So now I will use this one. 

Are you proud or what?

Thursday, February 17, 2011

It Never Fails

Dude.  The schools here were closed, for like, 4 days, a week or so ago, due to some freak snow storm right?  Well, this week, they are closed Friday and Monday.  In-service and President's Day or something or other.  So my little kidlet is going to hang with his granny for his little holiday weekend.  She lives out of town so we try to schedule visits around 3 or 4 day weekends.

So you know what this means right????  Oh yeah.  I have a kid-free weekend!  Booyah!

The super cool man friend had already planned on us going out on a date sometime this weekend.  So I have that to look forward to.  Plus, I found out yesterday that a band is playing Friday night that I have been wanting to go see but every time they are scheduled, I have my boy.  We are definitely gonna go check them out.

BIG PLUS I get to go to my BFF's for her kids birthday party!  Cake!!  Everything is awesome when cake is involved.

And really, do I have to mention the hours and hours and hours of kid free time that can be spent...um...well, you know...sans clothing?  Sexy Adventure Time!  OH yeah.  It is gonna be one great weekend.

I snorted the other day when the super cool man friend asked if I was off on Monday for President's Day.  HA!  Just because you run a bank, Mister, does not mean that you can forget that the rest of us peons don't get 400 holidays a year.  Although....I think I might call in sick.  I mean, I am feeling quite poorly right now...(*cough* *cough*).  Hehe.

This morning, in my email, I was enticed by an ad for 5 nights at an All Inclusive Resort in Cozumel, Mexico for only 700.00.  Well, until I looked up the trip on some other site and the resort had THE WORST reviews EVER!!  I swear, if I won the lottery, I would travel so many times a year it would be pathetic.  I love dreaming up all the different trips I could take.  Too bad...the money is just not there but if it was...oh mama!

Ok, now I am going to go dream about my weekend.  See ya!

Monday, February 14, 2011

Valentine's Day

Why have we allowed ourselves to be manipulated into believing that this day is somehow important if you are in a relationship?  Equally so if you are not.  Most singles see this day as some sort of failure on their part.

I say "Fuck You Valentine's Day".

I was stressing for weeks.  I know how tight the budget is for me right now.  I was going crazy that I could not do something special for my super cool man friend.  I finally broke down one night last week and flat out said "Hey honey, sorry, but I am not gonna be able to do anything for you this V-day".  His reply?  "I was just gonna get you a card, I don't DO those kinds of holidays."

After my initial open mouthed wide eyed shocked reaction...I took a minute to think about what he had said and it seemed the more I thought about it, the more it made sense.  As always, he was correct.  This is just a day that has been invented to sell shit.  Especially for people who are feeling guilty.  Which I am not, so, BONUS!

The next day, (the day after that conversation) I get a text from my super cool man friend.  He asks if he can take me on a date, in lieu of doing anything for the dreaded V-day.  A nice date.  One where we can dress up. 

So that is what I have to look forward to.  We are going out this weekend.  Just he and I.  Not to celebrate anything, but to just be together.  How romantic.  I get all giddy just thinking about it.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Yeah, yeah...give me a minute.

I am pretty sure I should blog.  I really don't have much to say.  I have been a little "blah" lately. 

Take last weekend for instance, I did nothing.  Not one single thing.  It is ridiculous.  I woke up Saturday and made muffins for breakfast.  I had full intentions of cleaning my house and getting out and about, maybe take the family to the library.  Something!  But, no.  I sat.  Lunch time came around.  I made lunch.  Dinner time drew near and I finally got in the shower.  NO shit people.  5:00 pm and I am showering for the first time.  I went to the store, I made dinner.  That was it.  My kid was so excited because he said he wanted to stay in his pj's all day, and he did it!

Sunday???  Ten times worse than Saturday.  I did not get out of my pj's.  Not til Monday morning.  Did I clean? no.  Did nothing.  I suck.

So, Monday, when I went to work (with my kid in tow because I forgot to make arrangements for him because I forgot that he did not have school)...I realized that I had missed all sorts of things that were scheduled for the weekend.  FebFest, Superbowl (ick, but I usually go SOMEWHERE for superbowl), seeing my friends??  Yeah, that was kind of a shock.

Today, I got to work and remembered I should have been at a meeting last night and I totally spaced it. 

I miss my brain.

I filed my taxes.  Yay.  Now I won't go to prison, I am sure I was heading there.  They get mad when they send you letter after letter and you don't respond.  But hey, I don't have any money to pay them so they can wait....so, now they should be happy.  Until I file next year.  Then we will play dodge the irs again.  Woohooo!

Oh!  I made a new internet friend.  She is my Internet Soul Mate.  We share a brain and shit...and between the two of us...you may get like 1/4 of a brain.  But we are ok with that, so there.

Ok.  I blogged.  Happy now?

P.S.!!!  I LOVE WEEDS!  I am watching every episode back to back to back to back...hey, what did you think I did all weekend???  But it makes me want to smoke pot, or grow it.  Just sayin'. 

Monday, January 31, 2011

Cruisin' - Our Last Sea Day

We were so rested.  It is amazing how much good can come from 14 hours of sleep.  LOL

We spent our last day just enjoying each other.  We went to Bingo.  Oh yeah.  We played Bingo.

We watched the Newlywed/Marriage show.  Now I have to share a few highlights from this.  They picked three couples from the audience.  The first couple had been married 6 days.  The second for 15 yrs and the third for 61 yrs.  Then they had them sit up on stage with their backs to one another and gave each person a notepad and a pen.  Then they proceeded to ask them 7 questions and the object was when the answers were read a bit later, that they would match.  One question was "If a parrot lived in your bedroom, what word or phrase would it learn first?"  Ok, so answer time.  This one kind of disturbed me...the first couple, married 6 days, his answer is "Daddy".  Wow.  But this did not disturb me so much until I heard the answers to another question..."If your husband is stranded on a deserted island for a year and only ONE person could visit, would he choose a Missionary or a Hooker, and then explain your answer."  The first couple's answers - HIS - A hooker, so I could have someone to talk to.  (yeah right)  HERS - A Missionary, BECAUSE HE IS GOING TO BE A PREACHER!  WHAT????  The same dude that said the parrot would repeat DADDY??  EW EW EW EW EW!
The middle couple's answers - HERS - A Hooker, because he would rather die than go another year without.  HIS - A Hooker, cuz duh!  It has been a year!
The older couple - HERS - A Hooker, so he could have a pretty girl to look at.  (awww)  HIS - A HOOKER IN THE MISSIONARY POSITION!!!!  OMG, I thought we were gonna bust a gut.  He had to be like 80!  We were all chanting Three Points, Three Points!  

The rest of the afternoon and evening, we just spent enjoying our last day on board.  The weather was quite chilly outside as we were getting closer to home but we found sufficient trouble to get into indoors.

We got packed that night before bed so that we would only have our toiletries and such to worry about in the morning.  We were sad to see our cruise come to an end but we were missing the boy and the dog and our own bed and especially our own Toilet.  That toilet was the smallest thing I have ever seen.  Just sayin'.

The next morning, it was liked we were blessed or something.  We had stayed in our room until the very last moment.  We had no idea.  All the other cabins were empty!  LOL!  We dragged our bags down the steps a few floors and then we were hailed from a working elevator.  We hopped on, the elevator let us out and dang if we did not walk right off the ship.  Then there was a four minute wait at customs, then when we exited the building, our shuttle was ready to take us to the car.  NO waiting.  The shuttle dropped us off at our car and VOILA!  We were on our way home.  We were amazed and the ease of the morning.

We made it back to San Antonio right on time and we decided to spend one more evening with the Parents before we headed home.  They took us out to eat again, Chinese food this time and then we passed the evening playing games once more.

Sunday morning found us packing up and hitting the road home.   8 hours later, I was hugging my boy.

All in all, such a wonderful vacation.  I can't wait until this summer when I can take my boy to meet the super cool man friend's parents and go to Sea World and the huge water park, Schlitterbahn!

Friday, January 28, 2011

Cruisin' - Cozumel

We were right on track.  We woke early, got ourselves ready and packed what we would need in our beach bag.  We then took the stairs down to Deck 3 and figured we would just walk right off the boat.  No such luck.  As we stood in line to be let off the boat, we hear a message over the PA and we are told that they have closed the gangway due to another ship pulling into port.  Something about our safety, blah, blah, blah, no one can be on the pier, blah, blah, blah.  So we found ourselves with 30 minutes to kill.

We headed upstairs and grabbed some breakfast.  Once we finished eating, the gangway was reopened and we made our way off the boat.  It was a beautiful day.  The sun was shining, the clouds were fluffy like cotton candy and the skies were blue.  We were so excited to make our way down the pier and find a taxi that would take us to our destination, Playa Uvas.

We had booked this excursion over the internet.  It promised a guided snorkel tour, unlimited beach access, free lunch and an open bar.  This is what we have been looking forward to.

We arrived and made our way to the check in cashier.  Our paperwork stated that they took credit cards so we had brought limited cash as it was all inclusive.  They were kind of put out by having to take a credit card.  They just were not set up for it.  But she took the information from the card and said it would be about an hour and then we would need to sign the receipt.  No problem.  We were going to be here all day.

We were given a tour of the place and then we set up our beach chairs and umbrella.  They brought us our first drink.  A pina colada.  And then we settled into our loungers and enjoyed the view.


It was shaping up to be a perfect day.  The snorkel guide came by and asked if we wanted to join an earlier group instead of the later one we had planned on.  It was a small group and we decided that it was the perfect time to snorkel.

And then....I chickened out.  Yeah.  I know.  I am a big silly stupid head.  I did insist that the super cool man friend go on without me.  So he went off to get outfitted and go over the safety instructions.


 So while he was off gallivanting in the deep blue sea, I walked around a bit and snapped some pictures.




As you can tell, they keep the reservations to a minimum.  That way, you never feel crowded.  It really is a wonderful resort.

After my picture taking jaunt, I grabbed my book and sat down to do some serious drinking.  I had chatted with the bartender for a few minutes and I asked him to make me something yummy.  He recommended a Blue Paradise.  It was vodka, blue curacao, and pina colada.  It was tasty.  And they went down so smooth, I probably had about 5 before the super cool man friend returned from his snorkeling tour.
When he did return, however, it was time for lunch.  They brought out a vegetarian lasagna of sorts for my super cool man friend and I had the steak fajitas.  YUM!
Then, the drinking got a little serious.  I stuck to my Blue Paradise but he decided to switch to Tequila shots with a beer backer.  Four shots or so later, the bartender brought these around...to us and to the table next to us who was keeping us entertained.
Yeah, these little beauties are "shots"  HA!
I tried to drink one, I really did.  I got about half a gulp and I had to stop.  It was nasty!  So I gave mine to the super cool man friend.  AND SO DID THE 5 PEOPLE SITTING AT THE NEXT TABLE!  OMG.  He drank them all.

Then, as he is sitting there, spouting off in Spanish because now that he is drunk, he is totally fluent...I keep saying no more shots, he keeps saying MAS TEQUILA!  I say hush...he laughs!  Here comes our waiter...with a beer, and in the beer, is a shot of tequila.  Down this one goes...


Yeah, I am thinking it is getting very close to time for us to head back to the ship.  I have no idea how many drinks I have consumed, but I do know that I am blammo and we totally got our moneys worth.

Then we hear these words ring out..."Would you like us to make you a drink TO GO?"  What?!?  We can take it with us?  Well, who could turn down that offer?

As we are leaving, we are stopped and asked to pose for a picture.  This is what was posted to the Playa Uvas site.  It is a miracle we are standing upright.
They toss us into a cab and we head back to the pier.  Somehow we make our way back to the ship and to our stateroom where my super cool man friend promptly passes out on the floor.  I followed suit, only in the bed and there we slept for about 6 hours.

We woke up in time to grab a late slice of pizza from the buffet and then it was seriously time for bed.  We slept like logs for the rest of the evening.  Best shore excursion EVAH!!  All for $38.00 per person.


Thursday, January 27, 2011

Cruisin' - Progresso, Mexico

Our first port day.  Woohoo!  We had grand plans.  We got up and got ready.  We skipped breakfast.  We were revved up to go see a new destination.

We made our way off the ship.  No problem.  We are golden!  We walk down the pier.  There are big signs saying Do Not Cross the Red Line.  Oh yeah.  We crossed it.  Lawbreakers.




We got in line to board a bus that would take us to Progresso.  We learned that this pier is 4.5 miles long.  You are required to take a bus but luckily it is provided for you at no charge.

We were dropped off in Progresso and we immediately boarded the double decker "bus" that would take us on a tour of the city.  We climbed to the top and found some seats near the front.

Do you see that dot?  Wayyyyy out there?  That is our ship at the end of the pier.

See it better now?

They aren't lying.  Those electrical wires will take a head clean off.  They are LOW!

They said this is a working lighthouse. 

This was a nice park area in the middle of town.

Church.  Can you imagine?

This was a school. 

This guy cracked me up.  What is he looking for?  I am sure he won't find it in there.

The bus tour was amusing.  We had a great guide who kept us laughing.  As we departed the bus, we decided we would walk around some on our own.  We were hoping to find an internet cafe and maybe a nice place to do lunch.  Bad idea.  What we did not notice while we were being driven around the city is....Progresso smells.  Bad.  Like fetid, rancid, nastiness.  We walked for a few blocks and decided we were ready to go back to the ship.  Pronto.

Back on board we had some lunch and then found that the Promenade Deck was totally vacant.  It was wonderful.  We staked out a really nice spot and I ran back to the stateroom to get our games.  We had a great time there all by ourselves.  As some other guests started to trickle in, we declared that the deck was off limits to everyone but ourselves.  That caused a little confusion at first but then they played along as well.  Pretending to be security in order to keep others out.  Yeah, we are total children.

Later, as it started to get crowded, we gathered our things and headed back to the room for a little nap.  We slept for 5 or 6 hours and then freshened up for the Midnight Mexican Buffet on the Lido Deck.  Merriment ensued.  We had a few drinks and some Mexican food.  There was a live band and there was line dancing lessons.  The conga line had almost 200 people snaking around the pool.  BONUS!  We had our picture taken in a huge sombrero.  We did not buy these, but I just wanted you to know...it happened.  Oh yes!  It did!

We drifted off to sleep around 2:00 am with thoughts of Cozumel and the promise of an Open Bar at our excursion dancing through our heads.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Cruisin' - Mah Birf-Day!

You all would have been so proud.  I woke up super early.  I was laying there thinking about how long it had been since my last workout.  I fumbled my way out of bed.  I put on my workout clothes, grabbed a towel and headed out to find the gym.  I was sure that it would be empty and I could do a quick workout and that would be that.  Oh hells no.  The gym is jam packed.  WITH ALL THESE TOOTHPICK women.  And they are fricking RUNNING on the treadmills.  Geez.  I walked (waddled) my butt right in there, jumped on the only open treadmill and started my workout.  I had my ipod on and I was staring at the sea.  I was gonna OWN it.

Yeah.  Do you know how hard it is to walk on a treadmill while a ship drifts back and forth?  Do you know how silly I looked holding on for dear life while trying to keep upright and walk briskly on this little platform?  Hi-fricking-larious.  But I did it.  And as I entered the elevator to get back to my stateroom, I was a sweaty, icky, mess.  Good Times!

In the room, after my shower, I am looking over the spa/salon menu.  It is formal night (cruise elegant as they like to call it) and I wanted to get something done with my hair.  I have not had a true haircut in almost 7 years.  I usually just ask them to trim my bangs and cut off anything that is dead in the back.  My super cool man friend looks at the menu and says..."call and make an appointment".  Really???  Woohoo!  They say they can get me right in.  So off I go to the salon.

I am greeted by "Ashton". (names changed to protect the innocent, *snort*)  He grasps my hands and leads me to his station.  I have never had a male hairdresser before.  I am all atwitter.  He sat down and actually talked about what I would like and what he thinks would be great and then we compromised.  Once we decided what he was going to do...he shampooed me.  Oh. Mah. Gawd.  Every nerve ending in my entire body tingled when this man massaged my head.  There are no words.  I was just a little puddle in a reclining chair.  After that, I pretty much spaced out.  Once my appointment was over, I floated back to the room and showed off my new "hair did" for the super cool man friend.  I also told him that he needs to learn how to shampoo my hair.  So sensual.


We had some time to go grab some lunch and then we went to our very first Ballroom Dancing lesson.  Now, mind you, the super cool man friend and I have never stepped foot on a dance floor together.  Nor have we even slow danced at home.  This was a completely foreign thing for the two of us as a couple.  We got right in there and within minutes...VOILA!...we were dancing!  Together!  It was so exciting.  He is so smooth on the dance floor and he has a great presence.  I hope we can find some real lessons to take here at home.  We had such a wonderful time and it was a nice workout.

It was really windy so we spent most of the time indoors.  We had taken some MTG Decks with us and a card game and a dice game.  So we scoped out a nice spot where we could sit and play some games and imbibe in the drink of the day.  Some banana concoction.  Yum.  It was quite relaxing.  And he kicked my butt.  Even though it was my birthday.  He kept apologizing every time he would win.  So sweet.

It came time to get ready for formal night.  I did my face and started getting dressed.  Remember how I told you I was going to wear the low cut dress?  I chickened out.  I kept staring in the mirror and all I could see was boobages.  It was freaking me out.  I am just too modest.  I don't know.  I ended up covering them all the way up.  I know he was disappointed, but I just did not feel comfortable.  Later though, as we were walking around doing photographs, I did notice QUITE a few ladies that had it ALL hanging out.  So really, I was just being silly.  But we can't change the past.

So yeah, we went and had our pictures taken at all the little photo opportunities that were set up.  It was fun playing model for a few minutes.  Then we headed to dinner.  We had two new table mates that had defected from their first table because the company was horrible.  We had a good time giving them hell.  The movement of the ship was not as noticeable and we were looking forward to a nice evening.  We made it as far as the arrival of the main course and decided that we were done.  The food.  Again.  So we bid farewell to our table mates and headed back to the room.  We got back into comfortable clothes and strolled about the ship entertaining ourselves.

All in all, it was the BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!  Who could ask for anything more?  Great company, open seas, exotic destinations to look forward to?  Perfect.  I am the luckiest gal in the world.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Cruisin' - Onboard Carnival Ecstasy

 (Off topic note first - My super cool man friend commented on my blog!  Now I can die happy.  hehe!)

We made it to Galveston with no mishaps.  It was a pleasant drive.  Coming from the desert, driving along the shore of the Gulf of Mexico left me breathless.  All that endless water.   It was fantastic.

We made our way to WalMart so we could pick up the last few essential items that were needed.  We bought wine.  That is an essential, right? 

As we try to pull in to the parking facility, we are turned away.  They tell us that our ship had just docked and it would be another hour or two until we could park.  I guess they needed the people who were on the ship to come and retrieve their cars before they could park more.  Hmpf.  So we toured Galveston some and had a light lunch then we got in the growing line of cars that were waiting to park.  And there we sat.  We were a wee bit irritated that our vacation would now be shorter by about 4 hours or so.  But there was really nothing we could do about it, so we waited and when our turn finally came, we parked and hopped on the shuttle that would take us to the pier.

This is where the line to stand in line to stand in line to stand in yet another line began.  Because everyone was coming in at one time instead of dribbling in over the course of the morning, it was a bit of a long wait.  We just kept our smiles plastered to our faces, we joked with others in line and really just tried to be patient.  We knew there was a light up ahead.  Its name was alcohol.

The time came and we boarded the ship.  We made our way to our stateroom in order to put our carry-on luggage down and as we are approaching our door, here comes our checked luggage from the other direction.  Woohoo!  No waiting!  We were in our room long enough to drop everything and then we set out on a mission for our first Drink of the Day.  We found it on the Lido Deck.  It was tall, and red and had an umbrella and fruit in it.  Heaven!  We were finally "On Vacation" and it felt good.


We turned off the phones after posting a couple of pictures on facebook, we explored the ship, we waved goodbye to Galveston as we pulled away from the dock and then we headed back to the room to unpack, unwind, and get ready for dinner.

We were scheduled for the late seating of dinner.  Around 8:00 pm we moseyed our way around until we found the dining room.   Once we were seated I started to feel weird.  I had not been feeling the movement of the ship at all but now, sitting down and being still, it was very pronounced.  I worried that I would not be able to make it through dinner but I did fine.  It was nice to meet our table-mates and get to know them a little.  I will say this once and then it will be dropped as I do not want to dwell on negativity.  The food was horribly sub par.  Cafeteria food in school was better.  We have both cruised before, with different lines, and the food is normally to die for.  I did not gain a single pound on this cruise.  That is all I will say.  I promise.

I am kind of hazy as to what we did after dinner.  But I do know we ended up in our room at a reasonable hour, we turned on an audio book and let the sea rock us to sleep.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Cruisin' - Day 1 and 2 - San Antonio

Best. Vacation. EVAH!  Just gotta get that right the hell out there.

We left the house, Saturday morning, at 4:20 am.  Then giggled for an hour every time we said 4:20.  Cuz we are crazy like that.

I had totally checked the map. (days and days ago)  I knew where I was going.  I had it DOWN!  We were on the road baby.

Hours and hours later...I realize that I have totally just added three whole hours to our trip.  THREE!  I went to Ruidoso, Alamogordo, and then to El Paso to reach I10.  Oh yeah.  All unnecessary.  Mental note for the ride home...go through Carlsbad, ya moron.

Twelve hours after we left home, we arrived in San Antonio.  (Little side note here.  I went on 5 car trips in the last relationship.  Every single one was chock full of tears, screaming, threats, and a whole mega ton load of more drama than you can imagine)  Present day...I just spent 12 hours in the car with my super cool man friend and his super cool dog.  12 hours that should have been 8 hours.  12 hours of the most pleasant conversation and book listening and sight seeing that any person could imagine.  This man is a saint.  He really really is.

So we make it to his parents home.  We are literally there like 4 minutes.  We drop off the dog, we look up where we need to be and we head out to my nail appointment.  I have been reading about a Shellac manicure for about a year now.  No one does them around here so I made an appointment in San Antonio to have a manicure and pedicure done.  Let me tell you.  It is worth it.  Today, 9 days later, my nails look like I just walked out of the salon.  There are no chips, no smudges, no cracks, nada.  These are my real nails people, not an acrylic manicure.  IT is awesome.  Even my toes look perfect.

We get back to the 'Rents home and it is visiting time.  The super cool man friends brother comes over and we all get to hang out.  We stayed up late playing cards and enjoying some family time.

Sunday morning we head out to do some shopping.  Five stores later, we come home with only Krispy Kreme donuts.  Oh yeah.  Our priorities are straight.  Brother comes over again and we rope Dad into playing some games.  We played Farkle.  Dad kicked the butt off of us.  He even left at one point to take a shower and we kept going...Dad still won.  I believe there were some shenanigans going on here.

Mom and Dad took us all out dinner.  Even the Brothers wife and kids came.  We went to Olive Garden and hey, when you are at Olive Garden, you are family, right?  Yeah, not so much.  They told us that pants were NOT optional at the dinner table.  Hypocrites.

After dinner, back at the Casa, we got everyone involved in the game playing.  Dad pulled out a game called Apples to Apples.  Funnest game in the world if you have a lot of people.  We played for hours.  I laughed so hard.  Everything that I love about the super cool man friend, came from his parents.  This entire family is just a complete joy to be around.  It was the perfect start to our vacation.

We woke early Monday morning as we needed to get on the road to Galveston.  We packed up, said our goodbyes and headed out for the next leg of our journey.  I totally used the GPS this time.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Shhhhh...I am huntin' wabbits!

The past few nights have been weird.  I wake up, a lot.  All night long.  But, in the mornings, I still feel rested and refreshed.  I am not groggy or tired throughout the day.  But still, it is not normal to wake up that much. Right?

I know what my problem is while I am trying to *fall* asleep.  My brain is still on hyper-drive.  I have so many lists running through my head of what needs to be accomplished and what needs to be packed and what needs to go where and to who...yeah.  Who could fall asleep with that nonsense going on? 

But to wake up over and over and over again once I finally *do* fall asleep?  Screw that.  I will cut you.  Seriously.

I had to go bra shopping last night.  I am so sure you wanted to know this.  Right?  You see, I am wearing a really low cut dress for formal night and I want the girls to be all **PA-PAOW!** and up there and even and shit.  So, yeah.  Needed a new bra.  And of course I had to buy the matching panties as well!  I mean, they were calling my name...I never have matching ANYTHING, especially undies.  Now I do.  So there.  Nanner Nanner.

If only they had a 24hr Tattoo Removal Magic Pill I could take, I would be totally set.  (why oh why did I choose to put it on my BOOB?? Stupid Stupid Stupid!)

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Humpday Update

We have been taking the Jadera pills for a week now.  I am down 3 lbs, super cool man friend is down 5.  (Shoots evil glare at super cool man friend)  I can feel them working.  For Real, yo.  I am not hungry, I am not craving the sugary sweetness (case in point - we have cake at the house, CAKE PEOPLE!  I did not touch the cake last night.  Not one little morsel.  I am thinking it will be thrown out.)  I am drinking water like I have been lost in the desert for weeks!  Four Liters yesterday.  So we will call this week a success.  Woohoo!

I have even been taking vitamins!  Me!  Everyday.  I am a superstar.

Last night I challenged myself to go a little further and a little longer on the treadmill.  I made it to 44 minutes (3.4 miles) before I had to stop.  The night before I tried to run.  I thought I was ready.  I was not.  Ten minutes was all I got until I thought I was gonna throw up.  So we will stick to fast walking for now.  Build up to the jogging and the running bits.  Maybe tonight I can make it to 4 miles.

The super cool man friend and I discussed our strategy for eating on the cruise ship.  We both have cruised before and we both WAY OVER INDULGED.  This time, we are going to focus on having fun and not focus on the food or the 24 hour ice cream dispenser.  Plus we will be on our pills so it should help.

Two more days until we leave.  Woohoo!  I have been active on a message board at www.cruisecritic.com with other people who will be on our cruise.  I am leading a Meet and Greet on the cruise ship so we can all see who we have been chatting with.  One of the ladies is going to be teaching ballroom dancing lessons and we are gonna jump all over those.  The super cool man friend and I have never danced together.  It will be a hoot!

I found a birthday card that Zach made me.  He has it hidden in his backpack so he can give it to me on my birthday.  Well, he says he will give it to me on Friday since I will be gone on my actual birthday.  I will post a pic when I can.  He is such an awesome son.  I am so lucky. 

Monday, January 10, 2011

Countdown Begins!

The weekend sped by in a blur of activity!  Friday night found us spending time at the BFF's house while she prepared us a veritable feast!  Chicken, roasted potatoes, spinach salad, YUM!  She put all this together with just the items she had in her freezer, pantry and fridge.  How cool is she? 

Saturday was filled with packing for the cruise (I am almost done!), cleaning out the car (I had no idea I had a trunk!), shopping for last minute items that were needed, and raiding my mom's closet for cruise wear which then turned into a fashion show for the super cool man friend who said yea or nay on whether said items made it into the suitcase.  We had pretty much decided to catch a movie and were heading out to grab a quick bite to eat before we changed our minds and had a lovely dinner at our favorite Asian restaurant instead and went home to view another of the Harry Potter movies.  Good Times!

Sunday morning rolls around and as I am laying in bed contemplating all that needs to be done, the super cool man friend offers to rub my feet.  Now how could I say no?  Half hour of pure bliss.  Once we finally got up and around, I was bound and determined to get the house in order.  I started on the huge piles of junk that were littering my kitchen (all the stuff that I brought into the house from cleaning out the car).  As I am doing this, I notice that the super cool man friend is cleaning the living room!  Without being asked!  That is Teamwork baby!  I get the kitchen ready for breakfast, cook said breakfast and then moved the furniture out so mopping could commence.

Long story short, all the laundry got washed, dried AND PUT AWAY!!  The kitchen is clean, the living room is clean, I baked some pineapple upside down cakes (one failed...LOL, it overflowed, but it tasted good!) and we spent some quality time doing things that each of us likes (super cool man friend worked on a craft project, the boy played Legos and his DSI, and I played on the Ipad).

It was a wonderful weekend.

5 days until we leave!  Woohoo!  Now, if only I could get the rest of my list completed!

Friday, January 7, 2011

Friday! Finally!

We had pizza last night.  Go ahead, ask me what kind.  We had Bacon pizza.  Oh yeah.  Three different types of bacon smothered in gooey cheese.  I know you are jealous.  It was Faboo.

I cannot believe this is the last weekend before we leave on our cruise.  I have done NOTHING to get ready.  I am out of time.  There is packing that needs to be done, the car needs an oil change, I need to get the formal wear to the dry cleaners and I need to clean out my car!  Oh yeah.  This is gonna be one busy weekend.

I am really excited to meet the super cool man friends parents.  We are going to be staying with them for two days on our way to Galveston to hop on the ship.  I am excited and NERVOUS.  I have never even spoken to them.  The super cool man friend has been around my parents plenty of times and so I just have to suck it up and hope they like me.  Plus, I have never been to San Antonio before so that will be a treat in itself.  I have set up an appointment to have one of those SHELLAC mani/pedi's.  They don't have them in a 300 mile radius around here so I figured I would treat myself while I am in the "Big City".

My boss and about 15 people in his circle of family and friends have been taking this diet pill called Jadera.  Every single one of them have lost weight without changing their eating habits or exercising.  One lady has lost almost 75 lbs in four months.  Granted, she had A LOT to lose, but still.  So I started them two days ago.  I am going to give it a try.  Along with changing my eating habits and exercising.  Cross you fingers that I have the same success as they have. 

Monday, January 3, 2011

OMG! I have Comments!

Did you see?  I have comments!  And not just from my friends!  Woohooo!  Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE LOVE LOVE my friends...but my friends are kinda OBLIGATED to comment somewhat.  These are NEW PEOPLE who don't KNOW ME!  WOOHOO!

Okay.  So enough jubilation for the moment.

I had a perfectly awesome weekend.  The super cool man friend took me out to dinner Friday night and then we hung out at the Elk's Lodge for the New Year's Eve celebration.  I totally missed my BFF and it made me reminiscent of the NYE party a few years back where we totally hit it off and became awesome friends.  Plus we had a bazillion shots that night. Good Times.

Saturday I woke up at 6:00 AM!  But I talked myself into going back to sleep.  Got up around 11:00 and hit the treadmill.  Hungover and all.  Totally kicked butt with a 30 minute workout.  Once we were up and dressed, we went shopping.  (The Ex came Friday at noon and took his kitchen table.  Perfect excuse to get a new one right?)  We started out at Big Lots and though they had some awesome table options, they were all a bit out of our price range.  Then we were going to hit the second hand shop but it was closed due to the holiday.  So, we went with our first choice and got the one at WalMart we have been drooling over for weeks now.   

It went from this to.....  
THIS!  
We also found a bottle of Cotton Candy Flavored Vodka while we were out and totally had to get some.  I mean, it is COTTON CANDY FLAVORED people!  So Saturday evening we drank some vodka and watched some South Park.  Awesome combination.  Especially mixed with Pineapple Juice.

Sunday morning we headed to the mountains to pick up my boy from his Dad.  On the way back, we stopped in Ruidoso, NM and had some lunch/dinner at my favorite Italian Restaurant, Michelinas.  Then we headed back home.  I had to get the laundry done or we were going to be in big trouble.  Once the laundry was vanquished, we played a board game that my son had received for Christmas.  Gosh, then it was bedtime.  "Time goes by so fast" (Bangles)

I was not ready to head back to reality this morning.  We have been off schedule for two weeks and it is gonna be crazy trying to get back.  But we will make it happen.  Oh yes, we Will!  Just Watch!