Hi kids! Where do I start? I’m sitting on a beach in Roatan, Honduras! I still have to pinch myself saying that. This won’t be a long blog entry because I’m on my iPhone, and missing the beach time, so more to come from the iPad on board the Crown Princess tonight or tomorrow.

The highlights…

…kissing a stingray in Grand Cayman

…enjoying family time on our second leg of the trip

…having quality time with my guy, despite 8 of us traveling together

…waverunner riding to snorkeling adventure on reefs in the middle of the Caribbean Sea

…sun, sand (mmm rum punch) and ziplining in Roatan

Suffice to say, we are thoroughly relaxed and having a fab time! I can’t believe we still have two weeks of vacation left!

YOUR TURN: What have you been up to, this week?

Ps: happy birthday to my baby brother… Glad I got you on the phone today!

Pps: thanks so much for your comments – good to know people are still reading my updates!

Holy crap, how did that happen? It’s day 7 on board the cruise ship Oasis, and this is our second consecutive day at sea.

Now that I have some time, I’ll write about the things I couldn’t in port with limited time and battery power on my cell phone…

My favourite day so far has to be our excursion in St. Thomas – as I mentioned earlier, we did a power snorkel trip to Turtle Island, which is about an hour’s sail from the cruise ship dock.

We immediately boarded a “pirate ship” and motored over to the island in about 45 minutes, where we got quick instruction on how to best put on our masks, and use our floatation devices (not really required in such incredibly highly salted water… it was effortless to float without adding any air in the vests.

Barry and I elected to add on power turbines to our adventure, and were a little let down that they didn’t have enough machines to go around for those that had paid for them. We ended up sharing ours between the two of us, but as it turned out, it felt really good to kick about rather than power through the water with these hand held props. We definitely needed the exercise after the last few days of indulgences, not to mention the rum punch we partook in after we got back on board the boat.

We ended sailing most of the way back, and enjoyed the sun, the rum, and the great tunes. It was a lovely day…

St. Maarten was great too, although not much to write about there. We ended up finding this cute little bar at the end of the beach (see the previous post for the photo) and enjoyed a bucket of Desperato (tequila flavoured beer found down in these parts) and then decided to make our way over to the French side of the island. Uck. I wish we hadn’t done that, actually. Because of a traffic issue, what should have been a 20 minute cab ride ended up taking over an hour longer than that – And, only to get over there to discover the tags for everything in Euro, and crazy-out-of-this-world prices. By the time we got there, we literally had half an hour to walk around before finding another cab back. Oh, did I mention, the first cab had no air conditioning? In one of the most humid and hot places on the planet? Ya… Not the best choice, but we can say we did it, anyhow.

I’m currently enjoying a glass of Lindeman’s on the balcony while my hair soaks up some much-needed conditioner.

As I think about this past week, I am really looking forward to getting on board our next ship, the Crown Princess, where we’ll be meeting up with both sets of parents, and Annette and Lee (friend’s of Penney and Bob’s from Austrailia) – The last two weeks with them will be awesome! Besides, I’m looking forward to being on a more conventional cruise ship, if you can believe it, as we have barely seen any shows on this ship due to scheduling fiascos, and the inability to see a show without pre-booking them (and if you miss it, too bad, you lose). I don’t like that part of cruising with 5600 other people, that I can tell you.

I do want to mention, that Barry and I have really enjoyed meeting some awesome fellow Canadians on board – we’ve been sitting with a couple from Winnipeg (one of whom is currently still in radio) Patty and Curtis, and a really nice couple from Ontario, Louise and Elliott (who is in the cruise business) and finally the first couple we met at the terminal, Eves and Karen.

Time to rinse out my hair! Hope you have been enjoying my updates!

Hi guys! Today we are in St. Maarten – the Dutch side! It’s been an incredible week so far, but my phone has almost no charge I’ll write more later – but highlights include power snorkeling (and a whole lot of rum punch!) in St Thomas, lots of sun bathing on our balcony (gasp, I’m actually getting a tan!) and yummy $1.50 beers at both ports we have had beer at.

I’m loving the ship, but funny enough very much looking forward to Princess with our family next week.

I won’t be near Internet until Saturday now, as we are at sea for the next two days… so a very happy birthday to Toni in a couple days! xoxo

YOUR TURN: How’s things with you?

Hello everyone! It’s great to be in the sun!!!! So hot. And, my skin is loving the humidity as much as my hair is not.

The Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas is awesome but definitely not your patent’s cruise liner. The promenade is more like a nightclub with music and festive lights playing all day and night. It’s a party, and everyone is invited!

I’m writing this post on my phone from Nassau, our first port. We are having a great time and getting lots of sun and walking in. At the moment, I’m enjoying (I use that term loosely) a local beer at a cafe on one of the side streets. It’s awful, and I’m loving it.

I went to show Barry the Straw Market, but it burned down! The photo above is all that’s left from the building that used to reside in front of that street. Oh well, every stall has the same trinkets, beads and tshirts so we aren’t missing much.

Time to finish this beer and head back to the ship… We leave this port early today – 2:30.

Good morning! I’m sitting in the Port of Everglades, waiting until 11:30 to board the largest cruise ship in the world, Oasis of the Seas. It’s been an adventurous trip already.

The flights were easy, and it didn’t feel like seven hours in the air that it was. That said, the second flight was full of clueless old people that were obviously going in the same direction as we were.

Standing in line for our cab to the hotel last night, the clueless old people continued the theme with a comedy show starring two ancient people – one old woman who kept losing her shoes outside the cab and her husband who three times, got back out of the cab to put her shoes (and her purse) back in the cab. The cab door finally closed 10 minutes later, with what was an obviously frustrated cabbie pulling away in a huff.

Barry and I elected to grab a taxi instead of a shuttle, thinking it would be faster. Um. That would be a negative. He had looked up the hotel address while we were waiting for luggage to see if they had a free shuttle, and then used that address to give to the cab driver. When we arrived at what looked like a two star hotel, (I had booked a 2.5 star through Priceline, but hey, close enough right?) they didn’t have a reservation for us! Oh crap.

Turns out there’s more than one “Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort” – who knew? Oh, and don’t let the “Resort” part fool you. By the time we arrived, two cab rides and $45 lighter wallets, it was anything but a resort. Priceline? I won’t be booking with you again. I have now promised Barry he can pick the hotels for a while.

We got to the port way early, which is the way I like it, because we have a whole lot of running around booking entertainment to do (because I neglected to book it in time before we left – I’m sure most of the cruise vacationers on the Oasis have already booked, so damn… Oh well).

So, here I sit. It’s 10:30am, and we are about to board. We’ve already met some really nice people we’ll catch up with later for a drink – they are from Ontario, and seem like our type of people.

YOUR TURN: How’s your Saturday going?

Goooood morning kids! How is everyone this fine (and snowy for us Calgarians) morning?

Me? I’m fabulous! First off, I want to say a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my wonderful husband… We had a great meal with awesome friends last night. Barry loves “meat on a stick” at Bolero – a Brazilian BBQ place – so I mostly surprised him with an evening there last night. He seemed to enjoy it. I hope this is another incredible year for him.

The countdown is definitely on now, as our cruise is only a couple of days away. We’re very much looking forward to some sun after the recent weather insanity here. Hurricane force winds over the weekend that actually blew our fence door off, combined with a severe winter storm blowing through today, gives us all the reason we need to be counting the minutes down, now! Let’s see, that would be…

The primary reason for this blog post today, however, is a question I’d like to pose to you… Have you had much luck with sneaking alcohol aboard Princess or Royal Caribbean cruise ships? I have done it in the past, but I haven’t attempted it in recent years. Previously, I’d wrap a couple of bottles of wine in my checked baggage (which, quite frankly, I rarely actually check… I drag it on board to avoid dealing with the porters) but this time, for both cruises, I am going to be checking my bags, and attempting to circumvent the high wine prices on board by bringing my own bottles (just a couple) to consume in my room.

So YOUR TURN – Let’s hear your stories!

ps: I can’t believe these cruises will bring me up to 15 in the count, and this is the first time I’ve left absolutely everything (including excursion bookings) until the very last minute. I hope that delay doesn’t come back and bite me in the ass because we miss out on the excursions, or night entertainment we want! (Oasis actually allows you to pre-book the evening entertainment before you board, but we missed it by 1 day… darnit)

Hello from work, everyone!

I’m taking a few minutes over my lunch hour to reach out and give you a quick update.

I. Love. My. New. Job!

Okay, yes, I’m unbelievably busy… But, I’m learning a ton, and I’m actually talking to — and giving advice to — clients! As some of you know, that was my biggest issue in my previous position. I didn’t feel like I was making a difference in any of my client’s lives, and I was not allowed to talk about my opinion whatsoever.

What a difference that makes.

The timing of my upcoming trip for nearly a month is actually better than I thought. We leave in a few days, and it’ll be a much-needed rest from the amount of learning I’m doing every day. Also, December seems to be a slower month in this position, which is good… I get back just in time for tax season! But, working with the Commercial group means that tax season is not as hectic as on the personal side of this role. I’m thankful for that.

In other news…

I can’t believe it’s been four years this week that my Dad passed away. I was on a cruise to the Med at the time, and that was probably the lowest, darkest time for me in my life. My, how things have changed. I still think of my Dad nearly every day, but, I’ve let go of the deep sadness I felt for so long after his death. Dying is something we will all have to do at some point, so I’m choosing to remember the good times I enjoyed with my Dad, and celebrating what he brought to my life.

So, I’ll leave you with a question!

YOUR TURN: What’s been going on in your life, lately? Catch me up!!

“The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.” – Henry Miller

Early this morning, I woke up with a start. I looked around my dark bedroom, and reality hit me right in the face… I’m not immortal, no one is. One day, I’ll be looking around just like this, and that will be my last moment. And then, I will no longer exist.

How frightening, hey?

It’s rare that my mortality really occurs to me. Is that weird? Of course, there are obvious times, like when my Dad died, that I was forced to really think about it, and realize how thankful I am that I came to be (and that my birth parents allowed me to have life). But, how often do I actually consider that one day, my conciousness will actually no longer “be”? Not often enough, I realize.

I guess that’s also the downside to not having faith in the presence of a “heaven” or everlasting life with a soul. But, I also think that forces me to live the moments, because in the grand scheme of my life, those moments really aren’t all that plentiful, so I try to enjoy each one of them.

That Henry Miller quote above is one I’ve quoted here on the blog in the past, but I haven’t *really* been living my life that awarely, obviously. I think this is a great wake-up call, though. I’m going to try harder to live more awarely, and be thankful for the life that I have. Because, it’s pretty darn awesome to be alive!

YOUR TURN: Do you ever pinch yourself into awareness, and realize how short your life really is? Does your faith (if any) help you to deal with your mortality?