Confessions of a Gameaholic.

I like (wait, that's an understatement...I "LOVE") video games.  Always have.  It all started with Atari....and Space Invaders!  I was awesome at it....had the high score in my family.  Actually, I don't think anyone even tried to beat me....I'm not sure they even cared.  But I WAS hooked!!  Then there was pong and Donkey Kong among others.

And it wasn't just the home games that I liked, I also got into arcade games as they got more popular.  My all-time favorites in the arcades were Star Wars and Joust.  There were others but those kept my interested the longest.

It wasn't until I got married and we got the better systems that I realize how much I REALLY loved games.  I tend to gravitate toward platform games mostly.  My first love was Zelda, Ocarina of Time.  Then Ratchet and Clank one, two and three, Banjo Kazooie, and Jak and Daxter.  It was like reading a good book--I just couldn't stop until I reached the end. 

I've learned not to even start a game if I want to keep my house remotely clean.  And when Jim comes home from a hard day's work and I'm playing a game....again!...Well, it doesn't do a marrage good.  So I haven't played a long game like that in quite a few years.

Then there are computer games.  Top favorites:  Minesweeper, Spider Solitaire, Free Cell, Tetris, Chip's Challenge.  Love 'em all!  I had heard that they were making another Chip's Challenge.....heaven help me!  It's no wonder my bottom is starting to widen....all the sitting I do!

I've often pondered why I love games, being a female and all.  I know that it is usually a male stereotype:  boys sitting in front of the big screen for hours on end, eyes glued to the flashing lights and cartoon heroes who are in search of a lost maiden, iron strong thumbs--thumbs who react on their own with out any help from the attached person.  Well.....that's me.  Or it was.  Like I said...I haven't sat down to a good game in a long time....not since the PS2.  I don't even know how to turn on any of the newer systems.  I sometimes will exercise with Wii Fit.  But I can only do it if one of the kids is at home so they can fire it up for me.  I'm such a dork. 

I'm not sure I'll ever stop loving electronic games.  My husband said one day, "Let's hope there are computer games in heaven or Marla won't know what to do with herself."  !!!  "Hey!  I only play games cuz I'm bored!  In heaven, I'll have better things to do....visit friends, play music, travel in the blink of an eye.  It's all good!"  I truly believe that, actually.  And the retort seemed to satisfy Jim....I'm happy!

Our Vacation....days eleven and twelve. The Last Leg.

Well, we were pretty much done!  When we woke on Friday morning, we found ourselves docked in San Diego.  We had already packed and our luggage was taken in the middle of the night by porters.  We set it all out in the hall.  They collected it and readied it for debarkation.  All we had to do was get dressed, gather our carry-offs and eat breakfast!  While we waited for our group to be called to leave, we sat on the lido deck eating soft-serve ice cream.  I think I had three.  They were small, so don't freak!

Soft-served ice cream!  Help yourself!!!

We got bored of waiting so we just went to stand in line even though our group number would not be called for a while.  They didn't even check our numbers.  So off we went!

Now....we'd been battling cool weather this whole vacation, but when we got off the boat we started to roast!  It was hot!  Dang!....time for summer clothes, and we had all worn long pants, sneakers and sweaters.  We didn't get very far before we had to stop to strip off the excess layers. 

We found our van just as we left it.  The bananas I had left in there had survived!  I figured they would be brown and mushy.  No!  I think they liked being wrapped in plastic and put in a dark place.  They were perfect! 

We planned on driving straight through to Sacramento.  I wanted to visit my brother and his family on our way North.  The only stop we had to make was back in Highland.  I had to return a book to my friend, Inez.  I took it with me so John could sign it, since it was one of his.  Also, Austin wanted to stop back at Two Guy's, the restaurant, to buy salad dressing....just about his favorite food in the world....if you can call a salad dressing "food".

By 10:00pm we still hadn't reached Sacramento.  So, instead of bothering my brother for sleeping arrangements so late, we decided to just get a motel.  In the morning we went on to his place and had a nice visit with him and his six girls!  I also had a new grand niece to meet.....that was nice.

We got to Redding at lunch time and, of course, we had to stop at IN-N-OUT for our last burger for a long time.  *sigh*....it sure was good!

At about 6pm or so, we pulled into our driveway!  We had completed 2 1/2 Fablehaven books.  We fulfilled much of our to-do list and everything at home has been well taken care of!  It had been a very successful trip! 

Now our vacation is done.....and I'm done typing about it, too.  It's been fun to remember this great time I had with my family.  The memories of it will be with me for a very long time!  In fact it's been so fun to write about this one, that I may go back to write about the other trips we've taken!  Ok!  I think I just gave myself a goal!

A big thank you to my husband who worked so hard this last year so we could afford this trip.  Thanks to Diane and John.  Thanks to our great van that takes us to so many great destinations.  And thanks to all of you who have read and enjoyed!  Love ya all!  Farewell!

Our Vacation....day ten. Another day at sea.

Cabo was fun, but like all good things, it must come to an end.  Time to get back on the ship and head back home.  They told us that we HAD to be on the ship no later than 2:30 or we'd be left behind.  yikes!  No problem.....we finished our shopping and were back on the ship in plenty of time.

The next morning, on our way back to San Diego, we saw nothing but ocean....not only because we were far enough out at sea, but because it was overcast and foggy!!!  Oh man!  PLEASE warm up so I can go soak up the sun!!  PLEASE!  No luck.  By the afternoon it did clear up some, but it was so cold!  *grumble, grumble!*  So much for laying out....

Ok, so what do I do now?  More wondering around.  Ice carving demos and trivia games.  Eating.  Two more lectures by John.  A farewell meeting with our group complete with slide show of our cruise and everything we did.

Dinner was a little different.  All the waiters and their assistants did a dance and sang and waved their serving towels around.  It was fun to watch!  We had the same waiter every night, so we got to know him pretty well.  All the seating in the dinning room is assigned and so you sit in the same place every night.  His name was Alan...he was from Croatia.  Just about every worker on the ship was from a different country.  I did see a few from America, but not many. 

Over all, I had a very good time!  I'd recommend a cruise to anyone!  It may have sounded like I was bored, but really it was not that bad.  To me, a cruise is about the ports of call.  So spending so much time on the ship is not what I like.  But the food and service were wonderful!  "The Cruise Lady", who we booked our cruise through, did a fantastic job and we will defiantly be booking with her again!  Thanks Diane!!!  Meeting John and his wife, Kim, was a pleasure and the highlight of our trip.  We got lots of pictures and plenty of souvenirs.  We even took a family portrait with one of their professional photographers on board, and individual photos of all the kids.  We haven't done that in a long while, so that was nice. 

Going to bed was bitter sweet.  It marked the last night of our long-awaited cruise, but I was also looking forward to getting home and sleeping in my own bed! 

I have decided that the two cruises that we've done to Mexico have been fun, but we're ready to move up to something else.  I wouldn't mind visiting the east side of Mexico some day.  Right now we have our sites set on Alaska in July of 2012.....just Jim and I.  We'll see how it goes.  Most of it depends on Jim's work, of course.  "Money makes the world go round"....it also determines our vacations! 

Our Vacation.....day nine. Our second day in Cabo.

Yep, our second day.  I found out that not many cruises stay in a single port for two days.  This one did.  Which was fine with me.  It gave us the time to do some more exploring in this cute city.  The first day was basically a wash because of our excursion.....everyone was so tired after that, that walking all over the city was out of the question.

We woke up the next morning feeling better, but most of us got too much sun and our cheeks glowed red.  No wonder we were so wiped out after our boat trip.  The sun will do that to ya.

Also, I didn't mention this before, but that day at Disneyland, when we got rained on, took a toll on most of us. Three of us caught a cold.  Sore throat, stuffy nose, sneezing/coughing (which could also explain why we were so bushed the first day).   Not a good way to spend a vacation, but we made the best of it.  Problem is....I was not at home with a large cabinet of medications at our disposal!  We were on a boat with a small store that had limited selection for our ills.  And what they did have was EXPENSIVE!!!  Dang!  Now I know how they make their money....by ripping us off on the necessities of life!  I went ahead and bought Musenex and cough drops because we were desperate.   I would have preferred Day/Nyquil, but they didn't have any. 

So on this next day, two of the sickies opted to stay on the ship instead of walking around Cabo.  Max was the worse.  He slept all day.  Erin was also sick, but not as bad.  Corinne stayed with her on the ship.  So that left me, Jim and Austin to do Cabo.  Erin asked us find her a fedora for a souvenir....white with a black band.  Ok, no problem. 

Off the three of us went!  For the most part, Cabo is just a tourist trap.  I suppose most popular ports-of-call are like that.  Lots of souvenir shops, restaurants and cheap drugs stores.  Wait!  Drug stores???  Maybe they have Nyquil!  So the first one we came upon I decided to stop and see.  It was a small cubical of a place with the entire front of the store in glass.  The doors slide open to the side like our sliding glass doors we have here in the U.S.  So I grab the handle and pull.  They didn't budge.  But I know they're open cuz the sign says so!  So I try harder only to be surprised with an alarm!  What??  BUT THE SIGN SAYS "OPEN"!!  "Ok, let's just walk away casually.  I don't want to get arrested," I tell my guys.  Stupid sign.  As we walked, I really expected to see or hear sirens from the authorities, or something.  They never came.  We could hear the alarm for a long time.  I felt safe when we finally turned down another street.  We found another drug store that WAS open and went in.  Whew!  All I could think about was getting arrested and not being able to get out.....I've heard that this happens sometimes to Americans in Mexico.  Wouldn't that have been swell!  Well, obviously we didn't get arrested, because I'm here to tell the tale.  hehe

Shops

Back to the task at hand.....drugs.  No Nyquil.  Grrr.  In fact, there was nothing there that looked familiar at all.  I told the man at the counter that we all had colds....what did he have that could help with that.  "This will help you sleep at night at the same time as helping with the symptoms."  Ok, I'll take it.  We all took it that evening before bed.  Not sure it helped.....maybe it did.  That's the funny thing about cold medicines.....you never feel totally well, but you're not sure if you'd feel worse without it.  ??

Anyway, I took my purchase and we proceeded to go up the street in search of some authentic Mexican artifacts to take home as a souvenir....oh, and a fedora.

Sometimes I don't like shopping with Jim.  He can be very picky.  I'm, like, "Ok, I like this!  Let's buy it and be done with it."  He wants to make sure that it's the BEST thing available to us, so we walk on and on looking forever until he KNOWS what he wants.  *sigh*  Ok, whatever, just get something!  We ended up a mile from the ship before we were finally done.  We mostly ended up with clay bowls and plates.  Love them!  And I couldn't get away without buying some sort of jewelry.  So I bought a small silver pendent with mother of pearl in pink.  I was happy!  We were also successful in finding a fedora for Erin.  She was happy with it! 

A couple other things we saw that were interesting:  A guy dressed as a pirate painted all in gold....clothes, hair, skin....the whole works.  He stood on a wooden box with a small open box in front of him hoping you'd throw in money.  We also saw someone in a cartoonish costume of Michael Jackson.  He had a big head!  There was also a tent that had young tigers and lions that you can pay to hold and have your pictures taken with.  We learned, too, that Sammy Hagar owns a bar here called Cabo Wabo.  We walked by it but didn't go in.  We imagined that the big, fancy yacht we saw in the harbor was his....it was just a guess.  Anyway......

Gold Pirate and Michael

Ok....here's where we made our worse mistake (besides not bring our own Nyquil!):

My feet were really not feeling happy, so I thought it would be cool to hire one of the many guys that ride a bicycle with a cart on the back to take us back to the dock.  I stood out on the street looking for one while Jim finished making his last purchase.  I saw one way down the street so I did my big whistle for him (yes, I can do a big whistle....my dad taught me how.  He was cool that way!).  The guy heard it!  I waved at him and he came quickly.  He said it was no problem to take three adults.  He was kinda a small guy and he was drinking soda as his liquid refreshment.  !!  Whatever.  So we hopped in and off we went!  It took about 10 minutes to get back to the harbor.  The poor guy was sweating up a storm.  He assured us that he was doing ok......he must really be fit!  When we reached our destination, I asked him how much.  Oh....$100.  !!!!!What!!!!!  I don't THINK so!  "ok, he said, $60....$20 for each person."  "How about $40?"  "Nope, $60"  grrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!    I bet his family ate well that week. 

Back on the ship I was happy to sit down to a good meal and to just SIT.  My feet hurt and I was bushed!....AGAIN!  I really need to get into better shape.

.....and I REALLY wish I had asked how much he would charge BEFORE we got in.  An expensive lesson to learn.......oh well.

Our Vacation....day eight. Cabo!!!

The ship arrived at Cabo San Lucas sometime while we slept.  When we got up and looked out over the water, there it was....land!  It's where we'd be camped for the next two days. 

Cabo San Lucas from our ship.

We had booked a whale watching/snorkeling tour and it was leaving fairly early, so we had to hurry and eat so we could get an early tender off the ship.  The ship was not able to dock right next to land, so it was anchored out a little ways in the harbor.  There are little boats called "tenders" that saddle right next to the ship that take people back and forth all day.  Our group was on boats 1 and 2.  We had all met after breakfast on the ship in a predesignated place so we could leave all together.  I didn't count, but there must have been at least 25 of us. 

These are "tenders"

The tenders took about 10 minutes to get to land.  On our way in we noticed that there was some pretty nice yachts docked there and even one huge one with tinted black windows all the way around and a helicopter on one of the decks!  Very posh!  Jim took a bunch of pictures.
There were also a bunch of very small boats....only big enough to put a couple of people in.  They had these outboard motors that had a bunch of bird poo running down the sides.  There were so many pelicans here and they used those small boats for perches.  Pelicans are big birds!!  Big birds make big poop!  Yuck!

After docking, we made our way through the maze of ropes and photographers to get to our tour boat.  They practically tackle you to get your picture....they hope you'll buy it later on.   When you're off the dock, they tackle you to buy their wares or to rent their boats for fishing or whale watching or whatever.  There are so many of them!  I feel so bad for them.  I always hope that they get enough business to feed their families! 

Our tour boat was nice!  I was very surprised!  It had two levels.  The upper level had benches to sit, and the captain steers the boat from up there.  The lower level was mostly inside and had benches and tables to eat at.  There were windows all around so you can still see out while eating.  There was also a wet bar, a hot table and built-in bar-b-cue on this level.  From this level you can access the very front of the boat on the nose.  You really get the wind in your face out there.  I spent a lot of time there just soaking up the sun.  I had images of "Titanic" as Kate was out on the front nose like she was flying.  On this boat, you can go way out on the front tip, too.  Erin loved it there and stood there for a long time. 

Me, Max and Austin sitting inside.

We first visited a colony of sea lions.  A bunch were sitting on a flattish rock not too far off the shore from Cabo.  Boy did they stink!  In this same area there were many wonderful rock formations jutting out of the water.  Beautiful!

Sea Lions.

Next we went out a ways from land to try to find whales.  We did see a few humpbacks, yes.  But not for very long and mostly just their backs.  We did see two tails, which was cool.

Our end goal was going to a harbor that had a small, private-ish beach.  There were lots of fish here.  The tour provided snorkeling equipment.   Most everyone got in the water.  But not me....I didn't even bring a swim suit on the trip!  No way you're getting me into one of those! 

Corinne and Erin

Jim in snorkeling garb

Austin jumping from off the top level of the boat.

Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, even though it was kind of a short stay.  Oh!  And I almost forgot..... Erin had something sting her leg!  It was not real bad, but bad enough that it cut her swimming short and she had red, irritating marks for several days.  Glad it wasn't worse than it was!

A view of the beach.

By the time everyone got back on the boat, lunch was ready!  A very Mexican meal for us!   Tortillas, salsa, guacamole, beans, cheese, rice, fruit, strips of seasoned beef and chicken shish kabobs.  It was wonderful!  I really piled up the guacamole, salsa and corn chips, cuz those are a few of my favorite things! 


Food!



They also had a guy making us drinks at the wet bar.  The virgin strawberry daiquiris were very good and the best part was that they just kept on coming....no charge!  They also had sodas, but no one wanted them!  Are you kidding??  You can get cheap, 'ol soda any time.  But mixed drinks are another story!  yummy!

Mixing drinks!

Austin enjoying a strawberry daiquiri

On our way back to our starting place, the captain took us out a bit, just in case we saw some more whales.  We did!  All humpbacks.  You can see them spout out there and the captain would chase them down.  More backs and tails and THEN, there was this pod of three or four that gave us a REAL show!  They were jumping out of the water and flipping their tails and throwing water every where.  It went on and on and on!  Our tour was supposed to be only three hours (insert Gilligan's Island theme song here), but because we found these fantastic whales, the captain kept us out there an extra hour!  They never did dive out of sight.  We finally just left them to get back to shore.  It was a huge high-light of my whole vacation!  Jim got some great pictures that are way worthy of framing!  They were that good!

As we pulled away and sped up to leave, I watched out the back at those whales.  You could still see them jumping and playing until they were too small to see.  Way cool!  I was sad to leave them.  We found out from the captain that it was really rare to see whales jumping out of the water, and so to see them jumping so much was VERY lucky for us!!!

As we got off the boat, we put a tip in their tip-jar, because the crew was great and SO worth the money we paid!!  I'd do it again in a heart beat! 

The crew plus "The Cruise Lady"

After getting off the boat, we headed into town on foot.  We didn't get very far.  The kids were tired and didn't want to walk much.  Erin just wanted to make sure she got a souvenir for one of her friends....that was not hard to do.  There are so many cheap things that are so Mexican-y.  I thought that was cool!  When that was done, it was back to the dull ship for the rest of the day.

It was a good day.....a VERY good day!

Our Vacation....day seven. A long day at sea.

I think cruise ships are a bit boring.  Every day they give you a new schedule of events for everything that is going on....some are amusing and some are just stupid.....but not many things appealed to me.  If you are a drinker, gambler and like to stay up late trying to find a date, then ship life is for you!  I do none of these things.  I do like some of the games and trivia contests even though I'm not very good at them.  I hit as many of those as I can....and Jim even won two games.  His prize was a "plastic, gold ship on a stick".  The second time he won, he gave it to the runner-up, cuz one plastic ship is enough....trust me!   That first evening we did go to a stage show....music, singing and dancing.  It was ok.  The costumes were good.  It reminded me of Las Vegas, though.  I've never been to a show in Vegas, but when sitting in this show, I felt like I was there!

I really wanted to lay on the deck, read a book and soak up the sun--it was on my to-do list.  Today would have been a good day for that even though it was not as warm of a day as I would have liked.  Unfortunately, everyone else on the boat had the same idea, and finding an available deck chair was nearly impossible.  I decided to give up the idea for that day with a promise to myself that I'd do it in three days while on our way back to San Diego.  I was hoping it would be a warmer day than today, and I'd get out there right after breakfast so to assure that I'd find a chair. 

So we wandered around for the most part.  Max and Jim played miniature golf.  The the rest of the kids swam....they complained that the water was salty and there was a lot of people!  We also attended two lectures by John Bytheway.  I really enjoyed those and loved that he used power-point to help with the points he was making.  I think the kids loved that they were meeting someone as famous as him rather then just enjoying his message.  oh well.

The ship itself was very beautiful.  The decor was wonderfully done in a Renascence theme.  I just wish they didn't have so many bare-breasted statues and artwork.  I mean, I have teen aged boys and I'm sure it was uncomfortable to them, as well as for me, knowing that they were looking at them.  *sigh

The ship food is as wonderful as could be, of course, and I tried not to fret too much that the calorie intake was huge.  Lots of water, brisk walking and taking the stairs instead of the elevator help me feel better about it.  (I hesitate to mention that I actually brought exercise clothes just in case I felt the urge to actually find the gym and give the body some REAL exercise!  The gym clothes never even make it out of the suit case!)  

Buffet!

The dessert bar!  yum!

Dinner on this day was a little different than usual.  It was called "formal night".  They don't let you in the dinning room unless you are dressed up.  We knew this before the cruise, so I had packed a very nice outfit for the occasion.  Black skirt and blouse with a silver, sparkly over jacket-thing.  They offered lobster as one of the entrees.  I'd never had lobster before, so I decided to get that one.  It reminded me of crab more than anything.  I thought it would be more like shrimp.  It was ok....I'm not sure I'd ever order it again....mostly because it is usually so expensive and not THAT great.  oh well.

I still was just looking forward to getting to Cabo.  I love to shop (maybe I should say I like to "buy"....I'm in, I'm out, I got it done) and we had signed up for a whale-watching/snorkeling excursion for the first day there.  It promised to be fun!

Our Vacation.....day six. All Aboard!!!

Sunday, March 27....the day I'd been waiting for for a long time!  This is the day we'd be starting our cruise!  YAY!!!  But first we had to actually get out of bed and get going! 

We really didn't need to get a super early start....we were only going to San Diego.  And they were not starting to board anyone until 12:30.  So we took the time to stop on our way down at the National Cemetery to say hi to my mom and dad.  They looked good!  I think they liked the flowers we brought.  Took some pictures then said goodbye.

The drive to San Diego was nice.  Pretty part of the state.  We figured we'd end up getting there way early, so we made a detour to see Corinne's guy friend.  None of us got out of the van except Corinne.  We gave her 30 minutes to meet this guy for the first time ever.  They stood on the front porch and talked---I'm not sure about what....but something, I'm sure.  Very exciting....

Finally....off to the ship!!!  Finding it was no problem, even though we'd never been there before.  And it was obvious which ship was ours!  Maybe because it was the only cruise ship sitting there.  And parking was right across the street....easy!

As we pulled, pushed and carried all our luggage and paraphernalia toward the dock, I started to sweat.  No, I'm not that out of shape.  No, it was not a warm day.  (Oh de contrair!  It was way cooler than we expected from Southern California in March!  I'm glad I had thrown a light jacket in my suitcase as an after thought!)  I was sweating because I was nervous that I might not have everything we needed to get on the boat!  They were very firm in insisting on having certain things and I hoped I had it all!  The adults needed picture IDs and everyone needed birth certificates.  At least that's how I read it and I even called the cruise help line to make sure I read it correctly.  Yep, that's all we needed, the nice lady on the other end of the phone line assured me.  Ok....then why am I feeling so nervous??  I DON'T KNOW!  Nothing I can do about it now.  We're 17 hours away from home....if I didn't have everything, then we'll just go back to Roseburg.  No problem!

Of course, I didn't have anything to worry about!  We had all the proper paperwork and they let us on!!!  Whew!

First order of business?  LUNCH!  The best part of a cruise is the food!!  Just ask anyone!  We headed straight for the Lido deck.  That has all the buffets.  I didn't want to be a glutton on this trip so I just had the salads.  No...not the kind rabbits eat, but all the ones that have yummy meats and veggies and sauces on them!   And there were, like, plenty to choose from.  And they were all delicious!

All I needed to do now was take a shower!  I really wanted to wash all the car-travel off of me!  The second I could, I was in our room gettin' clean.  And of course, I just had to shave the legs so I could wear my capris and lay out in the sun.  Hairy legs just don't mix with cruise ships!  I had packed a brand new disposable one, knowing that I'd shave the first day.  It was all part of the plan. 

What I hadn't planned on was slicing my ankle open with that brand new razor and bleeding all over the floor of the bathroom.   I'm sure who ever cleaned the bathroom that evening wondered what the heck!  I also did not plan on the mandatory safety meeting to start the second I got out of the shower.  I threw on clothes and sandals and ran a quick comb through the wet hair.  I grabbed a couple of kleenex for my bleeding leg and dashed out to our meeting place.  As we stood there, all lined up, I kept bending over to sop up the blood.  It was a bad one!  I even had a lady behind me tap my shoulder to inform me that I had a problem.  Really???  I hadn't noticed....thanks!  One of the cruise helpers saw me bleeding and asked if I wanted to go to first aide.  "Yes, please".  I mean, my poor sandal was getting soaked and my kleenex needed to be replenished.   What a way to start my cruise!!

All the lady at first aide did was give me band aides.  Whatever.  The up side is that I didn't have to stand and get lectured on how to put on a life jacket or how to drown gracefully, or whatever they talk about.  By the time I was done with my ankle, they were done with the safety meeting.  yay!  The down side?  I had to wear band aides for the entire cruise, cuz every time I took them off it started to bleed.  And it sure hurt too!   grrrr. 

Being Sunday, and having booked this cruise because it would have special meetings for people of my religion, we went to a Sunday service just like we would have had at home.  For those of you that are not of my religion, you may be bored with the next paragraph....just warning you.

Sacrament meeting was short and sweet.  They had us sing an opening hymn a capella, prayer and passing of the sacrament.  Austin was asked to bless and Max was asked to pass.  It was a very proud moment for me to be able to witness my worthy sons participate in this holy ordinance.  Yes, they do it every week....I've seen them do it many times.  But this was really cool.  They were joined by several other boys that were part of our group.  We were all dressed in our Sunday's best.  The only part that seemed oxymoron-ish is that the meeting was being held in one of the ship's lounges--with a bar on one side of the room and a small stage with band equipment on the other.  lol  John Bytheway gave a talk.  Then another a capella hymn and prayer.  It was very nice. 

John Bytheway

Afterward, we went to the dinning room and had a wonderful dinner!  I over ate (so much for NOT being a glutton).....  but it was worth it!  After wandering around the ship for a while and having a family meeting to discuss the next day, we went to bed early....we were very tired.  Tomorrow we would be on the ship all day.  It wouldn't be until Tuesday when we'd finally be able to get off the ship at our destination.....Cabo San Lucas, Mexico!

This is the Carnival "Spirit".....our ship. 

Our Vacation....days four and five. Visiting friends!

We had gotten a motel near Disneyland that we stayed in Wednesday and Thursday nights.  That allowed us to stay late at the parks and not have to travel far while tired.  Friday morning our first stop was at Jim's cousin's house.  He lives in Anaheim.  It was nice to see him and catch up on his family. 

On the way back to San Bernardino, we passed through Riverside.  Time to check off another restaurant on my list:  D'Elia's!!  This is a sandwich shop on University that I grew up with.  Jim does not care for their bread, but I think the bread is what makes it good!  A whole ham with extra oil on the side, please!  YUM!  I ate half right then, and the other half for dinner.  Heaven!

We were able to visit several families in Highland:  the Boccanegras, Zunigas, Nogarolas, Olsens, Heather Culler and my old neighbor, Wanda.  Considering how many we wanted to visit, this was not much.  But it was a good quality group!  The Boccanegras offered to put us up for two nights, which was wonderful.....not only did we not have to spend the money on a hotel, but got to spend a lot of time with them! 

We also got to check off two more restaurants while there:  Baker's and Two Guy's.  Which marked the end of our restaurant list.  :)

We happened to hit the weekend when Highland has their yearly Citrus Festival.  Old cars, demonstrations, music, vendors.  Fun!  I didn't think we'd spend money, but saw several things I just had to have.....JEWELRY!  And since we had broke out the cash, we also bought those balance bracelet things.  Don't know what they're called, but they're cool!  Also bought some dip mixes and hair pretties.  A good day!

To those of you that we didn't get to see while in Southern California, WE'RE SORRY!   There's always next time!  I plan on making a trip back down to So Cal for a school reunion and I want to do some more visiting.....especially school friends.  I may have time to hit a few more families in Highland, too!  We'll see.

We took time to get Jim and Austin's hair cut.  Heather Culler did the honors and she did a good job.  Thanks Heather!!!   So glad we saw you at the festival!!

Anyway....not the most exciting two days to report on, but to us it was wonderful!  Seeing old friends is one of the great pleasures of life!  That and having someone brush your hair!  Here's to being able to experience both more often!!!

The Rat Lady.......

It started with a message on my cell phone with a harsh, man's voice.  Couldn't understand most of what he said, but this is the gist of what I understood:  "Hello, we're interested in your hairless rats.  Can you call us back.  (phone number)."  Ok.....I at least could make out the "hairless rats" part so I knew what the call was about.  I tried to call back only to get HIS voice mail. 

Two days later I get another call.  This time is was a woman's voice asking about my hairless rats.  I must have been on speaker phone because I heard that same gravely man talking in the background!  Oh!  Ok...."You called the other day,"  I say.  "Yes.  I want your rats....whatever you have."  I only had two, but she wanted them bad.  "I live in Yakima, Washington."  she says.  Jeez....that's a ways away.  I told her that my husband works in Washington quite often and he can bring them up with him and that would cut her drive in half.  "No," she says, "I'm going to come today if that's ok with you.....and don't you sell them rats, even if someone offers you a million dollars!"  Ok lady!  Dang!  "No problem," I tell her, "They're yours!"  She told me they would leave in the afternoon and call me when they were close, to get directions. 

I didn't get that call until 11:30 at night!!!  Ok, I won't exaggerate; it wasn't that late.....it was 11:20.  Yes, I was in bed....yes, I was NOT happy.  I was especially not happy when she told me that they were in the Portland area and how much further did they have before getting to Roseburg!  3 hours!!!!  She was sorry and told me that they got a later start than they had planned.  Ya think??!!!  She asked if it was ok if they could just keep on coming until they got here.  I said no.  "Can't you stop somewhere and just come in the morning?"  I ask.   "No, I really want to be back home in the morning."  "Ok", I said, "Call again when you hit Roseburg.  I'll keep the phone near me so I'll hear it."  Oh man.  All I could think about was having to get up at 2 in the morning to go out to the barn to retrieve rats and sit with her while she drools over them.  I'm going to be very tired tommorow!  I go back to bed dreading it.

I didn't get the call until 8:00 in the morning.  They ended up stopping to sleep and they were now in Albany and on their way.  Thank heavens!!!!  Albany is about 1 1/2 hours North of here.  She told me she'd call when she got into town.  Fine.

I didn't get that call until 1:30 pm.  Dang!  How long does it take to drive 1 1/2 hours???  It's not like I had all day to sit and wait for their arrival.  It's not like I have a life and have things to do instead of staying close to the house with my phone nearby.  grrrrr.  Ok, at least they were in town.

Finally, they arrived!  A middle-aged woman, a young boy, and a wrinkled old guy in dirty overalls, who's mouth was missing more than a couple of teeth. 

I already had the rats waiting for them in the living room.  She instantly fell in love with the hairless!  She'd been looking for years for hairless, all over the nation, and here were two...and so close!  I had made her "dreams come true!"  Or so she said.  Ok, now I felt bad for having murder on my mind.  Not only did she buy the two hairless, she also bought two normal rats, two cockateils and two large bird cages.  She almost bought a couple more cockateils and a rabbit or two.  She decided to wait until she had the money to get those.  Really?  Most people buy before they have the money for it!  So I have to say I admired her restraint in that matter.

Over all, the experience was alright.  She was a very nice lady and the old man was funny and personable.  The child was quiet and polite.  And she spent a lot of money....which I get to now put in my pocket. 

Next time, I really should not grumble too quickly.  I love what I do, and most of the time, the people I deal with are very nice.  This was no exception.  And now I have another animal friend....and according to her, a future customer.  We'll see.....

Our Vacation.....days two and three. Disneyland!

So....we finally made it to San Bernardino Tuesday night.  Early Wednesday morning I headed over to the San Bernardino County Records office to get a copy of Erin's birth certificate and Jim took off to Costco to fill the van with gas.  Divide and conquer!  I was second in line and got that done within 15 minutes of the office opening.  No prob! 

Off to Disneyland!!!  Yes, we spent two days at Disneyland/California Adventure.  We found discount tickets off Craigslist.  Park-hopper, two day tickets.  It was still a pretty penny, but it was worth it.   The guy we bought them from did this as a business....he buys five-day tickets in bulk and resells them to the public.  The down side for those of us that buy them, is that we have to return them so they can be sold to the next person to finish using off the five days.  So you can't loose them!!  If you do, you pay the difference.  YIKES.  I threatened the kids with their life.....They better not loose their ticket!!!  They didn't....they did very good!

My main goal was to see those attractions that had been remodeled that I hadn't seen since completion.  Mainly Pirates of the Caribbean, Finding Nemo and Captain EO.  I also wanted to make sure I hit all the roller coasters and Soarin' California.  Did all that and loved it, but our big surprise and new favorite ride was Toy Story's Midway ride!  Wow, was that cool!   It's a 3-D ride that is also a game....similar to Buzz Lightyear but better.  It sure gave my arm muscles a work out!

I also loved the Zoetrope in California Adventure's Hollywood backlot.  If you go to youtube and type in Toy Story Zoetrope, you'll see it in action.  It's much better in real life, but you can get the idea from the video.  I stood there for a long time watching it.....very cool!

Captain EO was sure nostalgic!  I loved it as much as I did when I was a teen, but I also recognized how cheesy it was!  lol!  Special effects sure have come a long way!  Who can deny that Michael Jackson was so cool....and a great dancer!  Anyway.....I was really excited to share that part of my childhood with my kids even though they didn't seem to think it was all that great.  Oh well....can't win 'em all!

The roller coaster in California Adventure was great!  I could have done that all day!  Well, that and Soarin' California.  I ended up doing Soarin' three times and the coaster twice.  Love it!   Other highlights were The World of Color, Space Mountain, and broccoli-cheese soup in a bread bowl that I discovered in California Adventure.  It sure hit the spot when I was so cold the first night!  It was also fun to watch the little kids fight Darth Vader!  That was sure cute!

The first day it rained all afternoon.  We got soaked.  And then it started getting cold in the evening and we had to go to the van to get more coats.  All our shoes squished.  The up side?  Getting on the rides suddenly got very quick because when it rains, people leave!  yay!  The second day, it was overcast and looked like it would rain, but never did.  The crowds stayed and we didn't get to do as much....such is life.

I only wish we would have brought in food.  I knew it was expensive, but dang!  Just about killed us!  Lesson learned....again!

Over all we had a great time.....except Max.  Yes, Max would have rather had sat in the hotel, I think.  The only salvation for him was Autotopia and the Toy Story ride.  He did them over and over, even without us.  Whatever.

Our Vacation.....day one. We're on our way!!!

Early Tuesday morning, the alarm wakes a very tired me!  I was up late getting ready to go on our vacation doing necessary last-minute things:  laundry, dishes, packing, cleaning, feeding rabbits, saying goodbye to everyone on Facebook.  It's not like I didn't have 8 months to do all that!  I knew this day was coming....why did everything have to get done all on the last day???!  I didn't get to bed until 1:30 AM.  grrrr.  The only consolation I had was that I knew Jim would be driving, so I'd get to sleep! 

This was going to be a great day!....I just knew it!  Even though we'd have to sit on our kesters all day, I reveled in the thought that for lunch, I'd be sinkin' my teeth into an IN-N-OUT burger!  Oh yes!  I hadn't had one in over a year and it was on my list of places to eat for our vacation!   I'm so glad Jim was with me on this one!  No kicking or screaming or begging to get him to take me there.   We have a mutual love for this restaurant, though I like just the cheeseburger (with everything) and he likes the double/double animal style. 

Another thing I was looking forward to was Fablehaven.  Fablehaven is a series of fantasy books.  Jim had bought them on CD and we were going to listen to them in the van as a family while we drove.  Everyone seemed copacetic with it except Max.  This comes to no surprise to me.....he dislikes just about everything the rest of us likes.  It's his nature.....he's only happy when he has something to complain about.  We love him anyway.  But his moaning about not being able to hear his ipod because the CD was too loud was not going to dissuade me from turning it down or off!  I had looked forward to it and I was enjoying it!  After a couple of hours of listening (and almost dead silence from everyone the whole time!), we had to stop for gas or the potty, or something, and when we were all back in the van, Max says, "Ok, turn it back on!".  What???  "Max, are you liking the story??"  "Maybe".   hehe   A small victory for literature! 

As we approached Redding, Californina, my mouth started to water.....yes, Redding holds the closest IN-N-OUT Burger to Oregon.  Just walking into one of these stores is like heaven!  The smell is wonderful!  I left that restaurant a very satisfied and happy lady!

The rest of the trip to Southern California was pretty much uneventful.  We go though most of the first book of Fablehaven and arrived in San Bernardino at about 9:00pm.  And DANG!  What is going on with the freeways??  I didn't even recognize the place with all the construction going on.  Well, good for them.....improvement is always a good thing.

We stayed in a hotel on Hospitality Lane.  We chose there, because it was right across the street from the San Bernardino County Records office.  I wanted to be there right when it opened in the morning.  I had to get a copy of Erin's birth certificate so we could get on the cruise ship!  I couldn't find her's at home....it was not with all the others.  I panicked for about a day before I figured out that I could just get another one when we came down.  whew!    I have no idea when I used it last or where it disappeared to....I'm hoping it's not in evil hands who plan to use her identity for their use!  Jezz.....the things I can worry about when I set my mind to it!   I'm sure it will show up some day.....I hope!

Our Vacation......The anticipation is killing me!

Planning for a vacation is maddening!  We booked our cruise in the middle of last year.  That gave us plenty of time to plan and save funds, but it also was very hard to wait until it got here!!!  It was my idea to do the cruise, although we all decided as a family that it was how we wanted to spend our Christmas money. 

As time got closer, serious planning took place:  who's going to take care of the house, the animals, the paper routes, teach my Sunday School class?  It was actually surprisingly easy to find people to fill all our responsibilities while we are gone.  The Muzzys took over all four of Erin and Austin's paper routes.  Dea Potter led the music in Sac Meeting and RS for me and Corinne.  A friend of Jim's, Ben, lived at the house and took care of ALL the animals (BIG undertaking!!!).  Sadly, I was released from my Sunday School class the week before we left, but it did save me from having to find a sub. 

There's packing, getting the van a check-up to make the long trip to Southern California, cleaning, making sure there is enough feed to last two weeks for all the animals......  By the time we had finished, I was READY to get some R and R! 

We also had to decide what we were going to do once we got to California.  We left Tuesday morning, which gave us one day to travel and then Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat to fill before we had to get on the ship on Sunday.  We decided we wanted to go to Disneyland for two days.....But it's SOOOO expensive.  With research and help and info from friends, we found discount tickets.  Two day, park-hopper tickets.  That works for us!  We also needed to decide who we wanted to visit on our last two days in the area.  We had a long list of friends we wanted to see, but knew that it would be impossible to see everyone.....grrrr!  And lastly, everyone had certain restaurants that we don't have in Oregon that we wanted to make sure we hit while there.

So with all our lists and plans in hand the day finally came!  I was so nervous that I'd forget something!  I checked 100 times to make sure that I had our birth certificates, boarding passes, conformation number for our Disneyland tickets, phone numbers for everyone....there was so much to remember!  So...I'm sure you'd love to know if we DID forget anything!.....well since you asked, yes!  I won't say any names, but one of us forgot our driver's license which is NEEDED to get on the boat.....  minor detail!   But with Ben's help, the license was found and sent priority mail to a friend's house in California.  Disaster adverted!!!

Now we just had to endure the 15 hour drive with four kids to look forward to!  yikes!!!