Happy Campers

Found a peanut, found a peanut, found a peeeeeeeeanut just now ...

It's been over 25 years since I sang that song. That is, until this past Memorial weekend at Camp Shaver. Twice a year they have Family Camp, and this year we decided to check it out.


We had so much fun! The accommodations were a bit, shall we say, rustic? No electricity (i.e. no lights after dark or heat), no doors or windows (a tarp over cut-outs in the log cabin), and the bunk beds were made out of two by fours... but that's ok, we weren't there to enjoy the room.

The first thing we did was check out Soda Dam so I could take a couple of pictures. Jill, bless her heart, decided she was going to climb to the top of it. Me, with my fear of heights, not so much. That is until Casey popped her head over the side and yelled "Jill's hurt!" At first I thought she was playing a joke on me, but I scooched my way to the top, and found Jill, writhing in pain, telling me her ankle was broken. Thank God it wasn't - I don't know how she would have gotten down from there if it was! We waited for her to regain her composure, and made our way back to camp.

The rest of the weekend was spent hiking to the warm springs, watching skits by the campfire, playing capture the flag and participating in their structured activities like archery, riflery and rock climbing. Casey was a natural at the climbing, I of course stayed firmly planted on the ground. Turns out I was a pretty good shot with the rifle though, so you better watch out :)

All in all Casey and I had a great time and have already sent in our registration for the Family Camp in the Fall. Jill ... I don't think she'll be returning :)

Youtube Video Stream

You can check out a few more camp pictures on our Flickr stream, too, if you like :)

Pretty Kitty

Pretty Kitty, originally uploaded by andi_thats_me.

Well I haven't blogged or taken many pictures lately, so I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone.

This is Mozart, hanging in our pansies. With the 90 degree weather, they won't last much longer, so I had to take some photos for posterity purposes.

Other than that, I went to Denver for an SES Training Day and met Jason from Checkerboard, am making plans for a couple more seminars, and Casey and I are putting an itinerary together for Clearwater. I'm thinking of buying a vacation condo there (since it's one of the few ocean front locations we can fly to nonstop), so between getting out of dodge and working my arse off, I've had little time for much else.

But rest assured, I am alive (and so is my kitty cat :) )

The lost postcards

So I got a txt message from Sue this morning that said: I finally cleaned out my car.

My response was: um, yay?

Turns out she told me this because she found Casey's postcards from October in between the seats.

To Chris, Dave, and Cassidy - expect a hello from Alcatraz soon!

---

On a different note, my scale read 143.6 this morning the first time I hopped on. The second, third, fourth and fifth times it read 142.6 - which means I lost a pound since last week! So I'm having lasagna for breakfast to celebrate and will go to the gym later to work it off :)

Fool me twice, shame on me

I'm sad today.

I'm mad today.

I am embarrassed today because it seems that I never learn from my mistakes and now I need to vent.

One of the bloggers I hired at Babies Online turned out to be very helpful, nice, and experienced in her field ... immediately I accepted her into our inner circle and considered her our go to girl. When she ran into financial problems I offered to help without thinking first. If I would have thought before I spoke I would have realized that irresponsibility is likely what got her into that situation to begin with. But as I said, I didn't think first.

You know, that phrase without thinking first seems to have gotten me into more problems than I care to admit. But I digress.

I offered to advance some money to her, thinking a few hundred dollars. She came back and asked for $2500, in return I would get 6 months of work, including one rather large project. I wanted to say no to that amount. I really did. But I've been tremendously blessed, and if that's what she needed to get out of her dire straights, then I should help. I sent the money, and don't you know, have had nothing but headache ever since.

I have to beg for examples of her work, and when she finally does send something, it's inadequate. My repeated requests for status reports and conference calls are ignored. She doesn't respond to email, her phone service was suspended, and she either doesn't get on IM or has blocked us from seeing her when she's online.

All is not lost. American Express will give my money back if and when I request a charge back. I have a date in mind when that will happen, but am still hoping she will come through and have some valid excuse for the disappearing act. I'm prepared to accept the fact that I was simply scammed, though, which makes me sad, mad, and embarrassed.

I thought I was smarter than that.

Ok, therapy for today is over. I feel much better now.

Adventures in redecorating

I have company visiting this summer, and since I don't have fancy guest digs like my Uncle Kent, I thought it was time to buy a sleeper sofa. I found one that I like (it has a built in air mattress even) and will likely buy it today. It will go in the Rock Band Room (formerly my unused formal living room) and will be utilized mostly by tweens rockin to the oldies.

This room also houses our piano and has a large picture window on the right side. To complicate things further, I am not adept at interior design, as you can tell from the room design below.

This is how the room is currently laid out:

And this is how I'm thinking of moving things around ...

If I do this, the TV will need to go above the piano, and I will likely put a little DVD/Playstation/Wii table in the corner.
Here's what it will look like with the bed pulled out...

It's a little tight and busy, but it has more of a BHG feel to it this way,
don't you?

Timing is everything

Breaking News! The American Idols Live Tour 2008 dates have been posted. The second I heard I rushed to the tour web site and frantically searched for an Albuquerque date. Of course, nada.

Second, I search for Cincinnati - YAY! The Idol tour is going through my former home town ... scan left for the date ... oh lucky day ... they'll be performing the night that I leave Ohio to fly back to NM.

Please excuse me while I go throw up now.

143.6

So here I am, back to the same weight I was before the cruise.

I remember when I was in my 20s and a size two ... I would look at women my age (now) and just not understand how they could just let themselves go. I thought a little effort is all they'd need to be thin. Stupid me. I guess you need to be in your late thirties to understand how hard it is to lose weight when you're in your late 30s.

But I am resolved to do this. So stay tuned!

The end of Casey's soccer career

Soccer season is over! Oh how I live for this day each spring & fall. This year it is especially bittersweet, though, since Casey has decided not to play soccer any more. I certainly won't miss the practices and Saturday commitments, but she turned out to be quite the little player. I'm going to miss watching her kick &%$ on the fields!

My obsession with Jason Castro

I don't know if you watch American Idol - my dad got me hooked on this show a few years back and I've been watching it ever since. Never before have I completely fallen in love with a contestant though.

Season 7 has blessed me with the purest voice and most beautiful soul I think I have ever experienced: Jason Castro

This boy just turned 21 ... he is silly and sexy and talented and I just want to rub him and his dreadlocks all over my body (yes, you may call me cougar - mrrrreoooow!)

If you haven't had the fortune of listening to him yet, you should check him out on Youtube

VOTE FOR CASTRO!

Brie is the debil

I am starting to dread Mondays. Not because it's the beginning of the week, but because it's the day that I disrobe and walk myself onto the bathroom scale. I was hoping that somehow I would defy physics and find that I had lost weight despite my lack of exercise and over indulgence of brie and chocolate mudslides over the weekend.

No luck. 144.4

I guess it's time to break out the cron-o-meter and start hitting the gym again.

Dammit.

Greg made a bet

So I was looking at my calendar and found a long forgotten note that read:
Bet w/ Greg Randall: 2 years ago he said I'd be in a diff house than (mine) by today

At first it made me laugh. Then it made me think, you know, I have been in this house a long time. I should move. I should get a place that Casey will enjoy as a teenager; a place that can accommodate guests ...

So now I have a goal. New house in 2010. That gives me two years to save save save. We'll see!

Weigh Day

I don't believe it. All I've done for the past week is eat. Worked out only once, yet managed to not gain any weight! I would have never thought I'd be happy to see the numbers 143.6 appear on my scale, but I was this morning when I saw those numbers pop up. I even checked it twice. Using the stairs instead of the elevators paid off I guess!

Unfortunately my cold has settled into my lungs so I won't be working out again for I don't know how long :( But at least I won't have so much catch up to do.

w00t w00t!

Home Sweet Home

Aaaaaaah home. My bed, my pets, my food ... I've enjoyed returning from this vacation more than any other. Still, I've spent the day uploading pictures & videos, and blogging (in between naps). Feel free to check out

• our 161 vacation pictures on Shutterfly
• our cruise videos on Youtube

Enjoy!

Our last day at sea

Our last day on board was spent entirely at sea as we headed back to Fort Lauderdale. We got out of bed without the aid of a wake up call, ate fruit and breads ala room service, and didn't even leave our cabin until noon. Wilneau found us and spent about 15 minutes teaching the girls how to make the towel animals he'd been leaving for us each night.





Then it was off to eat yet again. I so am not looking forwarded to seeing my scale when I get home. After lunch the kids settled in with their Nintendos and I headed spa for my final service. The creme de la creme ... the hot stone massage. It wasn't as good as the massage I got in Kauai last year, but it was great nonetheless. And the massuere was adorable. I think his name was Pedro. He is from Lisbon and he can rub me down with rocks any day of the week.

$200 later I set out to find the girls who were still playing with their stupid video games. They didn't want to go the pool because it was too windy. Sailing at 15 knots tends to do that. So we settled for checking out our pictures that she ships photographers had been taking all week. $42 after that and we hear the intercom yell BINGO BINGO BINGO! $44 later we were recycling our losing bingo cards as we left the Metropolis.

We had enough time for a quick shower before dinner where we watched the wait staff parade and said goodbye to our table friends. Even though the food wasn't that great, dinner may have been the best part of the cruise. Especially this last night. It was reminiscant of the last night of summer camp when everyone is hugging and taking pictures and happy and sad all at the same time. The staff was especially happy since it was tip night for them :)





After dinner we hesitantly went back to our room to pack (and snapped this last photo on the way).

If you've never cruised before here's a little tid bit of information for ya. Your bags need to be packed and set outside your stateroom by midnight the night before you debark. It may not sound like a pain in the arse, but it is. It seriously is. How well we thought this through will be discovered tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Belize

I don't know about you, but when I think of Belize I think of Central America ... hot, steamy, tropical. For this reason we decided that we would spend the day on the beach when we got there. Our concierge, Carlos, booked us on a Sun Beach excursion for the every day low cost of $100. We boarded the tender at 9:00 am (7:00 am Belize time) and headed to an island 6 miles east of the ship. That's right. Island ... East. The opposite direction of the main land.


When our island came into view it was very quaint. Lots of beach chairs, a couple of water trampolines, volleyball net... it seemed like a great little oasis away from the hustle and bustle. But with clouds and wind following us like the black plague, it was too cold to do too much but lay in those lovely beach chairs and cover up with anything that didn't blow away. There were no stores to visit, no locals to chat with (save the pregnant bartender & Frank, who appeared to be a manager of sorts)... basically, NOTHING to do except to play in the sun that wasn't there. Unfortunately we didn't realize this until *after* the boat informed us they'd be back at 1:00 to pick us up and left.

The kids didn't seem to bothered by it. They combed the beach for shells and waded in the water up to about their ankles. I tried to zen out and relax. Then a wonderful thing happened. I glanced at the dock and saw our boat dropping off another round of poor saps people. I ran over to ask if he'd take us back, but three other families had already beaten me to it. Next thing I knew I was handing him a $20 bill and heading back to the ship.

We immediately took another tender to the touring area of Belize, which pretty much consisted of a lot of peddlers and a lot of stores. It really felt like in Central America here, and had even warmed up a bit! So we bought souvenirs, $4 ice cream bars, and great dreadlock hats for Crazy Hat Day. The lady selling them called me Sugarplum and posed for this picture with the girls. Oh, and here's a little tid-bit I wasn't aware of ... they sell prescriptions like aspirin there - right OTC. Check out the menu at this "pharmacy!"

That's it. That was our day in Belize. No more than a few hours, and really, that was probably a few hours too many. We had more fun at the pool and at dinner with our Wisconsin friends I do believe. Casey and Mercedes, of course, deserted me for sports night in the kids club and I realized that I had a cold that needed to be slept off. So that's what I did.

Dolphins Rule (in Cozumel)

The wake up call came at 7:00 ship time. I say that because the ship stays on Eastern Time despite the actual time zone we visit.

Cozumel, for example, is in the Mountain Time zone, but the ship still sails at 5:00 eastern. They made this point over and over again since apparently the ship won't wait for us if we're late.


Our excursion for today is ... Swimming With Dolphins at Chakanaab Park at 8:00 am, Cozumel time. I had no idea what to expect as far as travel time to get there, lines, etc. so we ended up getting there before 7am local time. With an hour to kill we walked up and down the shore line and grabbed some primo beach chairs. Finally it was time to check in for our Royal Dolphin Swim!

The weather was cloudy and windy, so the waves were rockin pretty good. No sooner than we stepped into the water, Casey decided she wanted nothing to do with swimming in the deep water. So she stayed on the platform while Mercedes, me, and the rest of the group swam out to play with Tatiche and pregnant Ichelle.

Even though Casey didn't do the swimming part, she did get to kiss the dolphins, be kissed by them, and tickled them on the belly button (which she thought was very cool).






The dolphin adventure lasted for about 30 minutes, then we were escorted to a little room where they showed us the DVD and photos that they took. $200 later we left the gift store and headed to the pool & beach where the kids played.


Mercedes and I decided to go for a quick snorkel and were happily surprised by all of the fish we saw!





Good thing I glanced at my watch ... before we knew it it was almost 2:00! With the whole time change and needing to be back on the ship by 2:30, so we rushed to the taxis. At the port we had to walk past all the stores selling their seriously inexpensive wares, and got back to the boat with time to spare.

Plenty of time to spare, actually.

We were stunned when the clock in the Royal Promenade read 2:15. Yes, I am a time miscalculating genius. I wanted to head back out and do a little shopping, but Casey and Mercedes didn't care to do that (big surprise there), so we spent the rest of our day at the pool and napping in the room. We skipped dinner in the Nutcracker - the food there is mediocre at best - and I headed back to the spa for a lime & ginger body scrub & massage while the kids went to a pajama party at the kids club.

Formal Night

Our first day at sea was pretty much a lazy day. The kids swam, despite the cold and cloudy weather, then went to the Adventure Ocean kids club while I hung out and tried to locate the ships hotspots. Since tonight is our formal dinner, I went to the spa for a little cut and style in the afternoon so I wasn't sporting spiked hair with my cocktail dress.

Turns out we clean up pretty good!

We had a nice dinner and were not surprised when the monster children were back in the window again. We were surprised that the parents ignored our glares, but at least they were gone by desert. The only thing worse than monster children is monster children hyped up on sugar.

We got back to our room to find that our state room attendant, Wilneau, left us a bunny towel! We love Wilneau. He rocks.

Tomorrow we have an early day in Cozumel so we crashed out shortly after dinner. We are party animals!

Royal Caribbean Cruise Day 1 - Liar Liar Pants On Fire

Embarkation day went smoothly. We scored a late checkout from the hotel, got to the port (thanks Melissa!) around 1pm and figured out the process for boarding.

First thing we did was register the kids. The second thing on my to do list was to pick up the "cyber cabin kit" that allows me to connect to the internet from my room (so I can blog of course).

Problem. They don't do in-room internet anymore. They discontinued the program 4 1/2 months ago because it was messing up their network. So instead of having unlimited access in my room, I have to go to a net cafe and pay by the minute (upwards of $.57 depending on the package you buy). At least I won't spend my entire vacation online that way.

After the net fiasco we headed up to our room - 1282 - the Grand Suite on the 10th deck. It's a beautiful room. Big bathroom, huge balcony, a dressing table, bar, two large closets ... we're traveling in style on this ship.

We didn't spend a lot of time in the room since our luggage hadn't arrived yet, so we headed our to explore and swim until the 4:30 muster drill. Oooooh doggy that was fun. We looked so stylish in our purty orange life jackets ... the teenager down the hall even called me a rock star. Little punk :)

Shortly after we set sail. It was pina coladas for everyone on the pool deck where there was a party goin on! The kids swam while I watched Fort Lauderdale slowly drift away.

Next on the agenda was dinner. Our restaurant is the Nutcracker on the third floor and our assigned seats are right next to the window. Awesome! We met our tablemates for the first time too: a banker from Wisconsin, his wife, and nine year old dd. All very nice and chatty. Unfortunately the table next to us has a table full of children who can't seem to stay in their seats. My view was obstructed by children using the windows as slides. I broke out my camera for evidence of the monster children (they name they quickly adopted) and don't you know they even smiled for the camera.

I wonder if it's illegal to beat OPKs on international waters?

After dinner the kids grabbed their nintendos and I headed to the spa for a facial.

The vacationing is on.

He Is Risen!

Our Easter Sunday was not spent searching for colored eggs, or celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, it was spent traveling to Fort Lauderdale. I didn't think much about traveling on this day when I made our Spring Break plans, but I felt a little guilty not doing anything traditional. Good thing Jesus loves me anyway! :)

The airports were surprisingly busy, and we were very happy when we finally made it to our hotel room. A few phone calls to let everyone know we arrived safely, a little room service dinner, and minimal unpacking later, we were settled in and trying to sleep off the excitement of boarding our first cruise the next day.

So here we are, now Monday, waking up at what feels to us like 7am on our first day of vacation. Let me rephrase that. I woke up at what feels like 7am to us, opened the blinds, made coffee, turned on my computer, got lectured by Kelli for working while on vacation via IM, and am now blogging about our trip so far while Casey and Mercedes are still snoozing away.

At 10:00 I am getting their little butts out of bed so they can enjoy a few minutes of Florida before we take off for the ship place. Pretty soon I'll have the lingo down, but until then, enjoy our view!

This is what dining out will do to ya

So I've worked out quite a bit this past week - took a couple of yoga classes, a pilates class, and tried to get some cardio in before or after. I was excited to hop on the scale only to find that I put on almost a pound!

The scale taunted me with the numbers 144.4

BLIMEY!

Then I realized, I ate out almost every day last week, and when you eat out, you must get dessert.

So I am banning sweets, as soon as I finish these six boxes of Girl Scout Cookies :)