Ft. Lauderdale

Friday J and I headed over to Ft. Lauderdale to do a face to face with someone I’ve been chatting online with for almost 3 years.  Julie and I “meet” in a message board thread for those living with MS.  And after chatting for a few months oblivious me finally noticed her signature and had a lightbulb go off.  Her signature had her flicker account username as MsSmith (name changed to protect the innocent ), which happens to be Mom’s maiden name. 

Julie set up her flicker username as her soon to be married name.  A few inquiries later, mostly to Grandpa who’s memory is slowly starting to resemble swiss cheese, and it was determined that Julie’s then fiance Rob is actually a distant cousin.  So not only did I go to meet with an online buddy, but also a distant cousin.  Julie and Rob were in Ft. Lauderdale to head out on a cruise Saturday to celebrate their one year wedding anniversary.

J took a vacation day and came with so we both enjoyed a three day weekend.  For those interested in Ft. Lauderdale, fair warning.  THEY CAN’T DRIVE!  If there’s an inch of open space between you and the vehicle in front of you, someone else will decide they need to be in that space.  And no signaling either. 

Friday night was spent relaxing with Julie and Rob over dinner.  Saturday while Julie and Rob were boarding and enjoying their ship, J and I decided to play tourist.  We wanted to do a snorkle trip, but that was pretty much out of the question in part thanks to Ida hanging out in the Caribbean.  I know, it’s many many many miles away.  But we’re still feeling the effects here in Florida.  Trust me, I battled the winds the entire drive across Alligator Alley, there and back.  Here’s a video of the waves, this is a beach in Ft. Lauderdale.

Since snorkeling was out of the question we headed over to the Bonnet House.  This house was built by artist Frederic Clay Bartlett, a post impressionist.  He decided to build a plantation house, using his interpretation.  The house and grounds are beautiful and I was glad I had my camera with to take pictures. 

This was our view when we first walked into the courtyard of the house.  The fountain originally was made out of shells, but had to be recast in something sturdier when the shells broke down.

This is a closer look at the railings.  They were sent from New Orleans for the house.  The red roofed building slightly behind the tree is an aviary.

An orchid at Bonnet House.  The home owners were avid orchid fans and even had a greenhouse to grow them in.

These next few pictures are some of Frederic Bartlett’s artwork.  He painted the ceiling’s of some areas of the walkways.  Also, he set the shells in the cement for the eagle design.

These were two swans on the property.

There were also these monkey’s on the property.

Mom and baby monkey.

 

 

 

 

Dinner Saturday night was at the 15th St. Fisheries. I don’t like fish so I had the chicken tenders.  J however had their skillet, the fish for that varies depending on what was messed up while being prepared for other entrees.  The chef of course doesn’t want those items to go to waste, so they put it into the skillet, which is cooked with a wine alfredo sauce.  The sauce was amazing!  It’s really too bad I don’t like fish, otherwise I would totally have had that dish.  We ate on the main level, it was a little more casual and the menu is cheaper.  Our table looked out over the dock where we got to watch restaurant staff feeding the tarpon and jack (according to one gentleman, jack are like pirinha).  When the sun went down and it was full dark we got to watch fish swimming over the lights that are set down in the water.  We also did some speculating on the view outside our window.  Like this yacht.

 

And this yacht.  The bridge just beyond the yacht, when Julie and Rob’s ship departed we watched it sail past that  bridge.

We definitely had a good time in Ft. Lauderdale, but I don’t want to be there again without a horn.  And I wouldn’t want to live there.  It’s a good place to visit, on occasion.

Vacation Time!

This time tomorrow J and I will be on our way to Port Canaveral and vacation!  I’m excited, yet I haven’t even packed yet.  I do have some clothes set out to be packed, I did that last night while folding laundry.  So today will be devoted to packing and some cleaning.  I am going to head over to my parents house with the animals.  That way I can empty the litter boxes and not have to worry about doing it last minute.  I have to say, I’m really not looking forward to a 45 minute drive and listening to Boris and Tasha the whole way.  That’s all they do “meow, meow, meow”

I have one more short shift to work this evening, then I’m off until Saturday!  Woohoo!  Sadly I didn’t achieve the weight loss goal I set for myself and I’m not able to fit into the dress I really wanted to wear.  Somehow I’m thinking that even if I had achieved the goal, I still wouldn’t be able to fit the dress.  I can zip it up just fine, until I get to the top.  Then it doesn’t want to zip.  But not achieving that goal isn’t going to stop me.  I’m going to enjoy the food and desserts they offer but I’m going to be careful and eat them in moderation.  And I have my workout clothes in the pile to bring with.  So hopefully I’ll maintain this week.

Check back next weekend.  I’ll have pictures for everyone.

So far, so good

I re-joined Weight Watchers to help me try and lose some weight so I can fit into my dresses when we go on our cruise.  Yesterday was my first week weigh in date.  This followed J’s birthday a week and a half ago, his dad’s birthday this past Friday, and my birthday on Tuesday.  So there was some not quite so good for me items.  And I let myself indulge a little bit.  Mostly at my party on Saturday. 

So heading to weigh in yesterday I fully accepted the possibility of a gain.  After all, I had cake, and a few drinks, and some mozzarella sticks.  I didn’t go super overboard with any of it, but I did have it.  And that was after refusing cheese cake on Friday night.  But, I’m happy to say, I actually lost a little bit yesterday.  I was down .4, and hey, it’s a loss so I’ll take it!  That just means I’m that much closer to my goal for the cruise.

Oh What a Beautiful Morning!

It really has been beautiful here lately.  The weather has cooled down enough that I can open my windows and turn off the AC.  Ciera has benefited, I took her for a walk during my lunch period while working at home Monday and Tuesday.  She was a happy pooch

That’s not the only reason it’s beautiful right now.  Saturday Mom and I were talking about the economy and as a point, Mom mentioned that her travel agency had just received notification from Royal Caribbean (RCCL) about a cruise to the Bahamas for $199.  In passing I mentioned it to J.  We are now booked on the Monarch of the Seas leaving January 19th for the exotic ports of call of Nassau and CocoCay!!  We even splurged and got an ocean view cabin.  Our total??  $292 per person!!!!  Woohoo!

Today I got a very informative email from a very good friend.  It contains some very exciting news!  Apparently researchers in Great Britain have found that a Leukemia drug is not only able to slow down the progression of MS, but has also shown to make some repairs to damaged nerves!  The article is here.  In the past I’ve discussed participating in clinical trials for oral meds with my Neurologist, but because one of my lesions is directly on my spinal cord at my C2 level, he’s advised against them.  This is one clinical trial I would dearly love to participate in.  But, I’ll be patient and wait until this proceeds further. 

Folks, this is why I participated in the bike MS 150 last year.  Money raised from that event held throughout the US helps fund clinical trials and research so that researchers can make breakthroughs like this.  And think, if a Leukemia drug can help MS patients, maybe someday an MS drug can help those suffering from something else.  And that’s why I’m participating in the bike MS again this year!

Time has flown by

It’s hard to believe tomorrow is my last day of vacation.  It’s been a wonderful week and a half of sleeping in.  Not too many naps though I was hoping for more.  But between sleeping in and cleaning, I didn’t get many of those.  And I still had to work my part time job.

It’s been a pretty quiet week, for the most part.  I didn’t quite get done all the cleaning I’d planned; life threw a monkey wrench at me.  I woke up Wednesday with a very crimped neck and shoulder.  I’m still not sure what I did while sleeping.  But today is the first day I’ve really been pain free.  Thursday Mom ended up having a surprise surgery.  She’s doing well and they even sent her home Friday.  The rest of the weekend has been a lot of running around, but it’s been productive!

I’m close to being done with the pink ribbon afghan.  I was hoping to be a lot closer after my week off.  But I’d estimate I’m at around 80% finished.  I also finally decided on a headboard for my bed too; J and I are going to make it based off a memory board we saw at Big Lots.  The fabric is picked out.  We just need to get the wood and some buttons.  He keeps saying I don’t need them, it’ll look fine without them.  And yes, it will.  But dang it.  I like how they looked on the board we saw at Big Lots.  I want them on my head board. 

So, what’s been up with all of you?

It’s All Bon Bons, Soap Operas and yarn

So far my vacation is fabulous!  Mom and I had a good time at the craft show on Saturday.  We both got a wonderful lilac candle, it has gel chunks in with the wax (soy?) and smells sooo good!  Living in FL, I really miss Lilacs and I’m in rapture anytime I find something that actually has the strong smell of Lilacs.  This candle definitely does.  The maker says it’s because gel holds the scent more and longer, and there’s chunks of gel throughout, so it looks to me like there’s jello squares throughout   I was also able to get a Christmas gift and I got an idea for another one.

Yesterday was Busch Gardens.  The only time I’ve ever been to Busch Gardens, I went on 2 rides, both roller coasters and then we went to see Lonestar.  This time I got to go on all the rides I wanted to go on, except the water rides.  I also got to see the animals and flowers.  I feed a Llama, but they wouldn’t let me bring him home   We didn’t go on the water rides because there were too many people waiting (it was hot as blazes!) and we didn’t want to be squishing around in wet shoes and socks.  That’s not fun.

Today I got to sleep until 10:30.  I’m feeling nice and rested, and I plan on straightening and re-arranging my closet.  I got a new Sterilite container Sunday to place all of my new cotton yarns and I need to make room for it in my closet.  What a vacation, huh? Cleaning and arranging  

Finally, here’s some recent completed projects!  This is a small bag I made following the wheelchair bag pattern I found on Crochet Pattern Central.  It’s being used to hold some personal items at work since I now not only share a cubicle, but also a desk and drawers with someone.

My Delivery Confirmation number shows my package has been delivered.  This was made as a wedding gift for a really good friend.  It breaks my heart I couldn’t go to the wedding, but there was no way I could do so financially.  So I sent her some wonderful gifts (I think so anyway ).  The recipe card box was a pre-made one I got at Michael’s.  J helped me pick out a stain, and paint colors for the stencil.  He did the clear coating and putting back on of hardware for me (since he put glue in the holes!).  I included in the box a pack of 3×5 index cards, some are set up as dividers, some have recipes already on and the rest are blank for them.  I also put a small stamp on the cards and a slightly larger one on the divider cards.  They somewhat tie into the stencil on the box.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, if you recall, I requested your favorite recipe as a gift, yes that was for the wedding set above.  Thank you to those that helped out!  I drew a name and the winner was Courtenay!  I made her and her husband two of my favorite hotpads in colors to match their kitchen.  Thankfully they have pics showing what their kitchen looks like, it made it easy to surprise them

Now, I’m off to re-arrange my closet, do laundry and work on the pink ribbon afghan!

In the paraphrased words of Hamlet… Sleep, Sleep…Sleep

No, that’s not the answer to what I’m reading (which is one of Nora Robert’s latests that I borrowed from Dad), it’s the answer to what I’m doing this next week.  I, dear and wonderful people, am on vacation, not to return to my full time job until next Wednesday.  That’s 11 glorious days of sleeping in! And napping whenever I feel like it!  Can you tell I’m starting to feel a little sleep deprived and burned out?  That’d be the reason for taking vacation now, rather than waiting until my birthday. 

It’s not all going to be sleep and lazy though   There’ll be activity in there too.  Mom and I are going to a craft show today, provided her arthritis is being nice to her today.  It’s one of the Buckler’s Promotions things.  Neither of us has ever been and we usually like wandering around and seeing the items people have made.  Hopefully it’ll be heavy on the homemade and very light on the imported, which I’ve seen at shows before.  Maybe I’ll even pick up a few gifts, if I see something that strikes me as a good gift for X for X holiday

Monday I’m going to Busch Gardens with a friend.  I’ve only been there once.  Once folks!  And that was free!  I didn’t get to do much, went on only a couple of rides.  But given the reason I was there free, I didn’t feel right taking off to go on more rides.  One of J’s childhood friends, Kevin, moved to Nashville years ago to try his hand as a musician.  He’s a bass player and has played as part of the band for John Couger, Big and Rich (if I remember right) and is currently part of the band for Lonestar!  The one and only time I went to Busch Garden’s it was on the Kevin’s friends and family pass when Lonestar was playing there.  It was actually a pretty amazing day!  We hung out with Kevin and his family, then when Kevin had to get ready for the show, we were set up in the VIP seating area.  You know, it was one of those events where people can get into the concert for free, it’s part of the park admission.  But if you want to be able to sit down, you gotta pay.  But I think the best part was actually getting to meet the band (and this was before Richie went solo). 

Ok, slightly off topic there Sorry! Anyway a friend and I are going to Busch Gardens Monday and this time, I’m hitting the rides! I’m hoping it’ll be somewhat quiet since school started back up this week here.  It started Monday and was closed Tuesday as a precaution thanks to Tropical Storm Fay.  J might be taking next Friday off, so we’ll hang out and maybe do something during the day, since I have to work Friday night And on my last day of vacation, I have my six month appointment with my neurologist.  That visit will probably go something like this:

Him: How are you doing?
Me: Pretty good
Him: Any new symptoms?
Me: (ok, this part is new, I’ll be talking to him about the slight occasional pain I feel on my spinal cord) Nope.
Him: Any depression?
Me: Nope, things are bright and sunny!
Him: Ok, see you in another 6 months.

No joke, that’s actually how my past visits have gone.  He’ll renew my stay awake meds which I hate the idea of.  But, they help so I’ll keep taking them.  Then I’ll be on my merry way.  All in all, it sounds like a wonderful vacation to me.  I should feel nice and rested when I go back to work.  Hopefully I’ll have a few things straightened up around here.  And hopefully Ciera and I will be going for a few walks.  I don’t think I’ll be able to successfully bring the kits though.  I’d tried the leash thing with Tasha before, when she was a kitten.  She doesn’t like it.  So no walking the cats.  Oh, and of course, lots of crocheting.  I’m still working on the pink ribbon afghan, won by DSM of the Weight Watchers message boards. I have 11 1/2 rows containing ribbon done, I have 12 1/2 left!  Woohoo!  See y’all on the flip side.